Express Energy Pumps Not Sucking Trinity River Water At Gateway Park Trinity Trail Location

I'm often surprised by what I see when I cross the Trinity River, heading north on Beach Street. Today there were no white Express Energy Services trucks to be seen.

Maybe because, except for cleaning up after themselves, their water sucking operation, at this location, seems to have ended.

The pumps have been drug up from the river's edge. I assume this means they are done.

I could tell that the Express Energy Services trucks had not driven on the paved trail. All the orange traffic cones were knocked over and scattered, but there was no fresh mud on the trail.

I can't help but wonder how it came to be that the Express Energy people were told to quit driving on the paved trail?

A "UTILITY WORK AHEAD" sign remains up, with no utility work appearing to be happening.

It will be interesting to see how well the muddy, rutted mess on the Trinity River levee is cleaned up. Then again, this may not be the last of the water sucking from this location. This had been the second iteration of a pumping operation at where Gateway Park meets the Trinity Trails.

In the second picture you are looking south, towards the Trinity River, from the east side of Beach Street. You can see the Express Energy pipelines on the left and right.

This is the access point for what I was calling the White Darth Vader Trucks. A little bridge took the trucks over the pipelines, then, before they were stopped from doing so, they'd take a left on to the paved trail, quickly having it thickly covered with mud.

That mud was cleaned up when the "Utility Work Ahead" first appeared.

Below are most of the links to the bloggings about my experiences with Express Energy Services. I hope that subject is at an end...

Mess of 6 Pumps Getting Ready To Steal Trinity River Water?

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Or One Of His Lackeys Thinks I'm A Clueless Reactionary

The 2010 Cold Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

I Have Had Me An Orwellian Big Brother Encounter With Express Energy On The Trinity River in Fort Worth

More Questions In The Increasingly Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

West Texas Chief Operative CT2's Report On Express Energy Services

A Sunday Surprise At the Fort Worth Beach Street Trinity River Gas Driller Pump Site

Another Visit With Express Energy Services At Gateway Park Where Water Is Now Being Removed From The Trinity River

A Saturday Shootout With Express Energy On The Trinity River In Fort Worth

Checking On The Turtles and Ducks At Fosdic Lake & Burning CDs

It was back to Fosdic Lake to check on the turtles and ducks at Oakland Lake Park today for my doctor ordered aerobic stimulation.

I figured my prefered aerobic stimulator, the Tandy Hills, was likely still a bit muddy from Saturday's rain.

It is a little cooler than yesterday. But for some reason most of the Fosdic ducks were not doing their huddling and circling to keep warm routine. And I only saw one turtle on a log.

The wind was doing a lot of blowing. I think that may have had the ducks having a tougher time huddling in a circle and the turtles not liking the wind chill factor, sending most of them back to hibernate mode.

It was 44 when I did my morning pool dipping. Three cycles of in the cold and then in the hot tub. It's very refreshing, but like the turtles and the ducks, I was not liking the wind.

I got a call on the way to Fosdic Lake. Someone I made a website for, years ago, wanted an auto-run cd of the website, so he could make a lot of copies for a convention. Years ago I figured out how to make auto-run work, but never used it. I figured I must have kept the information somewhere on this computer.

It took a bit of hunting, but eventually I found the info I needed and got the master cd made. I've not burned all that many cds. The first attempt today I messed up. But, I got it done on the second attempt. Now it'll probably be another 5 years before I burn another cd and will have forgotten how again.

Prison Break, Sona Prison & Fort Worth's Stockyard Ruins

You're looking at Panama's Sona Prison in the pictures. Sona Prison is located in the ruins at the east side of the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The Stockyard Ruins were used as a set for the defunct FOX TV show called Prison Break.

A long time ago I'd made a webpage about the Stockyard Ruins. I'd never seen such a thing as the Stockyard Ruins in a city. Visually the ruins are very interesting, as if you're looking at a WWII bombed out city.

Recently there has been talk of fixing up the Stockyard Ruins and turning them into some sort of mixed used development, making the ruins stable and safe. I really can't see that happening.

So, this morning I got an email from a Fort Worth native named Hailey. Hailey, bless her heart, had seen my webpage about the Stockyard Ruins and she earnestly wanted to let me know that the Stockyards Ruins weren't really the site of a Panamanian Prison.

Below is Hailey's email....

Hello,
My Name is Hailey and I am a local resident of Fort Worth [born and raised]. I came across your webpage about the ruins of the stock yards, particularly the ruins of the swift and armor meat packing plant. "And now rumor has it that the Stockyards Ruins are being used as a prison, housing mostly Panamanian prisoners and a few Americans. The prison is called Sona. We discovered the prison on Thursday, November 1, 2007....."

I just thought that you would like to know that this rumored information is completely false. In 2007 The hit TV show Prison Break used the ruins as a set for several episodes, in fact the guard towers that line the edge of the property were erected by the set crew of the TV show and are not actually an original part of the property. The Prison Break producers also used locations in Decatur, Texas, mainly in the old town square. I just though you would like to know that what you saw was the filming of a TV show, not an actual secret prison. =)

-Sincerely
Hailey

Thank you very much for being sincere, Hailey. I appreciate it.

Today At Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake The Turtles Were Not Hibernating But The Ducks Were Huddling

Yesterday when I blogged about finally finding out where the turtles go when it gets cold, future Texas governor, Jovan Gonzales, asked if I knew what ducks did when it gets cold.

I told Jovan, aka Jovo, that I'd seen the Fosdic Lake ducks huddling in a circle and assumed it was to keep warmer.

Well, today, when I went for a much needed walk, I went to Fosdic Lake at Oakland Lake Park and saw 4 groups of ducks doing their huddle thing, even though it was not all that cold, as in the 50s.

When something startles the huddling ducks, they quickly disperse, like they did when the fisherman, in the picture, moved closer to them. But then the ducks seem to simultaneously realize there is no danger, after which they quickly come back together in their huddle, as if drawn by some magnetic power.

As soon as the ducks get huddled, the group starts to rotate. All the duck huddles I've seen rotate counter-clockwise.

It may have been cold enough for the Fosdic ducks to huddle, but it was warm enough for some of the Fosdic Lake turtles to come out of hibernation mode to get some sun on a log.

I only saw 5 turtles that had de-hibernated. The others must not have yet gotten the word that it was no longer freezing.

Today, Fosdic Lake was being home to more birds than I've seen there before, as in 100s of various types of birds. I think word must be getting spread in Bird World that Fosdic Lake makes a good winter home due to all the people who come with bird food.

I Am To Blame For The Gar The Texan Blog But Not The Huffington Post

The 4th Sunday of the new year has seen a return to blue sky, after yesterday's wet unpleasantness, here in my zone of North Texas.

The Sunday blue sky is matching my blue mood.

Yesterday's gray, wet Saturday was one long day of one thing after another. The day started with strange explosive noises I later learned were coming from my noisiest neighbor, that being a Chesapeake Energy gas drilling site.

By mid morning I found I had another flat tire, the second in a week.

The flat tire kept me from the Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

Before I found the flat I'd talked to my mom and learned she'd broken a bone in one of her feet. I got emails from 2 Washington friends telling me about friends with bad cancer, with one of them having the same type brain cancer that killed Ted Kennedy.

Tootsie Tonasket called me around 5 so I could hear her drunken son having a drunken fit, trying to get into her house. I told Tootsie to call the police. I don't know if she did.

Around 7 last night I tripped and banged the top of my right hand against a wall. This morning that hand looks as if I've been in a fight.

A couple days ago Gar the Texan blogged about blogging, the first paragraph of which said, "Durango somehow convinced me to start this little escapade into pain and suffering. And after almost 2 years, I continue to do so (suffer pain)."

So, now I have to carry that on my guilty conscience, that somehow I'm to blame for foisting Gar the Texans' misanthropic ramblings on the world. I feel terrible about this.

And then someone calling himself Whited Sepulchre commented saying, "Gar, The Huffington Post doesn't post as much as Durango. Just thought I would point that out."

Now, that's just not true. I only post about 90% as much as The Huffington Post.

My therapist, Dr. L.C., seems to have gone missing. And right when I need her. So far, even though the sky is blue, Sunday is looking to be another bad day like yesterday. Maybe I can make an effort to turn it around.

My Explosive Neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Gas Drilling Site

Well, it's another Saturday and another bizarre encounter with a white truck. This time it is a Chesapeake Energy white truck, not an Express Energy Services white truck.

All morning long, ever since I was in the pool around 8, I'd been hearing very loud explosion like noises, sort of like an erratic jackhammer, only louder.

Around 10 I was heading to the Tandy Hills to join the Brush Bash and discovered my 2nd flat tire of the week.

Sometime around noon I decided to try and find out what was making the explosive jackhammer-like noise.

It was quickly clear the explosive noises were coming from my neighbor across the street, that being a Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale natural gas drilling site.

I decided to walk to the site and take video of the noise. By the time I was directly across from the site the explosive noise was significantly louder. I was fairly certain there was no one working on the site that was accounting for the noise, due to the fact that the gate was locked. When someone is in there doing something the gate is open.

Now, here's the part where the story turns weird and has me once more seeing a white truck. Just as I turned my camera on a white Chesapeake Energy truck drove up. A tall, lanky guy got out of the truck, opened the gate, and drove in.

After I took a picture I switched the camera to video mode to capture the explosion noises and continued walking towards the gate to the Chesapeake drilling site. Within seconds the explosions stopped, obviously silenced by the guy I'd just seen.

So, what was making those explosive noises? Today's Saturday white truck incident did not seem as menacing as last Saturday's, but those explosive noises seemed plenty menacing.

I did not realize the explosions were going to be so quickly silenced, or I would not have talked at all on the video. You can still hear several of the explosive pops before they go silent.

Where Do The Fosdic Lake Turtles Go When It's Cold?

I have wondered more than once, and mentioned at least once, my puzzlement over where the dozens of turtles who call Fosdic Lake, in Oakland Lake Park, in Fort Worth, home, go when the temperature turns cold, as in below freezing?

Well, this morning I got an email that is purporting to answer that question. I have no idea as to the veracity of what this emailer is telling me, as in some of it sounds a bit far fetched.

The emailer's email was very long and detailed. I'll try a write a distilled version. Here goes...

Turtles who live where the temperatures dip below freezing and where snow may fall have mechanisms to keep themselves alive. They hibernate. Since turtles are reptiles the proper term for deep sleeping is "brumate," as in reptiles brumate, mammals hibernate. But most people use "hibernate" to refer to how turtles get through the cold. So, that's the word we'll use.

Various types of turtles do their hibernating in various ways. Most water turtles go deep into the water and wiggle themselves into some lake bottom mud. As the turtle gets colder its body slows down to the point that eating is no longer neccessary. The turtle's heart slows down to one beat every few minutes.

The turtle stops breathing through its lungs. Due to the slowed metabolism little oxygen is needed. What little oxygen the turtle needs it can get from the water via specialized skin cells that are inside the tail opening.

So, turtles hibernate under water and breathe through their tails. Supposedly a turtle can keep living this way for 2 or 3 months.

I wonder how the turtles are able to tell it's warmed up on the surface?

I was walking around Fosdic Lake on a warm day that had arrived after a deep freeze and the turtles were out having themselves a good time sunning themselves on logs.

The Queen Of Wink Suffering From Serious Virus

Those of you who are fans of the Queen of Wink may be wondering why she is seeming to be a more quiet Queen of late.

Well, her computer has malfunctioned. She believes she was attacked by a malicious Trojan Virus of some sort. This has rendered it impossible to start her computer, even in Safe Mode.

I've had computers go into malfunction mode on me. It's not a good time.

I don't know if you know this already, but the Queen of Wink graduated from Wink High School, that's in Wink, Texas, way out in West Texas, with the 2nd highest grade point average in her class of, I think, 9.

The only person in her class with a higher GPA was Gar the Texan, a fact about which he remains very proud of to this day.

Well, Gar the Texan is some sort of Idiot Savant when it comes to computers. On his business card it says something like "From the Age of 11, I have had an Innate Ability to Understand Computers and Make Them Do What I Want."

Gar the Texan's innate computer ability is so strong I don't think he even went to college, I think he went right into designing software. He gets flown all over the world to fix computers due to his innate ability to make them do what he wants them to do.

So, I'm thinking, if Gar the Texan has any decency left in him he'll call the Queen of Wink and walk her through getting her computer back working. Better yet, drive out to Wink and fix it.

Who Decided To Put Traffic Cones On The Trinity Trail Between Beach Street & Gateway Park?

After hiking, for an hour or so, up and down the Tandy Hills, I headed north to the Beach Street Wal-Mart.

Being on Beach Street I was curious to have a look at the Beach Street/Gateway Park Express Energy water sucking operation.

Yesterday, the paved Trinity Trail (on which, last Saturday, I'd had a muddy confrontation with a White Darth Vader Express Energy Truck) was being cleaned.

Today the "UTILITY WORK AHEAD" sign was still up, and traffic cones still lined the trail from Beach Street to the site of the water pumping. There were two Express Energy trucks at the end of the traffic cones, one was on the levee, above the pumping site, the other was over the edge, backed up right to the pumps.

I saw no utility work being done. I did see the paved trail is now totally mud free, including the thickly muddied area where the Express Energy trucks drove on to the trail.

So, what's going on here? Are the traffic cones being left there to stop Express Energy trucks from driving on the pedestrian "No Motorized Vehicles Allowed" trail? Or are the trucks able to drive right over the cones without hitting them?

Today when I left Wal-Mart I decided to drive back to Gateway Park. I was curious if there was a "UTILITY WORK AHEAD" sign at the Gateway Park entry to the Trinity Trails, that being the pedestrian bridge you see in the picture. Well, all I saw was the final orange traffic cone at the end of the bridge. That's in the picture at the top.

When I took the picture of the bridge I could see there was no longer an Express Energy truck parked on top of the Trinity River levee.

I was curious if the truck over the edge was still there, so I walked to where there is a vantage point looking down on the operation. You can see the truck through the brush in the upper right part of the picture. And a guy in red with a white hat working on the pumps.

There are 2 more pumps sitting on top of the levee.

I think the mud ruts on the "road" down to the pump site must have dried up, if a truck is able to get back out of there without a lot of tire spinning and more muddy rutting and damage to the levee. It's quite steep.

Below is a chronological list of links of bloggings about the Express Energy Service Trinity River Gateway Park pumping operation...

Mess of 6 Pumps Getting Ready To Steal Trinity River Water?

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Or One Of His Lackeys Thinks I'm A Clueless Reactionary

The 2010 Cold Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

I Have Had Me An Orwellian Big Brother Encounter With Express Energy On The Trinity River in Fort Worth

More Questions In The Increasingly Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

West Texas Chief Operative CT2's Report On Express Energy Services

A Sunday Surprise At the Fort Worth Beach Street Trinity River Gas Driller Pump Site

Another Visit With Express Energy Services At Gateway Park Where Water Is Now Being Removed From The Trinity River

A Saturday Shootout With Express Energy On The Trinity River In Fort Worth

New Temporary Buildings Arrive At The Tandy Hills For Tomorrow's Brush Bash

BRUSH BASH UPDATE FROM DON YOUNG:
Unless there is heavy rain the Brush Bash will go as planned. Please arrive between 9 and 10 am. We plan to start work at 10. Lunch break at Noon. Thanks again for supporting Tandy Hills Natural Area.

No, that is not a picture of my latest Outhouse discovery in my popular "Outhouses of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex Series."

I believe these are temporary Outhouses brought in for a special event, which to my mind is the proper use for such things, in contrast with Jerry Jones' mind which thinks surrounding the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium with specially made Dallas Cowboy Outhouses is a good idea.

The special event I believe this pair of Outhouses have been installed for is tomorrow's Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

It is supposed to start being stormy here in North Texas sometime tonight and all day tomorrow. I don't know if the source of the incoming rain is the same storm that is hitting California and today my mom and dad in Phoenix.

I'm sure it will end up being dry tomorrow. I think Mother Nature looks fondly on the Tandy Hills and those who are trying to restore the hills to their old style prairie glory.