Surprised By A Gateway Park Memorial To Trinity River Drowning Victim Malik Cisse

Today was my first time back in Gateway Park since a teenage boy drowned in the Trinity River, at that location, a couple weeks ago.

When I read about the drowning I was perplexed by the line in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram article that said, "Students told officials that they had been jumping off a dock into the water."

A "dock" in Gateway Park, from whence someone could jump into water 25 feet deep?

The only thing I could think of that someone might characterize as a "dock" is the remnants of the abandoned, boarded up, boardwalk eyesores that the City of Fort Worth has let fester for years.

When I came upon the memorial, you see above, it was clear to me that it was the boarded up boardwalk that was being referred to as a "dock".

In addition to flowers at its base, the memorial cross has the name of the drowning victim, Malik Cisse, 5-11-95, 4-13-13.

Below is another photo I took today. What I saw in this photo bothered me.

A plywood barrier to the "dock" access has now been installed. The other entries to this "dock" were blocked prior to the drowning. I have used the now blocked, previous to the drowning, un-blocked, access to access the "dock" a couple times for photo taking purposes.

I have opined several times, on this very blog, that I thought it was irresponsible of the City of Fort Worth to let this eyesore fester.

And now a teenage boy, attracted to this attractive nuisance, has drowned. What had been a picnic to celebrate the end of Carter-Riverside High School's soccer season took a preventable tragic turn.

Now, why did the Star-Telegram not describe the site of the drowning accurately I can not help but wonder?

Calling an abandoned, damaged, partially boarded up boardwalk eyesore a "dock" seems to me to be a bit of a misrepresentation.

I Found 10 Pages Of Tarrant Regional Water District Propaganda In My Mailbox This Morning

The Tarrant Regional Water District mailer I blogged about yesterday in a blogging titled Taking A Corrupt Shot From Tarrant Regional Water District Board Incumbents showed up in my mailbox this morning in all its 10 page full color glory.

On the left you are looking at the back page of the mailer.

In the upper right corner you see the word PAID. As in Presorted Standard U.S. Postage was PAID to mail this mailer.

Who PAID?

You PAID.

Yes, you the taxpayer who lives in the Tarrant Regional Water District PAID to mail this propaganda mailer. You also PAID to produce this rather slick production.

Was this slick production mailed to all the voters residing in the Tarrant Regional Water District? Or was this slick production only mailed to those, like me, who live in the select areas of the Tarrant Regional Water District that are allowed to vote?

And how is it that taxpayer money can be spent to produce and mail this slick production that amounts to being campaign propaganda for those on the TRWD Board who are running for another term on the board?

Page 1 of this mailer I showed you yesterday. Page 2 is a full page photo of a water falling over ledges. Page 3 is some propaganda spewed from TRWD Board President, Victor W. Henderson, Page 3 I also showed you yesterday, that being a list of the TRWD Board of Directors, including those up for re-election. Page 4 describes the Water District, along with a map and a wetlands photo. Page 5 is about Flood Control, including a photo of the infamous 1949 downtown Fort Worth flood, along with text mentioning the miles of Trinity River levees. Page 6 is all about the Recreation benefits the TRWD is bringing the people. Page 7 is about TRWD's Water Conservation efforts. Page 8 has a big photo of the Lawn Whisperer, along with "Water Saving Superheroes" propaganda. Page 8 is about Water Quality, along with two photos showing litter. Page 9 is all about the TRWD In the Community, consisting of 5 photos and more propaganda. Page 10 you see above.

While Page 5 says "One of TRWD's primary functions is to manage a 27 mile flood control system that spans Fort Worth. Working together with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, we maintain the levees and related structures that provide vital protection to residents along the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity" no mention is made of the plan to take down many of those levees that have protected Fort Worth for so long, with that plan brought courtesy of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Speaking of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, there is no mention made of this TRWD pet project any where in their 10 page propaganda piece. The words "Trinity River Vision" appear no where.

Why is that?

Are the TRWD Board Members up for re-election concerned that being associated with the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle might cost them some votes?

Taking A Corrupt Shot From Tarrant Regional Water District Board Incumbents

I find the ethically questionable antics of various Texas government agencies and much of the Texas public's who cares attitude (for the most part) both perplexing and amusing.

A good example of this ethically questionable antics syndrome showed up in my email today, with the email showing me the example having the subject line: A Corrupt Shot from the Incumbents.

What incumbents you wonder?

Well, the incumbents you are wondering about are the incumbents currently on the Tarrant Regional Water District Board who are up for election this coming May 11.

And what have these incumbents done that is so corrupt?

Well.

The Tarrant Regional Water District has mailed out a very slick, full color, 10 page campaign advertisement, I mean, informational brochure.

The "informational" brochure tells the voters, I mean, people they serve, all that the Tarrant Regional Water District Board members have done to put an end to flooding, conserve water, provide an everlasting supply of fresh drinking water, make the Trinity River as pure as a mountain stream and others things which should make voters, I mean the people they serve, want to keep these people serving them.

Well.

No where in this "informational" brochure is there any mention made of an upcoming election.

No where in this "informational" brochure is there any mention made of who paid for this brochure.

If the Tarrant Regional Water District did not pay for this brochure, who did?

If the Tarrant Regional Water District did pay for this brochure how is this not some sort of a violation of election campaign laws?

Like I said previously, I find the ethically questionable antics of various Texas governmental agencies and the Texas public's who cares attitude (for the most part) both perplexing and amusing.

And might I add, to those Texans with a "who cares?" attitude, well, you get what you vote for. If you like ethical bankruptcy, just keep voting the ethically bankrupt rascals in office, over and over again....

Riding A Fort Worth Bus To Sundance Square While Not Enjoying In-N-Out Double Double Burgers

What you are looking at in the picture is the interior of a Fort Worth bus. Today I got myself a Fort Worth bus day pass and hopped on board the #21 to make  my way to the transfer station where I hopped on board the #2  bus which took me to downtown Fort Worth's Intermodal Transit Center.

Near as I can tell, by Intermodal Transit Center, Fort Worth means you can take a bus to get on an Amtrak train. And vice versa.

Today I learned that riding a Fort Worth bus is great exercise, particularly the articulated bus ride from the transfer station to downtown. This is one very bumpy ride that I think must do wonders for the abdominal muscles.

By articulated bus I mean a bus that can bend in the middle like an accordion. The only other articulated buses I have been on are the ones that run through the Seattle bus tunnel. The Seattle articulated buses are like well suspended Cadillacs, while Fort Worth's are like not so well suspended oversized VW buses.

In other words, the Fort Worth articulated buses, and the un-articulated Fort Worth buses give riders a much more adventurous ride than the sedate, smooth riding Seattle buses.

When I exited the #2 I had myself a fine time wandering the streets of downtown Fort Worth for the first time in a long time. One of the things I was wanting to see is Sundance Square. Ever since I moved to Fort Worth Sundance Square has perplexed me. Because there is no Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. There are signs pointing visitors to Sundance Square, but there is no square. Eventually, I and others concluded that by "Square" downtown Fort Worth means "parking lots".

So, last year it was announced that, after all these years of there being no Square in Sundance Square, Fort Worth was finally going to build one.

On one of the parking lots.

And call it Sundance Plaza. I assume to continue the tradition of confusing tourists.

I was a bit surprised to find that Sundance Plaza is a long ways from becoming a square. The parking lot in front of the Chisholm Trail mural, where the plaza is being built,  is a construction mess, with two new buildings being built on the west and east ends of the former parking lots, with the new plaza currently pretty much a hole in the ground. However, there are multiple signs, all around the construction site, such as the one you see above, where the guy in the cowboy hat is telling the Butch Cassidy lookalike in the derby, that "THERE'LL ALSO BE A NEW OUTDOOR PLAZA. A REALLY GREAT SPACE  THE WHOLE CITY CAN BE PROUD OF."

Below you see some of the signage around the Sundance Plaza construction site, with one of the new buildings, butted up against the old Flying Saucer Emporium building, with the Angels on the Bass Performance Hall blowing their horns on the right.

Isn't this Sundance Plaza project well past its projected completion date?

Regarding downtown Fort Worth, other than the construction zones, I have never seen downtown Fort Worth looking so good. Lots of street activity, new restaurants, many open to the street, well manicured landscaping.

I must repeat, because I was surprised to find myself thinking this, downtown Fort Worth is looking really good.

I also thought I'd never find myself saying that downtown Fort Worth is a much more lively, people oriented downtown that what one finds in Dallas. Then again, it has been a few years since I've wandered around downtown Dallas. Maybe downtown Dallas has improved just as much as downtown Fort Worth has.

After an hour or two of wandering around downtown Fort Worth my group of wanderers grew hungry. So, it was back to the Intermodal Transit Center to hop back on the #2 bus to head west to 7th Street.

The feeding choices were Sweet Tomatoes or In-N-Out.

All the wanderers had been to Sweet Tomatoes, but only I had been to an In-N-Out. So, it was to In-N-Out we went.

Today was my 4th In-N-Out Double Double Burger. The first two were consumed in Phoenix in 2004. Number 3 was consumed in Tempe, (or was it Scottsdale?) in 2012. I don't know what it was, for sure, but the Fort Worth In-N-Out Double Double Burger did not match the Double Double Burger of my memory. It seemed smaller, messier, not as tasty. And the french fries, something was way off with the fries. Almost as if they were powdery. As in flavorless starchiness. Very disappointing. I think I will be waiting til next I am in Arizona or California to have an In-N-Out Double Double Burger.

As you can see in the above photo of the In-N-Out Burger joint, traffic on 7th Street is a congested mess. Methinks something needs to be done to ameliorate this, but what that amelioration might be, I have no idea.

But, I am almost 100% certain the traffic congestion is not going to be solved by the 300 bikes, newly operational, that I saw at several kiosks in the downtown zone today. I saw no one riding one of the bikes.

Even though I saw no one riding one of the 300 bikes, several seem to be missing from this 7th Street kiosk. Or maybe those are just empty spaces awaiting incoming bikes.

Like I said, 7th Street is terribly congested. But one block to the south, on Crockett Street, one finds a totally more sedate, better designed street experience. I think Crockett Street benefited from being developed long after long established 7th Street.

Crockett Street has wide sidewalks, well designed landscaping, with an overall more pleasant street walking experience than 7th Street.

Finishing exploring the 7th Street zone it was back on the #2 bus to head back to the Intermodal Transit Center. This bus had no seating available, standing room only, which made the ride a very rock and roll, standing on a subway train-like experience. I was enjoying the carnival ride aspect, but was sort of relieved to finally get off the ride at the Transit Center.

From the Transit Center we had to switch to an eastbound #2 bus to the transfer station, then back on the #21 to return to the starting location.

Today the buses were well timed. Very little waiting to make a switch.

It only cost $3.50 for an all day pass on the Fort Worth bus system. I really don't understand why more of the locals don't have themselves a really fine time trying out out this mode of transport. I saw more than one family group, today, with little kids, with the kids having a lot of fun on the Fort Worth bus carnival ride.

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.....