106 Degrees In Fort Worth But It's Hotter In Phoenix & Way Cooler In Tacoma In More Ways Than One

Coming up on 5 in the afternoon on this final Tuesday of June, at my location, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device, it is feeling like 116 degrees in the outer world.

My air-conditioner seems to be running non-stop.

Heading up to Washington is sounding even more appealing today than it sounded yesterday.

Currently, in Tacoma, at the same time it is 106 at my location, it is 43 degrees cooler in Tacoma, at a chilly 63.

When I last stayed at my sister's in Tacoma I was first assigned the basement bedroom as my location. I soon dubbed this the Arctic. A few days later I found myself on the top floor and found it quite a pleasant temperature.

I dubbed the top floor the Tropics and asked if it were at all possible if I could move from the Arctic to the Tropics.

Permission was  granted.

The Tropics, at that point in time had a pair of high tech window air-conditioning units installed. The digital temperature read-out on those A/C units would show numbers like 79 or 81.

The fulltime residents did not understand why I was not turning on the A/C, what with it being those high temperatures of 79 - 81. I don't think it was believed when I said 80 was what I had my A/C set to, at home, in Texas.

I have been informed that the area of my sister's house I called the Tropics is now cooled by a heat pump which renders it so comfortable that it is no longer the unused in summer Tropics. The basement, however, remains pleasantly frigid and is still known as the Arctic.

Right now the Arctic basement is sounding really pleasant.

I don't know if the living quarters I lived in at my mom and dad's in Arizona in March is currently livable. I believe it was not part of the central air that cooled the rest of the house.

Currently it is 106 at my location in Texas, 109 in Phoenix and 63 in Tacoma.

I would think that my sister's former Tropics zone is currently not needing to have much of its heat pumped.

I wonder how come Phoenix is having something called an Excessive Heat Watch? While in Fort Worth and North Texas we don't have to watch for excessive heat? Instead of watching for excessive heat, in Fort Worth, we have an Air Quality Alert.

Very perplexing.

Getting Cool In The Shadiest Place I Know

It was 94 degrees, feeling like 103, when I left air-conditioned comfort to get myself some bi-pedal motion in the outer world.

I went to the shadiest place I know that is within 3 miles of my abode, the being the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I was not alone in the shade seeking today. Being under big green trees makes the real temperature feel way cooler than 103 degrees.

I think I may have had a sleepwalking incident last night and got myself in a fight, because I have been feeling sucker punched in the gut all day today.

Last night I got gas, so I called my mom.

I told my mom we'd had our first 100 degree day the day before. My mom told me they'd had, I think the number was 38, days over 100, so far, since the return of HOT temperatures to the Valley of the Sun.

Currently the outer world at my location, at 2 in the afternoon, is being heated to 102, with the humidity supposedly making the temperature really feel like 114.

The hottest real temperature I have ever been HOT in was 121 at Badwater in Death Valley.

My two oldest nephews and I were in Las Vegas. I was told conditions were such that Death Valley might break its temperature record that day. I asked the nephews if they wanted to drive to Death Valley for some record breaking heat. So, it was off to Death Valley we went, but no temperature record was set that day.

I don't think we'll be setting a temperature record today, here in North Texas. Apparently the current record for this day was set back in 1980 at something like 112 degrees.

101 Degrees Is Making Me Think It Is Time To Head North & Leave HOT Texas For A Spell

The time "Now" is referencing in the screen capture from my computer based temperature monitoring device is a few minutes ago, approximately 3:30 in the afternoon of this HOT final Monday of June.

I am not adjusting to the high temperatures as well as I usually do. I think it is the humidity causing this adjustment problem.

I canceled my daily endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation of the hill climbing walking sort, deciding that an extra long swim this morning was sufficient.

Apparently the air has become dangerous to breathe in the D/FW Metroplex, with the National Weather Service issuing an Air Quality Alert. I read somewhere today that ones lungs could get burned by too much ozone in the air we are breathing in this polluted part of the planet.

Just as I was lamenting to myself my woeful state of misery I got an email from my sister in Tacoma asking, "So, are you really coming north? I hear we are going to get summer, sometime."

I can not remember another time during my long exile in Texas when heading north sounded more appealing.

To breathe air without worrying about getting an ozone burn. To breathe air that is scented with evergreens and saltwater. To breathe air that is regularly scrubbed clean by rain. To pick a berry growing wild. To pick a berry growing in a field. To pick an apricot, cherry, peach and apple growing in a tree. To climb a mountain. To watch a big wave crash to shore. To gaze deep into unpolluted, clear water.

Yes, heading north is sounding like a mighty fine idea.

I Got Nothing At Fort Worth's Trader Joe's Except A Parking Lot Headache

Hunting For A Trader Joe's Parking Space

Well, I have now been to Fort Worth's Trader Joe's.

First off, let's talk about the parking.

The Trader Joe's parking lot is too small. The parking lots of the enterprises around Trader Joe's have big NO TRADER JOE'S PARKING signs. Along with a warning that violators will be towed.

I exited the Trader Joe's parking lot and eventually found street parking. I'd say half or more of the vehicles parked to shop at Trader Joe's were parked on the street.

The last time I was in a Trader Joe's was in 2004, in the Seattle zone. I don't remember which of the towns south of Sea-Tac International Airport was the location of that Trader Joe's. Maybe it was the town of Sea-Tac. I'm starting to lose my memory of place names in Washington. Like right now I'm drawing a blank as to the names of the towns near the airport. Federal Way, that's one I remember.

Damn age related memory loss.

Changing the subject from my memory loss back to Trader Joe's.

I left the Seattle zone Trader Joe's having bought a lot of goodies. I left the Fort Worth Trader Joe's having bought nothing. Several of the items I bought in the Seattle zone Trader Joe's were put in my basket after sampling a free sample at various sampling locations in the store. I remember several cheeses, crackers, bread, all into the basket after a sample.

Trader Joe's 19 Cent Bananas

The Fort Worth Trader Joe's has a "Sampling Station." I did no sampling. It appeared the sample was peach salsa. I knew I did not want peach salsa, so no need to sample.

I also bought no bananas. Bananas at Trader Joe's were 19 cents each. I'm not used to buying bananas via anything but the per pound method.

The Fort Worth Trader Joe's is a lot bigger than the one I went to in the Seattle zone. I would have thought with a full parking lot and cars parked on the street that the store would be human gridlock.

As you can see in the picture, it was not human gridlock.

There also were no lines at the checkouts. I'd read the checkout lines were long back when the Fort Worth Trader Joe's opened. I wonder how nightmarish the parking situation was at that time?

When Costco came to the D/FW Metroplex, the first one opened in Fort Worth. I was very happy to learn of this development. Costco is one of the things I greatly missed, that I was used to regularly going to, whilst being a Washingtonian.

I remember going to the Grand Opening of the Fort Worth Costco and being very disappointed. It had been Texasified. Walking in to the Fort Worth Costco I was visually assaulted by dozens of horse saddles. And Remington statues. There was no sushi, no coffee roaster, none of the Costco things I was missing.

Trader Joe's Fort Worth Stockyards Mural

Then a Costco opened in Southlake, a more Yankee-fieed area of the D/FW Metroplex. The Southlake Costco was much more like a Washington one, than the Fort Worth one.

Still no sushi though.

Nothing I saw in the Fort Worth Trader Joe's made me think it'd been Texas-ified.

Though there is a mural of the Fort Worth Stockyards on the wall at the back of the store.

Turn Around To Not Drown While You Are Rockin' The Trinity River

Pedaling on the Trinity Trail on the downriver side of the Rockin' the River zone, I saw an orange boom spanning the river.

I assumed the orange boom was in place to keep Rockin' the River Inner Tubing Happy Hour Floaters contained within the pollution-free safe to swim in section of the Trinity River.

A short distance downriver from the orange boom I saw two signs I'd not seen before, one sign on each end of the big arch of the Main Street Bridge that spans the Trinity River.

STEEP DROP AHEAD
TURN AROUND
DON'T DROWN

Sounds very dire. I had no recollection of ever seeing a steep drop on the Trinity River in this location, so, of course I was curious.

On the right you are looking at the Main Street Bridge. And the warning signs. The Main Street Bridge is also known as the Paddock Viaduct. It was built in 1914. The first bridge in America to have self-supporting arches of concrete.

I do not know if being the first bridge in America to have self-supporting arches of concrete made the rest of America green with envy, or not.

The bridge was named for B.B. Paddock. He was a Fort Worth mayor and newspaper editor.

I know these things because I read them on a plaque stuck to a big rock near the bridge. On the south side of the bridge, that's the right side in the picture, there is a State of Texas Historical Marker that goes into more detail about the bridge. I came upon this Historical Marker years ago whilst exploring the area around the now sadly defunct Heritage Park

That drop off does not look all that dire, not that I'd want to go over that mini-Niagara Falls floating on an inner tube.

I wonder if a Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floater went over the falls, thus prompting the installation of the orange boom and the TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN warning sign?

The Monday Morning Blues Starts A HOT Week In Texas

Above is this morning's 6 day forecast courtesy of my computer based weather monitoring device. As you can see we are already heated to 81 degrees, with the humidity making it feel like 91. What you can not see is it is not yet quite 9 in the morning.

What is the meaning of that other then a HOT sun symbol on Friday? It looks dire.

My computer based temperature forecaster says it will get to 102 today. A few minutes ago I heard on the radio that 105 is the prediction. Either way, it's going to be HOT.

Yesterday the official temperature station for Dallas/Forth Worth, that being D/FW Airport, officially registered our first 100 degree day of the year.

I think I will escape the heat this morning by going to Trader Joe's and Sprouts Farmers.

Escaping The Heat Under The Village Creek Shade While Texas Rattles With Earthquakes

The water in the pool was warmer than the air this morning. When the water in the pool is warmer than the air the water in the pool is not as refreshing as when the water in the pool is cooler than the air.

The air at my location is currently being heated to 96 degrees, with the high humidity causing that air to feel like it is 106 degrees.

106 degrees is HOT.

Until the humidity burns off or the temperature drops, I think I will not be doing any Tandy Hills hiking.

Today for my noontime constitutional I opted for the soothing shade of the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I thought, due to the HEAT, that I'd have Village Creek all to myself. I thought wrong. The parking lot was almost full.

As you can see in the picture there is a lot of foliage along Village Creek, with some very big, very old oak trees. The oak trees are likely so old they shaded the Kickapoo, Wichita and other tribes of the Caddo Confederation who lived here before they got their eviction notices from the Texans.

With summer barely arrived I am thinking more and more that a trip to the Pacific Northwest for the first time in 4 years is sounding real good. I think I'd like to escape the heat and be chilly for a few weeks.

It'd also be nice to get away from these earthquakes that keep shaking me up here in Texas.

Washington has not had an earthquake in years.

While Texas seems to be constantly in shake mode, though likely not building up to a BIG ONE.

 But, who knows?

There's been a lot of tampering with Mother Nature on this part of the planet. Mother Nature can be a real bitch when she gets tampered with.

Does Fort Worth Sanction Graffiti On The Trinity Trails?

Does Fort Worth have any sort of anti-graffiti ordinance?

Yesterday, in the Rockin' the River zone on the Trinity Trail, I came upon some rather elaborate graffiti.

The graffiti was a painted on pavement version of the advertisement the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle puts in local publications like Fort Worth Weekly and DFW.com Ink Edition.

How does one paint such a thing on pavement and how much does it cost to do so?

Does doing such a thing require a permit from the city?

It would seem the process of installing this graffiti would block the Trinity Trail for the duration of the installation and whatever drying time was required.

I think I'll take a stencil and go paint my blog address all over the Trinity Trail today.

Or not.

Pedaling Through The World's Most Concentrated Area Of Boondoggles & Eminent Domain Abuse

Tarrant County College East Trinity Campus

Today was the first time in a long time I pedaled my handlebars on the Trinity Trail past downtown Fort Worth.

Which would make today the first time I've seen the completed version of what was to be the Tarrant County College downtown campus.

The truncated version of the Tarrant County College is, to my eyes, a nice looking structure.

I've opined previously that if this building had been built as designed, with a bridge across the Trinity River to another building, that this might have given Fort Worth what it has never had. That being a building that people in other parts of America, and the world, might recognize as being in Fort Worth.

Unfortunately the Fort Worth Boondoggle Virus infected this project, along with the bad taste of Ed Bass and his disdain for sunken plazas, so the project was never completed as designed.

Part of the failure of this project was caused by the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. The Army Corps of Engineers objected to the TCC project's plan to build on the river's levees. I think, maybe, because those levees are supposedly going to be removed, once the flood diversion channel is built and J.D. Granger's Magic Trees are planted.

The Former Radio Shack Headquarters

Elsie Hotpepper did not go bike riding with me today. So, that is not Elsie Hotpepper pedaling under those arches towards the former Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters, currently the downtown Tarrant County College Trinity Campus.

This area of Fort Worth really is an interesting confluence of boondoggles, eminent domain abuse and public works projects gone awry, in addition to being the location of the confluence of the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River, which may disappear if the Granger Pond ever comes to fruition.

In this area you had Radio Shack hornswoggling Fort Worth to abuse eminent domain to take the Ripley Arnold apartments. I don't remember if Radio Shack got tax breaks, as well as property stealing help.

Instead of Fort Worth suggesting Radio Shack build elsewhere, like maybe on blighted land on the north side of the Trinity River, land that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle will supposedly unblight, Fort Worth's Ruling Oligarchy went along with Radio Shack's plans.

No consideration was given to the fact that allowing Radio Shack to build in this location would remove acres of free parking and the world's shortest subway, from Fort Worth.

I have seldom been to downtown Fort Worth since the ease of doing so was destroyed by this boondoggle.

Radio Shack moved into its new corporate headquarters to much hoopla. Meanwhile the new downtown campus of Tarrant County College started getting constructed.

Soon problems arose, along with rising costs.

At some point in time Radio Shack found it could not afford its shiny new corporate headquarters. Eventually someone decided it would be just a dandy idea to buy Radio Shack's corporate headquarters and turn it into Tarrant County College West Trinity Campus.

I saw the Tarrant County College Trinity Campus signage on the structure today, where it used to say Radio Shack.

So, you have two downtown Tarrant County College campuses, one east of Main Street, one west.

I do not understand how anyone who follows the downtown Fort Worth ongoing soap opera of  incompetentitude can have any hope that the Trinity River Vision is not going to out boondoggle all previous Fort Worth boondoggles.

It should be epic when the inevitable crash comes.

Will J.D. Granger and his mama end up doing jail time? Who knows.

I am currently reading a book titled Confederacy of Silence: A True Tale of the New Old South. This book has given me a greater understanding of why things are the way they are here, along with understanding J.D. Granger and his mama will get in no real trouble, because that just is not the Fort Worth Way.

Rosie The Rat Dog Getting Dirty On Top Of The World

Rosie the Rat Dog and her Entourage have blogged again. This time in a blogging titled Color between black and white that I don't quite understand.

It may have something to do with the fact that they finally made it to a place where they could wash the dirt off their vehicles, that being a place called Tok, Alaska.

I have been a bit confused by the tales of treacherous roads, with me thinking the Alaska Highway is not supposed to be all that treacherous anymore.

Well.

Rosie directed her entourage off the Alaska Highway somewhere around Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. This eventually had them on a road called the Top of the World Highway. I believe this was still in Canada. A couple hours after getting past customs and back in the USA the road turned into something called the Taylor Highway, eventually ending in a town called Chicken.

I'm guessing the name of the town has something to do with most people being chicken to drive the highway to get there.

There are some gorgeous photos on Rosie the Rat Dog's Alaska! Blog. There was a moose encounter whilst kayaking. More bear encounters. And other encounters.

I'm starting to think a roadtrip to Alaska sounds fun.