Up Early The Last Tuesday Of March Thinking About Exploding Tankers, Melting Bridges, Texas Boondoggle Referendums & The Paradise Center Scandal

I am up way too early this last Tuesday of March of 2011. Looking outside from one of my viewing portals I can see no stars or moons.

I suspect a heavy layer of clouds are lining the sky, because thunderstorms and rain are in the forecast for today.

I learned this morning that yesterday's tanker truck explosion on I-30, a couple miles to my west, caused the steel beams in the freeway bridge over Sycamore Creek to melt.

The westbound lanes of I-30 between Beach Street and Riverside Drive will be reduced from 4 lanes to 2, for months, while the Texas Department of Transportation makes emergency repairs.

Meanwhile up in Seattle, in other transportation related news, a group called Protect Seattle Now has managed to get over 27,000 signatures on a petition to put a referendum on the August ballot which will have voters voting on whether to go ahead with a multi-billion dollar tunnel project. Or not. 16,000 signatures are required to put a referendum to a vote.

Which has me wondering.

How come I don't read anything in the Fort Wort Star-Telegram along the lines of a group called Protect the Trinity Now has gathered over 27,000 signatures on a petition to put a referendum on the August ballot which will have voters voting for the first time on whether or not they approve of proceeding with the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Maybe TRIP (Trinity River Improvement Project) has a petition in the works that I've not heard about.

Right now I am petitioning for the sun to arrive to provide illumination for my morning swim.

While I wait for the sun to arrive I have an incredible amount of fresh incoming Paradise Center Scandal material to digest. Including a pair of videos.

Today I Was Stranded On The Tandy Hills Causing Me To Walk To My Home Base

Well. I have had me a day. And it's not even 5 yet.

Monday started off fine, going swimming with the air heated to about 46, with the water a lot warmer than 46.

Then around noon I headed to the Tandy Hills.

Interstate 30, westbound, was still backed up due to the explosion earlier today of a tanker truck that was hit by a car going the wrong way on the freeway.

I just learned from Cat's Paw that the drunk driver of the car that hit the tanker survived.

This had the freeway closed at Beach Street. The Beach Street freeway exit is what you are looking at in the picture, in a zoomed view from the Tandy Hills.

If I had planned to go to Town Talk today I would have changed that plan due to Town Talk being on Beach Street.

When I was done with my hill hiking I got back in my vehicular transport to find that it would not start. I flipped open my phone to call for help to find my phone dead.

After a few minutes of pondering what to do, the only option I could think of was to walk the 4 miles to my home base. So, that is what I did.

Walking the mean streets of this town is a real eye opener. Does Fort Worth have the fewest miles of sidewalk in any major America city? It is real annoying to have to walk on the street. Or like you see above, the skinny sidewalk ends, turning into a dirt path. I remember walking all over Tacoma. I never saw any street without a sidewalk. With the sidewalks being of the wide variety.

In the above picture I am looking back towards the sidewalk's end you saw in the previous picture. What I'm trying to show in the above picture is the astonishing amount of litter.

I also saw one of my favorite Texas wildflowers for the first time this year. I believe these are called Evening Primroses, but I am not sure about that. We had a little bit of rain yesterday. I think that may have prompted the appearance.

The first time I saw these pink wildflowers was when I came to Fort Worth in May of 1998 to see if it was remotely possible that I would want to move here. Barely east of Amarillo I started seeing these delicate looking pink flowers along the road. After about 100 miles of seeing them I had to stop and check them out up close.

I have made arrangements to have my vehicular transport towed to a fix-it place. This will take place tomorrow. I hope.

The Last Monday Of March With Exploding Tankers & Heart Attack Grills In Dallas

In the picture we are looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at a dark, cold last Monday of March of 2011.

It is only 47 degrees out there.

It did not warm up enough yesterday to dry my swimming suit, which I just retrieved from the aforementioned patio.

Some time past midnight a driver went the wrong way on Interstate 30, a couple miles to the west of my location, slamming in to a tanker truck, which exploded. Both drivers were killed.

I heard nothing.

I learned this morning, in what little of the Dallas Morning New online that I can read without being a subscriber, that Dallas is getting a Heart Attack Grill

The headline, "New Heart Attack Grill in Dallas’ West End sure to give some folks heartburn" caught me eye.

I clicked on the link and was able to read the following before getting the "Get Subscriber Content access to read this story" message...

"At the Heart Attack Grill, scantily clad “nurses” will serve high-fat offerings like milkshakes rich in butterfat and quadruple-decker burgers topped with cheese and bacon. Owner Jon Basso, who founded the restaurant in Chandler,..."

I believe the word that would have come after Chandler, had I been allowed to read the article, would have been Arizona.

Chandler is where my sister lives. I must remember to ask if she and my favorite brother-in-law have been to the Heart Attack Grill. I suspect the answer will be in the affirmative. My favorite brother-in-law is a burger lover.

The Heart Attack Grill has a website where the former Court TV reporter, Terry Moran, will tell you all about the health hazards involved in eating at the Heart Attack Grill and you will see some of the scantily clad burger serving nurses.

Yesterday I said that due to the slightly cold temperatures I would likely not go swimming this morning. But, I've changed my mind and have decided to go see if I can cause myself a bad  case of the shivering trembles.

Talk to you later.

A Dark Dreary Raining Last Sunday Of March In North Texas

In the picture you are looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, looking west from the Tandy Hills, today around noon.

As you can see it is a bit overcast. An extremely light slight drizzle dripped on me while I did my hill hiking today.

And now, coming up on 3 in the afternoon, the first big drops of rain I've seen this month are falling. Currently not in copious amounts. I don't know if this rain is hitting the official measuring station at D/FW Airport. Or if it will add up to enough to bring the total above the current record low for North Texas, set back in March of 1926.

I just heard a big BOOM of thunder. That's the first thunder boom I've heard in a long time.

It is now raining hard enough that it will quickly accumulate more than .1 of an inch, and then go on to break the .2 record low.

It has not gotten above 50 today. Right now it is colder than when I went swimming this morning. At that point in time the water was warmer than the air.

I don't see myself swimming tomorrow morning. And if this rain keeps up there will be no hill hiking tomorrow either.

Which means by about 2 in the afternoon I will be being cranky from extreme endorphin withdrawal.

Okay, we are now in downpour mode. But there have been no more thunder booms.

Have I ever mentioned I really like a good storm?

It has now let up. That was a rainstorm of very short duration. And the only thunderstorm I remember that had only one boom.

Up With The Sun On The Last Sunday Of March Thinking About Being In A Dallas Jail

I stepped outside to take a picture of the outside view at about the same time the sun started to arrive on this last Sunday of March of 2011.

Now that the sun has done its daily illuminating duty I can see we are under a bit of a cloud cover.

I do not believe any rain has fallen, so we are still on course for a record breaking lack of rain for a March in North Texas.

Rain is in the forecast for the next several days. It won't take much, only .01 to tie the 1926 March rain total.

I think I have previously mentioned that the Dallas Morning News online has gotten very annoying. Not satisfied with generating revenue via ads, the DMN online now only gives limited access, unless you pay a monthly fee.

This morning on the Dallas Morning News this headline caught my eye...

"Three years since being declared innocent, mans waits for ruling to set him free"

I clicked on the link and was able to read this....

"Three years have passed since State District Judge Rick Magnis found that Ben Spencer was innocent of a March 1987 deadly robbery in West Dallas. But Spencer, 46, still sits behind bars because the Court of Criminal Appeals hasn’t ruled on the judge’s recommendation that his conviction and life sentence...."

Before I came to this....

"Get Subscriber Content access to read this story."

I would think that the Dallas Morning News webstats are likely way down, which likely has led to a big drop in their online ad revenue.

I think it is time to go swimming now.

On Wednesday TRIP Invites You To Fort Worth's Historic Stagecoach Ballroom For The World Premiere Of The Movie Documentary "Up A Creek"

This coming Wednesday you will likely find me at Fort Worth's historic Stagecoach Ballroom.

No, I am not going to be at the historic Stagecoach Ballroom to dance with Dancing with the Stars' Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo. That pair will be giving dance lessons at Fort Worth's non-historic Universe Ballroom.

I had no idea, til today, that Fort Worth had ballrooms.

On Wednesday you can join me, if I show up, at the historic Stagecoach Ballroom to watch the world premiere of the documentary movie "Up a Creek."

"Up a Creek" looks at various impacts of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

I do not know if "Up a Creek" includes footage of the infamous J.D. Granger UTA breakdown.

I have no idea what this documentary movie is rated. But, since it's about Fort Worth I expect it to be filthy, with a lot of trashy stuff shown.

The historic Stagecoach Ballroom is located at 2516 E. Belknap in Fort Worth. You can easily find directions by Googling "Stagecoach Ballroom Fort Worth." That is how I found out where the historic Stagecoach Ballroom is located.

On Wednesday, March 30, 2011, doors open at 6:30 p.m. with "Up a Creek" screening at 7:00 p.m.

This is a TRIP event. TRIP is an acronym for Trinity River Improvement Project. TRIP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization which advocates cleaning the Trinity River, while supporting development that does not spoil the natural aesthetics and historic nature of the river.

Go to the TRIP website for more information.

Hot Tandy Hills Hiking In Fort Worth With My Mom & Dad Gone Missing In Arizona

I remembered my camera today when I went hiking on the Tandy Hills. My co-hiker also remembered her camera, hence the picture of me hiking.

You can sort of tell from the picture that it is a warm day on the hills.

I think with all the hill hiking I do and all the swimming I do that I am eventually going to get myself in good shape and eventually lose all my unsightly weight gain.

I think I may go for an afternoon swim. It is 80 something out there right now, with a clear blue sky, which should make for some good sun lounging.

I called my mom and dad on Wednesday when I got gas in Hurst. My one longtime reader may remember I call my mom and dad whenever I get gas. They were not home when I called. Usually my mom then calls me back later in the day.

I'd forgotten about the Wednesday gas call when I got gas again today and called my mom and dad and again got the answering machine.

I guess I shall call my sister who lives in Chandler to find out what's up with my mom and dad. My mom and dad live in Sun Lake. About 8 miles, I think, from my sister's house. Chandler and Sun Lake are Phoenix suburbs.

I will likely hear from Betty Jo Bouvier now, harping about me going to Arizona to see my mom and dad.

In the meantime I'm going to go swimming and lay on a lounge chair for awhile.

The Shadow Of The Skinny Dipping Thin Man Staying Dry In Texas Thanks To La Niña

As you can see, looking past the Shadow of the Skinny Dipping Thin Man, I am up way before the sun on the last Saturday of March of 2011.

It is currently 66 degrees.

Yesterday it got so HOT I turned on the A/C for the first time this year and learned my A/C is in malfunction mode, quickly in need of repair in case we get hit with a real HEAT wave.

The Pacific Ocean has been in La Niña mode for awhile now.

I forget what La Niña does to the weather in Washington. I think El Nino is when the West Coast gets hit with Pineapple Express rainstorms.

In Texas La Niña means drought. As in if it does not rain this week, March of 2011 will break the record as the driest in recorded history. We have had only .01 inch of rain this month, as measured at the official measuring station at D/FW Airport.

The previous record was .02 inches of rain, way back in March of 1926. I don't know where the official measuring station was back then. I know it was not at D/FW Airport, because the airport did not exist then.

All my previous Springs in Texas have been the wild weather time of the year, with big thunderstorms, tornadoes, torrential rains, windstorms.

I don't remember the last time I heard thunder or a tornado siren.

I hear the birds starting to chirp, which means the sun is arriving, which means I am going swimming in a few minutes.

Missing My Camera On The Tandy Hills Looking At The Stunning Skyline Of Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth

You are looking at a rare middle of the afternoon view through the bars of my patio prison cell.

As you can see it is yet one more nice blue sky day in North Texas. Heated, currently, to 83 degrees.

More often than not at this time of the day I have downloaded a picture taken on the Tandy Hills, Veterans Park, Village Creek Natural Historic Area, or some other park.

I went hiking on the Tandy Hills today. The hike went much longer than the norm. Longer than the norm because of my picture taking camera.

I was at the western most part of today's Tandy Hills hike, looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. I reached into my pocket to get my camera to take a picture of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

But.

There was no camera.

Earlier on today's hike, heading down a steep trail, I had a bit of a stumble. I did not fall. But I stumbled enough that I thought the camera may have fallen out of its pocket.

So, I backtracked to the scene of the stumble.

No camera.

When I got back to my current location I was not too shocked to see my camera sitting in its usual location on my desk.

I am pleased to report that overnight the wildflowers have suddenly grown more numerous. I saw several large patches of bluebonnets along the freeway. Indian paintbrush is sprouting out in large numbers on top of Mount Tandy. I think it is going to be a good wildflower season after all.

The Last Friday Of March Swimming, Blogging, Website Updating, Hill Hiking & Calling A Plumber

Looking up from behind the bars of my patio prison cell we see a bright white celestial orb hanging high.

Due to the extreme darkness you likely can guess I am up early on this final Friday of March of 2011.

It is a pleasant 61 degrees outside right now.

The sun is beginning to arrive, doing its daily lighting duty. Soon it will be bright enough for my morning swim.

Other than swimming, blogging, website updating, hill hiking and calling a plumber I have no clue what I'm going to do today.

I think I'll knock the swimming thing off my to-do list right now.

Talk to you later....