North Texas Rocked By Minor Earthquake

At 11:24 am we were rocked by a 3.3 on the Richter Scale earthquake here in North Texas, this wet Saturday, May 16th day.

The quake was centered about 4 miles south of Euless, about 9 miles northeast of my location in East Fort Worth and about 18 miles west of Dallas.

There were no reports of injuries or damage. Texans in Irving, Euless, Bedford and Hurst reported feeling the shaking.

At 11:24 this morning I was laying on the floor doing yoga exercises. I felt nothing but my muscles stretching. I have experienced many earthquakes, due to living the majority of my life in the Pacific Northwest. They can be scary. There's no warning like there is with a tornado. An earthquake can be very loud.

Where I lived in Washington, in East Mount Vernon, there was a period of time during the 1990s when we had multiple very minor earthquakes centered about 4 miles east of my location, by what is called Big Lake. These quakes were in the 3.3 zone. Which you would think would not feel like much. Well, if you are a short distance from the epicenter of a 3.3 quake, you definitely feel it. I remember one hitting while I was laying on my waterbed. It about tossed me off the bed. Another time I was watching TV when one hit. First there's a loud bang-like noise, with the windows all sort of popping in unison. One of the quakes cracked my kitchen's ceramic tile floor. I convinced myself it gave the floor character.

The strongest earthquake I ever experienced was a 6.5. I was over 70 miles from the epicenter. Even that far away, the motion was amazing. You could hardly walk. It lasted what seemed like a minute. The tall trees in the park across from where we lived swayed as if some invisible giant was shaking them.

So, that's been my day in Texas. An earthquake. And I forgot to mention. Someone ran into a nearby natural gas meter, knocking it over, nearly causing an explosion, shutting off gas to a lot of people. Hazmat teams arrived, foam sprayed all over. It is supposed to be fixed by tomorrow. In the meantime, I have no hot water.

Chesapeake Energy's Carter Avenue Eminent Domaiin Abuse

Earlier today I blogged about the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Jerry Jones in cahoots with the City of Arlington outrageous example of eminent domain abuse. That prompted a very good comment about the situation on Carter Avenue in Fort Worth, where a private company, Chesapeake Energy, in cahoots with the corrupt government of the City of Fort Worth, is forcing people to allow a big pipeline filled with odor-free natural gas to be pumped through their property.

I published the comment and then decided it needed it's own blog posting...

Eminent domain for private gain is the refrain that we keep hearing again and again (no rhyme intended; it could be a crime). Which is a worse (both are bad) form of eminent domain abuse: "buying" people's homes and then demolishing them OR, as seen in the Carter Ave. controversy, where a deep-pocketed, politically-connected, and profit-focused private corporation REFUSES TO EVEN CONSIDER "buying" people's homes. so that they can run their massive pipelines under people's front yards?

Chesapeake (CHK) claims that they only "need" the 20' deep (originally 30-40' deep, which would have pipelines running under and around the houses)easement/right of way, so they will only "pay" for that strip of easement right.

Note: it is NOT buying or leasing as most people presume; it's giving them "superior/dominant rights" to use the yard for their "necessity and convenience"? The first abuse at least gives people a chance to relocate and start over, but the second (and will be increasingly exercised) abuse essentially TRAPS people in their home so that CHK could make hundreds of million$$ off the pipelines while making "just compensation" (Fifth Amendment to U.S. Constitution and consistent with Texas laws/codes) ranging from $1,500 to almost $16,000 for about the same easement/lot size, with most 50' wide X 20'deep right of ways receiving around $4,000 (pre-tax and before increase/s in insurance/s).

Guess who got which: the new immigrant with little language and cultural skills with the 50' lot and the media-hungry retired white lady with the 100' lot. Just do the math and think of our currently used phrase "predatory practices".

The easement is "permanent" which means that it has to be disclosed to a potential buyer. Who in their right mind (or linguistic and cultural sophistication) would pay full market value for such a house with such a "burden" (real estate law term)?

Therefore if these people on Carter Ave. want to "make the choice" for their family's health and financial safety (they still pay the taxes, insurance, and upkeep, just like city sidewalk/street easements)they must decide to sell at a deep discount (losing their equity and likely selling for cash to landlords--FHA will not approve a loan that has an easement within 10' of the house)or even default on their mortgage in order to "move away and start over again" except they might return to being renters themselves.

CHK and their fancy lawyers claim that having these 16-24" pipelines (see the explosion last week in S.A. at www.woai.com--the homes and people on Carter Ave. would not make it if it were to happen here, and it will--just see recent explosions in nearby counties) "will have no effect on the rest of the property at all".

Shove something dangerous under their forehead/face and tell them "it will have no effect..."on the rest of their body and quality of life (like finding a mate or a job). In Texas and many other states, what Chesapeake Energy is doing would be considered "rustling"-not of livestock, but of the largest purchase and ownership of private property for most people.

Am I making a valid and fair comparison of abuses just now? If not, set me straight. If so, look out you might be next, especially if you happen to be the unfortunate people living on the other side of the street from "pipeline alley" (or nearby streets) who received nothing--not even a letter notifying them about the pipelines just a few yards away--but will likely suffer the same "damages" and loss as the people with easements.

Which raises a third (living nearby)and fourth(renters who tend to be poorer and immigrants in general--again in general) group of "victims" of abuse. So instead of asking who has it worse, it should be who has it the worst? There are other victims that I won't get into now.

A Rainy Gray Day In Fort Worth Not Fort Walton Florida

I woke up to a downpour this morning. This did not please me as in now I can not do my regularly Saturday Tandy Hills Hike. When one is a creature of habit disruptions like this are very unsettling.

For the past couple hours it has been a northwest in winter type rain, a constant sprinkling, but no downpouring. And I've heard none of the predicted thunder.

My favorite Blogging Co-Conspirator has escaped this grayness, for blue sky and a sandy beach, at Fort Walton in Florida. I've no idea where that is. I'll go see. Okay, it's on the eastern end of the Florida panhandle. I'll see how many miles from here. 773 miles. Microsoft's Streets & Trips program is such a slick little tool for plotting directions and finding places.

Fort Walton is near where Tootsie Tonasket's long lost sister was recently found. Tootsie and the long lost sister have not yet had a reunion.

Dallas Cowboy Stadium Eminent Domain Abuse Cases Still In Court

That's the termination anchor point of the northeast end of one of the 2 huge arches that holds up the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington.

That anchor point is right about where Evelyn Wray's house sat. She's is the one most in the news for fighting Arlington over what they wanted to pay her for her property. She ended up with a couple million bucks.

Several of the eminent domain cases are still in court. I have long said it seemed so criminally wrong, to me, to use eminent domain for private gain and then to force people out of their homes and start bulldozing, before they had their say in court.

A new lawsuit regarding Arlington's eminent domain abuse has popped up. The lawsuit is arguing something like the property owners where not paid the proper value for their property. Arguing that proper value is based on highest possible use and value of the property. Or something like that. As I understand it, the lawsuit claims that since a $1.1 Billion building now sits on their property, they were not paid the highest potential value.

Over and over again I've gotten comments telling me I just don't understand how much money this stadium is going to bring to Arlington and how much development is going to take place. These commenters apparently have never been to Texas Stadium and seen the lack of development around that stadium. Or asked themselves, why, if the stadium is so valuable, Irving so easily let it go?

I found interesting info about a previous abuse of eminent domain in Arlington. That time for the Ballpark in Arlington, with someone named George W. Bush steamrolling the eminent domain abuse. As with the Cowboy stadium people fought having their homes stolen. The Ranger ballpark has produced little of the economic boom its backers promised. It all sounds real deja vu.

I'll copy and paste 4 paragraphs about George W.'s foray into abusing eminent domain for private gain....

One of the most famous eminent domain cases involved the Cowboys' future home of Arlington, where baseball's Texas Rangers, at the time owned by George W. Bush, convinced local voters to approve a 1991 tax increase that helped build a new $191 million stadium. The city of Arlington used eminent domain to acquire the property from hundreds of private owners, claiming that the stadium was a "public use," just like highways, schools, or government buildings. Several property owners were lowballed, and court decisions increased their take. (The city, not the team, was responsible for the larger payments. The compensation for one 13-acre plot was increased from $877,000 to $5 million, for example.)

The stadium clearly benefited the Rangers' owners more than anyone else: Bush turned his initial $600,000 investment into $15 million when the team was sold in 1999. But it has produced little of the promised economic benefit to Arlington, and there has never been a real "public use" factor aside from baseball fans' paying their money to see games.

Opponents of stadium deals argue that teams and local governments are getting around the public use issue by placing the stadium or arena in the ownership of a "public sports authority." The property is then tax exempt, and the teams pay nominal rent that is often less than they would have owed in property taxes. The lease arrangements are often lopsided in favor of the teams; many, for instance, allow the franchises to move after a certain time if revenues do not hit projections. This threat to pull stakes and run gives teams strong leverage to renegotiate. If the sports facility were privately owned, there would be no lease to haggle over, and the team would be less willing (and able) to leave.

Without eminent domain, acquiring enough property for a stadium could become expensive. A handful of property owners could hold up an entire complicated deal. "If the court makes the ruling that this is not a valid use of eminent domain, there will be some problems," says Scott Powe, a law professor at the University of Texas. "Huge problems. No doubt, there will be lots of litigating."

A law is winding its way through the Texas Legislature that would greatly restrict the use of eminent domain for private gain in Texas. I'm guessing this law has a very slim chance of passing.

The Lonely Bench That's Not On The Loneliest Road In America

That's a Lonely Bench looking out at one of the ponds at Village Creek Natural Historical Area. I have never seen anyone sitting on this bench, including today when I took the picture of the Lonely Bench.

I have no idea why, but every time I see this bench I think to myself that's the Loneliest Bench in the World. There are a lot of lonely picnic tables in this park, too, that I've never seen used.

I saw several humans at Village Creek while I pedaled today, some biking, some walking, with one pair engaging in behavior best kept out of public view. I think they figured they were in an isolated spot and did not realize how quickly a biker could close in on their location. I politely averted my eyes, for the most part, and zoomed away.

Years ago on a very fun road trip, one part of the trip took the drive across Nevada that is called "The Loneliest Road in America." I think it was an article in Life magazine that dubbed it that. There is a giant sand dune that you drive by on the Loneliest Road. By that sand dune is a phone booth that has a sign that says "Loneliest Phone Booth on the Loneliest Road in America." I wonder if that phone booth is still there? I saw it early on in the era of cell phones and the demise of phone booths.

I think it was all the lonely stuff on the Loneliest Road that causes me to think that's the Loneliest Bench every time I see it. So, despite what I said above, I guess I do have an idea why I think that's the Loneliest Bench every time I see it.

Finally A Bill For Zero Owed From The Dallas Morning News

A couple weeks ago I blogged the sad story of the demise of my longtime habit of reading a newspaper in the morning.

I had pre-paid for the Dallas Morning News for 3 months. When that 3 months was up I was not contacted by the Dallas Morning News to ask if I wanted to continue my subscription.

The paper continued to show up on my doorstep for 43 days after the 3 pre-paid months were up. On day 44 there was no paper on my doorstep. I had no idea the 3 months were up, since, like I said, there'd been no contact from the Dallas Morning News.

So, I called to complain about the missing paper. I was told the paper had been stopped due to me not paying the bill. I told the customer service person I had received no bill. At that point in time it had not occured to me that I had not authorized continued delivery after my 3 month pre-paid subscription was up. And that I owe them nothing.

And then I started getting daily phone calls from an unknown number. After a week or so of that I answered the phone to learn, via fractured English, that the calls were in regards to the un-paid bill that I had not received. The caller told me she'd inform the Dallas Morning News that they needed to send me a bill.

So, today I finally got a bill from the Dallas Morning News. That's part of the bill, at the top, that says I owe $0.00 for my subscription. And asking me to donate $2.00 to Newspapers in Education. And telling me that that $2.00 is due May 15, which is today.

And it's a mystery why the newspaper business is in trouble?

To make it even more ironic and funny. And incompetent. There was a letter enclosed with the "bill" from the Editor of the paper. I can't make out the name, it's in bad long hand. Maybe the last name is Morry. No clue about the first name, it looks like it might begin with a B.

The letter is addressed to "Dear Subscriber," It starts off with "I wanted to thank you again for reading the Dallas Morning News and for your loyalty."

Thank me again? This is the first thanks I've gotten. My loyalty? I no longer get the paper.

The letter continues on about how the paper wants to continue serving me and the community and their commitment to me and a whole lot of other nonsensical blather that is silly because I'm not a subscriber and no longer read their paper.

I liked it while I read it, though, even said nice things about that paper on this very blog. And then they went all screwy on me. And continue to be screwy. At least now I have a piece of paper from the Dallas Morning News that quite clearly says I owe them no money.

Only Child Syndrome & The Mommy Playbook

Yesterday I blogged, again, about Only Child Syndrome. I'd seen a lot of people coming to my blog via searching for help in dealing with the syndrome.

And then I saw one of the relief seekers had come from a website called "The Mommy Playbook." I then visited "The Mommy Playbook" to discover a forum in which someone had started a thread titled "Too Hot to Touch" in which one of my bloggings about Only Child Syndrome was copied in its entirety. Which set off a lot of Mommys commenting.

There were several amusing comments to what I had to say about Only Child Syndrome. Below is one of my favorites...

I've never understood the need to have a huge celebration when it's someone's birthday.

On the subject, I think the author is a wee bit cranky, but does make some valid points. I've known some only children that were just awful to be around. I've also known only children that grew up to be wonderful, well-adjusted adults.

It totally has to do with parenting. I think yes, it probably takes a lot of work on the parents' part, but is well worth it to the child's future.

This article made me think of one horror story of a friend I had who was an only child and fit that description completely. Her parents made her the center of their world and she completely thought, and still thinks she is the center of the universe. I really hope I don't make the same mistakes.

The above is correct. The author was a bit cranky when he wrote about Only Child Syndrome. He'd dealt with the disturbingly bizarre behavior of one of the worst of the breed and was trying to figure out what causes such twisted, self-centered, irrational behavior.

Strange thing, in "The Mommy Playbook" thread about Only Child Syndrome I saw no link to my blog. So, how did this website show up in my stats as having a link to my blog? It's perplexing.

Hot Hiking & Canton First Monday Trading Days

This is Thursday and it is not raining. My one longtime reader might remember that means there is a good chance I went hiking today at the Tandy Hills Natural Area. My one longtime reader would be correct.

Slightly warm today and not very breezy, making for some HOT hiking with minimalized clothing to maximize comfort.

It would appear the wildflowers have peaked, judging by what I saw today. I don't know if it qualifies as a wildflower, but the prickly pear cactus were busy blooming. They sprout out a nice big yellow flower that eventually turns into an edible piece of fruit. I bit into a prickly pear once. I can see if one were real hungry one might eat one.

May this year ends on a Sunday, which makes the first Monday of June come on the first day of June, which makes the next Canton First Monday Trading Days take place the last 4 days of this month due to First Mondays taking place the 4 days prior to the First Monday of any given month.

Someone got a new car and wants to take it on a short road trip and is trying to convince me to drive her new car to Canton at the end of the month. It sort of sounds fun, except, by the end of May it can get really really hot. My first time to First Monday was late in the month of April. And it was HOT. I was not as acclimated, then, to the Texas HEAT as I am now, but still, it was HOT. I was in Canton the next time in October with very pleasant temperatures, with the last time being in December, two years ago, when First Mondays was the busiest I'd ever seen it, due to Christmas. The December visit to Canton managed to be warm and muggy.

Texas weather can manage to be warm at any time of the year.

LOST In Texas With A TV Star For A Friend

A couple months ago I'd grown tired of reading about Facebook to the point I was finally curious enough to check it out. But there was a catch. I had to create a Facebook account to do so.

In the process of creating the Facebook account I used my Internet nickname, not my real name. Some of the info was correct, like the name of my high school and where I went to college. Most info I was not accurate about.

During the process of creating the account there is a step where you are shown a list of names you might know. I thought I was supposed to select the names I recognized. So, I did so, not realizing this sent out "Friend" requests to these people.

That resulted in me getting embarrassing messages like "How do I know you and why do you want to be my friend." Eventually one of those to whom I had inadvertently sent out a "Friend Request" figured out who I was. She now regularly beats me at Scrabble. It's humiliating. I used to think I was pretty smart til Scrabble put me in my place.

So, this morning I got a fresh "Friend Request" from Beth in Hawaii. I've no idea how Beth figured out she knew me. Maybe it's through the Scrabble Queen. Who knows? Or cares? When I confirmed that I was, indeed, a friend of Beth's I went to look at her profile I found out what Beth has been up to since I last saw her sometime late in the last century.

I knew Beth now lived in Hawaii. We used to both live in Mount Vernon, Washington. I did not know she is now an actress! She's been on LOST, playing one of the crash survivors in that first plane that crashed on LOST that started the show.

I don't know if Beth goes skinny dipping with Matthew Fox, aka Jack Sheppard. I've read that several castmates join him in his regular skinny dips.

It does not shock me that Beth would be on TV and in movies. She's always been a real cutie, with a very easy to listen to voice. I think this may be the first time I've been friends with a TV/Movie star. I'm all atwitter. Whatever that means.

P.S. I forgot to mention, Beth is the one second from the left in the picture, behind Charlie.

Only Child Syndrome: Another Outbreak

I wish I knew what causes the outbreaks of people suddenly looking for help in dealing with Only Child Syndrome. Yesterday I had one of those outbreaks, with relief seekers coming in clusters.

This time the outbreak was limited to the U.S. and Canada. Maybe OCS is a plot-line on a soap opera that popped up yesterday. Or maybe Oprah did an episode on the Syndrome some psychiatrists have opined is a disease.

I've blogged a number of times on this serious subject, originally doing so because I was trying to figure out the mentally ill behavior I experienced from an Only Child last summer in Tacoma.

The bloggings about Only Child Syndrome get a lot of comments. Yesterday's outbreak on people seeking Only Child Syndrome information generated an inadvertently funny comment from an Only Child. This is not the first comment I've gotten from an Only Child in which the Only Child seems to be both arguing against the reality of the Syndrome while at the same time exhibiting symptoms of the Syndrome.

Below is the comment.....

I feel like this is ridiculous.

Only Child Syndrome is a term used to describe selfish characteristics that tend to be exhibited in children with no siblings. being an only child has nothing to do with grammar, intelligence or, family dynamics. The truth of the matter is that growing up in a household where there are no other children you learn some vital survival skills, the first of which is that mom and dad don't always have time to play so be creative and play single person games, second; there is no one to share the task of chores with, so while "John and Jane" get to split and alternate, you are stuck doing dishes every day, third; the only reason to be angry with anyone is when they are insulting/disrespecting you or invading your space. I agree that it is more difficult for only children to make emotional attachments, but I think that with time the difficulty eases and we learn. The moral of the story, We ARE entitled, We DON'T have to share, and if you want us to share maybe you ought to be nice!