All Aboard For The Fort Worth Bridge Boondoggle Ground Breaking Boycott

This morning I was thinking about yesterday's blogging about Mary Kelleher boycotting tomorrow's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's ground breaking ceremony for its Three Bridges Over Nothing.

Thinking about the Three Bridges Over Nothing led to me once again wondering why no one but me seems to be baffled as to why The Boondoggle's construction of these bridges is scheduled to take four years.

Four years when bridges far more ambitious have been built over water in less than four years.

The only explanation my limited imagination can come up with for the four year project timeline is the bridges are being built in slow motion in the hope that by the time four years pass The Boondoggle may have found the money to build the ditch under the bridges to be filled with water, finally creating a pseudo island, which is currently called Panther Island, even though there is no island.

The bridge to my next thoughts led to thinking about Fort Worth's newly re-built West 7th Bridge. To my eyes this is a good looking bridge.

The Boondoggle claims its Three Bridges Over Nothing are signature bridges which will become iconic images representing the entry to the vaunted imaginary Panther Island.

Why did The Boondoggle not mirror the look of the West 7th Bridge for its Three Bridges Over Nothing? The West 7th Bridge is visually interesting. The artist's renderings I have seen of the Three Bridges Over Nothing indicate those bridges are not going to be even remotely visually interesting.

As I did all this bridge thinking I decided to blog about it. That had me looking for a picture of the West 7th Bridge. That led me to a Dallas Observer article, part of which is screencapped above, with the title Sorry, Fort Worth, But Your New "Signature" Bridge Is Pathetic.

Now that seems a bit rude. I've not heard the West 7th Bridge referred to as a "Signature" bridge. I certainly don't think the bridge is pathetic.

The first three paragraphs in the Dallas Observer article amused me, with the amusement due to the fact that that which is being written about happened way back in October of 2013, but could also describe what is happening, bridge-wise, in Fort Worth tomorrow...

This afternoon in Fort Worth, a "parade of dignitaries" will mark the opening of the new West 7th Street, and good for them. It's a fully competent work of civil engineering and a pleasant enough way to get to downtown Fort Worth, if get to downtown Fort Worth you must.

It's just that the level of excitement -- and remember that we say this as a friend and neighbor -- has grown unseemly. People are dropping adjectives like "signature" and "one-of-a-kind" as if no one's ever built a bridge before.

We urge the people of Fort Worth put down their celebratory bottles of Andre, pause for a moment, and cast their gaze eastward. There on the horizon, if their eyes can penetrate 35 miles through the smog, they'll notice a majestic -- nay, heavenly -- glow. Closer inspection will reveal the source as a span that truly deserves superlatives, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

I vaguely remember reading and possibly blogging about this Dallas Observer article back when it was published. If you read the entire article you will find that the writer does have some fun making fun of Fort Worth, but, the writer is also having fun making fun of Dallas and its "Signature" bridge. And by the end of the article the writer sort of back handedly compliments Fort Worth, advising Fort Worthers to stop embarrassing themselves giddily parading down their mediocre bridge, but to instead slink back into their "vibrant downtown and human-scale developments and bikeable neighborhoods and think long and hard about what truly makes a great city."

Sounds like good advice to me, good advice that Fort Worth would be very wise to heed.....

Mary Kelleher Will Not Be Attending The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Groundbreaking Ceremony For Three Bridges Over Nothing

Mary Kelleher Likely Not Aboard the
TRWD Helicopter

Whilst away from my computer I got a text message asking me if I'd received  an email from Mary Kelleher. I informed the text messenger I was not in contact with my computer, but would soon be.

When I re-established contact with my computer I quickly learned it was a Press Release from Mary Kelleher that was the issue in the email.

In that Press Release I learned I am not alone in realizing the Trinity River Vision is a Boondoggle time bomb which will likely be an embarrassing sore point in Fort Worth for decades.

I thought the TRV Boondoggle's Three Bridges Over Nothing had begun their laboriously slow four year construction back in August. However, in the Mary Kelleher Press Release I learned that the Fort Worth Boondogglers are having a Ground Breaking Party this coming November 10. I don't think one breaks ground on something which is already under construction, so it would seem we can deduce the Three Bridges Over Nothing Project is already three months behind schedule.

Mary Kelleher's Press Release also refers to the TRV Boondoggle's Town Lake as being 33 acres. I thought years ago that proposed lake had shrunk from 33 acre lake size to 12 acre pond size.

Til the Mary Kelleher Press Release made reference to it I had forgotten that back in 2008  Fort Worth voters got hornswoggled by approving a proposition that purported to be for street improvements, but was instead a scheme to divert tax revenue to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. With so much boondoggling hornswoggling going on it is difficult for a person such as myself, with limited memory function, to remember it all.

Anyway, the Mary Kelleher Press Release in its entirety.....

Press Release
November 7, 2014
Mary Kelleher, Director TRWD
Subject:  Groundbreaking-TRV Panther Island Bridges

On Monday, November 10, 2014, many of Fort Worth's elite will attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the TRV (Trinity River Vision) Panther Island Bridges. As a Director of the TRWD (Tarrant Regional Water District), I received an invitation to this event but I will not be in attendance. I do not want to go down in history as being present for the groundbreaking of what many anticipate, myself included, will be referred to one day as the biggest boondoggle in the history of Fort Worth. I'm disappointed in the decision to move ahead with building bridges over dry land without funding certainty.  

Some of you may not know about the TRV project and don’t feel bad because you never actually voted for it.  What you voted for back in 2008 was a proposition which read, “The issuance of public securities for street improvements in the aggregate sum of $150,000,000”.  This proposition passed and has turned into a public/private development scheme using tax revenues to finance a giant waterfront project to attract more people to Fort Worth.  The plan is to divert the Trinity River to create a 33-acre town lake with water-front restaurants, bars, businesses, and condos. 

Sounds great…..but there’s one big problem.  This almost billion dollar water project won’t bring one drop of water to Fort Worth and will place even more strain on the limited water supply we do have. It’s irresponsible to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for an economic development project when we are in a record drought and there are cities in Texas running out of water.

This serious issue was raised and the public/private clique responded with claims that this project is necessary for flood control.  Part of the plan calls for lowering the levees so people can have more access to the Trinity River.  Lowering levees increases flood risks.

The TRV is an unnecessary financial risk to the taxpayers, a financial blow to many of the Fort Worth property owners displaced by the taking of their land for this project, and a financial windfall for the chosen individuals, businesses, developers, contractors, and elected officials who have and will benefit from this project. 

Spencer Jack On Mount Vernon's Skagit River Vision Flood Control Riverwalk & Plaza

That would be Spencer Jack looking happy to be walking on my old home zone's newly finished Skagit River Vision Flood Control and Riverfront Development.

Part of this project provides a long walkway along the river, as in that on which Spencer Jack is waving.

There is also a plaza and other amenities.

Including a flood wall that can be erected quickly should a rampaging Skagit River threaten downtown Mount Vernon, a situation which previously required an army of volunteer sandbaggers to save downtown from a New Orleans in a hurricane type fate.

Yes, unlike another town which comes to mind, the Skagit River Vision actually fixes an actual flood problem.

I believe that is part of the new plaza we are looking at below. It looks to be a nice open area which likely will come in quite handy when the next Skagit Valley Tulip Festival takes place next spring.

Below we get a closer look at Spencer Jack and part of the plaza. I like how giant boulders are incorporated into the design. In the HUGE versions of these photos, which Spencer Jack's dad, my favorite nephew, Jason, sent me last night, you can much more clearly make out details, such as the giant boulders.

That thing sticking up into the air above Spencer Jack is known as the Tulip Tower. Every spring the Skagit Valley has a month long Tulip Festival, with downtown Mount Vernon being one of the festival sites. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival attracts over a million visitors to the valley every spring. These are real actual visitors, not an imaginary 10 million visitors like that which Fort Worth propagandists claim visit Fort Worth's imaginary Sundance Square every year.

Fort Worth's propagandists have used that bogus 10 million visitors to Sundance Square number in falsehood filled submissions to get awards no one has ever heard of so the Fort Worth propagandists can then make embarrassingly absurd claims, such as Fort Worth has the Top Downtown in America.

Those of you reading this who do not know anything about Fort Worth, let alone its downtown, Sundance Square is what the Fort Worth propagandists years ago named a 36 block area of Fort Worth's downtown which was, apparently, in dire need of revitalization. After a couple decades of confusing Fort Worth's few tourists, who thought Sundance Square was the parking lots at the heart of downtown, Fort Worth finally added an actual square on those parking lots, then goofily named the new square Sundance Square Plaza.

Continuing on, a broader view of the picture above, below in the distance you can see the Skagit River bridge which connects downtown Mount Vernon to west Mount Vernon. It is a big bridge, built over water, in less than four years.

The above picture sort of gives you an idea of the size of Mount Vernon's Skagit River Vision. Unlike Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision the Skagit River Vision had a project timeline, a qualified project engineer, was fully funded, was completed on schedule and did not hire the unqualified son of a corrupt local politician in order to try and motivate a corrupt local politician to secure federal pork barrel money to help pay for the project.

Below another look at part of the plaza, the Tulip Tower and the Skagit River Bridge.

Unlike Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision, eminent domain was not abused to take people's property to build the Skagit River Vision. The businesses and buildings which had to be removed were removed after this thing called "negotiating a fair price" took place with the owners, leaving no one feeling abused, unlike what has happened in Fort Worth.

We end this look at Mount Vernon's newest attraction looking southwest across the new plaza, which I doubt has a goofy name, at the sun setting on a Pacific Northwest fall day.

Today I Crossed A Fort Worth Police Line Before Finding Krogers Gutted

A few weeks ago I was rolling my wheels east on Boca Raton Boulevard when a Fort Worth police vehicle in SUV type form which I'd not seen before passed me.

A short time after passing me the police vehicle surprised me by turning left, up and over the sidewalk, heading into an undeveloped area that takes up a large chunk of land at the northwest corner of Boca Raton and Bridgewood Drive.

A year or two ago I walked the path the police vehicle drove, so as to get a look at the backside of my nearest Chesapeake Energy gas pad site.

Today when I took that same walk I was a little surprised to come upon that which you see above, a DO NOT CROSS POLICE LINE yellow tape. There were multiple instances of the yellow tape taped to bushes.

What happened in my neighborhood that warranted a DO NOT CROSS POLICE LINE warning? One would think I would have heard something if something happened which warranted such a warning.

I did not heed the DO NOT CROSS warning since it seemed obvious, due to the tattered nature of the caution tape signage, that this was no longer any sort of active crime scene. Crossing the DO NOT CROSS line did not provide any evidence as to what went on at this location.

About a half hour after being bum puzzled by a crime scene mystery I came upon another neighborhood mystery. As in what is happening to the old Krogers building that has sat abandoned for years? Today I saw that the interior is being gutted, as in the floor, walls and ceiling have been removed.

New grocery store? If so, I hope it is a Sprouts Farmers Market. Or Town Talk is making a big move.

Incoming Arctic Blast To Cool 250,179,444 People In 41 States With Dallas Possibly Covered In Ice

Yesterday was the first I heard that an Arctic Blast is bearing down on America from an icy storm generated in the far north zone of the Bering Sea.

The Dallas Observer screencap on the left was captured on Facebook this morning.

The Dallas Observer blog article about this incoming weather event is titled Arctic Blast Threatens Dallas, Weather Forecasters Rejoice.

One of the rejoicing weather forecasters referred to is Pete Delkus, an entity thought by many to be the reigning Weather Drama King  of North Texas.

The Pete Delkus Drama King thing sort of comes through in the Pete Delkus Twitter Tweet which the Dallas Observer included in its Facebook post....

It's on the way!! RT @RyanMaue: Next week's Arctic blast will threaten 41 States and 250,179,444 people---Pete Delkus.

How did Mr. Delkus get such precision for the number of people threatened by this incoming Arctic Blast?

Looking at the AccuWeather 15-day forecast AccuWeather has the Arctic Blast lowering the temperature in the North Texas zone to a couple degrees above freezing, starting next Tuesday.

The Dallas Observer interpretation of the weather forecast has it being an incoming Apocalypse, covering Dallas in a sheet of thick ice, wreaking havoc on the power grid, causing Krogers to run out of bread and other essential vittles, along with traffic frozen to a standstill.

I think the Dallas Observer was having itself a mighty fine time doing its version of being a Weather Drama Queen....

Rolling My Wheels Around My Fort Worth Neighborhood Remembering Getting Scolded For Not Recycling

This beautiful first Thursday of November, with its return of blue sky, lifted me from the doldrums of Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD) and had me rolling my wheels around my neighborhood.

Those are my handlebars parked in front of a Recycle Bin looking at my neighborhood golf course.

Do other towns put something like "Fort Worth Recycles" on their Recycle Bins?

Washington started recycling way back in the last century. I don't remember my Mount Vernon Recycle Bins having "Mount Vernon Recycles" printed on them.

When I moved to Texas I quickly unlearned the recycling habit, with all garbage going into the same garbage can. Or out the window. (joking)

I recollect about a year after moving to Texas being back up in Washington, staying in Seattle, putting an empty bottle in the regular garbage can and getting told by the woman of the house, in a severe scolding tone, "You forget, we recycle here."

I remember getting multiple repetitive recycled recycling scoldings. I have not seen that scolding Seattle woman in years....

This Morning I Found Hoodoo Wannabes Showing Up On Facebook

It has been fairly well documented that I am a fan of Hoodoos, particularly those Hoodoos which mysteriously appear on the Tandy Hills.

I've not seen a Tandy Hills Hoodoo since last Saturday.

This morning on Facebook I was reminded of the Tandy Hills Hoodoos.

The first Hoodoo-like entry I saw today was from Miss Alice, also known as Tootsie Tonasket.

I have seen a Tandy Hills Hoodoo, a  time or two or three or more, which have been amazing acts of balancing and engineering, but none quite as adventurous as those pictured above.

And then there is the Hoodoo Facebook post from Mr. Halbert.

This one does not look manmade to me. It looks like the type of rock formations I have seen in the Hoodoo home state, Utah.

That rock looks a little dangerous.

Is it a balancing rock?

Apparently this picture was taken way back in 1968, so I don't think there is any chance Child Protective Services would take issue with parental units allowing a little kid to play under a big rock, what with 1968 being 46 years ago.

What this big rock picture is actually making me wonder is how long has it been since I've seen the redrock zone of Utah? That being my favorite location on the planet. I was on the ground in Utah in July of 2001, but I was not in the redrock zone. I have flown over the redrock zone of Utah a few times this century, but that does not count because you do not get the scenic wonderland effect from thousands of feet in the air.

I'd go check on the Tandy Hills Hoodoos today, but recent wetness might have left some mud in its wake, so I'll let a few days of drying out take place before I go Hoodoo hunting....

A SAD Day In Texas And Most Of The Rest Of America

I saw that which you see on the left on Facebook yesterday. I don't remember via whom, precisely, except that it was either the Tacoma Connie D or the Tacoma Queen V.

I just realized that all three of us, me, Connie D and Queen V realized we could not and did not want to change the same person, so we all chose to no longer associate with that person.

Anyway, what a SAD day, as in Seasonally Affected Disorder type day, with this being day two of what is a stereotypical Western Washington fall and winter day. Water dripping from a gray sky. And cold. As in chilled to 52 degrees, which is about the same temperature as my old home zone is currently being heated.

It is also a SAD day, to me and a lot of others, due to yesterday's election results.

How come when I lived in Washington the people or issues I voted for usually won? While in Texas I don't think I've voted for anything that has won. Well, I did vote yes on this election's state wide road bond issue. And that passed. And I did vote for Mary Kelleher and she won.

Clearly I can not change the way the people around me vote, but I can choose to be around people who vote like I do.

But, that would require moving....

Spencer Jack Is Not In Fort Worth Watching The Trinity River Flood

No, that is not Spencer Jack visiting his favorite uncle in Texas with a flooding Trinity River behind him.

The mountain in the distance should be a good clue that Spencer Jack is not in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone.

Last night Spencer Jack's dad emailed me three photos with no accompanying text.

I had to use my highly evolved powers of observation to deduce that the Skagit River is running high enough to cause some road closures. I've read nothing about bad flooding. I suspect if the Skagit River was in bad flood mode I would have been emailed pictures of Mount Vernon's new flood wall  being put to use for the first time.

In the next picture it appears Spencer Jack is standing on the south side dike of the Skagit River. In the background is the infamous I-5 bridge, infamous due to part of the bridge falling into the river last year.

When my neighborhood Trinity River goes into flood mode, along with the extra water, there is always an astonishing amount of litter. I see nothing floating in the flooding Skagit River, not even logs. Usually logs are part of a Skagit River flood, at times causing these things called log jams.

In the final picture I believe Spencer Jack is standing by the new bridge across the Skagit River, with that bridge connecting the town I grew up in, Burlington, with the town I lived in before I moved to Texas, Mount Vernon. The highway which crosses that bridge used to be known as Highway 99. Now when it crosses to the Burlington side of the river it is known as Burlington Boulevard.

The new bridge across the Skagit River was built in way fewer years than four. As you can clearly see this bridge was built over water. Currently in Fort Worth three bridges are being built. Three simple little bridges. Three simple little bridges being built over dry land, with the water possibly added after the bridges get built, if money can be found to dig a water bearing ditch under the three bridges. Three simple bridges which are projected to take four years to build.

Speaking of Fort Worth's Three Bridges Over Nothing, yesterday on Facebook, via my cousin Scott, I saw a long list of amusing quotes regarding politicians, one of which applies to Fort Worth and its Trinity River Vision Boondoggle...

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev~

A Little Teapot Spouting To The Politically Ecumenical Elsie Hotpepper

A couple days ago I speculated in a blogging that we might soon be hearing Elsie on Radio Hotpepper.

Last night someone called Little Teapot commented on the Radio Hotpepper blogging, self diagnosing that in part the Little Teapot comment might be considered politically incorrect....

Little Teapot has left a new comment on your post "Are We On The Air With Elsie On Radio Hotpepper?": 

Unless the format has changed recently, this station is Asian-centric, as in Indian and other cultures surrounding India. The brownskins instead of the redskins, pardon any violations of political correctness.

As for your gal pal Miss. Hotpepper, any talk hosting she does will likely involve a Tea Party flavor. Doesn't seem like that flavor is your cup of tea, Mr. Progressive Washingtonian. Then again you may be more Texan and conservative than you might think after absorbing the culture here for so long. A down home Stockholme syndrome?

This morning I heard from Elsie Hotpepper regarding what Little Teapot had to say. Suffice to say Elsie did not take kindly to having her good character assassinated with this uncalled for Tea Party slur.

Does Elsie Hotpepper associate with people who associate themselves with the Tea Party? Yes, she does.

Elsie Hotpepper also associates with people who associate themselves with the Republican Party, the Democrat Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the Socialist Party, the Progressive Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and any other party who might be a help with any of the many Elsie Hotpepper causes and issues.

In other words, Elsie Hotpepper is politically ecumenical.