New Dallas Cowboy Stadium & Chinatown

I had not been to Chinatown in Arlington in many a month. Nor have I seen the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium up close since the last time I went to Chinatown.

That's the new stadium behind the FINA station. The area surrounding the new stadium is rather forlorn looking, rundown industrial stuff and low end houses.

So, today I went to Chinatown to go to the new Saigon Taipei Market. And to Hong Kong Market Place. I got all sorts of good stuff.

Since I was in the neighborhood and I had a list of stuff to get at Wal-Mart, I decided to go to the Wal-Mart across the street from the new stadium. It's a super-nice Wal-Mart Supercenter. But by the time I got there it was past 2. I was hungry. The stuff on my Wal-Mart list could wait. I needed food.

The new stadium is nearing completion. It's a mess all around it of road construction. I had to follow a bulldozer going about 5 miles an hour for what seemed 5 miles. It appears that the entire area from the Ballpark in Arlington to the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium is going to be a parking lot.

It'd been so long since I've been in this area I was surprised to see the new Collins Street bridge over I-30 is completed. Three huge, fancy bridges are going to span I-30 connecting both sides of Arlington's Entertainment District that includes Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, The Ballpark in Arlington, the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and a lot of restaurants. With the new bridges it will be very pedestrian friendly to cross the freeway with covered walkways on both sides of the bridge.

It was sort of distracting looking up trying to figure out what was looking so different. I should have taken a picture. But like I said I was hungry.

Durango World Is Going Up While Gas Keeps Going Down

Another beautiful cold Fall day in Texas. I went swimming, as usual, this morning. It was cold. I did not last long. I went hiking at the Tandy Hills again today. It was too nice a day not to. That's from today in the photo. Very bright red leaves on the oak trees today.

Every day there seems to be more bad economic news. But in Durango's Contrary World things seem to be going in the opposite direction.

I went to the China King in Bedford today about 2pm. I'd not been there in a long time. My fortune cookie said, "An enjoyable vacation is awaiting you near the mountains." Did the fortune cookie foresee my likely roadtrip to Seattle in a couple months? Spooky. Those Chinese have special psychic powers.

Friday I'm going to a Christmas Party. It's at a place called Austin Ranch. That's a Dude Ranch up by Lake Grapevine. Last year's Christmas Party was at this awful place called Dave and Busters. Everyone hated it. So, it got moved back to Austin Ranch. Austin Ranch is a lot funner. There's a big open bar, lots of food, a DJ, casino gambling. And dancing. I will be forced to dance. I hate it when that happens.

I came the closest I've come to a wreck in a long time, this afternoon up in Hurst. I was using a Texas Turn-Around to switch from one side of the freeway to the other. A merging lane came in at an odd angle. I'd not seen the yield sign. Brakes had to be used along with a deft swerve. It was scary. I came really close to running into another car. That would not have been a good thing. Particularly when I'd been having such a good day.

I didn't need gas today, so I didn't get any when I saw the Tandy Hills Gas Station is now down to $1.58. A couple hours later I saw the stuff for $1.56 at a QT in Bedford.

Kill The Cockroach Part II

I told you yesterday I'd update you on the Cockroach situation.

The good news is this morning when I turned on the kitchen light I did not see any Cockroaches. The bad news is when I looked in the Las Vegas Roach Trap, that I told you about yesterday, well, I could not see any Roaches trapped in the trap. They may be in there, drowned in the coffee slurry. I'm not going to reach in and find out.

There are around 4,000 species of Cockroaches. Of those 4,000 only 30 Cockroach species like to live with humans. Of the 30 types of Cockroaches that like to live with humans, only 4 of the species are thought of as pests. I guess that make the other 26 pets instead of pests?

The pesty Cockroaches are the American, the German, the Asian and the Oriental Cockroaches.

Cockroaches are nocturnal critters, running away when exposed to light. Some Cockroaches hiss. I've not heard mine hiss. Other types of Cockroaches make chirping noises. Mine don't chirp, either. Maybe they are not Cockroaches.

Cockroaches can remain active for a month without food. They can live off the glue on a postage stamp. Some can go without air for 3/4 of an hour. I've flushed 2 down the drain and turned on the garbage disposal, only to watch them crawl back out when I turned the water and disposal off. Only brute force dispatches them. Garbage disposals aren't brutal enough. I had one hop into my fridge's freeze. I thought, he's a goner. The next day, when I opened the freezer, the Cockroach quickly sprinted out.

There is a popular myth that Cockroaches will take over the planet if the human beings destroy the world in a nuclear war. It is true Cockroaches have a greater resistance to radiation than humans. But the same is true of most insects. The reason a Cockroach can survive a heavy radiation dose is because their cells divide way more slowly than humans. It is when a cell divides that it is most vulnerable to radiation.

Well, that's enough about the Kill the Cockroach project for today.

National Cookie Day November 4

Did Congress actually pass some sort of legislation designating today as National Cookie Day? If so, why? Some National Days I sorta get. But a National Cookie Day?

I rarely consume Cookies. But there is one type Cookie that I really like, that being White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.

Years ago I knew a nurse who was known as The Fat Lady. She was a very good cook. And she made these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that were even better than White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. It's been at least 16 years since I've seen The Fat Lady. The last I heard of her she'd married a Russian Pharmacist who she'd met through one of those Find the Desperate a Mate services.

Back to the subject of National Cookie Day. History was my major in college, so let's talk about the History of the Cookie. Persia was one of the first places on earth to cultivate sugar. Way back in the 7th Century those future Iranians started baking the world's first Cookies. I don't know what type Cookies the Persians made. I suspect dates were involved.

An appalling Cookie statistic is Americans eat over 2 billion Cookies a year. That averages out to 300 Cookies per American per year. I had a big Cookie last summer when I was up in Tacoma. I think that's the only Cookie I've had this year. I know a person or two who makes up for my lack of Cookie eating, helping, greatly, to add to the national total.

The word "Cookie" comes from my ancestral homeland. That being Holland. Cookie comes from the Dutch word "koekje" pronounced "Cook-yuh." Dutch Cookies are real good too. I forgot I liked them in addition to the Cookies already mentioned. Dutch Cookies use a lot of butter.

The most popular Cookie in the United States is the Chocolate Chip Cookie. It was invented in 1937 by Ruth Graves Wakefield in Whitman, Massachusetts. Ms. Wakefield ran the Toll House Restaurant, hence the name of a famous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, as in Toll House Cookies.

Peanut Butter was not used as a Cookie ingredient until the 1930s. I don't know who made the first Peanut Butter Cookie.

So, there you go. That is all the Cookie History I know. Now go out and support National Cookie Day by forcing yourself to eat one.

P.S. Here's a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Recipe...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together until smooth:
1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat and add:
2 eggs

Mix together and add gradually:
2 1/4 c. unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda

Stir in:
1 pkg. white chocolate chips
1 jar chopped Macadamia nuts

Drop batter by well-rounded teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in moderate oven (375 degrees). Be careful not to over bake!

Now get cooking to celebrate National Cookie Day.

Texas Fall Most Colorful Ever

Longtime Texans are saying this is the most colorful Texas Fall ever. The North Texas weather conditions have been such that the foliage result is pretty much Vermont-like.

The brighter colors are caused by a late summer, cool nights and dry and clear days. We are running about 5 inches below the norm for rain this year. Botanical experts claim that the lack of freezing temperatures in the D/FW Metroplex has allowed the leaves to last longer and develop deeper colors.

The leaf experts claim the coldest it has gotten here was 34 on November 16.

I beg to differ. I know it's frozen already here, because I saw frost on the roofs and had to scrape ice off my windshield.

The colorful leaves in trees you see in the photos were taken this afternoon at Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Kill The German Cockroach

Last week I watched 24: Redemption. A memorable line uttered during the show was, "Kill the Cockroach."

When 24: Redemption ended I went to my kitchen, turned on the lights and saw a big bug trying to hide. It was hard to track down. But eventually I executed it.

When I Blogged about 24: Redemption, I mentioned the irony of finding and killing my first Cockroach after 24 ended. But, I thought I was taking poetic license. I did not really know what type of bug it was.

But. Ever since that first one there have been more. They are kind of amusing the way they try to escape as soon as the light comes on. I sprayed some all purpose bug spray thinking that'd get rid of them. It didn't. They survive a direct hit of the bug spray.

This morning, like I said earlier, I was up by 3am. When I turned on the kitchen lights, to make coffee, there was one of the bugs to greet me.

I decide it was time to Google "cockroach."

Well. I'd only seen one Cockroach, previously, in person, that being a dead one out in the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce Tourist Center. It was big. My bugs aren't big, which is why I didn't really think they were Cockroaches.

Til I Googled. I now believe I have what is known as the German Cockroach. I don't like Germans, but I'm glad I have been visited by German Cockroaches and not the American or Australian Cockroach. They are huge. My Germans are little things compared to the Americans.

Wikipedia had a solution to getting rid of the pests that is supposed to be very successful. It is called the Las Vegas Roach Trap. Following the directions I took a canning jar, smeared petroleum jelly on the inside, put coffee grounds and water in the jar. And then put duct tape all over the outside.

The Cockroaches are supposed to be coffee addicts and so will follow the smell. The duct tape gives them traction to get up the jar. They can not climb on glass. The petroleum jelly is a back up in case, for some awful reason, the Cockroach falls into the coffee and gets such a buzz it's somehow able to climb the glass wall. The bug will stick to the petroleum jelly.

I will report tomorrow on how many Cockroaches I have trapped in my coffee jar. What if it is full of roaches in the morning? That will be truly disgusting. But, I'll take a picture and share.

Driving To Paris & Seattle

If the Seattle Space Needle were in Texas it'd likely wear a cowboy hat, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Texas. There is no elevator or stairway to the top of the Paris, Texas Eiffel Tower. Since there is no way to get to the top there is no revolving restaurant spinning under the cowboy hat. That's a shame. An equally shameful irony is the fact that there are no French restaurants in Paris, Texas. Several restaurants sell French Fries, though.

I've had another bout of insomnia. I've been up since a bit past 3am. I think this morning is an improvement over yesterday's early wakeup that'd been caused by a horrible nightmare where I was chased by 6 Giant Ugly Fat Women who were trying to eat me.

At midnight it was 58. It is 60 now. The pool should have warmed up a bit from yesterday's frigid ice.

My Mom and Dad are coming to Texas in January. So, I've decided not to go to Phoenix for Christmas.

Speaking of road trips. Despite having said, and totally meaning what I said, that being, that it'd be at least 10 years before I returned to the Pacific Northwest, it looks like I'm going to be up in the Seattle zone in January or February. Likely after my Mom and Dad leave Texas.

The last time I drove up to Washington was in August of 2001 for my Mom and Dad's 50th. I got back to Texas a few days before 9/11. A month or so later Mom and Dad were here for a week.

When gas cost in the $4 a gallon zone it seemed ridiculous to drive 5,000 miles. But now, driving is cheaper than flying. And way more fun. It only takes 3 days of easy driving to get up to Washington. First night, Pueblo, Colorado, second night, Twin Falls, Idaho, early the next day's afternoon, Seattle.

I've only driven north in the dead of winter, once. It was awful. That time the route went north through Oklahoma and Kansas. In Kansas there was a lot of snow and ice on the freeway. It was slow going. So, for the drive back, that time, I decided to get the driving south part done by taking I-5, which only gets icy in southern Oregon and northern California, but usually is not too bad. That time there was no ice. Mom and Dad lived in Yuma then. That was the last time I spent Christmas with them. That was a fun Christmas.

A Fat End To A Long Day In Texas

I've already said this was Durango Texas Politically Incorrect Day, that and I'm real tired, due to being awake since 2am. So, my good taste judgment, faulty even when well rested, is likely in total failure mode at this point in time.

I talked to my favorite Arizona Sister a little while ago. I told her my TV Blog was being an out of control monster. She told me our favorite Washington Sister was enjoying doing her Blog where she pretends to be a pair of poodles named Blue and Max.

My favorite Arizona Sister said she's gonna start a Blog now that it seems to be the thing all her literate siblings are doing.

In the meantime, while waiting to see my favorite Arizona Sister's Blog, I am still traumatized by last night's horrible attempt to eat me by the Gigantic Ugly Fat Women. I can't even type that without shuddering.

Below is video of one of those Gigantic Ugly Fat Women eating, not me, but turkey. Better the turkey than me.

Majority of American Women have Histrionic and Narcissistic Disorders

Okay, I mentioned in a previous blogging that I guess this is going to be Politically Incorrect Durango Texas Day due to me being awakened at 3am by UGLY FAT WOMEN trying to eat me.

So, the Attack of the UGLY FAT WOMEN led me to a website called No Marriage.

One of the pages on the No Marriage website is titled "Majority of American Women have Histrionic and Narcissistic disorders".

To me the behaviors described fit my experiences with Only Child Syndrome. But the No Marriage website leads me to realize I was also dealing with a Histrionic and Narcissistic Disorder, masked, poorly, by powerful psychotropic medications.

What follows is copied and pasted from the No Marriage website...

We are talking really serious stuff here. Most American women have at least two serious personality disorders. And having personality disorder(s) and being a good wife are mutually exclusive things. That means American women are completely unfit to be wives and mothers.

Histrionic disorder: manipulative, attention seekers, dominate the conversation, use grandiose language, seek constant praise, dress provocatively, exaggerate illnesses in order to gain attention, exaggerate friendships and relationships, believe that everyone loves them.

Narcissistic disorder: self-centered, seek attention and praise, take advantage of people, fantasize about success and power, expect favorable treatment, exaggerate achievements, have difficulty maintaining long-lasting relationships, expect others to recognize them as being superior.

Many American women also have Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Borderline disorders.

Think about the women you dated and see how many of them had the combination of: mental/biological/genetic problems (defects), tried to kill herself, depressed, mood-swings, arthritic, psychotic breakdowns, unhappy, nutcase, every condition known to man, deranged attention whore.

The only reality which exists for the narcissist is their own, and even when they are repeatedly shown to be wrong or misinformed about something, they will maintain their original stance, despite all contradictory evidence, no matter how compelling.

They have no interest in understanding reality, or others. Instead, they project themselves onto the other: - in lieu of internalising the other, they externalise and generalise themselves.

It has often been noted here that it is difficult to tell whether the narcissist is stupider or madder, as there are such strong elements of both in their disposition.

And the madness is real. The narcissist will twist and distort reality to infinity in order to place themselves at the earth's center. No amount of objectivity shall be allowed to interfere with this. This is their prime objective, and they will talk any amount of nonsense to achieve it. They don't care. There is only them, and their prison is a familiar, comfortable zone. It has walls padded with velvety self-deception.

So the narcissist is not just weak, stupid, vain and unrealistic. Because if their condition was just a composite of common character flaws, they could change, grow out of it, be reasoned with. Nor is it just an act of will, for when they are shown that their interests are not best served by unflinching selfishness, there is no change.

Narcissism is a mental illness - a psychological disease which shares many characteristics with schizophrenia. It is a 'self' trapped in and constructed solely by infinite self-reflections reiterating to infinity.

It cannot change. It cannot be treated. When the window of internalised other closed in childhood, it jammed shut - never to let light in again.

NoMarriage.com manual has a comprehensive test to help you determine if your girlfriend will make a good wife. Personality disorders is one of the 10 things that make women to be unfit wives and mothers.

Politically Incorrect Tuesday In Texas With Ice

Yes. That is an ice cube. It got down to 29 last night. I had a horrible nightmare last night. Yes, I know I mentioned that in a previous blog. But it traumatized me, so I'm repeating it. I was wakened by GIANT UGLY FAT WOMEN trying to eat me.

Due to the attack of the GIANT UGLY FAT WOMEN, I came upon a couple very, well, politically incorrect, yet amusing, or so it seems to me, somewhat on target, websites targeting American Women.

Both seem to believe their American Women attributes apply universally to all American Women. That seems harsh. But some of it sure applied to some of the more disturbing American Women I've experienced behaving badly. I'll try and muster the energy to copy and paste some of it.

So, I've been up since 3am. I did not seem to suffer any withdrawal symptoms from not having a newspaper to read this morning.

Yesterday I got myself a bunch of books to read instead of reading too many details of each day's little bits of life's traumas.

I got Bob Woodward's new book The War Within. I found his State of Denial to be shocking. This new book covers the next 2 years of Bush's inept presidency. Speaking of George W., I also got Molly Ivins' SHRUB. She is one very funny lady. When she died it left one huge hole in the already holey Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I got a funny book about this state I'm living in called Texas Curiosities. I've found some good stuff in there. Then I got a couple true crime books, one titled Shattered Hopes, the other The Serpent's Tooth.

It was barely above freezing when I went down to the pool this morning. I was shivering before I got near the water. I lasted less than 2 minutes.