The First Day Of August Will Be Day 31 In A Row Over 100 Degrees In North Texas

As you can see via the existence of a Shadow of the Bald Thin Man I am up well before the sun this first day of August.

Monday is already heated to 86.1, heading to a scheduled high of 106 on Day 31 in a Row of 100 degrees or more.

This morning, at my former location in the Skagit Valley of Washington, the natural air conditioning is chilling the Puget Sound zone to 47.4.

My interior A/C just cycled on, cooling me to 80.

Yesterday I blogged about seeing an old lady in pink and a gloved jogger.

Someone calling him or herself Anonymous commented about the gloved jogger....

Yes, the gloved hands do look odd. You aren't old enough, yet- but treatment for skin cancer (basal or squamous) or post- forever treatment requires covering up the affected areas. Hence, his long sleeved shirt too. Men, particularly seem to get these conditions on the hands, forearms, balding heads and chests. He probably used to do exactly what you are doing now, outdoors, with no protection.

Why would the gloved jogger go jogging in the High Noon HEAT if everything needed to be covered due to cancer? How does Anonymous know how old I am? How does Anonymous know whether or not I slather SPF 50 sunscreen all over my exposed parts, including my bald head?

I think I shall go swimming now and do some Anonymous pondering. Without sunscreen.

Fort Worth's Forward Thrust Turning Fosdic Lake Into A Boondoggle-Free Recreational Lake

As you can see, Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake was looking particularly scenic on this last Sunday of July. Dead calm had the lake turned into a giant mirror.

In the picture you are standing on Fosdic Dam, looking south.

I think I have mentioned previously my disgusted disdain regarding the fact that Fort Worth has no public swimming pools open during this HOT time.

I've mentioned before that I thought Fort Worth should use eminent domain, in a non-abusive way, for once, to take Burger's Lake and turn it into a free to the public swimming hole.

Or turn Fosdic Lake into a big swimming hole, giving kid's free bus passes to get to an actual town lake.

There are at least three water inputs running into Fosdic Lake. I'm sure diversion channels could easily divert that water, running it to the Trinity River, without running it into Fosdic Lake.

Some in Fort Worth are really big on building un-needed diversion channels for things like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

The Fosdic Lake diversion channels would actually have a legitimate purpose. And probably would cost a fraction of the cost of the TRV Boondoggle's unneeded flood diversion channel.

Once the dirty water is stopped from flowing into Fosdic Lake, the lake could be drained, a new lake bottom installed, with aerating fountains.

Then re-fill Fosdic Lake with nice clean processed water. Really, how much could this cost? Likely way less than building new swimming pools.

I believe Fort Worth is the biggest city in America without public swimming pools. Or clean lakes. With beaches.

Turning Fosdic Lake into a recreational lake could be the start of a real Fort Worth Forward Thrust, with a solid chance of not becoming the latest Fort Worth Boondoggle.

The Old Pink Lady & Gloved Jogger Today Turned Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake Into Texas Twin Peaks

Walking around Fosdic Lake at Oakland Lake Park, today, had a bit of a Texas Twin Peaks feel.

When I left air-conditioned comfort, before noon, the sun was already heating Sunday to a HOT 97.4 with the Real Feel Heat Index feeling like 101.

The First Texas Twin Peaks thing was what I saw upon arrival at Oakland Lake Park's east parking lot. An elderly lady, dressed mostly in pink, was standing under the sparse shade of a small tree by the tennis courts.

The Old Lady in Pink was using a very crooked cane to support herself.

Walking across Fosdic Dam a guy who appeared to be a very overweight middle-aged man of Asian descent was being pulled by 4 yapping Chihuahuas on very long leashes. I said howdy to the dogs and the guy as I passed. The guy said something back to me in some Asian language. Maybe Chinese. Maybe Thai. Maybe Korean.

A short time after howdying the Chihuahuas, the most Texas Twin Peak thing of the walk rapidly ran toward me. That's right, you read correctly, a man was out jogging in the 101 degree HEAT. An elderly man with a very very well-worn face, wearing long pants, long-sleeved shirt, a headband, hat. And gloves.

Yes. Gloves. 101 degrees HOT and this guy was jogging while wearing gloves.

After the Gloved Jogger passed me, I got to the west side of Fosdic Dam and took several pictures of him, using the zoom. One of those pictures is at the top.

I then continued with my walk around Fosdic Lake. When I got back to the west side of the lake I saw the Gloved Jogger jogging once more across Fosdic Dam. I knew our paths would again intersect, so I prepared to shoot.

I was not prepared for what happened next. I snapped several pictures as the Gloved Jogger ran towards me. And then he stopped jogging, took a left and said something. He was some distance from me, so I was fairly certain he was not addressing me.

The person the Gloved Jogger was addressing was the Old Lady in Pink. The Gloved Jogger walked up to the Old Lady in Pink and took her hand, holding hands as they walked to their car. Apparently they are a couple.

She had stood there under the slight shade of that slight tree while the Gloved Jogger ran at least two times around Fosdic Lake. In 101 degree HEAT.

I was down at lake level, the parking lot is on a bluff above the lake. I watched the slow process of the Old Lady in Pink helping the Gloved Jogger remove most of his outerwear. This is how I learned he had a headband on under the hat. And a t-shirt under the long sleeved shirt. He did not take his pants off, so I don't know if he was wearing long underwear under them.

Prior to the Gloved Jogger, meeting up with the Old Lady in Pink, another jogger Texas Twin Peaked me. This guy had a very odd jogging style. With very skinny legs covered with tattoos. By his grizzled leathery face he appeared to be old. But I don't think he was. He had a youngish spiked haircut, dyed blond. And really creepy piercings all over his face.

And then there were the Fosdic Lake Ducks today.

I don't think the ducks like the HEAT.

Usually the birds that live on Fosdic Lake are skittish. But not today. Ducks floated in the shade of shoreline trees. And did not care that I was getting close to them.

I would have thought the Fosdic Lake Turtles would have been out and about, loving the HEAT. But I saw no turtles today. That is unusual.

According to my weather station, we have gone over 100 today. I don't know if it has gone over 100 at the official measuring station. I suspect it has, thus making this Day 30 in a Row of 100 or HOTTER in North Texas. Which would make this now the 2nd longest HOT streak in North Texas history. Twelve more days of 100 or more and we either tie or break the all time record of 42 HOT days in a row, set in 1980.

The Last Sunny Sunday Of July Will Likely Be Day 30 In A Row Over 100 Degrees In North Texas

I was up before the sun this last day of July, looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the dawning of yet one more North Texas Sunday where the sun is scheduled to turn the temperature up over the 100 degree mark.

Again.

Yes, despite the forecast indicating Saturday would end the Days in a Row over 100 at 28, at 4:28 in the afternoon the official temperature measuring station at D/FW Airport's thermometer hit 100.

We are already heated to 84.7, well on our way to 100 and Day 30 in a row. The forecast for Monday is 106. For Wednesday we are scheduled to hit a new high for the year at 108.

Well, enough about the temperature. For now. It is time to go swimming.

I Believe The Current North Texas 100 Or Over Streak Has Ended With Incoming Of 108

I am almost 100% we did not hit 100 today, thus ending the streak of 100 or over HOT days at 28 in a row.

But, look what we have to look forward to. 108 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meanwhile in Phoenix it is currently 109.3, with the Real Feel Heat Index making it feel like 114. Currently Phoenix is not benefiting from a lack of humidity due to being in a desert. It is monsoon season in the Valley of the Sun.

And then we have my old home location of the Flatlands of the Skagit Valley in the cool, wet state of Washington. Right now it is 71.8 with the Real Feel Heat Index making it feel like a balmy 76.

I do not remember the Heat Index having been invented yet when I lived in Washington. I do remember when 76 degrees felt really HOT to me.

Currently my air-conditioner is set at 80. That feels cool to me.

We can blame CatsPaw for availing me of way too much temperature information feeding my temperature fixation.

Al Jazeera's Report About America's Own Taliban & Texas Governor Rick Perry

Not all that long ago the greatly respected (by few) governor of Texas, Rick Perry, came to Fort Worth where he engaged in a shootout with then Fort Worth Mayor, Mike Moncrief, in downtown Fort Worth.

Photos of this shootout in downtown Fort Worth were widely circulated.

This morning, thanks to world-wide Watch Dog, Don Young, I found out that the infamous photo of this infamous Texas governor and equally infamous Texas mayor, has made it to the Middle East and the newsrooms of Al Jazeera.

This photo was used for illustrative purposes in a July 28, 2011 article titled "America's Own Taliban."

Below is an excerpt from "America's Own Taliban.".....

There's a right-wing politico-religious presence centred in the US, but with a global reach, engaging in similar practises, destroying religious and cultural artifacts as a key aspect of its ideology of "strategic level spiritual warfare" (SLSW).

Until recently a fringe evangelical movement, warned against as deviant, "spiritual warfare" is rapidly positioning itself within America's mainstream political right. It's well past time for political journalists to start covering what this movement is up to.

Known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a term coined by its intellectual godfather, C Peter Wagner, this movement surfaced in the 2008 campaign, with video of one of its most prominent practitioners, Kenyan witch-hunter Thomas Muthee, anointing Sarah Palin - but the mainstream media largely missed the real story on a number of counts.

This election cycle, the media will have another chance to get the story right. The NAR has made great strides since 2008, and already, NAR figures are deeply involved in organising for Texas Governor Rick Perry's August 6 prayer meeting, "The Response". 

On July 12, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow did a segment highlighting some of their more bizarre claims in a series of video clips. These included Wagner saying that the Japanese stock market collapsed because the emperor had sex with a demon (the sun goddess), another leading NAR figure, John Benefiel, calling the Statue of Liberty "a demonic idol", and a third figure, Mike Bickle, calling Oprah Winfrey "a forerunner to the Harlot movement", or, as Maddow put it, a "harbinger of the antichrist".

_______________________________________________

It is sort of impressive that Al Jazeera has become such a respected news source, a lot more fair and balanced, or so it seems, than some, uh, western news organizations which claim to be fair and balanced. But aren't.

So Far We Have Not Reached 100 This Saturday In Texas While I Try To Figure Out How To Mail Betty Jo & Carlotta Some Pet Cockroaches

Coming up on 4 this Saturday afternoon it is looking like the 100 Degrees or more streak may come to an end today, what with it only 98.3 right now.

However, the clouds you see in the picture, taken around noon, have mostly disappeared. Without that cloud cover missing that HOT orb may be able to raise the temperature another 1.7 degrees and thus make this current HOT streak the 2nd longest HOT streak in North Texas history.

When I hit the Tandy Hills a bit earlier than the norm it was windy. The temperature was in the high 80s. The occasional blocking of the sun by the big white puffy things, was a nice relief, however it is very very humid. I assume the amped up humidity is courtesy of the remains of Tropical Storm Don. As are the big white puffy things.

Changing the subject from the Texas Temperature to cockroaches. This morning I exchanged emails with Betty Jo Bouvier and Carlotta Camano, neither of whom had personally met a cockroach of the insect kind.

I offered to mail Betty Jo and Carlotta some cockroaches so they could start up their own cockroach colony.

When Steve A learned of the plan to ship some cockroaches to Washington he advised me that I would need to supply a heat source if the roaches were to survive their trip to the Pacific Northwest. I assume Steve A assumed the cockroaches would be flying north and would get cold in the cargo hold.

Steve A also mentioned that cockroaches do not do well with cold and wet. I guess this explains why I never saw a cockroach til I moved to Texas. We have a lot of HOT and DRY in Texas, not all that much cold and wet.

Will The Last Saturday Of July Be Day 29 In A Row 100 Degrees Or Hotter In North Texas?

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the last Saturday of July at a clear blue sky it would appear that Tropical Storm Don has passed us by.

Despite the prediction that we would not hit 100 yesterday, at the official temperature monitoring station for this zone, at D/FW Airport, we did hit 100, making Friday Day 28 in a row of 100 degrees or more.

The prediction for today is only 99. But, if we do hit 100, or more, I believe that would make today's Day 29 in a row the 2nd longest streak of 100 degree days in North Texas history.

Meanwhile, up in Washington, Betty Jo Bouvier reports that yesterday it got to 80 and she almost sweltered to a full swoon whilst working in her garden. This morning Betty Jo is being chilled to 53.5, while here in North Texas we are being chilled to 79.4.

Changing the subject from the HEAT to lunch, I am making pizza from scratch today. Carlotta Camano gave me the step by step directions as to how to do so. I believe the pizza dough will be the only step which may present me with some measure of difficulty.

Before I make pizza I am going swimming and then later will likely do some hill hiking, followed by Town Talk. Then pizza assembly.

We Are Cooling Down In North Texas While I Help Gar The Texan Find The Best German Beer In America

My best friend with an IQ over 165, that being Gar the Texan, thinks I am temperature obsessed due to suffering from something called SSAD, with those SSAD initials being the short way of saying Summer Seasonally Affected Disorder.

Apparently I have had episodes where I have been unreasonably cranky, due to being overheated.

Gar the Texan has also made note of the fact that around 80% of my 20 to 30 bloggings a day seem to have something to do with the temperature.

Well, the thing is, the temperature is a HOT topic. I just realized a couple minutes ago that my Google AdSense revenue has already broken the monthly revenue record, with 2 days to go in July.

Now, I know Gar the Texan, with the advantage of his Ultra IQ, does better than I do with the pertinent blogging subjects. I imagine he has brought in a small fortune with his search for the perfect German beer made in America. And his parenting adventures.

Now, switching the subject from Gar the Texan and his parenting adventures, back to the temperature. I do not believe we hit the 100 mark today. If that is the case, the streak is over, with the 2011 streak being, I think, the 3rd longest in North Texas history, as measured at the official station at D/FW Airport.

If we don't get to 100 on Saturday, apparently a new streak of 100 degree days will begin on Sunday, with this coming Tuesday currently scheduled to be heated to a HOT 106.

We are currently scheduled to only get to 97 tomorrow. A 2 degree reduction from the previous prediction. Earlier I saw some big cumulus clouds that I assumed were due to Tropical Storm Don. But those clouds currently do not seem to be increasing.

Even so, I suspect there may be some thunderbolts jolting me in a few hours.

In the meantime I'm going with Gar the Texan to help in his quest to find an American Hefeweizen beer that is at a German quality level. This is an important project. It would be much easier if we were up in Washington doing this search, what with Washington's many brewpubs. For a state where the people seem to like their beer drinking, there seems to be a serious brewpub shortage in Texas.

Walking On The Brown Oakland Lake Park Hills Thinking About The Brown Hills Of Eastern Washington

So far it does not appear that Tropical Storm Don has arrived. But, for some reason the rain chance has been raised 10 points to 30%.

I think I remember what rain feels like.

I had a rough night with N. Somnia last night. It is hard to sleep with N. Somnia. During the short sleeping bouts very disturbing nightmares disturbed me, of which I remember nothing except for finding them disturbing.

A long bout in the pool seemed to have perked me up.

Before noon I went to Oakland Lake Park, again, to walk around Fosdic Lake, again. It was 94 degrees when I left air-conditioned comfort. It was 96.5 upon my return to air-conditioned comfort, with the Real Feel Heat Index feeling like 101.

The browned grass of Oakland Lake Park reminded me of Eastern Washington today. That is the browned grass in the picture, looking west at a stand of trees in front of Fosdic Lake.

When I was a kid I was always fascinated by the brown hills of Eastern Washington. Going from the green, west side of the Cascades, to a totally different climate and topography on the east side.

It was not til I was 12 years old that I traveled far enough from Washington to discover that those brown type hills cover a lot of America, though Washington's version, with its rolling hills and coulees, is more scenic than some. That, and much of the brown has had green added to it, with irrigation allowing the growing of apples, peaches, apricots, grapes, nectarines, cherries, wheat, corn, hops and other stuff I'm likely forgetting.

The last time I saw the brown hills of Eastern Washington was the summer of 2001. We went on a fruit run to the Wenatchee zone with a stop in Leavenworth on the way. In the years since I moved to Texas, the Walla Walla zone has become a wine producing mecca. When I lived in Washington the agricultural product Walla Wallas was known for were its Walla Walla Sweet Onions.

I'm in the mood for a Washington visit. I think cherry season may be over. But, blackberries should soon be ripe for the free picking.