Cross Country Skiing Over To Miss Puerto Rico's While The Snow Continues To Fall On Fort Worth

The snow continues to pile up, here in Fort Worth, with 1 hour to go before noon.

I decided to take a slide on the adventurous side and drag my cross country skis out of the closet. I thought the skis had delaminated, but apparently that must have only happened in one of my nightmares.

It has probably been at least 6 years since I've been on cross country skis. It is sort of like riding a bike, roller blading or playing tennis, as in very easy to get back into slipping and sliding mode.

I decided to ski over to Miss Puerto Rico's to get a picture of the white view from her balcony. There are not many vehicles out there mucking up the streets. I only have to negotiate a couple roads between here and the aforementioned balcony. A passing Fort Worth bus did inconvenience me by launching a splash of slushy snow in my direction, which I artfully dodged.

Above you see the aforementioned Fort Worth bus, careening down the hill towards me. I am under the protection of tree leaves, so there is not a lot of snow in the foreground. When the bus passed it caused snow to fall out of the trees, on to me. I did not care much for that unexpected additional snowfall.

My skiing route took me by my pool. You can sort of see why it did not seem like a good idea to go swimming this morning. Although the hot tub likely would have been pleasant, with the falling snowflakes having a nice cooling effect, obviating the need for repeated cool down dips in the pool. The hot tub is that thing you see on the right, spitting water into the pool.

It is still freezing out there and still snowing. The forecast has been changed to an expectation of an accumulation of around 6 inches. D/FW International Airport is having trouble getting planes in the air. And out of the air.

My source for the D/FW Airport information is Jovo the Newshound. Jovo is monitoring the storm from his outpost in Sulphur Springs, where he also plans to go skiing, except without cross country skis. Jovo is going to make his sliding attempt using conventional downhill type skis. Good luck with that, Jovo!

Way too much snow is covering my vehicle right now. I am hoping, if the temperature goes above freezing, clearing the snow will be fairly easy. Then I can escape from here by motorized means. If the snow keeps getting deeper I may go for Round Two of cross country skiing.

While I was sliding around I saw other people out having fun with the snow. I saw one snowball fight, several people taking pictures, one adult pulling 2 kids on a sled and 2 guys working on a snowman.

I have never been a big fan of constructing men from snow. Way too quickly the ball of snow grows way too big and then is way too difficult to lift into position. A properly built, conventional snowman consists of 3 snowballs. According to the Frosty the Snowman Guidebook to Successful Snowman Construction.

My aversion to rolling balls of snow may have something to do with the fact that I've likely not done so since I was a little kid. Now that I'm a big kid I likely would have an easier time of rolling and lifting the heavy balls of frozen water. But, I fear at my almost elderly age and relative frailty, I'd likely manage to put my back out if I were to attempt to build a proper snowman.

Due, likely, to the lack of opportunity to learn snowman building skills, due to the infrequency of snow in this zone of Texas, the snowman I saw this morning was not the most attractive of that species that I've seen. First off, he is made of only 2 balls.

This snowman's front side is covered with a big shirt, leaving the backside completely naked. This snowman's big misshapen rear put me in mind of my visit to Wal-Mart yesterday.

Below is the last snowy Texas view I'm showing you for now. This is the look to the west from my abode, at the forest of trees across the street, all whited up into Winter Wonderland mode.

The Sun Is Up And Lighting Up A Very White North Texas While Snow Continues To Fall

Dawn has now broken in North Texas, with the sun trying to light up the place. Snow continues to blanket the ground.

The current view from my patio door window is now quite white. The flashing camera makes the snowflakes look like twinkling stars.

When I lived in Washington, in the Banana Belt Skagit Valley, where it rarely snowed, I developed an extreme fondness for the rare snow days. Mostly, I suspect, because, if enough snow fell, school might get canceled. That always seemed like a Christmas present.

Sadly, the best snowstorm of my school in Washington years occurred during Christmas vacation. If I remember right, that snowstorm occurred when I was a Junior in high school. That snow storm is the only one I ever remember hitting the Skagit Valley that resulted in snowdrifts.

40 miles north of the Skagit Valley, in Lynden, where my grandma's lived, that area of Washington is in a completely different climate zone from the Skagit Valley. Cold Arctic air comes down the Fraser River Valley and heads out to sea, blocked, usually, from hitting the Skagit Valley, due to a conveniently placed mountain range, but that cold air hits Lynden and Whatcom County, bringing a lot of snow, as in several feet, at times, and heavy winds that cause big snowdrifts, drifts so tall they reach the roofs of barns.

North Texas has no mountains, nothing to cause weather systems to affect one area differently than another, as far as I know. So, I suspect all of North Texas is being quite bright white today. I've not heard, yet, if schools are closing.

I may drag out my cross country skis today, if the white stuff keeps accumulating. Currently, at almost 8am, we are still below freezing and the snow keeps falling.

The Predicted Thursday Snowstorm Has Arrived Coloring North Texas White

You are looking at the same view out my patio door window I've been showing you the past couple days.

Three days ago the view was gray and wet, the day after that the view was clear and blue, the day after that the view was gray again.

And, now this morning, Thursday at 6am, the view out my patio door window is black and white, with the white being provided by snow.

Yes, the predicted snow has arrived. Apparently really big flakes started hitting the ground around 3am. I was not up to see them, but I did hear something hitting my bedroom window.

The National Weather Service currently has us, here in long-suffering cold North Texas, under a Winter Storm Warning until midnight.

The sun should be trying to shine a light on the white in about a half hour. I will not be braving the elements to experience an icy, snowy walk to the pool this morning. I will likely be housebound today. I expect to be quite cranky by the time noon rolls around.

I am low on my supply of vittles. I probably have enough to last a day or two. I suppose if I get desperate I can walk across the street to Albertsons. I do not like Alberstsons. But sometimes desperate times require desperate measures.

An Offbeat Writer & A Truly Frivolous Lawsuit: The State of Texas vs. Anne Mitchell

The bizarre case of Texas vs. Anne Mitchell, taking place out in Kermit, Texas, has quickly grown to scandal status as the rest of America and the world looks in on the latest goofy gift from Texas to the world.

This very blog you are looking at right now has been being a bit more busy than usual, due to the bloggings about the Kermit Nurse Scandal. This has generated a lot of interesting comments. I mentioned that fact earlier today.

I think the most damning, as in damningly revealing revelation, has been the YouTube video of the now notorious Doctor at the heart of the scandal, Rolando Arafiles, peddling snake oil on one of those obscure Christian TV Shows that gum up the airways.

One of the reasons my bloggings about this subject are getting a lot of readers is various forums and websites have linked to the bloggings. One very insightful website, that being "Rethinking Patient Safety" linked to my bloggings and exclaimed that "Durango just became my favorite offbeat writer, posting a performance of Dr. Arafiles on a religious television channel."

Now, this is a first. I feel like I've won an award or something. In all my decades I don't previously recollect ever being referred to as "offbeat." I'm truly touched.

I Was SAD Seeing Way Too Many Texas Balloon People Waddling Around Wal-Mart Today

You are looking at my very SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) view out my patio window, this very dreary Wednesday, in cold, cloudy Texas.

Yesterday's return to blue sky was a fluke. Gray skies is the new Texas norm.

Snow is still in the forecast, supposedly happening anytime now, with a 100% chance of snow or rain tomorrow.

I had a morning full of aggravation and annoyance, followed by an early afternoon of some more aggravation and annoyance.

About 2 I decided to escape the aggravation and annoyance and go to Village Creek Natural Historic Area for some natural communing with nature.

Had I been thinking clearly and not distracted by all that aggravation and annoyance, I would have remembered we had heavy rain 2 days ago, which rendered Village Creek closed to pedestrian traffic, due to this inconvenience that is known as flooding.

With my walking options dwindled and with me being a mile or so from my friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter, I decided to go there and load up a cart with heavy stuff and push it for a couple miles.

I should have asked a shopper or two if they'd like a ride. I saw a lot of plus-sized balloon people waddling about today. The way too many obese people issue hasn't been at the forefront of my imagination of late, but today I saw some distortions of the human form that had me all appalled.

Why do some humans let themselves go to such a shocking degree? At what point do they quit caring? Or did they ever care? It's not just the obesity, it's also the overall slovenliness, the unkemptness of the hair, the ill-fitting clothes, stretching material beyond what fabric making science intended.

Now, I am in no way, even remotely, any sort of a bigot. But I have to say, my fellow Anglos are the worst offenders. My African American neighbors, who I see walking about Wal-Mart, do so, for the most part, with way more style and way less weight. This is particularly noticeable on Sunday after church, the style part. Now, my Hispanic neighbors, they sort of trend towards the Anglos in terms of obesity and level of slovenleness.

Now the ethnic group I think we could all do well to emulate.

The Asians.

I go to Arlington's Chinatown and see all these well-dressed, some stylishly in native garb, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Thai, Chinese, Koreans. The Asians eat better, dress better and look better, weight-wise, than the Americans, both South and North (continents), the Africans and the Europeans.

It's appalling. I think America collectively, for the most part, really needs to go on a diet. This would be beneficial in so many ways. Let's make it a goal that within 20 years the Europeans no longer refer to us as the "Balloon People."

It's a worthy goal.

The Kermit Nurse Scandal Grows With Revelation Of Earlier Dr. Arafiles Malpractice Charges

The Kermit Nurse Scandal continues to be scandalous. My two bloggings about this West Texas Scandal has generated the most comments since I blogged about the Only Child Syndrome Scandal. In the first blogging about the Kermit Nurse Scandal I just wrote an overview of the bizarre legal authority misconduct taking place in Kermit, bringing a nurse, Anne Mitchell, to trial because she reported bad practices by a bad doctor to the appropriate Texas medical authority.

I blogged again about the Kermit Nurse Scandal after Anonymous sent me a link to a YouTube video of the doctor at the heart of the scandal, Rolando German Arafiles, Jr. M.D., where the doctor is on some Christian Network TV show trying to sell snake oil.

The comments have been very interesting. A couple comments, of course from Anonymous, come to the defense of the doctor and Kermit and paint Nurse Mitchell as an evil doer. Go to the first blogging about the Kermit Nurse Scandal to read that comment. It's the first comment, followed by many more comments, with the commenters appalled at the first Anonymouses' anonymous comment.

Then I got a comment from another Anonymous telling me that Dr. Arafiles has gotten in trouble before, back in 2007. Apparently for running some sort of quack diet clinic where he overprescibed potent pills, among other bad behaviors. That is a snapshot of Dr. Arafiles signature on the document in which he agrees to pay a fine and cease the bad behaviors, among a lot of other legalese. You can read the entire Texas Medical Board review of Dr. Arafiles license to practice medicine.

And then another Anonymous said...

As a nurse who has practiced in many states, I think this is scary. What this nurse has done is to rock the ol'boy network that still apparently exists in Texas. We see this in Georgia to some extent. If she cites her state's nurse practice act--she should be covered. The public would cringe if they knew the full extent of the poor medical practices that nurses witness. So, this nurse must have seen more than she could bear to look away from. If she looses this fight, the nurses of Texas should pack up and move to a state where they are appreciated.

A non-Anonymous calling herself kdmidd tell us her harrowing personal experience with the Kermit Hospital and the doctors who "practice" there....

When I was ten years old I broke my leg and was taken to Kermit Hospital before being transported to Odessa. The Doctor on duty in Kermit that night gave a 10 year old girl enough morphine for a 45 year old 200lbs man...then sent me on an ambulance 45 miles to Odessa without a splint on my leg- apparently forgetting that my leg was CROOKED- Kermit hospital is crap at best...and maybe they wouldnt be if they could bring in a decent Dr...they've had kooks for years...who else would choose to practice there?

And then another Anonymous charges Nurse Mitchell with rule violations...

Nurse Mitchell has violated HIPPA, you know those little rules that protect patient confidentiality? She and her cohort failed to BLACK OUT patient names when reporting the malpractice to the proper authorities. Ooops, should have been a bit more careful. You'd think a NURSE with all her experience and years of training would of remembered something like that...does make one wonder. And a whole host of people are being subpoenaed, seems like they were all standing nearby and overheard the nurses discussing openly these patients and their conditions, uh oh...isn't that another rule violation?

Things are not entirely what they seem. True, they seem to be incredulous, but only to the outside observer. The town of Kermit follows the Good Ol Boy handbook. You can find this book filed in the W Library over in Midland, he was the author.

To which another Anonymous was a Voice Reason, unlike the previous Anonymouses' illogical gibberish...

This is horrendous for all healthcare nurses, risk managers and compliance officers.

When as one of these professional encounter a fellow healthcare provider who, in our professional judgement, is failing to practice safe medicine, we are bound by our nursing code of ethics and our state licenses to take steps to protect the welfare of our patients.

The hosptial was notifed and slapped the doctor on the wrist. Nurse Michell is being hung out to dry by the very system that is suppose to support quality medicine and reporting. I am appauled by this case and the potential implications of resultant case law.

The sheriff in this story needs to share a cell with this doctor.

I Am Not Going Snorkeling With The Fosdic Lake Birds In Icy Cold Fort Worth

I did not escape to the icy cold outdoors, well, except for my early morning pool time, til around 4 this afternoon.

I had all sorts of issues with this thing called Xara Menu, that I'd not used for a couple years. It was a total vexation because I had to have this working so I could make a cdrom that will be on its way to a convention in Phoenix tomorrow morning.

After way too much anxiety a light bulb came on and I remembered what the menu fix was. After that I sat here and marveled at how dense I can be at times. And forgetful.

The menu was fixed by 1. It being 1, another type menu needed to be addressed, that being the lunch menu. After lunch I tended to some other computering issues.

As I was fixing to get out of here and go to Oakland Lake Park for a much needed walk in the sun around Fosdic Lake I got a message from the temporary Scrabble Queen of Hawaii. I mentioned this morning she has been torturing me with her tales of tropical bliss. The afternoon tale of Kauai bliss mentioned snorkeling. And she said, "Sucks to be you." And then told me a man from Houston, sitting next to her, told her to say that to the ice cold guy in Fort Worth.

The birds on Fosdic Lake seemed to be enjoying the return of the sun. But, I think they are hungry. As I stood at the west side of the lake, taking pictures, a quartet of birds, I assume looking for a handout, headed my way, led by the bird I've mentioned before, that I call a Lulu Bird, because it looks like some sort of mutant result of the mating of two birds who should not have been reproducing.

The Lulu Bird and her gang kept coming towards shore, eventually making land and continuing to come towards me. I kept telling the gang I had nothing for them. But I don't think they understood English.

After the Lulu Bird and her gang made land a flotilla of more birds started heading my way, thinking food, I assume.

I felt really bad I had nothing to give the starving birds. Next time I'll try and remember to bring bread.

That's been my Texas Tuesday. Fun in the cold sun. No snorkeling. Menu problems. And I forgot to mention, Gar the Texan keeps making strange demands that I apologize to him. It's very perplexing.

Singing The Only Way Evil Can Prevail Is If Good People Do Nothing Fort Worth Blues

I'm no longer suffering from SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) due to the lifting of the wet, gray veil with the return to a cloudless blue sky.

In the picture that is the same view I showed you yesterday, with the clouds and the rain removed.

It is cold out there, though, as in 25. I had a little ice incident this morning, slipping on a little spot of water that sat poolside, that I did not realize was ice.

I am ready for winter to be over.

I am being tortured daily with HOT reports from Kauai. This morning's mentioned fish tacos. I have not had a fish taco since I was last up in Washington at a Taco del Mar in Tacoma. I don't think there are Taco del Mars in Texas. There are fish tacos here. But my two attempts at trying a Texas fish taco were not pleasant. In one of the incidents I believe the fish was catfish.

There should be some sort of law requiring it being plainly noted if catfish is being used as seafood.

Back to SAD, this morning I got a SAD related comment, from John, to a blogging from a few days ago, titled "Depressing News From My Therapist While The Fosdic Ducks Possibly Caucus About Tonight's NCTCA Meeting."

Below is what John had to say...

When I let myself get depressed and focus on the bad stuff people do to each other and completely disregard the good stuff we do with each other every day (and which doesn't often get reported), then I find I have my excuse for not only feeling depressed, but for not being one of the folks who do the good stuff either. I get to whine about the bad stuff, and not put myself out enough to be a part of its remedy. I get to "feel good" about not taking action, even though by doing that I become part of the bad stuff too (which I overlook completely, of course).

I know that if I let myself experience people as we fully are, our compassion and helping and going out of our ways to be a solution to problems others encounter every day, then I'll take action instead of gripe and become one of those people I admire instead of being one of those who do nothing when faced with bad things happening to folks.

I can only stay depressed if I'm not doing anything to help, and being the person Edmund Burke talks about when he said "The only way evil can prevail is if good people do nothing."

The only way evil can prevail is if good people do nothing.

Trouble is, way too often good people do do something, yet evil prevails. Steve Doeung vs. Chesapeake Energy and the City of Fort Worth, for example. I'm thinking sometimes we don't have sufficient numbers of good people doing something to stop evil from prevailing.

I don't care how cold it is, I am going to get out and do something aerobic today. But first I have to finish making changes to a website.

Listen To The Kermit Texas Doctor Who Got Nurse Anne Mitchell Fired & Brought To Trial & See If You Want Him Operating On You

Yesterday I blogged about a bizarre story coming out of Kermit, Texas that has become the latest Texas embarrassment, if not in Texas, in the rest of America and the world.

A nurse, Anne Mitchell, was arrested, indicted and today, if events proceeded as scheduled, brought to trial, in Kermit, for reporting what she believed to be the dangerous medical practices of the man you see in the picture, Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr.

The picture is taken from a YouTube video in which the doctor is on some Christian TV Network going on about some medical condition I've never heard of, for which he offers a cure.

The blogging about this latest Texas bizarreness has generated a lot of comments, many from people who have had personal experience with the Kermit hospital at the center of this scandal.

Then one from my favorite commenters, the ubiquitous Anonymous, said...

Of course, it wouldn't be the perfect Texas story unless this quack doctor and placebo huckster peddled his wares under the veneer of professionalism on a Christian cable network, during a program addressing a condition whose very existence is in doubt by most of the medical community, right?

Oh wait, it is the perfect Texas story!

Now, watch the below YouTube video and tell me how fast you'd run out of the operating room if you saw this was your doctor? Also make note of how he refers to "mainstream doctors" which indicates Arafiles recognizes he is out of the mainstream, which a Kermit nurse also recognized and realized something needed to be done. And so she did it. And now faces a 10 year prison term. For doing the right thing. Again. Any of you reading this ready to be operated on by this guy? Want him treating your kid?

UPDATE: Read the Texas Medical Board document regarding 2007 malpractice charges against Kermit Dr. Arafiles.

We Are A Wet Mess This Monday In Fort Worth

You are heading away from my abode, looking south, out of my windshield, at the noon view of the Mixmaster that churns up I-30 and I-820, on my way to the Post Office on a very wet Monday in Fort Worth, Texas.

I had no illusions of the possibility of doing anything aerobic outside in this deluge. What I found at the Post Office charted my course west, to Beach Street and a Chase Bank.

Then I floated north, on Beach Street, to Town Talk, where I got a big container of Tennessee Style BBQ Pork and a gallon of old-fashioned apple cider. I have no idea what makes it old-fashioned.

With no oxygen getting aerobically infused into my system I will quickly be tail-spinning into SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) sadness. I may get cranky.