Wal-Mart's Institutionalized Thievery Strikes Again

Yes, I realize my one longtime reader is rolling her eyes and thinking he's not going to go on about Wal-Mart sucking again, is he?

Why, yes I am. Earlier this month I blogged several times about how Wal-Mart, system-wide, was charging $2.00 for a gallon of milk, when their shelf price signs had it at $1.98. After the 3rd or 4th time of being overcharged 2 cents, I went to Customer Service, assuming the longstanding practice of totally refunding the price of a mistake was still in play, but instead I just got my 2 cents worth back. And the satisfaction of blogging about it.

I then got a very long comment from some guy who I found out later has a Wal-Mart Sucks Blog. He referred to Wal-Mart's pricing scams, which have become chronic, as Wal-Mart's Instituionalized Thievery.

Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to shop at Wal-Mart anymore, but, other than Sprouts, where am I to go? Sprouts is 12 miles north. I'm not going to go there every time I need something. And today I needed bread. I got only 6 items. Of the items, the bread was the only item I had noticed what the price was.

I usually get Wal-Mart brand whole wheat bread. For a long time, for some reason, Wal-Mart wasn't stocking their Wal-Mart brand whole wheat bread. They substituted locally made Mrs. Baird's whole wheat bread for the same price, that being $1.47. Mrs. Baird's whole wheat bread is usually $1.78.

Today the Wal-Mart brand whole wheat bread had gone missing again. And once again, there was Mrs. Baird's in its place, with $1.47 once more as the price.

But, when I checked out, the bread scanned at $1.78, a 31 cent difference. I know you're thinking if I went to the bother of going to Customer Service to get my 2 cents worth I certainly would do that again to get a whopping 31 cents. Well, you would be wrong. Even though there was no line in Customer Service I wasn't going to waste time to get a measly 31 cents.

I have other ways of making Wal-Mart pay for their Institutionalized Thievery...

Looking for Hogs, Studs & Suds at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie

I noticed this billboard a couple days ago, driving back from hiking the Tandy Hills. From the quick drive-by glance I could tell it had something to do with Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie. That's a horse race place.

It was the Hogs, Studs, and Suds part that perplexed me. Hogs I figured were motorbikes. Suds I figured was beer. But Studs? The party with me was certain Studs referred to the guys and their Hogs. I suggested that Studs must refer to horses. It being a horserace track, that seemed logical. I was told that not all racehorses are Studs, that some are Fillies.

I don't know farm talk so I had to ask what a Filly was. Maybe the Lone Star Park only races Studs. It being Texas that makes sense. I did not know there were girl race horses. Perhaps I should doubt the rectitude of my source.

I Googled "Hogs Studs Suds Lone Star Park" and still don't know what the "Stud" part of the sign refers to. But I did learn on Memorial Day you can pay $5 to get in the park ($3 kids 4-12, under 3 free). When you are in the park apparently you get to experience "the richest day of Texas Thoroughbred racing on Lone Star Park Million Day."

I don't know if that means there is a million dollar prize, or what. Being at Lone Star Park for Million Day you have a chance to win a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, hence the Hog part of the sign. You'll also have the opportunity to get quite drunk, sampling more than 100 microbrews at the Studs and Suds Micro-Brew Festival. So now we know why Suds is on the sign.

But why Studs? A band called Professor D will play during the festival at the Courtyard of Champions. Maybe Professor D is the Stud.

Tandy Hills, Wildflowers, Hamburgers & Broccoli

It's 3pm, 84 degrees, windows closed, A/C running. It's Saturday, so I did my usual Saturday thing and went hiking on the Tandy Hills.

I don't know what happened but I lost a couple hours this morning. This had me in the Tandy zone way later than usual. Being later had it also being hotter, as in today I was sweating like a Fat Pig in a sauna.

The first thing I did when I got back here was to jump in the pool. The water was way cooler than the air. Which was a good thing.

The Tandy Hills are being about as green as they are going to get before gradually returning to being brown. Last week's rain seems to have caused a fresh crop of wildflowers to bloom. I thought they'd passed their peak, but today the prairie was being real colorful again.

Big Ed did not like my abridged version of his long-winded Lake Powell fish story that I blogged about this morning and put on my Durango Roadtripping Blog. I thought I improved the story. Well, at least made it so it couldn't be used as a sleep aid.

I'm hungry, I must go eat a hamburger now. With broccoli.

Lake Powell Fish Catching Passive Aggressiveness & Scarborough Faire

In my email inbox this morning I found a long-winded tale, by Big Ed, tall taling about catching a single solitary fish at Utah's Lake Powell during a houseboating trip.

The tale was way too long to use as a blogging, so I re-wrote a much shorter version and put it on my Durango Roadtripping Blog. A blog which is starting to seem way too much like being back in school doing homework. So many facts to check on.

Also in the inbox this morning was something from my Favorite Blogging Co-Conspirator that can only be thought of as being cruel. She knew I was lamenting over wanting to go on a road trip or hike up a real mountain or swim at a saltwater beach, hopefully combining all three. So, what does Miss Sassypants send me? A picture of Fort Walton Beach where she spent several days lounging recently.

If that's not passive-aggressiveness, I don't know what is.

There is no saltwater beach in my future today, but I did go swimming, again, this morning at the crack of dawn. That is a pathetically weak substitute. Maybe I'll go for a long walk on the beach at Lake Grapevine today, which is another pathetic substitute, but at least it's a beach and if it's windy there'll be waves with whitecaps.

This weekend and Memorial Day is your last chance to go to Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival for the year. I've only been to the Faire once, several years ago, but that day and its aftermath had a lingering effect. It's been awhile since I've gotten a death threat, so that's a good thing.

80 degrees. Time to shut the windows.

Nearly Killed At Village Creek Crime Scene

I had too much to get done this morning. By the time I was able to escape it was past noon. I was going to go to River Legacy Park to ride the mountain bike trail, but that would have taken too long, so I went to my nearest pedaling place, that being Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

When I was at Village Creek a couple days ago I was not pleased to find myself biking over the remains of a window. Likely a break-in theft attempt looking for valuables, which you are warned not to leave in your vehicle because there have been problems previously.

So much so that a pole with security cameras were added some time ago. The sign on the security pole says...

SECURITY NOTICE
PARKING AREA
SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
MAXIMUM ENFORCEMENT
OF ALL ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

The first time I saw this it just seemed real silly to me. "Enforcement of all illegal activities?" What does that verbiage even mean? And am I supposed to believe that someone actually monitors these cameras? If so, I've mooned that person a time or two, as I quickly change from biking shorts to non-biking shorts. I guess mooning the security camera must not be an illegal activity requiring maximum enforcement.

As soon as I stepped out of my van I saw there'd been two more windows broken. From the position of the glass I could tell they were side windows on the side not facing the street. Since there is nothing of value in my van, I left the window open today.

I had several "incidents" while biking today. First off groundskeeping crews were all over the place, trucks were driving the trail. They can be hard to get around.

Coming to the first bridge/dam I could see 3 bikers on the other side. I knew that by the time I was on the other side, they'd be coming down the hill fast towards me. I met the first 2 females with no problem, but the male behind them was looking at his odometer and heading straight at me at high speed. I had no room to maneuver out of his way. I hollered, he looked up and swerved, narrowly avoiding a head on collision.

About a mile after nearly being killed in a head-on bike wreck there was a group of 2 moms with 5 little kids. I hollered "coming up on you." The moms got all frantic, yelling at the kids not to move. I slowed way down, then, just as I got right to them, a little boy, who had only been paying attention to a spider, suddenly backed up when the spider moved towards him. I had to slam on the brakes or I would have hit the little guy.

The next weird thing is they'd been mowing the sides of the trail. This leaves some grass residue, which would likely desiccate and blow away within 24 hours. But, rather than let that happen, a person stands on the bed of a pickup, while the driver drives as the bed stander holds a leaf blower and blows some of the grass off the pavement.

I thought, why waste gas doing such a thing? Not to mention the pollution, both noise and air, that those air blowers put out.

So, that was my bike ride today. I almost died and I almost killed a little kid and I was at a crime scene where there is maximum enforcement of all illegal activities. It's been a good day in Texas.

Fort Worth Soldier Zachary Boyd Battles Taliban In Pink Boxers

I am sure the Fort Worth Star-Telegram covered this story, since it involved a Fort Worth soldier. I no longer get the Star-Telegram so I no longer get to marvel at that paper's odd need to mention the Fort Worth connection, no matter how tenuous, to a celebrity or person in the news. You could be married to someone who once lived in Fort Worth and that would be enough of a connection for the Star-Telegram to need to mention it.

Long ago I webpaged some examples of that paper's goofiness, including funny uses of their patented "Green With Envy" verbiage. As in towns far and wide are green with envy because a soldier from Fort Worth battled the Taliban in Afghanistan out of uniform, clad in pink I Love NY boxer shorts and flip-flops.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates (if I were like the Star-Telegram I would somehow insert that Gates was a neighbor of mine when I lived in Washington) heaped praise on a Fort Worth soldier on Thursday. Earlier this month a picture was snapped of the soldier hurrying to defend his post, wearing pink boxers and flip-flops.

Secretary Gates yesterday said he wants to meet the soldier and shake his hand the next time he visits Afghanistan. Gates said, "Any solider who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage. I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban. Just imagine seeing that a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his cross-hairs. What an incredible innovation in psychological warfare."

Army Specialist Zachary Boyd, 19, ran out of his sleeping quarters May 11 to help his other platoon members who were under fire from Taliban positions shooting at their base in Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan. A photographer was on the scene. When the picture showed up on the front page of the New York Times, Zachary told his mom and dad, here in Fort Worth, that he might lose his job if President Obama saw that he was out of uniform.

To which Secretary Gates said, "I can assure you that Specialist Boyd's job is very safe indeed."

Memorial Day Weekend at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center

I've said it before, I'll say it again, during my now decade long exile in Texas the funnest thing I've done, where I laughed more than anything else I've laughed at in Texas, was my drive through Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.

If you're in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone and you've not been to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and you're looking for something in the area to do to kick off the start of the summer season, you can not go wrong with Fossil Rim. Especially if you have kids.

Fossil Rim is down by Glen Rose, near Dinosaur Valley State Park, which is also a good getaway if you've never seen the dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy River bed. The hiking and biking in Dinosaur Valley may be the best I've experienced in Texas.

At Fossil Rim you go into the Visitors Center to buy your tickets and feed, if you want to feed the animals. On weekend and holidays the entry fee is at its highest. It may sound a tad expensive in these troubled times, with adults 12 - 21 $22.95, kids 3 -11 $16.95 and seniors $19.95.

I do not know, what with Fossil Rim qualifying 12 year olds as adults, if the 12 year olds are allowed to buy adult beverages at Fossil Rim.

The entry fee may seem steep, you will only think that before you see what you get for your money. After that it will seem like a bargain and the money will seem well spent.

After I webpaged my visit to Fossil Rim I was sent an annual pass good for one year and two guest passes. I did not get around to using the pass. I had good intentions. I wanted to go back and take video. But, I've not been back.

For more pictures, including more zebra pictures, go to my Eyes on Texas website to see why Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is the funnest thing I've done in Texas.

Have yourself a good, happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Alma Sings Sunset Sounds In Port Aransas

Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast sent me a cool picture this morning that I felt compelled to share.

In the picture Alma and her conga drummer, Luis, are playing at Sunset Sounds at Patsy Jones Amphitheater at Roberts Point Park in Port Aransas.

That is the Lydia Channel behind Alma, with a big freighter going through the channel. While Alma was singing and Luis was drumming Mother Nature was blowing gusts up to 52 mph.

Below is Alma's America's Got Talent YouTube Audition....

Swimming In Potholes In Fort Worth

Another beautiful morning in Fort Worth.

This new swimming at the crack of dawn is being a real good thing.

Speaking of cracks. We have a lot of cracks in the pavement here in this zone of Texas. And potholes. And leaks. Sometimes all three at the same time.

Yesterday, when I turned on to View Street to go hiking at the Tandy Hills, I saw a lot of water spewing from yet one more water pipe leak. The leak ran into the park, eventually finding its way to a usually dry creek bed, turning the dry creek into an active flow moving a lot of gallons of wasted water per second. Appalling in a zone where water is something you don't want to be wasting.

On the road by where I live there are several potholes that are caused by water leaks. The potholes get filled with asphalt, like they were yesterday, and then the water gradually erodes the asphalt away and the pothole returns. There seems to be no effort to find the source of the water leak.

This problem seems to have turned epidemic in some areas of this town. I've read the water delivery infrastructure is ancient, in some places, and in need of replacement. This must be the case with the View Street leaks.

So, that's my day so far, swimming at dawn and being perplexed by leaking potholes.

Dallas/Fort Worth Level Orange Ozone Alert & Yellow Wildflowers

Despite being under a Level Orange Air Ozone Alert here in Fort Worth, I decided to risk doing damage to my lungs and other vital organs by going hiking at the Tandy Hills Natural Area at noon.

That's the noon view of beautiful downtown Fort Worth's stunning skyline. The air does not look very dirty, to me, in Ol' Dirty Town, today. Maybe it's invisible air pollution.

The Tandy Hills wildflowers seem to have had a resurgence, there was a lot of color on the ground today, including a big yellow flower that looked sort of sunflower/daisy-like.

Today whilst hiking it occurred to me that the Prairie Fest powers that be should have an Easter Egg Hunt during the Fest. With eggs on the trails, only, so that the little buggers don't go traipsing on the prairie grass. Eggs all over the park, with a couple golden prize winning eggs. Or something like that. You wouldn't want really little kids on the trails so there'd need to be their own special egg hunt on the grass somewhere, but kids 10-18, they'd be old enough to hurry along the trails looking for eggs, with some over exerting parents stumbling to keep up.

My backache woe is totally gone, hiking was good, semi-HOT, requiring that clothing be minimalized, and starting yesterday, even though it gets few visitors, so far, I have gotten the type feedback I was looking for to validate I was on the right track, so the new Durango Roadtripping idea is working out.