Yesterday 9th Anniversary Celebration Was Exhausting

Yesterday, the 3rd Tuesday of July, was exhausting. With a lot of that exhaustion due to an insomnia bout the night before.

Tuesday morning started off with what you see here, brought to my computer screen by Google, informing me that yesterday was a Happy Anniversary of having been with AdSense for 9 years.

9 years?

This falls into the category of time flying way too fast.

Soon after learning of this anniversary I hit the publish button on a blogging I'd written the day before about another anniversary. Within a short period of time that blogging began generating confusing text messages about that blogging.

It was sometime around the 4th or 5th text message about that blogging that Tuesday began to be exhausting.

That exhaustion was compounded by the need to update one of my websites, that being inwesco.com. This is one of the more complicated websites I have made, complicated due to the subject matter being a massive catalog of building material parts which are all foreign to me.

To make yesterday's Inwesco update I had to use a new web editor. Microsoft long ago abandoned the Front Page web editor I had used since the previous century. Front Page continued to work on my XP based computer. But, I had upgraded to a non-XP computer, hence the need for a new web editor and a new FTP file uploader.

Making the Inwesco changes was not as exhausting as I'd feared, and likely would not have been exhausting at all, if it were not for those exhausting text messages about that controversial blog post.

By noon I entered the outer world to take myself on a lake walk. That only made me more exhausted.

Earlier my little sister had mentioned not having access to a scrap book our maternal parental unit made about my little sister winning the title of Most Valuable Player at the Washington State High School Softball Championship, held in Wenatchee, way back in the late 1980s.

I attended those softball games and clearly remember my little sister getting that Most Valuable Player Award. It was a proud Big Brother moment, but remembered no photographs being taken.

I told my little sister I remember no photos of that event, even though later I had myself some sort of recovered memory of myself taking pictures that day.

By early evening my little sister emailed  me the photo you see here, holding her Most Valuable Player Award.

I have asked my little sister if it was I who took this picture. I have yet to receive an answer. If it was I who took  this picture learning such will be yet the latest indicator that my memory is not what it used to be.

Not being able to remember that which you think you should remember is exhausting....

Pondering Swimming In The Blue Water Of Lake Wichita

Til today I had not had myself any salubrious communing with nature for a couple days, unless one counts short swimming pool bouts.

I am not enjoying the new pool as much as the previous pool. The new pool is smaller, with a lot of depth variation, including an 8 feet deep deep end, with a steep drop off which plummets over a cliff from 4 feet to that aforementioned 8 feet.

I was in wading mode the first time I discovered that cliff-like drop off. It was unsettling.

Today, with the air being pretty much in dead calm mode, with the temperature stuck between 90 and 100, I opted to drive to nearby Lake Wichita dam, figuring a breeze might be blowing across the lake.

I figured correctly.

As you can see, others had the same cooling idea, with a pair of those on the dock being kids in fishing mode.

The photo version of Lake Wichita looks inviting, blue and inviting, as in it looks like one might have oneself a mighty fine time swimming in that blue oasis.

However, in person, when viewed via the primitive using ones own eyes method, the lake takes on a much less blue hue, skewing more to brown than blue.

Long ago, in another century, swimming was among the many things one could do in Lake Wichita.

There is an effort afoot to restore Lake Wichita to its former glory.

I hope that effort is successful and does not turn into any sort of Fort Worth style Texas boondoggle of inept implementation spanning eons of time....

No Dutch Cuisine With Tarrant County Rabble Rousers Explosive Golden Grenades

A couple weeks ago I got a Facebook invitation from the Tarrant County Rabble Rousers Association inviting me to their Annual Rabble Rousers Lunch taking place in a swanky Country Club in the upscale Fort Worth suburb of Haltom City.

In addition to the location the only other information in the invitation was...

Meet for lunch (Dutch) to see who will get the coveted Golden Grenade this year!

When I read that the lunch was Dutch I found myself being all eager attend, due to the fact I'd not had the pleasure of Dutch cuisine since way back in the 1990s at the Dutch Mother's Inn in the Dutch-American town of Lynden.

When I verbalized to the Queen of the Rabble Rousers my surprise that Dutch cuisine was the specialty of this country club the Queen informed me that the lunch was not Dutch.

Being told the lunch was not Dutch left me confused, but not confused enough to seek further elaboration.

I know nothing about this Golden Grenade thing which the invitation mentions, nor do I know why it is coveted, or who covets it.

I am also a bit confused regarding the concept of Tarrant County Rabble Rousers.

My confusion stems from the fact that while there are plenty of Rabble in Tarrant County, the Rabble seems to do little Rousing, which has long perplexed me, what with there being so much which is so Rousing at this location on the planet, which one would think would Rouse the Rabble.

The Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle comes to mind, with its slow motion wasting of money on nonsense like shiny monuments  to aluminum garbage cans in the center of a roundabout near a bridge whose construction has been halted for months due to incompetent engineering, with that project being directed by the unqualified son of a local congresswoman, hired to motivate his mama to get federal funds for what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle.

An outrageous Boondoggle, yet nary any sort of meaningful protest by a horde of Roused Rabble.....

E.Coli Levels Low Enough For Return Of Trinity River Tubing

Elsie Hotpepper sent that which you see here to my phone this morning.

An advertisement from the good folks at the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision, also known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, advising polluted water aficionados that Rockin' the River Live in the Trinity is back at Fort Worth's imaginary pavilion on Fort Worth's imaginary island.

So.

Apparently tubing is back from its short excess e.coli caused vacation, with The Boondoggle inviting you to "Come get your butt in the water and a beer in your hand, tube the Trinity River and enjoy free concerts every Thursday."

Way back at the start of this century, when the Trinity River Vision was first foisted, without warning, or public input, on the good people of Fort Worth, did anyone imagine it would come to this, decades later?

I do not recollect when the un-needed flood control, poorly thought out economic development scheme was first announced  that beer drinking inner tube parties in the Trinity River was part of the plan.

And now, here we are, it is 2016, with the number one Trinity River Vision accomplishment being managing to convince a small  number of Fort Worth residents that it is a good idea to get wet in the river everyone used to thing was too polluted to touch.

And which is still too polluted to eat fish one catches in that river.

Wichita Falls Geese Goosing Pokemon Go Zombies

The Army of Geese who occupy the Sikes Lake zone of Midwestern State University, in the mostly peaceful Texas burg of Wichita Falls, have turned militant and aggressive in recent days.

I suspect the Sikes Lake Army of Geese is not appreciating being invaded by the hordes of Pokemon Go Zombies rendering slightly chaotic their usually peaceful territory.

Yesterday the Army of Geese was blocking access to the Mustang of Many Colors and her Baby, which you can sort of see via the view through the rusted trident of metallic sculptural art.

The closer I approached the goose front lines, the louder the Army of Geese honked. It was very intimidating.

If you have ever been goosed by mad geese you do not soon forget how powerful those goose bills are when in attack and bite mode.

How long does a Pokemon Go invasion last in one particular location? I do not know if Sikes Lake is the only Wichita Falls spot were one can find the Japanese bugs.

Methinks Mount Wichita and Lake Wichita Park would be a very amusing Pokemon Go location. Hordes of Pokemon Go Zombies wandering all over Mount Wichita would likely quickly attract a lot of onlookers.

Speaking of Mount Wichita, I think I may go there today to do some mountain climbing. The wind is being sufficiently gusty to provide an adequate wind chill factor...

Summer 2016 Trinity River Vision Bridge-Less Update Propaganda

I figured after I moved out of the Corrupt Contaminated Zone of America known as Sick City I would no longer be seeing the bizarro quarterly updates of the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision, also known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

I figured wrong.

Someone who must remain anonymous emailed me the link to the online version of The Boondoggle's Summer 2016 Trinity River Vision UPDATE.

These UPDATES never fail to disappoint with their sheer hubris and embarrassing stupidity. Not to mention wanton shameless propaganda.

The image you see above is the cover of The Boondoggle's latest UPDATE. On page two or three we get...

SUMMER 2016 CONTENTS

• GATEWAY PARK COMING INTO FOCUS
• SUMMERTIME AT PANTHER ISLAND PAVILION
• UPCOMING EVENTS AT PANTHER ISLAND PAVILION
• REQUESTING A TRVA PROJECT PRESENTATION
• TRVA FAIR CONTRACTING 2016 CALENDAR
• TRWD NEWS–TRAILHEADS, TWIN POINTS AND TONS OF TRASH
• TRVA VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT ON TOM AMES
• FUNCTIONS, FACES AND PLACES AROUND TOWN

Each quarter The Boondoggle's quarterly UPDATE repeats a lot of that which was in the previous quarterly UPDATE. This latest UPDATE is no exception to that norm.

More than half of the UPDATE is devoted to the wondrous events occurring at Panther Island Pavilion. Where there is no island or pavilion. But where there is a lot of water which requires regular testing to make sure it is not too contaminated for safe human contact.

This latest quarterly UPDATE of The Boondoggle makes no mention of The Boondoggle's three simple little bridges being built over dry land. Previous UPDATES made extensive mention of those bridges.

For some reason this UPDATE does not update us on the fact that the construction of those bridges has been stalled for months due to design errors.

Previous quarterly Boondoggle UPDATES have made a big deal about the Airfield Falls Trailhead development. This latest UPDATE makes no mention of that which Anonymous Took Me To Regarding America's Biggest Boondoggle's Airfield Falls Trailhead Embarrassment a couple months ago.

The Boondoggle's latest UPDATE also makes no mention of the current status of Cowtown Wakepark, touted with extremely flowery propaganda in previous UPDATES.

When is Fort Worth going to collectively wise up and put this ridiculous Boondoggle out of its misery? How many more quarters can The Boondoggle and its propaganda go on embarrassing itself?

And Fort Worth.

Fort Worth needs a total flush of its city government.  And a regional water board flush. And flushing multiple Tarrant County judges and a corrupt Justice of the Peace.....

Shuttling To Boring Bertha Pondering America's Biggest Boondoggle

I screen capped that which you see here from a video in the online version of the Seattle Times.

In the video a work crew rides a shuttle inside the Highway 99 tunnel being dug deep under downtown Seattle.

The crew carrying shuttle stops when it reaches the tunnel boring machine known as Bertha, with the work crew then disembarking.

I knew Bertha had made a lot of progress since she began digging again after a lengthy repair operation.

I was not aware the double decker highway is already being constructed where Bertha has already done her boring.

Native Washingtonian, Steve A, thinks the Highway 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project deserves the honor of being America's Biggest Boondoggle.

I have long respectfully disagreed with Steve A on this important subject, believing, as I have long documented, that Fort Worth's Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision deserves the honor of being known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Yes, the Fort Worth Project is small in scope, compared to the Seattle project. And yes, the Seattle project has had some problems, and controversies.

However, the Seattle project is moving along, scheduled to be completed long before Fort Worth's currently stalled project.

The Fort Worth Boondoggle does not even have an actual project timeline.

The reasons I think Fort Worth deserves the America's Biggest Boondoggle title, instead of Seattle?

The Seattle project is fully funded, fully engineered. The Fort Worth project is not fully funded, hence the money has never been available to fully engineer the design of Fort Worth's project, hence construction problems, like Fort Worth's three simple bridges being built over dry land, have been abandoned for months, due to serious design errors.

The Seattle project is run by a qualified project engineer. The Fort Worth project is run by the unqualified son of a local congresswoman, hired to motivate his mother to secure federal funds for the under-funded project. That funding mechanism has not worked out well.

Both alleged Boondoggle's have waterfront elements. With Fort Worth's project creating a waterfront where none previously existed. Seattle's project greatly enhances the existing Seattle waterfront, tying it directly to downtown by removing the Alaskan Way Viaduct obstacle.

Another big Boondoggle difference.

In Seattle, even though the water is clean, clear and safe, there is no way the Seattle project's project engineer would engineer Rockin' the Bay Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in Elliott Bay, because, well, that would be ridiculous and no one would participate.

While in Fort Worth, the Frat Boy who mis-engineer's Fort Worth's Boondoggle, engineers all sorts of events in the polluted waters of the Trinity River.

It's sort of a Nero fiddling while Rome burns type deal....

A Look At Wichita Falls Pavilions & Fort Worth Imaginary Pavilions

I was back at Sikes Lake, yesterday, walking with the Pokemon Go Zombies.

Here you are looking at a pair of the Pokemon Go Getting Zombies crossing one of the bridges over Sikes Lake, heading towards the Wichita Falls Museum of Art and the Ruby & Robert Priddy Pavilion.

Why give something such a cumbersome name? Why not simply Priddy Pavilion?

Below is closer look at the Priddy Pavilion.

Last night I drove by this location and saw a swarm of Pokemon Go Zombies and a lot of people seated in the Priddy Pavilion area, appearing to be awaiting some sort of musical event to start up on the shores of Sikes Lake.

I am fairly certain no inner tube floating or beer drinking took place during this music event.

Last Sunday I came upon another full sized Wichita Falls pavilion. This one is called the Elizabeth Prothro Pavilion, located at the River Bend Nature Area adjacent to Lucy Park.

As you can see above, the Elizabeth Prothro Pavilion is a large structure. Most pavilions, in most towns, are large structures.

And then we get to Fort Worth, a city with imaginary pavilions on imaginary islands, such as Panther Island Pavilion on Panther Island, one of the town's great success stories.

Fort Worth really needs to stop with the false naming.

One would think the powers that misrule that town would have learned some sort of lesson from confusing, for decades, downtown Fort Worth's few tourists, with signs pointing to Sundance Square, where there was no square, til a  couple years ago when one of the downtown parking lots was turned into a little square, then named Sundance Square Plaza, with no one in the naming process apparently realizing that is a goofy redundant name.

If Fort Worth wants to have a Panther Island Pavilion, how about first coming up with something which bears some semblance to an island? And then add a building which bears some semblance to a pavilion.

What a concept....

Awakened By A Thud Before Finding Photo Of Birch Bay Driftwood

A couple years ago Spencer Jack took his dad up north near the Canadian border to go water sliding at Birch Bay.

Birch Bay is a bustling beach tourist zone in Whatcom County. Camping at Birch Bay State Park was the number one go to place when I was a kid going on summer camping trips every weekend with my parental units and siblings.

I remember Birch Bay with a fondness level I remember little else.

Well, there is Sun Lakes State Park in Eastern Washington which also provided a lot of fond memories, including going there well past my little kid family camping years.

So, when I was a little kid, on into my teenage years, and  maybe slightly beyond my teenage years, there was this chunk of driftwood on the beach in the state park area of Birch Bay.

After Spencer Jack took his dad water sliding at Birch Bay I asked about that chunk of driftwood down by the state park. Spencer Jack's dad said next time they were at the Bay they'd look for it.

I don't remember if I got a subsequent Birch Bay Driftwood Search Report.

Then last night, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a concussive thud. I reached for my phone to see it was and hour and a half past midnight.

And that I had several text messages.

One of the text messages was from Spencer Jack's grandpa, also known as my little brother Jake. There was no message in Spencer Jack's grandpa's text message, just the photo you see above.

Is that the infamous chunk of Birch Bay driftwood I remember so fondly, still existing all these years later? I can not tell for sure. I suspect it must be. I am fairly certain my little brother would remember that chunk of driftwood as well as I do....

Polluted Public River Floating Is One Of Fort Worth's Great Imaginary Success Stories

That which you see here is not a guy fishing in a dirty brown river.

What you see here is a guy testing water in a dirty brown river near the location of the notorious Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats at an imaginary pavilion at an imaginary island in the great success story known as Fort Worth.

The photo of the guy testing the Trinity was part of a Bud Kennedy article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I came to be looking at this July 1 Star-Telegram article after someone named Anonymous  made an anonymous  blog comment...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind":

You might have missed this gem from the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism:

Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week

The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories.

_____________________

Now, that is just rude to refer to Bud Kennedy as the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism.

I agree with Bud Kennedy more often than I don't.

But, sometimes I don't understand how Bud Kennedy can type with a straight face some of which he types. I always assume he knows what he is typing is ridiculous and internally giggles. Or that he is just a big fan of creating ridiculous propaganda.

"The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories."

A river makeover? Nothing has been done to that river that anyone would call a makeover. Some sand has been sprinkled to create a pseudo beach, and a couple outhouses have been installed on the south side of what is bizarrely called Panther Island Pavilion. Where there is no pavilion. But there is a small covered stage on the north side of the river.

A busy downtown tubing-kaying attraction?

Attraction? Busy?

Are you attracted to that attraction? I know I never have been, nor has anyone I've talked to. I've long opined that it is a sad indicator, and should be viewed as such, that Fort Worth is badly lacking in the outdoor water sport venues department. Thus so many people willing to get wet in that dirty river at that location.

Has Bud Kennedy partaken of the tubing-kayaking attraction? I know he likes to participate in local events.

And finally, the river's imaginary makeover is "one of Fort Worth's great success stories."?

One of Fort Worth's great success stories? I'm really not trying to be unduly snarky here, but I really can not come up with a single Fort Worth success story. And can not imagine characterizing those sad river floating events at that imaginary island as a success.

Really, I'm serious here, I can not think of anything that I might characterize as a great Fort Worth success story.

Having the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, via the Cabela's sporting goods store? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories? Nope. That one did not work out, despite the Star-Telegram, and especially Bud Kennedy's, touting it as such.

Having more wells fracked than another other city in the world? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having more outhouses in its city parks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having fewer streets with sidewalks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Please, someone help me out here, what in the world could Bud Kennedy be referring to when he refers to Fort Worth's great success stories?

Read all of Bud Kennedy's Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week piece and see how many ridiculously absurd propaganda items you can find.

Of course the polluted river floating being one of Fort Worth's great success stories is my favorite Orwellian bit of propaganda.

Another gem is this paragraph....

Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river. It has been safe to swim, tube, raft or boat there most of the past year, but only boating or rafting is allowed along the Clear Fork stretch near Trinity Park or near South University Drive.

The embarrassing Panther Island nomenclature really needs to be put to rest.

What does that "Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river" statement even purport to mean?

The chunk of land The Boondoggle identifies as Panther Island is dry land. The Trinity River is not nicknamed "Panther Island".

Or did I miss that memo?