A Person With Any Common Sense Would Not Be HOT Hill Hiking Today In Texas

This morning when I found Don Young's Prairie Notes #80 in my inbox I realized it has been weeks since I have been on the Tandy Hills.

So, with today scheduled to be HOT enough to have a good sauna steam bath I decided to drive to the summit of Mount Tandy and have myself a HOT walk.

As you can see, looking west, across the wagon train trail that leads towards the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, the air does not appear to be all that smoggy, despite the air quality alerts.

It did not take me long walking to realize maybe I should pay heed to all the warnings I hear advising the elderly to stay inside during these troubling HOT times.

When I began to be blinded by the copious amount of moisture leaking from me I cut short the hiking, down to only 3 hills from the usual 5.

In addition to being HOT I had to contend with getting around the trail block you see in the picture below.

Just north of the currently dry Tandy Falls, where one takes a left to a shady trail up to the View Street Trail, a big tree has fallen across the trail.

I do not know what the policy is regarding windfalls in the Tandy Hills Natural Area. Is it like a national park, where the tree remains where it fell, unless it is blocking a highway or causing a hazard?

I am thinking for the duration of this 100 degree plus HOT time of the year, my mode of getting aerobic stimulation will be my morning swim, shady walks and bike riding, saving the Tandy Hills for the cooler time of the year.

This current plan is subject to change.

Bum Puzzled By Things Southern Belles Like Elsie Hotpepper Sometimes Say

Last night Elsie Hotpepper said something to me along the line of "I gotta hankerin' to be fixin' to get myself a free Koozie."

I did not know what a Koozie was or how one would get a Koozie for free. Getting a free Koozie sounded borderline nefarious to me. So, I asked Elsie Hotpepper what a Koozie was. And what dire deed she had to do to get a Koozie for free.

Elsie said something along the line of "Well bless your heart. A Koozie is what you stick a can of beer in to keep it cold."

"Koozie is Southern Slang for refrigerator?" asked I.

Elsie then said something along the line of "Aren't you just precious."

After suggesting I was precious, in that charming dripping with honey Elsie Hotpepper patented Texas accent, Elsie emailed me a picture that alleviated me of my Koozie ignorance. I then blogged about the Koozie because the way one got one for free was interesting to me.

Elsie also emailed the link to the YouTube video above which has a bevy of Elsie Hotpepper's fellow Southern Belles spouting their special lingo....

Hopefully Tomorrow's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Happy Hour Inner Tube Float Will Be Corpse Free Along With Clean Swimmin' & Dirty Livin' Free Koozies

Yesterday a woman was found floating, dead, at the location where the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube floats take place.

Some have suggested that tomorrow's floating should be canceled, due to a body being found floating where the inner tubes congregate.

Others opine that it is no big deal, people turn up dead all the time.

We don't shut down a freeway because someone died in a car wreck.

We don't shut down a roller coaster just because someone got tossed off it to their death.

Oh.

Well, anyway, tomorrow's J.D. Granger floating show will go on as scheduled.

Not only will the floating show go on, despite bodies found floating in the floating zone, tomorrow if you buy one of J.D.'s classy "CLEAN SWIMMIN' DIRTY LIVIN'" tank tops you will get yourself an equally classy "LET ME HOLD YOUR CANS" can Koozie for free.

What a deal.

And the band providing the music for tomorrow's inner tube float?

"Dirty River Boys".

Perfect.

And people wonder why it is that J.D. Granger now has a world wide reputation for being the world's best inner tube happy hour music event promoter....

I Was A Hot Mess In North Texas Ignoring A Heat Advisory & Air Quality Alert

I drove to my neighborhood Walmart Supercenter around 4 this afternoon. At that point in time the temperature was not over 100, except for the Heat Index version of the temperature.

On the way to Walmart the air-conditioning part of my motorized vehicular transport made a disturbing noise. The temperature quickly rose.

By the time I made the long 3 mile trek to the Walmart parking lot I was a HOT mess, rushing inside Walmart to get cooled.

I got what I was getting at Walmart and then left the Walmart air-conditioned comfort to return to the outside furnace.

I started up my motorized vehicular transport, began moving, turned on the A/C and felt cool.

Even though I felt cool, after I turned on the A/C, I was still a HOT mess by the time I made it back to my abode.

And now, coming up on 7 in the evening, we are being heated to 101, with the Heat Index feeling like 107.

But I am no longer a HOT mess, because A/C is blowing cold air directly on me....

I Found No One Floating In The Trinity River When I Biked In Gateway Park Today

In the picture it looks like my handlebars are looking at a lake.

But that is no lake.

It is the green Trinity River, as viewed from a cliff in Fort Worth's Gateway Park, today, around noon, with the temperature a few degrees below 100.

Yesterday, a few miles upstream, the body of a woman was found floating where the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube floaters float.

I don't know if tomorrow's scheduled Trinity River Inner Tube Happy Hour Float has been cancelled pending the results of the investigation into what caused a woman to float dead in that location.

On a happier note, I saw no one floating, dead or alive, in the part of the Trinity River I looked at today.

I had a fast pedal on the Gateway Park mountain bike trail today. Most of the trail is heavily shaded, which makes for a much cooler experience than being directly under the blazing HOT Texas sun.

When I finished pedaling I continued on to Gateway Park's neighbor, Town Talk, hoping to get some more packages of Chorizos and bags of Poblano Batard  bread. I was successful on both counts.

I Refuse To Eat The Fish I Catch In Fort Worth's Fosdick Lake

Upon arrival at the Oakland Lake Park parking lot I saw the guy on the left catch and release a fish back in to Fosdick Lake.

I was standing on Fosdick Dam, looking south across Fosdick  Lake, when I zoomed in to take a picture of the bucolic fishing scene you see here.

A crowd of spectators, in the form of humans and ducks, were spectating the fishing.

I've never enjoyed fishing. Even though the fishing gene runs strong in my relatives, like Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey.

Joey catches fish he can eat, caught in water that is not polluted.

One is advised not to eat the fish one catches in Fosdick Lake.

I would think that a town that felt compelled to post such warnings about fish caught in the town's water would be motivated to clean up the town's dirty water to make the fish safe to eat.

The town of Bedford has a stocked fishing lake in Chisholm Park that is quite popular.

Bedford is only a few miles from Fort Worth.

Maybe Fort Worth could send a study group to Bedford to find out how it is that Bedford has a lake from which one can consume the fish one catches.

Spencer Jake Riding The Great Seattle Wheel Reminded Me Of The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

No, that is not an artist's rendering of what little Pond Granger will look like if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle ever becomes something anyone can see.

What you are looking at in the picture is my Great Nephew, Spencer Jack, and his favorite girl friend, Brittney, in Seattle, high above Elliott Bay in a gondola attached to the Great Seattle Wheel.

I blogged about Spencer Jack and the Great Seattle Wheel, this morning, on my Washington blog in a blogging titled Spencer Jack & Girl Friend Brittney Take A Spin On The Seattle Great Wheel.

Looking at the above picture did get me to thinking about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. To the left of Brittney we can see a small slice of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Alaskan Way Viaduct is getting replaced by a tunnel. The world's biggest tunnel boring machine, christened Bertha by the locals, has started her boring job.

The new transit tunnel is scheduled to be operational sometime in 2015 or 2016.

Does anyone know when some aspect of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, other than a drive-in movie theater, a restaurant, a wakeboard park, inner tube floating parties and a lame music venue, is scheduled to be operational?

Like when is that celebrated flood diversion channel scheduled to finally start protecting downtown Fort Worth from a flood?

Has anyone seen an artist's rendering of what that flood diversion channel will look like?

Is the flood diversion channel, if it is ever built, going to be a big cement lined ditch? Empty of water except when a flood comes to town?

When can we expect to be seeing cruise ships docking on Pond Granger? This decade?

Have any of J.D. Granger's thousands of Magic Trees been planted?

Over two years ago we learned that those Magic Trees had to be in place during a flood to slow down the Trinity River after it shoots at high speed through the flood diversion channel. Shouldn't those trees be planted by now? Giving them plenty of time to get well rooted before they get  hit with a flood?

So many questions. Never any answers....

A Wreck On The Way To Mallard Cove With A Scary Cliff Above An Upside Down Car In The Trinity River

I came upon the disturbing scene you see on the left on my way to Mallard Cove Park to pedal my handlebars.

When I took a turn to the right to head east on Randol Mill Road I saw the road blocked by a firetruck, police cars, emergency vehicles and a lot of flashing lights on the west side of where Randol Mill crosses I-820.

One lane was getting through to the east. As I waited for the light to turn green I snapped the picture. Though I thought not at first, the guy on the ground was still alive. I saw an EMT guy talking to him and then changing his focus to another injured guy, on a stretcher, being moved to an ambulance.

The light turned green and I proceeded on to Mallard Cove Park.

The paved trails at Mallard Cove Park are fine for a couple loops. But then I exit the park zone to explore via beat up old access roads. At one point I came to the view you see below.

A narrow trail came to its end. I could see the view you see above. I assumed the Trinity River was  flowing towards me. But then I slowly stepped to the edge of the precipice to see I was wrong in my assumption.

Due to my bad photography skills I was not able to accurately capture how high the above cliff is. Or how fast the Trinity River was flowing, making rapids. As I walked towards the precipice I thought the Trinity River was flowing towards me and that when I got to the edge of the cliff I would see the river continuing on to my right, heading east. Instead I got to the cliff's edge and looked down to be very startled to see the river directly below me and flowing in the opposite direction I assumed it was flowing.

It took me awhile to figure out that the Trinity River was making a big oxbow turn at this location, with the turn having the river head back west before making another turn to the east. I need to look at Google Earth to see how the  river manages to do this at this location.

And then from the same view there was something disturbing in the middle of the river.

The disturbing thing in the middle of the river appeared to be an upside down vehicle, sort of a continuation of today's car wreck theme. And also continuing with today's car wreck theme, sort of, is the scene I came upon below.

Dozens of abandoned tires of various sizes. Why do people dispose of tires in this manner in so many locations I come upon in the D/FW Metro Zone? This tire collection is located a short distance west of the western boundary of Mallard Cove Park.

UPDATE: Just as I thought it might, Google Earth solved the mystery of how it was I was confused by the direction the Trinity River was flowing today. As you can see the river takes an Oxbow turn at the location I saw it whilst standing atop a cliff, heads west, before turning back east to continue its journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Continuing Quest To Find Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption

Last week I blogged about wondering who it was Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption? In that particular blogging it appeared that Fort Worth Wheeler Dealer, Jim Lane, was at the Center of the Culture of Corruption, graphic-wise.

Moments ago I had reason to re-read another blogging from last week titled Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About Replacing Kay Granger With Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher Or Elsie Hotpepper in which I mentioned I had read a very amusing paragraph that mentioned both Jim Oliver and J.D.Granger in an article written by Clyde Picht in the Fort Worth Business Press....

Needing a director for the TRVA with high qualifications – someone versed in construction, engineering and hydrology, to name a few essential skills – the water district’s general manager, Jim Oliver, went for the best. This being potentially a billion dollar project, Oliver zeroed in on the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office and found a tier 4 law school graduate working as an assistant DA. Selecting J.D. Granger to head TRVA was rather fortuitous because his mother, Kay Granger, happened to be a member of Congress and federal money was required for the key requirement of building a bypass channel and dams and hydraulic locks and all the really expensive stuff.

Re-reading what Clyde Picht wrote about J.D. Granger being picked as the guy to run the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is why at this point in time, in the graphic above, I have J.D. Granger at the Center of Fort Worth's Culture of Corruption.

Re-reading what Clyde Picht wrote got me thinking about TRWD board member Mary Kelleher's quest to get TRWD documents available for Mary's, and the public's perusal.

Thinking about TRWD documents got me wondering what sort of documentation exists of the communications between J.D. Granger and Jim Oliver regarding hiring J.D. to run the TRVB project.

J.D Granger was working as an assistant District Attorney. So, what happened? Did J.D. get a call one day, during a break from prosecuting, from Jim Oliver? An email? A personal meeting?

When Jim Oliver suggested to J.D. Granger that he was the man he wanted to run the TRV Boondoggle, what did J.D. say?

Did J.D. say to Jim Oliver I have absolutely no qualifications for such a job? Did J.D. ask Jim Oliver why are you thinking I could, or should, take this job?

What was Jim Oliver's explanation, to J.D., as to why Jim Oliver thought J.D. was the man for this particular job?

When the selection of J.D. Granger was made to run this billion dollar boondoggle, how was this selection presented to the TRWD Board? What discussion took place? Did Jim Lane or Marty Leonard or any of the other board members inquire of Jim Oliver as to what J.D. Granger's qualifications were?

Should there not be rather detailed records regarding as important a subject as the hiring of the person to run such an important, uh, flood control project?

Has the Fort Worth Star-Telegram or Fort Worth Weekly or anybody ever directly asked J.D. Granger how he is qualified for his Trinity River Vision Boondoggle job?

That seems as pertinent a question today as it did back when J.D. got the job, what with the Trinity River Vision project now clearly, solidly into boondoggle mode. And with that being the case, who do you blame?

The unqualified guy hired to do the job?

Or those who agreed to hire him?

Or the Culture of Corruption that permits such things to take place?

An Indian Ghost Walk With A Giant Great Dane & Mexican Hot Dogs

In the picture you are looking at one of the two spots designated as being a Wildflower Area in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Today the Wildflower Areas were not looking too colorful.

This morning a couple hours after my morning swim I drove up to Hurst to ALDI. It had been two months since I'd driven up to the Hurst ALDI.

Since my last drive to the HURST ALDI the highway construction at the 820/121 junction, and beyond, has grown even more adventurous than the last time I navigated this obstacle.

Somehow, within the past 2 months, at the Precinct Line exit off of 121, a new Outback Steakhouse has sprouted up and is open. When I drove by this spot 2 months ago all I recollect seeing was a big open space where, I think, a grocery store once stood, with nothing under construction.

In Texas some things are built amazingly fast, like some road construction projects and restaurants, like this new Outback Steakhouse. Whilst other things, like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, seem to be built on a slow motion time table.

The most interesting thing I saw walking with the Village Creek Indian Ghosts today was a Giant Great Dane and the lady walking the Giant Great Dane. The Giant Great Dane was an extremely friendly dog, who seemed to be smiling. The lady walking the Giant Great Dane was also extremely friendly.

But what made the lady walking the Giant Great Dane interesting was what she was wearing. Tie dyed leggings with a tie dyed top that matched the tie dyed leggings, with a matching tie dyed bandanna. I would think wearing leggings on a HOT day would be extremely HOT. Aren't leggings sort of like wearing long underwear? Only tighter?

I used to know an extremely large lady who stuffed herself into leggings, with the leggings frequently splitting apart due to the stress of containing more flesh, under extreme pressure, than any fabric can withstand. It also perplexed me as to why an extremely large lady would want to stuff herself into tight leggings. Is it to show off that voluptuous figure?

Speaking of stuffing something into something.

Yesterday I mentioned getting Poblano Batard Bread and Chorizo at Town Talk and that I was going to see if those two items, together, made for a tasty Mexican Hot Dog.

Well, lunch is now history and I can report that the next time I'm at Town Talk if Poblano Batard Bread and Chorizo are in the Town Talk freezer I am buying some to stick in my freezer.