Calling Mom While Hiking The Hot Humid Hills Of Fort Worth

The wildflowers are still a-blooming on the Tandy Hills. I don't recollect if I'd seen this little lavender orchid-like guy before. I only saw him in one location, today, with the plant having, maybe, 10 orchid blooms.

I was really liking hiking the HOT HUMID HILLS today. A good strong breeze was blowing, thus countering the Heat Factor with some Wind Chill Factor.

I'm pleased to find myself finally acclimated to the HEAT. The fact that I'm acclimated raises the specter of being in Washington, in summer, again. And shivering the entire time. I'm sure I'd survive the shock. Again.

I got gas today, $2.41 a gallon, so I called my mom to tell her I got gas, how much it cost and how hot it was.

The temperature of the air, I mean, not the temperature of the gas.

But, mom did not answer the phone, which means mom and dad must be out and about, which is good. Usually when I call, when they are out and about, my mom calls me back when they get home. I suspect that is what will happen today.

I've been asked, a time or two, if my siblings call my mom when they get gas. I don't know, for sure, but I suspect not, since both siblings live close to mom and dad, and see them regularly. And thus can deliver their gas acquisition information in person.

The 21st Annual City Of Wink Texas Roy Orbison Festival

You are looking at my windshield, last June, heading towards Wink, across the flatlands of West Texas, with my windshield getting slapped with Roy Orbison memorabilia.

For you non-music history aficionados out there, Wink was the hometown of rock and roll legend Roy Orbison, he of "Pretty Woman" fame.

This year the City of Wink Texas presents the 21st Annual Roy Orbison Festival.

I know no details of this year's Roy Orbison Festival, except for the fact that it is taking place June 18. And that music and a car show is involved. Last year the festival was a 2 day affair.

The only lodging available, in Wink, is at The Queen's Palace. Unfortunately, all rooms are already booked. The nearest other lodging is in Kermit, about 7 miles northeast of Wink.

I believe term limit rules prohibit the Queen of Wink from being named Pretty Woman in the Roy Orbison Pretty Woman contest. But, I am not certain of this.

Meanwhile, the 4th of July will soon be here. For purely non-altruistic reasons I made a webpage this morning of my Texas Top 10 Fourth of July Events.

I did not put the Wink Fireworks Show on the list. It was a close call.

Escaping The Texas HEAT By Going To Washington Again

You are looking at the Friday morning window view from my computer room. It is half past 9 and already 81 on the way to a high of 95, with extremely high humidity making it feel HOTTER.

The temperature of the air and the pool, this morning, were identical, or so it seemed to me, according to my built-in skin sensors.

Last night I managed to have the best night's sleep in recent memory. What a difference sleeping well makes. It's like a major rejuvenation.

This morning I heard from the 50th state, planting the idea in my head to head north, to Washington, for some quality time with some quality people. I like this idea.

The last time I headed north was July 20, 2008, almost 2 years ago, for a traumatic one month long bout of bizarreness, the bizarreness of which continues, in various iterations, to this day. When I returned to sane Texas, on August 20, 2008, I vowed to myself that it would be a long time before I subjected myself to any variation of what I subjected myself to in 2008.

But, the idea of heading up to Washington to spend time with non-toxic people, now that appeals to me. I am currently in the midst of working on a website deal that might require a visit to Washington. I'm thinking, maybe I can combine the two, the website with the non-toxic people.

It is being breezy this morning. If this breeziness continues I see a breezy Tandy Hills Steam Bath in my mid-day future. Or, I may skip it.

An Unnatural Appearance In The Tandy Hills Natural Area

Today at the Tandy Hills Natural Area I parked at the top of Mount Tandy by the Fort Worth Space Needle. As I walked down the mountain I took the first trail junction to the south.

As I neared the bottom of the mountain I saw something alien ahead, like a monolith sticking out of the ground. It seemed disturbingly out of place in a natural area, like the big rectangular monolith that got the monkeys all excited and curious at the start of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I did not get all excited like the 2001 monkeys, but I was curious. What was this addition to the Tandy Hills Natural Area?

The Tandy Hills Monolith turned out to be a caution sign post left behind by the Fort Worth Water Department, who I was to later learn have finished doing whatever it was they were doing on the Tandy Hills.

By the time I was done walking the hills I saw a total of 5 of these new additions. There likely were others.

The caution sign post's purpose, I guess, is to point out that a sewer pipeline is underground. And to provide information, like a number to call for line location and an emergency call number.

Now, I'm thinking to myself, this pipeline has run for how many decades through the Tandy Hills without such caution sign posts? And it needs such caution sign posts now? Why?

Who would be digging in the Tandy Hills Natural Area, for whom the caution sign posts might serve as a caution?

Does the city know of an upcoming operation by its partner in bad government, Chesapeake Energy?

How come a warning, such as these additions to the Tandy Hills, was not placed over that Hood County natural gas pipeline that exploded a couple days ago, the lack of which left a utility worker unaware he was poking a hole in the ground above a gas pipeline?

Is the Tandy Hills sewer pipeline more dangerous than a natural gas pipeline? And hence all the caution sign posts?

How much did these caution sign posts cost? It seems to me to be a bit of a frivolous waste for the City of Fort Worth to spend money on such a thing at the same time there is not enough money to keep city libraries open.

It is all very perplexing.

Today There Were No Flash Floods On The Tandy Hills

Well, I was worried about Elsie Hotpepper because I'd not heard from her today. Usually Elsie checks in by 10 in the morning to ask if I'm OK, to which I always say, NO.

But, just as I was about to blog about the missing Elsie Hotpepper, among other things, my phone rings and it's Elsie. Suffice to say, Elsie Hotpepper has had herself a day. None of which I am permitted to blog about.

So, today was that magical day that has happened every HOT season I've been in Texas, that day when it is extremely HOT and I suddenly find I am not minding it. As in the yearly acclimation process is complete.

Today when I went watching for Flash Floods on the Tandy Hills it was just below 90, with the extreme humidity making it feel like it was 98. A slight wind helped a bit with the humidity. I enjoyed the steam bath.

I saw no Floods Flashing on the Tandy Hills. The only water on Tandy Falls was my water bottle, which you can see, if you look close enough, in the picture.

I just heard rumbling in the distance. Is it thunder? Or another natural gas pipeline exploding?

Seeing Fog While Watching For Flash Floods In Fort Worth

You are looking at the view from my computer room window, Thursday morning, with me now on my second day of watching for a Flash Flood.

So far, no Flash Flood, very little rain, with this morning looking more like a Flash Fog than Flood.

As in I was slightly drizzled on when I went swimming this morning, making it seem like I was near the ocean, swimming, rather than 100s of miles from the nearest saltwater.

According to the almost thoroughly discredited weather forecasters, rain and thunderstorms are possible today.

With it being like a stereotypical Pacific Northwest winter day out there, except for being 75, I'm making a warm me up in winter type thing this morning.

That would be a big pot of chili. It will go good with this humongous loaf of something called Artisan Jumbo County Whole Wheat Bread. I got the Jumbo Bread at Town Talk yesterday. I've never seen a loaf of bread like this before. It weighs over 3 pounds.

Cheese finally returned to Town Talk yesterday. The chili with cheese will be ready about 1 this afternoon. Don't be late for lunch.

Ceasing All Aerobic Activity While I Watch For A Texas Flash Flood

I am about 6 hours into my National Weather Service advised order to watch for flash flooding.

You are looking at the view I'm looking at to watch for flash floods, out my computer room window.

So far I have seen about 20 minutes of rain, about 2 hours ago.

I have seen no flooding. I am supposed to keep watching for flash floods until Thursday evening, if I remember my instructions correctly.

I am currently consuming iced coffee to try to perk up my flood watch abilities.

Events conspired to keep me from any hiking type aerobic endorphin releasing activity today, including a swimming pool that got its weekly shock treatment, late yesterday, and so was not safe to use this morning.

Consequently, due to the absence of over stimulating my blood flow and getting dosed with endorphins, I am being a bit groggy and grumpy. Not exactly unusual for me.

The Roy Orbison Festival takes place June 18. The Palace is the only lodging facility in Wink. I can't make up my mind whether I should book a room at The Palace, or not. That is planning way too far ahead for my norm.

The latest therapeutic opinion from my therapist, Dr. L.C., was that I was a mess. Is this type diagnosis the sort of thing a doctor gets un-doctored over? It perplexes me.

Did Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Say I Am Sorry It Is My Fault I'm Such An Idiot?

Isn't there a song with lyrics along the line of sorry being the hardest word? Or something like that?

It has been my observation that those most in need of having the social skill of knowing how and when to apologize, don't have that social skill. I assume that lack is part of the psychological makeup that produces the frequent need to apologize for various untoward behaviors.

An example, to me, is, in a sane world, Fort Worth's Mayor, Mike Moncrief, would come to his senses and realize he has been acting as a mayor with an extremely egregious conflict of interest with the gas drilling companies poking holes in his town, with that conflict of interest benefiting Moncrief in millions of dollars.

In a righteous world Moncrief would realize the wrongness of his criminal behavior, profusely apologize to the people of Fort Worth, saying how sorry he is, resign as mayor and vow to give his ill gotten gains to the city treasury. Which is in such dire need of funds.

But that won't happen, because the only way Moncrief will ever realize he's been a bad, bad boy is if he is held accountable by the law, which apparently does not exist, for certain people, in this north of the Pecos zone of Texas.

Exploding gas pipelines, damaged drinking water, dirty air and my own watery eyes have corrupt gas drilling practices and their various Texas government enablers on my mind this morning. That and the desire to hear the guilty miscreants say "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'll try and fix it. Please forgive me for the damage I have caused."

Fort Worth Flatulence Barnett Shale Land Drilling Rig Emissions Fix Proposal

Last night I got an email, subject line "Fort Worth Flatulence - Land Drilling Rig Emissions," from a person who works in the oil and gas industry, who says he would like to see me sponsor an initiative to sponsor a simple measure to establish oversight on the emissions being generated from the gas drilling operations, such as those operating in the Barnett Shale zone of Texas.

I have no idea how to sponsor an initiative or understand the technical stuff the oil expert is explaining. The best I can do to sponsor an initiative is to blog about it.

Below is what the oil & gas expert had to say...

I work in the oil and gas industry and have been watching the events surrounding these oil companies, the ongoing disaster, and also the various US proposals to improve and clean up these drilling operations across the nation. There are some real improvements to be made in this industry but there is a major improvement that could be made literally overnight that has been completely overlooked and ignored. This improvement could be instituted in a matter of hours to every single land drilling rig across this country with minimal cost to the oil companies. The fact is that none of the natural gas being burned on these land rigs while they are drilling oil and gas wells is being measured as an emission source. Not a single land drilling rig has a flare meter installed on it to measure emissions even though every single rig has a flare stack installed and in use.

There are currently 1535 land rigs currently drilling in the US today based on the Baker Hughes Rig Count report for this week (http://www.iadc.org/rigcount.htm). Every one of these rigs has a flare boom built in to burn gas that is released while drilling wells. Not a single one has a flare meter to measure how much gas is being burned while they are drilling these wells. All of the rigs drilling in the shale & tight gas plays such as Haynesville, Marcellus, etc burn gas as they drill through these gas producing formations. These formations are all over the US.

See these links:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/rpd/shale_gas.pdf

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/rpd/tight_gas.pdf

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/maps/maps.htm

http://www.energyindustryphotos.com/shale_gas_map_shale_basins.htm

These flaring rigs are regularly all over the news when they are close to neighborhoods and schools. Every other flare in plants and refineries in the US has a flare meter incorporated into it to measure emissions, except for these land drilling rigs. There are a number of companies out there with applicable flare meters such as GE(GF 868), Argus Green (The Canary), MISWACO (CarbonTracker), & Fluenta (FGM160) that currently sell and rent flare meters here in the US that are compatible with land drilling rigs. These drilling rigs & oil companies are hanging on to an antiquated exemption that is on the books because they did not flare regularly in the past when these rules were first created except in emergency blow out situations like what the Horizon experienced. Now in these new shale & tight gas plays around the country they normally flare twenty or more of the average fifty days it takes to drill the well as part of normal operations. Since all this flaring is now a normal part of operations, then these companies should have to measure these emissions that are coming from the well while it is being drilled. There are other reasons to measure this gas besides emissions. Royalties & taxes are not generally paid on the gas that is burned away during the drilling of the well. There is also benefit to the operator to know how much gas is coming from the well because you cannot reduce what you do not measure. In countries like Canada & Norway, where they measure flaring emissions while drilling, the release of greenhouse gases has been greatly minimized by taking extra steps to control emitted volumes based on the measured values.

These meters can be installed on a land drilling rig in less than one day and can have an immediate and measured impact on reducing the emissions from these drilling operations. Today, there are 1535 active flares on these gas drilling operations around the US today that are burning natural gas without any measurement or oversight. Sometimes these burning flares are sixty to eighty feet tall and burn day after day after day. This is the time for something to be done to minimize these emissions coming from these gas-drilling operations and have some oversight put in place.

I would like to see you sponsor this initiative to institute this simple measure and establish oversight on the emissions being generated by these oil companies while drilling these gas wells all around the US. I really think this issue will grab national support and attention virtually overnight considering the present circumstances in this country.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

GD

Another HOT Fort Worth Day With Flash Floods Heading Our Way From The Gulf

It's another HOT day in the Fort.

We may get a bit of a cool down tomorrow. The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Alert, starting tomorrow morning, through Thursday evening, due to a big mass of wet tropical air heading our way from the oil-slick laden Gulf of Mexico.

I am currently surrounded by a big renovation project that turned noisy this afternoon with pneumatic hammers banging wood and circular saws sawing.

About 3, this afternoon, I needed a dose of quiet, so I went to Miss Puerto Rico's to hang out on her balcony for a nice view north. And hopefully to catch a cooling breeze.

Tootsie Tonasket called today, while I was unable to answer my phone, due to being in the midst of the Tandy Hills. So, I called Tootsie back, while I was overheating on Miss Puerto Rico's balcony, where I was unable to catch a cooling breeze.

Tootsie wanted to know if I knew any good motels in Wenatchee and Richland.

I have not been to Wenatchee since 2001. I don't remember the last time I've been in Richland. So, I was of no use to Tootsie regarding her motel search.

One of my daily corespondents corresponded this morning about going to that game played professionally, by grown men, in which they hit a ball, with a stick, while others try to catch the ball and throw it. My corespondent has put me on a do-not-identify-her-by-name moratorium. I think it has something to do with being undercover and the CIA. But I'm not sure.

Just as I was typing the above paragraph, the corespondent referenced in that paragraph emailed, saying the moratorium is no longer in effect. Something to do with it being too damn HOT for a moratorium. Or something like that.

I just got a comment from the Queen of Wink about her stirring performance in Hair in New Orleans. I fear a new moratorium may be in the works.