A Year Of Sanity After A Month Of Insanity

This morning I realized it was a year ago today, August 20, that I returned to Love Field to relative sanity after a month of dealing with more insanity than I'd ever previously experienced.

Actually it is not quite a year, yet. I did not get back to Dallas til around 9 in the evening.

It took me quite some time to recover from my month in Tacoma. It took a lot of thinking to come to some understanding of what I'd dealt with and what caused the perplexing behaviors. I used this very blog to verbalize my progress in understanding what I had experienced. It was highly amusing at times, as others who felt my pain, and who had their own experiences dealing with the "problem," sent their condolences and appreciation at realizing there was such a large support group.

When I flew out of there I said at the time I likely would not return for at least 10 years. But as it always does, time heals wounds, so now I'm thinking I might return sooner than 9 years from now. Maybe.

A Tree Grows Dead And A Mountain Rises In Fort Worth

That's a dead tree at Oakland Lake Park. Today I saw it has been marked with an X. I assume this means it will soon be executed. Why? I don't know. I like gnarled old dead trees. It appears to be not presenting any danger.

There were a half dozen of big lawnmowers zipping around the park today. You have to watch out for them. They drive like maniacs. That and they hit things and send them flying. Like today, a golf ball went whizzing by me.

Yesterday was a totally aerobic free day except for running after a piece of paper that got away from me. Today has not been an aerobic free day. I was up real early, went swimming while it was still dark.

I got an email query asking if my Therapist had recovered from her bout of dizziness. This emailer said it sounded like morning sickness. I do not know how one could come to that conclusion. But it certainly is nothing I'm going to inquire about. And yes, my Therapist is back on the job.

After I was done looking at gnarled dead things that surround Oakland Lake I drove Meadowbrook Drive, east, to my local Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. Has anyone else noticed the sort of odd new Wal-Mart packaging? It must be some sort of money saving deal.

When Meadowbrook reached the I-820 freeway I was stopped by a redlight. I looked up to see a round white mountain in the distance. I've been at this spot before and had the same reaction. When you've spent most of your life in a place where there are big mountains in every direction, it's hard to shake that expectation that's buried in your sub-conscious, even after quite a long time spent in this mountain free zone.

After so many years of being conditioned to expect flatness, when I'm back in Washington, the mountains create an almost claustrophobic effect for me, particular going over a mountain pass.

Like I mentioned earlier today, that "mountain" you see in the picture will have Paul McCartney singing inside and a lot of people looking to the Arlington Traffic Command Center to keep them moving in their cars.

Paul McCartney & The Texas Rangers Jamming Arlington

Today is going to be the first real-life, non-simulated test of Arlington's ability to handle two big events at once in its always busy Entertainment District.

Six Flags Over Texas is open. Hurricane Harbor is open. And tonight the Texas Rangers play the Minnesota Twins in the Ballpark in Arlington, while a short distance away, my favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney, is going to be singing in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Somewhere in the range of 60,000 people will be finding their way to the two venues. Arlington officials have activated what they called their Traffic Command Center.

You can go to Dallas Cowboys Maps and enter your ZIP code and your assigned parking area to get your best route past all the road construction and barricaded roads. To park in one of the Dallas Cowboy lots it will cost you $30. To save $18 you can park in a Ranger's lot for only $12. With the short walk to the stadium being a little exercise side benefit, in addition to saving money.

I'm guessing that before today is done I'll will likely be seeing the results of a massive traffic jam as far as my abode. I am so old I remember traffic jams as being something that only happened in the Los Angeles area. I remember our first family trip to Disneyland and me and my siblings being so excited to be in our first traffic jam. We took pictures. Now traffic jams are the norm, not a novelty.

On Friday the Arlington Traffic Command Center gets another test, with the first Dallas Cowboy game in the new stadium. 70,000 are expected. One would have thought the stadium would be full for the first game in the new stadium. A lot of people must have balked at the high cost of renting a seat for a few hours. That $24 parking fee likely irks some, as well.

Ryan Seacrest Is Following Me

I have had me a day. In the late afternoon I suffered some absurd bureaucratic nonsense that was brain numbing. I can't describe it because I'd just get all agitated again. Suffice to say, eventually I solved the problem.

Earlier today I got an email from Twitter telling me that Ryan Seacrest is now one of my Twitter followers. I have never had a follower, as far as I know, who makes a minimum of $15 million a year.

A couple days ago, on my TV blog, I had blogged about Ryan Seacrest and the ridiculous amount of money American Idol pays him. Then this morning I Twittered about that blogging, which is what I think led to Ryan becoming one of my ardent Twitter followers.

After Ryan became one of my followers I became one of his. He has some good Tweeting on his Twitter page. I don't know how he finds the time. From one of Ryan's Tweets I got great TV Blog material about crazy Kim from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. As soon as I read it I knew I had to blog it. Those Atlanta Housewives keep my TV Blog on fire.

So, that's been my day, so far, dealing with fascist nutcases and having Ryan Seacrest following me. That and I had a virtual trip to Walla Walla to smell the onions with my favorite Scrabbler.

I Finally Figured Out Twitter

Well, more accurately, I have finally found a use for Twitter. Previously I was at a total loss as to understanding what Twitter was good for.

I did not understand why I was getting "Followers". What were they following? And why? You only have 148 characters to do your tweeting. I have not come across much that was interesting that others have Twittered or Tweetered in 148 characters.

I did not understand how Twitter played such a role during the recent Iranian unrest. And then I finally noticed the search window. If you enter "Iran Unrest" into the search window you'll have your screen filled with Tweets about Iranian Unrest.

But there is no credibility. Anyone, anywhere can make up a Tweet. To test that I Tweeted "Escaped beating by Iran police. Much blood. Some dead. Much unrest." Then I entered "Iran Unrest" into the search window, and there it was, my totally untrue Tweet. Quickly followed by others that may or may not have been true.

Once I realized what this search function did, I saw how I could use it. I've written bloggings on hundreds upon hundreds of subjects. For example, I blogged about Durango, Colorado last week.

So, I logged into Twitter. I entered "Durango Colorado" into the search window to see if anyone was looking for Durango info. They were. I then Tweeted "Durango Texas Blogged about Durango, Colorado," then pasted in the URL for that particular blogging. Tweeter then changes the URL into something shorter so it'll fit within the 148 character constraint.

I then hit the "update" button. Then I entered "Durango Colorado" into the search window and there it was. My Tweeting with a link to the blog. At some point in the day I will be able to tell from my blog stats if this caused some clickers.

But the main thing, is I finally have a glimmer of getting a little understanding of the usefulness of Twitter.

Brad Pitt And Me With Yet One More Thing In Common

Brad Pitt and I have a lot in common. And now it seems you can add joining the epidemic of going willingly bald to the list. Although I don't quite know the technique to get to the totally bald point. I suppose I could infosearch for that valuable information.

In that Ghost Rider book I think I mentioned that I'm reading, that the Queen of Wink sent me, well, today I learned that the author of that book, Neil Peart, also the drummer for the Canadian rock band that calls itself Rush, on the 1st of July (me being a boy who grew up near the Canadian border, knows July 1 is Canada Day), well, on that day, every year, Neil Peart has his one and only haircut of the year, shaving himself bald and then letting it grow back til the next Canada Day.

Fourth of July has come and gone for the year, but I think I'll adopt this one haircut a year plan, starting next 4th of July. By then I should have been able to learn how to achieve the totally bald deal. I hope I don't have to buy new tools.

My therapist, Dr. L.C., is ailing with a bad case of dizzy. I hope she's feeling better soon. A lot depends on her not being dizzy.

Insomnia Strikes Deep Into The Heart Of The Sleep

Another strange night in Durango World. I was real tired, so I went to bed real early. First mistake. But I fell asleep easily. And woke up at midnight. Was this too early to start a new day, I wondered?

After thoughtful consideration, I decided midnight was too early to get up. Thus began 4 hours of tossing and turning that ended at 4, when I did get up.

I was in the pool before 5. I like being in the water in the dark. And with no moon lighting up the place, it was dark.

After I had breakfast I turned into a blogging, webpage making maniac. Except for this particular blog, which is the blog that if I don't blog I get emails or calls asking what's wrong with me. So, far, though, today, no emails or calls inquiring after my well being.

I'm checking out for a couple hours. Talk to you later.

Melancholy & Baldness Outbreak Goes Epidemic

Gar the Texan made a totally inappropriate comment about my new hair-free hairstyle. The poor boy seems to always be about a decade out of sync. He had a mullet, known in the Northwest as a Pocatella-doo, well into this century.

I was appalled when I first met Gar the Texan and saw he had hair that said, hello, I am visiting from 1980. It took all my tactful, diplomatic skills to get that boy to realize the error of his hair choice. Within a year he credited my good advice with causing him both a promotion at work and the acquiring of yet one more wife.

And just recently Gar the Texan learned he will someday have a house in Germany, courtesy of that new wife. Without my gentle prodding to lose the mullet, none of this good fortune would have fallen Gar the Texans way. But is he grateful? No. Instead he cast aspersions, today, on my advice giving. I'm appalled.

Meanwhile, I guess Ryan Seacrest decided to try out being bald. I don't know how to get to the totally bald point. Nair for Men?

In addition to the self-inflicted baldness epidemic, melancholy also seems to be spreading. Today my physical therapist, Dr. L.C., came down with a bad case of the blues. I tried to get her to come hiking with me at the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area, but she refused. Without my daily boost of endorphins triggered by aerobic stress, I'm a mess. After I get my fix, I'm a new person, before that, not so much.

Bald Is Beautiful?

Tootsie Tonasket insisted she wanted to see a picture of the new, bald me. What Tootsie wants, Tootsie gets.

I'm looking almost as grumpy as I'm feeling.

It's been less than 24 hours since I balded myself. So far I'm liking being bald. I was hoping going bald would have me looking like I belong on Prison Break. Instead I'm thinking I'm looking like a bad John Locke clone on LOST.

This is definitely the worst thing I've done to my hair in years. Almost as bad as early in this century when someone convinced me it would be fun to be blond. She told me I would be a dark blond. Instead I was the color of a very bright banana. The banana was remedied fairly easily. But I was not happy about the entire experience.

I have no one to blame but myself for the current follicle challenge. I prefer having someone other than myself to blame when something does not go quite right. Maybe I'll take a daily picture of my baldness slowly ending, like that cool video of that guy who walked across China that I blogged about earlier in the month.

I'm out of here in a bit. Talk to you later.

Accidental Baldness & Tandy Sanity

It is coming up on 2 in the afternoon. I have not blogged today. And no one has emailed or called asking if I'm okay. I've got too many other things on my mind to worry about why no one any longer cares if I'm okay.

I really was not okay by mid-morning. By noon I desperately needed that melancholy antidote known at the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area. It was very breezy today, so there was a good wind chill factor going on.

I saw yet another new wildflower today. A delicate looking one, like a little orchid.

Note in the picture how green it is here. I've been told that Western Washington has turned brown. It was brown when I was up there last summer. Unless some method is found to turn the west side back green, Washington is going to need to re-think that Evergreen State nickname.

So, what stupid thing did I do today, you're sitting there wondering. Well. I have a hair clippers. I thought to myself, how hard can it be to give myself a crewcut? Gary Hart was known for cutting his own hair, and he and I have so much in common, I figured I could do it.

It started off fine. I had the clippers set to a half inch. But, I soon found there are skills involved in operating such machinery that amateurs do not possess. Though the clippers were set to a half inch, a half inch is not what happened when the clippers hit a curved area.

After that disaster I decided to go for a buzz cut. How hard could that be? About an hour later my head looked like a cat with mange. I decided to give up on the clippers. I figured I'd shave myself bald. I've wondered what I'd look like bald and this now seemed a good opportunity to end the wondering.

I had my head all lathered up with shaving cream. And started shaving. This did not work. I took a shower to get the mess off my head.

It was hopeless

I had to call for help. Scissors were used to clip off some of the mange. And then the clippers, eventually, were able to do their buzz cut thing. All in all I'm pleased with the outcome and I don't think I look ridiculous at all. But I won't be going out in public without a baseball cap on for a few weeks.

It was great hiking bald today. I don't consider the Tandy Hills a public place, because I see so few humans there, except for the homeless guy who lives in a tent. He's added furniture since I first mentioned the Tandy Tent.

There you have it, Saturday, so far, in this hell I'm living in Texas.