Interesting Look Into The Convoluted Funding Of The Dunce Confederacy's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

Out of the blue, on the third day of the New Year of 2015, in my incoming email inbox, there appeared a document which seemed to be a detailed accounting of the bizarre money moving shenanigans the City of Fort Worth is engaging in in cahoots with its Dunce Confederacy Cohorts in the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

It has long been apparent, to the few who pay attention, that the funding mechanism for the Dunce Confederacy Boondoggle is seriously flawed.

Hence the slow motion building of Three Simple Bridges Over Nothing taking an absurd four years, after which, if funding can be found, a ditch may be dug under the three bridges, finally giving them a purpose, after water is added to the ditch.

Does any other town in America finance a public works project in this convoluted manner?

Below is the legalistic gobblygook which seems to be all about transferring funds from various accounts into The Boondoggle's side of the ledger, near as I can tell....

SUBJECT:
Authorize Transfer of Funds Received from Tarrant County in the Amount of $332,065.91 from the Special Trust Fund to Certain Other Funds for the Purpose of Reimbursing City's Previous Trinity River Vision Eligible Project Expenses and Contracts, Consistent with the City's Limitation of $26.6 Million on Expenditures for the Trinity River Vision Project and Adopt Appropriation Ordinances (COUNCIL DISTRICT 9) 

RECOMMENDATION: 
It is recommended that the City Council:

1. Adopt the attached appropriation ordinance increasing estimated receipts and appropriations in the Special Trust Fund in the amount of $332,065.91 from available funds; 
2. Authorize the transfer from the Special Trust Fund in the amount of $332,065.91 to the Street Improvements Fund in the amount of $122,670.22, the Sewer Capital Projects Fund in the amount of 175,550.80 and the Specially Funded Capital Projects Fund in the amount of $33,844.89 for previous Trinity River Vision eligible project expenses and contracts;
3. Adopt the attached appropriation ordinance increasing estimated receipts and appropriations in the Street Improvements Fund in the amount of $122,670.22;  
4. Adopt the attached appropriation ordinance increasing estimated receipts and appropriations in the Sewer Capital Projects Fund in the amount of $175,550.80; 
5. Adopt the attached appropriation ordinance increasing estimated receipts and appropriations in the amount of $33,844.89 in the Specially Funded Capital Projects Fund; and
6. Authorize the transfer in the amount of $33,844.89 from the Specially Funded Capital Projects Fund to the Capital Projects Reserve Fund.

DISCUSSION: 
After a recent audit of City expenses and contracts, the above recommendations are necessary to reimburse several City Funds in order to ensure that the $26.6 million Trinity River Vision (TRV) spending cap is maintained. Tarrant County will soon be providing the City with their Fiscal Year 2015 TRV reimbursement in the amount of $1.5 million, so this Mayor and Council Communication will enable the redistribution of a portion of that funding to cover TRV-related expenses and contracts in the following manner:

On April 15, 2008, (M&C C-22766) City Council authorized the initial contract with TranSystems for Phase IA of stormwater and franchise utility design/coordination. This was a TRV eligible expense that counted towards the City's $26.6 million commitment in the amount of $946,500.00. This contract was paid for with City funds from the Capital Projects Reserve Fund because it was prior to the City receiving TRV Project reimbursements from Tarrant County. On October 6, 2009 (M&C C-23833), City Council authorized the use of Tarrant County TRV Project reimbursement funds to move the Police Auto Pound, which was a non-TRV eligible expense. The final cost in moving the auto pound was $912,655.11. By transferring the difference of $33,844.89 ($946,500.00 vs. $912,655.11) from the Special Trust Fund (i.e., Tarrant County TRV reimbursements) to the Specially Funded Capital Projects Fund, this leaves the Police Auto Pound expenditure of $912,655.11 paid by Capital Projects Reserve Funds and reimburses the difference for the TranSystems Phase IA contract.

FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION: 
The Financial Management Services Director certifies that upon approval of the above recommendations and adoption of the attached appropriation ordinances, funds will be available in the current capital budgets, as appropriated, of the Street Improvements Fund, the Sewer Capital Projects Fund, and the Specially Funded Capital Projects Fund.

______________________________________________________

I can not help but wonder if the Dunce Confederacy Trinity River Vision Boondoggle had been funded in the way normal public works projects are funded, you know, after a public vote where the voters vote to tax themselves by some means to fund a project for the public good, whether we would be seeing these type convoluted "funding" manipulations to fund an ongoing Boondoggle?

The Pretentiously Portentous 2015 New Years Aspirations Of Althea & Me

Well, we have now arrived at day four of the New Year of 2015.

I think I am now settled enough into the New Year to talk about New Year's Eve.

I don't remember if I have mentioned it in New Years previous, but Althea and I have a tradition, inspired by our good friends, the Montagues, where every New Year's Eve we sit down, me with my single malt whiskey, Althea with her gallon of Mogen David wine and three pounds of fudge, to talk about our aspirations for the coming year.

Now, by aspirations we do not mean anything so heavy as a resolution, or even a goal, even though aspirations, resolutions and goals are pretty much the same thing.

For our pretentious purposes we are going to assert that aspirations are a different thing from a resolution or a goal.

A lighter thing.

Less heavy than a resolution or a goal. Nothing daunting like resolving to lose a few hundred pounds. What with it seeming sort of obvious, to anyone with any semblance of sanity, that, if one found oneself a few hundred pounds overweight, common sense would have one aspiring to lose that weight for health and aesthetics, plus ease of going up and down stairs, along with no longer being banned from flying.

I digress.

So, as Althea and I went over our list of aspirations which we had written down for 2014, way back on New Year's Eve of 2013, we were struck by how many of our aspirations had come to pass.

I shan't detail all our aspirations which have come to pass, that would seem way too much like pretentious bragging. And what with one of our 2014 aspirations being to cut back on our high volume of pretentious bragging, well, you get the point.

Suffice to say 2014 was a very good year. Very good.

Also, suffice to say I am a lucky boy and Althea is a very very very lucky girl. Very lucky. Can I say that again without seeming repetitive? Very lucky.

As we drank what remained of our whiskey and wine, Althea and I began to aspire to our aspirations for 2015.

Of course, it goes with out saying, but I will say it anyway, as we decide upon an aspiration we write it down in our Aspirations Notebook.

On the first banking day of the New Year we take our Aspirations Notebook to our bank to secure it in our safety deposit box until the next New Year's Eve. We don't quite understand why this is part of the Annual Aspiration Process, but the Montagues do it, and thus, so do we.

Anyway, I really thought it a thoughtful thing for myself and Althea to share our Annual New Year's Eve Aspiration tradition with others, so that they might aspire to emulate our aspirations....

The Sun Shined Bright For A Moment On This Third Day Of 2015 In Texas

A few minutes ago, on this Third Day of the New Year of 2015, the sun broke a hole through the clouds, with a big enough hole for a large patch of blue to appear.

Temporarily.

But, long enough that I was able to take a photo through the bars of my patio prison cell of the bright glaring sunlight bouncing off a pool filled near to overflowing by last night's deluge of downpouring rain.

That deluge of downpouring rain was accompanied by a long thunderstorm with way too much booming for far too long.

In other words, I had a rough night last night. A rough night of sleep interruptions due to that aforementioned booming thunder.

The outer world has suddenly seemed to darken, again. A quick look out my computer room window sees no blue sky remaining. Gray clouds once again cover the sky from horizon to horizon.

Changing the subject to something else.

This morning, on Facebook, I have been shocked, shocked I tell you, to read Miss Julie's, who in 2014 went by her stripper name of Fluffy Monkey Buns, tale of her recent groupie assignation with members of Fleetwood Mac, post a recent concert in Dallas.

Miss Julie's adventurous tale came complete with rather revealing photo documentation of the sort I had not seen on Facebook at any point any time previous to today.

Changing the subject back again to the weather.

During that brief and shining moment when the sun returned I was filled with a momentary desire to head somewhere in the outer world for a walk. A walk with the Indian Ghosts at Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area seemed like a good idea. Then I remembered last night's flood level of rain and the likelihood Village Creek is flooding, with the park closed.

And now the gray doom has returned, clouding out any strong desire to commune with nature in a park-like setting....

Under A Bumbershoot Hunting Tomatoes While Pondering The Sad Fate Of The TCU Froggies

If you looked at this picture and guessed I was in the outer world under a bumbershoot you would have guessed correctly.

This morning I was in the hot tub before the dawn of the new day. At that point in time only a fine mist was precipitating.

But, when the sun arrived to illuminate the darkness that fine mist turned into big drops of cold wetness.

When the noon time frame I arrived I  felt the need to be vertical. I also felt the need to acquire some Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with green chiles to add to the pot of chili I brewed this morning.

A bowl of hot chili is quite salubrious on a cold day like today.

I had to make my way through several flooding zones to make it to Albertsons to get the aforementioned diced tomatoes.

Checking in on Facebook today I noted a lot of concern about college football bowl games which took place on New Years Day.

Many of the locals seem to think the local team known as the TCU Froggies was robbed somehow by not getting to play in some special game where winning that special game would have meant, I guess, that the TCU Froggies are very special.

Some seem to think the Froggies are owed some sort of apology. Others go to the extreme of thinking an investigation needs to take place into what some apparently think has been a gross miscarriage of justice.

I confess I pay little attention to football, for the most part. I do know that this year there is some sort of championship deal between four teams and that it was not being included as one of those four teams which has the Froggies all bumpuzzled.

Yesterday the Froggies gave a sound thrashing to a school called Old Miss, which greatly fueled the fires of feeling the Froggies should have been one of the Final Four.

I don't quite get why beating a team known as Old Miss would be considered a big deal.

I don't know by what complex criteria this Final Four for the championship is determined. It may have something to do with the size of a school.

TCU, also known as Texas Christian University, is a very small school. I am talking about the size of the campus. You can walk from one end to the other in five minutes. I have been to major universities where you can not drive from one end to the other in five minutes, such as the University of Washington, and others.

Does TCU play in a big league? I have no idea. Like I said, I don't pay much attention beyond the chatter and noise.

However, I do know that both the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks are in the NFL playoffs. I have heard it said that once again the road to the Super Bowl goes through Seattle. This has something to do with home field advantage in the playoff games. I do not know if Dallas has a similar advantage.

Is is possible that Dallas might play Seattle in this year's Super Bowl? I think Dallas already beat Seattle once this year. I really do not know who I might root for if Dallas and Seattle are in this year's Super Bowl. Will Cowboy Stadium be open so fans can watch on the big screen like was done for a boring World Cup soccer game last summer?

If so, I think I shall be there......

Happy Ice Free New Year So Far At My Texas Location With Me Not Being Manly Man Enough To Hike The Tandy Hills

In this view you are looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at a steaming hot tub where a few minutes prior to taking this picture I was having myself a mighty fine first day of the new year hot tubbing.

In the middle of the night when I heard my window being hit by what sounded like little pellets I thought the Ice Storm had cometh just as predicted, along with no morning hot tubbing being likely due to a too slippery walk to the hot tub's location.

However, upon the arrival of the sun, and its daily lighting duty, I quickly learned that the Ice Storm cometh not at my location.

Despite my temperature monitoring devices indicating the temperature was cold enough to freeze water, as in, 32 degrees, which remains the temperature.

Even now, hours after the sun's arrival, the only thing frozen at my location, that I am aware of, is in my freezer.

As has been the case every year since the turn of the century, I did not manage to stay awake til the arrival of the new year. When 1999 turned into 2000 I did manage to join the HUGE throng in downtown Fort Worth to do the countdown to the new century.

This is the first year in several years that I have not started off the new year resolved to get my hefty weight back under 200 pounds. At the start of 2015 I am already well under 200 pounds.

Near as I can remember I am pretty much resolution free at the start of this new year.

At the start of each new year I always notice an increase in the number of people getting exercise in the various parks I visit. That increase quickly dwindles as the New Year's Resolutionaries lose their resolution resolve.

I have not received any notification regarding the status of today's scheduled Manly Men Wild Women New Years Day Hike on the Tandy Hills.

Unfrozen water continues to precipitate at my location. I suspect this is also the case four miles to the west, on the Tandy Hills.

Anyway, anyone reading this I hope you will be having yourself a mighty fine Happy New Year.....

On This Last Day Of 2014 Spencer Jack Did Not Take Me Bird Watching On The Trinity River

This afternoon Spencer Jack and his dad emailed me some photos, one of which, as you can see, has Spencer waving goodbye to 2014.

The subject line in the email was "Bird Nerd".

The text in the email said, "Spencer Jack took me bird watching on this beautiful last day of 2014 in the great PNW.  More specifically, Fir Island and Conway".

Being familiar with the valley in which Spencer Jack is waving, I can tell he is standing west of the Amtrak tracks, which behind Spencer head to Canada, and in front of him lead to Seattle. My old hometown, and Spencer Jack's current hometown, Mount Vernon, is behind Spencer Jack, surrounding that raised area known as a mountain, Little Mountain, to be specific.

The birds being referred to are Trumpeter Swans and Bald Eagles. Trumpeter Swans migrate south from Canada every year to spend some vacation time in the Skagit Valley. It can be quite a spectacle when a flock of Trumpeter Swans decides to take flight. Noisy and you want to be wearing head protection if you are under the flight path.

Above you are looking at a grounded flock of Trumpeter Swans, with the Mount Baker volcano hovering over the birds. When I lived in Mount Vernon I could look out my kitchen window and see Mount Baker. I look out the kitchen window at my current location and I do not see a volcano. I see absolutely nothing.

That is a Bald Eagle in the tree high above Spencer Jack. Below is a closeup look at the Bald Eagle perched to swoop down on Spencer Jack.

In the tall fir trees behind my house in Mount Vernon a big Bald Eagle made a really big nest. It was sort of unsettling to be outside peacefully swaying on my hammock to look up to see the Big Bird coming home. This Big Bird only made his home at this location for a few years. I suppose the salmon supply ran out in the creek which flowed behind my house, and so the Big Bird moved on to better fishing grounds, like upstream on the Skagit River, perhaps, where a big flock of Bald Eagles spends a lot of time every year feasting on returning salmon.

As I previously indicated the text in the email which contained these pictures said that Spencer Jack had taken his dad bird watching to Conway and Fir Island on this last day of 2014. Below you are looking at the bridge which crosses the Skagit River from Conway to Fir Island. Below the below picture we will talk about the Fort Worth connection to the below bridge.

As you can see, the above bridge is built over water.

The Skagit River.

What you can not see is that at this location the river is subject to tidal changes, what with being so close to the mouth of the river and Skagit Bay, which is a bay on Puget Sound.

This bridge over the Skagit River was built over water in far less than four years. As you can see, the bridge has to cross a rather wide river at this point.

I remember the bridge the above bridge replaced. It was a sort of old-fashioned bridge from a much earlier era of bridge building. I can not remember if the original bridge was a one-way one where you waited your turn to cross.

As previously mentioned, this bridge crosses the Skagit River to Fir Island.

Fir Island is a real island, not an imaginary island like Fort Worth's embarrassingly pretentious Panther Island, which may one day be an island, if one really stretches, to the near breaking point, the concept of that which an island makes.

To make Fort Worth's imaginary island the Three Bridges Over Nothing, currently supposedly under construction, have to be finished.

Fort Worth's Three Bridges Over Nothing are extremely complex feats of bridge engineering requiring four years to build. If the bridges are ever finished being built then the ditch can be dug under them, water added, and the imaginary island can be proclaimed pseudo real, likely with a massive celebration of explosives to mark the occasion.

For the final picture from today's collection it would appear that Spencer Jack and his dad are channeling Fort Worth's Brian Luenser's School of Photographic Exaggeration, with this closeup look at a flock of Trumpeter Swans and Mount Baker looming way too close above them...

North Texas Is Freezing & Braced For Incoming Ice

So far the Ice Storm that is scheduled to be cometh at my location has yet to arrive.

However, the outer world  has been chilled, as you can see via my computer generated weather informant, to the below freezing temperature necessary to facilitate an Ice Storm of Historic Proportions.

Checking in on my old home zone this morning I  found both Western and Eastern Washington colder than my current location, with Mount Vernon freezing at 26 and Tonasket, on the east side of the mountains, even colder at 15.

Meanwhile in Arizona, in the Phoenix zone, my mom and dad, brother and sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law and nephews are not freezing at 47. However, the Phoenix area is currently under a National Weather Service issued Freeze Warning.

Back to my current location in Frigid North Texas.

This morning's weather update from my favorite North Texas weather forecasting guru, John Basham, seems to indicate something major is about to arrive.

I need to go to ALDI to get coffee. Last winter I recollect a trip to ALDI starting off with no problem, then turning into a two hour ordeal to slide my way back to my home port. I hope today is not a repeat.

The latest John Basham forecast....

*** WEATHER FORECASTER'S NOTE *** - 630 AM WED DEC 31 2014 - TEXAS - Okay, for those of you who follow my forecasts (the truly devoted) you will remember Sunday that I was worried about the New Year's Eve / New Year's Day forecast for a large part of Texas and the D/FW Metroplex. I even used the term 'historic' which set many an email flying my way. If you'll recall I was worried about two weather items colliding in just the right way to cause a potentially dangerous weather scenario for a large population center in Texas. Well, I will no longer elude. I now have a genuine fear as the data becomes more and more clear that a MAJOR ICE STORM is POSSIBLE for a LARGE PART of TEXAS including the D/FW Metroplex. NOW, I AM NOT SOUNDING THE ALARM YET... & THE NWS HAS NOT ISSUED ANY ICE STORM WARNING, BUT...... Since tonight is New Year's Eve and Thursday Morning is New Year's Day I felt I had to at least let you know what I (and many other meteorologists) have been wrestling with. You DO NOT take an Ice Storm lightly as a meteorologist. There are few things that cause more widespread damage, injury, and loss of infrastructure. As new data continues to come out over the next few hours I will be updating everyone as soon as I feel I've zeroed in TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY where this event COULD take place. I know that's a lot of ifs and errrs... but I wanted to share so everyone could prepare and stay safe! MORE TO COME... THIS IS NOT AN NWS PRODUCT!

Apparently The Best Food City In America Is Not Dallas Or Fort Worth

Yesterday I happened upon a scientific survey documenting the 40 Best Food Cities in America.

I found this scientific survey in an online article titled THE 40 BIGGEST US CITIES, RANKED BY THEIR FOOD.

Ranking cities by their food struck me as an odd thing to be doing. But interesting, despite being odd.

Texas towns did quite well in this survey, with four towns among the Top 40.

I just realized the towns on this list are determined by population. So, then why are Dallas and Fort Worth not listed separately, rather than lumped together? I am thinking this helped tank the ranking for Dallas. In the article, which you can read via the link above, the town's population is included among the info, with the entire D/FW Metroplex population given as the population for D/FW.

And why is San Antonio not on this list? I am starting to suspect this is a flawed scientific survey.

Anyway.

At the bottom, in the #40 position is Fresno. At #39 is Jacksonville. Then we come to the first Texas town.

I will copy and paste that which this scientific survey had to say about the Texas towns and their relative ranking, along with the town on the list of 40 in which I've eaten more food than any other big city in America...

38. El Paso
While the rest of the Lone Star State’s big hubs have serious moves, El Paso just sorta rides the BBQ & Tex-Mex coattails, never planting a flag in the culinary sands. Plus, Old El Paso salsa's corporate offices are in Minnesota.

And then we come to my current location....

19. Dallas/Forth Worth
First of all, frozen margaritas don’t count as food. But there is no disputing that DFW is a serious player in the Tex-Mex conversation, what with Stephan Pyles existing. And Lockhart Smokehouse and Pecan Lodge ensure their part of the national BBQ conversation. And, crap, they’ve got the best damn airport in the nation to eat in. But Texas has stiff competition when it comes to its eating cities, and so Dallas has to find comfort in taking the Lone Star City’s comestible bronze.

The D/FW locals are likely all bumpuzzled about the two Texas towns thought to better feeding locations than the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, where clearly people like to eat.

A lot.

But before we get to the Texas towns which fared better than D/FW in this scientific survey we come to the big city I've consumed food in more than any other big city in America. This survey went very long-winded on this one, particularly compared to the puny blurb about D/FW...

7. Seattle
As a geeky teenager, you probably spent a lot of time alone, creating an imaginary world for yourself, complete with a super-hot girlfriend who no one knew 'cause she was from, like, Canada, or something. Well, Seattle is the culinary equivalent of that teenager after he grows up. It's geeky (maybe you've heard of Microsoft, Amazon, etc.); all alone in the corner of the country (the closest major city is Portla... oops, San Francisco); and creative (just look at how Starbucks and Redhook revolutionized two entire beverage industries).

When you combine those traits with the fact that Seattle's geography and climate provide it with a greater variety of regional produce and protein than any other city, you get places like the iconic Canlis, or the dozen or so restaurants owned by super-chef Tom Douglas, reinventing traditional dishes with local ingredients like salmon, shellfish, and other fresh seafood. But it's not just big-name chefs (Ethan Stowell, Maria Hines, and Renee Erickson among them) doing it: Seattle's best "neighborhood" restaurants (Lloyd Martin, Tanglewood Supreme) serve the kind of food reserved for destination dining in other cities, and there's a ton of these smaller spots opening all the time -- The Town has more restaurants per capita than anywhere but New York and San Francisco.

Oh, and as for the part about being grown-up, Seattle's fully embraced food from around the world: there are more teriyaki and pho restaurants here than any place outside Asia; the Seafood-heavy Jalisco-style Mexican food is a staple; and one of the best new(-ish) restaurants in Seattle is Shanik, an Indian place run by famed Vancouver chef Meeru Dhalwala. See, told you we had a Canadian girlfriend.

And then we come to the two Texas towns with better food than Dallas/Fort Worth or El Paso.

8. Houston
Houston has never been hotter, and that is NOT a commentary on their famously muggy weather. The food scene in The City With An Airport Named After President Bush Elder is finally getting the recognition it deserves, as this has always been a good town to eat in, though in the past it was primarily recognized for its steak and BBQ acumen. Now though, thanks to the ascendancy of some notable chefs (Underbelly’s Chris Shepherd, Reef’s Bryan Caswell, etc.), a national audience recognizing its incredible Filipino, Vietnamese, and Chinese cuisine, and the city's historically delicious Czech kolache culture (spread it #kolacheculture), more and more people are flocking to Houston just to eat and soak through a couple T-shirts in the process.

6. Austin
Austin knows its BBQ. That's a given. The meat-hungry masses form lines in front of spots like Franklin BBQ until they're out -- usually by 1:30pm. But this is not a one-dimensional food city. There're James Beard Award-winning sushi chefs. A food-truck scene that gives chefs the chance to flex their culinary muscles before moving on to bigger things (there's a reason the movie Chef filmed a ton there). And you can't forget the Mexican food. If you want a taco for every meal, Austin will gladly accommodate. There's so many places to score even just fantastic breakfast tacos, that you could eat them from 8am-8pm and go home happy. Here, we'll prove it.

The rest of  the list, without the explanatory descriptive blurbs....

5. Portland
4. San Francisco
3. Chicago
2. New York City
1. New Orleans

Of the Top Five I have only consumed food in restaurants in Portland and San Francisco. With the San Francisco food being of the Chinese type found in restaurants in Chinatown.

I wish I knew what Dallas/Fort Worth could possibly do to move into the coveted Top Ten along with Houston and Austin, but I draw a blank.

Well, it might help Dallas join Houston and Austin in the Top Ten if Dallas could somehow free itself from being connected to Fort Worth....

I Won't Be Heading Across Fort Worth's Pond Granger To A Clearwater Casino Anytime Soon

What you are looking at here is a posting I saw a few minutes ago on Facebook.

Newlywed Chris and wife, Sheila, are floating a ferry across Puget Sound to go to a casino this afternoon.

I saw this photo and thought to myself that there are several things here that I will likely never see, not ever, even if, decades from now, the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle actually becomes something any of those 10 million tourists the Dunce Confederacy currently claims come to downtown Fort Worth every year to visit downtown Fort Worth's teeny Sundance Square Plaza, can see.

The Pond Granger part of the Dunce Confederacy's Boondoggle varies in size depending on what propaganda spewing you are having spewed at you, ranging from around 12 acres to 33 acres.

Even at 33 acres Pond Granger would not be big enough to float a boat of any size, not even a small yacht, let alone cruise ships and ferry boats.

Unless a big earth moving project begins soon there will be no large mounds of dirt replicating mountains that one might see from any location located anywhere in the Dunce Confederacy's area of Boondoggling.

Maybe if that flood diversion channel is ever dug under the three bridges currently being built over nothing, that ditch excavation might provide enough dirt to build one semi-mountain to provide some vertical visual interest to what one sees from the Dunce Confederacy's imaginary island, other than the pitifully puny skyline of downtown Fort Worth.

Crossing a body of water on a big boat to go to a casino is another thing one will not be seeing in the Dunce Confederacy's Boondoggle's visionary lake. Basically you won't be crossing Pond Granger to anything of much interest, near as I can tell.

There is one other thing in addition to mountains, a big body of water, big boats and casinos, that one would not be seeing in the area of the Dunce Confederacy Boondoggle, or Texas, that is part of what I thought when I read that Chris and Sheila were heading to the Clearwater Casino this afternoon.

I'll let you see if you can figure out what that was....

2012 Arizona BBQ With Spencer Jack & His Time Traveling 2014 Christmas Train Shirt

On Christmas morning my great nephew, Spencer Jack, opened Christmas presents for me sent to Spencer Jack in Mount Vernon, Washington.

Meanwhile, at that same point in time I opened Christmas presents for Spencer Jack, his dad, Jason and Uncle Joey, sent to me in Texas.

After the presents were opened photos were taken and sent to those for whom the presents were  intended.

When I saw the present for Spencer Jack, which I had opened, it looked familiar, a blue t-shirt which was train themed.

Seconds ago I re-located Spencer Jack's latest blue train t-shirt for photo documentation purposes and to see if I could see what size the shirt is, to learn the shirt has no size info attached. We thought perhaps Spencer Jack was destined to be sent increasingly larger versions of this train t-shirt every three Christmases.

As you can see the t-shirt is from the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale, Arizona. I know Spencer Jack rode that park's train when he visited his great grand parental units on that March of 2012 visit. But I did not know he had received his original McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park blue t-shirt months prior.

Spencer Jack likes anything to do with trains. Sort of expanding on the Seattle Monorail obsession his dad had when he was Spencer Jack's age.

I did not know why Spencer Jack's 2014 Christmas train t-shirt looked familiar til his dad sent me the link to a blogging I blogged way back on Friday, March 16, 2012, titled....

Friday BBQ In Arizona With Spencer Jack, Super Hot Potato Chips & Refrigerator Slide Shows.

Part of the referenced blogging is screencapped above.

In that blogging Spencer Jack is wearing the same blue train t-shirt I opened for him over three years later, on Christmas morning of 2014.

It is a time traveling t-shirt.

In the picture of Spencer Jack standing in water he is wearing his blue train t-shirt, at some summer point in time, after finding it under his tree on Christmas Day of 2011.

All in all, I have to say the 2014 Christmas packages sent from Arizona to Texas and Washington have provided us with a much more engaging, entertaining, shared Christmas experience than would have been the case had the package intended for Texas ended up in Texas and the package intended for Washington ended up in Washington.

Before you know it Christmas of 2015 will be here and we will get to do it all over again....