The Snow Missed Flaking On Me In The Hot Tub At My Location In The Dallas Fort Worth Zone

As you can see, this morning's hot tubbing was a steamy affair.

With the hot tub heated to somewhere between 80 and 90 degrees and the air chilled to 27 degrees the temperature differential made for a very pleasant soak under the shine of a thin sliver of a moon.

Last night snow was falling all over the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Except at my location.

I looked out my windows several times throughout the night and saw nothing falling.

Prior to bedtime I'd already read a snow report from the Fort Worth Connie D, reporting a virtual blizzard of flakes at her location a few miles west of me, slightly west of downtown Fort Worth.

This morning the only thing white that I saw was the thick coat of frost covering every roof within my purview.

Currently only a slight breeze is blowing, thus a minimalist wind chill factor. I think, if dead calm continues to prevail, I may again attempt a bike ride. Unless my sliding door access to my bike is back frozen again. After the freeze lifted, once again freeing that door, I lubricated everything associated with that door that moved.

If the sliding door is frozen shut again, and if I am feeling real determined to roll my wheels, I suspect I may go through the extra bother of extracting the bike from the back door, assuming it is not also frozen shut.

Those whose job it is to keep us worried about the weather are hinting at some apocalyptic icy weather event happening after Thanksgiving, heading into December.

I miss those good ol' days of Global Warming....

Rolling My Wheels To Walmart In Search Of A Fort Worth Sidewalk

Last night after the sun set for the day I was giving my aching self a salubrious hot tub soak, when pinpricks of recently frozen water began pummeling me. It felt good.

As I was being pummeled by the incoming former ice I remembered I'd forgotten to get salsa when I was at ALDI earlier that day. Salsa is a much needed ingredient for the baked enchiladas I was making for today's Sunday buffet.

In the middle of the night I was laying awake and had myself a brilliant idea. In the morning I would roll the wheels of my bike the less than 3 miles to Walmart to get that much needed salsa, figuring Sunday morning, with cold temperatures, there would be few people out and about.

Of course this wheeling rolling to Walmart plan was predicated on the predicted precipitation in the form of sleet and snow not precipitating, which had me a bit disappointed to see, upon the first light of dawn, that the outer world was dripping wet.

When I took this morning's salubrious hot tub soak I was once again pummeled by extremely cold formerly frozen water.

In the middle of the night I decided when I rolled my wheels to Walmart in the morning part of my plan was to document the pathetic lack of sidewalks along this route, with that lack making riding ones bike a bit more hazardous than it need be. I also wanted to document the lack of sidewalks leading to the John T. White Elementary School, which opened just a couple years ago, on John T. White Road.

I have long wondered who in the world John T. White was that he is so honored with a school and a sidewalk free road named after him.

Well, due to the extreme drippage I decided to opt out of riding my bike to Walmart. Instead I used the old-fashioned method of using my mechanized means of locomotion. On route I snapped pictures through the windshield of the missing sidewalks along John T. White Road.

In the above picture you are looking at the dirt path ending, turning into the narrow paved sidewalks which runs in front of John T. Elementary School. That would be the school you see on the right in the picture.

Apartments Short Distance West of John  T. White
 with NO sidewalks

To the west of John T. Elementary School, on John T. White Road there are multiple apartment complexes. You see the kids in those complexes walking along the dirt path with leads to their school.

You reading this in other parts of America, did you realize there are still towns in America without sidewalks, where kids wear in dirt paths to make their way to school?

Do no kids ride their bikes to school at this location? When I was in elementary school I rode my bike to school . The school was about a mile ride, all on sidewalk, unless I chose to pedal on the road. Lots of kids rode their bikes to school when I was a kid. The school had a big bike rack to park our bikes on.

How is it allowed in civilized, modern America to build a school without sidewalks built to walk on so as to walk safely to school? Are there no codes or standards or regulations or something that covers this type neglect?

What about the Americans with Disabilities Act? Does that kick in in this type circumstance for a kid in a wheelchair needing to wheel himself to school at John T. Elementary School?

Methinks Fort Worth really should collectively feel ashamed of itself for this obvious neglect. How can this town waste so much money on things not needed, such as Three Bridges Over Nothing, which likely will be over nothing for a long, long time, when the relative pittance required to build a necessary amenity, like sidewalks, is deemed something not worthy of doing?

Isn't that Americans with Disabilities Act as federal law? How do you get the feds to intervene when a city is negligent regarding the basics? Such as sidewalks to schools and running water and modern restrooms in its parks?

It is very perplexing to me....

Deep Frying Your Thanksgiving Turkey Can Have Explosive Results

No, that is not me in the picture holding my latest culinary triumph, a severely burned turkey.

What you are looking at is a picture from the blog of some New York personal injury attorneys, specifically the post from their blog which deals with the dangers associated  with Thanksgiving and the frying of turkeys using propane fueled deep fryers.

More on what the New York personal injury attorneys have to say about the risks associated with deep frying your Thanksgiving (or Christmas) turkey later in this blogging.

I only learned of the practice of deep frying a turkey shortly before moving to Texas. I had been email corresponding with a Fort Worth inhabitant with the charming Southern sounding name of Julene. At one point Julene mentioned having ordered her Thanksgiving deep fried turkey from Dickeys.

Huh? How does one order a turkey from a blue jeans maker, let alone get it fried, I wondered?

Upon arrival in Texas it was not long until I saw Deep Fried Turkey Frying Kits for sale at Krogers and other places. Along with huge jugs of peanut oil. I knew the South liked to fry stuff, but this was beyond how bad I imagined it could be.

Then, by the time my first Texas Thanksgiving rolled around the head mistress at the domicile I was staying in at that time had bought a Deep Fried Turkey Fryer. And a giant jug of peanut oil.

I thought the idea of deep frying a turkey was disgusting, that it'd be greasy and could not understand how it could be safe heating a bit pot of boiling oil and then sticking a big bird in it.

I wanted nothing to do with it, so I absented myself from the process and went roller blading. By the time I returned the turkey was done, what with it only taking about a half an hour to deep fry a big turkey.

I saw the finished product and instantly thought it looked real good, all golden brown. And then I took one bite.

Tastiest turkey ever.

And totally non greasy.

That was to be the first of many deep fried turkeys during my time at that domicile.

At one point, for a 4th of July pool party it was decided to deep fry 10 chickens. That did not go so well. The chickens did not turn out golden brown, like the turkey, and the meat was rendered sort of chewy. I liked it, but the majority did not.

It has now been well over a decade since I have had Deep Fried Turkey. Ironically, a Dickey's has now opened in my neighborhood. I forget when it was I learned that Dickey's also barbecued in addition to making blue jeans. Last week my mailbox contained an ad from Dickey's with a Deep Fried Turkey offer.

Now, if I've convinced you that you want to rush out and get yourself a Deep Fried Turkey Fryer, here is what those New York Personal Injury Attorneys had to say about this method of making your Thanksgiving turkey...

Severe burns and other personal injuries as well as destruction of property may result from improper use of gas-fueled turkey fryers that cook the bird in hot oil. These cooking appliances are very popular for Thanksgiving but they are not safe! The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) discourages their use. The risk of oil spilling is significant and the resulting injuries can be severe.

If you still decide to use a Turkey Fryer you should be aware of some of the dangers you are facing:

• During the cooking hot oil can splash on your hands or face resulting in burn injuries
• The deep fryer stand can tip or collapse when the turkey is put in or taken out resulting in a major hot oil spill
• The temperature of the cooking oil is so high that even its vapors can ignite creating an additional risk of fire
• Deep fryers can not be used inside. Many fires have ignited when fryers were moved indoors or into a garage to keep the appliance out of the rain
• Bad weather such as snow and rain is an additional danger to deep frying. If the rain or the snow hits the oil it may splatter or turn to steam and result in burns. The same can happen if the turkey is put in the oil when not fully thawed
• Deep fryers use around five gallons of oil and if the turkey is dropped too quickly in it, the oil will splash and burn people close to the appliance.

I think I err on the side of caution and let Dickey's do the turkey frying....

Is It Colder In Texas Than Alaska This Week?

I learned this morning on Facebook, via Miss Julie, the Reigning Queen of Assumption, that apparently currently we are colder in Texas than those shivering in Alaska this week.

Somehow I find that a bit hard to believe.

Currently my outer world in Texas is being heated to ten degrees above freezing.

This morning when I woke up my temperature monitoring devices I had a confusing conflict. My phone told me it  was 40 degrees at my location. My online local news source also indicated it was 40 degrees.

However, my computer based temperature monitoring device was telling me it was 32 degrees, as in freezing. I clicked on that freezing information to see I'd set the temperature monitoring device to monitor the temperature in my old home zone of Mount Vernon. I switched the location to Fort Worth to find the temperature now matching my other temperature monitoring devices.

So, I find it hard to believe that Mount Vernon, located where it is, in the heart of what is known as the Western Washington Banana Belt, barely freezing, is colder than the far north, as in, in Alaska, where I suspect, in much of the state, the temperature is well below freezing.

On a temperature related note, I had myself a mighty fine time in the hot tub this morning, watching clouds flying by from the south. Great big masses of clouds in odd formations moving so fast the sky would temporarily clear and then cloud up again. It was hypnotic.

I am going to try and ride my bike again. I am assuming the door that gives me access to my bike is no longer frozen shut....

With My Bike Frozen Stuck Today I Took A Frigid Walking Tour Of My Neighborhood With Guacamole

You are looking at what freezing looks like at my location on the planet, looking past the spiked spears which make up the security fence which keeps me secure from Halloween trick or treaters and other intruders.

Due to the fact that this second Friday of November is the first day in days without a strong wind constantly blowing I decided today would be a mighty fine time to layer on my collection of winter outerwear so as to roll my wheels on a cold tour of my neighborhood in relatively chill-free comfort.

After going to all that bother of putting on more clothes than I've put on in a long long time I got to the vehicle in which my bike is stored, unlocked the sliding door to find I could not open the door. Even though the only precipitation since this Polar Bomb exploded was a little sleet in the middle of the night a couple nights ago, somehow this Deep Freeze has managed to freeze the sliding door stuck.

The other doors opened just fine. But I can not get the bike out the other doors.

So, with no wheels available for manual rolling I opted to take a well insulated walk around the neighborhood, eventually ending up in Albertsons where a pushy woman insisted I try her free sample of guacamole and one chip. I had fingerless gloves on which made the chip dipping difficult. That and the chip broke up into pieces. I had one bite of the guacamole before the chip disintegrated on me. It was good guacamole. The chip, no so much.

I don't recollect if I have mentioned that I have been enjoying getting HOT in the restored hot tub during this unfortunate icy freak weather event. The hot tub gets all steamy, seems to have a salubrious effect on my sinuses, maybe from some sort of steambath effect. The hot tub is being heated to only 85 degrees, so I don't get overheated followed by a need for a quick dip in the way too cool pool.

I have been enjoying the hot tubbing in frigid temperatures so much I have been having myself an evening soak the last couple nights, after the sun leaves for the day. It is very relaxing.

The Fort Worth Transit Authority Needs To Restore Its Fare Aid Free Bus Pass Program

No, that is not a picture of current bus riding conditions on a Fort Worth T bus. I suspect this picture was taken during last winter's snow event.

Those who forecast the weather for this part of the planet have backed off a bit on the chance of ice or snow making us even more miserably cold this coming Sunday.

I am using a Fort Wort T bus image for non-weather reasons. As in something else is bugging me.

Last month I learned that the Fort Worth Transit Authority was stopping its free pass program which gave free bus passes via a grant program called Fare Aid.

Fare Aid was designed to aid the transportation needs of those who lacked the means to buy a bus ticket. Such as Homeless People, some of whom actually have jobs requiring some form of transit to get to the job which does not pay enough to allow the person the ability to afford a place to live other than a Homeless Shelter in Fort Worth's Homeless People District.

What is going on lately with the demonizing of Homeless People around the nation, from coast to coast, from Florida to California?

If only this were a nation based on Christian principles.

Principles like "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them To Do Unto You".

And then there is that famous quote from the guy from whom the Christian religions sprang, "What You Do To The Least Among You, You Do Unto Me."

Methinks it would behoove the Fort Worth Transit Authority to re-think its free pass program. It is not like the buses are running anywhere near full capacity, except maybe the downtown to West 7th line, at times. It is not going to increase revenue by ending the free passes. Those who relied on free passes are not suddenly going to be able to afford the $60 or $70 or whatever it is a monthly bus pass costs. Or the $3.50 for a one-day pass.

I would think a town, like Fort Worth, which has so many Homeless People that an area of town is known as the Homeless People District, would be motivated to do anything it could to help these people, such as provide free access to the town's under utilized public transit system.

And isn't it ironic, and just a bit embarrassing, that on the west side of Fort Worth's downtown we have what is known as The Cultural District, while on the east side of Fort Worth's downtown we have what is known as The Homeless People District.

Restore the free bus passes, Fort Worth. It's the Christian thing to do......

Tarrant Regional Water District Management Practices Under Scrutiny

Among this morning's incoming email was an email from one of the Tarrant Regional Water District Board Directors.

No. It was not Jim Lane.

The email pointed me to an article on the Cedar Creek Lake website titled Tarrant Regional Water District management practices under scrutiny.

Four paragraphs from this article should motivate you to read the entire piece...

Gooden said he filed multiple open records requests for information, but TRWD's attorneys "stonewalled" him. "It really leads me to believe they are trying to hide something," he said. "We can't seem to get any answers."

Gooden said he took his concerns to Henderson County District Attorney R. Scott McKee. "It is my belief if he looks hard enough he will find some pretty interesting things."

Gooden said his concerns include allegations that TRWD provides massage therapists for all employees, owns a lake house on Cedar Creek Lake for the use of top managers and members of the board of directors, maintains deer leases for management's use and gives water to fracking operations.

Gooden said he is concerned that TRWD is pumping water out of Cedar Creek Lake to sell in order to divert money to a "slush fund."

I'd not heard the "massage therapists" allegation before. The Deer Lease and its Hunting Lodge, that I have heard of before.

How does the TRWD continue to get away with stonewalling open records requests? It would seem to me that that violation of the Freedom of Information Act, alone, should be enough of a red flag to cause law enforcement to do some heavy duty investigating of the TRWD's shenanigans.

The cliche which I think is appropriate here "where there is smoke there is fire...."

Carol Burnett's Family Is Causing Me More Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome In Texas

Last February when I finally got around to getting myself a smart phone I had no idea how smart smart phones are.

I thought it was sending text messages, photos and accessing the Internet which made them smart.

Clearly, I was really dumb about how smart smart phones actually are.

I really had no clue about how dumb I was about how smart the smart phones are til I got fed up with AT & T's U-Verse cable scam and decided to cut the cord.

Cutting the cable cord is liberating. Opening doors I did not know existed. As in I did not know til I killed AT & T that I could watch TV on my smart phone.

Soon I found myself watching entire movies, such as Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator.

YouTube is like having a video library access to the history of television. As in full episodes of TV series going all the way back to the era of I Love Lucy.

Which leads me to my current nightmare. One day I clicked on YouTube and found YouTube recommending for my viewing pleasure the Carol Burnett Show's sketch known as The Family. Later known as Mama's Family.

Above you are looking at Eunice Higgins. Decades ago when I first watched the Mama's Family sketches I was hit with twinges of extreme discomfort, due to the fact that that which was being hyperbolized hit way too close to home. Eunice Higgins is at the heart of that which hit too close to home.

Watching these sketches on YouTube has been causing me some bad post traumatic stress nightmares.

I have a relative, or two, who remind me of that which Eunice Higgins parodies. There were a couple decades where I avoided family holiday get togethers by going to Reno and California, so as not to subject myself to my personal Eunice's.

Eunice Higgins is an overbearing, insecure, neurotic bully, rough riding over anyone in her path. The Eunice behavior which mirrors the behavior of the relatives whose behavior I abhor is the interrupting, dismissing, syndrome. This is demonstrated below in the full YouTube Larry Comes Home For Christmas Mama's Family sketch where you will see Larry be subjected to this type behavior.

When Larry finally has had enough of the insanity he erupts with a spewing informing his relatives that he lived a life where the people he related to actually let him complete a sentence, sometimes even an entire paragraph.

I remember the last time I was in the presence of one of my personal Eunice's I couldn't take it anymore, just like Larry, I left, went on a long walk, ended up at some nearby friend's house where the first words out of my mouth were "I need someone to talk normal to me for awhile."

And now for your viewing pleasure, "The Family Merry Christmas"......

Janice Jackson Thinks I Have Way Too Much Thyme On My Hands

A few minutes ago I saw on Facebook, via the Fort Worth Connie D, that which you see here.

Seeing this brought back a long repressed memory of a long repressed trauma.

Decades ago, in high school, my most sophisticated friend was a young lady named Janice, Janice Jackson to be exact. No relation to Janet or Michael.

Janice was so sophisticated because her mom and dad were so sophisticated.

When I was either a Junior or Senior, I don't remember which, Janice invited me over for dinner with her mom and dad.

I do not remember what was on the menu, except for the fact it was very sophisticated, likely with a European flair. What I do remember is wine came with the dinner, due to that European flair thing.

I felt so naughty, years away from being of a legal age to consume an alcoholic beverage. I'd never tasted wine prior to that day, other than my mom and dad's backyard blackberry brew. And I don't think that brew qualified as legit wine.

I don't remember how many glasses of wine I had during that sophisticated Jackson dinner. What I do remember is that when it was time to leave Janice, while walking me to my car, suddenly let out a loud shriek, shrieking "DON'T STEP ON THE THYME.."

I was totally startled. Don't step on time? I had no idea what this meant. Are we drunk on wine I remember wondering? I stood frozen, afraid to take another step.

Eventually Janice explained that I was stepping on the plant that grew between the stepping stones, an herb called thyme which sophisticated people grow and use to make that which they cook taste good.

And so today, seeing Connie's D's "I have way too much Thyme on my hands" message, it caused me a minor bout of post traumatic stress syndrome. I have since recovered....

Freezing In The Hot Tub Worrying About Incoming Snow & Ice In North Texas

On the left you are looking at a screencap from Facebook, a WEATHER UPDATE from the most reliable and detailed weatherman from whom I've experienced receiving weather reports, John Basham.

This morning the outer world was chilled to freezing at my location for the first time this freezing season. I think we beat my old home zone of the Skagit Valley for first freeze of the year.

With this morning being the first freezing morning of this freezing season I had my first frozen bout in my newly restored to HOT hot tub.

The newly HOT hot tub was not so hot that I felt compelled to cool off with a quick dip in the likely way too cool pool.

If the wind dies down, and I suspect it won't, I think I'll go on a neighborhood bike ride today. Unless the wind dies down the wind chill factor makes that freezing temperature feel like 22 instead of 32. Combined with the rapid speed at which I roll my wheels that would be way too chilly a bike ride.

As you can read below, in John Basham's latest WEATHER UPDATE, a chance of snow and sleet is a possibility in the days ahead. I am not in the mood to go slipping and sliding. I've only recently recovered from the post traumatic stress of last winter's scary slipping and sliding incident....

WEATHER UPDATE: 445AM WED NOV 12 2014 - North Texas Including the DFW Metroplex - Brrrrr A cold morning with much of the area already below freezing and windchill values in the teens. Tomorrow morning (Thursday) we will see clouds, freezing temps, and yes even a little light sleet is possible. The good news is most of the ice that will fall will not make it to the ground, but a few pellets of ice on your car Thursday morning are not out of the question. Now, the bigger issue, the third in a series of disturbances will rotate across North Texas on Sunday and forecast guidance does NOT agree on what this will cause. Prior to it's arrival, and the subsequent VERY STRONG cold front that will push across the area Sunday, we will see the return of Southerly winds as well as moisture in more than just the surface layer of the atmosphere. It would seem that the moisture return would not be sufficient to cause any wintery precipitation on Sunday once the disturbance and cold front work to cause lift, but timing is crucial. That in conjunction with the relative strength of the approaching system would lend pause to any monster amounts of wintery precipitation, BUT some model data suggests over an inch of snow is possible across a large part of North Texas. At this time, I am only willing to put snow/sleet into the slight chance category for Sunday, but I am watching it very closely. It very well could be an interesting and white weekend for much of North Texas... In the mean time, bundle up.. it's cold! THIS IS NOT AN NWS PRODUCT. John Basham