I Am Not Downloading The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's DFW OT App For My I-Pad

I don't know why I got email from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today. I ceased being a subscriber years ago. I understand why I got email from the Fort Worth Library today, because I still subscribe to that service.

The email from the Star-Telegram was announcing the introduction of something called DFW OT. With DFW OT apparently being DFW's first and only digital sports magazine for the iPad.

It appears Tony Romo is the cover cowboy on the first issue of DFW OT. Tony Romo is the quarterback for the local football team called the Dallas Cowboys, which is expected to win the Super Bowl this year.

What I am wondering is did it not cost the Fort Worth Star-Telegram any money to produce DFW's first and only digital sports magazine?

One really can not help but wonder why a newspaper which has shrunk considerably since I first saw it over a decade ago and which is known to be struggling to survive, money-wise, would invest in an electronic publication that runs on a device that is not a device the majority of people use.

I read in this week's FW Weekly in an article titled More Jumping Ship that more Star-Telegram employees are jumping ship. The most recent ship jumper is the Star-Telegram's business columnist, Mitchell Schnurman, who left Fort Worth for Dallas and that town's Morning News.

Maybe DFW OT will be a big money maker that saves the sinking ship. Maybe not. I don't think I'll be getting this app for my iPad.

Riding The Fort Worth Rail To Comanche Nation: The Story Of Quanah Parker At The Downtown Fort Worth Library

The Fort Worth Library sent me email today. One tidbit of info in the email was the shocking news that all the Fort Worth Libraries will be shut on Labor Day, that being this coming Monday.

There was a tidbit of info in the Fort Worth Library email that interested me. That being that the Downtown Central Fort Worth Library is going to putting on an exhibit from September 20 through December 15 called Comanche Nation: The Story of Quanah Parker and Cynthia Ann Parker.

If I remember correctly I have mentioned a time or two my interest in American Indian history. A couple months ago I read Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History.

Empire of the Summer Moon was an excellent telling of the Comanche history, particularly focusing on Quanah Parker. Some of this history took place in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.

I have not been to the downtown Fort Worth Library in years, not since Fort Worth lost the world's shortest subway line which made it so easy to visit beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

I think I will make the effort to check out the Comanche Nation exhibit.

Maybe I will use Fort Worth's excellent public transit system to take me downtown. That would be very adventuresome. Like getting on a carnival ride.

I Took My Handlebars To River Legacy Park Today While Worrying About Marie's Topographical Adjustment

Those are my handlebars you see in the picture. My handlebars were on the mountain bike trail in River Legacy Park today.

I'd not been on my bike for a couple weeks due the zipper on the handlebar bag in which I keep my keys, wallet, phone and camera ceasing its zipping ability.

That is the bag replacement you see attached to the handlebars.

Near the upper center of the picture there is a signpost pointing to the North Loop on the left, with the Loop Bypass on the right. I took the North Loop. The North Loop used to be a fairly short loop, but then a loop got added to the loop. I'd intended to stay on the original loop and not take the loop that loops off the North Loop. But, I took a wrong turn and ended up finding myself pedaling that entire new loop. Again.

The new loop was more pleasant to pedal this time, because it is no longer new and is now well worn and thus more pleasant to pedal.

A couple weeks ago I heard from Marie. Marie came upon my bloggings about my wanderings whilst she was searching for places to walk. Marie has previously lived in Northern California and Seattle, among other places, including Texas. Marie is now back in Texas and is finding adjusting to the flat topography to be a bit difficult. That and she misses the Christmas tree smell of Evergreens, clean water, mountains and rain. And cleanliness.

I empathize with all that Marie misses. I remember my last time driving back to Washington, in late July of 2001. I was stuck in traffic on the I-90 Floating Bridge across Lake Washington. I did not mind being stuck in slow moving traffic. The sky was a deep clear blue. Mount Rainier was hovering to the south of me, the Olympics to the west of me, the Cascades in my rear view mirror. Lake Washington looking a deep clear blue, because it was reflecting the deep blue sky.

Which has me wondering why the Trinity River was looking so green today. The sky does not look all that green.

I digress.

So, I was driving real slow across the I-90 Floating Bridge and was making note of how clean everything looked, as if it sparkled. I'd been noticing the remarkable decrease in litter by the time I was driving through Colorado. I've often wondered if when Texans visit other less messy parts of the country, do they notice that something is missing? Do they wonder where all the litter is?

Marie, if you are reading this, I must tell you, River Legacy Park, in Arlington, is an excellent place to walk. There are many miles of paved trails, most of which run along the Trinity River, much of it under a canopy of big trees giving good cooling shade. There are also miles of unpaved trails, like the one you see in the picture. I saw more people walking the mountain bike trail today than I saw bikers.

To find the mountain bike trail enter River Legacy Park from the main Green Oaks Boulevard, then take the first left and then the second left, which directly leads to the mountain bike trail parking lot. You'll see one sign directing you to the mountain bike trail entrance, the other to the hiker trail entrance.

To find your way to River Legacy Park you'll find a link to a map on the above link to my River Legacy Park webpage, or just go directly to the map here.

What Happened To The Mineral Wells Baker Hotel Restoration?

Almost 2 years ago, October 15, 2010, to be precise, I blogged about news I read in the soon to be gone Fort Worth Star-Telegram regarding the restoration of the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells.

Way back near the end of the last century I saw the Baker Hotel for the first time. As I drove into Mineral Wells I was very surprised to see a giant structure looming over the town. And then more surprised to see the structure up close, realizing it was a Ghost Hotel.

Over the years I've been contacted multiple times regarding the Baker Hotel. This was due to the fact that years ago my webpage about the Baker Hotel was the only info about the hotel on the Internet.

That is no longer the case. There are now 6 webpages about the Baker Hotel that Google higher than mine. The #1 Baker Hotel webpage is now Wikipedia's Baker Hotel article.

The Baker Hotel has its own official website. Which Googles in the #2 position.

I've been curious as to the status of the Baker Hotel restoration. The Star-Telegram article of almost 2 years ago led one to think that the restoration plan was solid. Back then the restoration was supposedly underway, with someone named Jeff Trigger behind it, with a $52 million budget being spent to modernize the hotel rooms and return the Baker Hotel's famous features to their original splendor, including the swimming pools.

Well.

Yesterday, someone asked me, via a blog comment on the October 15, 2010 blogging, if I could help him get in contact with Jeff Trigger, because he'd been told that Jeff Trigger was the person to talk to regarding restoring the Baker Hotel.

Below is the referenced comment....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Ballad Of The Baker: Is The Baker Hotel In Mineral Wells Really Being Restored?":

I am a investor that is willing to build the hotel to original state that is to the exacting amount of tile on the wall well what I'm doing here is trying to contact the owner of the grand old lady for purchase. I got as far as entering the old lady with escort of fire marshal and officers for a inspection of the premises and back ground info to me up to a name of a man but i need to contact this JEF T. would anyone know where i can even get any info asap because my goal is to have her finished by the end of 2013 you can contact me at nickolyash@yahoo.com 

Anyone out there have any answers for Mr. Nickolyash?

On The Breezy Tandy Hills Running Hot & Cold While My Nephew Gives Me Weather Reports From Washington

Today I decided to induce some rare endorphin production via aerobic stimulation. My choice of location to get stimulated was the Tandy Hills. The Tandy Hills is my closest location for easy aerobic stimulation.

I don't think I've previously shown you the Tandy Trail I'm showing you in today's picture. This is a steep trail that one comes to on the north side of Tandy Falls. The trail heads west to the top of the View Street Ridge.

The trail at this location is way steeper than the picture makes it look. It's a fast track to aerobic stimulation and those much needed endorphins.

The temperature was very schizophrenic on the Tandy Hills today.  Exiting my vehicle on top of Mount Tandy I was blown by a good breeze that had a bit of refreshing coolness in it. The breezeless gullies at the bottom of hills were pockets of heat. The hot pockets gave me some good steam bath action, while the breezy ridges cooled me back down.

If I recollect correctly some time ago some cranky person complained that all I talk about is the weather, thus making me extremely boring. Maybe the word was boorish. I don't remember.

So, I got email from my eldest nephew last night, he being Spencer Jack's dad. In this email my apparent weather fixation is mentioned....

FU Durango---Because I know you like to follow the weather: Seattle is going on 37 days with no rain (info from www.komonews.com/weather) ((they gauge the rainfall via a recording device at SeaTac airport))  Should no rain fall on this device prior to Sept. 12th, that will be 52 days, a Seattle all time record.  Possible drizzle expected tonight, however, if we make it through the evening dry, forecast is good for the next 7 plus days.   FNJason.

The FU in FU Durango are initials for Favorite Uncle. You might be able to figure out what the FN in FNJason are initials for.

Summer is a time of year that perplexes visitors to Seattle and Western Washington. The tourists come expecting rain and instead see nothing but clear sky.

I don't know if Lesser Seattle is still in operation. Lesser Seattle used to run a propaganda campaign where you never mentioned, via a letter, or on the phone, to an outsider, that the weather is being pleasant. You were supposed to always say it is raining. Most of the year this does not require lying. I think Lesser Seattle likely has given up the effort. Too many tourists come from all over the world, seeing clear skies and mountains.

I wonder why Fort Worth does not have a Lesser Fort Worth program to discourage visitors from visiting? The flood of tourists here gets really tiring. Particularly all the Canadians.

Trying To Walk Through The Thick Oakland Lake Park Vegetation While Worrying About My Aged Addled Defense Mechanisms

Today was my regularly scheduled weekly walk around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

As you can see in the picture, the lawn in Oakland Lake Park is in dire need of mowing.

It really is not much of a lawn, as in very little actual grass exists. It is more a covering of weeds, which quickly grow into a short jungle when a little rain causes a growth spurt.

This morning I went to Arlington to get a vehicle its emissions test. Or whatever it is called. I find this to be a very annoying annual event.

Where I lived in Washington we didn't have to get a vehicle's emissions tested. That may no longer be the case, for all I know.

I don't understand why Texas insists that vehicles that are not old have to get tested to see if they are emitting anything unseemly. I see old clunkers spewing down a Texas road every once in awhile, followed by a dirty cloud of exhaust and wonder how that vehicle passed an emissions test.

It took less than an hour, the vehicle passed its test, again, so it's good to go for another year.

So, all in all it was not nearly as annoying as last month's waiting in a line for 6 hours to renew my Texas driver's license.

Renewing, in person, ones Texas driver's license, needs be done only once every 12 years. Which works out to being a half hour a year, with all the waiting done in that one year. Over 12 years one would be having very good line luck if the wait to get ones vehicle's emissions tested did not add up to well over 6 hours.

Changing the subject from one type of emission to another.

Gar the Texan is convalescing from his most recent surgery. I think he may be on some powerful medications that are causing him to be more amusing than he usually is, with the medications also enabling really good convoluted sentences that actually make sense, like the following...

As for the reference, I have, indeed, kept my promise as my reference was in reference to something completely different, but your aged and addled defense mechanisms have come to the conclusion that I was referencing that which I promised not to reference. So, you sir, have in fact, referenced the incident that you made me promise not to reference. 

It really is not very nice to make reference to an old person's aged and addled defense mechanisms. 

Looking For A Steam Bath On The Tandy Hills After Making Chile Rellenos And Learning Gar The Texan Made It Though His Latest Surgery

In the picture you are on top of Mount Tandy, at noon, on the last Tuesday of August of 2012, looking west across the wagon trail that leads to beautiful downtown Fort Worth, the stunning skyline of which you can see in the distance.

I was hoping for a good feeling steam bath today, courtesy of the humidity. But, the temperature being in the semi-chilly 80s did not make for a good steam bath.

Changing the subject from a steam bath to steaming chiles.

Yesterday I think I mentioned that I was roasting Hatch chiles that  I got from ALDI. The directions had you roasting the chiles, then putting them in a sealed container of some sort, so that the steam from the hot chiles would allow the skins to peel off easily.

I had no idea one had to peel a chile, or how that worked, or why it was needed to be done.

Well, it worked real well, the skins of the chiles pulled right off, leaving a chile that tasted like the chile one gets in a Chile Relleno, which is my favorite item of the Mexican food sort.

So, today I made a Chile Relleno casserole from the roasted and peeled Hatch chiles. Usually I don't think anything I cook tastes all that good, but, I have to say, this Chile Relleno casserole I made today may be the best Chile Relleno I've ever had.

Changing the subject from Chile Relleno to something else that needs to be roasted before peeling.

We've been worried sick about Gar the Texan. He went under the knife on Friday. Something to do with his hips needing to be replaced. No one had heard from Gar the Texan, post-surgery. Phone calls go to voice mail, email unanswered, no blogging, nothing on Facebook.

Well, Gar the Texan resurfaced today. The surgery went fine except for some inept nurses butchering his fingers when they found out he is diabetic.

I think Gar the Texan may be what motivates me to overdo the exercise thing. I see what's happened to that boy as some sort of cautionary tale, making me think I want to do all I can do to prevent that sort of decrepitude from happening to me when I get that old.

Having ones hips replaced sounds real dire. I remember when my grandma had her hips replaced. I think she was quite a bit older than Gar the Texan's current age. But, she was way more active than Gar the Texan.

And not a diabetic.

Watching Possums Escape To Village Creek After Botching Butchering A Chicken While Getting Ready To Roast Hatch Chiles

Village Creek Blue Bayou

The Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Blue Bayou was back being mostly blue today, back blue after its recent iterations as the Brown Bayou, then the Green Bayou.

I like my bayous blue.

When I arrived at the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's parking lot I saw an Arlington Animal Control truck parked. Past experience with seeing that truck led me to think I was about to see a possum released back into the natural world.

This time it was 2 possums. The Animal Control guy lifted 2 possums from their possum cage, by the tail, with gloved hands. It seems to me possums would be being a bit feisty after having been trapped in a cage, then hauled in a truck, then picked up by their tails.

But the possums act like they are not at all bothered. The Animal Control guy sets them gently on the ground and waves goodbye as the possums scurry back to freedom.

Changing the subject from possums to chickens.

Last week I cut up a whole chicken for the first time since some time in August of 2008. My sister had tasked me with teaching my future sister-in-law how to cut up a chicken. There were 2 to cut-up. I showed how with the first, then my student cut up the second.

The chicken I cut up last week was a bit difficult. I sort of had to saw it a few times. This morning I cut up another chicken and I realized why it was so easy to slice a bird in Tacoma and so difficult in Texas.

I have crummy knives.

I have always been a bit of a hazard with knives. I've sliced myself a time or two or three. I'd come to think a dull knife is safer for me. But, after this morning's bizarrely botched butchering I'm thinking I need to get myself a good sharp knife. I don't think what I was doing this morning was safe. That and somehow the chicken's back ended up with one of the thigh pieces attached by the time I was finished. This made for an interesting piece of chicken. I have not been able to determine where the drumstick part of one of the wings ended up being.

Changing the subject again, this time from chicken to Hatch chiles.

I got myself a bag of Hatch chiles on Sunday at ALDI. Today I Googled to see what I need to do with these chiles and learned I must do something with them soon or they will spoil on me.

So, this afternoon I am going to be roasting myself a bag of Hatch chiles in preparation for tomorrow's attempt to make Chile Rellenos.

This operation should go better than my chicken cutting operation.

I hope.

The Last Sunday Of August On The HOT Tandy Hills

It is only 79 degrees in the outer world at my location, coming up on 3 in the afternoon on this last Sunday of August.

88% humidity is making the outer world really feel like 89 degrees.

The outer world has cooled since I got myself some endorphins via aerobic stimulation on the Tandy Hills at noon. The humidity at noon hovered around 100%, making for a very wet steam bath, until clouds blocked the sun and a strong wind began blowing.

In the picture you are looking a Tandy Trail just north of the dry Tandy Falls.

It is 4 weeks until Fall falls upon us, on Saturday, September 22, to be precise, the Autumnal Equinox arrives.

As you can see in the picture, even though it is a month til Fall falls, a lot of leaves have already fallen on the Tandy Hills, making for some crunchy hiking in some locations.

At the present time, at my location, I see there are a few drops of rain falling, but no leaves. I am hearing thunder rumbling in the distance, with each rumble sounding as if it is getting closer.

I'm not in much of a mood for a loud storm, but I suppose I will adjust my mood to that reality if I need to.

A Disturbing New Tandy Hills Mystery With An Ice Chest & Possible Burial Site

I had myself a disturbing time getting my endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation today on the Tandy Hills.

It started when I stepped out of my vehicular transport on to a mesquite thorn which pierced the sole of the hiking shoe on my right foot and then pierced the aforementioned right foot, very slightly.

I do not believe any blood was spilled.

Even though the temperature was in the relatively chilly 80s the humidity was making it feel HOT today. That and my possible blood loss had me feeling a bit faint at times as I did the hill climbing.

And then I came upon the thing you see in the above picture. Someone had hauled an ice chest cooler type device deep into the hills of Tandy and left it there at the side of the trail.

Why? I asked myself.

I did not want to look inside the ice chest, so I didn't.

Then, as I looked around at the surrounding area, up the hill, about 15 feet to the left of the view of the ice chest, I saw what you see below.

It seemed disturbingly clear to me that someone had carried something to this spot, in the ice chest, and buried it under that giant slab of rock.

Where did this giant slab of rock come from and how did it get there?

I was not curious enough to left the slab to see if I could see what is under it. That and I thought, with me already feeling faint-hearted, that I might faint on the spot if something disturbing was under the slab.

I'm probably going to be asked where on the Tandy Hills this burial sarcophagus is located. I'll try and describe where this is.

I assume anyone familiar with the Tandy Hills knows where the bamboo tepee is located.

From the bamboo tepee exit the trail that heads east. Take the first right, heading south, up the hill. About halfway up the hill you'll come to the scenes above.