Message For The Mad Texas Grandma & Wal-Mart

I have not heard from Mad Texas Grandma for a few days. She left on a cruise last Saturday. I assume she is still lost at sea.

If you missed who the Texas Grandma is mad at, you can read all about that here. Short version, the Mad Texas Grandma believes her vehicle was towed illegally from the Stadium Wal-Mart on November 21 while she attended a high school football game at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

The picture is one Mad Texas Grandma took of the sparsely parking Wal-Mart parking lot the day after her vehicle was stolen.

I heard from another victim of A-AArlington Towing, I'll call Ryan J. This victim had his pickup stolen by the towing company from its perfectly legal parking position somewhere in Fort Worth. Somehow, during the course of towing the pickup, A-AArlington lost the pick-up bed's cover. A cover that costs around $2,000.

Ryan J. did not even have to go all legal on A-AArlington. Presented with the fact the towing was illegal and that they caused substantial damage to Ryan J.'s vehicle, A-AArlington cut him a check to cover the damages. I don't know if he got extra for pain and suffering. But he did find a replacement bed cover cheaper than the original.

Yesterday I got an interesting email regarding the towing of over 50 vehicles from the Stadium Wal-Mart Parking lot. I'll copy it below...

I think it's pretty obvious to anyone that the people who's cars were towed were trying to save a buck. They did not want to pay the ridiculous parking fee being charge at the lots around the stadium. Walmart has signs telling people "No Event Parking."

It would be my guess that those signs stop most people from attempting to park for free. On that Saturday night of October 21 over 50 drivers chose to risk parking on the Walmart lot.

My thinking is this. Those people parking on the Walmart lot did not hurt Walmart at all. I live near that Walmart parking lot. There is always plenty of parking available. On that Saturday night there would have been a lot of parking available, especially by midnight.

Why would Walmart want to risk the goodwill of all those potential customers? Of those 50 plus who were towed, had any gone into Walmart and bought something before walking across the street to the game?

Why doesn't Walmart take advantage of the situation and sell parking spots like so many other area businesses do? Wouldn't that make better business sense than putting so many of their customers through the misery and expense of retrieving their cars? Or have someone at the parking lot entry had out a time stamped 2 hour parking pass to all incoming cars, charging a fee if more than 2 hours pass before they check out of the lot.

Surely there must be a more sensible, more business-wise solution, from Walmart's view, than what was done to all those people that Saturday night.

According to what I read the Mad Texas Grandma say, she claims Walmart denies employing A-AArlington. Who told them to tow then? Why doesn't the Mad Texas Grandma contact the Arlington police, telling them she wants to know who was behind authorizing her car be towed.

Anonymous

Usually I hear from Anonymous via comments to this blog, in email I don't recollect anyone being Anonymous before, because, well, I can see their email address, which in Anonymous's case was still pretty anonymous.

Anyway, I agree with Anonymous. Good questions he/she raises.

Are Dozens Of Trees Growing on Fosdic Lake Dam A Healthy Thing?

Yesterday I mentioned a dead tree on Fosdic Lake Dam in Oakland Lake Park marked with a Big Red X. I said I assumed the X indicated the tree was to be removed, due to trees not being a good thing to have growing on a dam or levee.

A Fort Worth Parks Department person, Mark Woolsey, confirmed the purpose of the X in an email regarding yesterday's blogging, saying,

"The red “X” identifies the tree to the forestry crew for removal. Blogger is correct, a tree growing in the dam generally is not a healthy thing."

I would guess I've been seeing that red X on that tree for at least 2 years. Now, how many trees can you spot growing out of the dam? There are trees growing out of the dam on both sides of the trail that crosses the dam. There are at least 6 trees growing out of the south side of the dam, with maybe a dozen or more growing out of the north side.

Only the dead tree is marked with a Big Red X. Some of the trees are quite large with trunks way thicker than mine.

In Dallas, their version of the Trinity River Vision has had a hold up due to concerns about Trinity River levees having been compromised due to trees that had been allowed to grow into the levees.

In the first picture we are at the east end of the dam looking west. In the second picture you are at the west end of the dam looking east. In the third picture you are about halfway across the dam, looking at a thick tree trunk.

You can clearly see there are a lot of trees growing on Fosdic Lake Dam.

Now, the problem with having trees growing into a dam seems rather obvious. Trees have roots. Those roots go deep. The tangle of roots can weaken a dam. Dam fails. Big flood.

Though in the case of Fosdic Lake Dam failing, I doubt it'd be all that big a flood. The water would likely make a beeline for the Trinity River, slowed up by the secondary dam called Interstate 30.

So, if, as Mr. Woolsey says, "a tree growing in the dam generally is not a healthy thing," how healthy is it to have 20 or 30 trees growing in a dam, one can't help but wonder.

Very perplexing. I suppose I'm once more raising an unnecessary concern without benefit of verification.

No, I verified there are trees growing in to Fosdic Lake Dam and photo-documented that fact. And I further verified that this is a problem, quoting a Fort Worth Parks Department person's assessment that trees growing in a dam is not a healthy thing.

Mystery Solved Of Fosdic Lake Clearcut In Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park

Yesterday I blogged about seeing a large area of brush and trees cleared from under Fosdic Lake Dam at Oakland Lake Park. I was perplexed as to what the purpose was of such an effort.

I also mentioned a dead tree growing out of the dam, with a big red X supposedly marking it for extinction. The big red X has been on that tree for a long long time. I speculated that the tree is slated to be gone due to trees growing in levees and dams is not a good thing.

I'll get to more about the tree on the dam and its brothers and sisters in a blogging to follow this one.

Well, now, today we get a great example of how efficient the Internet works regarding getting answers to perplexing questions.

Fort Worth's #1 Watchdog, Don Young sent yesterday's blogging to a couple people who work for the city of Fort Worth's Parks Department.

Don Young's question regarding the blogging, asked "Any idea what this means? Looks like a pipeline easement to me."

To which Mark Woolsey replied...

Not to worry, Don, no pipelines. This is a planned effort by our staff in an effort to inspect the dam more clearly. We are working with the Stormwater Management Section of Transportation and Public Works, who keeps tabs on the condition of the various impoundments throughout the city. A proper inspection of the downstream toe of the dam is required, so the clearing is necessary to facilitate inspections, to see if there are any leaks, breaches, etc., and assess the overall condition of the dam.

If you notice, most of the work was done by hand, very painstakingly, not to disrupt more ground than necessary, only using equipment to remove the cut brush. As for the concrete forms, I am not sure what those are, but they were probably discarded by persons unknown years ago, and uncovered during the brush removal process.

The red “X” identifies the tree to the forestry crew for removal. Blogger is correct, a tree growing in the dam generally is not a healthy thing.

The thing with blogs is that they can raise unnecessary concern without the benefit of verification. This, in light of the blue flags issue at TH. An inquiry to our department can help to allay undue alarm (which is what you have done). I hope you feel led to pass this info on to the blogger – we’ll be glad to discuss our operations.

Thanks for your inquiry and concern.

Mark

Now, I take issue with the comment about "the thing with blogs is they can raise unnecessary concern without the benefit of verification. This, in light of the blue flags at TH (Tandy Hills)."

I don't believe I raised an unnecessary concern over a clearcut by a dam or when finding blue flags being stuck in the Tandy Hills Natural Area. It's called being curious. The venue by which that curiosity is expressed is this blog. And less than 24 hours later, I have an answer regarding what's being done to the greenery by the Fosdic Lake Dam.

Additionally, regarding raising concerns, Fort Worth is a town where a lot of things seem to happen without a lot of public input. And a lot of things go on that seem questionable, with no one doing any overseeing. Like I still don't know how a gas driller got permission to suck water from the Trinity River by Gateway Park, rutting up the Trinity River levee and making a big muddy mess.

Anyway, I'm glad to learn that the Fosdic Lake Dam is being checked for leaks.

Back To Balmy December Swimming In Fort Worth Texas With Video

That freezing temperatures nonsense is now behind us, for now, here in almost balmy Fort Worth, Texas.

So, I decided to give swimming a try this morning. Before I tried that I found a video I made last December, that I'd forgotten about, documenting that I was still swimming.

A year ago this seemed unusual to me, to still be swimming. Now it no longer seems unusual.

The quality of the video I made last December is real bad. For several months I was using my video camcorder with a setting that made for bad video. This affected all the video I shot when I was up in Washington a few months prior to the December swimming video.

About a month after figuring out why my video quality was so bad I got a new camera. I don't think I've made any videos since then.

It's been a couple hours since I subjected myself to an ice bath. I'm still a bit in recovery mode from that.

Anyway, below is video taken a little over a year ago, really bad video...

Trying To Solve The Mystery Of The Oakland Lake Park Clearcut

UPDATE: Clearcut Mystery Solved.

Even though I could not locate my missing long underwear I needed to get outside and breathe in some semi-fresh frigid Fort Worth air.

I decided to go to Oakland Lake Park and walk around Fosdic Lake. As you can see the icy air has Fosdic Lake looking rather scenic today.

The tree you are looking at is marked for extinction with a big red X. Why? I don't know. I think it looks cool. It grew atop the earthen dam that makes Fosdic Lake. Usually trees growing on earthen dams or levees is not a good thing.

The last time I walked across the Fosdic Lake Dam I noticed clearing was being done in the rain forest-like jungle of green that is beneath the dam. You can see a bit of the cleared area and the rain-forest like jungle of green that remains, in the photo below.

We are on Fosdic Lake Dam looking north at a little bit of what's been cleared. Today I decided to explore this new clearing up close and see if I could figure out what's going on.

I found my way into the cleared area and was very surprised at how extensive it is. Someone has done a lot of work, cleared out brush, ivy, chopped down trees. Why? Who? It's very perplexing.

A couple years ago a narrow area was cleared a few feet north of this location so that a new sewer line, I think it was a sewer line, could be stuck in the ground.

The cleared area continues to the east, to a road access.

Above is the the cleared area that leads to the east side of Oakland Lake Park. I could see that vehicles had accessed the cleared area from the west, no sign of tire caused ruts on the east entry point.

And then there were these redrock-looking plugs of cement, randomly arranged like some sort of Caleum Moor art installation on the north edge of the cleared area. It's all very perplexing.

Continuing Freeze In Fort Worth Breaks Tooth

That's the frozen view from my computer room window this 2nd Thursday of December. It is 26 outside the window this morning coming up on 10 o'clock.

It was 21 at the time I usually venture outside for a nice refreshing dip in the pool. 21 degrees would be way too refreshing.

I may try to go to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area today if I can find my long underwear.

I'm in a pretty foul mood this morning due to waking up to find that somehow during the night one of my molars seems to have developed a problem, as in a bit of tooth is missing. I have had this happen before, but not in a long long time.

I hate going to the dentist less than I hate going to a doctor, but not that much less.

As you can see in our Fort Worth 7-Day Forecast, below, in addition to looking forward to a dentist visit I have an almost 70 degree day to look forward to, this Sunday. If this forecast is correct today is the last we freeze for at least 6 days.

Fort Worth Mayor Moncrief Sprouts Horns While Practicing Crony Capitalism & Ignoring All His Conflicts Of Interest

I read today that Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief has been making around $600,000, annually, from the Oil and Gas Industry.

Mayor Moncrief oversees meetings where policy is made regarding things like permits to drill for natural gas in the Barnett Shale.

Moncrief is part of forming policy from which he monetarily benefits.

In other parts of America, and the world, this is what is known as a Conflict of Interest.

A Conflict of Interest exists when a person is in a position where he is entrusted with impartiality, as in a Mayor is supposed to look out for the public he serves, not himself.

In America, except Fort Worth, a Mayor with Conflicts of Interest would either recuse himself from being any part of policy making, from which he might benefit, or shed himself of whatever is causing the Conflict of Interest. In Moncrief's case that would mean selling his shares of all the Barnett Shale gas drilling companies he holds an interest in. Or recusing himself when his Conflicts of Interest come in to play.

The need for such a recusal depends on the nature of the Conflict of Interest. If it is a trivial matter, no need to recuse. If it is a serious matter, as in something like being part of making decisions about how far from a residence a well can be drilled, or what sort of safety precautions must be taken, or what sort of pollution controls must be installed, or where a pipeline can be located, well, in that type circumstance a Mayor, with a Vested Interest that Conflicts with his duties as Mayor of the People, must recuse himself.

Failure to do so, and subsequently hugely profiting from the gas drillers activities, well, in the rest of America, like I've already said, more than once. Jail time and a huge fine.

The fact that these Conflicts of Interest are allowed to happen, in Fort Worth, has perplexed me for years now. There is a political science term, well, I'm pretty sure it's a political science term, of a certain type of capitalist economy called Crony Capitalism.

Crony Capitalism is what runs way too much of Fort Worth. It's how Fort Worth ends up with things like Cabela's, sold on promises, never delivered. Crony Capitalism is a deviation of a democratic capitalist economy. Crony Capitalism occurs where success in business requires a too close relationship between those in business and government officials.

For instance, say you are in the gas drilling business. You know there is going to be a huge play on this thing called the Barnett Shale. You know that a large part of the Barnett Shale lies under a large city called Fort Worth. You know a few years into drilling the Barnett Shale that you are going to want to be drilling in Fort Worth.

So. What do you do? You install as many of your cronies in positions of power as possible. The few people who bother to vote, work as willing stooges for the Cronies and elect their Top Crony as Mayor of Fort Worth. And even though it is clearly obvious that something is very wrong, the Mayor gets re-elected by a 70% landslide of the 6% who bothered to vote.

Why isn't the FBI investigating Moncrief's Conflicts of Interest? Especially now that even the Great State of Texas is having to recognize that an ever growing body of evidence is showing that the way the Barnett Shale is being drilled by the Cabal of Crony Capitalists, deadly pollutants spewing into the air of Fort Worth and North Texas. Entire towns (DISH) have been run over with noise, air pollution, property destruction, water pollution, dangerous chemicals (like Benzene) and who knows what else.

Now, til it became a known fact that the gas wells are spewing bad stuff into the air, and that there are ways to stop that from happening. Methods that pay for themselves. Methods that the gas drillers don't want to pay for, and which the government, not Texas, not Fort Worth, is not mandating be done, well, til then, I was not as annoyed about all this as I am now.

But now I am TOTALLY annoyed and appalled that there is not a louder demand that something be done. Done now. Moncrief and his cronies need to be run out of town on a Federal Prison Boat Float down the Trinity River.

And then I saw Mayor Mike Moncrief pouring purple water into the Trinity River. And I heard him speak for the first time. And realized what a stooge he actually is. I highly doubt that man has any concept of how ethically challenged he is. I doubt he is able to understand what a Conflict of Interest is. I doubt he'd be able to understand he is part of a localized Crony Capitalism system.

He might know what you mean if you told him he's part of the Fort Worth Good Ol' Boy Network. But, he'd likely take that as a compliment.

The Salvation Army Bell Ringers Accepting Credit Cards In North Richland Hills Texas

I had read somewhere that some Salvation Army Bell Ringers now accept credit cards. But I had not seen this in person til today.

That's the credit card accepting Salvation Army Bell Ringer at the North Richland Hills Wal-Mart Supercenter on Davis Boulevard.

I was a far distance away, using the zoom to take the picture. The Salvation Army Bell Ringer had no idea he was under surveillance.

It seems sort of cruel to stick the Salvation Army Bell Ringers outside during this Arctic Blast we are currently freezing with, here in North Texas.

It is currently 32 with the wind making it feel like 24.

How does the Salvation Army Bell Ringer process a credit card, I could not help but wonder.

I remember being at the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico and the native Taos tour guide telling us that the natives live the same way they did hundreds of years ago, with no modern conveniences, no electricity, no phones.

After the Taos tour you are invited to visit various shops that sell native handicraft type stuff and food, like this bread you could not help but want, after smelling it baking for an hour in a wood fired kiln type thing. After hearing the Taos Pueblo had no modern conveniences I was a bit surprised to see that credit cards were accepted. And processed over a phone line. In a room with illumination provided by light bulbs.

I'm fairly certain the Salvation Army Bell Ringer that accepted credit cards had a very efficient way to do so. I didn't whip mine out to find out how though.

Fort Worth Wind Chilling At 14 Degrees

That is what 23 degrees and a Wind Chill of 14 degrees looks like looking out my window at a very cold day in Fort Worth, Texas.

At least we are a bit warmer than my old location in the state of Washington where it is 16 degrees in Mount Vernon right now. With no wind.

So, I guess it is feeling colder here in Fort Worth than it is in Mount Vernon.

I have not ventured out into the deep freeze yet today. So, yes, there are limits to my insanity, in that I have not gone swimming this morning.

I did not hear from the Mad Texas Grandma yesterday. I've not yet learned who authorized A-AArlington to remove more than 50 vehicles from the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart on October 21.

I have heard from a Fort Worth, I believe, TCU student, named Ryan Cormier, via Twitter, that A-AArlington towed his car. I'll copy Ryan's Twitter Tweet....

"@RyanJCormier @DurangoTexas That place is the worst! They have towed my car before in Fort Worth!"

In Twitter world having an @ in front of name turns the name into a link to that particular Twitter account.

Microsoft has just installed yet one more round of updates to my computer, fixing yet more security problems that might allow some evil entity, like Microsoft, to take control of my computer. Now it is pestering me to restart so these important updates can take effect.

A Giant Cloudy Smoke Plume Drifts Over Fort Worth

Just like I thought would be the case, early this morning, I have had me a day. And it's still got over 6 hours to go.

The fog burned off around noon, maybe later. I really was in no mood to pay much attention.

About 5 I realized I'd run out of coffee. So, I headed to Wal-Mart to get me some.

When I left Wal-Mart, heading west on John T. White Road, I saw what looked like a humongous smoke plume blotting out a huge section of the recently re-blued sky. I thought to myself, this has to be a cloud, but it looks so much like a smoke plume.

That first photo I left full size if you click on it, so you can get a better idea of how strange this looked. The other two photos I shrunk down because they didn't need to be big to give you an idea of how strange it looked.

This looked as if it was coming straight out of downtown Fort Worth. As if a huge bomb had exploded or one of the thousand or two Barnett Shale gas wells had blown up.

In the view above you are sitting by the Jack in the Box at 820 and John T. White Road, looking west. When I rolled down my window to take the above picture I smelled a strong sulfur smell. This had me thinking, oh oh, maybe that is a giant smoke plume. But anything that big, there would have been sirens, I would have heard it on the news. No, it had to be a Mother Nature fluke.