A Pre-Rainstorm Walk With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts

With rain seeming imminent, and with me in need of doing some easy going walking, that and needing some ALDI items, like bread, peanuts, coffee and milk, I ventured out into the incoming storm to have a visit with the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Indian Ghosts.

I overdid it on my last jog/run. This was two days ago, running around Fosdick Lake. On that occasion when I found that running as fast as I can run was way easier than doing such a month ago, I over indulged.

With the result being a sore Achilles zone, if Achilles zone means ankle.

Hence yesterday's taking it easy, and today's  easy walk with the Indian Ghosts. Can you spot any Indian Ghosts behind me via the Giant Village Creek reflecting ball? I only see two.

I experienced no drippage whilst walking along Village Creek. However, it was obvious a storm is moving in. This morning, in the pool, I was dubious about the storm prediction, due to still seeing a lot of blue sky, albeit with a lot of cloud action zipping north at high speed.

Leaving ALDI rain began to drip. By the time I got to John T. White Road, to head west to my abode, I had to turn on the windshield wipers of my new motorized transport device for the first time.

Now that I am back under shelter I eagerly await the first downpour of this storm. Or boom of thunder. So far, only slow drippage is happening....

Will Incoming Extreme Texas Flooding Reach Biblical Level Requiring An Ark?

Well, this is not good. Earlier today I heard the incoming rain would be delivering between one inch to three over the next few days.

But, the forecast I just read on Facebook, via one of the best weathermen in Texas, John Basham, it will be between 6 and 14 inches which will be hitting the ground between now and Sunday.

Are the reservoirs drained enough from last June's deluge to be able to handle this?

Below is what Meteorologist John Basham had to about what is heading our way....

EXTREME FLOODING FORECAST- FOR A LARGE PART OF TEXAS - ISSUED: 200PM CDT WED OCT 21 2015 - Heavy and Flooding Rainfall is Possible across a large part of Texas through this Sunday including the very populated Interstate 35 Corridor. The Cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi are in the area where significant flooding rainfall can occur through Sunday. Computer modeling forecasts show this area receiving between 6 and 14 inches of rain through Sunday evening. Isolated amounts along the Red River in Northeast Texas could easily exceed 1 foot of rainfall through this time period. This is a serious flooding risk. Persons in these areas who live near low lying or flood prone areas should be prepared to seek higher ground. Persons who have equipment, livestock, or pets in flood prone areas need to move them now as flash flooding will not afford you the time to save your stock, property, or pets. This is a potentially dangerous situation across a large part of Texas. Emergency Managers, First Responders, and National & State Guard forces should prepare for an emergency flooding scenario across a large region. We will be updating this forecast as new data offers greater resolution to the flooding threat. THIS IS NOT AN NWS PRODUCT. Meteorologist John Austin Basham Storm Spotter 

Spencer Jack Is Worried About His Grandma Cindy

This morning when I woke up my computer I saw an incoming email from Spencer Jack.

Subject line: Grandma Cindy's Potential Poultry Problem 

The email including the photo you see here, of Spencer Jack's Grandma Cindy.

In addition to the photo Spencer Jack wrote a plea for help----

Howdy Great FUD,

My dad has told me that somehow you were acquainted with my Grandma Cindy. I'm worried about her right now.

Can you help?

The only reason I seek your assistance tonight is because my dad says you were a doctor at some point in your life. A MD that one could dial up and ask medical questions to, he says.

I'm struggling to understand  what "dial up" means despite my dads repeated attempts to define such.  He keeps trying to act out a noise that sounded like nothing I have ever heard.

Anyway.... My dad said that people could once dial up my Great FUD and get medical advice years ago when he claims you lived near us.

Me and my dad had dinner at Grandma Cindy's house last night. Pretty good dinner...she fixed me panfried chicken and deviled eggs.  Plus she made me a special milkshake for dessert.

Does my great ex-MD FUD think grandma Cindy had an allergic reaction to the poultry?

I refused to share my milkshake with her, so I'm pretty sure it is not a dairy issue.

Please help.

She is soon retiring, and thus on a fixed income and just a few years shy of Medicaid eligibility.

Looking forward to hearing your diagnosis.

Your FGN Spencer Jack

_____________________________________________

Below is my reply to Spencer Jack's query.....

Howdy FGN Spencer Jack,

You are such a good grandson, worrying about your Grandma. I will try and answer your questions.

First off, yes, I am acquainted with your Grandma Cindy. Long before you were born your Grandma was married to my brother, your Grandpa Jake, you know, the Grandpa you go to visit in Arizona.

Yes, what your dad told you is true about me being a doctor at one point in time. I was the type doctor  known as a quack. I had a website  that was very popular with sick people called Dialing Doctor Durango. And people did connect to that website via an antique method of connecting to the Internet, using what was known as a telephone line.

And yes again, what your dad told you about me living near where you now live, is true. Back when I was Doctor Durango I lived in Mount Vernon.

I don't know if I can diagnose if your Grandma Cindy had an allergic reaction to poultry, long distance, with only a  photograph to base my diagnosis on. I have not seen your Grandma Cindy in over 7 years, at Bay View State Park, the same day I met you for the first time. Looking at the photo it does appear your Grandma Cindy may have put on a little weight and grown a couple warts on her nose. Did those warts pop out while you were all eating that fried chicken? Is that what you think might be an allergic reaction to poultry?

While I do not have enough diagnostic information what I can do is express ship you a gallon of Doctor Durango Restorative Tonic. You will need to give your Grandma Cindy 4 ounces of the Tonic every day at noon until the jug is empty. Within a week your Grandma Cindy should be well on the way to being restored to how I remember her looking 7 years ago, just like she looks in the below photo.....

Now, Spencer Jack, don't you be sampling any of your Grandma Cindy's Doctor Durango Restorative Tonic. You have to be 21 before you can sample the Tonic.

Yours Truly, Great FUD

Running With Fort Worth's Fosdick Ducks Wondering About A Fountain Mystery

In the noon time frame I had myself a mighty fine time jogging and running with the Fosdick ducks who like to quack in Oakland Lake Park's Fosdick Lake.

This morning's cool pool bout was the chilliest in a long time. We are at that time of year when a threshold is crossed after which the cool pool is too cool to pool.

It has been several years now since the Fosdick Fountain made it mysterious appearance. When the Fosdick Fountain began its water spouting it did so by squirting water upwards about 30 feet. Then the Fosdick Fountain died, with no more squirting. A year or so after its death the Fosdick Fountain came back to life in the burbling fashion you see above.

Prior to the Fosdick Fountain coming to life there had been no plumbing work in evidence. I am at Oakland Lake Park frequently and saw nothing being worked on which would explain why a fountain suddenly appeared.

There were several people jogging and running around Fosdick Lake today. I think the cooler temperature is the reason for this. I saw two moms trying to get in shape, each running whilst pushing a baby carriage with a baby on board.

I am sure liking how doing this jogging/running thing is making me feel. Endorphins are addictive....

An Uneventful Visit With Coco & Belly Baby

You are looking at Coco Bella here. That would be Coco on the left, with Bella, also known as Belly Baby, behind her sister.

This morning the sisters, well, their mother, text messaged me, telling me they missed me.

I texted back that I would visit the Babies this afternoon. And so I did.

Last Monday when I visited the Babies, Belly Baby ran and hid under the bed. The week before that was the last time I successfully picked up Belly Baby. Which by the way is not something someone with a weak back would want to be doing. That last pick up of Belly Baby did not last too long.

That pick up ended with extended hissing, for no apparent reason.

Today, when I entered the Babies' abode, the first thing I did was close the door to the hide under the bed location. I then said hello to Coco who was in her regular position, guarding the computer room from her computer chair lookout post.

I looked for Belly Baby in the computer room. Could not find her there. I reopened the under the bed location and looked under the bed. No Belly Baby there. I then went back to the TV room and quickly saw that Belly Baby was sitting in the prime TV viewing chair. She must have been at that location when I entered, but due to the lack of light, due to blinds being closed, I do not see too clearly upon entry.

I left Belly Baby where she was and returned to the computer room to pick up Coco.

Coco seemed pleased to get picked up. I sat down with Coco on a chair opposite from the one Belly Baby was on. I expected Belly Baby to run away, but she just sat there staring.

After a few minutes Coco jumped off my lap and walked to the chair Belly Baby was sitting on. At that point Coco did one of the weirdest cat things I have ever seen. She pretty much stood up on her hind legs, meowing at Belly Baby while she was doing so. After about a minute of hemming and hawing, but not hissing, Coco hopped up on the chair to join her sister, which is what brought about the picture you see above.

Belly Baby looks as if she may have lost some of her big belly since I last saw her. I did not attempt to pick Belly Baby up today. I have a hard time getting over being hissed at for no apparent reason....

Apparently One Should Not Bother Trying To Explain Things To Idiots

I saw that which you see here a couple days ago on the world's most popular social network.

I thought it to be amusing.

And so true.

Around the time of the last Tarrant Region Water District Board Election I picked up a few Fleas, I mean Friends, on that aforementioned world's most popular social network.

I would get one of those "Confirm Friend" messages, with the message informing me that the Friend requester was also Friend's with other specified Friends on my Friends list.

So, I would confirm the Friend requests of the Friends I'd never met and knew nothing about, if they were Friends with someone who was an actual Friend who I had actually met, such as Elsie Hotpepper.

The world's most popular social network has this thing called "The Timeline" where you see some of what your "Friends" have posted,  along with the comments to that post.

Well.

Some of these new "Friends" of mine have a mindset totally alien to mine. Mindsets which think it is an okay thing to verbalize outrageous nonsense about our president.

Hateful, bigoted, ignorant, dangerous nonsense.

Such as suggesting that it it time for a patriot to save America by taking out the president.

I believe making such a suggestion is a crime punishable by jail time. But the fact that suggesting such a thing is wrong in so many ways does not stop those with muddled thought processes from making such suggestions.

Which is very disturbing.

And then there are those who think it the height of cleverness to refer to our president as "Obummer".

Isn't that witty? Obummer.

It is sort of depressing reading the comments to some of what these "Friends" post. Like it is a window into something very dark and disturbing. I get the same sick feeling reading comments to a story on FOX News online. A few voices of reason try to talk sense to the ignorant nutjobs,  to no avail. Usually doing so gets the reasonable, educated, intelligent person insulted with that label the right wing nutjobs think is a searing insult.

Liberal.

Or Libber.

Or Libtard.

I restore my belief in the basic sanity of most Americans when I get off FOX News and read a more reputable website that is aimed at educated people, where the comments are cogent, thoughtful, reasonable and the discussion respectful. And where if one of those right wing nutjobs shows up to make an idiotic comment, the idiotic comment maker is shot down with style. And good humor.

Okay, it is now time for me to get off my soapbox for a couple hours.....

Village Creek Ghost Running With Snake Hunters

Rather than drive to Dallas to go to the last day of the State Fair of Texas I opted instead to do my usual Sunday thing by being a Ghost Runner in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

As you can see, the current chilly temperature, in the mid-70s, required extra outerwear so as to keep warm.

As I ran along in one of the most isolated locations in the Village Creek zone I came upon a young lady and her boyfriend acting all frazzled, looking intently for something. I figured their dog had run off.

I stopped and asked what they were looking for.

Snakes, was the reply. Snakes? Asked I. Yes, snakes, said the young lady. She told me further down the trail they had almost stepped on a real big snake. I told them they really had nothing much to fear, that I'd only seen a few rattlesnakes, water moccasins and copperheads in this park. That, and the temperature is so chilly cold-blooded snakes can't move too fast. So, no danger.

Later on my run with the Indian Ghosts I came upon the same couple again, still walking slow and intently watching where they were walking. I think they must have been visiting the Great State of Texas from somewhere up north or west, due to the irrational fear of snakes, which is a malady I suffered from when I first arrived in Texas. I remember just the walk to the end of the driveway to pick up the morning paper made me nervous, sure was I that snakes were lurking about.

All these years later I have only had a few encounters with venomous snakes. Those being a rattlesnake in Cedar Hills State Park, a copperhead, cottonmouth and water moccasin in Village Creek, a cottonmouth on the Horseshoe Trails on Lake Grapevine and a copperhead on the River Legacy mountain bike trail.

None of my venomous snake encounters have come even remotely close to me getting a snake bite, with the closest encounter being that rattlesnake on the DORBA Trail in Cedar Hills State Park. That rattlesnake was BIG, coiled up and rattling its tail right beside the trail. I heard the telltale rattle before I saw the snake. It was within striking distance as I zipped by, but it remained coiled and rattling and did not attempt to kill me.

I slept in way past my norm this morning, vertical well after the sun had arrived to do its daily lighting duty. I did not make it to my morning swim til around 8. The pool was cool due to the newly arrived cooler temperature, but even though the pool was cool it was still doable to have myself a mighty fine time seeking endorphins via water aerobics.

The running/jogging thing has really kicked in. It no longer feels awkward. It feels natural. And no aches or pains. Knock on wood. I did some bouts of running as fast as I could today. We'll see if that brings me aches and pains by tomorrow morning.  I suspect I will be pain free.....

Saturday Tandy Hill Hiking Thinking About Real Cascade Hiking Litter & Flat Tires

Today is Saturday. My go to Saturday hiking location is usually the Tandy Hills, weather permitting.

Today the weather was very permitting, so it was to the Tandy Hills I ventured for some salubrious high speed hill hiking.

No, that is not a picture of me laying down on one of the Tandy Hills you are looking at here.

The picture you are looking at here was taken  some time late in the previous century. I am taking a rest atop the peak upon which the Hidden Lake lookout looks out on the North Cascades. That patch of blue is Hidden Lake. We are looking east at what is part of what is known as the Sea of Peaks. When you hike high enough in the North Cascades, you see the ridge of peaks extending north and south, as far as the eye can see, looking like big crashing ocean waves. Hence Sea of Peaks.

To go mountain hiking in the North Cascades I drove a few miles east from my home in Mount Vernon. To go hill hiking in Texas I drive a few miles west from my home in East Fort Worth. Somehow the scenery I see when I hike the Tandy Hills does not quite reach the spectacular scenery level seen when hiking the North Cascades.

In the above photo we are looking west up a semi-steep trail which leads to the new Tandy Hills Outdoor Classroom. I do not know what it was about today that got me thinking how pitiful my current hiking venues are, compared to what I now think of as my Glory Days of Hiking in the Cascades, Olympic and Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Maybe it was seeing the un-scenic scene below what got me thinking about how pitiful my current hiking venues are.

This pile of litter was located at the original Tandy Hills Outdoor Classroom. Why would someone haul all this junk to this location and leave it there? Prior to seeing this mess I came upon an abandoned raincoat and what looked like a DVR.

There was no Town Talk visit today. Even if I had planned to go to Town Talk, a post-hike trouble would have thwarted a Town Talk visit.

At the end of today's hike, when my vehicle came into view on the summit of Mount Tandy I instantly saw something was wrong, due to the vehicle tilting.

Flat tire.

Another flat tire.

Earlier in the week it was the left front tire. Today it was the right front tire.

I had not yet replaced the spare that I used to get out of the previous flat tire mess. Today required some ingenuity to alleviate the flat dilemma. An hour later I was on my way to the tire doctor where something called a plug fixed the problem.

Previous to the past seven days I believe my last flat tire incident occurred in October of 1994, in Death Valley, about 5 miles from Stovepipe Wells.

How could I go over 20 years without a flat tire and now have two flat tires within one week?

The tire doctor said today's flat was caused by driving over something very sharp which sliced the tire, which is why it was rendered flat within an hour, and not fixable with a plug or patch. I have been driving to the summit of Mount Tandy for years, without a flat tire. I won't be returning to that location, due to me thinking it has become a flat hazard.

I have to say, flat tires do seem to turn into a bit of an adventure. The Death Valley flat tire was particularly adventurous....

The Student Scourge Of J.D. Granger's Millions Wasted On Boondoggle Propaganda & Election Fraud

I did not read the Fort Worth Weekly cover article, STUDENT SCOURGE, til this morning because I thought it was yet one more article regarding the neighborhood around TCU (Texas Christian University) about homeowners objecting to neighborhood homes being taken over by rowdy frat boys, like J.D. Granger.

Well.

Yes, the article was sort of about people not wanting noisy student housing next door, but the article was more about the person spearheading the effort to boot the students from their housing.

Byran Eppstein.

Byran Eppstein is the notorious propagandizer behind much of the election tom foolery which takes place in Fort Worth and its environs.

A jaw dropping bit of info from the STUDENT SCOURGE article, which was news to me, in the following paragraph...

At the same time, Eppstein oversees other businesses that sometimes benefit from his many connections. For instance, he heads a public relations firm that was given $1.6 million in no-bid contracts to shore up the Trinity River Vision project’s public image. Recall that Eppstein helped elect Sen. Kay Granger, whose son, J.D. Granger, is executive director of the Trinity River Vision Authority. And Eppstein helped Lane and Marty Leonard get elected to the TRWD board that oversees aspects of the Trinity River Vision.

Eppstein's propaganda, I mean, public relations firm was given $1.6 million to shore up America's Biggest Boondoggle's public image?

Well, that explains why The Boondoggle's quarterly updates look just like the propaganda Eppstein spews for elections, such as the election mentioned above, that being where Eppstein's corrupt propaganda helped Jim Lane and Marty Leonard get elected in a landslide in the recent TRWD board election.

Speaking of that election. All these months after that election I have yet to hear of any investigation into the obvious election shenanigans that got the two incumbents re-elected with, by far, the most votes in TRWD board election history.

Over 17,000 votes. Of which around 10,000 were absentee ballots.

10,000 absentee ballots and yet, apparently, this raised no red fraud flag.

In Texas you have to be 65 or over, disabled, or out of the area on voting day, to apply for an absentee ballot. It is beyond defying believability that over 10,000 did so.

And yet no election racketeering investigation. As far as I know. Maybe the FBI is on the case.

And how does the Trinity River Vision get away with spending $1.6 million to shore up America's Biggest Boondoggle's bad public image?

I can tell J.D. Granger and The Boondoggle, for free, how they could shore up their bad public image.

ACTUALLY GET SOMETHING DONE IN A TIMELY FASHION AND QUIT BRAGGING ABOUT THE FEW MINOR THINGS YOU HAVE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO DO.

Embarrassing bragging, such as, a year after starting construction with a BIG BANG TNT explosion, a few V Pier forms are sticking up in the air at the only location where one of the three simple bridges is actually under construction to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

How much money has The Boondoggle wasted with its propaganda bragging about those little V Piers, acting as if finally managing to build a few wooden, re-bar re-inforced forms, awaiting cement, is some major accomplishment worthy of making public pronouncements?

How much of The Boondoggle's budget has gone into propaganda? The Eppstein propaganda, the ridiculous amount of signage with the Panther Island re-branding, the mailings, the advertisements in various print media, all the beer and music parties?

How much?

I wonder how much a city wearing its BIG CITY pants, like Los Angeles or Seattle or Dallas spends on propaganda to shore up the public image of an ongoing public works project?

Seattle has several projects underway that dwarf Fort Worth's Boondoggle. One, the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project, is currently stuck due to the world's biggest tunnel boring machine running into trouble. This has been a bit of a pubic relations embarrassment, known world-wide. I doubt any money has been spent trying to spin the problem with propaganda. Voters in that well educated part of the planet would be outraged to see money spent on blatant propaganda.

That and the Bertha Tunnel Project does a good job of keeping the public informed of the current status of the project and its latest project completion timeline. Unlike America's Biggest Boondoggle which has no real project timeline, other than this new imaginary one where it is touted that The Boondoggle will be finished in 2023, a couple decades after the project began.

Yeah, I can see why J.D. Granger would need Bryan Eppstein's help in duping the public in to not running him out of town on rails whilst covered in tar and feathers....

Jogging With Village Creek Indian Ghosts Talking About Columbus Day

Yes, that is the Ghost Mirror in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area you are looking at here.

Which means I went jogging with the Indian Ghosts today on this record breaking, temperature-wise, October 15 day.

Currently my temperature monitoring device is indicating we are one degree above the record, at 97, so I'm back with the A/C running and ceiling fans spinning.

It's like Summer never left.

Jogging went well today. It no longer feels awkward. I am not yet at the point where I can run and run and run as long as I want. That point may never be reached.

The Village Creek Indian Ghosts were less cranky than my last two visits. They dread Columbus Day each year.

But this year the Indian Spirit World got the news that the well-educated, modern parts of America have figured out that Christopher Columbus is not a historical figure who should be the subject of a national holiday, and so the Indian Ghosts are optimistic that this bizarrely twisted bit of Euro-Centric nonsense is coming to an end.

I told the Indian Ghosts, today, that it may be decades before the South figures it out, that many in the South only recently figured out that displaying Confederate Battle Flags really was not a good idea.

On Facebook, in a totally ludicrous comment thread to a totally ludicrous post about the absurdity of those who disdain Columbus, politically correct liberal fools that they be, a neanderthal, uneducated, clueless miscreant actually said.....

"You people who want to quit honoring Columbus on Columbus Day need to understand that if Columbus had not discovered America, the United States, as we know it, would not exist".

I added punctuation to make the sentence more legible.

Can you count how many levels of stupidity exist in this comment? I know I can't.

How do you educate someone who thinks something like this? I mean, where do you start?

And, thinking that honoring Columbus, with a national holiday, is a bad idea, has nothing to do with political correctness or being liberal. It has to do with the fact that in the modern era we now know the actual history, other than the myth, and the actual history of Columbus, in America, is nothing to celebrate.

To continue to pretend Columbus was something he was not is like those who continued to believe the earth was flat, after most people came to understand the earth was not flat.

Anyway, I'm  glad the Village Creek Indian Ghosts were back being semi-content today....