A Sunny Morning On The Second Day Of Summer Thinking Of The Skagit Valley On Saturday

As you can clearly seeing, looking out one of my viewing portals on the world, the 2nd day of summer has seen the return of blue sky in my zone of North Texas. Along with the blue sky, cool temperatures have also returned.

It is only 71 degrees at 7 this morning.

I must take off from here in an hour or two if I am to make it to the Skagit Valley in Washington by Saturday afternoon, via motor transport.

Events are taking place in the Skagit Valley on Saturday which I am expected to attend.

I have a tendency not to do what is expected.

Like right now, I think I'll go swimming. That is rather unexpected.

Walking With My Mom Along Village Creek While Gar The Texan Suggests The Queen Of Wink & I Are Ignorant

Before noon I took off for Pantego. My route there takes me by one of my favorite parks.

In the picture you are looking at the dam/bridge across Village Creek in the Village Creek Natural Historic Area in Arlington.

On both sides of the dam/bridge are Wildflower Areas which no longer have wildflowers blooming.

I thought due to last night's rain that Village Creek might be in flood mode with the park closed. I thought wrong. Village Creek was not running at all high.

As you can see we are being a bit overcast today in North Texas. And relatively cold. It is only 87 degrees right now at 3:14.

I called my mom and dad whilst walking today. Mom answered. Usually I call my mom when I get gas. I got gas yesterday and did not call. I felt sort of guilty about that, hence the non-gas related call today. My mom was in a chatty mood today, walking with me almost the entire Village Creek walk.

I am not sure, mostly due to the difficult to understand verbiage, rendered so, I think, by the fractured logic that is being attempted to be verbalized, or blogalized, but I think that Gar the Texan suggested, on his blog, that the Queen of Wink and I are ignorant.

I was appalled.

This may have been yet one more of the boy's alcohol fueled rantings. I could not tell for sure.

The Queen of Wink and I had consulted previously on how to handle it when Gar the Texan has an episode, with the decision being to simply ignore it. In this case, to ignore Gar the Texan suggesting the Queen of Wink and I are ignorant.

Gar the Texan does not read my blog, so this still counts as ignoring his remarks about our ignorance. If Gar the Texan did read what I have to say about his suggesting that the Queen of Wink and I are ignorant, he would likely fall back on his standard defense.

That being that we are not only ignorant, we also have reading comprehension problems.

The Second Day Of Summer Dawns Muddy, Humid & Only 70 Degrees In My Zone Of Texas

It is the morning of the second day of summer.

You are not looking at this morning's view through the bars of my patio prison cell.

What you are looking at is a view through the bars of my patio prison cell from last Thursday that is similar to this morning's view.

Google's Blogger has a problem this morning that is making it impossible to insert a picture in to a blogging.

I highly doubt the Google Bloggers's problem is related to last night's electrical activity.

Sometime after the sun left on the first day of summer a lightning storm blew in which was a bit unusual. Usually thunderstorms advance from one particular direction. Last night's storm was all around me. Lightning lighting up the sky in every direction.

The light show lasted for quite a while with no rain. And then the rain came.

I heard this morning from someone calling him or herself Anonymous that by yesterday afternoon the Tandy Hills had dried out enough for hiking, but Anonymous speculated that the rains of last night may have rendered the hills once more in drying out mode.

I'd not planned on going to the Tandy Hills today, anyway. I am going to Arlington and Pantego.

But, before I do that, I am going swimming.

Walking Around Fosdic Lake Today Fishing & Looking At Litter

A lot of rain drenched my zone of North Texas in the middle of the night. This made for a muddy walk to the pool this morning.

I figured enough water fell that the Tandy Hills was likely going to need a day or two of drying out.

I figured enough water fell that Village Creek was in high water mode with the park closed.

So, by default, today going to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake was the location of my daily salubrious aerobicizing.

I don't know why, but whenever a lot of rain falls several fishermen and fisherwomen show up to fish in Fosdic Lake, where you are advised to to eat the fish you catch. Today one of the fishermen was fly fishing. I don't know if I've seen that in person before.

When a lot of rain falls Fosdic Lake quickly gets deeper, and starts falling over Fosdic Falls into Fosdic Creek on its way to the Trinity River, about a mile to the north.

In the picture at the top you are looking at the litter that did not make it over Fosdic Falls by the time the falls quit falling.

More rain is predicted for later today. Should enough rain fall the litter currently trapped in Fosdic Lake should be able to make it the rest of the way to the Trinity River.

I wonder if some means could be devised to trap the Fosdic Lake litter before it leaves the lake? I wonder how many other similar lakes contribute a similar volume of litter to the Trinity River?

It's very perplexing.

The First Day Of Summer In Texas Dawns Hot & Humid

You are looking out my bedroom window at the morning of the first day of summer.

The first day of summer has dawned cloudy.

Last night a thunderstorm rumbled overhead with a heavy downpour with some hail mixed in.

Very noisy.

More thunder is on the menu for today. Along with colder temperatures. Right now it is only 71 degrees.

The rain brought the humidity back up to being sticky again. Currently we are at 91% humidity. That is very sticky. Steambath sticky.

Why do birds tweet? I'm hearing some busy tweeters right now. Are the birds communicating with the tweeting?

Speaking of tweeting. I've given up on Twitter.

But, I've not given up on swimming. I think I'll go do that right now.

Discovering Humans On The HOT Tandy Hills Along With A New Art Installation & Elsie Hotpepper

I discovered what appears to possibly be a new Tandy Hills Art Installation today.

I did not walk by the location of the most recently removed Tandy Hills Art Installation, that being the Orange Flags Stuck in Feces one.

I think we'll call today's art discovery "Rocks on the Tandy Escarpment."

So named because this latest Art Installation is located on the Tandy Escarpment above the now dry Tandy Falls and the equally dry Tandy River.

There is a possibility our current bout of dryness may be slightly alleviated today and in the coming days.

I do not think we are going to heat up HOT enough to make this the 8th 100 degree or more day in a row, here in the D/FW Metroplex. Currently, coming up on 3, it is only 95 degrees. Some thunderstorming is on the menu for tomorrow.

Changing the subject back to the Tandy Hills from the all important HOT temperatures. Usually when I am on the Tandy Hills, in the noon time frame, when the temperature is between 90 and 110, I never see any other humans.

Apparently most humans have some sort of aversion to the noonday sun when that sun is heating the air so hotly.

I just realized I managed to change the subject back to the temperature again.

Anyway, I entered the Tandy Hills today via View Street. As I walked into the hill zone I was surprised to see another human ahead of me.

A shirtless guy in long pants, ambling along with a very odd gait.

Why would anyone go hiking in long pants when it is so HOT?

By the time I caught up with the guy, and passed him, he was fiddling with a cell phone and did not seem to notice me walking by him.

I wonder if this guy is the Tandy Hills Guerrilla Artist?

Speaking of Guerrilla Artists. I heard from Elsie Hotpepper this morning and again this afternoon. Elsie had been missing since Friday. The most recent email from Elsie asked me not to kill her. What an odd request, I thought to myself. I can't remember the last time I killed anyone.

The Day Before The Start Of Summer Will Be The 8th Day In A Row Over 100 In North Texas

I went to bed early Sunday, which has me up early the day before the start of summer.

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at my destination in a few minutes hence, you can see Monday has dawned with yet one more blue sky morning in Texas.

Today is scheduled to be the 8th in a row where the temperature at the official measuring station at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport will go over 100 degrees.

Yesterday got to 102. Today is supposed to get to 103. Tomorrow the Heat Index will likely get in the 108 to 109 range.

Thousands in Fort Worth had their power knocked out yesterday. High winds knocked out some power lines.

I do not remember losing power during the air conditioning time of the year. That would be quite miserable. I need to knock on some wood.

And then go swimming.

I Needed Help To Kill A Computer Monster Today

This morning for the 2nd or 3rd time I managed to pick up an annoying piece of malware.

A rogue, fake security program that tries to make you think that suddenly your computer is under all sorts of attacks.

Offers to help keep popping up til you kill the monster.

The version that hit me today was called XP Security 2012. Other variations all start with XP and end with 2012, with words like 'Antispyware,' 'Antivirus,' 'Home Security' and 'Internet Security' in between XP and 2012.

The malware stops you from being able to open anything that might stop it. Like Malwarebytes. You can't open the registry, msconfig, notepad, pretty much any program you might use to kill this monster.

But, it does not stop you from Googling.

I remembered the last time I got this fixed by downloading Malwarebytes, again, and doing a fresh install. This time that did not work. The monster would not allow the install to run.

So, after a little Googling I found a blogspot blog called "Malware Removal Instructions" which had a page devoted to removing today's monster called, "Remove XP Antispyware 2012, XP Security 2012 (Uninstall Guide)."

The instructions had two methods to stop the monster from blocking program access. The first method worked for some. But not for me.

The second method, simply putting some code in notepad, naming it 'fix.reg,' saving it to the desktop, then clicking 'fix.reg' had me now able to run Malwarebytes, which found 11 infections by the time I got back from Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

The removal of those 11 infections fixed the problem.

Why is law enforcement not after the evil doers doing this? I am sure quite a few people fall for this scam and quickly fork over the $59.99 to make it stop.

And what is the point of the constant Microsoft security updates, one of which occurred a few days ago, plus running Microsoft Security Essentials, if something like XP Security 2012 is not stopped?

Apparently the criminals behind this have been running this scam for quite a long time. And are better programmers than those at Microsoft.

The solution from Malware Removal Instructions that did not work involved using a registration key to unlock the fake anti-malware program. Once it is unlocked, the fake program tells you all is hunkydory with your computer. You can then run an anti Malware program and kill the monster.

I suspect the evil doers figured out a registration key was being used over and over again. It did not take long after I had the registration key for the monster to pop up with its latest attack warning with the click here to activate XP Security 2012. I was then told "reg key invalid."

To get to the place where you enter the 'reg key' you have to go to the heart of this particular darkness. I was appalled at how legit the website looked. They wanted all sorts of info, including your credit card. You could take the $59.99 one year offer, or pay for multiple years at increasing discounts.

Could this possibly be a Norton Anti-Virus Rogue Operation?

A Windy Sunday Walk Among The Village Creek Ghosts Dodging Falling Limbs & Deciphering Cryptic Messages About Green Eggs Smoking

I had myself some computer woes this morning. More on that later. I did not get my computer woes under control til after noon.

I thought a sedate walk through the Village Creek Natural Historic Area would put me in a better frame of mind.

It did. Until I started being a bit concerned over the heavy wind blowing limbs off of trees. I do not like getting hit by a falling limb.

The Village Creek Natural Historic Area's Wildflower Area had lost all its color since I was in that location a few days ago. Drought related wildflower browning?

We have gone over 100 again. 101 to be precise. At the same time it is 101 in my zone of North Texas, in my old location in Mount Vernon, Washington it is currently 55.

Speaking of Mount Vernon, just minutes ago I got email from Mount Vernon with a very cryptic message I can't quite decipher about a Green Egg Smoking.

Below is the cryptic message.....

The Green Egg is smoking (ceramic smoker), cocktails at 3:30, dinner at 5-5:30, if there is anyone in town that is hungry for ribs and brisket, NW style.  Just a few of the ex-nice relatives will be there.  18066 State Route 9, Mount Vernon. That is, if you are in town.  Bring a rain coat.

I don't own a rain coat, so how can I bring one anywhere? I know where State Route 9 is. I'd turn off 9 onto Waugh Road, then a left on Apache, then a right on Pawnee to turn left into my driveway. The streets all have Indian tribe names because the neighborhood is called Thunderbird. I think.

Whilst doing my wind walking I called my dad to do the obligatory Happy Father's Day greeting. I got the answering machine. So, I left a Happy Father's Day message.

The Day After Betsy Price Is Elected Fort Worth's Mayor It Is Father's Day

Looking skyward above the bars of my patio prison cell it appears Father's Day has dawned with a brilliantly blue sky in North Texas.

A HOT brilliantly blue sky currently heated to 83, heading to a predicted high of 102 this 3rd Sunday of June.

We had a mayoral election in Fort Worth yesterday.

I forgot to vote.

Had I remembered to vote my vote would have made no difference in the outcome. Betsy Price beat Jim Lane by way more than one vote.

I think I will go swimming now and do some thinking about my civic irresponsibility.