A Saturday Hike On The Tandy Hills With Mike, Sara & Penny

That is Mike and Sara and their canine hiking companion, Penny, taking a break and having lunch on the Tandy Hills today.

Mike and Sara have lived in Dallas for 3 years. Before Dallas they lived in Eugene, Oregon, where they'd hiked a lot.

Mike and Sara were Googling for places to hike in Texas and somehow found this blog called Durango Texas, which led them to their first visit to the Tandy Hills.

I talked to Mike and Sara and Penny for awhile. Told them about other hiking places in the area.

I forgot to mention some good hiking locations, so I'll mention them now, in the oft chance Mike and Sara visit that Durango Texas Blog again.

Well, Lake Grapevine has some good trails. The trails from Rockledge Park are probably the best. You'll find the entry to Rockledge Park after you drive across Lake Grapevine Dam. Grapevine currently charges an entry fee to Rockledge Park, which I consider an outrage and an abomination.

There are several park areas around Lake Grapevine from which you can access the trails, like the Horseshoe Trails.

Across the Red River, in Oklahoma, there is Turner Falls Park, with hiking, caves and cliffs to climb.

About 60 miles southwest of Fort Worth you'll find Dinosaur Valley State Park. There are miles of good trails in this state park. Very hilly. And it is very easy to get lost. The trails are marked by color. Which does not help all that much with the getting lost problem.

There are a couple other good Fort Worth hiking locations. The Fort Worth Nature Preserve is one. It's got miles of trails, cliffs, prairie dogs, bayous and alligators. Trails that you can access from the Lake Worth overlook in Sansom Park are the steepest I have been on in Texas. Sansom Park is a maze of trails and it is possible to have fun getting lost.

I told Mike and Sara about the trails in Cedar Hills State Park. I neglected to mention how huge this park is. It is a several mile drive, once you enter the park, to get to the first hiking trailhead. At the end of the road you'll find the trailhead for some 13 miles of mountain bike trails, that you can also hike. I told Mike and Sara I've seldom seen a snake on the Tandy Hills. At Cedar Hills State Park I had my biggest rattlesnake encounter. As in, it was HUGE.

This makes twice this week I've run into humans on the Tandy Hills who had not been there before. The hills are coming alive with humans.

The First Saturday Of The Last Month Of 2010 Dawns Bright & Semi-Warm

It is the first Saturday morning of the last month of 2010.

With blue sky and 51 degrees. I believe we got into the 70s yesterday. Which would make the 24 hour average over 50 degrees. Which, according to my swimming criteria, makes this a go swimming in the morning day.

But, I am up late and not much in the mood for cold shock therapy. Which may mean it might do me some good.

I got a lot of email last night and this morning, with a lot of information that I am going to need some time to process. My head is already hurting from the process of processing.

I need to go for some icy water therapy now. See you later.

Fort Worth's Corrupt, Incompetent School Superintendent Melody Johnson's Mishandling Of The Joe Palazzolo Whistleblower Scandal

If I remember right I think I have mentioned before that I live in an area of America where insanity is the norm. Well, more accurately, where insanity is accepted as normal. Where right gets turned wrong. And, where, even when what is right, is clearly clear, wrong prevails.

No, I am not talking about the fashion faux pas of Texas Big Hair as demonstrated by the woman in the photo.

The woman in the photo is yet one more person in Fort Worth who clearly is not competent to do the job she has been hired to do.

The woman's name is Melody Johnson. She is the Superintendent of Fort Worth Schools.

As long as I have been in Fort Worth there have been  tales of corruption in the Fort Worth school system.

Arlington Heights High School assistant principal, Joe Palazzolo, went to his superiors, including Superintendent Johnson, to report some serious wrongdoing occurring at Arlington Heights High School

The Whistleblower, Palazzolo, became the problem, in Ms. Johnson's and her fellow corrupt lackey's eyes. Palazzolo was gradually marginalized til he no longer had a job.

There are laws that protect whistleblowers from retaliation from those about whom the whistle was blown. Those laws are now in play. How well this works in Texas, I have no idea.

FW Weekly has once more performed extremely well in its role as Fort Worth's only actual legitimate newspaper, doing actual real investigative journalism. Unlike the Fort Worth Star-Telegram which pretty much acts as the mouthpiece for the local stoolies in various positions of power.

If you want a good dose of the extreme madness that passes for Fort Worth's adults in positions of power, read this week's Fort Worth Weekly article about the Joe Palazzolo Scandal.

If this was a town where sanity was in the majority, Ms. Melody Johnson would have been fired, by now, over this scandal. If this were a town were sanity was in the majority, someone with Ms. Melody Johnson's Big Hair would never have been hired as a school superintendent.

Does anyone know if Melody Johnson is another Kay Granger relative?

UPDATE: Reading Anonymous Comment #2 causes me to think this Joe Palazzolo Scandal may not be quite as black and white as I thought it to be from reading it described in FW Weekly.

The Tandy Hills Helped Today's Existential Angst While Chase Bank Added To It

You are looking north on one of the long and winding trails on the Tandy Hills, around noon, today.

Even though it had been less than 24 hours since I had my mystical Tandy Hills encounter with an Aztec Indian, I felt compelled to return to the sacred ground, due to the extreme case of Existential Angst from which I am currently suffering.

Hill hiking seemed to help. A little.

I do not recollect a more perfectly temperatured day to be hiking on the Tandy Hills than today.

I think I already mentioned, in the blogging previous to this one, that I heard from Steve Doeung this morning. Steve wants to take me and Elsie Hotpepper to Vietnam. I mentioned this to Elsie. We both think this sounds fun. So, I guess it will be to Vietnam we shall go. But, not this weekend, not while I am having this Existential Angst thing hanging over my head.

Changing subjects. Today I got a letter from Chase Bank. I have long regretted the day Washington Mutual got taken over by Chase Bank. It's been like I was living in a democratic republic that was taken over by an autocratic monarchy, that one by one by one has been taking my WaMu freedoms away. And doing so with Orwellian verbiage that makes it sound like Chase is doing me a favor.

Today I learned that Chase is replacing my Free Checking with something called Chase Total Checking. Free Checking will now cost $12 a month.

I just checked to see how easy it is to switch my Google AdSense to a new bank account. It appears to be easy. Google is the only thing I can think of that might have presented a difficulty. Changing the bank account in other accounts, like PayPal, is easy.

So, I'm now looking for a new bank. It's the principle of the thing. When Chase took over they told WaMu customers our WaMu account's attributes would remain the same, only now with the protection of Chase Bank.

Anyone have any good bank suggestions? We can rule out US Bank.

Changing subjects again. I got a lot of good stuff. Again. At Town Talk today. Sushi was in the cooler again. And grape tomatoes. I got a lot of grape tomatoes. And dried pineapple. And a big bag of fire-roasted eggplant. Plus smoked Provolone.

I think it may be Town Talk that is making me FAT. Which is just one more factor in my ongoing Existential Angst.

The First Friday Of December Dawns With Existentialist Angst In Texas

The Friday morning of December 3 is slightly more colorful than yesterday's monochromatic morning.

I'm still feeling un-colorful though. With an overarching feeling of "WHY BOTHER?"

I got a real nice email that cheered me up this morning, from one of Fort Worth's best Texans, he being Steve Doeung. Steve's email had several good quotes from the Existentialist Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Nietzschian truisms like all it takes for evil to triumph is for the good people to do nothing.

I guess I will try and find myself some evil to try and triumph over today. I probably won't have to search too far to find me some evil.

Passing Time With An Aztec Indian On The Tandy Hills With Pit Bulls

I had myself a slightly surreal visit to the Tandy Hills late this afternoon.

The air was very calm, very quiet.

I had a lot on my mind. Which is difficult for a mind like mine.

I was heading northwest on the trail that cuts at a diagonal til it joins the end of the main trail that leads north from View Street.

As I came to the junction with the trail that leads down to Tandy Falls, I startled a guy coming up from the falls.

This was a man in uniform. He asked me if I knew about the hills. I said I sort of did. He asked if he could ask me some questions. I noticed that his uniform said something like Perimeter Security and that he was carrying a notebook and an electronic device.

I asked if he was looking for something. He said he was not. That he was in the area on a job and saw a sign that referenced Natives in the preserve. And that he thought he might find some arrowheads.

I was a little confused by the Natives reference. I asked if he was Native American. He said his grandma was full Aztec, which is why he was so tall. He seemed about the same height as me. I'm not all that tall.

He asked me what sort of animals roamed the hills, due to he'd been spooked by noises and thought he'd seen a ferret scurrying about. I assured him he was in no animal danger on the Tandy Hills, except for possible encounters with nutty humans drinking Four Loko.

Soon thereafter, as we continued talking, a guy walked up with two pit bulls on a leash. This was unusual. And then a short time after that, an older guy, shirtless, came up the trail from the west, jogging, startling us.

I told the Aztec that this was an unusually high level of activity.

After a bit more Tandy Hills promoting I was on my way. The Aztec said he had to get going too.

About a half hour later, as I exited towards View Street, I saw the Aztec sitting on one of the benches that is at the end of the paved trail. Right then he got up and walked towards View Street. I then dawdled, due to I'd had enough conversation. I figured he would be leaving in the pickup that was parked behind me. Which was the only other parked vehicle.

A couple minutes later I saw the pickup still parked. I figured, even if I had to engage in more conversation, it was time to leave.

But. there was no one in the pickup and no Aztec in sight. Where did he go?

I was starting to think the entire encounter had some sort of omen quality not accessible to my limited imagination.

I wanted to see what it said on the Tandy Hills sign that sits near Don Young's house. So, I drove there.

The only reference to Natives is the mention made of the Native Grasses that cover the Tandy Hills.

It's been a weird day in Fort Worth.

The Color Has Been Drained From The Morning Of The 2nd Day Of December In Texas

The view from my window is a bit monochromatic this morning, except for a some blue from the pool. Which I guess means the 2nd day of December is starting off a bit on the drab side.

Which sort of fits my mood. I am feeling very monochromatic this morning. As in I'm feeling colorless, rather than my usual colorful norm.

Good news on the Texas Sharon front. Google and You Tube have restored her YouTube account, after suspected dirty dealings by entities trying to stifle this particular outspoken feisty Texan.

Those trying to stifle Texas Sharon are obviously not based in Texas. Likely the stifling is coming from Oklahoma. Anyone in Texas knows you mess with a Texas woman at your own extreme risk. Texas women are a mighty persnickety breed.

I am going to go for some ice treatment shock in the pool this morning to see if I can break out of monochromatic mode and turn colorful once more. I'll let you know how that works out.

Walking Into Kroger & Being Transported Back To Washington Via Christmas Trees With Streetcars

On my way to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake I stopped at Kroger to get this week's FW Weekly.

As soon as I stopped my vehicle, and opened the door, I was hit with a most un-Texan fragrance.

I was instantly transported back to Western Washington, where the forests of evergreens scent the air like Christmas trees.

The Christmas trees from Washington have arrived at Kroger. According to the label on one of the trees, "Another GEM from the Emerald Forest: Emerald Christmas Company."

Based in Bellevue.

I do not recollect ever seeing a Christmas Tree Farm in Bellevue. Bellevue is rather urbanized. Think of Bellevue as being to Seattle like Fort Worth is to Dallas.

Only upscale. Very upscale. With way less open space.

If Bellevue had not entered this current discussion, due to being mentioned on a label on a Christmas Tree, it likely would have been more appropo to say Tacoma is to Seattle like Fort Worth is to Dallas.

Only. Again. More upscale. Way more upscale.

Tacoma already has a streetcar, for instance. And Tacoma has a brand new convention center hotel that required no bribes to get built, sitting in an area of many museums, which the streetcar passes through, which Tacoma does not feel the need to label as Tacoma's "Cultural District."

Unlike Fort Worth.

Which has signs all over its downtown zone, pointing you out of downtown, to the "Cultural District."

Such rubes up in Tacoma, they just don't realize it is very sophisticated to call a part of your town your "Cultural District."

Speaking of Tacoma's streetcar. It actually serves a purpose. Tacoma has a transit center where buses, trains and streetcars come together. At the transit center there is a huge parking garage.  Free. You can park there and take the Sounder Train to Seattle. Or the streetcar to downtown Tacoma. Also free. Or hop a bus. Or go shopping in Freighthouse Square.

With Freighthouse Square being a successful version.

On steroids.

In little Tacoma.

Of what 3.5 times bigger, population-wise, Fort Worth's, Santa Fe Rail Market tried to be.

But which failed, miserably.

I sort of predicted the Santa Fe Rail Market failure. It was sort of like shooting fish in a barrel. And it was sort of a precursor to Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. Another enterprise I predict will fail. For similar reasons. But on a much more massive scale, with costly ramifications.

Anyway, watch the below video, which I made in 2008, during my hellacious month-long stupid mistake of spending a long month in Tacoma, and you will see the Tacoma streetcar, coming at you, with Tacoma's convention center behind it. With lots of people on board. They are passing through Tacoma's "Cultural District." The building you will see the streetcar pass by is a museum. Then, in the video, you will walk across a Bridge of Glass and see another museum, shaped like a pointy cone. That would be the Museum of Glass.

In the video you will also see a small part of the Tacoma waterfront, yet one more thing Tacoma has in common with Fort Worth. Only Fort Worth's is not yet built, and will be smaller. And likely will float no boats and have no signature bridges, like the one you'll see in the below video...

A Calm Warm Wednesday Afternoon Walking Around Fosdic Lake With The Ducks

It has been awhile since I've been to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake.

Today during my usual aerobicizing time I was up in Hurst. Where I was surprised to see that the new OC Burgers joint that opened not long ago, to fanfare, due to it being a favorite in other places, is now closed.

I think the OC Burger burger joint is based in California. I hope the OC demise does not bode ill for the incoming  from California In & Out Burger joints. I was sort of looking forward to the arrival of In & Out.

Fosdic Lake was very peaceful this late afternoon around 5. No wind blowing. The birds were all nice and calm, not acting bird-brained at all. I think a little burst of pleasant weather soothes the savage beasts and renders them in a good mood. I know that is what it does to me.

Right now, as I sit here typing, post 5, my windows are back open again. They likely will not be open for long.

Alma the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast & Coach Potato Productions Sings For You

You are looking at Alma, Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, in mid-warble, singing from her new deluxe apartment in the sky, in the town of Port Aransas, where Alma is currently headquartered, running her Coach Potato Productions Corporation.

I met Alma sometime late in the last century, or early in the current century. around the same time I met Gar the Texan, in this bizarre thing, the nature of which I had never experienced before, called the D/FW Singles Newsgroup.

There were a lot of what I would call "marginal" personality types in D/FW Singles. Gar the Texan and I and Alma (and others) would have fun, at times, tweaking their hyper-sensitive sensitivities.

My favorite escapade in D/FW Singles was what came to be known as the Donisagate Scandals. Alma sort of got caught on the wrong side of Donisagate, at first. Then she figured it out. Donisagate started in a saloon in North Dallas, the name of which now escapes me. Donisa and I had left the saloon. And then got called back. And that is when Donisagate began. I was oblivious of the fuse that had been lit that night, even though I lit it, til the next morning.

I wonder where Donisa is now?

In the past week Alma disbanded her Havana Dreams duo, firing her conga drum drummer, Luis. I would not have said anything til now, but I think Alma is well rid of that skeezy-sleazy Luis guy.

This week Alma mastered the art of the solo making of a music video. Below is Alma's "test" effort, singing a Neil Young song called "Sugar Mountain."  I must add, regarding the video, Alma said she should have combed her hair, put on makeup and adjusted the lighting. But it was a test, so who cares....