Looking At A Dry Tandy Falls Thinking About Fort Worth's Paradise Center Scandal Madness

We are mighty parched in these parts. By parts I mean North Texas.

Tandy Falls is now Tandy Dry Falls. Looking at the picture you would never guess that a couple months ago this was a roaring waterfall.

Change of subject.

I am in a bit of a foul mood today. I am sort of annoyed at the people of Fort Worth.

Well, some of the people of Fort Worth.

When the Paradise Center Scandal erupted over a month ago I thought this was such an obviously wrong that even this justice-challenged part of America would get that a BIG WRONG was done. And insist it be fixed.

In all my years of doing the blogging thing I've never been inundated with as many comments to various bloggings as I have been over the Paradise Center Scandal. I thought I'd move it all to a Paradise Center Scandal Blog, but a lot of the commenting is still coming in to this blog.

What really annoyed me today were incoming comments from MHMR "cons."

Cons is the term one of today's sane commenters used. As in pros and cons, with the Paradise Center and Teresa Davis being the "pros" and the MHMR people and their little man leader, Jim McDermott, being the "cons."

I would hope, but know it won't happen, that "con" in this case will eventually come to also mean "convict."

Just minutes ago I got a long comment from Scandal Madness Fan.

The first sentence is an indicator that there are decent people in Fort Worth who can tell the difference between right and wrong....

"Wow, the lack of civility and decency shown by the commenters against (the "cons") this Teresa lady and her small but brave group of people leaves me and my family wondering what has happended to these cons to make them so hateful."

Good question. Methinks mental illness may be running rampant in the Mental Health Mental Retardation Tarrant County Agency.

But, then again, I have reason to think there is some sanity inside that organization. Someone claiming to be inside the MHMR organization has been sending me info. Including one very damning email written by MHMR CEO Jim McDermott.

I have been sort of confused as to what to make of much of what I've been sent. It all sort of wears me out.

Which makes me think I'm going to go swimming and not think about it for awhile.

I'm On My Third Day Of Recovering From A Brutal Fire Ant Attack

You are looking at a close-up, macro view of the current state of the Fire Ant attack on my right arm.

The right arm is way worse than the left. By this morning the red bumps had formed white pustules that make it look as if my arm is covered by a real bad case of acne.

I've not had a zit in decades.

 I've now learned that Fire Ants bite only to get a grip on your skin so they can then inject a sting from their abdomen that contains a toxic alkaloid venom called solenopsin.

For most humans Fire Ants are a painful sting, with a sensation similar to being burned.

I am not like most humans, apparently, I felt nothing and still feel nothing.

I have learned the white pustule can get infected, if scratched. I've had no impulse to do any scratching. A topical steroid hydrocortisone cream and aloe vera helps. Or taking antihistamines. I'm taking nothing.

Some people have a horrible reaction to a Fire Ant attack, due to allergies, causing severe chest pain, nausea, bad swelling, trouble breathing and slurred speech.

Where I got stung I saw no Fire Ant mound. It was likely located elsewhere, with me getting burned by Worker Ants. The Worker Ants are sterile females who do all the work of the ant colony, like building the nest, taking care of the babies, running the Fire Ant defense system and hunting for supplies for the colony.

I suspect I was attacked by some supply hunters.

The Fire Ant nest is ruled by a Queen. The Queen has up to 8 sub-Queens who's job it is to flee the nest if it is attacked, so a new colony can be built with a new Queen. The Queen's main job is to make babies. The Queen can live 6 or 7 years, popping out around 1,500 ant eggs a day.

The Queen is one very busy Fire Ant. She basically spends her day getting serviced by Male Drones. The Drones mate with the Queen and then die. Their average lifespan is 4 days. The Males are born, reach puberty, reproduce and die within 4 days.

Someone suggested that the reason I don't feel the burn of the Fire Ants is the same reason I don't feel the cold of the pool.

Maybe I am just insensitive.

The Headless Shadow Of The Skinny Dipping Texas Thin Man Up Early The Third Saturday Of March Thinking About Getting Fat

It is 65 this 3rd Saturday of March at a little past 7. I have the ceiling fan spinning and the windows open. Birds are making an awful racket out there, announcing the arrival of the sun.

I intend to have myself a very long swim this morning.

This morning I learned that the people of Tarrant County are too fat. Shocking news.

In something called the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Project, Tarrant County Public Health found that 66 percent of Tarrant County adults are overweight or obese.

I don't know why the county had to go to the bother of conducting some big surveillance project to figure out this is one fat county.

Just park yourself at any random Tarrant County Wal-Mart and count 100 people and you will likely come close to 66% (or more) appearing to be grossly overweight.

I remember the last time I drove myself back to the Northwest. July of 2001. I crossed the border into Oregon at Ontario. That is a town in Oregon, not the Canadian province. I went in the Ontario Wal-Mart. I was immediately struck by the way it appeared the people had had the air let out of them.

That same people appearing deflated phenomenon occurred again when I flew to Seattle in February of 2004. I had not been back to the Northwest since July of 2002. So, that was over 2 years of seeing a lot of fat Texas people.

I got picked up at Sea-Tac and then brought to the Pioneer Square zone of Seattle to go to a gallery. I was struck even more than the time in Ontario, that it appeared the people had had the air let out of them.

There are way way way too many balloon people in Tarrant County.

Change of subject.

I also learned today that Fort Worth city officials are recommending that one of the victim's of the Rainbow Lounge Gestapo Raid lawsuit case be settled out of court by offering the head injury victim $400,000. The man was injured when Fort Worth staged a bizarre Stormtrooper like raid on the Rainbow Lounge, it being a newly opened gay bar. This Gestapo Raid caused Fort Worth international embarrassment.

For, I think, the second. Or third. Time that year.

Change of subject again.

I've not heard from Elsie Hotpepper in awhile. And then this morning I get an email in which Elsie asks, "You have been quieter than usual, I am not the only one who thinks so...are you ok?"

Now, that is just bizarre. How have I been quiet? It is Elsie who has been quiet.

I tell you, sometimes some people just perplex me.

Which makes me want to go swimming. Right now.

We Are Having A Heat Wave In Texas But No Sunburns

It is Friday coming up on 5 in the afternoon in North Texas. Currently we are 4 degrees shy of 90 degrees.

I've got the ceiling fan spinning and am thinking of turning on the A/C for the first time this year.

If this was July and I was in the Northwest at 86 degrees, the locals would be in full whine mode over the horrible heatwave overheating everyone.

A couple days ago I read on Mr. Galtex's latest blogging about the Galtex's visit to Seattle, among his ponderings of things to consider regarding the idea of moving from Fort Worth to Seattle, was that he would be perpetually pale.

A glimpse from Mr. Galtex's Blog...

It rains in Seattle. It's generally not a heavy rain, just a drizzle, but it's enough to get you wet. We never broke out an umbrella, although we used the hoods on our coats a lot. If we lived in Seattle I would lose my tan and become very pale.

Every April in Texas we close up the windows and turn on the air conditioner, and it stays on until October. In Seattle, anything over 80° is considered a heat wave, even in August. Few residences have air conditioning.

I must disabuse Mr. Galtex of an erroneous notion. I have not had a single sunburn since I moved to Texas. In Washington I seldom survived a summer without getting sunburned badly at least once. In Texas my face remains suntanned year round, lesser so in winter. In Washington, in summer, I would get suntanned all over. Front, back, legs. In Texas all that gets tanned, in summer, is my back, face and arms.

Why is that?

Well, In Texas you can stand to be out in the sun at 100 degrees or more for an hour at the most. In Washington on a sunny summer day you can easily stay outside all day long, thus absorbing a lot of sun rays. If it's rainy on the west side, I could go east of the mountains and stay at Sun Lakes State Park for 4 days and come home suntanned.

In Texas, in North Central Texas, there really are no beaches where you would want and go spend a day. In Washington I had the pick of 100s of miles of beaches, on saltwater and lakes, where the day could be spent, outside, where you could have a fire and roast weenies. I can't imagine spending a day at a Lake Grapevine beach, with a fire, in July.

So, Mr. Galtex, when you and Gail move to Seattle, by the end of your first August, you will likely find yourself darker tanned than you've ever been. And then by October that will have faded to pale, until the next June, when you can begin the darkening process again.

Another big difference regarding suntans in Texas and Washington. I have seldom slathered on sunscreen in Texas. In Washington if I knew I was going to be out in the sun, I would slather on the SPF 30.

Today The Tandy Hills Beer Tree Popped Out Its First Beer Bud Of The Year

The Tandy Beer Tree near the top of Mount Tandy has sprouted its first bud of the new year.

The Tandy Beer Tree is within a few feet of where I was attacked by swarms of fire ants, yesterday, mad at me for getting on the ground to take a picture of a bluebonnet.

The red sores on my arms are worse today. But they don't itch. I'd forgotten about them and did not notice that I looked diseased til I saw the spots whilst taking a shower, post swim.

Speaking of swimming this morning. The air was heated to 65. I could not tell if the water was colder or warmer than the air. But it was very refreshing, so I stayed in it for a long time.

The air was heated to 74 when I hit the hills at noon, with the Heat Index making it feel like 79. It seems like only yesterday we were shivering with the Wind Chill Factor, here in North Texas. I think I prefer getting hot due to the Heat Index, than chilly due to the Wind Chill Factor.

I was startled by a four legged creature soon after I took the picture of the Tandy Beer Tree. I was kneeled over, tying my left shoe, when suddenly a collie dog ran up behind me. I had my whacking stick with me. I think the dog thought I was about to whack it because it started doing some sort of aggressive dance. Soon its owner came into view and controlled the beast.

It is time for lunch. Spaghetti and shrimp. With corn.

Up Late On The 3rd Friday In Texas Thinking About Making Waves & Tornadoes Hitting Comanche Peak

I slept in again past the arrival of the sun.

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell you can sort of tell it is another blue sky day in North Texas on this third Friday of March.

When I checked on the news this morning via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News, Seattle P-I and Skagit Valley Herald I expected to see big headlines about bombs being dropped on Libya.

Yesterday the UN gave approval to a no-fly zone over Libya and stopping Gaddafi's aggression by whatever means needed, with action expected within hours. So, I was surprised to see very little mention made this morning of Libya. Let alone bombs dropping.

There was a big article in the Star-Telegram letting locals know that the Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant is a much better designed facility than those in Japan which are currently in trouble. With the Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant supposedly designed to withstand getting hit with a worst case tornado.

No mention was made of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant's ability to withstand a 9.0 earthquake. Or a tsunami.

Speaking of tsunamis. I think I'll go and make some waves now. It's 65 this morning. This should make for some semi-pleasant swimming.

The First Bluebonnet Of 2011 Coloring Up The Tandy Hills Caused Me To Be Viciously Attacked With Dozens Of Wounds

Today is feeling like it is being the hottest day of the new year. It was definitely the hottest day of the new year on the Tandy Hills today. I think it was almost 80.

I entered the Tandy Hills from the top of Mount Tandy today. As I was walking along I thought to myself  that I should be seeing wildflowers. Thinking that by this point in time, a few days before the start of spring, in years past, there would already be wildflowers.

But, all I'd seen, so far, this year has been a purple flower I saw for the first time a couple weeks ago, on the Tandy Hills and a bright yellow flower at Oakland Lake Park.

As I was hiking the currently mostly colorless Tandy Hills I wondered if maybe the harsh winter had dealt a death blow to the Texas wildflowers this year. A time of year which is my favorite part of the year in North Texas. The usually drab landscape puts on a show of color for several months, usually with some colorful thunderstorms to add a soundtrack.

Well, on the way back up Mount Tandy today I saw the blue beauty you see above, which I'd walked right by without noticing on my way down Mount Tandy.

A bluebonnet. The State Flower of Texas. The harbinger of spring and the start of wildflower season.

You may be wondering what that is on the left.

Well, that is me. The underside of my right arm to be more precise, with the narrow part being my wrist, which is connected to my right hand.

See the red bumps?

Well. To take the picture of the bluebonnet I had to get real close. With the camera set in macro mode. I pretty much got down on the ground, on my knees, leaning on my arms to take the picture.

It is not a wise thing to get on the ground in Texas without first carefully examining the ground you are are getting down on.

Today I was not wise, which is not the first time I have been un-wise in Texas.

I had kneeled down over a fire ant nest. I quickly had dozens of the little beasts on me. I thought I'd brushed them off before they could do their burning thing. I thought wrong.

I felt no stinging, I saw no signs I'd been stung. But by the time I got back here both arms had developed dozens of fire ant hot spots.

I am almost sure I will recover from this latest attack by Mother Nature. I am willing to do some suffering to get a good picture.

The 3rd Thursday Of March In Texas Thinking Of Lethal Injections, Drinking Wine & Going To The Fort Worth Zoo

I woke up after the sun did, this morning, on the 3rd Thursday of March.

I had myself a night of nightmares.

Few details, of which, I remember. Except for the fact that the nightmares took place in Washington and involved a lot of high steep mountain drama.

I did not manage to go on my daily walking/hiking constitutional yesterday. I am feeling the lack of that stimulation this morning. I think endorphin withdrawal may be as bad as withdrawal from something like heroin.

Speaking of drugs. This morning I was shocked to learn that Texas has run short of the drugs it uses in its lethal injection cocktails the state uses for its many executions. The state has had to come up with a new mix of drugs in order to be able to successfully kill Cleve Foster, with that execution scheduled for April 5.

In other drug related news, the West Coast, Hawaii and Alaska's drug suppliers are running low on potassium iodine due to panicked people depleting the stocks due to fear of a radiation cloud arriving from Japan, with potassium iodine possibly preventing thyroid cancer caused by radiation exposure.

I learned yesterday during the 15 minutes I can stand listening to Rush Limbaugh that the Bulgarians are claiming that drinking red wine is as beneficial in preventing radiation caused thyroid cancer as potassium iodine.

So, I got several boxes of really red wine yesterday and have been taking a medicinal dose ever since. So far, no thyroid cancer, near as I can tell.

Change of subject from cancer, drugs and wine.

Yesterday the Fort Worth Zoo had a record breaking crowd due to it being half price Wednesday and Spring Break Week for area schools.

This had me thinking would it not make sense for the Fort Worth Zoo to make it Half Price Spring Break Week? It seems as if they would get way more visitors than what crammed into the zoo on Wednesday. And in the end make way more money.

Change of subject again.

It is 65 degrees outside according to my supposedly accurate temperature information source. I am well past my usual morning swim time, but rather than bail on the swimming, due to the balmy temperature, I am heading to the pool now.

Talk to you later.

Fort Worth's Paradise Center Scandal Now Has A Blog

My bloggings about  Fort Worth's Paradise Center Scandal have generated a lot of comments.

The comments from the shills of MHMR, and its CEO Jim McDermott, have been mean-spirited, slanderous, inarticulate and at times sort of nasty.

Which is what thuggish bullycrats do.

Just this morning I hit the publish button on a comment from a little girl named Elizabeth. Elizabeth was responding to how the MHMR thuggish bullycrats had characterized little Elizabeth in one of the comments.

You can read Elizabeth's comment and the original blogging that generated it by going to "The Paradise Center Scandal Has Me Mad As Hell At Fort Worth" blogging on this blog.

Or you can go to the new Paradise Center Scandal Blog/Website where some of the explanatory scandal bloggings have been replicated, along with the original comments.

I have reason to believe some interesting developments lay ahead in the Paradise Center Scandal.

Up Way Too Early On The 3rd Wednesday Of March Thinking About Swimming & The New Paradise Scandal Blog

As you can see looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on this 3rd Wednesday of March of 2011 I am up well before the sun and it is very dark out there.

It is now a couple hours later and the sun  has arrived.

I can not yet tell if it is a blue sky day in North Texas or if we are overcast.

I am able to determine that it is 56 degrees out there.

So, I will be going swimming in a short while.

I felt inclined last night to be trending towards a likely bad bout of insomnia. So, I stayed up til I got sleepy making a new blog.

I made a new blog so the victims of the Paradise Center Scandal, and the MHMR Bullycrats victimizing them, have a concentrated location to discuss their issues.

The new blog is called, appropriately, "The Paradise Center Scandal."

I am out of here, now, for scandal-free morning swim.