Swimming In The Rain On Columbus Day In Texas

My swimming in the rain wish came true this second Monday morning of October.

Today is that day that comes around once a year when we celebrate Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas in 1492 to begin the multi-century takeover of North, Central and South America from those who already called these lands home.

I do not know how I will be celebrating this celebrated holiday today.

I do know there will likely be no outdoor activity of the walking, hiking or biking sort.

Rain is on the menu for today and tomorrow, falling in possible copious amounts, at times, hence flash flood warnings.

On top of the copious amounts of rain falling lightning is also predicted to start striking at some point in time today.

So far today I have not seen a bolt  of lightning, nor heard a boom of thunder.

And the rain, so far, has seemed semi-copious....

The Chesapeake Energy Mark Of 6699 Is Upon My Neighorhood

Returning to my abode this morning I saw that my neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Pad Site has installed a new sign I had not noticed before.

The new sign towers above the gas pad site, which makes it sort of noticeable, which sort of indicates to me that it is a newly installed sign.

Then again, I am often not a very observant person, so maybe this sign has been sticking up in the air for a while now and I only noticed it today due to the troubled background of a stormy sky.

Due to the storminess mentioned in the above paragraph today I opted out of driving anywhere to get some exercise via walking or hiking.

Biking is not an option today due to yesterday's flat tire still being flat.

So, I took a walk to my Chesapeake neighbor's location to snap a picture of the new sign. And the stormy gray sky.

So far not a lot of rain has fallen at my location. I was looking forward to swimming in the rain this morning, due to the forecast seeming to predict that precipitation would be precipitating today. But I had a dry swim, except for the water in the pool.

Isn't the number 6699 sort of dire sounding? Almost biblically dire? Like Chesapeake is doing the devil's work, drilling holes deep into the devil's lair, then shooting chemicals into those holes to break up the shale, causing gas to be ejected.

Yes, sounds like the devil's work....

The 2nd Saturday Of October With Computer Woes, Rusty Nails, Broken Pumps & Pomegranate Yogurt

This second Saturday of October started off fine with a pleasant swim of long duration. The water temperature has increased significantly from the jolt of cold it received a week ago.

So far, today, the predicted jolt of rain has not arrived at my location.

I did get a jolt of computer woes this morning. To fix the woes I tried "System Restore" for the first time. This returns the computer to a previous state, prior to the woes.

Well, restoring the system did not work the way I hoped it would. So, I restored back to the original state.

After restoring the computer to its original state I clicked on Google Chrome to find myself being told files were missing and I needed to re-install Chrome.

I tried to fix the Chrome woe without re-installing, but gave up on that, eventually, and did the re-install, which went fast and worked out fine.

After getting Chrome back working and my computer back behaving, it was time for my Saturday pre-Town Talk mountain bike ride to my regularly scheduled photo-op in Gateway Park.

The bike ride was going fine and then suddenly the rear tire lost all its air. I hopped off the bike and quickly found that the rusty nail you see above had pierced through the tire at an angle, making two puncture wounds.

I was about as far from my vehicular transport as I could be, so it was a long hot roll back to functioning wheels. I tried to pump up the tube, thinking maybe the self-sealing slime would clog the holes, like it successfully did a couple weeks ago when I ran over a mesquite thorn at Mallard Cove Park.

But, the holes were so big I was unable to get any pressure in the tire.

And then the pump broke.

What dire woe was happening next I sat and wondered? Was Town Talk going to be another woe?

No, Town Talk turned out to be woe-free. I got a case of pomegranate yogurt, ham, smoked turkey, vidalia sweet onions, jalapeno cheddar tortillas and other stuff I'm not remembering right now.

All this food talk is making me hungry. Time for lunch....

Walking With Indian Ghosts To The Village Creek Yellow Flower Bayou

Yesterday, if I remember right, my only walking exercise was walking to Albertsons to get this week's FW Weekly.

Yesterday, in addition to that short Albertsons walk I also had myself a mighty fine early morning time in the cool pool getting a good dose of endorphins, some of which may have been attained via the shivering method.

I had myself a fine time this morning, also, in the less cool pool.

Today I augmented my pool time with some endorphin inducing walking with the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Indian ghosts. Along with a number of live humans.

As you can see above, the former Village Creek Blue Bayou has morphed into the Village Creek Yellow Flower Bayou.

I don't know if this sudden sprouting of yellow flowers in the formerly blue bayou is a function of the ongoing drought, or what. I do know I've not seen yellow flowers in this location before. I also do not know what type yellow flowers these are. Perhaps Fort Worth's renowned horticulturist, CatsPaw, can identify them.

Speaking of the ongoing Great Texas Drought. The next couple days some rain is predicted to fall.

A deluge would be a good thing, though a drought ending deluge is not in the forecast. I suspect if rain does fall, it will be of the light sort, not the drenching Texas downpour sort I learned to like early in my Texas exile before I learned flash floods are not a good thing.

Anonymous Wondering If Kay Granger Loses Her Job Will Mama's Boy J.D. Lose His?

This morning someone named Anonymous commented on a blogging from yesterday.

The commenter asked what seemed to me to be an interesting question about Kay Granger and her boy, J.D....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Texas Story About Wendy Davis For Governor Has Me slightly Optimistic": 

If the Great Republican Purge of 2014 comes to pass and Kay Granger loses her seat in Congress do you think mama's boy JD will be able to keep his job at the Trinity River Vision?

One really can not help but wonder if a Democrat replaces Kay Granger, in what many think will be the Great Republican Purge of 2014, will the Tarrant Regional Water District Board and the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle keep J.D. Granger in their employ as pseudo-project  director if his mama is no longer in a position to hopefully, some day, direct more federal dollars to the TRV Boondoggle?

One can not help but wonder what the current state of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle might be if a qualified person had been hired as the Executive Director. Would we have seen happy hour inner tube floats in a polluted river? Would we have seen the world's premiere urban wakeboard park? Would we have seen the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century? Would we see an ice rink?

I am currently reading A TRAGIC LEGACY: How a GOOD vs. EVIL Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency by Glenn Greenwald.

This morning a little blurb in that book struck me as applicable to the Tarrant Regional Water District Board and the TRV Boondoggle...

"As the American founders well understood, transparent government is critical for detecting errors, uncovering corruption, and ensuring accountability, while political leaders who operate in the dark, wielding vast powers with little oversight, virtually always conceal their mistakes and act to maximize their own interests rather than the country's."

Substitute "county's" for "country's" and the above paragraph could be talking about the TRWD and the TRVB.

If I remember right I have wondered previously if there is a record of the meetings that took place which resulted in J.D. Granger being offered the job of Executive Director of the TRV Boondoggle.

I also can not help but wonder, if there are no records of the meetings which took place which resulted in J.D. Granger being offered the job of Executive Director of the TRV Boondoggle, why are there no records?

What with that transparency in government ethic and the Texas Open Meetings concept.

Early on in Mary Kelleher's term as a new board member of the TRWD she requested access to some TRWD documents. This request was met with stonewalling of an extreme nature in the form of dictatorial dictates issued by TRWD employee Jim Oliver.

What is Jim Oliver trying to hide was my reaction to learning of his ham-handed censoring tactic.

Jim Oliver's roadblocking was soon made official by the other TRWD board members when they actually voted to not allow any member access to any documents unless all the board members agree to grant access.

Again, I wondered, what are these people trying to cover up?

Very perplexing.....

A Chilly Wednesday Roll Through The Gateway Park Jungle Thinking About Liposuction & Cheeseburgers

On this second Wednesday of October my handlebars rolled themselves to their semi-regular photo op location on the Gateway Park mountain bike trail at a location high above a cliff high above the green Trinity River.

Bike riding in chilly temperatures, without over heating every time I stop, is being enjoyable.

Swimming in chilly temperatures is not being quite as enjoyable as the chilly bike riding.

However, this morning the water in the pool felt warmer than the air, which is why I think I quickly got acclimated to the cold and had  myself a mighty fine swim just as the sun showed up to make its currently feeble attempt to heat up the outer world at my location.

Changing the subject.

Of late I have been aware that I have lost weight.

I was not making any particular attempt to lose weight. This just happens sometimes, I think due to an imbalance between calories burned via exercise and calories ingesting via eating. Well, that is sort of obvious. But, it's not so obvious when it happens when one is not trying to shrink.

The last time I went into personal body size recession mode started in May of 2006 and continued through August of 2008. During that period of time I shrank by over 35 pounds. I was skinny.

From August of 2008 til a couple months ago I regained those lost 35 pounds, plus added a few extra. I told myself it was all muscle. Til the last 5 or 6 pounds got layered on I was able to maintain that self-delusion.

Regarding the issue of gaining weight, I am a bit concerned about Elsie Hotpepper and her imaginary weight gain. Elsie is harboring the delusion that she has morphed from her former svelte super model size to being a bloated balloon.

Just a couple days ago liposuction and gastric bypass surgery entered into the Elsie Hotpepper weight loss discussion.

I can not imagine getting liposuction or having a surgery to alter my digestive system. It seems as if it would just be way simpler to increase the number of calories burned and decrease the number of calories eaten. It really is not rocket science.

Since last week I have been trying to stabilize the weight loss.

Hamburgers loaded with cheese and bacon seem to help....

A Texas Story About Wendy Davis For Governor Has Me Slightly Optimistic

I really would not want to have the Republican label attached to me these days.

Even though it is the Democrats whose party symbol is the donkey, in modern day, 2013 America, it is the Republicans who seem to be the party of asses, of the dumb sort.

If you listen to Rush Limbaugh, like I do, to be amused regarding how delusional someone can become whilst blathering whilst inside an insulated bubble, you will have found yourself perplexed more than a time or two by Mr. Limbaugh railing on about how our current president, Obama, is destroying America.

On purpose.

With the Affordable Care Act.

While Mr. Limbaugh, stuck in his bubble, never has had any problem with anything Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush-league, actually did, which actually did do serious damage to America.

Damage which Mr. Obama has had some success in un-doing.

And now we are coming up upon the 2014 mid-term elections. That wondrous time between presidential elections when the electorate can register its approval or disapproval regarding what has gone on the previous 2 years.

I have no record of successful prognostication, but, even so, I am going on record, on this seldom read blog, with the opinion that the 2014 mid-term elections are going to result in a purge of Republicans to a level which renders the party of Lincoln the first major American political party rendered dead in well over a century.

As for the Wendy Davis for Governor of Texas campaign ad, above. I also think Texas is going to surprise the rest of America by going blue in 2014.

Hiking On The Tandy Hills With Wildflowers & Rock Monuments

I do not remember how long it has been since I've driven to the summit of Mount Tandy to have myself a real fine time hiking the Tandy Hills.

A couple months would be my best estimate.

I sort of expected to see fall foliage in full fall mode today on the hills, but instead I was surprised to see few leaves changing color.

I was also surprised to see a variety of wildflowers. I do not remember seeing so much green and so much color at this point in time years previous. Likely it is my bad memory which accounts for this.

As you can see, above, via the view from the summit of Mount Tandy, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, green is still the predominant color on this section of the North Texas prairie.

As previously mentioned there are currently a variety of wildflowers adding color to the predominant green, as evidenced below.

I was not the only Tandy Hill hiker today. As I stood on the top of one hill,  zooming in take a picture of the various shades of green, I was surprised to see someone waving back at me.

Before I found myself being waved at I found the below rock monument, constructed at the top of the trail which leads from Tandy Falls, at that trail's intersection with the View Street Trail.

Who built this rock monument? And why? It appeared designed to provide shelter for small critters with its cave-like design.

Speaking of critters, the below critter related sign has been added to the Tandy Hills since I last hiked the hills.

The sign reads almost like a bible verse.

IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL FOR ANY PERSON TO INTENTIONALLY HARASS, HARM, PURSUE,  HUNT, SHOOT, WOUND, KILL, TRAP, CAPTURE OR COLLECT ANY ANIMAL OR BIRD IN ANY PARK.

Years ago I helped a Fort Worth cop pursue, capture and collect a horse which had been running wild on the Tandy Hills. Eventually we managed to get the horse into a corral near the tower on top of Mount Tandy.

I think maybe this wild horse capture type deal was not the type thing this sign is directed at.

What with this rare Tandy Hills hiking and a refreshingly cool swim this morning I am feeling well exercised with a plentiful supply of aerobically induced endorphins elevating my mood to an extremely happy place.

Where Did Fort Worth Weekly's Best Rabble Rouser Of 2013 Go?

What you are looking at on the left is the cover of Fort Worth Weekly's Best of 2013 issue.

This issue came out a couple weeks ago. Today, a couple weeks later I'm finally getting around to verbalizing my issue with this FW Weekly issue.

For several years now, once a year, FW Weekly solicits input from its readers regarding what those readers think is the Best of in various categories for that particular year. In this case, the year 2013.

The categories have titles like "Getting & Spending," "Good Grub", "Culture", "On The Town" and "People & Politics".

For ones votes to count one has to vote a prescribed number of times in a prescribed number of categories. I was hard pressed to meet the criteria, but eventually did so.

Now, I really do not have all that great an issue with the outcome of FW Weekly's Best of 2013.

However, in the "People & Politics" category I do not remember being asked to vote on something like "Candidate Most Likely to be Caught Flagrante Dilecto in a Parking Lot with an Illegal Alien Abduction", or something like that. But there it was, in the "People & Politics" category, with Jim Oliver, of the TRWD, getting the alien distinction.

While I did not see the candidate for illegal alien abduction being one of the things I, as an online submitter, was asked to submit, I most definitely do remember being asked to submit my opinion as to who the Best Rabble Rouser was in 2013.

I, like I am sure did many others, wrote down Elsie Hotpepper as Best Rabble Rouser.

But, for some mysterious reason, in neither the print edition of FW Weekly's Best of 2013, or the online edition, does the Best Rabble Rouser category exist.

I feel this Rabble Rouser omission warrants an explanation. I suspect no explanation will be forthcoming.

I really can  not see myself going through the excruciating process of filling out FW Weekly's Best of online form in the future, if the effort is for naught....

A Neighborhood Walk To Italy Pasta & Pizza Thinking About My Bad Luck With Black-Eyed Peas

After a drive too far on Sunday I did not feel like any sort of drive anywhere today, on this first Monday of October.

So, I took a walk in my neighborhood, with Alberstons as the destination, with acquiring the Ink Edition of DFW.com as the goal.

On the way to Albertsons I walked by the newly moved ITALY Pasta & Pizza restaurant. The move was a short distance from this restaurant's old location in the strip mall in which Albertsons is the anchor.

When I first moved to my current location the now ITALY Pasta & Pizza restaurant was a Black-Eyed Pea.

When I visited Texas in May of 1998 to check out if I would be agreeable to moving here I was taken to a Black-Eyed Pea. I recollect asking the waitress why the restaurant was called Black-Eyed Pea.

By the time I had a turkey dinner at the Black-Eyed Pea across the street from my new abode I knew the reason for the name.

In one of his more memorably memorable odd questions, at some point in time, earlier in this century, around the start of a new year, Gar the Texan asked me if I had any trouble finding my black-eyed peas this year.

Huh? Said I. Why would I be looking for black-eyed peas? Gar the Texan then verbalized astonishment that eating black-eyed peas was not a new year tradition up north in Yankee-land. It was then I learned that in the Deep South one ingests black-eyed peas at the start of a new year so as to insure that one will have good luck during the coming year.

I have yet to eat a single black-eyed pea since I have been in Texas. And I have had nothing but bad luck. I probably should embrace the superstition.

Back to my former Black-Eyed Pea restaurant. I was not too long at my current location when that restaurant closed. I don't remember how long it was before it re-opened as the Super Asia Buffet.

The Super Asia Buffet quickly became my favorite Chinese buffet, partly due to the fact it was just a short walk from my abode. Around the time the Super Bowl came to Arlington, the Super Asia Buffet, in what I am sure they thought was an extremely clever marketing move, changed their name to the Super Bowl Buffet.

Sushi was added to the menu, which had me liking it even more.

And then the Deep Recession came in 2008. The Super Bowl Buffet lasted a couple years into the recession, with noticeably fewer cars in the parking lot. And then it closed.

I mourned the Super Bowl Buffet's closing.

None of the Chinese buffets I frequented pre-2008 have survived the Great Recession.

They probably should have had black-eyed peas on the menu.....