Saturday, February 21, 2015

Texas Is The One Big State Where America Remains America According To Forbes

I saw that which you see here, this Saturday morning, on Facebook, via the Texas Hill Country Facebook page, quoting a quote from Forbes.

I assume we are talking about Forbes the magazine.

I sure do agree with the part of the quote which says Texans have a peculiar talent for a kind of braggadocio that drives other Americans a bit crazy.

The outrageously out of sync with reality Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's propaganda comes to mind as one example of peculiar braggadocio to which I have reacted.

Such as Ma Granger claiming her little boy, J.D.'s, malfunctioning, slow motion, no project timeline, unfunded, unneeded, poorly planned Trinity River Vision is currently the biggest urban water project underway in North America.

Currently the only thing noticeably going on, construction-wise with that imaginary biggest urban water project in North America is three bridges being built over nothing. Three very simple, ordinary, small bridges, being built over dry land, because no funds exist, yet, to dig the ditch under the bridges through which water might one day flow.

Those three bridges being built over nothing are being built with a four year project timeline, longer than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge and other actual feats of engineering, many of which were built over water.

I do not know if it will work or not, but I will try and copy the comments made on Facebook regarding this Forbes quote, to give you not in Texas an idea of how delusional Texans can be,  along with a few who seemed to be a bit more reality based...

Page Liked · 9 hrs · 
 

Oh look, Forbes figured it out and realized that America needs and is lucky to have Texas!http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2015/02/11/america-needs-the-texas-economy-to-keep-on-rolling/— with Amanda Cook Hesterley, Joan Cook, Walter Cook and Mary McClain.
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Friday, February 20, 2015

The Fort Worth Public Library Is Closed Friday So I Am Going To The Burlington Public Library To Check Out Mrs. Burwash

This morning, soon upon getting vertical for the day, it crossed my mind that I had not been to my neighborhood library in quite a long time, hence a shortage of reading material.

So, I decided I would go to the library today.

Then I remembered I was in Fort Worth and my neighborhood library is closed on Friday.

Soon thereafter I was on Facebook and saw that which you see here, that being the library in my old hometown of Burlington, Washington.

In this particular Facebook post the Burlington Public Library's librarian, Janice Jackson Burwash, is announcing that the Burlington Public Library hours have been expanded to open at 10am, Monday through Saturday.

The population of Burlington is only around 8,000. Fort Worth's population is around 100 times bigger than Burlington's. How does little Burlington manage to so well serve its 8,000 some residents, library-wise, whilst big Fort Worth so ill serves its 800,000 some residents?

Regarding the Burlington Public Library librarian, Janice Jackson Burwash, it was from Mrs. Burwash's mom, decades ago, I checked out my first  library book, at the old Burlington Library, a block away from where I grew up. That old library was eventually replaced by a new one across the street, long after I no longer lived in Burlington. That new library has been replaced by an even newer library, which is where Mrs. Burwash is standing, on the right, holding a piece of paper, the significance of which I was unable to determine.

Mrs. Burwash is married to Mr. Burwash, first name Martin, author of the acclaimed, possible Pulitzer Prize winning, historical novel, Vis Major, the tale of the most deadly avalanche in American history, available on Amazon and in well stocked libraries and bookstores all over the world.

I do not expect to find Vis Major in my neighborhood Fort Worth library the next time I manage to be there when it is actually open...
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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Hoping To Prevent A Hot Texas Tamale From Accidentally Shooting Herself

As soon as I saw that which you see here I knew I needed to share this information as a sort of cautionary tale directed at a certain Hot Texas Tamale, who I shall not name, who legally packs heat due to having one of those concealed weapon permits that are so popular in the part of the planet.

I have been at an event, a time or two, with the aforementioned Hot Texas Tamale and have inquired if she was currently armed and potentially dangerous, to be informed that she was armed and potentially dangerous.

On one of those occasions the Hot Texas Tamale was wearing what I think is called a cocktail dress. A slinky black deal. Maybe cocktail dress is not the correct term. Anyway, on that occasion the Hot Texas Tamale sort of implied, when I asked where she was concealing her concealed weapon, that her dainty pistol was located in the same location you see that pistol located above.

With this news that a woman in St. Joseph, Michigan accidentally shot herself to death whilst adjusting her bra holster I really think it would behoove the Hot Texas Tamale to go from concealing her weapon, to openly carrying it, via a holster attached to a belt around  her waist.

It is always wise to be cautious....
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Another Ice Storm May Be Cometh To North Texas Next Week

I saw that which you see here a couple minutes ago on Facebook, confirming what I saw earlier via my computer based weather monitoring device, that being another prediction of an incoming blast of cold, arriving over this coming weekend, by Monday turning into a possible Ice Storm.

Ice Storms are my least favorite Texas weather event. I never experienced an Ice Storm before moving to Texas.

Anyway, below I will copy the weather warning from my favorite Texas weatherman, John Basham....

WINTER WEATHER UPDATE - 910 AM THU FEB 19 2015 - NORTHERN 1/2 OF TEXAS INCLUDING: THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH METROPLEX, WACO, ABILENE, MIDLAND/ODESSA, LUBBOCK, AMARILLO, WICHITA FALLS, SHERMAN/DENNISON, & TYLER/LONGVIEW - It is now becoming more and more apparent as a large part of the country is battling winter weather that Texas will be it's target very soon. Sunday (2/22/15) into Monday a combination of extremely cold air and a series of upper level disturbances will give the Northern 1/2 of Texas it's first widespread shot at wintry precipitation of 2015. As if that news isn't enough to make you cringe, it doesn't appear (at this time) that the wintry precipitation will fall as that ever so pretty and fun snow. No, instead it appears the majority of the wintry mix will fall as that hard to love sleet and freezing rain. The beginning of the wintry mix will occur on Sunday across the region and spread farther south as we move into the day on Monday. The scenario as to how much accumulation of ice will occur is anyone's guess at this point. It seems clear with a warm slightly unstable air-mass above the surface sub-freezing temperatures that any areas of increased lift or near elevated convection could cause locally heavy accumulations of ice while others may only see a glisten or glaze, to nothing at all. I'll continue to keep you updated throughout the early part of the weekend as to where I believe the greatest risk will occur. I have included an image of the latest GFS computer model (just one possible scenario) for noon Monday. It shows an ICE STORM developing in the DFW Metroplex. Keep in mind these models have been shifting North and South wildly over the last 24-36 hours so this is not in stone by any means, but I wanted to make sure that you PREPARE for the possibility that you could not drive or get to the store or drug-store by early next week. Prepare now for this potential. THIS IS NOT A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PRODUCT. Meterologist John Austin Basham - Storm Spotter METOPS Fort Worth, Texas
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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Overheating Walking To Albertsons Before Finding Cool Relief Poolside

I overheated on my roundtrip to Albertsons in my weekly Wednesday futile attempt to acquire Fort Worth Weekly on the day it becomes available for my reading pleasure.

Upon my FW Weekly-free return from Albertsons I decided to cool off with some poolside lounging, since, as you can see, I was already properly attired in my favorite swimming suit.

I have not been in that hot tub you see on the far side of the pool in several days. I just have not been in the mood to get HOT when the air is so freezing cold.

Currently that formerly freezing air has heated up by 30 degrees to a relatively balmy 52,  which is why I was sure to slather sun screen on all spots exposed to the sun whilst I was doing the pool lounging.

I hope real heat returns soon. I am starting to worry I may not remember how to ride my bike, what with it being so long since I felt warm enough to roll my wheels.

Maybe I should re-activate my dormant roller blades and get some endorphins via that method, except I sort of swore off ever rolling those bladed wheels again after I had a spectacular crash caused by being startled by a giant snake whilst roller blading with the Village Creek Indian Ghosts.

I just realized I do not know where my roller blades are currently located. I really need to develop a  better inventory tracking system....
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

No Snow From The North Texas Sky While My Computer Revolts With A Blue Screen Of Death

Well, I guess I am grateful the weather predictor's prediction of frozen water material in various forms did not materialize, as predicted, at least at my location.

The predicted freezing cold did arrive, however, as predicted.

As you can see via the skyward view from my patio outlook on the world, stormy looking clouds do blot out the sun this morning, but nothing snowy is falling from them.

Currently, this is the first time I remember since my exile in Texas that I have been so eager for the return of being way too HOT and humid.

Changing the subject to some of my other woes.

Last night I finished with an HTML code upgrade to almost 400 webpages. This took a few days.

I was only about a half done with the HTML code upgrade when my computer greeted me with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. The computer auto-restarted, after which all seemed fine.

Til later.

I was peacefully laying horizontal watching TV when suddenly the computer  screen turned blue again, this time with odd noises. It did not auto-restart. So I re-started it. After re-starting I then shut it down so as to not have a repeat.

Then I went back horizontal and was looking at some of the webpages I'd just changed and saw a major problem in one where rogue ad code was making a mess.

So, I got up and once again re-started the computer, it came up, I fixed the mistake, turned off the computer and returned to being horizontal.

Now, this morning I have had no computer problems, knock on wood, so far, except for the secondary monitor was not displaying correctly. That was fixed by turning it off and back on.

I  really am not in the mood to go through a computer going bad on me. It's been a long time since I've had that type woe. I think if that happens I may take it as a sign that it is time to move on from being so computer centric and let a smart phone suffice.

Of course, that would mean giving up on blogging and webpage making, which would be a huge loss for the world, but somehow I think the world would survive just fine....
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Monday, February 16, 2015

Celebrating President's Day With The Best Hamburger In Anacortes

I did not realize today was Presidents' Day til a couple minutes ago when I called a public employee to find myself listening to a message telling me that federal offices are closed today due to this aforementioned holiday.

My neurons are currently a bit worn out from altering the HTML on almost 400 webpages. I mention this so as to explain my befuddlement over something which probably would not befuddle me if my neurons were not exhausted.

What I am befuddled about is what the proper punctuation for today's holiday is. I am so worn out I'm not even sure "punctuation" is the correct word. So, is it Presidents Day? President's Day? Or Presidents' Day?

Most seem to be putting the apostrophe at the end of Presidents, indicating all Presidents are in possession of this day. But, does it not work without an apostrophe? Simply indicating this is Presidents Day, as in a day celebrating all those American presidents who have presiding over this once great land? Does it not also work to do the apostrophe "s" thing? As in President's Day, meaning this is each and every single President's Day?

Like I said, I'm being a bit befuddled.

Speaking of voting for something important, like voting for American Presidents, this morning I learned the town in my old home zone known as Anacortes had a city wide vote which determined that Spencer Jack's dad's restaurant, the Fidalgo Drive-In, makes the BEST HAMBURGER in Anacortes. I  blogged about this meaty distinction this morning on my Washington blog in Spencer Jack's Fidalgo Drive-In Hamburger Voted Best in Anacortes.

Back to the American Presidents and their special day.

The last time I think I blogged about this important American Presidents subject was on one of my other blogs, back last August, in a blogging titled The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Needs to be Repealed.

In that blogging I thought I made an extremely solid case as to why the 22nd Amendment should be repealed. And yet, here it is over six months later and that amendment is still part of the U.S. Constitution.

This really makes me think it is time to consider that maybe it is time for me to cease trying to change this world for the better and just give up.

In the meantime I am having myself a mighty fine time celebrating Presidents Day, with or without an apostrophe...
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Sunday, February 15, 2015

Basking In Balmy Texas Waiting For An Arctic Blast While Washington Allegedly Bakes

Looking skyward, past the bars of my patio prison cell, the sky appears to be working towards being a bit stormy, which makes sense, since that is what is predicted to happen at this location on the planet, today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

An Arctic Blast is supposed to be arriving soon, bringing possible snow and ice. But in the meantime this third Sunday of the second month of the new year of 2015 is being heated to 72 degrees in the noon time frame at my location in North Texas.

Meanwhile, from the frigid north, this morning I got an email from Spencer Jack's dad, he being my favorite nephew, Jason, with the subject line being the title of a KOMO news article.

Record high temps in Seattle, Olympia

The message in the email including the link to the KOMO article and these word's from Spencer Jack's dad...

"Hot and dusty in my neck of the woods".

Hot and dusty in the Western Washington Puget Sound zone? Well, I remember a February Saturday from decades ago. Record breaking high temperatures arrived after many weeks of cold and rain. The locals  flocked to the various outdoor venues one has available in that outdoor venue rich zone. For me, that meant driving to Camano Island, with no bridge needed, to Camono Island State Park, to lounge in the sun whilst laying on oversized driftwood.

For those of you reading this in this island deprived part of the planet, where only imaginary islands exist, brought to you be the demented product factory of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, and are wondering how one drives on an island, with no bridge. Well, long ago dikes blocked off the saltwater, creating a causeway connecting Camano Island to the mainland.

Anyway, after reading that Jason was being hot and dusty I went to check on the current temperature in Mount Vernon to find myself wondering if it'd been so long since I experienced a Washington winter that 45 degrees no longer sounds warm to me for a day in February. 


Then I remembered that HOT February day from long ago on Camano Island. That day the temperature got into the 70s, well above freezing, unlike 45, which is only a few degrees above freezing.

I wonder if my computer based  temperature monitoring device is malfunctioning and giving me a false reading of the temperature in Mount Vernon and other towns in Western Washington, all of which seem be sharing a similar level of chill to Mount Vernon's 45....
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