The Shoppers At The Northeast Mall Need To Eat More Of Aunt Annie's Pretzels To Get To A Proper Inflation Level

Northeast Mall's Under-Inflated Shoppers

I am not a fan of walking around in a mall. It has been several years since I've last done so in Texas, and that would have been at the Ridgmar Mall in West Fort Worth.

Today, for reasons we need not discuss, I found myself in the Northeast Mall in Hurst.

Walking all over the Northeast Mall in Hurst I soon found myself thinking that there were way more under-inflated people than I am used to seeing in Texas.

Not quite the number of under-inflated people I see when I visit states to the west of Texas, but way more under-inflated people than I see when I visit my neighborhood Wal-Mart, where way too many people look as if they've been over-inflated to the point where they are in danger of exploding.

If the throngs crowding into the Northeast Mall today are indicative of America when the economy is not doing well, I don't know if I want to be anywhere near a mall when the American economy goes back in to BOOM mode.

And have Aunt Annie's pretzels greatly improved since I last had one, years ago, at the Grapevine Mills mall? The line at Aunt Annie's was 20 to 30 people long. Waiting for a pretzel.

I Did Not Get A Barbie Doll Water Bottle On My First Bike Ride Of The Year

Well. I have now gone on my first bike ride in well over a year.

I thought it wise not to go a long distance my first time out on the new bike. So, I went to Quanah Parker Park to pedal the paved trail.

All went well. The bike rides comfortably with no annoying quirks. I like the newfangled disk brakes. They make for a different stopping experience than the method of brake pads squeezing the wheel rim.

Where you see my bike parked, in the picture, is the end of the trail, marked by the sign that says "END."

If you could see to the right of where the bike is parked you would see the HUGE Chesapeake Energy complex that sprawls across a former baseball field complex at the north end of Oakland Boulevard.

After I was done with the bike ride I continued west on Randol Mill Road to go to Town Talk. The Tent Sale I mentioned earlier today turned out to have no tents for sale, but instead was a bunch of stuff I did not need, being sold under a giant tent.

A lot of people, other than me, were eagerly buying the stuff that was under the tent in the Tent Sale. Things like plastic Halloween pumpkins, Barbie Doll water bottles and Christmas decorations.

It is time for lunch now.

The Day Before Easter Thinking About Riding A Bike & Camping In A Tent

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world on this 7th morning of April you might guess I got up after the sun did this day before Easter Sunday.

You would be guessing right.

The winter-like chill that has plagued us the past few mornings seems to have abated.

This morning, at 61 degrees, we are almost 30 degrees above freezing.

I see a bike ride in my future for today. Where I will pedal I do not currently know.

I will likely go to Town Talk today. I drove by Town Talk on Wednesday and saw their reader board said "Tent Sale Thursday - Saturday."

I could use a tent. It has been years since I've gone camping. The Queen of Wink caused me to think of tent camping a couple days ago. I used to have all the stuff one needs to go camping. I have no idea what has become of all that stuff.

I think I'll go swimming now before it gets any later, or hotter.

Thanks To The Miracles Of Modern Communication I Know Theo's Mom Is Out Of Surgery

That is my nephew Theo in green, in his backyard, collecting eggs in last Saturday's Easter Egg Hunt at his house in Tacoma.

This afternoon I was driving to pick up a new bike when  my phone lit up, saying "MaPa". When I call my mom and dad I call on the "AzMaPa" number.

Incoming on the "MaPa" number meant something was up.

I flipped open the phone and said the standard hello. My mom asked me if I'd talked to anyone up north. I said I had not and asked why, what's wrong?

Apparently my little sister, Theo's mom, called my mom today, describing terrible pain. My mom told my little sister to get to a doctor. When my little sister went to the doctor the doctor sent her to a hospital to have her appendix removed before it burst.

After talking to mom I called my big sister, she being my other sibling still in Washington. I talked to my big sister awhile and then she got a call from the hospital.

I was walking around Wal-Mart when the phone text thing made its noise. It was a text message from my big sister telling me my little sister was out of surgery.

All this had me thinking our modern world and its ease of communicating sure does make it a small world after all, just like Disneyland predicted decades ago.

I Am Back In The Bike Saddle Again On Texas Trails

My New Bike

My K2 bike, that I bought in 2002, was stolen in October of 2010.

When my bike was stolen, after me being back biking for a very short time, after an over a year bike hiatus, I decided to give up on biking til I moved to a more bike friendly location.

Today I changed my mind and got a new bike.

Bike technology seems to have improved over the past decade. No longer do I have caliper brakes, I now have disc brakes.

The suspension seems a bit different than my former bike, but other than that, for the most part, it feels like I've not long been out of the saddle.

When I got the K2 bike a decade ago I had a few problems adjusting to it and getting it to feel right. This new bike feels right already.

Methinks I shall be having some fun pedaling to locations I've not seen for over a year. Pedaling by the Cowtown Wakepark perhaps. Or to the ends of the River Legacy Park trails.

A Good Friday Hike On The Tandy Hills With Wildflowers

It was a Good Friday to be hiking on the Tandy Hills today. I drove to the top of Mount Tandy, around noon, gambling that sufficient time had passed to dry the hills to hikability after Tuesday's Tornado Deluge.

I was in dire need of some endorphin therapy, that I can only get via some good aerobic stimulation.

Swimming does not seem to provide me enough aerobic stimulation. I need my hiking.

The wildflowers are now coloring up all over the Texas prairie.

Like the big yellow ones you see in the picture. These may be my favorite of the Texas Wildflowers. These yellow beauties were sprouted out all over the Tandy Hills today.

I think there may have been yet one more Tandy Hills sanitary sewer malfunction, caused by Tuesday's rain. The Tandy Highway has fresh truck tire ruts mucking up the road. I did not walk where the previous malfunction occurred to see if there was any evidence that a new river of untreated unsanitary water had been flowing.

I felt real good going up the hills today. Apparently I am completely recovered from that which recently ailed me, which I believe I acquired courtesy of my favorite brother-in-law.

Usually, at least a couple times a month, I get worried about Elsie Hotpepper being missing. Currently I am not worried about Elsie Hotpepper. But, I am concerned about 3 people up north in Washington. Carlotta Camano seems to have gone missing. And yesterday I learned that Betty Jo Bouvier and Honey Lulu hitched a ride to Seattle.

I do not think it is safe for young beauties, like Betty Jo Bouvier and Honey Lulu, to be hitchhiking. Particularly in Washington, with that state's history of breeding serial killers. Unlike Elsie Hotpepper, neither Betty Jo Bouvier or Honey Lulu pack heat, courtesy of a concealed weapon permit.

The 6th Morning Of April Dawns Chilly With Possible Irritation From Chesapeake Energy Fracking Flowback

This morning, the 6th morning of April, we are looking at the outer world via a rare look from my tertiary viewing portal.

When this day ends already 20% of April will have passed in to history.

Of late, each morning is colder than the morning previous, as if we are on a slow slip back to winter.

This morning, with the sun fully arrived and providing both light and heat, it is only 22 degrees above freezing. The high today is currently scheduled to get 22 degrees warmer than the current temperature of 22 degrees above freezing.

In other words it is currently 54 heading to a high of 76.

Overnight my brief respite from the eye irritation caused by the bad air pollution that plagues North Texas ended.

I had to resort to eye drops in the middle of the night to attempt to abate the eye woes. I have also begun reaching for one of my many bottles of nasal spray with increasing frequency.

Speaking of annoying air pollution, Chesapeake Energy is denying it, of course, but a lot of people in Arlington are claiming to be made miserable from fracking flowback.

Read all about it in Texas Sharon's Bluedaze article, Chesapeake Energy sickens Arlington residents again with fracking flowback operations.

I don't know if my breathing and eye woes are being caused by any Chesapeake fracking flowbacking. I do know I reside very close to two Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale holes in the ground.

I guess I will put goggles over my suffering eyes and go swimming now before it gets any colder.

Fosdic Lake Was Serene Today Walking With My Sister With Nary A Nipple

Fosdic Lake

My sister went walking with me around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park today.

This was the first time my sister has gone walking with me since we climbed to the summit of Piestewa Peak two Fridays ago.

This was also the first time I've talked to my sister since she got very very sick the day after I left Arizona. Whatever it was that ailed us, I did not have it very bad, only 2 days of a really bad headache and not feeling my usual energetic self.

My sister was bedridden and lost 8 pounds during her bout with the mysterious ailment.

Again today there were a lot of people enjoying Oakland Lake Park. Have the locals finally figured out this is a nice place to enjoy what passes for fresh air in this polluted part of the planet?

Fosdic Lake was looking particularly serene today, with nary a ripple.

When I first typed ripple I typed nipple. Is that a typo or a Freudian Slip?

The Fosducks were seeming sedated. Usually the ducks waddle off if I get too near. Today they did not seem to care. I think the ducks may have grown fond of the humans because so many show up to give them duck food.

The Dawn Of April 5 Is Chilly & Calm In Texas

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world on this 5th morning of April, as the sun starts shining some light, it appears the sky may be void of clouds.

It is very chilly this morning, only 23 degrees above freezing, heading to a scheduled high of 76 today.

This is almost like the return of winter.

With no chance of snow.

However, Tuesday's storms dropped a lot of ice balls.

A lot of ice balls hit hard on American Airline's planes, grounding a lot of them. Will there be a hail damage sale of pitted planes?

I think I'll put on my insulated swimsuit and go swimming in the icy pool now.

Taking A Trip With TRIP To A World Of Whimsy & Confusion

I mentioned earlier that the TRIP (Trinity River Improvement Partnership) website was back conscious after spending several weeks in a coma.

The TRIP website has not been restored to its full original glory, but, at least you can now watch the award winning documentary, Up a Creek.

When the TRIP website went comatose I was asked if I could help revive it. I asked basic questions like who is the host? Where is the server? Who registered the domain?

I could get no answers. I used WHOIS to find out the domain's name servers had been changed to point to a server in Karlsruhe Germany.

I tried to help, really I did, but everything I got told was really goofy.

Like...

I can give you what info I have to possibly get us back up and going.  But as of now, it appears that our webserver was compromised by a hack that made us an unwilling node of a botnet that attacked Facebook.  Fun stuff.  

Webserver hacked? By an unwilling node of a botnet attacking Facebook? Huh? Was it Al-Qaeda?

I then said if the webserver/host was hacked then the webserver/host should take care of the problem. But, no one seemed to know who or where the webserver/host was.

And then there was this....

The server is rebuilt, I have installed Wordpress. All the settings should be the same. Let me know what I can do to help, I was able to download files, but without a database structure, they are almost useless. We can use those files to copy and paste old information, but the table structure needs to be recreated. I do have all the graphics, and that should help, let me know if I need to send them to someone. I assume that we'll need to re-upload all the files we have via FTP. Being unfamiliar with the architecture of server file systems, I don't know if you can just re-upload everything you have and it'll all be in the right place or what. (I wish I could be more help). Will the host provide any support? This seems to be a lapse in security on their part.

I agree with the last sentence. But that first sentence? The "server is rebuilt"? No one knows where the server is, but it has now been rebuilt? How do you rebuild a server? I have no idea. Files were downloaded, but without a database structure they are useless? Unfamiliar with the architecture of server file systems?

I've been making websites since the early 1990s. None of this stuff I was being told made any sense to me. At one point I said if I got the FTP login info I could easily make a simple website with the movie on it. I was then sent FTP login info. That did not work.

I still don't know what happened to the TRIP website that caused this woe. TRIP's domain's Domain Name Server (DNS) now points to a server in Wayne, United States. That info comes from WHOIS. Where is Wayne? I've no idea. The domain's name servers are still coming from Germany.

This experience with TRIP reminded my of a painful experience that started in 2004 when I made a website for an elderly man in Tacoma. The elderly man did not understand websites or the Internet. But he was full of ideas about what he wanted. A lot of it was pure fanciful magic. And there was a fixation on making font sizes too big. Among many other annoying fixations.

When a new product was added to the website, rather than just sending me the URL, the elderly man would send me an email that said something like "type in 'Dotties cottage chocolate bunny', then click on the 4th item on the list (meaning the Google search results), then click on 'chocolate', then go to the 5th page and get the picture of the 7th bunny from the top."

I am not exaggerating.

In 2006 I was sort of relieved when I got an email from the elderly man in Tacoma telling me he'd decided to have a local guy work on his website. That local guy totally messed up importing the webfiles. The website remains messed up to this day. And looks really outdated. I get some sort of poetic justice pleasure from this.

Now that the TRIP website is back working I hope someone somewhere can figure out who the server/host is, who has control over the domain and the real reason why the TRIP website went comatose.

One more thing, the TRIP domain expires on October 14, 2012. Someone somewhere needs to figure out who registered the domain and get it renewed before the expiration date, or it will go comatose again. But, I will know the reason why, this time.