A Saturday Monitor Malfunction With A Water Free Fort Worth Picnic & No Samosas

Dead Calm Fosdick Lake

Today Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park was hosting the biggest flotilla of floating ducks I have ever heard quacking at this location.

This 3rd Saturday of the 2nd month of 2013 has been a dead calm, clear blue sky, perfect middle of winter type day in Texas.

This 3rd Saturday of the 2nd month of 2013 began not too auspiciously.

I woke up my computer before the sun arrived this morning. All was fine for a minute or two. And then my second monitor went into malfunction mode, with a pop and a hiss. The monitor was toasted.

But, I had a replacement monitor ready to replace the dead one. So, by the time the sun arrived all was back functioning again in my computer world.

Way back in the early 1990s I bought a computer from Gateway. A now very antique 386 era computer. I was real happy when the new computer arrived, excited was I to set it up. And then, when powered up for the first time, the Gateway monitor did not turn on. Instead it started spewing smoke.

Switching the subject from bad monitors back to Oakland Lake Park.

Today there was a large group having a picnic in the Fosdick Pavilion. Meat products I was unable to identify were being barbecued.

When I see this type thing happening at this park it bothers me.

Because there is no running water available at the Fosdick Pavilion, or anywhere else in Oakland Lake Park. The park's restroom facility is one outhouse. An outhouse with no place to wash ones hands.

Well, there is the lake water, if one was feeling brave and willing to ignore the bad water warnings.

Big Bird Out Of Water

Does my old home state have some sort of law mandating modern facilities at parks with picnic facilities?

Is that why I don't remember seeing such an uncivilized thing til I moved to Texas?

In addition to the picnic without water, I saw a big bird out of the water. I don't think this big bird was a duck. He or she did not seem to mind me getting sort of close.

Changing the subject from Big Birds to Town Talk.

Since this is Saturday naturally I went to Town Talk after my daily dose of endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

Prior to leaving my abode today I cooked up some rice, flavored with curry, ginger and jalapenos to go well with Indian food, because I'd planned to get a box of Chicken Samosas at Town Talk. Well, the boxes of Chicken Samosas were no where to be found at Town Talk.

The only thing I got in a box at Town Talk today was a case of Siggis Icelandic Grapefruit Yogurt. I also got a big bag of Texas Grapefruit. Among other things.

Village Creek Natural Historical Area Trail Tree Blockage

I last walked with the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Indian Ghosts last Sunday. At that point in time Village Creek was moving a lot of water.

Today Village Creek was back in trickle mode.

About a quarter mile from the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Dottie Lynn Parkway parking lot I came to the trail blockage you see in the picture.

I assumed this trail blockage was caused by wind.

Upon closer examination I saw that my initial assumption was incorrect. Me making an incorrect assumption does not happen all that often. Usually no more than once or twice a day do I find I've made an erroneous assumption.

What knocked down this tree was not the wind, but the hand of man, with that hand of man using a chain saw, sawing the tree off about 4 feet from the ground.

Was this vandalism? If it was the Arlington park people who cut down the tree I doubt they would leave it on the ground, blocking the paved trail.

But, why would someone haul a chainsaw to this location to do some random tree vandalizing? That also seems unlikely.

I suspect I will never know the answer to this perplexing mystery.

Watergate's Hidden History Led Me To Margaret Chase Smith's Republican FIBS

On the left you are looking at the cover of a book I am currently reading, that being WATERGATE THE HIDDEN HISTORY.

The subtitle of "Nixon, the Mafia and the CIA" was a bit off-putting to me. I figured this would likely not be a very historically accurate accounting of Nixon's allegedly bad behavior.

Well.

So far, this book is being very interesting. It was published in 2012, 40 years after the botched break-in at the Watergate became the start of what became the most notorious Presidential scandal in American history.

I think I have previously mentioned my favorite genres, reading-wise, are Native American History, True Crime books, the Civil War and World War II.

I don't think I have mentioned that Watergate is also a subject about which I seem to have a continuing interest. I have read all of Richard Nixon's books, post-resignation. Haldeman's Diaries was very surprising. I ended up really liking H.R. Haldeman. I've read Woodward and Bernstein's All the President's Men and Final Days and all the subsequent books Bob Woodward has written on other subjects, like all the books about the perversity of the George W. Bush presidency, except for one sitting on my desk right now, The War Within, which I've not gotten to yet.

In our modern times there are some people who think the Republicans have become the Stupid Party. Apparently there are a lot of Republicans who think and say things that a lot of people think are stupid. I have noticed some of this stupidity myself.

The Republicans have a long history of thinking stupid stuff. Watergate The Hidden History is reminding me of some of it. Like the McCarthy stupidity of the 1950s.

I also have learned from Watergate The Hidden History that back in the 1950s and 1960s, in addition to stupid Republicans, there were also Republican voices of reason.

Republican voices of reason like Margaret Chase Smith.

Margaret Chase Smith was a U.S. Representative from 1940 til 1949, then a U.S. Senator from Maine from 1949 til 1973.

In 1964 Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman to be a candidate for the presidency at a major party's national convention.

Margaret Chase Smith rose to fame as an American voice of reason way back well over a half century ago, delivering, on June 1, 1950, a 15 minute speech that became known as the "Declaration of Conscience."

The "Declaration of Conscience" was directed at the bad behavior of fellow Republican Senator, Joe McCarthy, denouncing "the reckless abandon in which unproved charges have been hurled from this side of the aisle."

Senator Smith charged that McCarthyism had debased the Senate to "the level of a forum of hate and character assassination."

In the "Declaration of Conscience" Senator Smith defended every American's "right to criticize...right to hold unpopular beliefs...right to protest; the right of independent thought."

In the "Declaration of Conscience" Senator Smith acknowledged her desire for Republican political success, tempering that desire by adding that, "I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the four horseman of calumny -- fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear."

Margaret Chase Smith's four horseman of calumny became known as "FIBS." Which became shorthand, for many, for the Republican Party, the party of FIBS.

I am sure glad that Margaret Chase Smith types are now in the majority in the Republican Party and no one would ever think that the modern day Republican Party is still the party of FIBS....

Did The Waco Star-Telegram Claim The Waco Cabela's Will Be The #1 Tourist Attraction In Texas?

I was a little surprised on Facebook today to see Bud Kennedy, he being a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, telling Fort Worth that "we're suckers."

Suckers? Why, you ask?

Mr. Kennedy says the people of Fort Worth are suckers because they gave the sporting goods store called Cabela's $40 million in tax breaks on the promise to bring 2.5 million visitors a year to Fort Worth.

I really do not know where to start.

First off it was not the people of Fort Worth who gave Cabela's tax breaks. That was done by the naive, incompetent, common senseless Fort Worth City Government, cheered on by the City of Fort Worth's propaganda purveyor known as the Star-Telegram.

The Star-Telegram repeated, over and over and over again, that the Fort Worth Cabela's would be the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas.

Depending on who was writing the propaganda the number of tourists ranged from 4 million to 8 million.

I would read this propaganda and be absolutely appalled and sort of embarrassed that people whose job it was to report news and apply some common sense to what they were reporting, did not intuitively realize that if a sporting goods store could be the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas that this clearly indicated the Texas Tourist Industry had a very serious problem with having a lack of decent Tourist Attractions.

And how can someone (Bud Kennedy made this claim) not automatically realize that 8 million visitors to a sporting goods store in one year is not even remotely feasible?

I was so appalled that I emailed Bud Kennedy about his 8 million visitors claim, along with the #1 Tourist Attraction claim.

Bud Kennedy replied to me by saying that I must be against business. I replied something like, "no, I am not against business, what I am against is a newspaper making ridiculous claims about something like a sporting goods store becoming the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas, drawing up to 8 million visitors."

Bud Kennedy replied again, sort of granting me my points, but I forget how he articulated that.

Reading Bud Kennedy today in Facebook had me wondering if he has forgotten his initial assertions regarding the Fort Worth Cabela's. Bud Kennedy is amazingly prolific, so it would not shock me if he does not remember something he wrote in the Star-Telegram years ago.

After Bud Kennedy trivialized my comments about the Star-Telegram Cabela's propaganda, by saying I must be against business, I sort of had myself an instant dislike for the guy. That has since greatly abated, to the point I now actually like Bud Kennedy and think he's about the best thing that comes out of the Star-Telegram. With some periodic lapses.

Cablela's came up today, with Bud Kennedy, due to the announcement that Cabela's is now opening a store in Waco. It was not long after the Cabela's opened in Fort Worth that a Cabela's was opened in Buda, by Austin. Then another Cabela's opened in the D/FW Metroplex, in Allen.

Bud Kennedy's reference to Fort Worth getting suckered is the closest I have seen to reading anyone associated with the Star-Telegram admitting that the Star-Telegram got suckered into being propaganda tools for Cabela's #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas scam.

I have blogged about the City of Fort Worth and the Star-Telegram getting suckered by these out of state Cabela's slicksters a few times from 2008 to 2011...

THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2008
Fort Worth and Cabela's

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010
The Top 15 Texas Tourist Attractions With #1 Not Being Cabela's Sporting Goods Store

SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2011
A Second Cabela's Opens In Allen In The Dallas Metroplex

Another Look At Fort Worth's Sad Sidewalk Situation

Continuing on with my popular Fort Worth Sad Sidewalk Situation Series, today I took another walk around my neighborhood.

In the photo we are looking at some Fort Worth pedestrians walking along the west frontage road on I-820.

The couple on the right are both pushing strollers, with one kid in each stroller. The male of the pair is pushing the lead stroller, which in addition to kids is also packed with what looked like bags of groceries.

The guy on the left is opting to use the well worn dirt "sidewalk" rather than the street "sidewalk", likely because he is not pushing anything.

I don't know why it took me so long to realize I could go walking in my neighborhood, as on option, rather than driving to a park.  Maybe I subconsciously thought that walking the mean sidewalk challenged streets of Fort Worth seemed a bit dangerous.

The last time I mentioned the Fort Worth sidewalk shortage I also mentioned the seemingly odd location of utility poles at the side of John T. White Road.

Today, walking south on Bridgewood Drive, on a very narrow sidewalk, I thought it odd that utility poles shared space with the sidewalk.

This particular stretch of Fort Worth sidewalk only extends a short distance on Bridgewood Drive, terminating when it gets to Boca Raton Boulevard.

When I lived in Washington, in the relatively small town of Mount Vernon, the roads in my neighborhood all had sidewalks on both sides of the streets.

Whilst living in Mount Vernon, just like I do in Fort Worth, I would often drive to go hiking. The only close by hiking was about 2 miles east, to Big Rock, this Gibraltar like monolith that was quite a steep hike, with a very scenic payoff at the top.

All my other Washington hikes were a much further distance than I drive in Fort Worth to go hiking, whether it was just 25 miles to Anacortes to hike around Washington Park, or 30 miles to Deception Pass State Park to hike up Goose Rock. Or a much longer drive east, to hike up one of the Cascade mountains.

Unlike my current location, my old home zone was very hilly, as in very steep hills. I could get a good workout just walking down to my mailbox and back up to my abode. Eaglemont Golf Course was at the end of a steep road. It was on the Eaglemont Golf Course paved golf cart trail that I got myself in shape for my first mountain biking trip to Moab.

I think it is the buried memories of walking sidewalks in Mount Vernon, that causes me to feel irked when I make note of Fort Worth's really sad sidewalk situation.

Having Myself A Happy Valentine's Day In Texas

Super romantic type boy that I be, today is my favorite holiday of the year, Valentine's Day.

Each year, as soon as January ends, I start counting down the days til February 14.

Last night I got a pre-Valentine's Day surprise from Honey Bunny #1 in the form of hot out of the oven dark chocolate fudge brownies.

Normally I am not much of a chocolate fan, particularly when the chocolate is hot, but, if the hot chocolate product is paired with peppermint ice cream, like it was last night, well, you can pretty much get me to do anything, at least til the happy glow wears off.

It was way back late in the last century that I learned that pairing a chocolate product with peppermint ice cream is a good thing. The chocolate product at that taste bud pleasing point in time was chocolate cheesecake.

The origin of Valentine's Day is a curious tale.

Apparently a long ago Christian saint named Valentius was thrown in jail by the Romans for performing wedding ceremonies for soldiers who were not allowed to get married. While in prison Saint Valentius somehow cured the illness of the daughter of one of his jailers. Even so the nasty Romans proceeded with their planned execution of Saint Valentius. According to the enduring legend, prior to getting put to death, Valentius sent a farewell note to the girl he'd cured, signing the note, "from your Valentine."

Thus spawning a modern day world wide multi-billion dollar Valentine's Day greeting card and gift industry.

At some point in time Saint Valentius became Saint Valentine, with Saint Valentine's Day being an official feast day of the Anglicans.

By the 15th century, of the Middle Ages, Valentine's Day had morphed into a holiday where love bunnies declared their affection with things like flowers, candies, brownies and greeting cards, which came to be known as "Valentines."

I am not sure, yet, if any Honey Bunny is going to be cooking me a heart shaped Texas steak today. I can only hope....

Fort Worth & Other Texas Town's Low Literacy Ranking

Last night I learned from Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, that a new police and firefighter training center will soon have her town being the Envy of the Nation.

This morning I learned, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in an article titled Texas cities fare poorly in measure of literacy, that Fort Worth's level of literacy will not be making this town the Envy of the Nation, coming in at #52, five ranks less literate than Dallas at #47.

The most literate city in Texas is Austin, at #23.

The most literate city in America is Washington, D.C., with #2 being Seattle, in the other Washington.

No mention of this literacy ranking was seen this morning in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I highly doubt the mayor of Seattle will be opining that Seattle's high literacy ranking has made Seattle the Envy of the Nation.

Because making such a claim would be seen as really really goofy when made in an extremely literate town.

While such a claim can be easily made in Fort Worth.

Does making a goofy Envy of the Nation claim, about something in Fort Worth, not cause much local eye rolling because of the town's relative illiteracy? One can only wonder.

This America's Most Literate Cities study is a product of Central Connecticut State University. The study ranks cities with populations in excess of a quarter million, focusing on six key literacy indicators, those being the number of bookstores, Internet resources, library resources, the population's educational attainment, newspaper circulation and periodical publishing resources.

With most of my existence spent in the highly literate Seattle zone, then being exiled to the much less literate Fort Worth and Texas zone, it sort of explains one of my problems I encountered upon arrival in Texas.

I found I could not speak at the speed level I was used to using in the Pacific Northwest. I'd get in communication situations where I found myself not being understood. I soon learned to drawl my speaking speed down, at times.

There have been many times where a Texan has asked me if I am from England. Or Canada. Just last week, whilst depositing a check, the bank teller asked if I was from Boston. Boston? Why Boston I asked? Because of your accent, said he. I don't think this guy knew what a Boston accent actually sounds like. A Pacific Northwest accent is definitely not a Boston sounding accent.

Now to be fair, and Lord knows I am all about being fair, I have met many totally literate Texans. Gar the Texan comes to mind. Yes, I did find myself having to slow down my speaking speed to be understood, but not all that much. Elsie Hotpepper is another extremely literate Texan, albeit with a much more pronounced drawl than Gar the Texan.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy is a highly articulate, very literate Texan. But, in my experience in Texas, for every literate Texan Bud Kennedy there have been 3 or 4 Texan Dud Kennedy's who could have benefited from spending more quality time in school. And maybe reading something, somewhere, every once in awhile....

Mayor Betsy Price Thinks Fort Worth Will Once Again Be The Envy Of The Nation

A couple minutes ago I got email from Facebook telling me that MW, aka Mr. Galtex, had tagged me on Facebook. That sounded serious to me, getting tagged.

So, I logged in to Facebook to see I'd been tagged with an alert about Fort Worth's Mayor, Betsy Price, who has resurrected some Fort Worth verbiage that I thought had been rendered extinct, due to its tendency to cause giggling.

Then I got another email telling me that someone named Anonymous had made the following comment about the same subject...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Damp Driving Texas Roads With No Sidewalks & Dangerous Telephone Poles": 

Fort Lurch is once again the envy of the nation.

From the article: Fort Worth breaks ground on $97.5 million police, fire complex

"We will be the envy of the nation," Mayor Betsy Price said. 

I am really curious as to what it is that is so special about this new police and fire training center that Betsy Price thinks the rest of America is going to be envious of it.

The painful reality is most of the rest of America knows pretty much nothing about Fort Worth, let alone knowing about something in Fort Worth that might make someone envious.

Now, do I want to go to the bother of adding this latest Green with Envy, Envy of the Nation type nonsense to my Green With Envy webpage?

Maybe I will let blogging about Fort Worth again being the Envy of the Nation suffice.

Damp Driving Texas Roads With No Sidewalks & Dangerous Telephone Poles

It is a bit damp at my location on the planet on this 2013 State of the Union Speech Day.

With me in no mood to put on my galoshes and walk under a bumbershoot, I opted to get in my daily salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation, today, by walking in Walmart.

My usual route to my neighborhood Walmart is via John T. White Road. Which might have you guessing correctly that that is John T. White Road in the photo, looking a bit damp.

As you can see, John T. White Road is a four lane boulevard, with a grass covered median.

And no sidewalks.

I think I've mentioned my opinion regarding Fort Worth's sidewalk shortage previously.

What I had not noticed, previously, til I looked at the photos I took today whilst driving, in all the years I've driven on John T. White Road, is how absurdly close utility poles are to this road, stuck in the ground where one might expect a sidewalk to be. Is this normal operating procedure to stick poles this close to a road? Seems sort of dangerous to me.

On the right side of the road, in the second photo, you can see a pedestrian walking on the well worn dirt path where most towns would have a paved sidewalk.

I remember during my month, that seemed like a year, in Tacoma, summer of 2008, I walked a lot of miles. I don't recollect walking any street in Tacoma that did not have a sidewalk, on both sides of the street, with most of the sidewalks being of the sort I've not seen in Fort Worth, as in about twice as wide as a Fort Worth sidewalk, with a landscaped strip between the sidewalk and the road.

I've not gone sidewalk inspecting in other Texas towns to see if this is a chronic Texas shortage, or just isolated to Fort Worth. I suspect this particular type shortage may be widespread in Texas.

Other than Fort Worth, the Texas towns I am most frequently in are North Richland Hills, Hurst, Pantego, Arlington and Bedford. I'll check those town's sidewalk situation the next time I am in those locations.

Walking With Frita Fremont Talking About Bikinis & Late Arriving Stale Christmas Cookies

Frita Fremont called me real early this morning to tell me that she wanted to go on a walk with me later in the day. I said, okay, I'll call you when I go walking.

I stuck a ham in the oven around 10 this morning, then a little before noon I pulled the ham to pour a glaze over it and then left my abode to go on a walk with Frita Fremont around my neighborhood.

I think I have mentioned Fort Worth's sad sidewalk deficiencies previously.

The example of a town without sidewalks, that you see in the above photo, is looking north, with the I-820 frontage road next to the pedestrian worn dirt path where a paved sidewalk would be in a modern American city with modern American amenities.

Enough about Fort Worth's sad sidewalk situation for now. Back to Frita Fremont.

Among the many interesting things Frita talked to me about today was her bikini issues. I really have no bikini issues of my own, so it is interesting to hear about the bikini issues of someone who does have bikini issues. I hope Frita is able to resolve her bikini issues before it is time for her to take a Spring Break down south on South Padre Island.

Changing the subject from Frita's bikini to the U.S. Postal Service.

On the last day of last month I blogged my opinion that the U.S. Postal Service's bad service may border on being criminally neglectful. My pique was raised regarding a package the USPS claimed it was unable to deliver on December 21.

I requested re-delivery, twice, left notes for the mailman, wrote a letter to the Postmaster. Got zero feedback and no package.

And then today I returned from my walk with Frita Fremont and what do I find? The long missing package mysteriously showed up at my door!

Sort of.

There was a note telling me where I could find the package. I went to that location and there it was. That is the tardy parcel post in the photo above, the box with the words "PRIORITY MAIL" printed a couple times on it.

I wonder how slow non-priority mail is?

What was in the box, I know you are sitting there wondering? Well. Christmas cookies. A tin filled with homemade stale Christmas cookies. I'd say more, but I really do try to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. Most of the time....