Elsie Hotpepper Replaces Her Pink Peptomobile

Elsie Hotpepper picked me up for a late lunch today.

When she called Elsie told me we would not be riding in the Elsie Peptomobile. Because she had gotten rid of it.

Elsie told me to be looking for a bright yellow car, whilst I was standing at the appointed intersection waiting to be picked up.

I was not just a little surprised to see Elsie drive up behind the wheel of a yellow Bartmobile. It was still the same car. Just a new paint job.

Now, I've been a fan of The Simpsons from the very first episode. But I would not want do drive around in a Bartmobile.

But. Elsie Hotpepper is what we here in these parts call a character. So, I guess driving a Bartmobile fits in with that being a character thing.

So, what fine dining establishment did Elsie Hotpepper take me to?

Jack in the Box. The Drive-Thru Window. I don't even want to remember what I got out of that Jack in the Box window. Elsie had some errands to run, hence the lunch on the road. I am not a huge fan of eating while riding in a car.

But, I had no serious food malfunctions and spilled very little on myself or in the Bartmobile. I found myself a bit relieved to be dropped off, back here, an hour or so later. The Bartmobile made me nervous with Elsie Hotpepper behind the wheel.

Texas Travesty George W. Bush & Other Things Making Me Cranky

Time passes, fresh trauma causes older trauma to fade.

A book I recently read was setting the tone at the start of a chapter, reminding me of something that had faded from memory, what with so much fresh trauma.

This is what I read...

"Front page articles covered campaigning by George W. Bush and Al Gore for the presidential election coming in November 2000.

Some readers worried about more prosaic announcements. The average price of gasoline had leaped to $1.64 per gallon. In other financial news, President Clinton announced that the government's anticipated budget surplus would exceed projections by almost $2 trillion over the next decade-a cornucopia of cash that would make social programs achievable. GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush said the estimates validated his claim that there would be plenty of room in the federal budget for his ambitious plans to cut taxes and still have money for other priorities."

We got George W. Bush as president, with Al Gore having received a couple million more votes than Bush. Clinton had fixed the chronic budget deficit problem. With surpluses in the $trillions projected.

I don't think it made any difference who'd become president as to the horror that happened on 9/11/2001. I do think Al Gore would have led America in a direction different than Bush did, post 9/11.

A couple days ago I saw a legless Vet riding an electric wheel chair device. Were his legs lost in Iraq? Or was it Afghanistan?

I'm pretty much 100% sure had Al Gore become president America would not have started its first pre-emptive war. A wiser president likely would have simply beefed up America's presence in Kuwait and waited out Saddam and his intransigence over Iraq's alleged, now known not to have existed, weapons of mass destruction.

How many billions of dollars have been lost in Iraq? How many lives?

As for Afghanistan, once Al Qaeda had been identified as the 9/11 perps, with their training camps being in Afghanistan, if I had been the president I would have launched a massive attack on the Al Qaeda camps as soon as possible. From the air. No ground troops. No takeover of Afghanistan.

How many billions of dollars have been lost in Afghanistan? How many lives?

What would Al Gore have done differently I can't help but wonder? Would he have put a different perspective on the barbaric, primitive attack than had Bush? Would a President Gore have led the battle against terrorism differently? With a guiding principal being not letting the terrorists cause America to over react in fear and anger.

The Al Qaeda attacks killed almost 3,000 on 9/11. More than that number of Americans have died in the 2 unnecessary wars since 9/11. How many soldiers have been seriously injured? The number is in the thousands.

I believe the War on Terror was basically won on 9/11 when The People onboard Flight 93 fought back and caused the plane to crash in Pennsylvania, rather than its target in Washington, D.C.

Since 9/11 there have been other instances where The People have thwarted a terrorist.

I think what we go through to get on a plane now is ridiculous. We've let the threat of terrorists alter our freedom, way too much. There has to be less intrusive ways to determine if a person poses a threat.

Had Al Gore become President, instead of George W., would we now be seeing those Clinton surpluses, rather than the humongous deficits? Would there have been a financial meltdown? Would the world economy have plummeted to the worst recession since the Great Depression?

I don't know.

What I do know is seeing that legless Veteran yesterday made me cranky.

Hearing CNN or Fox or whatever cable news I had the TV on, trumpeting that, after the break, the story of a soldier who lost all his limbs. I turned off the TV. I don't know which of the unnecessary wars the soldiers limbs were lost in. But, I do know, that this did not need to happen to that soldier, and would not have, had America not been misled by someone who I really think never should have been President of the United States.

A travesty we are still trying to recover from.

The Air Is Clear & The Tandy Hills Are Dry

You are looking at the day after the 4th of July noon view of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, looking west from the mud-free, dried out Tandy Hills.

I'd been informed by Don Young, prior to heading out to do some much needed hill hiking, that the hill's trails were not rendering mud.

The air seems to have been temporarily scrubbed clean, thanks to our recent weather turbulence.

It is 88 in my zone of North Texas right now, with the humidity making it feel like 92.

I heard, this morning, from Betty Jo Bouvier, the Wild Woman of Woolley, that she'd overheated while working in her garden, due to the temperature having reached a sweltering 67. I have my air conditioner set at 80. And that feels chilly. I don't think Betty Jo would enjoy a summer visit to Texas.

My favorite TV Star is currently back on the mainland. A strong case is being made for me to head north to have some fun with the aforementioned TV Star, the Wild Woman of Woolley, Miss Camano and others.

July 20 it will be 2 years since I last flew out of here to Seattle, for a month of madness which still reverberates with random madness, at times. It sounds fun to have a relatively relative free visit to the Northwest.

I went to my bank after I was done with my Tandy hiking, to find the bank closed. I guess I should have realized, with the 4th being on a Sunday, that that would turn the holiday into a 3 day weekend. Likely I'll be getting no mail today, either.

The Quiet Blue Sky Dawn Of The Day After The 4th Of July In Texas

You can see from the view from my patio that the day after the 4th of July has dawned almost free of clouds. Rain was in the forecast yesterday, but nary a drop fell on my locale. The wet stuff is also in the forecast for today. I suspect today nary a drop will fall, as well.

I heard not a single firecracker crack in Texas during the 4th of July period. Not one boom.

Last night, over at Miss Puerto Rico's, I did watch a fireworks display. In the distance. About 20 miles north over Lake Grapevine. That was way too distant to hear any booming.

I read this morning, in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, that some Washingtonians were not happy about the non-stop explosions in the days before, during and after the 4th of July. Washington was not part of the Union when the 4th of July became the date of American Independence.

Nor was Texas.

Once Washington joined the Union it has remained, steadfastly, an American state.

Texas, however, joined the American Union and then a short time later left the Union in a act of outrageous rebellion. The American Union then gave Texas a severe spanking and forced Texas back in the American Union.

I'm sure none of this history has anything to do with why the 4th of July is so quiet in Texas. But there must be some explanation somewhere.

I think I am going to test the dryness of the Tandy Hills today. I am in dire need of aerobic stimulation and its resultant endorphins.

4th Of July Walking In The Closed Due To Flooding Village Creek Natural Area From Interlochen

The deluge of rain of late has reduced my hiking/walking options. Today I decided to gamble that Village Creek Natural Historic Area was open, with the "Closed Due To Flooding" gate not blocking the entry.

Well, the Village Creek parking lot off Dottie Lynn Parkway was blocked by the flood gate.

So, I decided to go to the Interlochen side of Village Creek Natural Historic Area. If Village Creek was rampaging over the bridge/dam I could still take a walk through Bob Findlay Linear Park, which is what the Village Creek paved trail exits to.

Well. Village Creek was not flooding over the dam/bridge. Why was the park not open, I wondered, it being the 4th of July, afterall. I figured all the park workers had the day off. I walked into the Natural Historic Area to the other dam/bridge. I walked over that dam/bridge to the bayou overlook, where weeks ago I thought I saw alligators.

The flooding had not left the mess of thick mud it usually leaves. On the way back out of the Natural Historic Area I heard an air blower. A park worker had arrived to re-open the park.

I don't often drive into Interlochen. It's a very nice neighborhood. It is also the location of what is widely believed to be the most over the top Christmas displays in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Interlochen is so named because of the canals and lakes that make up the neighborhood.

The guy for whom the Linear Park is named, Bob Findlay, developed Interlochen Estates. He had the vision to see that converting a bunch of abandoned gravel pits, located in a flood plain, into canals and lakes, would turn the gravel pits into prime home building real estate.

And so it did.

I would love to live in Interlochen, except for one drawback. I am used to quick access to the freeway. Interlochen does not have quick access to the freeway. I am also used to being close to stores. The closest store to Interlochen, I think, is the Wal-Mart Supercenter I frequent most frequently.

It is half past 3 on the 4th of July in Texas and I have yet to hear a single firecracker.

A Slightly Blue Sky 4th Of July Texas Morning With No Firecrackers

The blue sky is not an illusion. The dawn of the 4th of July view from my patio is not gray this morning. Some blue sky has returned over North Texas.

I think this slightly blue sky may be only a temporary respite from rain. The forecast for the 4th of July is a 50% chance of rain. Which usually means it is going to rain a lot.

Rain is in the forecast for each of the next 6 days.

Too much wetness is getting really old. But, I guess it has been a good thing to see brown grass turn back green again.

I think I've said it before, likely on 4th of July last year, but the 4th of July in Texas is so weird. When I moved to Texas, it being the Wild West Cowboy state that it is, I figured the 4th of July would be explosive, with people having way too much fun with fireworks. Much more so than my old location in the refined progressive sophisticated State of Washington.

Where I lived in Mount Vernon (is that not a nice patriotic 4th of July name?) Washington, in a neighborhood called Thunderbird, which was quite hilly, built in a forest of tall cedar and fir trees, the 4th of July was like a war zone.

Neighbors would set up competing fireworks launch zones. Set off a barrage. And then another neighbor would try and top it. There was absolutely nothing forbidding this behavior. In Washington it is very easy to obtain all the explosives you want. All the Indian Reservations have very big Boom Towns.

In Texas I do not believe there are any Boom Towns selling fireworks.

It is the morning of the 4th of July in Texas and I have not heard a single firecracker. The 4th of July will come and go and I likely will not have heard a single firecracker.

I can't help but wonder if in the past some really bad stuff happened here on the 4th of July which led to the repressive firecracker crackdown. It's not like Texans have some sort of innate aversion to things that go boom. Just witness the laidback attitude towards natural gas randomly going boom.

The lack of firecrackers going boom in Texas is very perplexing.

Close Encounters Of The Turtle Kind Walking Fosdic Lake

I went to Oakland Lake Park around 3 this afternoon to walk around Fosdic Lake. Tootsie Tonasket had called me earlier, leaving a message.

So, I called Tootsie back, as I started to walk. About 20 minutes later I was paying more attention to what Tootsie was telling me than to where I was walking, when I almost stepped on the turtle you see in the picture.

I put the Tootsie on speaker phone, put the phone on the ground and took a picture. The Fosdic Turtle was shy and quickly pulled his head in to safety. As soon as our photo session was over the Fosdic Turtle stuck its neck out and started walking, quickly. Where he was going, I do not know. He was not heading towards the lake.

Earlier today the subject of the Windmill Restaurant in Wenatchee came up. Tootsie Tonasket frequents Wenatchee, so I asked Tootsie what she knew about the Windmill Restaurant. Tootsie told me it's a big windmill, that's all she knows. And that she took pictures of it and sent one to me. That seems vaguely familiar. I have memory problems.

About an hour in to talking to Tootsie Tonasket the weather situation turned dire. Drops of wet started to fall. I got off the phone. I was afraid I was going to need to make a mad dash for cover. I was correct. About 30 seconds later the biggest raindrops I have ever seen began to hit me.

I thought to myself these must have been those infamous baseball size hail balls a few hundred feet higher, only recently melted. And still huge. Each splat of a raindrop left a 4 inch spot of wet.

I started running. By the time I got to vehicular cover I was as soaked as if I'd jumped in Fosdic Lake. Another odd aspect to the humongous raindrops was that they seemed almost HOT.

Very disturbing.

By the time I was in the driver's seat the rain had become torrential. And it became very windy, driving the rain in sheets. This lasted about 5 minutes and then it was as if it had never happened.

Now I am back in my abode, it is darkening again. I am about to make my way out of here to go to Miss Puerto Rico's. I suspect I will be experiencing some Saturday night drama, some of it weather related.

Fort Worth Celebrates Miss Fort Worth Being Crowned Miss Texas

That is Miss Fort Worth, Ashley Melnick, about to be crowned Miss Texas #75.

Fort Worth took the coveted Miss Texas crown, Friday night, at a gala affair in Texas Hall at the University of Texas at Arlington.

In addition to Miss Fort Worth the other top finalists were runner-up, Miss Irving, Miss Arlington, Miss Frisco and Miss White Settlement.

Dozens of Texans who had previously worn the Miss Texas crown were in attendance, wearing their historical pageant gowns. One former Miss Texas said she and the others who had been Miss Texas were not telling how many girdles and how much duct tape it took to get them into their gowns.

As part of the entertainment part of the pageant former Miss Texases performed bits from their talent performances.

Beauty pageants were already on my mind, prior to last night's Fort Worth win, due to watching Kathy Griffin judge a kiddie beauty pageant on her Life on the D-List show. I have long thought beauty pageants are a bit perverse.

I do not know if Fort Worth is planning a city wide celebration to, well, celebrate Miss Fort Worth being Miss Texas. I would think there would be. We had a city wide celebration when some obscure Washington, D.C. lobbying group named Fort Worth as one of the Most Livable Communities in America. Other towns that knew it was a bogus, self-serving award, politely said "thank you" and then ignored it.

But, not Fort Worth. We had a celebration.

I know that my former state participates in the Miss America contest. I assume that is what Miss Fort Worth Texas is moving on to. But, I do not remember ever reading news of someone, from some city in Washington, becoming Miss Washington. Surely in all the years I lived in the Skagit Valley, one of the girls from one of the valley towns must have become Miss Washington.

But I have no memory of this. Was it not considered news if Miss Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro Woolley, Anacortes, La Conner, Concrete, Lyman, Hamilton, Newhalem or Rockport became Miss Washington?

I'm sure Mount Vernon would have had a city wide celebration had a Miss Mount Vernon become Miss Washington. Then again, thinking more about it, Mount Vernon was named the Best Small Town in America, or something like that, by something legit. I remember CNN showing up. But, there was no city wide celebration. Mount Vernon is a great town, but I remember thinking, wow, if Mount Vernon is the Best Small Town in America, what are the worst small towns like?

Okay, I looked it up, in Wikipedia, in 1998 Mount Vernon was rated the #1 "Best Small City in America" by the New Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities.

Well, I am out of here, going on a walk. I'm trying to get in top shape for when I tryout for the Mr. Fort Worth contest. My goal is to become Mr. Texas and then beat Mr. Washington in the Mr. America contest.

The Day Before The 4th Of July Is Another Damp One In Texas With Me Thinking About Indian Reservations & Hitler

You are looking at the slightly past dawn, optical illusion, day before the 4th of July, view from my patio.

In reality, the sky is not blue. It is gray. Very gray. We had another heavy rainstorm after the rainstorm I blogged about yesterday, which was an even BIGGER DOWNPOUR.

It was a bit of a challenge to make my way to the pool this morning, what with mud and water creating obstacles.

It is now half past 9. The Arlington 4th of July Parade, I believe it to be the biggest in Texas, has been underway for a half hour.

Without me watching it.

The last time I watched the Arlington 4th of July Parade the temperature was close to 100, making it a bit miserable. If I was in Arlington, right now, watching the parade, the temperature would not make me miserable.

Because it is only 75. July 3 and I have my windows open. Again.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing this Saturday day before the 4th of July. I know I won't be driving out to one of the Indian Reservations to buy me some fireworks. I think there are only 2 Indian Reservations in Texas. And neither is near Dallas/Fort Worth.

Texas exterminated a lot of its Indian population, with those not killed moved to concentration camps, I mean, reservations, in Oklahoma.

I was watching a History Channel program last night about a book Adolf Hitler wrote after Mein Kampf. In the post Mein Kampf book Hitler went on about how he admired how America dealt with its Indian population and America's need to expand its territory into Indian Lands with what Hitler characterized as America's state sanctioned Indian extermination policy. Hitler did not have much of a faculty for accurately understanding history, or interpreting the lesson to be learned.

But, it is a bit troubling to wonder if the fate of the Poles, Slavs, Jews and others would have been different had America not provided that German madman with a twisted, perverse inspiration.

Stop Jiggling Your Toilet To Save Water So The Natural Gas Drillers Have More To Waste

For what seems months now I've driven by a bizarrely ironic billboard, while driving west on Bridge Street, right by the CBS TV Station, visible to westbound drivers on Interstate 30.

The billboard admonishes drivers to "Stop Jjggling. Start fixing." With the message apparently coming from "-Your toilet."

On the Toilet Tank you are directed to a website, SaveNorthTexasWater.com.

This billboard is very near the Trinity River. It is also very near a spot on the Trinity River where last winter I observed a lot of water being wasted, never to enter the eco-system again, not in a healthy way.

Just today I already mentioned an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about well water being contaminated by nearby Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling.

That is one water issue.

Another water issue, regarding the Barnett Shale, is the fact that millions of gallons of water are being taken from North Texas water sources, like the Trinity River, mixed with chemicals, forced down wells, with the contaminated water then stored, supposedly safely, somewhere.

With this type water "use" and "misuse" going on all over North Texas, someone, somewhere, decides that the water waste problem could be alleviated by putting up billboards telling people to fix their toilets? Complete with a website to give you tips as to how you can do your part. Like not excessively water your lawn.

This is Orwellian. It's Third Reichian type propaganda. It's focusing on the little teeny harmless mouse in the room while pretending not to see the rogue elephant that is stomping damage all over North Texas. And other parts of America.

Now, it used to be whenever I'd blog something critical about the Barnett Shale operations I'd see Oklahoma City light up on my blog stats and I'd get moronic comments from Chesapeake shills. Chesapeake seems to have given up that rather fruitless effort.

I have said it once, I'll say it again. I am not against extracting natural gas out of the Barnett Shale. Just like I'm not against drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. But, only if it is done with absolutely safe methods.

It is clear, at least to me, that the Barnett Shale natural gas drilling is damaging the water supply of North Texas. The gas drilling is also damaging the air quality.

Both issues need to be addressed and all drilling operations need to be stopped until the issues are addressed. Same with drilling in the Gulf.

In my humble opinion.

And someone, please, take down that idiotic "Toilet" billboard. It's embarrassing.