The sun had not yet arrived when I stepped outside to look at the view through the bars of my patio prison cell at the dark morning of the last Tuesday of 2010.
The sun is now dawning on a day currently heated to 11 degrees above freezing. It appears that we may be back under cloud cover. It is not quite bright enough to tell for sure.
This morning I found an annoying blog comment, from an entity calling itself "Best of Blogs Fort Worth."
The comment said, "Love this! I've included it on a site I've created, which is a compilation of some of the best blogs in the city." With the blog's URL added.
This does not seem kosher to me. Particularly since the only thing I saw on this blog that had anything to do with Fort Worth was its title, its blog description and the blog post it stole from me. The rest of the blog posts seemed to do with various storage options, you know, those places where you rent a space to store your junk.
Change of subject. This is going to be a physical exertion-lite day. Due to being a bit sore in a place or two, I assume from overdoing it in a place or two.
From my point of view the article did not quite get to the real reason behind why many thought the Streetcar plan was yet one more Fort Worth Boondoggle in the making. And just did not make sense.
From the article this one paragraph bugged me...
"Fort Worth’s historical attitude of giving little value to mass transit was probably a factor in the decision as well. Funding for the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) has also been on the low side compared to other cities, and the accepted view has always been that it’s mostly poor people who ride the bus — another reason the system gets little respect. Thus, better mass transit options have always been considered pretty much off the political radar screen."
Mostly poor people ride the bus? Why is that? And why is that the Fort Worth attitude towards bus riding? I've actually had someone tell me this in person when I opined that I thought riding the Fort Worth buses was fun, due to their theme park like wild ride aspect.
Now, the only other big city bus system that I have used is Seattle's. No one in Seattle would opine that only poor people use the bus.
In the picture above you are looking at the Pioneer Square station in the Seattle bus tunnel. Notice how many buses there are. This was on August 7, 2008. A Thursday, about 3 in the afternoon.
Seattle has a population a little over a half million. Fort Worth has a population over 700,000. Yet Seattle's downtown is way larger than Fort Worth's. There are several vertical malls, several department stores, grocery stores, theaters, two sports stadiums, museums, a symphony hall, Pike Place Market, all sorts of downtown attractions. And a lot of people from one end of downtown to the other, each and every day of the year.
Serving downtown Seattle, public transportation-wise, are surface buses, bus tunnel buses, light rail that runs through the bus tunnel, the SLUT streetcar and the Monorail. You can be at the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is) hop on the Monorail to Westlake Center (an actual downtown square, unlike Fort Worth's Sundance Square, which is parking lots), take the escalator from the Monorail level to the bus tunnel level and hop on a bus, or train, to take you to the International District's sports stadiums, or stop at any of the other stations, along the way.
All this transit, except for the Monorail and the SLUT streetcar is free. You start paying once you exit downtown.
Is anyone familiar with Fort Worth getting the point I am making here?
I've only touched upon a few of the attractions in downtown Seattle that make public transportation a viable and necessary option. Another reason public transit in downtown Seattle is necessary and viable is because a lot of people live downtown.
Fort Worth's streetcar plan, from what I understood, was that the hope was, build it and the attractions, and people will come. That has worked in some other locales. Like Dallas, Vancouver, Portland and others. But, in Fort Worth, methinks the foundation is way too weak for that sort of dynamic to occur.
I don't believe the "T" currently has bus routes circulating through downtown Fort Worth. Unless you count Molly the Trolley. That fact is rather telling, streetcar need-wise.
What Fort Worth actually needs to do is figure out why there are no vertical malls downtown, no grocery stores, no department stores.
Figure out why Heritage Park is a boarded up eyesore.
Seattle has a park similar to Heritage Park. It also had some problems. I believe a murder was committed in Seattle's Freeway Park. Freeway Park has water features, like Heritage Park did. When Seattle's Freeway Park became a problem Seattle did not put cyclone fence around it and turn off the water features. Seattle fixed the problem.
To my eyes, Fort Worth tends not to actually address its problems. Instead it pretends the problems aren't problems. How long is that embarrassing courthouse annex going to stand? It's been years now since I read it was coming down, with the historic courthouse to be restored to its original glory.
To sum up, in my opinion, Fort Worth needs to figure out why its downtown does not have attractions that attract crowds of people day after day. And necessities (like grocery stores) that would make it a place people want to live. Fort Worth needs to figure out why, on the busiest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving, downtown Fort Worth is a ghost town.
The year that downtown Fort Worth is not a ghost town on the busiest shopping day of the year is the year Fort Worth is actually ready to worry about building transit systems like streetcars.
Watch the video below I made of my Seattle visit of August 7, 2008. I was at Art in the Park in Pioneer Square (yet one more of Seattle's actual town squares). I walked to Westlake Center, then went into the bus tunnel. In the video you'll see one of Seattle's buses, on the surface, going by Westlake Center. In the bus tunnel you will see big, articulated buses, a lot of them, with a lot of people on board. You will notice that the bus I am on is standing room only. Picture the same scene in Fort Worth. You can't? Can you?
After the bus tunnel video I'll stick in one I made from the same day. Of Pike Place Market. On a summer Thursday afternoon. Make note of how big Pike Place is. In the video you see only a small fraction of the actual scope of the market. And note how many people are milling about. And how most of them look like they've had the air let out of them. You will see a big Texan or two, though.
Also, those who have heard me mention my disgust at how the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and downtown Fort Worth boosters touted Fort Worth's Santa Fe Rail Market as being modeled after Pike Place, well, the Pike Place video sort of shows you why I thought the local newspaper of record was not doing its job, and was pretty much spewing irresponsible propaganda....
And now a short walk through a small part of Pike Place Market...
That is the Muddy Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man waving at you today around noon.
It was a relatively balmy 41 when I hit the hills. So, I only had to wear 2 longsleeve shirt layers, plus a hoodie sweatshirt and wool cap to keep warm. And gloves.
I figured the Tandy Hills would have dried out by today from Friday's rain. I figured wrong. So, I did not get all gungho on the hiking.
Due to the mud and my recurring problem with my right foot having some sort of injury that is taking too long to go away, I cut my hill time short.
I tried returning calls to Elsie Hotpepper and Tootsie Tonasket while I navigated the mud. Neither was taking calls.
Before I left for the Tandy Hills I was trying to make sense of a West Texas Facebook mystery involving a charlatan who apparently has left dozens of West Texas women in Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned mode.
I've been down that road before. Unjustly, I might add. So I have some sympathy for the charlatan.
The Queen of Wink surprised me by indicating she is able to understand the tortured prose of Big Ed without a translator or subtitles. She is so smart it is annoying. She is so smart she'd never get taken in by a charlatan.
I also chatted with Carlotta Camano this morning. She is a witty one. Very hard for me to keep up.
And this morning for the first time I played Scrabble via I-Pad.
You're looking out the window at the frosty pre-dawn of the last Monday of 2010, from my current point of view in Texas.
December has zipped by, just like I opined it would weeks ago. Now there are only 2 more holidays to go in the holiday season and we will be done with this nonsense for 11 months, give or take a day.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
This morning I was surprised to see that the DurangObesity blog I started a few months ago has suddenly gotten busy. It had sort of languished and I had sort of resigned myself to the semi-sad fact that I'd made another blog dud, like my Durango Roadtripping blog.
The sun has now completely lit up the place. I can now extinguish artificial light. And I can see that it is another blue sky day in Texas. A cold blue sky day, currently freezing at 29 degrees.
I'd like to say I'm going swimming now. But I won't.
You are looking out my frosty bedroom window, with me up after the sun, on this day after Christmas, last Sunday of 2010.
The current temperature out there, according to my computer AccuWeateher plug-in, is 23 degrees. That's Fahrenheit, not Celsius.
This explains why I had to find me an extra blanket in the middle of the night.
I had a night of tossing and turning.
I believe I was over-stimulated from watching Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
I think Elizabeth Taylor's Martha the Harpy was way too much like a good-looking version of a horrendously ugly Harpy, who I was harped at by in a similar manner, well over 2 years ago in that Pacific Northwest town well known for producing Harpies and Serial Killers, Tacoma.
I just realized, typing that, that I have been Harpy-free for almost 2 and a half years.
Now that you are making me think about it, more accurately stated, I have not had direct, in person, Harpy interaction in almost 2 and a half years.
However, I have had some problems with the worst of the Tacoma Harpies, via the Internet, what that particular Harpy displaying her particularly disturbing mental problems and pathological lying, in astounding displays of demented hypocrisy and histrionic narcissistic neuroticness. That was actually slightly entertaining, because I was not having to deal with it in person.
Total change of subject, back to Christmas. So, yesterday morning I opened the package from my mom and dad. In it were a couple shirts, candy canes and a cargo shorts swimming suit.
The swimming suit was a medium. I don't think I've fit in something medium sized in decades. The shirts I could get on, but not freely move.
So, when I called my mom and dad yesterday, mom asked if the shirts and shorts fit.
Well, I'm thinking, oh oh, this is some sort of test, mom is seeing if I'll tell the truth about the small-sized shirts and shorts.
I told my mom that, well, uh, I've put on some weight since you last saw me.
My mom then asked how that happened, that I was so slender at that point in time. This was the first time I remember the word 'slender' being used to describe me.
I then said, well, I'm not so slender anymore.
My mom then told me that the shorts and shirt give me a reason to lose weight.
I told my mom that I'd already come to that conclusion.
I should take a picture of me in the mini-shorts and shirt.
We are back under a clear blue sky, this morning, in Texas, hence the need for sunglasses.
The shirt and shorts don't look as tightly fitting in the picture as they feel in person.
I have been told, more than once, that my clothes are mostly too baggy. Maybe snug-fitting is the way to go. Somehow, I doubt it.
You're looking at the Village Creek Rapids, around noon, Christmas, in Village Creek Natural Historic Area.
Village Creek was running a little extra water due to Friday's rain, but not enough to cause the park to be closed
A surprisingly large number of people were taking a break from Christmas in the park today.
I called my Mom and Dad when I started walking, even though I had not gotten gas. My Mom answered with a "Merry Christmas." Mom was being quite cheerful. We talked for around a half hour.
Talking for a half hour, outdoors, with the wind chill factor making it feel like 25, eventually made my phone holding left hand very cold. So, I had to say goodbye to my Mom.
I had intended to call my Mom and Dad and then call Elsie Hotpepper. When I flipped the phone open to call Mom and Dad I saw there was a voice mail from Elsie. Wishing me a Merry Christmas with a slight amount of Bah Humbug tossed in.
But, I did not call Elsie back due to the fact that I'd had my quota of phone talking in the cold for the day.
Looking out from the bars of my patio prison cell I can not quite tell for sure if the last Saturday of 2010, also known as Christmas is another cloudy Texas day, or not.
Cloudy or not, I'm sure I'll be having myself a very Merry Christmas, today.
My phone just made a noise and popped up with a text message.
I don't do that cell phone texting thing, as in I don't send text messages, but I have figured out how to read incoming ones.
This one was from the Queen of Wink. The message said "Merry Christmas."
Near as I can tell, despite Steve Doeung asking him to, Santa has not brought me a new bike. Perhaps Santa did not know where to put the new bike because I do not have a Christmas tree.
A year ago today I looked out my window to see a White Christmas. Right now, with the sun finally adding enough light, I can see that the only thing that appears semi-white is the sky with its covering of clouds.
I have no idea what lays ahead for me on this Christmas day, besides opening a box that arrived in the mail on Monday. And BBQing steak.
Merry Christmas to all and my one longtime blog reader.
That is Elizabeth Doeung and her dad, Steve, on Christmas Eve a year ago, surrounded by flags and snow on Fort Worth's infamous Carter Avenue.
Steve, with some help from Elizabeth, this morning, sent me the nicest Christmas card I've gotten this year.
So, I thought I'd share Steve's E-card, (for those reading this who are not so lucky as to be living in The Shale, the CHK to which Steve refers is Chesapeake Energy. TxDOT is Texas Department of Transportation)......
Dear Band of Bloggers,
You already know how I feel about you and what you mean to me. So you are the first to receive this clumsy attempt at an e-card (with some help from little Elizabeth, of course). Love you all for who you are, what you stand for, and what you do--that reflect the essence of this season and the best of what those flags represent.
It looks like CHK started to dig trenches for the 8-inch diameter gathering line along TxDOT's right-of-way last week. Apparently, TxDOT has determined that 8 inches of high pressure is the maximum risk they will allow in their wide easement along the freeway. However, my mayor and city government obviously saw no problem with one or more pipelines 2X the size and pressure (thus threat, danger, and damages) under front yards along a residential street. All that aside, this is better for them than the previous two years of very bad PR and no pipeline/million$ in profit.
I asked Santa to bring Durango a new bike, Elsie something to occupy her spare time, and Joely a less stressful new year...and a nice hunk :>) I have a gift for each of you but am waiting for the right opportunity to give it. I hope to do it before we move, not immediate but hopefully soon/when feasible.
Merry Christmas and holidays wishes to all our friends and neighbors--both near and far--from the exhausted but thankful survivors of the Barnett Shale "Alamo".
Thank you for helping us be the "miraculous" Victors after a two year long (and costly) battle. May the new year bring you health and happiness
May there be more Victors and less victims of the Exploiters of the Shale.
Rain began dropping around 11 this morning. Around noon I took off, out of here, heading to ALDI in Pantego.
A year ago, today, we were being pelted with frozen rain in the form of snowflakes, which piled up quickly.
I was reminded of what Christmas Eve was like last year when I opened a Christmas card from Steve Doeung and daughter Elizabeth, and saw both of them surrounded by a Winter Wonderland. With flags.
The view in the picture is heading south on Dottie Lynn Parkway in Arlington, about to take a left on to Division Street.
You might be thinking what sort of fool drives along in treacherous conditions taking pictures. Well, a short time after this picture was taken I was thinking the same thing.
Because, when I turned from Dottie Lynn Parkway on to Division my vehicle suddenly spun out of control. It just sort of slid sideways, rather than making the turn.
No. There was no ice on the road. It is not cold enough for ice to be on the road.
It has not rained in a long time. This can cause oily greasy spots that become like ice when covered with a lot of water. Like today.
When I was in ALDI the lady behind me in line was going on about how slippery it was. We then commiserated about our driving misery.
So far I have not seen nor heard any of the predicted Thunderstorm action. Maybe that is scheduled for later in the day.
I won't be going out in it again this Christmas Eve, unless someone somehow strongly motivates me to do so.
