Checking Out One Of My Woodhaven Neighborhood Chesapeake Restoration Projects

Months ago one of my neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Pad Sites started up the long process of inserting pipe underground so non-odorized natural gas could be moved to another location.

As part of that pipe laying operation Chesapeake Energy removed the Woodhaven sign that sat at the northwest corner of Bridgewood and Boca Raton. This had been a landscaped brick installation.

When this was removed I wondered how it is that Chesapeake Energy gets permission to do such things. Is is some variant of abusing eminent domain? Quite a large area was bulldozed, heavy equipment brought in, noise abatement walls installed. A big mess.

And then, to my pleased surprise, when Chesapeake finished with its pipeline laying operation a crew arrived and quickly restored the Woodhaven sign to its former glory. Well, actually, I think it is better than before, with a lot more landscaping.

A lot more landscaping, plus one thing that was not at this location previously. That being the white sign on the yellow post.

The sign informs us that this is now a Chesapeake "Cathodic Protection Test Station."

And, "In Case Of An Emergency Call 1-800-566-9306/"

What sort of emergency? Something Cathodic that has escaped that we need protection from?

What is a Cathodic Protection Test Station I can not help but wonder. Let's see if Googling relieves me of my wonderment.

Well, Googling Cathodic Protection Test Station brought up a lot of businesses trying to sell a test product.

Near as I could tell Cathodic Protection has something to do with preventing or detecting corrosion. I assume it is the metal of the pipeline we are worried about corroding, due to the extremely corrosive nature of the un-odorized wet gas flowing through the pipe.

I guess I should be relieved to have a Cathodic Protection Test Station so close to where I live.

Have A Wonderful Christmas Even Though You Have No Snow In Texas

This may be my final Holiday Season Themed blogging of the Holiday Season. We can only hope.

When my mom called on Sunday she asked if I'd gotten a card from them. I said I had. Mom asked if I'd opened it. I said I had not. I said I was saving it to open for Christmas, thus giving me something to look forward to.

And then a few minutes ago I realized I'd still not opened the Christmas card from my mom and dad. Or one from my favorite aunt and uncle who live in Ohio.

The card from my aunt and uncle in Ohio turned out to have been rendered very ironic by today's events in Texas.

To the sentence, "Have a wonderful Christmas" my aunt added "even tho you have no snow."

I read I "have no snow" as I looked out the window at what looks like a blizzard of sideways blowing snow.

A Much Whiter Christmas Than Expected Has Arrived In Texas

The weather predictor's predictions for Christmas for North Texas have only erred in underplaying the magnitude and length of the thunderstorm that began Christmas, with the light rain turning out to be a deluge and the slight chance of a little snow in the D/FW Metroplex turning out to be a lot of snowflakes falling, for over an hour now.

With the temperature currently 30 and continuing to drop.

As you can see, via the view from my pool overlook patio, snow is sticking to the trees. The ground is still resisting getting white.

I think a lot more rain fell than what was predicted, a lot of which was still wet on the ground when the freeze started. Will we be an icy mess by morning? I suspect so.

I don't have snow tires on the Smart Car I did not get for Christmas. So, I am not good to drive in the snow.

As you can see, the forecast is a bit chilly the next 5 days. I  see no hill hiking in my immediate future.

Or swimming.

If I can find my cross-country skis and deem them ski-worthy, I may be able to go skiing tomorrow morning.

Merry Stormy Christmas In Texas

The above photo of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, taken last night by Brian Luenser, seen by me this morning, due to Pete Charlton putting it on Facebook, appears to provide photo evidence that the Santa Claus myth is real.

However, I have found no presents hiding anywhere in my abode this morning and I made certain that my fireplace was totally obstruction free.

Judging by the somewhat clear sky, Santa flew over downtown Fort Worth before the arrival of the storm that has been banging big booms for hours.

The predicted Thunderstorm is Part 1 of the predicted Christmas Day Storm that the predictors have predicted for North Texas. Part 2 is scheduled to arrive this afternoon with continuing rain rapidly chilled by a rapidly chilling temperature, chilling, eventually, down into the teens, with the rain turning into white snowflakes at some point in time this Christmas Day.

I hope everyone will have themselves a very Merry Christmas.

Thunder Lightning Snow Ice Rain & Wind On Schedule For North Texas For Christmas

I am up early this morning of Christmas Eve, slightly optimistic that I might be having myself a small Christmas Miracle in the form of my pneumonia-like, bronchitis-like, hacking cough, cold misery may be quickly abating.

In other words I have awakened feeling better than I did yesterday morn.

My mom called me last night  to wish me a Merry Christmas. I'm sure that was a big boost to my immune system.

Changing the subject from my personal misery to my favorite subject, that being the weather.

Overnight the National Weather Service has ratcheted up what is being predicted for Christmas Day in North Texas, adding Thunder and Lightning to the mix, joining snow and temperatures into the teens.

Below is the latest for Christmas from the National Weather Service...

...WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR DECEMBER 25TH...

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION ON CHRISTMAS DAY. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF A COLD RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTH TEXAS BEGINNING EARLY CHRISTMAS MORNING. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BLAST THROUGH NORTH TEXAS AROUND MIDDAY AND SEND TEMPERATURES TUMBLING DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. TO THE NORTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR...THE ATMOSPHERIC PROFILE WILL BECOME COLD ENOUGH FOR RAIN TO TRANSITION TO SNOW DURING THE AFTERNOON. WHILE MOST OF THE SNOW WILL BE LIGHT...PERIODS OF MODERATE SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR THE COUNTIES BORDERING THE RED RIVER. TO THE NORTH OF A BOWIE...TO MCKINNEY...TO EMORY LINE...SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE HIGHEST TOTALS EXPECTED AROUND THE PARIS AREA. TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF THIS LINE...INCLUDING THE DFW METROPLEX AND I-20 CORRIDOR...LITTLE TO NO SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED.

TRAVEL MAY BE IMPACTED NORTH OF I-20 CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WHERE THE HEAVIER PRECIPITATION OCCURS. TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT WILL FALL INTO THE TEENS AND 20S WHICH WOULD ALSO CAUSE REFREEZING OF ANY REMAINING MOISTURE ON ROADS...RESULTING IN PATCHES OF BLACK ICE.

IN ADDITION TO THE CHANCE OF SNOW...VERY STRONG WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. THE FALLING TEMPERATURES AND STRONG WINDS WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE TEENS AND 20S BY THE EVENING HOURS...AND EVEN LOWER OVERNIGHT.

BOTTOM LINE...WINTER PRECIPITATION IS FORECAST FOR THE AREA ROUGHLY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS OF CHRISTMAS DAY AND NIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ALONG AND NORTH OF A BOWIE...TO MCKINNEY...TO EMORY LINE.

THERE WILL BE A VERY TIGHT GRADIENT BETWEEN LOCATIONS THAT RECEIVE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW AND THOSE THAT RECEIVE LITTLE TO NO SNOW. THE ULTIMATE TRACK OF THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL DETERMINE HOW FAR NORTH OR SOUTH THE SIGNIFICANT SNOW BAND WILL AFFECT THE REGION. PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECAST UPDATES.

The Old Man & His Christmas Misery

On the left is an artist's rendering of my current condition.

It ain't pretty.

What started on Wednesday as a mildly nagging cough, five days later, has increased magnitude to being a sore throat viral malady that seems to be quickly passing Tropical Depression status on its way to full blown Hurricane.

Not counting feeling ill from allergic reactions to the bad air that I breathe, I believe this is the first time I have been ill with a viral infection type ill this century.

I do not handle being not well, well.

Unless the ailment totally knocks me out, like my worst case ever of the flu did, back in the early 1990s, I tend to proceed as if I am not ailing.

This morning I proceeded, as if I am not ailing, by driving north to Hurst to go to ALDI. I was feeling a bit loopy, due to being on anti-cold medications, so I opted not to drive the freeway and took the less intense surface streets. Negotiating through the 820/121 construction zone is a trial even when I am not on any meds making me loopy.

After I got a lot of stuff at ALDI I got gas at Fastrak and called my mom to tell her I got gas and how much it cost. $2.89 a gallon. I think. It's been several hours, and, like I said, I'm being loopy.

My mom did not answer my gas call, I got the answering machine instead. I think I was calling prior to their regular Sunday church attendance, but I'm not sure. I get confused with that Arizona time with its stubborn anti-daylight savings time anomaly.

Today is Day 3 of Winter. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. The day after that is Christmas. Currently scheduled to possibly be white at this location on the planet.

And unless a Christmas miracle abates my cold misery I won't be having me a Holly Jolly Christmas, it will more likely be a Loopy, Goopy Christmas.

Winter Weather Outlook For December 25 Is A North Texas White Christmas

I returned from a salubrious walk in Gateway Park and an even more salubrious walk around Town Talk to find my computer based weather monitoring device was flashing red.

Anything flashing red, to me, seems as if it must be something serious.

So, I clicked the option that provides the details of what the red flashing is all about to learn that snow is now in the forecast for Christmas.

The National Weather Service appears to be minimizing their prediction of how much snow may blanket North Texas. If I recollect correctly, and sometimes I do, the last time we had a really White Christmas on this part of the planet it came in spite of the prediction to the contrary.

I'd be thinking I need to get my cross country skis out and ready if I did not remember that the heat of summer, a couple summers ago, delaminated my skis. I had stupidly left them in a storage area that is not air-conditioned.

Below is the National Weather Service's White Christmas prediction for North Texas...

..WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR DECEMBER 25TH...

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE REGION ON CHRISTMAS DAY. BASED ON THE LATEST FORECAST DATA...THERE WILL BE A GOOD CHANCE OF COLD RAIN ON CHRISTMAS DAY ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS. ALONG AND TO THE NORTH OF I-20...ATMOSPHERIC PROFILES WILL BECOME COLD ENOUGH FOR THE RAIN TO MIX WITH OR CHANGE OVER TO SNOW BY THE AFTERNOON OR EVENING HOURS CHRISTMAS NIGHT. AT THIS TIME... SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO BE BRIEF WITH JUST LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE ALONG AND NORTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR.

AS THE CHANGE OVER TO SNOW OCCURS...NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY TO 20 MPH GUSTING TO 30 MPH. ANY SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BLOW AROUND IN THESE WINDS...WHICH MAY REDUCE VISIBILITY IF TRAVELING AFTER SUNSET ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

AS OF THIS MORNING...THIS UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WAS JUST ENTERING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. AT THIS TIME...THERE STILL REMAINS A GREAT DEAL OF UNCERTAINTY REGARDING THE EXACT TRACK AND ANY ASSOCIATED WINTRY PRECIPITATION FALLING OVER NORTH TEXAS ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

BOTTOM LINE...WINTRY PRECIPITATION IS POSSIBLE ALONG AND NORTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR FOR THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS OF CHRISTMAS DAY. CHECK BACK FOR THE LATEST FORECAST UPDATES IN THE COMING DAYS AS THESE DETAILS ARE VERY LIKELY TO CHANGE WITH FUTURE FORECASTS.

Doonesbury Has My Aunt Asking If I Will Return To God's Country If Texas Secedes From The Union Again

In my mailbox, this morning, I found another Christmas card from my favorite Auntie A, who lives in Eastern Washington, near Othello, overlooking the Columbia River.

A blogging a couple days ago, titled My Aunt Told Me She Will Believe Corporations Are People When Texas Executes One I blogged about that day's Christmas card from my favorite Auntie A and how my Auntie mails me stuff she reads relating to Texas, often focusing on the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, a governor who  regularly causes jaws to drop in other parts of the country.

Today's Christmas card from Auntie A included a strip from a Doonesbury comic. It has been years since I've regularly enjoyed Doonesbury. Is Gary Trudeau banned in Texas? I have no idea.

I think the characters in this particular Doonesbury comic strip are known as Duke and the son of Duke.

In the comic strip Dukes asks his son, "SO HOW DO WE MAKE THE CASE FOR TEXAS SECEDING?" To which Duke's son replies, "POP, CHECK OUT THE PETITION TEXT. IT'S FILLED WITH ERRORS IN SYNTAX, USAGE AND PUNCTUATION. YET OVER 120,000 TEXANS SIGNED IT.

To which Duke says, "WOW, THAT'S AMAZING." And then starts a sentence with, "SO LOSING TEXAS..." to have his son finish Duke's sentence with, "DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES THE GENE POOL! THAT'S OUR ANGLE!"

Well, the above, from Doonesbury just seems really rude to me. Losing Texas improves the American gene pool? Am I understanding correctly?

Regarding this Doonesbury comic strip my Aunt had this to say....

Thought you might enjoy this comic strip. If Texas does secede, will Perry be president?! 'Tis one of his ambitions. Will you need a passport to visit us? Will Texas oil need to be taxed by states?! Will you move back to God's country if Texas secedes?!

Well,  I have to say, watching Top Chef Seattle has had me wanting to move back to God's country, regardless of the secession status of Texas.

This week's Top Chef Elimination Challenge, featuring Pacific Northwest berries, had me homesick. Every episode of Top Chef Seattle seems to feel the need to have Dungeness Crab, which also contributes to the homesick feeling. And then there is that God's country scenery. Has Top Chef ever filmed in such a scenic location before?

The Post Office Is Very Sorry They Missed Me

I think I may have mentioned that I am ailing, on cold medications, thus a bit loopy.

Even though I was being a bit loopy I decided I could manage to make my way to the mailbox. I did so to find the mailperson had stuck a "Sorry We Missed You! We Re-Deliver For You" postcard in the mailbox.

There was someone at my abode all day today who would have been able to accept a mail delivery.

If that were not possible there is a locked parcel box where the mailperson is able to stick the parcel in the locked box and then lock the key to the locked box in my mailbox.

This is not the first time a parcel has not been delivered in this manner.

The mailperson scribbled some info on the postcard, but no name, not who the delivery was to, or who it was from.

The first time this happened, years ago, I checked off the "Redeliver" option on the postcard and left it in the mailbox, where it remained for several days, with no parcel being re-delivered. I then went to the post office, the Poly Station on Rosedale, that I was directed to on the postcard, and was able to retrieve the package.

Subsequent times, when I've gotten this unable to deliver postcard, I've skipped the re-deliver request and just gone to the Post Office and retrieved the package, which never makes sense to me, as in why is the package not in the mailperson's delivery vehicle, awaiting re-delivery, why is it at the Post Office?

The last time the mailperson failed to deliver, it was a frozen peach cobbler, mailed from Dallas, by the Unstoppable Woman. By the time I retrieved the peach cobbler from the Post Office it was in the advanced stages of thawing.

On the postcard it tells the victim that one can go to the usps.com/redelivery website and request a re-delivery. I did so, thinking this is not going to work. But I filled out a form and eventually saw the below message...

A few minutes later I got an email also telling me that the "Redelivery Has Been Scheduled".

Years ago I used to think people who complained about the Post Office were out of line, due to the fact that I had never had any problem with my mail delivery, either coming or going.

And then I moved to Texas.

I don't know if it is a Texas thing that I have now repeatedly experienced Post Office incompetence, or if it is a system-wide deterioration of the quality of service.

I do not know what is in the missing parcel or where it came from. I suspect it is Christmas related and came from either Washington or Arizona.

Whoever mailed, whatever it is they mailed, to Texas, they have already paid for mailing it. The package they mailed made it to within a few feet of my front door. And then the system went screwy and the delivery that had been paid for, was not made.

Criminal. And very perplexing.

Christmas Tree Harvesting On The Tandy Hills & Other Barbaric Customs

Last year around this time, on Facebook, I read about Christmas tree harvesting taking place in the area of the Tandy Hills.

I blogged about this partial clearcutting in a blogging titled Godfather Don Young Leads Three Generations Harvesting Christmas Trees From Fort Worth's Tandy Hills Nature Preserve.

Don Young then explained that he did not purloin the Tandy Hills Natural Area for a natural Christmas tree. I blogged this explanation in a blogging titled Don Young Clears Up The Controversy Over His Tandy Hills Christmas Tree Cutting.

Then today an incoming comment came in from someone named Anonymous, regarding what Anonymous calls Don Young's Christmas Tree Caper....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Biking Gateway Park Freshly Amused By Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Propaganda": 

While speaking of JD Granger and focusing upon his MAGIC TREES, you've been diverted from a MAGICAL OPPORTUNITY! It's time for Don Young's Christmas Tree Caper! Please make sure you check the surveillance footage at Tandy Hills Park. Once again, he'll cut down a tree from Tandy Hills Park, or worse yet from the land adjacent which is owned by Chesapeake and further up by Channel 5! Please REPORT on this event!

I have not been on the Tandy Hills for a few days. When I was last on the hills I made note of the fact that most of the foliage has left the trees, except for the evergreens, like Christmas Trees, making the Christmas Trees really easy to spot.

Due to my extremely strong beliefs, regarding what is right and what is wrong, regarding how one celebrates Christmas, I do not install a pagan symbol in my abode in the form of a murdered tree.

I think killing a perfectly innocent tree for such purposes it totally barbarian.

And those Christmas Tree Farms, where the trees are grown in tight quarters, fertilized to look ultra green and full of boughs, then sliced off, one by one, at ground level, ending up in the house of a human, where the tree becomes a fire hazard, eventually tossed into the garbage or set to flame in the backyard.

Like I said. Barbaric.