The Befuddling Mystery Of Tarrant County & Texas Public Transit

A couple months ago Steve A commented on a blog post where I said something about riding a bus, or public transit, the specifics of which I don't remember, but I remember the comment was about Steve A being able to ride a public transit bus from his vacation spot of Ocean Shores, on the Washington Pacific Coast, to Olympia.

Ocean Shores is in Grays Harbor County. Olympia is in Thurston County, about 70 miles from Ocean Shores.

When Steve A told me he could take a public transit bus from Ocean Shores to Olympia I realized I could take public transit from my old home zone in the Skagit Valley, all the way to Ocean Shores, because of the Washington public transit system of Inter-county connectors.

This got me thinking about the extremely sad state of mass public transit in Texas.

One would think that the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone of around 6 million people would be all connected by mass transit, but one would be wrong to think that.

The Washington county I lived in, Skagit County is served by public transit, called Skagit Transit, known as SKAT. SKAT has a Skagit Transit website, is on Twitter and there is a Wikipedia article about SKAT.

Skagit County covers 1,731 square miles. Tarrant County covers 897 square miles. Skagit County's population is 118,109. Tarrant County's population is 1,849,815.

Skagit County is about twice as big as Tarrant County, with Tarrant County having a population about 15 times bigger than Skagit County.

So, how is it that Skagit County has public transit, while Tarrant County does not? When Fort Worth decided to have a public bus system called  The T, why was no effort made to make this a county-wide public transit system?

From the SKAT website, their mission statement...

Our goal is to provide high quality public transportation that meets the needs of the citizens of Skagit County at the least cost to the taxpayer and the user and in the process contribute to the county's economy and quality of life. To do this, we provide traditional Fixed Route bus transportation to most shopping, medical, employment, recreational, and governmental locations. Buses operate Monday through Sunday except on certain holidays.

What is it that stops Tarrant County from having a similar lofty goal?

Tarrant County can not plead being poor as its excuse. The per capita income in Tarrant County is $39,380. Skagit County's per capita income is $37,904. The cost of living is higher in Skagit County than it is in Tarrant County.

The Seattle/Tacoma/Everett Metropolitan zone is served by mass public transit in various forms, including rail, bus and ferries. The Dallas/Arlington/Fort Worth Metropolitan zone is not served by a cohesive mass public transit system.

The Seattle/Tacoma/Everett Metropolitan zone covers 5,894 square miles with a population of 3,500,026. The Dallas/Arlington/Fort Worth Metropolitan zone covers 8,991 square miles with a population of 6,526,548.

So, the Dallas/Arlington/Fort Worth Metroplex is more densely populated than the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett Metroplex, but does not have a public mass transit system serving the population.

One would think that some sort of effort would be made to bring mass public transit to D/FW International Airport.

One would think that some sort of effort would be made to bring mass public transit to Arlington's Entertainment District, that being the location of Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor, the Ballpark in Arlington and the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

I have been told by more than one Texan that Texans don't ride buses because buses are for poor people.

I guess Washington has way more poor people than Texas does. Watch the video below and eventually you will see a lot of poor people on buses in the transit tunnel that runs under downtown Seattle.

Walking With The Turtles On The Newly Discovered Pioneer Trail In The Village Creek Natural Area

I am not certain, but I think that may be a leafless pecan tree you are looking at in the photo. This big tree is one of many in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

I suspect these big trees are quite old and may have been alive back when this particular area was home to a lot of Indians, before incoming Texans used a primitive form of eminent domain abuse to evict them.

As you can see in the picture, the tree has no leaves and the sky has no clouds.

The temperature was over 60 when I went for a walk today with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek zone.

The temperature was not over 60 this morning when I went for a very quick pool dip followed quickly by a jump into the hot tub.

The perfect weather conditions of this 3rd Sunday of the 2nd month of 2013 had a lot of people out enjoying  nature in the natural area.

The perfect weather conditions also had the Village Creek turtles basking in the sun. Usually the Village Creek turtles are very skittish. But today they politely posed while I took their picture. Not a single turtle jumped into the water.

Today I had the fact that I really am not a very observant person made clear to me, once again, when I noticed something I'd not noticed before, even though I've walked by it dozens upon dozens of times.

The thing I'd never noticed before was the plaque that is stuck to the brick structure that you see in the above photo. On top of the brick structure there is historical information signage that tells the story of the Indians who used to call this location home.

The plaque on the side of the brick structure says "PIONEER TRAIL."

I had no idea, til today, that the Village Creek trail has a name.

It seems to me the name of this trail should be more Indian-centric, rather than named, sort of, after those who evicted the Indians.

THE SKY IS PINK by Josh Fox and the GASLAND Team

An emergency short film from Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated director of GASLAND addressing the urgent crisis of drilling and fracking in New York state.

Go to www.NYAgainstfracking.org for more info and to get involved.

PINK LINKS: Selected Compiled Research

The Sky Is Pink- Annotated industry documents featured in the film:
http://www1.rollingstone.com/extras/theskyispink_annotdoc-gasl4final.pdf

Affirming GASLAND- Our responses to industry charges against GASLAND
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking/affirming-gasland
http://1trickpony.cachefly.net/gas/pdf/Affirming_Gasland_Sept_2010.pdf

Flaming Faucets
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509857,00.html
http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/flaming-water/
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-4879509.html
http://planetsave.com/2009/03/20/flammable-water-pours-from-faucets-in-colorado-home/
http://www.propublica.org/series/fracking
http://ecopolitology.org/2009/03/19/leaking-gas-well-causes-flammable-water-to-pour-from-faucets-in-colorado-home-video/

Well Failures/Gas Leaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjaRwh4xRiM&feature=player_embedded
http://gasdrillinginbalcombe.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/44-of-wells-leaking-at-australian-gas-field/
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/03/us/abandoned-oil-and-gas-wells-become-pollution-portals.html?src=pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-17656307
http://frack-off.org.uk/gas-wells-leaking/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/9168645/Total-admits-it-could-take-six-months-to-stop-gas-leak.html

Well Construction/Integrity
http://www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors03/aut03/p62_76.ashx
http://www.boemre.gov/tarprojects/008/008DE.pdf
http://www.naturalgaswatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/well_integrity_failure_presentation.pdf
http://www.ptil.no/news/new-report-well-integrity-challenges-on-the-norwegian-shelf-article2762-79.html
http://www.spe.org/ejournals/jsp/journalapp.jsp?pageType=Preview&jid=EDC&mid=SPE-106817-PA

Climate Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXyTpY0NCp0

Breast Cancer
http://www.texassharon.com/2011/09/02/big-gas-mafia-irony-burnsta-tas/
http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/special-projects/gas-well-drilling-headlines/20110831-breast-cancer-rate-climbs-up.ece
http://www.damascuscitizensforsustainability.org/2011/09/breast-cancer-rates-jump-in-the-barnett-shale/
http://dallasdrilling.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/breast-cancer-rates-jump-in-the-barnett-shale/
http://abcalliance.org/?p=1725 http://www.nbc11news.com/home/headlines/85259117.html

Pittsburgh Fracking Ban
http://www.groundswell.gs/2011/10/28/city-councilman-doug-shields-on-the-success-of-pittsburghs-rights-based-fracking-ban/

Water Contamination
http://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-study-links-methane-in-water-drilling-422
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-08/gas-fracking-chemicals-detected-in-wyoming-aquifer-epa-says.html
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/04/19/gas-drilling-industry-makes-stunning-admission/
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2011/fracking/cracks_in_the_facade.pdf
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/05/02/1100682108.full.pdf+html?sid=bde16321-e169-437d-a59c-798e7f65c479
http://grist.org/article/2011-02-28-pittsburgh-drinking-water-radioactive-fracking-natural-gas-times/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/us/27gas.html?_r=1&ref=drillingdown
http://www.essentialpublicradio.org/story/2011-12-01/salts-drilling-drinking-water-danger-still-showing-rivers-9616
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20100813/VALLEYNEWS/100819931

Profiles/Contacts
http://www.cee.cornell.edu/people/profile.cfm?netid=ari1
http://history.ucsd.edu/people/faculty/oreskes-naomi.html

‘Drilling Down’
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/DRILLING_DOWN_SERIES.html

PR/Hill and Knowlton
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/2009/11/8680/hill-knowltons-carbon-two-step
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hill_%26_Knowlton
http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html
http://www.prwatch.org/search/node/knowlton
http://www.naturalgaswatch.org/?p=939
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0906/p25s02-cogn.html

State Government Documents
http://mines.industry.qld.gov.au/assets/petroleum-pdf/tara_leaking_well_investigation_report.pdf
http://cogcc.state.co.us/Library/WQCC_WQCD_AnnualReports/WQCC09_10RPT.pdf

‘Reality Tour’ Marcellus Shale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPM64kseP30

Merchants of Doubt
http://www.bloomsburypress.com/books/catalog/merchants_of_doubt_hc_104

Colbert Report
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/politics/blogs/stephen-colbert-and-tom-ridge-get-awkward-over-fracking
http://www.desmogblog.com/tom-ridge-claimed-i-m-not-lobbyist-colbert-report-facts-prove-otherwise
http://www.keystonepolitics.com/2011/06/tom-ridge-shills-for-fracking-on-colbert-report/

Gas Industry Conference:
http://www.naturalgaswatch.org/?p=970

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....