Snow Is Falling On North Texas On This First Thursday Of February

Stepping out into the outer world on my patio viewing platform was a step of a duration only long enough to snap a photo of the snowballs falling from above.

Actually the falling ice was not in snowball form, the flash of the camera made it look like snowballs.

What actually is falling is snow in the flurry form, just as was predicted to be falling today.

I think it goes without saying that I will not be engaging in my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session this morning. In addition to the falling snow the additional weather information provided by the graphic below provides an additional reason as to why a hot tub hydrotherapy session does not seem like a good idea this morning.

16 degrees with the wind and humidity making that 16 degrees really feel like no degrees at all.

Zero.

I do not remember being this cold in Texas during the previous winters of my Texas exile.

On a positive note, I think the Mountain Cedar Pollen problem has gone away. At least it has for me. I made it through the night, last night, without the need to spray anything into my breathing apparatus.

I do not know where, or how, I will be getting my much needed endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation today. I suppose I could go up and down the three flights of stairs which lead to Miss Puerto Rico's abode, if the steps are not slippery from snow....

Over 700,000 Fans In Downtown Seattle For Seahawk Super Bowl Victory Parade & Moment Of Loudness

Every once in awhile I get myself feeling a bit homesick for the Pacific Northwest. Usually this homesick thing happens when something happens in the Washington zone that I wish I was there to see.

Like when the Kingdome was imploded earlier this century. Or was it late in the previous century?

Or when the 1999 Battle in Seattle happened during a WTO meeting.

During both the Kingdome implosion and the Battle in Seattle I got live reports, via phone, from people on the scene. I remember a particularly tearful account during the Battle in Seattle when the caller was describing watching her Starbucks being destroyed on the ground level, below her skyscraper riot viewing location.

And now today, the largest crowd ever to assemble in Seattle, is downtown, even as I type.

Over 700,000 people. More people than the population of Seattle, lined up from the Space Needle to the Seattle Seahawk CenturyLink stadium, two miles to the south, as the Seattle Seahawk's players paraded past the fans, escorted by the Washington National Guard, with the players in Humvees and those weird Seattle Amphibious Ducks that haul tourists around town.

Washington's Governor, Jay Inslee, proclaimed a "Moment of Loudness" to last 30 seconds at 12:12 Pacific time, which was a couple hours ago. 700,000 is about 10 times the number of noisemakers that can fit into the Seahawk stadium. Those Seahawk stadium noisemakers twice triggered earthquakes this year.

I have heard no reports, yet, that the "Moment of Loudness" has triggered any earthquakes.

Anyway, very cool day, in more ways than one, for Seattle, Washington and the Pacific Northwest. I wish I was there....

Federal Judge Issues Order In TRWD Election Case

Interesting incoming email from the Texans For Government Transparency regarding the ongoing lawsuit against the Tarrant Regional Water District Board's arbitrary adding a year to two of the Board's Director's four year terms to which they were elected, with the objection being to the added, un-voted for, 5th year.

Below is the text in the email from the Texans For Government Transparency....

Federal Court Waits, but Points State Court to Texas Supreme's Ruling as a Hint !

(Fort Worth, TX)  United States Federal District Judge Reed O’Connor has decided to abstain from making a ruling at this time in the case brought by Reverend Kyev Pompa Tatum, Sr., a member of Texans For Government Transparency, against the Tarrant Regional Water District Board.

Judge O’Connor opted instead to issue an order pointing the state court to appropriate case-law.

In the order handed down by the Federal District Court late Tuesday; Judge O’Connor wrote, “In State v. Catlin, however, the Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Legislature could not extend a city clerk’s two-year term, as provided in the Texas constitution, by enacting legislation that moved the election to the following year.”

Judge O’Connor expounded on this important case law stating the Texas Supreme Court found, “Article XVI, Section 17 ‘never contemplated such legislation, but was intended to meet such emergencies as might occur under laws requiring elections or appointments to such offices to be made every two Years’”

In the federal lawsuit Reverend Tatum says the TRWD board of directors is illegally granting two of their directors a fifth year in office, after being elected to four year terms, by misrepresenting a newly passed state law. Reverend Tatum’s suit goes on to contend this action denies both he and the people of Tarrant County their basic constitutional right to vote for their elected representatives.

TFGT President John Austin Basham was pleased with the Judges order saying, “Judge O’Connor essentially passed this case back to state district court while giving them a nudge in the right direction.” Basham went on to say, “Judge O’Connor made it clear that Reverend Tatum could redress this claim in his court if the state district court’s ruling is in error or the state fails to rule at all.”

The state case brought by TFGT, John Austin Basham, and Darlia Hobbs against the TRWD Board of directors will continue Thursday February 6th in Tarrant Counties 48th District Court in front of Judge David Evans. Basham commented on the case continuing Thursday by saying, “With the clear guidance and reading of the law by the Federal Court, I expect the state court’s decision will come quickly. The big question is whether or not the TRWD board will then allow voters to vote or drag us back into court?”

A Wind Chill Of 11 Is Keeping Me Off Fort Worth's Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail Today

24 degrees, feeling like 11 degrees, due to a strong wind blowing in from the north, on this first Wednesday of the 2nd month of 2014.

With possible snow predicted for tomorrow.

I miss Global Warming.

Even though the outer world was ultra frigid early this morning I braved the frigidity and had myself a much needed bout of hot tub hydrotherapy.

Yesterday I finally got around to fixing the flat on the rear tire of my bike. It was way back on Saturday, October 12 of last year I had an unfortunate encounter with a big nail at Gateway Park.

I blogged about this unfortunate nail encounter in a blogging titled The 2nd Saturday Of October With Computer Woes, Rusty Nails, Broken Pumps & Pomegranate Yogurt.

Until this morning's colder than I expected chill I had planned on going on a bike ride today on the aforementioned Gateway Park's mountain bike trail. But, with the wind making it feeling like 11 degrees I'm thinking going on a bike ride would not result in me having a mighty fine time today rolling my wheels.

I must remember that I am babysitting a problematic Puerto Rican cat and visit the hissing feline today to make sure her living space is being adequately heated.

Just Another Cold Wet February Texas Tuesday

The dreary patio view of the outer world at my location looks sort of like snow has fallen.

But no snow has fallen.

However, precipitation has precipitated in the form of melted snow, also known as rain.

Due to the morning drippage, for the second day in a row, I skipped my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session.

I think I  may be becoming a Weather Baby who no longer embraces the icy cold like a polar bear having himself a mighty fine time getting wet and extremely cold.

Yesterday I finished the PDF Conversion Project I whined about last week. The PDF Conversion Project turned out to be way less annoying than I feared.

With the PDF Conversion Project completed, and with the outer world being so cold, today for my daily walk I think I will walk around a couple stores finding stuff to buy.

I just looked at the calendar stuck on my wall and realized that by the time today ends already one seventh of the second month of 2014 will have passed in to history. Time flies.

Tomorrow Miss Puerto Rico flies to her home island. This means I get to babysit a badly behaved elderly cat for a week. That is going to be a lot of fun....

The 3rd Day Of February Singing The Post-Super Bowl Monday Blues

I did not venture out into the icy cold this morning for my regularly scheduled hydrotherapy session in the hot tub of which you see part through the veil of green foliage.

Should not that green foliage have turned brown and fallen to the ground by this point in time?

Yesterday an incoming Google voice mail message came in from my mom. I'd called my mom on her happy birthday and found no one home. I called again early on Super Bowl Sunday and found no one home. I then called my Arizona sister and found no one home, and left a message saying I was finding no one home.

Hence (please note proper usage, Miss Julie) the Google voice mail message from my mom a couple hours before the start of the aforementioned Super Bowl game. So,  I called my mom back before continuing with my Super Bowl Party prepping.

Regarding that aforementioned Super Bowl game. I made it through Bruno Mars' excellent halftime show and then found myself losing interest at some point in the 3rd quarter. It is sort of ironic that this football season I made it through two previous Seattle Seahawk games, plus the final Dallas Cowboy loss of the season, but I did not make it through to the end of the Super Bowl game.

All in all, Seattle finally winning the Super Bowl seemed to be totally anti-climatic.

I have never been much of a fan of viewing various sports. Baseball has always been boring to me. With football I never got what it was that people found entertaining enough to watch for hours on end. Basketball was the only sport I enjoyed watching. From high school on.

After the Supersonics arrived in Seattle I went to many games. I watched them on TV. When the Sonics would make the playoffs it seemed exciting, like a big deal. I went to several playoff games. They were fun.

And then the Seattle Supersonics won the NBA championship. After all those times not quite making it in the playoffs I figured it would somehow feel like a really big deal for the Sonics to win the championship. But it wasn't. It basically meant nothing to me in any real meaningful way. I had no interest in joining the thousands in Seattle watching the Sonic victory parade.

After the Seattle Supersonics won the NBA championship I never attended another game. I lost interest. I really don't understand why.

I have only attended one Seattle Seahawk game, years ago, in the now dead Kingdome. Over the years, whilst still in Washington, I did watch a lot of Seattle Seahawk games on TV. I don't remember if the Seahawks ever made it to post-season games whilst I was still in Washington.

What I do know is this. If the Seattle Seahawks make it to the Super Bowl again next year I will likely watch. But it won't seem like any big deal to me whether they win or lose.

New York City's Empire State Building's Seattle Seahawk Colors

This morning on Facebook, via Martin B's first wife, I saw the picture you see here.

I was not at all surprised to see the Seattle Space Needle lit up with the Seattle Seahawk colors.

But, I was a bit surprised to see that New York City's Empire State Building is lit up with the Seattle Seahawk colors.

How does one go about getting your colors on the Empire State Building, I can not help but wonder?

Did Paul Allen buy the building?

I also could not help but wonder if the Dallas Cowboys ever got themselves into the Super Bowl. And if that Super Bowl were played in the New York City zone, would Reunion Tower, in Dallas, be lit up in the Dallas Cowboy colors? Would the Empire State Building be lit up in the Dallas Cowboy colors?

I believe the Dallas Cowboy colors are silver/gray & blue. Not quite as vibrant a color scheme as the Seahawk's shade of blue and extremely bright green.

I think maybe the Dallas Cowboys might want to consider trying to be a bit more colorful....

A Cold Super Bowl Sunday In Texas

As you can see via the view from my computer room window the predicted cold predictably arrived overnight, along with a slight amount of drippage which dripped slightly on me this morning during my Super Bowl Sunday hot tub hydrotherapy session.

I can definitely tell there has been a huge diminishing in the mountain cedar pollen, or whatever it has been which has made me allergically miserable, off and on, the past couple weeks.

This morning my respiratory system seems to be just about back to what I think I remember normal being.

Speaking of the Super Bowl. And who isn't? Yesterday I mentioned that I'd never seen Town Talk busier, with the parking lot being a traffic jam and inside the store being a human traffic jam of stalled shopping carts. Late Saturday afternoon I went to ALDI and Walmart and found both stores at a day before Christmas level of busy.

This morning, on Facebook, I learned that this Super Bowl shopping frenzy is not just a Texas thing, but also happened yesterday up in my old home state of Washington.

Sampson, of the infamous Sampson & Delilah duo, posted the following comment on Facebook....

I have never seen soooo many people in the grocery stores. We went to QFC which is always a nightmare, then Safeway, at least they had more checkers than QFC, then we went to Costco...believe it or not, they had the least people! Love seeing all the Seahawk attire every where!

Sampson & Delilah live in Kent. Kent is a Seattle suburb about 20 miles south of where the Seattle Seahawks play football when they have a home game.

One of Sampson's Facebook friends followed up with another shopping comment...

We went into Fred Meyer this afternoon and there were no grocery carts in the store!! Crazy!

Fred Meyer is an enormous combo department and grocery store. It'd be like a Super Walmart or a Super Target running out of shopping carts.

A few years ago Portland based Fred Meyer was taken over by Krogers. On a visit back to Washington, earlier this century, I was appalled the first time I was in a Fred Meyer after the Kroger takeover, to find that Fred Meyer had been Kroger-ized. A grocery store being Kroger-ized is not a good thing, in my opinion.

My Super Bowl Party starts at 5. If you RSVPed, I'll be expecting you. Don't be late.....

A Visit To Quanah Parker Park Before Discovering At Town Talk That Super Bowl Sunday Is America's #1 Holiday

With today being the first Saturday of the second month of 2014 the one person who regularly reads my blog is likely thinking, in the picture, they are looking at the Tandy River in the Tandy Hills Natural Area, due to that area being the location of my regularly scheduled Saturday hikes, weather permitting.

Well, the one person who reads my blog would be wrong. On this first Saturday of the second month of 2014 I parked my motorized transport on the Quanah Parker Park parking lot, to go on a walk, prior to continuing on to Town Talk.

Being at Quanah Parker Park would make that green body of water the Trinity River, not the Tandy River.

The reason I opted not to hill hike today, even though the weather permitted that activity, was because today is the 6th Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash. Due to the fact that I lacked the needed equipment to properly Brush Bash I could not bring myself to go to the Tandy Hills where I would likely have seen hundreds of people having themselves a mighty fine time bashing brush, whilst I was unable to, due to that aforementioned equipment lack.

At Town Talk today I learned that Super Bowl Sunday is America's favorite holiday. I came to that conclusion due to the fact that I'd never seen Town Talk busier. Not the Saturday before Christmas, not the Saturday before Thanksgiving, not the Saturday before the 4th of July.

Traffic trying to get onto the Town Talk parking lot was backed up both on Beach Street and whatever Randol Mill Road is called at that location. First Avenue, maybe?

When I finally made it on the parking lot there was not a parking spot to be found. People were parking off the parking lot, on the grass and any other open spot. Eventually someone pulled out so I was able to pull in.

Usually Town Talk has plenty of shopping carts. Today all were being used. Which worked out for the best because inside Town Talk it was one big shopping cart traffic jam. When I first walked in all checkout lines, but one, were open, with the lines lined up all the way to the back of the store.

With no shopping carts available I used one of those handheld basket deals. Which worked out fine because I only got three items. Two bags of tortilla chips, a big block of extra sharp cheese and a bag of tomatoes.

I lucked  out at checkout when that final checkout line opened right when I was right by it. Four Town Talk shoppers got in that line ahead of me, which that short line only causing about a ten minute wait. The Town Talk checkout checkers are the speediest I've ever seen, anywhere.

I asked the Town Talk checkout checker if this was the busiest she'd ever seen it. She said there'd only been one other time. Also Super Bowl weekend.

Some of the excessive number of Town Talkers may have been caused by people stocking up before tomorrow's possible blizzard blows in to town.

The temperature in the outer world has begun its predicted afternoon descent towards freezing. I was really liking the return to warm air and am not liking the idea of possible incoming snow.

Frozen Precipitation Predicted Across North Texas On Super Bowl Sunday

Yesterday I was visiting my neighbor when she told me that snow would be falling at our location on Super Bowl Sunday. I did not think, at that point in time, that my neighbor knew what she was talking about, due to the fact that I'd seen no warning of such a thing happening.

And now, this morning, I saw my computer based weather monitoring device flashing read. I clicked on that which was flashing red to see that the National Weather Service has issued one of its dreaded Special Weather Statements.

I clicked on the Special Weather Statement link to learn the following....

...WINTRY PRECIPITATION EXPECTED ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS SUNDAY...
A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTH TEXAS TODAY WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE 30S OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA EARLY SUNDAY MORNING AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE APPROACHES. WIDESPREAD RAIN WILL DEVELOP SUNDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY.

THE RAIN MAY INITIALLY FREEZE RESULTING IN SOME LIGHT ICING ON ROADS AND BRIDGES. AS THE SYSTEM MOVES EAST DURING THE DAY...RAIN IS LIKELY TO MIX WITH SLEET AND SNOW ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM COMANCHE TO WAXAHACHIE TO PARIS. THE BEST CHANCES FOR SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE NORTH OF A LINE FROM BRECKENRIDGE TO DECATUR TO SHERMAN WHERE 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOWFALL MAY OCCUR...MAINLY ON GRASSY SURFACES. LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED FARTHER SOUTH AND EAST AND ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LESS THAN AN INCH.

DURING THE EVENING HOURS...THE WINTRY MIX MAY TRANSITION TO ALL LIGHT SNOW...ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST...BUT NO ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED.

TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE MID AND UPPER 20S SUNDAY NIGHT SO ANY LINGERING WATER ON AREA ROADS WILL LIKELY FREEZE. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE ON MONDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING ABOVE FREEZING.

Will the above wreak havoc with my Super Bowl party plans? I suspect not....