Riding The Trinity Railway Express From Fort Worth To Dallas With Gail Galtex

I have not taken the ride on the rails to Dallas on the Trinity Railway Express, also known as TRE.

I have ridden a TRE train in Dallas though. From a parking lot east of the State Fair of Texas to an entry gate to the State Fair.

I live very close to the Richland Hills Station of the TRE. I don't know why I've never hopped on board.

And then this morning I got email from a young lady I will call Gail Galtex which leads me to think I might not enjoy riding the TRE to Dallas.

Below is what Gail Galtex had to say about the TRE....

Your question got me thinking about Dallas and the TRE.

We used to go there a lot on the TRE train. We were members of the Dallas Museum or Art, and would go there for the day, visit the Nasher, take the DART to Uptown to a pizza place we like, go to the State Fair, sometimes meet friends @ Union Station, and come home before the last train.

That was when a 2-zone day pass on the TRE was $5 a person. Now it is $10 bucks a person, or $20 for us to ride the train to Dallas for the day. Now we'd be better off driving, especially if we can park for free.

We take the TRE to the airport (Centerpoint stop) at least once a month when we travel. It now costs $14 round trip for both Mike and I to ride to the airport. We leave our apartment and roll our bags nine blocks to the ITC train station on Jones (there is no bus from where we live) and there is no park and ride there either. Even the park and rides along the train route won't let you park overnight. The price of the train has doubled since 2007, and sometimes on short trips we now drive and park in the DFW remote south lot ($8 a day) for up to 4 days because it is more convenient and doesn't cost that much more. The train is a no-brainer if we are gone for a week or a month because we don't want to pay to park the car that long.

Don't get me wrong. I love the TRE -- it is one of the coolest things around here because it is a real train. But there are some major problems.

The price has gotten too high for occasional users like us, probably for commuters too. And to make matters worse, they rarely check tickets. Even if they do, they don't enforce the fines. As a result, the trains are often loaded with homeless and questionable characters who don't smell too good.

The train doesn't run on Sundays, which means we can't travel in or out of DFW on this day. The last train from downtown Dallas back to FW is now @ 9:20pm. So people who go to games/concerts probably can't take the train now. The last train from Centerport to FW is at 9.48pm, so we can't fly back into DFW much past 7:30ish and expect to catch a train back home if there are flight delays. And if we miss the 8:48 train back home, we have to wait on the platform with our bags for another hour until 9:48. ONE train per hour in the evenings.

Since we've moved here, the TRE has added an extra rail line and doubled prices, but the service schedule and hours have not improved. And they still don't run on Sundays. I don't mind paying double, or even more -- if they give us something back in return. I would even go to Dallas more.

Even with all the problems, Dallas and FW are light years ahead of Austin in public transit. Austin is a complete joke and traffic is horrible. You'd think a city as progressive as Austin could get something like this right, but they are way behind.

Thanks for listening to my rant of the day. :-)

Gail Galtex

The Last Wednesday Of February Pondering Planetary Insanity

You are looking out one of my viewing portals on the world on the last Wednesday of the second month of 2011.

Today has dawned a lot warmer than yesterday's dawn, already heated up to 57 degrees. Meanwhile my old hometown in Washington is chilled to one degree above freezing. With snow incoming.

My computer is acting up again. Which just adds to the anxiety I'm already feeling.

What's got me anxious?

Well.

You've got the Middle East seemingly spinning out of control, into chaos. Which is causing the cost of oil to soar. North Korea is getting ready to test another nuclear bomb. Budget woes in several states, as in American states, have paralyzed those state's governments. This paralysis will likely be spreading. America's daily federal budget deficit is somewhere in the $5 billion range.

Then you mix in the local nonsense like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and Fort Worth's Paradise Center scandal and I just get real tired of thinking that way too much of the world is way too insane.

Which right now is making me think I'll escape for awhile into a pool of semi-warm water.

The First Wildflowers Of 2011 Are Showing Their Colors In Fort Worth

Just this morning I mentioned that in less than a month it will be Spring. I did not say in less than a month it will be Spring and Texas will be putting on its annual wildflower show.

Today for my mid-day constitutional I went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake.

Upon arrival I was a bit surprised to see color carpeting the ground in blue and purple wildflowers. And some of those beautiful yellow wildflowers that someone at some point in time told me are called Dandelions.

The pleasantly high temperatures that followed our unpleasantly cold temperatures must have confused some confusable plants into thinking Spring had arrived. And so they woke up and turned on the color.

It is 63 right now, a little before 3. I don't know if it is being warm enough to wake up the cold-blooded reptiles. Like snakes. Where does a big reptile, like an alligator, go when it gets way below freezing?

Elsie Hotpepper called me soon upon my arrival at Oakland Lake Park. I'd gotten out my camera and had it turned on to take a picture of a deflated boat that had joined the collection of litter that trashes up Fosdic Lake.

I turned off the camera and turned my attention to Elsie Hotpepper. Elsie was driving down the freeway at a high rate of speed when she called. It sounded like she was on a motorcycle.

I just saw incoming email on the other screen. Stenotrophomonas says it was not he who demolished the Tandy Bamboo Teepee. I fear the mystery of the Tandy Bamboo Teepee is going to remain an unsolved mystery.

Protesting Because Paradise Seems To Be Lost In Fort Worth For Now

Yesterday I blogged the Press Release about a protest planned in front of the Tarrant County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Headquarters protesting the ham-handed, possibly illegal, actions of the officials running TCMHMR.

It was only this morning I learned that the the MR part of TCMHMR stands for Mental Retardation.

For some reason I thought the term "Mental Retardation" had fallen upon disfavor.

But, now having learned that mental retardation is perfectly okay terminology, I guess it is politically correct to say it seems to me that maybe someone in a position of power within TCMHMR may be a bit retarded.

Drivers driving by yesterday's picketing protesters obliged the picket sign asking them to "Honk for Justice!"

Someone drove by the protest, honked their horn in support, then left a blog comment, saying...

This must be pretty serious because we drove by on Hulen this morning and honked in support of several people in yellow shirts holding signs saying "honk 4 justice for Paradise". An important looking man and woman were trying break them up or something. On our way back the group was still there but with a news cameraman obviously interviewing some of them. Keep us updated because this is both interesting and disturbing.

The news cameraman referred above was a WFAA, Channel 8, operation. As far as I know, Fort Worth's pathetic excuse for a newspaper of record, you know, a newspaper that actually reports the local news, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has not told its readers about the Paradise Center Scandal.

However, Fort Worth's actual only real newspaper of record, it just isn't daily, Fort Worth Weekly, sent Jeff Prince to take a look into the Paradise Center Scandal and yesterday's protest. The resulting FW Weekly article is titled "Paradise Center Visitors Protest MHMR."

FW Weekly did not uncover what is behind the firing of the Paradise Center's only full-time employee, Teresa Davis.

However, comments made in response to the FW Weekly article seem to shine some possible light on the Paradise Center Scandal...

FWISD Product says:
Nice story. But whispers around MHMR is that there is a scheme to use the established reputation and leadership and skills of those people running the place as volunteers to keep attracting mental health consumers so MHMR and a private company can bill Medicaid for providing an essential component of mental health treatment/recovery.

There’s also talk of emergency meetings by the Board of Trustees and the executives to prepare for legal actions and possible investigations related to the whole affair, which those in the know say could cost a bunch of money and even executives’ jobs.

Please stay on this story because something doesn’t smell right about what MHMR is trying to present.

Carol says:
MHMR may not have plans of closing Paradise Center or reducing services, but will it truly be a “client run” organization as it has been in the past? It seems that MHMR has other plans for the building which may include serving individuals with mental illness, however, Teresa Davis and the consumers have kept Paradise Center “alive” for the past 10 years. As a consumer run organization, Paradise Center has given many individuals suffering with mental illness a reason to continue in life. It has given them hope, encouragement, and a place where they truly felt needed….because the organization did not “run” without the consumers or Mrs. Davis! So, will MHMR keep it a consumer run organization or just allow the clients to participate in what they tell them to do? Paradise Center has opened their doors on weekends and every holiday such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. Teresa Davis, her family, friends and volunteers were the ones there to help, not MHMR faculty and staff. And, why would MHMR need a “change in management”, as Massey said, when Teresa Davis has not had an evaluation in 8 years (because she was the director of a non-profit, not an MHMR employee) and has been a dedicated worker. Why the sudden change???? Something’s not right! What is MHMR trying to hide?

Linda says:
The clients of Paradise Center are family. They care about each other and help each other stay well. I have heard so many from other areas comment that they would love to have a safe place like Paradise and someone like Teresa. I know of no other that understands and helps clients like she does. Football season found her preparing weekly for the football games. Cooking and providing rides so that the group could get together to cheer for the Cowboys. They were able to have get togethers like friends do. Her phone turned on 24/7. She takes them to grocery shop, doctor appointments, out to eat and on and on. You do not find someone like Teresa that has dedicated her life to helping those that suffer from an illness that so few understand. She keeps these folks well and out of the hospital. She has respect for them and they love and respect her. This situation with the loss of their “home” is pitiful. No,it is shameful. Teresa deserves respect.

Bob C. says:
Teresa Davis deserves better than this, as do the people who are served by Paradise Center.

emey says:
They threw away her papers and stuff from her office!

Glenda says:
Not only did Teresa keep many patients out of the hospital
she gave up all her holidays for the patients. So the patients would not be home alone and could be with “family”. She does deserve better. I think someone should look into “the reasons” she was terminated.

________________________________________

I agree with Glenda. Someone should look into the reasons why Teresa Davis was fired. I think the first comment above, the one from Fort Worth Independent School District Product, aka FWISD Product, may contain a big clue as to the reason for these retarded actions.

Since this is a government action, as in isn't this being done by a Tarrant County agency? Isn't there supposed to be transparency regarding actions by a public agency?

At this stage in the Paradise Center Scandal I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Teresa Davis needs to be re-instated.

An investigation needs to take place as to why she was fired.

And then whoever instigated that firing needs to be fired.

Five Degrees Above Freezing In North Texas With Less Than A Month Til Spring

The last Thursday of the second month of 2011 has dawned with a blue sky heated up to only 5 degrees above freezing.

I think I will skip swimming this morning.

Looking out my viewing portal on the world it looks cold out there.

We had a run of a week or so of being 30 or 40 degrees warmer than my old hometown in Washington. This morning my zone of Texas is only 3 degrees warmer than Mount Vernon.

And snow is in the forecast for Western Washington. I hope we are done with snow being in our forecast for North Texas for the remainder of the particularly cold, snowy, icy Winter in Texas.

We have less than a month to go before this miserable Winter is history. Spring is currently scheduled to arrive on March 20.

Alligator Awareness Is Fort Worth's Latest Craze

Today I am finding myself learning all sorts of new things. Like I did not know that Inner Tubing in the Trinity River was Fort Worth's latest craze. I am so un-trendy and un-cool, these type things just escape my attention.

Then Water Baby, she being the Water Baby who yesterday sent me a picture she took of a gator enjoying the Trinity River, in the same part of the Trinity River that is so popular with those caught up floating in Fort Worth's latest craze, sent me a couple links to City of Fort Worth informational webpages about Alligator Awareness in Tarrant and Wise County. Why Wise County gets added to Tarrant and none of the other counties surrounding Tarrant County, I don't know.

The other link Water Baby sent me was to another City of Fort Worth webpage, titled "ALLIGATOR AWARENESS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS."

One of the frequently asked questions was, "How many are there?" As in how many alligators, I assume. The answer only focuses on the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, saying "preliminary findings" indicate the alligator population is between 15 and 25. No mention is made of how many are living in Lake Worth. Or how many relatives of that big 10 footer that was run over near my abode, last year, are still in my neighborhood.

Water Baby pointed me to an amusing part of the AA FAQ in the Public Education Program section where it advises, "Avoid swimming and doing other water activities in areas where alligators are known to exist."

So, you've got one part of the City of Fort Worth government advising the public to avoid swimming and other water activities in areas where alligators are known to exist, while another part of the Fort Worth City Government organizes Happy Hour Inner Tubing Parties in part of the Trinity River where alligators are known to exist. And has turned this activity into a craze that has swept fad prone Fort Worth like a hula hoop attached to a frisbee.

How can anyone not get why I love living in this nutty, craze prone town?

The Shocking Discovery That The Tandy Hills Bamboo Teepee Has Been Grounded

I was shocked today to find that the mysterious Tandy Hills Bamboo Teepee has been knocked to the ground.

Knocked to the grounds by human hands? Or Mother Nature?

I did as good a forensic exam of the collapsed Teepee zone as my CSI skill level allowed and could find no evidence that gave any indication as to how or why the Tandy Teepee met its demise.

The Tandy Teepee was in a rather protected zone, near the bottom of a hill, lots of trees on all sides to help buffer it from the wind.

I suspect maybe the Tandy Hills Bottle Policeman, Stenotrophomonas, may have had a hand in the Bamboo Teepee's destruction.

In addition to the mystery of its demise, the mystery of the arrival of the Bamboo Teepee remains. Who went to the bother of hauling about 20 long sticks of bamboo, with leaves still attached, to this isolated location in the heart of the Tandy Hills? And why would anyone do this?

The temperature has dropped since I had myself a real good swim this morning. A cold wind blowing in from the north has replaced the warm wind that was blowing in from the south. It was 65 when I went swimming this morning shortly after 7. It is 59 this afternoon, at 3:15.

No threat yet that we are heading back to that nasty sub-freezing stuff.

Today I Learned That Tubing The Trinity Is The Latest Craze In Fort Worth Among Other Things

A couple days ago I blogged about a slick propaganda brochure from the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle that had arrived in my mailbox.

I blogged about the brochure before I actually read through the entirety of the propaganda.

Yesterday I blogged about Water Baby's possible spotting of an alligator in the Trinity River, right at the location pictured in the TRV's slick propaganda brochure of crazy people Inner Tubing in the Trinity River.

I bet you did not know that Tubing on the Trinity is the latest craze in Fort Worth. I know I sure didn't. I can't actually think of anything I'm aware of in Fort Worth that is a craze.

The brochure earnestly suggests I grab some friends & head out for a Trinity River floating event. Anyone reading this in Washington, where the rivers run clean, want to fly down to Texas to do some tubing with me? It's the latest craze in this fine town I'm living in.

Yesterday after I blogged about Water Baby's gator I got a few good comments regarding critters in the Trinity River.

Unca Mikey said...Y'think maybe it was a nutria? We've seen lots of nutria in the Trinity, and when they swim they leave a wake like that. We've even seen herds of Nutria grazing along the river below the Taylor St. roundabout.

Anonymous said...Or an alligator gar. Trinity is home to them, some of them weighing up to 200 lbs. The tributaries are full of snakes, some of them bigger than you care to think about. 

CatsPaw said...Hey, that's my 'hood. Considering a nine-and-a-half footer was caught, tagged and released in Lake Worth last summer, alligators are entirely possible here. They're here; they're just stealthy and usually feed at night. Just have some night tubing and this location can be featured in ChowBaby.

And then there is the gem below that I missed upon first perusal of the slick TRV Boondoggle propaganda brochure.

When I blogged about the slick TRV Boondoggle propaganda brochure I did make note of the part that mentioned over 2,500 people toured a Streetcar when it visited Fort Worth.

Anonymous then commented that it was odd that the slick TRV Boondoggle propaganda brochure neglected to mention that the Fort Worth City Council killed the streetcar project.

I'd not noticed the part of the brochure above, where the caption says, "A modern streetcar was parked outside the TRVA office from Nov. 16-28 for citizens to gain firsthand knowledge of the transportation option."

Or the picture next to that of Fort Worth's Ruling Despot, Mayor Mike Moncreif, with the caption saying, "Mayor Moncrief and other local leaders unveiled the streetcar Nov. 17 and announced a public town hall meeting to discuss the possibility of having streetcars in Fort Worth."

Yes, it really does seem odd to me, now, that the slick TRV Boondoggle propaganda brochure made no mention of the fact that the Fort Worth Streetcar had died.

You in other parts of America are likely wondering how a modern streetcar happened to be in Fort Worth for knowledge gaining purposes.

Well.

Now, you are going to think I am making this up. I assure you I am not. Just like I'm not making up the fact that the latest Fort Worth craze is Inner Tubing in the snake, gator, nutria, alligator gar infested Trinity River.

It is also a fact that, bizarre as it seems, the TRV Boondoggle, in cahoots with a couple other entities, shipped a streetcar from Portland, Oregon, so that locals, who have never seen such a modern wonder. Or been to Dallas. Could see such a marvel.

I'm surprised only around 2,500 people took advantage of the opportunity to gain this once in a lifetime knowledge. I would have thought the number would have been in the 100s of thousands, just like those humongous crowds that filled the Sundance Square parking lots because ESPN was broadcasting from a Fort Worth parking lot.

I'm done now.

Mental Health Consumers Picket In Fort Worth Over Paradise Center Closure Scandal

Has the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had an article about the Paradise Center closure that I somehow missed? Or is this often sad excuse for a town's newspaper of record not reporting this particular news?

I just got an email with the latest Press Release about the Paradise Center Fort Worth Scandal

Mental Health Consumers Picket 

MHMR of Tarrant Co. Headquarters 

Demanding 

CEO Dr. Jim McDermott 

Return Their

Properties and Their Dignity as PEOPLE

Today, Monday 2/21/11    11:00am  3840 Hulen, FW

Fort Worth, Texas-- 02/21/11  

One weekend after MHMR of Tarrant County's CEO and his executive team's shocking and upsetting decision to take over their community center and locked them out of their home away from home of over a decade (as recorded and reported last Friday evening by WFAA/Channel 8 News) the leaders and supporters of Paradise Center Inc., (www.ParadiseCenterInc.org) -- an autonomous 501/c/3 non-profit Organization dedicated to helping people with serious mental illness with their recovery and reintegration back into the community as full citizens AND one of the few such organizations in the nation/world that is run by people living with serious mental illnesses-- are going to the offices of the CEO and his executive team to picket and demand that they return every item of property that belong to their outstanding Organization.

The list is long but include operational equipments like computers and printers, office desks and  pool and ping pong tables, a closet of puzzles and games, expensive arts and crafts supplies, bins of prizes used for weekly Bingo games  - all items donated to Paradise Center, Inc. or purchased with monetary donations given by groups and individuals to Paradise Center, Inc.

The leaders who operate Paradise Center, Inc. are anxious to retrieve their possessions as well as the promised funding from MHMR so they can relocate and continue to offer vital peer support services through a community center to the hundreds of members who consider Paradise Center the home away from home.

By simply doing these two basic things, Dr. Jim McDermott and MHMRTC can minimize the damage that has already started as a result of the sudden and unexplained take over of this well-established and reputable community center and the organization that has operated it for over 12 years.

The public and the media should be concerned about the manner in which these mental health consumers have been treated by this tax-payer funded organization that CEO Dr. McDermott leads.

Make no mistake, what is and will be operated out of 505 S.Jennings Avenue IS NOT ANYTHING CLOSE TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER THAT PARADISE CENTER HAS OPERATED.  The staff in the building are not Paradise Center staff, they do not operate by Paradise Center's philosophy and are not experienced in operating a consumer-run organization.

Paradise Center, Inc., while homeless and in exile at this moment, is still alive and determined to fight to recover our properties, our good name, and our promised operational grant.

MHMR and CEO Dr. Jim McDermott can restore this "Paradise lost" by acting with decency.

A Full Moon Over Texas Brings On Puerto Rican Lunacy

I stepped outside to check out the morning view from my patio this 3rd Monday of the 2nd month of 2011 to see a big round white glowing orb hovering in the sky above.

Had I realized it was the full moon time of the month I might have been a bit more understanding about how extra loony Miss Puerto Rico was acting last night.

Near as I can tell, Puerto Ricans have a tendency to irrational emotional bursts of temper. Last night's Puerto Rican temper incident occurred when the ABC website required a flash update in order to view a TV show. While Miss Puerto was having an emotional breakdown over this I was clicking the mouse and installing the update.

I can understand something making a person mad. What I've never understood is having a temper tantrum over some minor thing. I've known more than one person, over the years, with this problem. I find it very annoying to be around.

I escaped from Miss Puerto Rico's after the flash installation. I likely won't return for quite awhile.

On a more pleasant note, the full moon has heated the air this morning to a balmy 33 degrees above freezing.

Which means I am going swimming.