It Is The Dawn Of A New Day In Texas Able To Buy Booze At Costco In Fort Worth & Washington

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on Day 9 of the next to last month of 2011 it looks like the pool has turned into an ice rink. But, it'd take at least another 10 degrees colder than the current 42, for that to happen.

I was peacefully slumbering this morning when my phone played its cheerful, unwanted wake up tune.

It was Miss Puerto Rico calling from the airport. I let the call go to voice mail. My one longtime reader may remember I used to provide taxi service for Miss Puerto Rico to the airport. That ended on the day Obama was inaugurated.

In other news, yesterday was election day in America. For the most part election days in Texas are sort of quiet. There were a lot of proposed amendments to the constitution being voted on in Texas. I don't recollect seeing a single sign trying to get me to vote yes or no on any of the proposed amendments.

Texas proposals 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10 were approved by the voters, while Proposals 4, 7 and 8 were rejected.

I don't know if Texas has the Referendum and Initiative method of putting an issue on a ballot.

In Washington I always had a lot of Referendums and Initiatives to vote on. A citizen, or group, in Washington, can take the initiative and put an Initiative on the ballot if they are able to get enough signatures on  a petition to do so.

COSTCO was behind an interesting Initiative that passed yesterday in Washington. Initiative 1183 removed the last vestige of Prohibition from Washington, allowing private retailers, like COSTCO, to sell whiskey, gin and other hard liquor. Prior to Initiative 1183 one could only buy those items from state run liquor stores. COSTCO spent $22 million into its campaign to get this Initiative passed.

Texas still has many vestiges of Prohibition. Some places totally dry, some totally wet, some just a little damp. I live in a totally wet zone, bordering a totally dry zone. This causes 4 liquor stores to be at the Randol Mill Road exit from Loop 820, because that is the nearest entry point from the freeway to the wet zone I live in.

The town I live in, Fort Worth, being wet, I guess, for some reason has long allowed the Fort Worth COSTCO to sell hard liquor. But grocery stores in Fort Worth are not allowed to sell hard liquor.

I don't know why.

COSTCO likely figured out what local palms it needed to grease so it could sell whiskey to the locals.

I guess I'll stop thinking about how easy it is to get drunk in Fort Worth and go swimming now.

Caution: No Smoking Or Open Flames Near My Neighborhood Abandoned Chesapeake Energy Drilling Site

Abandoned Fort Chesapeake

Today I decided to not waste petrol driving to a place to walk. Instead I decided to take a very rare walk around my neighborhood.

My primary motivation to take this walk was to take pictures of my #1 neighborhood eyesore, what the locals have taken to calling Fort Chesapeake.

That is Fort Chesapeake in the first picture, looking east up a hill on Boca Raton Boulevard.

NO SMOKING OR OPEN FLAMES

Ever since Chesapeake abandoned Fort Chesapeake, a chain link fence has surrounded the perimeter of the fort. Last week a secondary chain link was added about 10 feet in from the original chain link fence. Apparently Chesapeake wants to make sure the abandoned fort is secure from invaders.

CAUTION

But, why is Chesapeake so worried about incoming invaders that 2 chain link fences are required? Well, the picture on the left might have the answer to that query.

Why would this abandoned well require a sign warning "CAUTION NO SMOKING OR OPEN FLAMES"?

As I type these very words a few miles to the northwest of my location, near Boyd, in Denton County, a Barnett Shale Driller's Saltwater Disposal Well is burning. Saltwater, you know, that harmless water that is injected into the ground during the fracking process somehow went to explosive flame mode.

The Metal Plate At The Center Of Fort Chesapeake

Now, my neighborhood abandoned Fort Chesapeake operation is very strange. In August us living in this location were a bit non-plussed at all the activity, big trucks, noise, involved in erecting a drilling tower and all its accompanying accouterments.

And then a short time later, with no drilling noticed by anyone, suddenly a big line of trucks showed up, creating a bit of a congestion problem on Boca Raton, lined up to remove all the drilling equipment.

After all the equipment was removed, the drilling site was smoothed over, with an orange mesh fence, that you can see in the picture, above, surrounding what looks like a heavy metal plate. This is not what one usually sees left behind after Chesapeake Energy finishes poking the earth in one of their Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Operations.

Collapsed Fence Enhancing Explosion Danger?

Other than the addition of the second chain link fence I've seen little activity at abandoned Fort Chesapeake.

I would think someone from Chesapeake Energy would show up to re-erect the chain link fence on the eastern edge of Fort Chesapeake. It has collapsed onto the sidewalk that runs along the Loop 820 frontage road.

In the picture of the fallen fence you are looking south towards the Super Bowl Buffet. I hope the fallen fence does not make it easier for open flames or smokers to have access to whatever it is that is so flammable inside abandoned Fort Chesapeake that it required a dire warning sign.

Am I the only person in Fort Worth who thinks abandoned Fort Chesapeake is a bit of an eyesore? Why is this type eyesore allowed? It really ruins the view east from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony. It blocks the view of the 820 freeway and Dallas to the east.

Already The 2nd Tuesday Of November With The Fort Worth Stockyard Ruins Ruined By Chesapeake Energy

The view from my primary viewing portal on the world on this 8th day of the next to last month of 2011 seems to have an odd golden glow going on, even though the sky is totally overcast with the sun's light filtered through a thick layer of vaporized H2O.

After the sun finished its daily lighting duties on Day 7 of the next to last month of 2011 rain fell in copious amounts for a short duration, accompanied by a little thunder and lightning.

Watching Dancing with the Stars Pete Delkus did not directly interrupt with any dire weather warnings, except during commercial breaks, when he did inform us that there was some potential tornado action possible somewhere within his viewing range.

All appears wet this morning in the outer world. Currently heated to a balmy 70 at my location. I see no hill hiking in my future today.

Changing the subject from the weather to the destruction of one of my favorite Fort Worth locations.

The Fort Worth Stockyards Ruins.

I did not know, until this morning, that Chesapeake Energy had purchased the 18 acre site of the former Swift Armor meat packing plant at the east end of the Fort Worth Stockyards, way back in 2007, hoping to develop the property as yet one more drilling site.

Chesapeake supposedly spent around $700,000 removing asbestos from the site, along with $30,000 a month on security. Security which I've only noticed way back when the FOX TV show, Prison Break, used the Stockyard Ruins as a set, turning the Stockyards into a Panama prison.

Chesapeake gave up on the idea of drilling on the Stockyard Ruins land, then looked into turning it into some sort of headquarters. That was deemed too expensive. And so now the Fort Worth Stockyard Ruins are going to be demolished so the land can be redeveloped.

The Fort Worth Stockyards will never be the same. But, they may be better with the Stockyard Ruins gone.

I'm going swimming now.

The Tandy Hills Trojan Horse Stands Guard Over A Stormy Prairie

NO Bikes, Motorized Vehicles Or Trojan Horses

The Tandy Hills Trojan Horse stands guard under a stormy sky today in the noon time frame. You can see the stunning gray skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, scraping the cloudy sky, in the distance.

So far on this potentially stormy day there have not been much storming. I felt a couple drops during my extensive hill hiking today.

A few more drops fell whilst I was eating lunch. I find myself wanting more precipitation. And perhaps enough Doppler Radar action to get Pete Delkus all atwitter with Weather Drama King excitement.

Swimming this morning was very pleasant. It should be pleasant tomorrow morning as well. Unless it is raining. With lightning.

I'm heading to the library now, while it is still open. I need some books.

Video Of An Okie All Shook Up By Saturday Night's Oklahoma Earthquake

Okie All Shook Up By Oklahoma Earthquake

If you've never experienced an earthquake I can understand how jarring the first ground shaking experience can be.

Even if you grow up and live long in a location where earthquakes and mountains blowing up is fairly common, an earthquake can still be quite unsettling.

During the 1990s, at my old home location in Mount Vernon, there were a couple years where a lot of very low magnitude shallow quakes took place, epicentered a couple miles east of my abode. I remember being on my waterbed when one of them hit and it quickly became rough water, almost tossing me out of bed. Another time I was in my living room watching TV when one hit, the windows popped and flexed, the tall trees swayed and the tile on my kitchen floor cracked.

The biggest quake I've ever felt was a 6.5, epicentered about 70 miles south of my location in Burlington, Washington. It shook for about a minute. It was difficult to walk. I can't imagine what it is like to be near the epicenter of a strong quake.

Elsie Hotpepper was freaked out by Saturday night's Oklahoma quake. Apparently Elsie was quite badly shaken by it. I've not heard from her since she let me know she was all shook up.

In the video below an Okie is talking about a football game and then the Oklahoma earthquake strikes. I assume this was the big one on Saturday night that shook up Elsie Hotpepper....

Looking To Be A Stormy Monday In Texas

Lookng skyward from my secondary viewing portal on the outer world we can see that this first Monday of the next to last month of November looks to be starting a bit on the stormy looking side of the way the sky can when the sun arrives to light up the morning.

It is currently 70 degrees outside at my location. The prediction for today and tomorrow is for rain and thunder, possibly in copious amounts.

The possible incoming moisture caused Miss Puerto Rico to call me last night to ask if I would help her batten down the hatches this morning on her jeep. Miss Puerto Rico leaves for her home island early Wednesday morning.

When I was in Arlington yesterday I did not realize the Seattle Seahawks were in town, getting beaten, again, by the Dallas Cowboys, in Cowboys Stadium, by a score of 25 to 13. Nears as I can tell Seattle is being rather hapless with its sports teams these days, both of the professional sort and the collegiate sort.

I slept rather well last night, with my windows open. I do not recollect having my windows open in November at this location on this parched part of the planet before.

I did not feel the earth move last night. There were no reports this morning of new Oklahoma earthquakes.

I think I will go swimming now in a pool with water significantly warmer than it was a couple days ago.

Celebrating The Birth Of The Nacho At The International Nacho Festival In Piedras Negras Mexico

I did not know there was an International Nacho Festival til this past August when I got invited to the International Nacho Festival.

My Eyes on Texas website causes me to fairly regularly get invited to various events that I fairly regularly do not get around to attending.

Like the International Nacho Festival.

I probably would have needed to renew my passport to go to the International Nacho Festival because it takes place in another country.

Mexico.

I am guessing that you, like me, did not know the nacho was born in the Mexican town of Piedras Negras. Piedras Negras is across the Rio Grande from the Texas town of Eagle Pass. Eagle Pass is known for Fort Duncan, among other things, like the Kickapoo Indian's Lucky Eagle Casino, one of the few casinos in Texas on one of the few Indian Reservations in Texas.

The nacho was born in Piedras Negras way back in the lat 1940s. Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya was the maitre d' of the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, just across the border from Eagle Pass.

Americans have had fun crossing the border to Piedras Negras going way back to the days after the Mexican War, during which Camp Eagle Pass was founded. By the 1940s an air force base was based near Eagle Pass.

One day Nacho found himself alone in the restaurant, with no chefs in the house, when 12 American military officer's wives arrived. Nacho frantically searched the kitchen for something he could prepare. He grabbed some homemade tostados, grated the only cheese he could find, which happened to be Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar, on top of the tostados, then shoved the platter under a broiler, then added some jalapeno slices when he pulled the platter out of the broiler.

Nacho's guests were delighted and asked for the name of the strange dish they'd never seen before. Nacho could not think of a name, so one of the officer's wives, Mimam Finan named the dish "Nacho's Especiales."

The name stuck. The Nachos part.

A few years later Nacho went to work at the Moderno restaurant in Piedras Negras, taking his Nacho recipe with him. The Moderno is still in business and has won the "Best Nacho" title several times at the International Nacho Festival.

Eventually Nacho opened his own restaurant and in 1975 tried to patent the name. But, by then, it was too late. Nacho was in the public domain.

The International Nacho Festival takes place every year on the second weekend of October.

Earthquakes Keep Shaking Oklahoma & Texas While Seismic Crews Cover Arlington's Veterans Park With Wires

Seismic Crew Working At Arlington's Veterans Park

We have had a lot of seismic activity in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone the past 24 hours. Some of it is locally generated, while the more jolting seismic activity is incoming from Oklahoma, where the earth continues to move with what TX Sharon is calling a "Massive number of earthquakes in Oklahoma."

I have felt none of the Oklahoma shakers, but I did come upon some seismic activity in Arlington today at Veterans Park.

Barnett Shale seismic testers have laid out wire and equipment all over Veterans Park.

The Veterans Park Memorial Soldier
 Guarding Today's Full Parking Lot

Today all that wiring and equipment laying on the ground seemed particularly odd because the park was particularly busy. The north parking lot was completely full. Cars were parking curbside on the road. I managed to find a parking spot in the almost full south parking lot.

How is permission granted to allow wires and equipment to be laid all over a public park? I wondered this years ago at Arlington's River Legacy Park when I had a seismic tester encounter on the mountain bike trail, with the tester going the wrong way on the bike trail on an off-road motorized vehicle. It was dangerous.

Throngs Of Park Goers Trying Not To Trip
Over Seismic Trip Wires

This year seismic testing wire and equipment showed up all over the Village Creek Natural Historical Area, also in Arlington.

And now there are wires on the ground all over Veterans Park.

Today Veterans Park was extra busy due to some sort of Disc Golf event going on. There were Disc Golf holes in locations I don't remember seeing them before. For instance there was a large group of people around the Veterans Park Turtle Pond watching disc golfers throw their disc at a target on the other side of the pond.

Seismic Testing Equipment & Wire Littering Veterans Park

Do the Seismic Testers pay the City of Arlington some sort of fee for the right to lay wire and equipment all over Arlington's public parks?

If someone trips on one of the seismic tripwires and breaks a leg, who's is liable for the injury? The city? Or the seismic testers?

If the seismic testers decide there is some exploitable Barnett Shale under Veterans Park, where will the drill pad site be located?

Seismic Testing Wire Running Up A Veterans Park
Hill That Many People Play On

It sort of surprises me, I suppose because of my northwest mindset, that monkey wrenchers don't wreak havoc with the seismic testing in public parks in Texas.

Or that some well meaning citizen doesn't decide the wire and equipment is littering the park and then gathers it up and toss it in the nearest dumpster.

Very perplexing. I wonder if the earth will move here tonight?

Daylight Savings Time Ends With A Big Earthquake In Oklahoma Felt In Fort Worth

It is a stormy sky we see looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on this first Sunday of the next to last month of 2011.

Currently, at 65 degrees, the outer world in my location is being heated to a temperature 34 degrees warmer than my old location in the state of Washington.

The end of Daylight Savings Time seems to have arrived with no major disruption, other than the sun seemed to arrive earlier than it did yesterday morning.

The earth moved last night in my location, but I did not feel it. Central Oklahoma was hit with an even bigger earthquake by the end of Saturday than it was early Saturday morning.

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck at 10:53 pm Saturday night, epicentered 44 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. A 5.6 magnitude quake is the strongest recorded in Oklahoma since earthquakes records have been recorded.

Apparently many people in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone reported feeling the quake, including Elsie Hotpepper.

Now that Standard Time has restored order to my immediate world, I think I will go swimming while these balmy temperatures last.

Giant Texas Gators Do Not Attend J.D. Granger's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Rockin' The River Inner Tube Happy Hour Floats

Giant Texas Alligator

Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, currently crooning at various venues in the Port Aransas area, sent me an email this morning in which there were dozens of photos that were identified as either REAL or FAKE.

I'd seen some of the REAL or FAKE photos previously. But I'd not seen the photo of the gator being strung up.

The gator photo's caption said "TEXAS GATOR: REAL."

Yikes!

That is one big reptile.

A couple years ago, before it became safe to swim and float in the Trinity River, a 10 foot alligator left the safety of the Trinity River to go for a walk on Trinity Boulevard, slightly north of the river and my abode, where it was hit and killed by a passing vehicle.

It is because of these type tales that when I go on one of J.D. Granger's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Floats I super dose myself with alligator repellent.

I super dose with alligator repellent even though I'm sure the Trinity River Vision people put alligator and water moccasin trapping nets on all sides of the Rockin' the River float zones.