A Packed Meeting Room With Protesters Outside Greets TRWD Board Mary Kelleher Censure Hearing

UPDATE: Tuesday, April 29, 2014, the TRWD Board actually followed through on the censure of Mary Kelleher, to boos from protesters and threats from the TRWD Board to remove the booing supporters of Mary Kelleher.

The Tarrant Regional Water District Boards attempt to censure fellow board member, Mary Kelleher is now underway.

I suspect the wannabe censurers are being a bit taken aback by the standing room only crowd which has assembled to witness the TRWD Board's nefariously questionable antics.

I doubt the TRWD censurers considered their offputting antics would cause protesters to be standing outside holding protest signs up to the meeting room windows.

Signs with messages such as " FOLLOW YOUR OWN RULES", "LET US VOTE ON TRV", "GIVE TRANSPARENCY A CHANCE".

I opted out of attending the TRWD Board meeting and its attempt to censure Mary Kelleher. I sort of figured I did my part by blogging about it.

That and I find so much about the TRWD to be annoying that I could see where I might have found myself in some sort of unseemly confrontation of  the sort I've found myself in times previous, which in hindsight would have been best avoided.

Anyway, if I hear anything interesting about what's happening at the TRWD headquarters, I'll let you know.

Tomorrow Mary Kelleher May Receive The High Honor Of Being Censured By The Ethically Challenged Tarrant Regional Water District Board

On the left you are looking at a page from the recently mailed Tarrant Regional Water District Annual 2013 Report. On this page we are looking at the TRWD Board of Directors, with the most recently elected Director, Mary Kelleher, at the bottom.

Today I learned that the Directors above Mary on this page have conspired to censure Mary Kelleher.

This censuring is scheduled to take place at 9:30 tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29 at the Tarrant Regional Water District's headquarters at 800 E. Northside Drive in Fort Worth.

What in the world has Mary Kelleher done to warrant this latest bout of abuse from her fellow board members?

I can think of some things that don't get a censure from the TRWD Board, that can not be what Mary has done.

For instance, I doubt Mary is being censured for being caught flagrante delicto with someone other than her spouse in the backseat of a car parked on the TRWD parking lot, because that is okay behavior in the TRWD Board's ethical world.

Mary can't be getting censured for any sort of nepotism, because it is well known that the TRWD Board has no problem with the corrupt practice of nepotism, while nepotism is frowned upon in ethical, democratic parts of the world.

Mary can't be being censured for being instrumental in a sweetheart deal to let someone build a restaurant on public property with out the sweetheart deal being an open bid type of opportunity, because the TRWD Board condones that type of shady deal.

Mary can't be being censured for coming up with a plan to buy some land from a financially strapped friend, followed by giving another sweetheart deal for someone's plan to build something silly, like the first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century, because the TRWD is totally okay with that type shady deal.

Mary can't be being censured for causing the public to lose a lot of money due to initiating an incompetent lawsuit aimed at taking water from Oklahoma, because the TRWD Board is totally okay with that type of waste of money, even if the case has to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

Mary can't possibly be being censured for asking to see some specific TRWD public documents, can she? The TRWD's censuring could not possibly be due to claiming Mary has caused conflict on the board, claiming this to be disruptive, can they?

Is this censuring of Mary Kelleher the latest and most blatant attempt by her fellow TRWD Board Members to shut Mary up?

I have long not been alone in wondering what it is that the TRWD Board is covering up that it goes to such extreme lengths to keep the public, through Mary, from seeing the public documents Mary has long been denied access to.

During the last TRWD election, the one where Mary won her seat with a record number of votes, I referred to the TRWD Board as cockroaches. Some thought this harsh. I thought it totally accurate. Cockroaches do not like light. Cockroaches go to extreme measures to keep out of the light.

It can be difficult to get rid of a cockroach infestation. I think we are seeing this currently in Fort Worth.

I have previously opined, and many agree with me, that Fort Worth suffers from not having a legitimate newspaper of record. The Star-Telegram functions like the old Soviet Union's Pravda, as in it is no longer a newspaper, but is instead, a propaganda purveyor.

I can tell you, with just about 100% certainty, that if this TRWD Board's cockroach-like behavior played out in other towns in which I have lived, those being towns on the West Coast with real newspapers, that those town's newspapers would be all over the TRWD Board's bad. unethical behavior. The TRWD would be hit with Freedom of Information requests, reporters would investigate the TRWD's shady dealings.

And Mary Kelleher would be a local hero, admired for her tenacity, while the TRWD Board Members, who tried to censure Mary, would be reviled as not being fit to be in a position of public trust.

And don't get me started on what any of the towns I have lived  in on the West Coast's newspapers would have done with the absurd Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, with its absurd hiring of a local congresswoman's unqualified son to run the project.

I really believe Fort Worth suffers because the majority of the people have never lived in a town with a real newspaper that looks out for the public's best interest, and so they don't know what their town is missing and thus don't insist that their town's newspaper acts like one......

UPDATE: Tuesday, April 29, 2014, the TRWD Board actually followed through on the censure of Mary Kelleher, to boos from protesters and threats from the TRWD Board to remove the booing supporters of Mary Kelleher.

I Had No Panther Encounter Today Whilst Walking With Arlington's Village Creek Indian Ghosts & The Mumu Lady

A few minutes before I left my abode this morning I got some news that had me in need to ponder mode.

Walking with the Indian ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area has been a good pondering zone for me for years.

Today was no different. I had myself some real good pondering, with only two interruptions to the pondering, one being a lady with a pit bull named Patsy, who she was having trouble keeping under control.

The other interruption was of short duration, that being an encounter with nice oldster I refer to as the Mumu Lady.

I have no idea if Mumu is the correct spelling of that type clothing attire that looks sort of like wearing a big blanket. Maybe the correct spelling is Moomoo.

The Mumu Lady was in her Mumu the first few times I saw her. Then the Mumu was replaced with a stylish jogging type suit. The Mumu Lady does this odd waving of her arms in front of her as she walks fast. Her face is extremely sun-tanned, of the sort I see when I visit a Sunbelt retirement zone, like where my mom and dad live.

The first time I met the Mumu Lady she asked me if she could give me her testimony. I politely indicated no interest. Then she started telling me about her encounter with a panther at the very spot we were standing and that during that encounter she turned to Jesus for help, with Jesus quickly sending the panther on its way, without stopping to eat the Mumu Lady. So, the Mumu Lady sort of got her testimony in via a sideways move.

The Mumu Lady's panther encounter was one of many that occurred around that time, encounters which were reported in the news, including the Mumu Lady's encounter.

Over the years, including today, when I howdy the Mumu Lady, and stop a second to exchange pleasantries, she never remembers my previous answer to her can I give you my testimony question.

Today after I politely declined the testimony offer the Mumu Lady continued on to the Village Creek Blue Bayou Overlook where I saw her kneel down and go into praying mode, a photo of this is what you see above.

It is time for lunch, after which I will likely be blogging about that which I was pondering whilst I walked with the Indian ghosts and the Mumu Lady....

The Cowboy Spencer Jack Got Me Remembering Losing Control Of Caution

No, that is not Cowboy Spencer Jack riding his horse in the Fort Worth Stockyards that you are looking at on the left.

I do not know where Spencer Jack is riding his horse in the picture.

Spencer Jack's dad, my favorite nephew Jason, sent this picture to my phone last night. It took me til today to figure out how to get the picture off my phone and onto my computer.

It turns out this was rather easy.

Which should not surprise me, what with learning yesterday, via Nurse Martha, that I have a Superior Intellect.

A Superior Neurotic Intellect.

Being neurotic is a useful trait when it comes to figuring out something.

Back to the subject of the Cowboy Spencer Jack.

It seems to me that Spencer Jack is a bit young to be being such a good cowboy.

I recollect being a couple years older than Spencer Jack when I had an unfortunate incident with a Shetland Pony that had me swearing off getting on any sort of horse for decades to come.

Not til I moved to Texas did I get back on a horse.

And that did not end well.

July 4, 2000.

I was talked into getting on a horse named Caution. The name should have clued me. Basically I lost control of Caution who was determined to re-enter, by any means, the barn from which he came, to retrieve a carrot, which I later became convinced had been placed where it was placed by Caution's owner, an angry woman whose plots to get rid of me became ever more blatant.

Well, I survived that particular carrot plot, but I have never been on another horse, not since Caution, and his evil owner, tried to kill me, or maybe just scare me off of horse riding.....

Having A Smoggy Sunday Reaction After Rolling My Wheels On Gateway Park's Mountain Bike Trails

I must have misunderstood the weather forecast for today. I  thought serious storms were a sure thing for this final Sunday of the 4th month of 2014.

Last night I figured this morning's pool bout would have me swimming in the rain. And that I would not be going anywhere hiking or biking today.

I figured wrong.

I had myself a mighty fine rain-free swim this morning,  followed by an equally mighty fine rain-free rolling of my wheels on the Gateway Park mountain bike trails.

No rain, but HOT and humid. Currently the temperature is 86, with that vexing humidity making it really feel like 91.

Of late I have been vexed by some new allergen that makes my eyes itch and burn in a way that reminds me of my first encounter with LA smog when I was a teenager, way back in the last century. Post Gateway Park I'm finding the burning eye sensation to be particularly vexing. Eyes drops help some.

I never had any allergy woes when I lived in Western Washington. Is Mother Nature trying to tell me something?

I Took My Superior Intellect To The Dark Side Of Genius And Learned I Am A Cynical Neurotic

The Friday before last Friday I blogged that Today Via Queen V I Learned I Am A Coyote.

In that blogging I mentioned the Facebook epidemic of quizzes by which one learns all sorts of interesting things about oneself.

Last night on Facebook, via Nurse Martha, I took The Dark Side of Genius quiz and learned that based on my answers I have a Superior Intellect and am Neurotic.

I tell you, these scientific quizzes are uncanny in their accuracy.

The following two paragraphs are The Dark Side of Genius's summing up of the scientific results of my answers to The Dark Side of Genius quiz....

You're not perfect, but you're not far off. You are to thinking what Yoda is to the Force. And you're also meticulous to the tiniest detail. There are grammatical errors in this result that are already beginning to bug you. Just remember, we're not operating on your level.

Moreover, your test results show a proclivity to be a tad paranoid. In other words...you're a healthy cynic. You question everything around you with the same intensity that Darth Vader squeezes windpipes. No one can ever say you're unprepared...for anything.

That is so true. I am very cynical. And I am also very healthy. To help with that healthiness I am about to take my cynical self to Gateway Park to roll my wheels on the mountain bike trails, unless rain intervenes....

I Made It To The 2014 Prairie Fest But Did Not Find Elsie Hotpepper Belly Dancing

Sometime around noon today I started getting text messages from Elsie Hotpepper instructing me as to when I needed to be at the Tandy Hills Prairie Fest.

At some point in time after the last Elsie Hotpepper message I arrived at the summit of Mount Tandy, figuring it'd be easier to park there and hike to the Prairie Fest, thus avoiding any parking annoyances.

The route from where I parked to where I fested took me across the lonely colorful spot of prairie you see above. No humans in view. One would not guess a festival was in progress nearby.

Eventually I made it to the Prairie Fest, where, in the center of the sprawling festival grounds I saw the tepee you see below. Everyone knows how much I like anything that has anything to do with Native Americans, so seeing the tepee pleased me.

I walked around the tepee as the first step in my search for Elsie Hotpepper.

On the west side of the tepee I came upon the view you see below.

For a part of a second I stood there thinking that this was Elsie Hotpepper belly dancing by a hippie van.

But, I quickly realized I had not located the elusive Hotpepper.

However, I must say, this belly dancer addition to the Prairie Fest was interesting. Every time the band would start playing a new song the belly dancer would go into dancing animation mode. It was hypnotic.

A large crowd was enjoying having themselves a mighty fine time listening to the music. It was like being at a mini-Woodstock, but with very little inappropriate behavior.

The biggest disappointment at this year's Prairie Fest you see below.

The Tandy Hills Hoodoo at Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail was totally obliterated, with only its foundation rock left in its place. Tragic.

As for the search for Elsie Hotpepper.

After what seemed like hours of searching I eventually resorted to text messaging "I have looked all over. Where are you?"

To which Elsie Hotpepper replied something like "I left for another engagement."

To which I replied, "Well......."

Mountain Biking Gateway Park Blocked By Piles Of Brush Before Finding Elsie Hotpepper At The Tandy Hills Prairie Fest

I think it has been a couple weeks since I last rolled my bike's wheels on the Gateway Park mountain bike trails.

A couple weeks and today I found that piles of brush are still piled up, blocking the trail, the sidewalk, and spilling over on to the road.

When I started pedaling today I was quickly annoyed by a metallic rattling noise that sounded like something was about to malfunction.

After three stops for a water break I discovered it was the water bottle's metal cage  that had come a bit loose, making the malfunction in the making noise. A wrench quickly fixed the problem so I could continue rolling with no metallic rattling noise.

Prior to driving to Gateway Park Elsie Hotpepper asked me when I was going to be at the Tandy Hills and the Prairie Fest today. My answer was I don't know.

When I got to Gateway Park I text messaged Miss Hotpepper with the information that the wind was gusting quite blustery, making me think that the Prairie Fest may be heading to blown to smithereens mode. About an hour ago I got a text message from the Hotpepper saying she would be at the Prairie Fest in half an hour, at which time she expected to see me there.

Well, I knew that was not going to happen. Lunch was my priority at the time. Whole wheat ham & cheese wraps.

After I had my fill of bike riding I was off to Town Talk, back on my regular schedule after going rogue last week by going to Town Talk on Friday instead of Saturday.

Yogurt was three cases for five bucks today. I got one case of Chobani blackberry, one of Chobani apple cinnamon, plus one case of Odyssey Greek peach yogurt. I also got a big bag of chopped kale, bleu cheese, extra sharp white cheddar, two jars of sun-dried tomatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes and whole wheat tortillas.

It was a good Town Talk day today.

And now I must see if I want to muster the energy to go to the Prairie Fest.....

At Arlington's Village Creek Meeting My TRWD Litter Quota Worrying About Equal Rights For Unborn Women While Eating Turtles

If you're like me and are among the thousands who have signed up to be part of the Tarrant Regional Water District's brilliant plan to eliminate litter from Fort Worth and surrounding areas by picking up 10 pieces of litter every Tuesday, yet have been having trouble filling your litter quote, I may be of some help.

Go to Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area to pay your respects to the Indian ghosts who haunt that location, then continue on til you reach the south Village Creek dam/bridge where you will find a litter jam piled up behind the dam/bridge.

This particular litter jam  is refreshed every time rain falls in copious amounts. So far the TRWD's brilliant anti-litter plan has not seemed to have made much of a dent in the Village Creek Litter Jam.

In non-litter related Village Creek conundrums, today I was a bit perplexed by the bumper sticker you see stuck to the bumper of the car below, parked across from me in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's parking lot.

"EQUAL RIGHTS FOR UNBORN WOMEN"? And is that license plate meant to be saying "Fakely"?

Continuing on after being perplexed by a bumper sticker, before being perplexed by the above litter jam, I visited the Village Creek turtles who were not being skittish or perplexing today.

A couple days ago I was channel chasing and came upon one of those ubiquitous outdoor survival shows right when the survivalists were preparing a turtle for roasting. I don't think I could eat a turtle.

I did not think I could eat frog legs either, til I was the Rio buffet in Las Vegas. I had part of one....

On The Tandy Hills With A Fallen Hoodoo And A Wardrobe Malfunction

Today was my first time back on the Tandy Hills since my right knee recovered from a middle of the night nightmare incident.

It felt good to be back doing some high speed hill hiking.

I don't remember when I was last on the Tandy Hills, but I think we have had two precipitation incidents since my last visit. Those two precipitation incidents seem to have greatly amped up the production of vegetation, including wildflowers.

I was a bit crestfallen to reach Tandy Hills Hoodoo Central to find the Tandy Hills Signature Hoodoo laying in pieces.

Today is Thursday. The 2014 Prairie Fest is Saturday. Will there be a Hoodoo Resurrection between now and then?

The other known Hoodoos that I visited today were still intact.

Before I reached the Fallen Hoodoo I turned on my camera to take a picture of the incredibly dense air pollution that was hovering across the horizon, greatly limiting visibility. What is making this mess? Dust? Wildfires?

Anyway, when I turned on my camera I saw the battery about to go dead red light flashing. I took a picture and turned off the camera. When I got to the fallen Hoodoo I reached for the camera, figuring it'd likely be good for a snap or two. Then I remembered my picture taking phone was in another pocket.

Well.

I have no problem with the viewing screen of my camera, but the phone camera, in the bright sun, I could see nothing. So, I just aimed and touched the take a picture button and hoped for the best. Of the three attempts the above was the best.

The worst thing that happened today on the Tandy Hills happened when I squatted down to take the above picture.

My cargo shorts tore apart.

I really need to lose some weight. Or get industrial strength cargo shorts....