Wondering About Missing Popabrella During A Texas Thunderstorm

As you can see, via the view of the cool pool from my patio, this next to last Saturday of March started off dark, well after the sun arrived to try and light up the outer world.

Those white spots in the photo are big raindrops, illuminated by the camera's flash.

Before the dark break of dawn, excess electricity was in the air, causing bright flashes of light, followed by loud booms of thunder.

I like swimming in the rain, but this morning, due to that excessive electricity zapping out of the sky, I decided to opt out of getting in the cool pool, thus exercising extreme electrical caution.

Now, coming up on mid-morning, the sky has lightened, with no more lightning or thunder booming at my location.

I suspect I will go to Oakland Lake Park, today, to walk around Fosdick Lake before joining the throngs of treasure hunters at Town Talk.

Changing the subject from one thing to another.

This morning to take a photo in the rain I stuck my camera to my Popabrella. A Popabrella is this umbrella like thing that keeps one's camera dry, or blocks the sun.

The inventor of the Popabrella won many awards, over the years, for his Popabrella invention. Years ago I made a website for the inventor. That website was hosted on a server of the owner's choice, not my server, so, unless asked to make a change, I had no reason to check out the Popabrella website.

Until this morning.

The Popabrella website is no more. The domain has been taken over by some Japanese entity. After last week's shocking news about the Unstoppable Woman, I can't help wonder what's happened with Popabrella.

To find a Popabrella image I went to my Popabrella files to find, to my horror, that the Popabrella images folder has been deleted. How did that happen?

I then remembered where I've got another, undeleted, Popabrella photo.

In the slideshow, on this very blog, located on the column on the right, there is a photo of me, standing in the pool, holding my camera with Popabrella attached.

I must try and find out what's become of Popabrella. How I am going to do that I currently do not know....

Perplexed By Disenfranchised Voters In The Tarrant Regional Water District

I do not know which Saturday in May the Tarrant Regional Water Board election takes place.

I do know it is very odd that elections take place, in Fort Worth, on Saturdays, in May.

I also know it is very odd that this particular election was arbitrarily postponed a year, even though those elected are elected to four year terms.

I also know it is very odd that not all the voters who live in the Tarrant Regional Water District are allowed to vote for Water Boarders.

For instance, I am allowed to vote in this election because I live in Fort Worth. If I lived in Haltom City I would not be allowed to vote in this election, even though I live in the Tarrant Regional Water District in a town which has deadly flash floods, indicating Haltom City is direly effected by Tarrant Regional Water Board policies, but can not vote on those who make the policies.

And the locals accept this bizarre situation. Why the disenfranchised locals accept this bizarre situation is perplexingly bizarre to me.

This morning I got a blog comment from Dannyboy to a blogging yesterday where I verbalized my perplexation regarding the lack of public participation in proposed public works in Fort Worth that sheds light on the Fort Worth elections in May anomaly and a couple other things....

Dannyboy has left a new comment on your post "Wondering About The Effect Of Fort Worth's Citizen's Minimalist Public Participation In Proposed Public Works": 

There is a huge lack of public participation on any Fort Worth local government issues. Look at the city council elections this year. Everyone is unopposed. And they hold local elections on a Saturday in the spring. Because the local stuff is the only thing on the ballot, turnout is very low, rarely above even 10 percent. Many cities throughout the country put their local (council, transit, library funding, road building) on the ballot in November, and they obviously get more people engaged and a turnout that is usually over 50 percent. The reason Fort Worth does it this way is that 1) low turnout helps incumbents, and 2) Fort Worth doesn't think any public participation is good. An example: when I moved to Fort Worth from up north many years ago, I asked a neighbor why there weren't any public pools on the near west side of FW. I was told that 1) public pools draw the wrong kind of people, and 2) join a country club if I wanted a place to swim for my daughter (all this is moot now, as FW has gotten rid of its public pools). That sums up FW in a nutshell. If you tell people you would hope the mass transit system gets improved, they ask you if your car is broken down or if your lost your job. And this goes from the young trendies up to the I-hate-everything-old-people. 

UPDATE: I have been informed the Tarrant Regional Water Board Election is Saturday, May 11.

Helping Make The World A Better Place One Weed At A Time

Today I was not in the mood to drive anywhere to have myself a long walk, and so I walked around the block that surrounds the location of my abode.

A week or two ago I noticed and blogged about the weed infestation that was turning Chesapeake Energy's Welcome to Woodhaven re-installation into a bit of an eyesore.

Chesapeake Energy re-installed the Welcome to Woodhaven installation because Chesapeake removed the original so pipeline could be inserted underground to carry non-odorized natural gas to a processing location.

Today when I walked by the Chesapeake Energy Welcome to Woodhaven re-installation I noticed that a lot of the weeds had been pulled. Below is what the Welcome to Woodhaven re-installation looked like the last time I blogged about it.

Did me blogging about this eyesore cause the weeds to get pulled? I doubt it, even though I do like to think I am making the world a better place, one weed at a time.

Wondering About The Effect Of Fort Worth's Citizen's Minimalist Public Participation In Proposed Public Works

Last night I was lost on the Internet, going from link to link, and at one point I ended up at Wikipedia's article about the Sound Transit Link Light Rail system. Sound Transit is a light rail mass transit system similar to the Dallas DART train system.

Sound Transit moves people in the Western Washington counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish. King County is where Seattle is located, Tacoma is in Pierce County, Everett is in Snohomish County.

Previously, on more than one occasion, when I've compared something in the D/FW zone to the Seattle zone I've heard simplistic comments, like all you need to know about me is Seattle good, Fort Worth bad. I have explained, previously, the Seattle zone and the D/FW zone are the metro areas with which I am most familiar and so when something strikes me as sort of profoundly different, I  tend to notice it and comment on it. If that makes Fort Worth sound bad and Seattle sound good, well, when one holds up a mirror one can't complain about what one sees, if one is being honest.

So, I have long noticed that when an election takes place in Texas there is very little to vote on. No initiatives, referendums, few bond issues, few issues of any sort. I think there may have been some sort of road building bond issue since I was in Texas, but I don't remember being motivated to vote on it, one way or the other.

I have also noticed that HUGE public works projects can happen in Texas with no public vote. Such as the billion dollar Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Now, of the west coast cities Seattle was late to adding light rail to its transit mix, lagging way behind San Francisco, Portland and Vancouver. At the same point in time, in the late 1960s, (or was it early 1970s?), that San Francisco approved building the BART rail system, the Puget Sound zone rejected the light rail part of a bond issue called Forward Thrust, that being the vote that gave Seattle the now gone Kingdome, among many other things, including new water treatment installations to clean up Puget Sound and Lake Washington.

Decades later, in the 1990s, with traffic getting really bad, voters finally approved light rail, currently up and running and expanding.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, little gets voted on. How is it this town can not replace the decrepit Will Rogers Memorial Center, where rodeos are held during the Stock Show? How can the town known as Cowtown, that claims to be Where the West Begins, not figure out how to build a replacement for a seriously outdated facility?

Fort Worth built the Will Rogers Memorial Center way back in 1936. Since 1970 Seattle built the Kingdome, Safeco Field, the Kingdome replacement Seahawk football stadium, expanded Key Arena and is about to start construction on a new basketball arena for the incoming new Seattle Supersonics.

Since 1970, near as I can tell, Fort Worth has built nothing of the sort of things I've seen built in Seattle.

Oh, I forgot, Fort Worth built the now very run-down La Grave Field where Fort Worth has a professional baseball team playing in leagues with teams from towns with populations in the 20,000 range, give or take a few people.

Why such a difference between two towns, with one of them being known as one of the Greatest Cities in the World?

Well, I think I know what causes one key difference between Seattle and Fort Worth, that being public participation in proposed public works.

Read the following three paragraphs from the Wikipedia article about Sound Transit Link Light Rail and see if you can spot differences between how things are done and come to fruition in progressive, liberal, Washington, and think about how public works projects come about, or don't come about, in less progressive, less liberal Fort Worth and environs...

In November 1996, voters in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties approved increases in sales taxes and vehicle excise taxes to pay for a $3.9 billion transit package that included $1.7 billion for a light rail system, including Central Link and Tacoma Link. Over the next several years, debates raged over various issues surrounding the Central Link line.

Sound Transit's Phase 2 plan, under the name of ST2 (Sound Transit 2), is the plan for the second phase of Link Light Rail expansion. ST2 was put before voters in November 2007 as part of the "Roads and Transit" measure, which included hundreds of miles of highway expansion along with the light rail, but failed to pass. Sound Transit then put another ST2 plan on the ballot in November 2008. The measure passed by large margins. The plan will extend light rail to Lynnwood Transit Center in the north, S. 272nd St. in Federal Way to the south, and Downtown Bellevue and Overlake Transit Center to the east.

In November 2008, voters approved the construction of an East Link light rail line connecting the city of Seattle to Mercer Island and the Eastside communities of Bellevue and Redmond as part of the Proposition 1 measure. This line will split from Central Link just south of the International District/Chinatown Station in downtown Seattle, extend across the I-90 bridge express lanes through downtown Bellevue and serve the Overlake Transit Center, including Microsoft headquarters.

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Voters voting on a public works project. What a concept. Debates raging over various issues. What a concept. Connecting towns by light rail. What a concept.

Trespassing On A Neglected Fort Worth Bridge Over Troubling Waters

The person, other than myself, who reads my blog, may be thinking in the picture on the left you are looking at the bridge across the Trinity River in Arlington's River Legacy Park, because it sort of looks like that bridge.

But, a person thinking that this bridge is that bridge would be erroneous.

Today I took a walk in my neighborhood, walking north under the power lines which hover above my neighborhood Green Belt.

I walked the Green Belt til it came to Randol Mill Road. Then crossed the road to get to the other side.

On the north side of Randol Mill Road one comes to the aforementioned bridge.

Due to this bridge being old, really old, there is some structural damage. Which is likely the reason for a NO TRESPASSING sign that did not seem too insistent, so I climbed over the gate upon which the NO TRESPASSING sign was attached and walked across the bridge. The above view is past the NO TRESPASSING sign.

You might think that that water you are looking at, looking east, midway across the bridge, is the Trinity River. You would be wrong to think that.

A long time ago this bridge did cross over the Trinity River. But then, in a Trinity River Vision of the last century, the Trinity River was moved to a new channel, a short distance north, in order to get rid of an oxbow bend in the river, which turned the oxbow bend into a long, narrow, small lake.

I don't know where this Trinity River remnant gets its water.

Above you are looking west, midway across the bridge. In this picture you can see some of the damage that is the reason for the NO TRESPASSING sign. The railing that keeps one from falling off the bridge is missing, eroded into oblivion by the passage of time.

Continuing on north I eventually came to the levee that keeps the Trinity River from overflowing when it goes into flood mode. Walking on that levee I eventually came to view the western termination of the cut off oxbow bend in the river, which you see above.

Walking on the levee soon brought houses into view. These houses are in a gated community called either Oxbow Estates or Riverbend Estates, or maybe something else. I've driven by the south side of this community, on Randol Mill Road, hundreds of times. One would think I would remember the precise name of the community, but I don't.

Walking the levee was interesting, getting to view the inside of one of my neighborhood's gated communities. The above was the second of two small ponds I walked by. I suspect there are more ponds that I did not see. Big homes had waterfront property due to the ponds.

Back to the subject of the bridge with the NO TRESPASSING sign. This area looked, to me, to be yet one more neglected park opportunity in Fort Worth.

Methinks Fort Worth should fix up the neglected bridge, turning it into access to the levee, which has an excellent trail on top. With just a little effort this stretch of levee trail could connect to the paved trail at Quanah Parker Park, a short distance to the west.

I make this suggestion somewhat selfishly, because today I realized how fun it would be if I could ride my bike north on my neighborhood Green Belt, then cross Randol Mill Road to cross the Neglected Bridge, to then go pedal on the Trinity River Levee.

If Fort Worth actually had a Trinity River Vision which made sense, rather than the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, that makes little sense, Fort Worth could have a lot of little projects underway, enhancing the town, all over town, like towns which wear Big City Pants manage to do, but which Fort Worth, for reasons unfathomable to me, does not manage to do, even with with Fort Worth being well known, planet-wide, as one of the Greatest Cities in the World...

An Arlington Mom Is Not Happy About XTO Energy Causing Her Yard To Bubble and Burp

Last night XanziMom Last made an interesting comment to a blog post from way back in December 18, 2009.

XanziMom Last has left a new comment on your post "A Giant New Barnett Shale Gas Drilling Rig Hovers Over Veterans Park In Arlington": 

If you would like to see the aftermath of this horrific well...check out "Paradise Diminished Arlington, Tx". You can find it on the search engine BING by searching Fracking in Arlington Tx. I ran across it trying to find out why my yard is bubbling and burping when I drain my kids swimming pool.

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You can check out the horrific aftermath to which XanziMom Last refers by going to Paradise Diminished Arlington, Tx.

In addition to XanziMom Last's yard bubbling and burping the horror also has to do with damage done to Pappy Elkins Park in Dalworthington Gardens. The Barnett Shale  Natural Gas Drilling Rig you see in the picture above is the source of the horror. And the damage.

After the initial post about this drilling operation I blogged about it, in various ways in three subsequent bloggings...

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010
Finding Wildscapes Under A Barnett Shale Drilling Operation In Pappy Elkins Park In Dalworthington Garden

FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2011
Was There A Gas Leak Last Night At The XTO Energy Drilling Site In Dalworthington Gardens?

SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2011
An XTO Energy Gas Site Blows Frac While I See My First Tandy Wildflower Of The Year & Contemplate Taking A Trip To TRIP

Hiking The Tandy Hills Thinking About Fuji Apples & Cool Pools

On this First Day of the Spring of 2013 I was in the cool pool swimming when the sun came up. It has been a long time since I've been in the pool when the sun comes up.

I think swimming in the cool pool helps abate my sore arthritic joints. Because the last several days my sore arthritic joints have been being much less sore.

One behavioral variable that could account for this diminished soreness is the increase in time spent in the cool pool.

With another behavior variable being I've been consuming a lot of Fuji apples.

Maybe the combo of these two variables is the magic soreness reducer.

I said earlier today that I thought I would be celebrating the arrival of Spring by getting in some salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation via hill hiking on the Tandy Hills.

And so I did. The hills were particularly pleasant today. In the picture you are looking towards the top of the trail that leads to the View Street Trail from Tandy Falls. My photography skills never do justice to how steep a hill actually looks. Or how cute an armadillo looks.

This Tandy Hills should be becoming alive with color soon. The 2013 Power to the Prairie Festival is just one week and one month from now, happening on the Tandy Hills the last Saturday of next month, in other words, on April 27.

I found out last night that Spencer Jack, his dad and his girl friend, Brittney, are going to be in the Phoenix zone the first week of April. I did not learn this directly from Spencer Jack, his dad or girl friend, but instead learned this from Spencer Jack's glamorous grandma, she being my favorite ex-sister-in-law.

My mom and dad have not mentioned, to me, that Spencer Jack is coming to town. Maybe the visit is supposed to be a surprise and mom and dad have not been informed that their one and only great grandson is heading their way. No danger of the Internet spoiling that surprise. My mom and dad killed the Internet in their house since my last visit.

I do not believe the killing of my mom and dad's Internet connection is related to my visit.....

The First Day Of Spring On The Tandy Hills With The Green Source DFW Sustainable Leadership Award For Grass Roots Non-Profit Organization

Late last night I learned from future Marfians, Don & Debra Young, that the Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area were celebrating the arrival of the Vernal Equinox a day early due to having been awarded the coveted Green Source DFW Sustainable Leadership Award for Grass Roots Non-Profit Organization.

The award appears to be a rather impressive trophy.

I do not know if the Green Source DFW Sustainable Leadership Award for Grass Roots Non-Profit Organization award trophy will be on display at the Tandy Hills Prairie Fest on Saturday, April 27.

I suspect it will.

I do know that I am likely going to be doing some hill hiking today on the Tandy Hills for my own personal celebration of the First Day of Spring.

At Village Creek Watching Litter Be Freed To Continue Its Journey To The Gulf Of Mexico

On Sunday I mentioned that when I was walking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area that there was a huge mass of flotsam floated up against the Village Creek bridge dam you see in the picture.

All that flotsam was slowing up the flow of water through the tubes that run under the bridge.

Today an Arlington Parks & Recreation crew was using a mechanical device to move the flotsam from one side of the dam bridge to the other.

Removing the flotsam will allow the huge back up of floating litter to continue on its journey to the Trinity River where it will eventually float to the Gulf of Mexico.

Or are there litter nets that trap the flow of Trinity River litter before it gets to the Gulf of Mexico?

I would not think the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle was a boondoggle if the Vision was looking to see a cleaned up Trinity River, instead of building an un-needed flood diversion channel, which will be an eyesore, to replace levees that have prevented flooding for over a half a century. And to build a little pond so that downtown Fort Worth has a better water feature than the current confluence of the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity River.

Whatever Texas government entity it is that looks after water quality should send a task force to Western Washington to try and learn how it is that the Western Washington rivers, most of which are bigger rivers than the Trinity, manage to float very little litter.

Or just take a drive south to the Guadalupe River and figure out how it is that that river does not float Trinity River levels of litter.

Is It Not About Time Someone Sues The Tarrant Regional Water District Over Texas Open Meetings Violations?

Apparently it is about time someone brings a lawsuit against the Tarrant Regional Water District regarding that agency's violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, because, according to a reliable source, someone has filed a lawsuit.

I have seen a copy of the suit that was filed on Monday, March 18 in Tarrant County District Court.

The plaintiff in the suit, Monty Bennett is petitioning for declaratory and injunctive relief concerning violations by the TRWD of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

The TRWD Open Meetings Violations are detailed in the lawsuit.

The first paragraph of the Preliminary Statement in the lawsuit document sums up the issue....

It has become well recognized in this state that Texas government is to act in a manner that is transparent as possible. To that end, the Texas Open Meetings Act ("TOMA") was enacted to honor the principle that government at all levels in this state should operate in a way that is open and accessible to the people. TRWD is a governmental body bound directly by the requirements of TOMA. Its Board of Directors is composed of elected officials, each of whom is charged with acting as a judicious steward over public affairs with transparency and openness. Regrettable, TRWD and its Board have ignored that obligation and deliberately chosen to conduct the District's affairs in a manner shielded from public view. Bennett, therefore, brings this action to remedy TRWD's continuous and systematic violations of TOMA.

All I can say, is it is about time. And I can not help but wonder if the TRWD's step-child, that being the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, is included in this attempt to get relief from violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act?