Playing With Transmission Fluid & A Lime Green Village Creek Blue Bayou Alligator

Today, when I went walking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area I was a little surprised to arrive at the Village Creek Blue Bayou to find what looked like a lime green alligator climbing out of the bayou on to a perch on the Blue Bayou overlook.

Visiting with what looked to be a lime green alligator was just one event in what is being an eventful day.

The first eventful event of the day was finding that the fact that the temperature in the outer world at my location, which had remained above 50 degrees for over 24 hours, had rendered the cool pool not too cool to swim in.

So I had a real fine time in the pool this morning, unlike yestermorning, which required 3 escapes from the cool pool into the not cool hot tub.

Vehicle maintenance is another event that has made today an eventful day.

When it comes to vehicle maintenance I am not a very responsible person. Until a warning light or beep alerts me that something may need attention I forgot to check things like the oil, transmission fluid or tire pressure.

The last couple days I thought my transmission was acting unusual. I looked in my vehicle manual for directions as to how to check the transmission fluid. That eventually led me on a 15 mile drive and a two person operation.

I think maybe the 15 mile drive is required to heat up the transmission fluid enough to get an accurate reading. That accurate reading indicated the transmission fluid was low. This accurate reading took place in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area parking lot, which is about a mile from Walmart.

Before I drove the 15  miles for the scheduled fluid check, I drove to my neighborhood Fort Worth Credit Union to make a deposit. Two Fort Worth cops were guarding the Credit Union. This particular Fort Worth Credit Union branch is on Brentwood Stair Road, across the street from the Whataburger that was in the news yesterday due to a shootout between a Whataburger robber and a Fort Worth policeman, who was injured in the shootout, which was fatal for the Whataburger robber.

So, after walking with the Indian Ghosts and after avoiding being gator bait, it was off to Walmart to find some transmission fluid and a funnel.

In the process of checking fluid levels I also discovered I was down a quart of oil. Whilst still in the Walmart parking lot I funneled transmission oil where it needed to go and poured oil in to the hole where it needed to go.

After all this fluid injecting my motorized mechanical conveyance seemed to respond in a positive fashion.

Even so I am leaving my motorized mechanical conveyance in its home parking spot tomorrow while I ride the Fort Worth Adventure Buses to downtown Fort Worth and beyond and back. I expect to find some prime blogging fodder....

Blue & Max Take David, Theo & Ruby For A Muddy Romp In A Tulip-less Skagit Valley Field

Yesterday morning Blue & Max told me they were taking my nephews, David & Theo and niece, Ruby, to the Skagit Valley to tiptoe through the tulips.

I asked Blue & Max to please take me a picture of the trio tiptoeing through the tulips, but the above is all I got. Nary a tulip in view.

For those unfamiliar with such things, those mounds in the background are known as foothills, not mountains. These are foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range. Over time the Skagit River carved a valley through the Cascade Mountains, eventually leaving the mountains to create an enormous alluvial plain, rendered extremely fertile due to the eons of being flooded, prior to mostly being tamed by the intervention of man.

The alluvial flood plain part of the Skagit Valley is known, locally, as the Skagit Flats. Looking at the photo you likely can guess why this is called The Flats.

The Skagit Flats is where most of the Skagit agriculture takes place. I do know of a big Cascadian Farms strawberry field up the valley, well out of The Flats zone.

Actually I don't know if the big Cascadian Farms strawberry field still exists, upriver. It has been a lot of years, as in 14, since I have driven past that strawberry field on my way over the North Cascades to Eastern Washington.

Over 90 different crops are grown in the Skagit Valley. In addition to the aforementioned strawberries, you will also find fields of corn, peas, raspberries, blueberries,  cucumber, potatoes, broccoli, apples and tulip, daffodil and iris bulbs.

The Skagit Valley produces more flower bulbs than any other county in America.

All that flower bulb production makes the Skagit Flats very colorful this Skagit Tulip Festival time of the year.  So, I really don't know why Blue & Max could only find a field of mud, with no tulips, for the kids to play in.

Les Miserables In Fort Worth With Way Too Much Litter

There is a thing or two or three about Texas which bothers me at times.

When verbalizing something about Texas which bothers me I often find  myself mentioning "Rick Perry" in some context regarding that about which I am bothered.

Another word that shows up, often, when I'm verbalizing about something in Texas which bothers me is the word "litter".

Sometimes "litter" and "Rick Perry" show up in the same verbalization about something that bothers me about Texas.

The astonishing amount of litter one sees in Texas is the #1 thing I hear mentioned when I communicate with someone early on in their Texas Culture Shock. Like Marie the (Now Missing) Herb Tracker. Early on in my communicating with the newly transplanted from Seattle, Marie the Herb Tracker, Marie verbalized her disdain for all the litter, saying "it makes my forehead wrinkle."

I'm guessing the phrase "forehead wrinkle" is a poetic way of saying "frown".

Today my forehead wrinkled when I took a walk around my neighborhood and saw that which you see above, behind Albertsons. In addition to what looked to be discarded produce there was a discarded mattress, among a diverse collection of litter, with the lighter litter being dispersed by the wind.

Why would Albertsons, or whoever is responsible for this strip mall, not quickly get this mess cleaned up?

From the location of this litter mess I can see Miss Puerto Rico's balcony. A couple years ago, from that balcony, Miss PR and I watched an amazing display of Fort Worth police in action. At least a dozen police cars showed up within minutes. A young man had shoplifted a box of disposable diapers from the neighborhood Dollar Store. We watched as the young man was caught, handcuffed and laid, facedown, on the trunk of a police car.

I certainly think one should not be shoplifting, but one must be desperate to shoplift a box of diapers. This was a bit  more of a crime than Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread, due to being hungry. But, the police response seemed to be just about equally out of whack.

So, where are the police when a wanton act of littering takes place? Does Albertsons get a citation for its litter mess? If not, why not?

One would think if one can get a ticket for not wearing ones seatbelt one should get ticketed and fined for a really bad act of littering.

And why is Texas such a littered mess? Why do so many people here have trouble properly disposing of litter?

If you ever have the opportunity to take a road trip out of Texas, heading west, or northwest, you will notice, soon after leaving Texas, that the roadside litter is greatly diminished. By the time you get to Colorado the outer world starts to look remarkably more tidy than the outer world in Texas looks. This phenomenon continues all the way to the West Coast.

Texas has an anti-littering campaign that uses the slogan "Don't Mess With Texas". There is a lot of litter evidence on the ground that this anti-littering campaign is not very effective.

Methinks it might behoove Texas to come up with a new anti-littering campaign to more effectively convince people to stop messing with Texas....

Apparently Fixing The Tarrant Regional Water District Mess Is A Job For Captain Clean

This morning I opened my mailbox and learned that Captain Clean is cleaning out the pipes at the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Captain Clean thinks the Tarrant Regional Water District is a mess and only one man knows how to clean it up.

By day Captain Clean is just an ordinary mild-mannered plumber.

But, when water shortages lurk, with water pollution abounding, with the pipes of government becoming clogged from corruption and cronyism, Captain Clean goes into action and becomes Tarrant County's Greatest Super Hero.

Apparently Captain Clean has determined that the current Tarrant Regional Water District Board has failed us all miserably by jeopardizing our health and the quality of life of Tarrant County families.

Captain Clean has found himself some pipe cleaning allies to help him in his fight to protect our water and quality of life. Captain Clean wants you to elect John Basham, Timothy Nold and Mary Kelleher to the Tarrant Regional Water District Board. Voting to elect these three makes you one more Captain Clean ally.

You can learn all about the corruption on the TRWD Board by going to the Flush TRWD website where you'll find out about some of what the TRWD Board members have been doing with your money, such as...

Rather than taking our tax dollars and using them to improve water quality and seek long-term solutions to our water needs, they have instead spent our tax dollars on wasteful and luxurious perks for themselves and their friends.  For example, the board purchased a deer lease in Jack County for the exclusive recreational use of TRWD board members and employees. They also get around in a custom six-person helicopter, complete with leather interior.  Wouldn’t it be nice if they cared as much about our water as they do about the seats in their taxpayer-funded helicopter?

Before I forget, I must mention that Flush TRWD Vote for BNK is also on Facebook.

Back to Captain Clean and the Flush TRWD website, I found the following two paragraphs to be interesting...

One of our main water resources, the Trinity River, has become so polluted with toxins and dangerous bacteria that the Texas Department of State Health Services has declared all species of fish in it a “hazard to human health.”

But forget about eating the fish, it’s not even safe to swim in the Trinity River.  WFAA News recently reported that four out of five testing sites along the river in Fort Worth had dangerously high levels of E.Coli bacteria (from fecal matter) present; well above what the E.P.A. recommends as acceptable.  Water with such high levels of E.Coli can cause sickness just from swimming in it; including diarrhea and vomiting.

I am guessing that one of Captain Clean's goals is to put an end to the Trinity River Vision's Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, until he can make the Trinity River safe for fish and human habitation.

Walking With Village Creek Indian Ghosts In Fields Of Wildflowers With Big Green Snakes

When I go hiking in the wild in Texas I am almost always armed with my snake stick. Even on cold days when snakes are rendered immobile due to their cold bloodedness.

My year round arming of myself with a snake stick could be taken as being an indication of my fear level when it comes to slithering reptiles.

Today, whilst walking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area I was peacefully enjoying being lost in my thoughts when I was suddenly startled by the green slithery monster you see above.

The slithery green monster did not act in an unfriendly manner towards me, so my snake stick stayed in its holster.

Speaking of snakes, just this morning I heard from Leo, he being the snake killer killer who wants to put a stop to rattlesnake roundups, like the one in Sweetwater. Leo has been apologizing lately for mistaking me for being a snake killer apologist.

The Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Wildflower Area seems to be tripling its amount of color every three days.

Well, I guess that is a bit of a stretch to say that the amount of color is tripling every three days. More accurately today it appeared there were about three times the number of blooms blooming three days ago.

I see via incoming email that Elsie Hotpepper has tasked me with an URGENT task. Since this is URGENT I really should go attend to it, lest the Hotpepper overheat.

Today Marks The Launch Of The Fort Worth Bike Sharing Boondoggle

On the left you are looking at part of an email I received this morning from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc., announcing "Fort Worth Bike Sharing Launch - Today!"

This was the first I've heard about Fort Worth instituting a bike sharing program.

My instant reaction to this news was sure-fire BOONDOGGLE.

Apparently there are 300 bikes available at  B-cycle Kiosks where one purchases a membership so you can ride one of the 300 bikes to your destination, if your destination happens to be at one of the available B-cycle stations.

I learned all this, and more, at the Fort Worth Bike Sharing website.

Among the things I learned from the Fort Worth Bike Sharing website is what it costs to ride one of these bikes...

It costs nothing to ride for 30 minutes? The second 30 minutes costs $1.50? Each additional 30 minutes costs $3.00? 24 hours for $8.00? A week for $20.00? A month for $30.00? A year for $80.00? With the Annual Pass being the Best Value?

Did Fort Worth do any sort of market study before it came up with this Bike Sharing Boondoggle? Did the same people do this market study as those who did the market study which resulted in Fort Worth's Santa Fe Rail Market Boondoggle?

From the email from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc.....

THE BIG EVENT! 

The launch of the first bike share system in North Texas. The inaugural ride for Fort Worth B-Cycle will include 300 volunteer riders, including Mayor Betsy Price, Council Member Joel Burns and T President Dick Ruddell. The riders will pedal the fleet of 300 red bike sharing bicycles from Burnett Park to one of 27 docking stations located throughout Downtown, Near Southside, Cultural District and TCU. The ride will commence with Mayor Price ringing a ceremonial bike bell with all riders following suit, after which Fort Worth B-Cycle will be available to the public 24 hours a day.

I really can not imagine riding my bike in the downtown Fort Worth zone. Or, have bike lanes been added since the last time I was in downtown Fort Worth?

It will be interesting to watch how this latest Fort Worth Boondoggle plays out.

As usual, I really hope I am wrong about this being a Boondoggle.....

The Imperial Hubris Of All The Anonymous People

A couple days ago I finished reading Imperial Hubris, authored by my most ubiquitous blog commenter, Anonymous.

Wikipedia has a good article that gives you a good idea of why Americans who can read should read Imperial Hubris by Anonymous.

In the Wikipedia article I learned that Anonymous is no longer Anonymous.

Anonymous is Michael Scheuer, a 22 year CIA veteran who ran the Counterterrorist Center's Osama bin Laden operation from 1996 til 1999.

If you were among the millions who winced in astonishment every time our former dunce president said things like bin Laden hates America and attacked us because he hated freedom and western modern ways, well, in a video from back in September of 2007, after the Imperial Hubris author was no longer Anonymous, Osama bin Laden said, "if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing of your war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard."

Changing the subject from one Anonymous to another Anonymous.

My initial intention in bringing up this Anonymous subject was to mention my personal problem with Anonymous, as it pertains to blog comments.

I have 5 blogs. Combined, the 5 blogs have had well over 6,000 posts. Any one of those posts can generate a comment. I let anyone comment. The comment can be Anonymous, or make up a name, Or OpenID or log in to your Google account.

Well over half of all the blog comments are from Anonymous.

Google emails me all the comments. This amounts to a lot of comment emails every day. Some of the Anonymous comments are legit. Most are spam. Google does a good job of putting the legit Anonymous comments in the Awaiting Moderation folder.

However, if you comment as Anonymous and do not see your comment appear, that is likely not due to me reading it and rejecting it, but instead due to the fact that I do not open and read the comment emails from Anonymous. There are just too many of them.

So, if you want to make sure your comment is published, make up a name, instead of being Anonymous, if you don't want to use an identifier that identifies the commenter as you.

More than once I have had someone Anonymous get bent out of shape due to me not being able to keep track of various Anonymous people commenting on the same blog post. This can be annoying.

Quit Giving Money To Fort Worth Vagrants Including Panhandlers & Beggars

Today I did not feel like driving anywhere for my daily walkabout.

So, I walked about my neighborhood.

Walking about my neighborhood took  me by Albertsons. In the the Albertsons strip mall there is an Italian restaurant appropriately named Italy Pasta & Pizza.

I have never had pasta or pizza at Italy Pasta & Pizza. Italy Pasta & Pizza is closed on Sunday. This gave me the opportunity to look at the menu that is posted in the window next to the entry door, without being gawked at by the diners inside the restaurant, sitting right by the menu in the window.

Near the menu in the window I saw a sign I'd not noticed before, that being the sign you see above.

The sign says....

PLEASE DO NOT GIVE MONEY 

TO THE VAGRANTS

(panhandlers and beggars  included)

MOST OF THEM ARE PROFESSIONAL CON ARTISTS, THE OTHERS ARE ADDICTS THAT WILL USE YOUR MONEY TO BUY DRUGS AND LIQUOR.

IF YOU WISH TO DONATE MONEY FOR THOSE THAT
ARE TRULY NEEDY, WE RECOMMEND:

The "WE RECOMMEND" is followed by a list of 4 locations in Fort Worth where one can donate money to the truly needy.

Now, I either drive by, or walk  by, Italy Pasta & Pizza at least once a day. I have never seen anyone looking like a vagrant or a panhandler or a beggar. I have never had anyone ask me for money at this location.

How does this restaurant know that most of these vagrants, panhandlers and beggars, which I have never seen, are professional con artists, with those who are not vagrant, panhandling or begging being addicts finagling for money to buy booze and drugs?

I often see Fort Worth police cars parked at Italy Pasta & Pizza. More than once I've seen officers leaving this restaurant, looking well fed. This does not strike me as a prime location for someone wanting to swindle innocents out of their money.

So, why does this restaurant have this tacky sign in their window?

Very perplexing.

A Saturday Walk Around Fosdick Lake Before Pulling Pepperoni Pizza From The Oven

The long and winding road you are looking at in the photo is the paved trail that winds its way around Fosdick Lake in Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park.

The Fosdick Lake trail was this Saturday's location I chose to get my daily dose of endorphins acquired via aerobic stimulation.

Soon after the sun came up this morning I got some aerobic stimulation via swimming in a pool that was a bit cooler than it was yesterday.

North Texas is looking rather green, in the photo, is it not? Most of North Texas looks green this time of year.

I remember awhile back Washingtonian, Betty Jo Bouvier, after seeing one of my green North Texas photos, expressed surprise that any part of Texas is green.

My first time in North Texas was way back in 1980, so I've known, since then, that not all of Texas is a brown desert.

But that 1980 visit was in August, so, at that point in time, North Texas was not green to the jungle-like level it currently is.

After having myself a mighty fine time walking around Fosdick  Lake it was off to Town Talk for my regularly scheduled Saturday treasure hunt. Today I got myself a lot of green peppers, a big bag of pears, a bag of grapefruit, roasted turkey breast and a big pepperoni pizza that I just pulled out of the oven.

Since I just pulled the pepperoni pizza out of the oven one might guess that it is time for lunch. One would be making a correct guess...

The Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Wildflower Area Is Now Blooming Bluebonnets

On Tuesday I was walking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area, pleased to discover that the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Wildflower Area was blooming a lot of color.

Today I was pleased to discover, as you can see in the photo, that the precipitation that precipitated since my last walk with the Indian Ghosts, has coaxed the bluebonnets in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Wildflower Area to tardily, in large numbers, put on their annual display of an otherworldly shade of blue.

The unusually cold temperatures that blew in with the rain is likely slowing up the wildflower blooming, again. I suspect the return to warmth in the next day or two will have the wildflowers back on track to be in full show off mode by the time of Prairie Fest 2013, on the Tandy Hills, Saturday, April 27.

Speaking of being cold. This morning I switched my interior climate control device from cool back to heat. I do not remember ever resorting to artificial heat before, in April, in Texas.

Paradoxically, even though the temperature was only 37, this morning, when the sun arrived, I had myself a really fine time in the cool pool, with the cool pool feeling as if it was a heated pool, due to the water being so much warmer than the almost freezing air.

Well, I must cease this blogging now and move on to something else, as in, I see Elsie Hotpepper has tasked me with an important task that I must attend to at once,  lest I get heat from the Hotpepper....