Happy 2013 Friday The 13th To My Fellow Triskaidekaphobia Sufferers

Why would anyone, knowing of my extreme case of Triskaidekaphobia, taunt me by sending me a Triskaidekaphobically targeted email on this special day?

Subject line: Have Yourself A Happy....

And then in the body of the email I see the threatening photo you see here, threatening, that is, to a sufferer of Triskaidekaphobia.

My extreme case of Triskaidekaphobia had my sub-conscious blocking the fact that today is a very bad day for Triskaidekaphobia sufferers, what with it being Friday the 13th of the 13th year of 2000.

I do not know what the significance of the picture is, what with that one beady eye peering out between the "Y" of FRIDAY and the "T" of THE. And another beady eye peering out between the "T" and "H" of THE.

Anyway, I am trying very hard, and for the most part successfully, not to let this special day trigger any dire Triskaidekaphobia over-reactions.

Not Seeing Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth From The Tandy Hills While Walking To Albertsons With Prickly Pear Cactus

It seems like weeks since I last availed myself of the scenic beauty of the Tandy Hills and its view of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth from high atop Mount Tandy.

Today, with the sun being a bit blocked by clouds and the temperature a relatively chilly 86, I thought I might have myself a really fine time doing some Tandy Hills hill hiking.

But, I was not in the mood to drive anywhere.

That and I overdid either bike riding, yesterday, or swimming, prior to yesterday's bike riding.

Whatever the cause, my legs were feeling as if they had had plenty of exercise.

So, no, that is not a Prickly Pear Cactus patch growing on the Tandy Hills that you see above. It is a Prickly Pear Cactus patch I came upon in Mallard Cove Park on Wednesday.

Today, rather than driving anywhere to get more sore hiking or biking, I walked up the hill to my local Albertsons to get myself this week's ink edition of DFW.com.

This morning, when I was in the pool a little past the arrival of the sun, the sky was mostly blue. During the course of my time in the pool clouds began to slowly turn the sky from blue to gray.

Thunderstorms and rain are in the forecast today.

By the time I was out of the pool and hanging my swimming suit on the drying clothesline a few drops were falling from the sky.

The wet drops falling from the sky did not drop long enough to damp up the outer world at my location.

I suspect before today is done I will be seeing some extreme dampness and hear some extreme thunder booming.

A Squishy Mountain Bike Ride At River Legacy Park With Noodles

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I heard one singular loud thunder boom. No precipitation. No wind. Just a loud boom.

Today I rolled my motorized wheels to Arlington to River Legacy Park. When I reached Arlington, on Green Oaks Boulevard, I began noticing some water pooling at the side of the road.

I assumed this water pooling was just some more water wastage in this water rich part of the planet.

Then I arrived at River Legacy Park and saw more water puddling on the side of the road.

I was starting to think Arlington saw some rain dropping yesterday.

When I began to roll my bike wheels I saw more water puddling on the paved trail.  When I reached the west end of the paved trail, which is currently my entry point to the mountain bike trail, avoiding the tricky eastern entry, it was clearly obvious rain had fallen, because the dirt of the mountain bike trail had clearly recently seen water, though not muddy, the trail was still a bit tacky and squishy.

A tacky, soft mountain bike trail makes for an additional endorphin inducing bit of aerobic stimulation. In other words, I was a HOT sweaty mess by the time I took the above picture of my handlebars on a trail in the River Legacy Park jungle.

Changing the subject from the River Legacy Park jungle to noodles.

I had me a hankering for Chinese food for lunch. But, when I found myself in making lunch mode I found no rice in my food storage zone. But, I did find whole wheat noodles. I recollected remembering that it was Marco Polo who introduced pasta noodles to Italy, bringing noodles back with him, from China, during one of his infamous treks.

So, I made an onion, carrot, chicken, egg, pickled ginger stir fry, soy sauced that concoction up sweet and sour-wise, mixed the stir fry with the noodles and now, having finished with lunch, I'm thinking noodles are my new rice as far as Chinese stir-fry goes.

Today I Found Myself A Cabin To Move To In Fort Worth's Mallard Cove Park

As is the norm, I did not feel as if an hour or more of barely post dawn swimming gave me a sufficient dose of much needed endorphins which I acquire via vigorous aerobic stimulation, in a variety of formats, throughout the day.

So, around noon I decided to visit Mary Kelleher's neighborhood to roll my wheels in the Mallard Cover Park zone.

On my previous times rolling on the paved trails in Mallard Cove Park I have exited the park to the west to do some off road exploring.

This time, instead of rolling west off the paved trail, I rolled east. I was barely off the paved trail when I came upon the post-modern styled cabin-like structure you see above.

I saw no evidence of this cabin being inhabited, not by human or any other critter or varmint.

Looking At The New York City World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial Has Me Pondering The Last 12 Years

Twelve years ago, today, I looked on in horror at the New York City location you see above.

How can it be 12 years since I got a phone call telling me that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane? The caller was calling from Dallas. I knew the caller was calling from the area of the Dallas World Trade Center. I assumed it was a plane taking off or landing from Love Field that had hit the Dallas World Trade Center.

Then I turned on my TV to see the second plane hit the second World Trade Center tower in New York City.

I watched in appalled shock for several minutes and then I realized I should start  waking people up on the West Coast to tell them to turn on their TVs. When asked what's happening I did not tell those I called that America was under attack, I just said you need to turn on your TV.

I had been back from a roadtrip to Washington a week when September 11 became yet one more American date which will live in infamy.

That 2011 roadtrip to Washington is the last time I have roadtripped back to my old home zone. From the time of my move to Texas in 1999, til 2011, there had been 4 roadtrips back to Washington. And none since 9/11.

I do not like to fly, but all trips back to Washington since 9/11 have been airborne. Once in 2002, three times in 2004, once in 2005, once in 2006 and once in 2008.

By 2013 it has become much less expensive to fly to Washington than to drive there. Prior to 9/11 it was less expensive to drive. But, the cost of a trip to Washington was never the factor that determined the means of motion. I greatly prefer a 3 day roadtrip to a 3 hour plane ride.

So, I really am at a loss as to understanding how it is that 9/11 put an end to my roadtripping north. But, apparently it has.

9/11 changed way too many things in America....

Fort Worth Weekly's Grabbing The Purse Article About The Dorothy Luck Scandal Has Me Feeling Very Cranky Tonight

What you are looking at on the left is the cover of this week's Fort Worth Weekly. I started reading this issue's main article, Grabbing the Purse by Jeff Prince, the day I picked up this issue last week.

But, I quickly found what I was reading to be unsettlingly maddening. So, I put off reading the article.

Til today.

The story told in Grabbing the Purse is yet one more example of there being something very corrupt and very wrong in Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

How many people have read this article? Why is there no outcry demanding a criminal investigation into the judicial misconduct described in this article?

Did Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price get on the phone and call someone who could do something to fix this horrific injustice? If not, why not?

I tell you, the Culture of Corruption runs so deep at this location on the planet, whether it is corrupt judges, corrupt politicians, corrupt government agencies, corrupt newspapers, corrupt eminent domain abuses, corrupt river visions.

This Grabbing the Purse tale of a corrupt good ol' boy network of one corrupt hand washing another corrupt hand, facilitating stealing the fortune, stealing the peace of mind, stealing the life of a Fort Worth native, 85 year old Dorothy Luck, has left me more annoyed than I have been yet at any of the outrageous things I have witnessed taking place since my Texas exposure began.

Six paragraphs below from Grabbing the Purse to entice you to read the entire article, particularly you reading this who are in other parts of the planet, other than Texas. You will be incredulous to learn that this can happen in America, the Land of the Free....

Dorothy Luck was enjoying the fruits of a lifetime of hard work: a well-cared-for house, a good-running Cadillac Deville, a million dollars in a bank account, another million in annuities, and a monthly income from investments and Social Security. A widow with no children or close relatives, she remains active and relatively healthy at 85.

The neat and still-elegant woman has always kept a close watch on her finances, and she believed she’d have plenty of money to last until the end of her life.

“I was very wealthy,” she said. “Now they’ve stripped me of about everything I have.”

The people stripping away her wealth aren’t con artists, muggers, or thieves, although the end result looks the same. “They” are a judge and court-appointed lawyers involved in a probate system that deemed Luck to be mentally incapacitated and unable to handle her affairs.

Two years ago they took control of her money and her life. She’s been writhing in the court system ever since, trying to regain control of her bank account, which has become at least $500,000 lighter since the court took over.

“I’ve worked since I was 15 years old, and I don’t deserve this,” Luck said. “It’s going to kill me. It’s aged me terribly.”

_____________________________________

So? Who is going to fix this? Methinks the fix is going to need to come from somewhere outside of Fort Worth and Tarrant County and Texas. A federal investigation?

Walking Around Fosdick Lake With My Mom Thinking About Doing The Puyallup

It seems as if it has been weeks since I've driven to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake.

As you can see, Fosdick Lake is looking very serene today.

My mom went walking with me today around the lake.

Walking with me via a phone connection.

Real walking is still not working all that well for my mom as the recovery from knee surgery continues.

According to my mom today is my nephew David's birthday. I think this would be birthday number 5. My Arizona sister, she being David's aunt, and another of David's relatives, known as BS, is taking David to the State Fair of Washington today.

The State Fair of Washington, prior to this year, was known as the Western Washington State Fair.

Or The Puyallup.

I suspect most Washingtonians still refer to this fair as The Puyallup.

Pew-el-up is how Puyallup is pronounced for you Texans who never learned to speak Indian.

Speaking of speaking Indian. I made a curry chicken vegetable concoction for lunch today.

So I think I'll go have myself some Indian vittles now....

Sanderson: A Visit To The Cactus Capital Of Texas Known As The Town Too Mean For Bean

A couple weeks ago S.G. Wolfe, from Sanderson, Texas, invited me to visit that particular town in the Big Bend Region of West Texas.

I got around to making a visit to Sanderson yesterday.

Sanderson is an historically interesting town known as the Cactus Capital of Texas.

Also known as the Town Too Mean For Bean due to a Sanderson saloon owner not taking too kindly to Judge Roy Bean opening a Jersey Lily Saloon franchise in Sanderson in 1883.

That particular Sanderson saloon owner, Charlie Wilson, arranged to have Judge Roy Bean's whiskey spiked with kerosene, which did not go over well with Bean's customers, which soon had Judge Roy Bean making haste to make his way back to Langtry and forever left Sanderson to be known as the Town Too Mean For Bean.

Sanderson has had other calamities hit town other than Judge Roy Bean.

On June 11, 1965 a massive flash flood roared down Sanderson Canyon hitting Sanderson with a wall of water which destroyed multiple homes and businesses.

And killed 24 people.

After the disaster 11 flood control dams were built to prevent a re-occurrence of the 1965 disaster.

I do not know if this Sanderson flood control project was known as the Sanderson River Vision.

I do know that, unlike Fort Worth, in the last half century Sanderson has actually had a killer flood that warranted a public works project to protect the safety of the public.

And I suspect Sanderson's actually needed flood control project did not cost anywhere near a billion dollars....

Learning Cell Phone History Before Biking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Re-Living The Killing Of John B. Denton

Yesterday I was bum puzzled by Hawk Electronics and AT & T and my phone not working.

This morning after having myself a really fine time calling Hawk Electronics customer support to listen to music, interspersed with fascinating facts about cell phone history, with periodic interruptions to advise me that I could go to the Hawk Electronics website and click on 'contact us' to use the same contact options I'd already used to no avail.

When a live human finally got on the line I asked why any number I called went to Hawk Electronics. I was asked my name and number. Then I was told there was no problem with my account. I repeated the problem. The live human put me back on music, again, but was back in about 15 seconds, not 15 minutes, to tell me that OOOPS, there had been a service malfunction affecting my phone and that the live human would have it back working immediately.

I hung up after the live human profusely apologized for the inconvenience.

And then I was off to Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area to get myself some stimulation via rolling my wheels.

Those are my bike handlebars, above, looking at one of the historical markers along the paved trail. This historical marker tells you, from the white man perspective, about Texans chasing Indians during the Battle of Village Creek on May 24, 1841.

General Tarrant of Tarrant County fame led 69 murderers, I mean, volunteers, on an early morning attack on the villages along Village Creek, destroying two large Caddo villages. Eventually, a short distance to the north of the location of the above historical marker, John B. Denton, of Denton County fame, was "ambushed and killed".

Ambushed and killed? I don't quite see how it is that one can be ambushed when one is busy attacking villages with the villagers rightfully trying to defend themselves against the attackers. Seems to me like it was the villages along Village Creek which were ambushed.

Hawk Electronic's Bankruptcy Debacle Has Messed Up My Phone Service With AT & T

I saw the above when I paid my cell phone bill last month.

For well over a decade Fort Worth's Hawk Electronics has been my billing and customer service provider for my AT & T wireless service.  The above message told me my account was in the process of being transferred to AT & T.

And that my wireless service should not be interrupted as a result of this transfer.

When I read "should not be interrupted" I thought to myself that this means the wireless service "could be interrupted."

So, today I called my mom to check in on her surgery recovery. Instead of mom answering the phone I got a recorded message from Hawk Electronics that said I could pay my bill by pressing one or wait for the beep and leave a message.

I called another number to have the same thing happen.

And then I left a very succinct message.

I got back to my computer and logged into the Hawk account to see no message about anything, confirmed the account was paid up and then Googled "Hawk Electronics problem" to learn that last month Hawk Electronics went into bankruptcy mode due to owing millions, having their loans called in and cut off from their accounts.

Yikes.

I then logged into my AT & T U-Verse account figuring they could fix it. Well, that turned into a circus. I think I went through 3, maybe 4, different AT & T customer service people. Each at first indicated this was no big problem to fix. And then some roadblock would occur. Like asking for my password to the Hawk account, which seems an odd request, but when the password was given I was told it did not match the AT & T record.

After fussing with AT & T for way too long I made my way back in to the outer world and found Miss Puerto Rico. I had Miss Puerto Rico call me. My phone did not ring. But Miss Puerto's phone told her that the number she was calling was currently not accepting calls.

What if I had been out and about and needed to make an emergency call? Or someone needed to call me? How can Hawk Electronics and AT & T do this to a longstanding customer?

The notice, above, says I will be receiving more information soon about the account transfer. I have not received any information, not a peep.

Should this bad business behavior be something the FCC frowns upon? Or law enforcement? It seems criminal to me....