Up Before The Texas Sun Again Thinking About Betty Jo Bouvier Not Being Memorable Among Other Things

Up early again. You can see there is some illumination beginning to light up the view from my patio. Not enough illumination, yet, to tell if we are under a cloud cover.

The Fort Worth police officer, who suffered bad head injuries in yesterday's chase/crash, remains in critical condition. It is now known the injured officer lost control of his cruise moments after he joined the chase.

The 2 motorcyclists who had been chased from Mansfield managed to successfully escape capture.

I thought that only happened in the movies.

I'm feeling bad this morning about Betty Jo Bouvier suddenly feeling like she is not memorable. This due to one singular instance of forgetfulness, by one individual, due to who knows what? In reality, Betty Jo is really quite memorable, even before she became the Wild Woman of Woolley.

Switching subjects to the weather. I had my windows open all night and the A/C off. In July. In Texas. Something ain't right about that. Meanwhile, last night, from an island in Washington, I got an email from a HEAT sufferer, so dismayed she was shouting in all CAPITAL letters about the HEAT.

Washington is scheduled to cool down by tomorrow. Texas is not scheduled to cool down tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. Or the day after that.

A Trip To The Post Office Finds A Fort Worth Police Officer Critically Injured In Chase

I left here about 3, this afternoon, heading to the library and post office. As soon as I had a view of the horizon I saw helicopters hovering over the freeway.

By the time I got to the library I could see traffic eastbound on Interstate 30 was not moving.

I was at the library all of a minute. As I left Miss Puerto Rico called to tell me she'd never seen so many police cars. She was over by Taco Bueno. Which is by the post office.

Driving past Taco Bueno, on Handley Road, I saw two police cars blocking entry to the freeway. Handley makes a bend past the post office. Around the bend I saw where the trouble was. Cars were backed up on Handley at the site of the problem.

As I joined the traffic jam I got out my camera and turned it on. The police cruiser you see in the picture came into view.

The car looked bent, as if it'd wrapped around the tree that appears to be coming out of the car.

This was the end result of a high speed chase that began in Mansfield. The Tarrant County Sheriff's Department had a house under surveillance due to it being a suspected Meth Lab House.

A couple of motorcylists left the house. The police began their pursuit. Fort Worth police were asked to join the chase, after which the crash occurred, just a short distance east of the I-30/I-820 Mixmaster Exchange.

The police officer was critically injured in the accident when his car slammed into the tree you see in the picture.

I have long been of the opinion that police chases of this sort should only be allowed for the most serious and dangerous of crimes. The police and public should not have been in this type danger chasing suspected drug dealers on motorbikes.

In my opinion.

No word yet if the police caught the motorcyclists they were chasing.

Fort Worth Flock Of Fosdick Baby Ducks & Their Car Baby Seat

You are looking at a little flock of Fosdic Lake baby Fosducks and their Baby Duck Mama, today around noon at Oakland Lake Park.

The Baby Duck Mama and her brood seemed to have exited the Baby Seat you see in the foreground, to head to the lake for lunch.

Why would someone leave a Baby Car Seat sitting next to a lake? Why would you haul the car seat all the way from your vehicle and leave it sitting on the ground in this location?

There were not very many birds on Fosdic Lake today. Have a lot of them flown north for the summer?

This morning I learned that the Texas Department of State Health Services has determined that eating fish caught in the Trinity River in 8 Texas counties, including Dallas and Tarrant, could lead to health issues, due to the river being so contaminated with chemicals, like dioxins and PCBs.

But, there is no health risk to swimmers, the state warning advisory said.

Huh?

Who in their right mind would go swimming in the Trinity River? It is usually a very muddy river. There are snakes and turtles who call that river home. And giant garfish.

I saw a guy swimming in the Trinity River once as I crossed the river on the Randol Mill Road bridge east of Beach Street. I was so astounded I stopped on the bridge to stare. And confirm it really was a guy swimming. He had on a wetsuit. Not that that made it seem any more doable.

The state also advises against eating fish caught in Fosdic Lake. I don't know if the Fosdic ducks are safe to eat. As you can see the Baby Fosducks were leading their mom on a food hunting expedition, occasionally finding something tasty to eat. Likely laced with dioxins and PCBs.

I thought dioxins and PCBs were banned a long time ago.

Fort Worth Forecast 89 & Showers, Seattle Forecast 95 & Blazing Sunshine

Currently coming up on 11 in the morning it is 81 here in Fort Worth, heading to a predicted high today of 89. With showers.

Meanwhile, up in Seattle, coming up on 9 in the morning, it is 69, heading to a predicted high of 95. With Blazing Sunshine.

Here in Fort Worth we have this vexation called humidity which leads to a thing called the Heat Index. Currently thought the temperature is 81, it feels like 86.

Meanwhile, up in Seattle, there is not much of a humidity problem, so, somehow with the temperature being 69, it feels like 67. Is this the Anti-Heat Index? I don't know.

Below is the Seattle forecast, taken from the Seattle P-I. Note the amusing weather descriptors, "Blazing sunshine", "Sunny record-tying heat", "Mostly sunny, not as warm", "Beautiful with sunshine".

Meanwhile, our Fort Worth weather descriptor is pretty much "Chance of Showers" until 7 days from now when we get "Mostly Sunny".

My Tex-Mess Hummus Debacle

A couple weeks ago I bought a bag of garbanzo beans at Town Talk. That bag has been mocking me ever since, reminding me that I bought the bag thinking I'd make hummus out of the garbanzos.

How hard can that be?

It is very easy to find recipes for the world's most popular condiment. All the recipes have you blending the ingredients in a food processor, also known as a blender.

I have that kitchen item covered in the form of a Vita-Mix, bought years go at the Home Show in Seattle's Kingdome. Which seems to indicate I have a very old Vita-Mix.

Early this morning I started boiling the garbanzos. Hours later the beans seemed to have reached some level of doneness.

So, I drained them and dumped them into the Vita-Mix. Then I added some chopped up garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, lemon juice and liquid from the boiled beans.

Put the lid on the Vita-Mix and hit the 'go' button. This did not go too well. I was not getting the mixing action I was hoping for. So, I got out the wooden stick thing that came with the Vita-Mix, that you stick into the stuff you are trying to mix to help it get mixing.

The stick didn't work too well. Soon I could tell I was over working the Vita-Mix motor.

I added some more liquid, kept trying to shove the beans to the mixing blades. Eventually I was a HOT sweaty mess from all this exercise.

I decided the hummus was blended well enough. Then I found that I'd pretty much mixed up a batch of cement. It took about 20 minutes to get the cement plug out of the Vita-Mix.

I tasted what I'd made. It did not taste bad. Blindfolded I don't know if I would have guessed hummus. It does not look too appetizing, which you can clearly see in the picture at the top.

I grew addicted to a constant supply of really good hummus when Town Talk had a constant supply. And then it was gone.

I'll eat the Tex-Mess Hummus I made this morning. But, I won't be making anymore. Probably.

Up Before The Sun Again On a Fort Worth Thursday Colder Than Seattle

You might be able to guess from the dark nature of the view from my patio that I am up, again, way before dawn's crack. And, once more, with no sun lighting up the place, my camera's flash provides the only illumination.

The waking up way too early thing causes me to be tired way too early, thus causing the getting up way too early to repeat.

It's only 78 out there. I turned off the A/C and opened the windows about 2 this morning. I do not recollect ever doing this in July, in Texas, before.

Meanwhile, up in the Pacific Northwest, the locals are in overheating mode due to record breaking temperatures, as in, Seattle hit 90 on Wednesday, breaking a nearly 60 year record, when it got to 88 at Sea-Tac on July 7, 1953.

Today is predicted to be even hotter in the Northwest. In the Northwest few of those hapless souls have air-conditioning in their homes. In addition to rarely having any need for A/C, a heat wave usually only lasts 3 days, at the longest, due to the hot air getting drawn over the Cascades and thus drawing in cool air that had been hovering over the Pacific Ocean.

Our high, here in my Fort Worth zone of Texas, is predicted to hit 88 today. Cooler than Seattle. But, we have no hope, here, of the HOT temperatures drawing in some cool air from the Pacific Ocean. We might draw in some HOT humid tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico.

My current plan is to be in Arlington today. Among other things, I'll likely go to Veterans Park and ALDI.

Walking Around Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake Looking For My Camera

Earlier today we were looking out the pre-dawn view from my patio. Right now we are looking at the early evening view from the same location. We are not out there drinking coffee. Or a cooling libation. Because it is too HOT to be out there.

As in it is 91 coming up on 6 o'clock.

I took off out of here around 3 to go to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake. On the way I got gas.

Even though I got gas I did not call my mom to tell her I got gas. I know this is a radical departure from my norm, but I had my reasons.

When I got to Oakland Lake Park and reached for my camera, it was missing. I knew I had either left it at home, or it had fallen out while I was getting gas. I had a previous falling out incident.

So, I drove back to the gas getting location. No camera was laying on the ground. When I got back home, I did find the camera, unmolested, sitting on my desk.

This morning I heard from the long lost Singapore native, Yap Wee Cheng. Later in the day I heard from the long lost Washington native, Tommy Nelson. Both natives came to me via Facebook. I generally do not like Facebook. But, it does have some uses.

My re-filling pool is almost full. This means I can resume my bad swimming habit in the morning. Unless some currently unforeseen calamity intercedes.

Fort Worth's New Heliport & Other Boondoggles

I can't tell you how pleased I was to recently learn that the City of Fort Worth is planning on building a new Heliport.

The existing Heliport, at Meacham Field, is really inconvenient for me, what with it being way north on Main Street, a few miles past the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The new Heliport will be closer to my abode, thus really cutting my helicopter commute time.

It makes me proud how well run my dear City of Fort Worth is. With our city's leaders having all their priorities correctly ordered.

Recently the city, at our dear Mayor's urging, gave RadioShack another tax break. So, RadioShack will continue to bless our fair city with their corporate presence.

Fort Worth's city government has been making very wise budget choices, so that funds are available for important things. Like keeping the city's golf courses open. Re-striping library parking lots. Re-paving closed swimming pool parking lots. And building a better Heliport.

It was very wasteful having all those city owned swimming pools open. And who used them? Poor people. Why should the city provide poor people a place to swim? Let them swim with the alligators in Lake Worth.

It was also a big waste of money to have Community Centers where kids could go for some safe fun.

Cutting back on library hours to save some money was real smart too.

If the City of Fort Worth, in its infinite wisdom, did not rid itself of these ridiculous expenses, how would it be able to afford the things that matter? Like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and new Heliports.

Up Before The Sun With Yap Wee Cheng In Singapore

As you can see from the view from my patio, the sun is no where to be seen, with me up way before the sun was scheduled to appear. The only thing lighting up the place was the flash from my camera.

A microburst near the Ballpark in Arlington, on Tuesday, sent a couple people to the hospital. I heard thunder in the distance for awhile yesterday, but had no up close weather action that I noticed.

This morning I heard from Tug. I don't know who Tug is, but Tug commented on my blogging about Elsie Hotpepper replacing her Peptomobile with a Bartmobile. In a very good example of how gullible I am and how, at times, I pay no attention to details, Tug told me that the Peptomobile was a Chevy Impala, while the Bartmobile is a Crown Victoria. All I noticed was one was pink and the other was yellow with Bart Simpson on the hood.

I remember thinking it didn't make a lot of sense to me when Elsie told me it was the same car with a new paint job. But, like I've said before, Elsie Hotpepper is a character, prone to doing colorful things. And I'm gullible, usually believing what I'm told, unless I've got a good reason not to.

On a totally non-Hotpepper note, I got a Facebook message today from someone I've not heard from in around 9 years. Maybe 8. It was around the time George W. invaded Iraq that I quit hearing from Yap Wee Cheng. Wee lives in Singapore.

Way back in the last century is when I first heard from Wee. She emailed me when I was being Dr. Durango to ask me a lovelorn question about her ex-boyfriend, Teck Seng. Teck was returning to the island from London. If I remember right I told Wee I thought she should give Teck another chance.

And so she did. Within a couple years Wee and Teck got married and had a baby. I think I have some pictures. I'll be right back, hopefully with a picture of Wee. And maybe the baby.

Well, I found several pictures from Wee's Wedding Album. But, I could find no picture of Wee's baby. I remember she sent me one.

Prior to the Iraq Invasion Wee emailed me all the time. Even called me a couple times here in Texas. I tried to contact Wee over the years through where she worked. I can't remember where that was now, but it was a government thing, historical records, maybe.

I'll reply to Wee's Facebook message. It will be interested to hear what she's up to now.

Tar Balls In Galveston & Visiting Washingtonians

You are looking at a fishing pier on the Gulf of Mexico. This fishing pier was on the Island of Galveston. I believe it was destroyed by Hurricane Ike.

Galveston is in the news today due to tar balls from the BP oil spill washing up on Galveston beaches.

Galveston came to mind a day or two ago when one of my favorite Washingtonians told me that she might be flying to Houston to go to a little seaport town south of Houston. I told her she'd be really close to Galveston and would likely enjoy visiting the island.

Prior to being destroyed by the worst natural disaster in American history, the Galveston hurricane of 1900, Galveston was the 3rd largest port in America, the largest city in Texas and the 2nd wealthiest city in the United States.

Jean Lafitte ran his pirate operations off Galveston Island after he helped Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans.

An area of Galveston that served as a waterfront banking center was known as The Strand. It was also known as "the Wall Street of the Southwest."

Galveston was a major port of entry for incoming Europeans and was second only to Ellis Island as an American Immigration Station.

In the Galveston of 2010 The Strand is an assortment of restored buildings covering a 36 square block area. The Strand has more than 100 shops, restaurants and art galleries selling an eclectic mix of antiques, Victorian baubles and other old stuff.

Moody Gardens is another big Galveston attraction. You can't help but notice Moody Gardens as you drive over the bridge that takes you to Galveston Island.