Turtle Today At Fosdic Lake,Wildflower Extravaganza At Tandy Hills Tomorrow

I was startled today during my brisk walk around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park, when I came upon the big reptile you see in the picture.

If I remember right, I think I've been told that during mating season male turtles hit the road looking for love outside of their usual water homes.

I remember coming upon turtles on the Horseshoe Park mountain bike trails on Lake Grapevine, far from the lake.

Despite their slow reputation, turtles can move rather fast when they want to.

But, I don't understand how leaving the lake, where all the turtles live, is going to find you a turtle girlfriend. Maybe this guy was coming from another watery place and was heading for Fosdic Lake, due to its reputation for having a lot of good-looking turtle girls.

Switching the subject from turtles to another subject.

The Tandy Hills are scheduled to be dry enough for hiking tomorrow. I know this because I got email this morning from Don Young informing me that on Saturday the Wildflower Extravaganza at Tandy Hills is taking place. Master Naturalist, Jim Varnum, will be your guide through the Tandy Wildflowers. Show up at noon at View Street & Lewis Avenue for a nature hike with a naturalist.

Google's Blogger Has Had A Major Meltdown But Is Now Back Working

On the left is the message being seen all over the world ever since yesterday. Google's Blogger program suffered a major meltdown.

Apparently the problem arose during some routine maintenance. Others are saying the problem occurred during the rollout of an upgrade to Blogger.

To fix the problem Google removed all posts and comments made from some point in time on Wednesday. The status message from Google has been saying those posts and comments are being restored.

I have a big blog backlog

If you are reading this it means Blogger is back is blog mode. I won't know til I hit the publish button. I'm going to do that and then go on a walk.

And take care of my big blog backlog later.

Walking With My Mom Today Around Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake Thinking About Being A Jerk

I walked all the way around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park with my mom today around noon.

Today was the first time I've gotten my mom on the phone for her annual Mother's Day call.

Mom called last night, while we were storming and I was without power. I did not hear the phone ring last night and did not hear the voice mail from my mom til I flipped the phone open this morning.

Today mom and dad were heading south from the Phoenix metro zone town they live in, called Sun Lake, to Maricopa to bring my brother lunch. I think that's about an 80 mile round trip. My brother is recovering from knee surgery, which I guess makes him unable to make his own lunch. That and his latest wife has abandoned him, apparently, which leaves my mom and dad as the only possible lunch solution in the area.

When my mom and dad were last in the D/FW Metroplex they did not bring me lunch. But they did bring me a big ham and an awful lot of citrus products.

Just as I was getting the picture of a couple fisherman fishing in Fosdic Lake, off my camera, my power went out again. That is two days in a row. This can't be normal. Today's outage only lasted a couple minutes, while yesterday's outage went on for hours.

Good news on the Paradise Center Scandal front, brought courtesy of one of the main victims of the scandal, Teresa Davis, detailed on the Paradise Center Scandal blog.

Just got one of those amusing blog comments, that I always enjoy, from someone called Anonymous, saying, "you are a jerk - go back to washington you jackass!"

The comment was made to a blogging from way back last summer, July 27, 2010, to be precise, with the blogging titled "Inspired By A Texan Panhandling Guitar Man I Am Thinking Of Begging With Bongos."

I did not remember this blogging til I went back and read it. I then remembered seeing the panhandling guitar man. Nothing I wrote seemed particularly jerky to me, or jackassy. I can think of many times where saying I was a jerk who should go back to Washington because I was a jackass, would have made sense, but it doesn't really make much sense in this instance.

It felt good to get out and go on a walk today. The Tandy Hills are going to need some drying out time. Swimming was a real good thing this morning, with the pool cooled by the infusion of a lot of rain and some hail.

Who Am I Really Voting For For Mayor Of Fort Worth?

I never got around to doing the early voting thing. Which means I'll be going to the East Regional Library on Saturday to do my voting duty.

Eunice Lovers sent me the Betsy Price poster showing Betsy being a puppet of Congresswoman Kay Granger.

The only candidate I've totally ruled out voting for, for mayor of Fort Worth, is Betsy Price, she being the pick of the Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy.

Jim Lane also is a tool (and member) of the Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy, but, even so, I am really attracted to Jim Lane's goofiness.

If the Fort Worth Way prevails it will be the FWRO's pick, Betsy Price, who will replace the corrupt Moncrief Regime. With Jim Lane maybe having a slight chance. Sort of like a snowball in hell.

Then again, there is an awful lot of noise in support of Cathy Hirt. It would be a stunning victory should Cathy Hirt win. A virtual revolt against the Fort Worth Way and the FWRO. Not to mention the TRVB.

Now that I am typing it out, I can clearly see that Cathy Hirt is who I must vote for.

Betsy Price is just too dumb to be mayor. This may be why the FWRO picked her. The woman is so dense she actually admitted, at a candidate forum, that she is running because FWRO member, Kay Granger, asked her too. She shouldn't say that with her out loud voice.

One of my favorite Fort Worthers, Don Woodard, sent in a very good letter to the editor of the Star-Telegram on the subject of Betsy Price, Cathy Hirt, the mayoral election and the ruling oligarchy.

Below is Mr. Woodard's letter....

Horse Feathers

We hold this truth to be self-evident. Fort Worth is ruled by a big-money oligarchy. Nothing of consequence can be done without their say-so.

The oligarchy tells you to vote for Betsy Price because she would make independent decisions. Horse feathers. At a recent candidate forum I asked Betsy why she would leave a $140,000 life time job for a two year $30,000 job. Her response: "Because Kay Granger asked me to." Independent decisions? Like a puppet on a string.

Long before Mike Moncrief announced he would not run again, Cathy Hirt wrote her declaration of independence. Likewise, we the taxpayers of Fort Worth declare that we are, and of right, ought to be, free and independent voters, and are absolved from all allegiance to the oligarchy. With our John Hancock, we the people will elect a truly independent voice -- Cathy Hirt -- as our mayor.

-- Don Woodard Sr., Fort Worth

Is Your Sex Life As Dead As Osama Bin Laden?

I am a fan of tacky ads. Well, maybe not a fan. But I do notice them. And often find them amusing.

But.

I did not really find the tacky ad I found in the latest issue of Fort Worth Weekly to be all that amusing.

Somehow using the death of Bin Laden to sell condoms is really weird.

And asking if ones sex life is as dead as Bin Laden is really tacky.

But, the tackiest part of this ad is showing the body of Bin Laden, buried at sea, still floating, with a U.S. aircraft carrier in the background.

Does this Condom Sense store sell something other than condoms? How do condoms keep ones sex life alive? I can see how something like Viagra might help keep ones sex life alive. Or a testosterone boost. But condoms? If anything they are a bit of a downer.

This ad might have Al-Qaeda adding Condom Sense to their ever expanding jihad list.

The 12th Day Of May In Texas Has Dawned With The Power On And No Thunder Booming

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell this 12th morning of May it looks as if the day has dawned serene and calm.

Yesterday's multi-hour thunderstorm that hammered Fort Worth and most of North Texas, was exhausting.

But, more exhausting than hours of loud booms, downpouring rain and bright flashes of electricity, was being with out manmade electricity for hours.

Even though the period without power was during daylight time it was so dark I had to use a flashlight in order to find whatever I was looking for.

I lived in the East Thunderbird neighborhood of East Mount Vernon, Washington from 1985 til 1998. In those 13 years I never once lost power. The TV cable would go out every once in awhile. But never the power.

Since I have been in Texas I could not tell you how many times the power has gone out. I can tell you it has been dozens of times. Just in the past 30 days the power has gone off at least 4 times. I joke that I know what it is like to live in Baghdad. But it really is not funny.

In the area I lived in in Washington the power lines were underground. Is that the difference that caused the Washington power delivery to be reliable? Or is the power delivery in Texas just one more area where Texas lags a bit behind?

What I know for certain is losing power yesterday messed me up. I had a big project I needed to get finished yesterday afternoon. Now postponed til today.

It seems to me that when the power goes out, for whatever reason, some sort of compensation should be given. Krogers had to close yesterday when the power went out. Krogers lost money. Even though we pay for a metered service, only paying for what we use, we are also paying for that service to be delivered reliably.

Okay, enough with the whining for now. It's time to go swimming.

Video Of Last Night's Fort Worth Fireballs

I mentioned earlier today that last night, apparently, Fort Worth was bombed by fireballs.

A lot of people called 911 to report incoming fireballs resulting in explosive booms upon hitting the ground.

An hour or two after I read about last night's fireballs I got email from an eye witness to last night's celestial event.

That eye witness described the fireballs as looking like successive explosions on the ground, as if a natural gas pipeline was exploding.

Someone, somewhere in Fort Worth managed to capture last night's explosive phenomenon in digital form, rendered in YouTube format, for your viewing pleasure...

Worst Storm Of The Year In My Zone Of Texas Knocks Out My Power For Hours

It is difficult to catch a lightning bolt on a digital camera.

But, I caught one today.

And what a day it has been.

Not too long ago I was lamenting the fact that we had not had a good storm in my zone of North Texas this spring.

 I lament no longer.

Today I was up in Hurst in the noon time frame. I got back to my zone with about a half hour to go til 2.

Around 2, I was happily consuming lunch, when suddenly gusts of wind began wreaking havoc. My patio furniture was blown asunder.

And then the lights went out.

And stayed out for several hours. Longest power outage I have yet experienced.

I had all sorts of things I wanted to do. That required power.

I figured the power would soon be back on, so I went over to Miss Puerto Rico's to take pictures and video of the storm, thinking the power would quickly be back on and I could blog a YouTube video of the storm.

Hours later, with the power back on, I really am in no mood to make a YouTube video.

This multi-hour T-storm has finally ended. I hope.

When I left Miss Puerto Rico's I drove to Krogers to get this week's FW Weekly. I pulled into a parking spot and when I exited my vehicle I was surprised to see the sight you see in the picture.

Had this car been struck by lightning? I have no idea. All I know for sure was Krogers was closed due to not having power. And so I am currently FW Weekly free.

And my power is back on, making me feel empowered, because I am.

East Fort Worth Was Bombed By Fireballs Last Night

I am feeling a little hazy this morning of the second Wednesday of May.

Somehow when I took a picture of this morning's view on the world my camera managed to match my current gauzy view on the world.

Last night, after the sun left, a T-storm arrived in my zone, with lightning striking very close and thunder rumbling very loud.

While the thunder rolled Fort Worth police were flooded with calls from my East Fort Worth zone reporting fireballs in the sky, bombing the ground.

I did not see any fireballs. My view is rather restricted. I wish I was over at Miss Puerto Rico's during last night's storm. I suspect I would have seen the fireballs.

Changing the subject from fireballs. Betty Jo Bouvier read something in one of my bloggings that caused her to call me. I saw the incoming call from Betty Jo, not knowing it was Betty Jo, because the area code I was seeing was 181, which is the country code for India. I was mortified that it might be an Indian customer service calling center calling me. So I did not answer.

When I listened to the voice mail and found it was from Betty Jo I could not figure out why she was in India. I returned Betty Jo's call to learn she was not in India. Why I saw the 181 country code remains a mystery.

What is not a mystery is the fact that right now I am going for my morning swim before it gets any hotter.

Tubing The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Photo Booth Wondering How Did They Get That Brown Water So Blue

Incoming, just in, from Eunice Lovers, my Trinity River Vision Boondoggle insider spy.

Apparently the TRVB, that is the acronym for Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, I probably did not need to explain that, anyway, the TRVB people have been setting up a booth at various Tarrant County venues, like the Main Street Arts Festival and Mayfest, but shockingly not at the Prairie Fest.

In this booth you can get your picture taken whilst looking as if you are floating in the Trinity River on an inner tube.

This seemed, to me, to be so over the top ridiculous that I though Eunice might be making it up, faking the image, just to have fun with me.

However, Eunice also mentioned that TRVB was posting photos of people on the tubes on the TRVB Facebook page.

And sure enough, there are a lot of them.

The TRVB propaganda that is selling the idea that the Trinity River is a recreational venue is being so effective it has almost convinced me that I want to stick my inflatable kayak in the river.

Is there any mechanism where the feds intervene when an area of the country has obviously gone insane? If there is, I think it is time to employ that mechanism.