Monday, February 17, 2020

David, Theo & Ruby On Harstine Island With Deer & Aunt Jackie

Last night multiple photos of Aunt Jackie's visit to Harstine Island arrived via email.

Aunt Jackie's birthday was two days before Valentine's Day.

If I am remembering correctly, last summer I was told that my one and only niece, Ruby, had opted to take a summer school culinary class.

And then a couple months ago I was told that Ruby had told Aunt Jackie that if Aunt Jackie visited Washington during Aunt Jackie's birthday's time frame that Ruby would bake Aunt Jackie a birthday cake.

So, I am assuming that that is Ruby's birthday cake on which Aunt Jackie is trying to blow out the candles. Does each candle represent a decade? I do not know.  I do know for certain the candle blowing took place in David, Theo and Ruby's Harstine Island cabin.


Aunt Jackie with the Tacoma trio on the Harstine cabin's deck. That is not some sort of photoshopped backdrop in the background. That is what much of Western Washington looks like. One of the reasons the state's nickname is the Evergreen State.


No text explained what we are seeing above. I am guessing that Theo is controlling, remotely, a boat.

Or an electronic shark.

Harstine Island is a real island, surrounded by real water of the saltwater sort. Which would indicate the dock Theo is standing on is in Puget Sound.


Above we see Theo, outside the cabin, leading the intrepid trio to a confrontation with a deer herd. I suspect deer living on an island are used to friendly encounters with island dwellers.

I am looking forward to my first visit to Harstine Island, this coming summer.

So far Ruby has not said she will bake me a birthday cake...

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Kay Granger's Imaginary Powerful White House Panther Island Delay


Just yesterday someone asked me if I had any photos of the current state of Fort Worth's three bridges which have been stuck in slow motion construction since 2014, currently not expected to be completed until possibly some point in this decade. Or the following decade.

I replied that I did not have any recent photos of those bridges, and then this morning the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in its Sunday online edition, on the front page, had the photo you see above, of one of those "signature" bridges in the making, along with the stunning, iconic skyline, of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

The headline under the photo...

 Rep. Granger: ‘Powerful’ White House appointee is delaying Fort Worth’s Panther Island
Local leaders expected federal money to come by now. The White House wants them to do more homework.
________________

Seems likely Kay Granger is making up some imaginary powerful White House appointee as an excuse for her inability to secure federal pork barrel funds, what with, to help motivate Kay, her son being given a cushy high paying job planning Rockin' the River happy hours in the polluted Trinity River, along with other nonsense.

Kay Granger is up for election, again, and her part in the Panther Island Boondoggle mess is finally an issue, which many voters see as a scandal, after so many years.

For those who have no idea what Panther Island is, well, it is the imaginary island that those three bridges being built over dry land will connect to, connecting the Fort Worth mainland to that imaginary island.

What is now most frequently referred simply as The Boondoggle, began as the Trinity River Vision, way back near the start of the current century.

Over the years the name for the Boondoggle morphed from Trinity River Vision to Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

In recent years the Boondogglers usually refer to their slowly failing project as Panther Island, where there is no island, and where there has never been a panther, except in the long ago imagination of a Dallas news reporter.

Way back when the Boondoggle began it was billed as a vitally need flood control and economic development project.

Where there had been no flooding for well over half a century.

The original price tag for the Boondoggle was something in the $300 million range. That price tag is now well over $1 billion.

Just paying the exorbitant salaries of the Boondogglers for so many years, as the Boondoggle boondoggled along, has added greatly to the price tag.

That Kay Granger lady, referred to in the headline above, well, her son, J.D. is currently being paid over $200,000 a year, plus perks, even after he was fired from his Trinity River Vision Authority Executive Director position, and moved to being responsible for the imaginary flood control in the area which has not flooded for well over half a century.

Why should the more prosperous parts of America be expected to fork over funds to pay for this Boondoggle which has been so ineptly managed?

Way back when this started, when the project was announced, I wondered why, and how, such a public works project could be legit without the public voting on the funding mechanism for the project.

Eminent Domain was abused to take property for this economic development scheme, with some property taken over a decade ago in the area where those bridges have become embarrassing eyesores.

Tarrant County is the Eminent Domain Abuse Capital of America, but, even so, one would think there would be some limit to what is tolerated. But, bulldozers began to destroy buildings even before property owners had their cases heard in court.

One would think an imaginative lawyer could come up with a viable lawsuit on behalf of the Eminent Domain Abuse victims.

Because, clearly this project does not fall into the category of taking property for the public good, because if that were the case, if this actually was some sort of vitally needed public works project, it would have been properly funded and long ago completed.

But, instead we have the Boondoggle....

Friday, February 14, 2020

Sisterly Happy Valentine's Day From Puget Sound's Harstine Island


Incoming this Valentine's Day afternoon from my favorite sister-in-law, Kristin.  That incoming being the photo you see above of my two baby sisters, Michele on the left, Jackie on the right.

Earlier today I requested island photo documentation when I learned from Jackie that she was in Tacoma and was soon departing with David, Theo and Ruby, along with Michele and Kristin, to go to the Tacoma Trio's cabin on Harstine Island.

I thought that photo documentation would likely be of the Tacoma Trio doing some fun thing, not expecting to get to see something like my young little sisters beaming happy in the semi-warm Washington sun.

Those reading this in Fort Worth, those are real islands you see in the background, I think. Or that may be the Washington mainland. But, as you can clearly see, a real island is surrounded by a large body of water.

Naturally occurring water.

Not a chunk of industrial wasteland with a cement lined ditch cut through it, pretending to be an island.

One gets to Harstine Island via a bridge connecting the mainland to the island. That bridge was built over actual water. Saltwater of the tidal changing sort.

Fort Worth has been stuck for years trying to build three simple little bridges, over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, that being that aforementioned industrial wasteland.

A short Wikipedia/Google blurb one sees when one Googles "Harstine Island"....

Harstine Island is an island in Mason County, Washington, United States. The US Census recognizes it as an unincorporated community. The island is located west of Case Inlet in southern Puget Sound, 9.94194 miles north of Olympia. It has a land area of 30.0153354 square miles, and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2000 census.

Can you imagine a day way in the distant future when someone might Google "Panther Island" and read...

Panther Island is an imaginary island in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The US Census recognizes it as a poorly developed industrial wasteland. The imaginary island is located north of downtown Fort Worth, about 30 miles west of Dallas. It has a land area of a few square miles, and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2040 census, along with a large herd of feral cats.

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day. I had the best lunch in recent memory today to celebrate this sacred holiday...

Kremlin Kay Valentine's Day Wet Kisses From Russia With Love Exposing Pudgy Putnam

What you see via the image is a screen cap of what one finds when one Googles "Pudgy Putnam". Including "Images for Pudgy Putnam".

A couple days ago we blogged about recent scandal type revelations regarding Pudgy Putnam, he being the ultra right wing nut job who  fellow Tarrant County right wing nut jobs, along with Democrats hoping a right wing nut job beats Kay Granger in the Republican Primary, thus making it easier for the Democrat, Lisa Welch, to beat the Republican in the upcoming Blue Wave Tsunami of 2020, taking District 12 for the Democrats.

I really need to work on not writing so many run-on sentences.

Anyway, like I said a couple days ago I blogged about The Great District 12 Pudgy Putnam Pretender Unhinged & Exposed, in which we learned that Pudgy Putnam shares more character traits with his Trump hero than was initially realized.

That blog post generated an amusing comment...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Great District 12 Pudgy Putnam Pretender Unhinged & Exposed":

Kremlin Kay (Granger) sends you wet kisses from Russia with Love for posting this exposé of Pudgy Putnam.
________________

Wet kisses from Kremlin Kay, with love, from Russia.

What a perfect thing to get on Valentine's Day...

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

The Great District 12 Pudgy Putnam Pretender Unhinged & Exposed

Yesterday on Facebook I saw that which you see here, well, part of what I saw on Facebook. screen capped, omitting the part identifying who posted this.

The 13 graphics documented that which one reads when clicking on the "See More" link.

I knew there was something not quite right about the guy who the Tarrant District 12  right wingers think has a chance to replace the current occupant of the District 12 seat, Kay Granger.

Primarily it is Granger's challenger's imbecilic Trump fawning which was an indicative warning.

Some Democrats think the best way to get rid of Granger is by having a flawed right wing Trump loving nut job beat her in the primary, making for an easy win for the Democrat in the expected Blue Tsunami Wave of 2020.

After all, Beto beat Cruz in Tarrant County in the 2018 Senate race.

I know of some deluded naive sorts who think getting rid of Granger is the goal, and that it does not matter if a right wing nutjob replacement is seriously flawed, and likely a future embarrassment to Tarrant County, and Texas, should a fluke occur, with Pudgy Putnam elected.

Those who repeat that flawed it takes a right wing and a left wing for a bird to fly metaphor ignore the reality that if the right wing is malfunctioning, deformed, broken, or stupid, the bird has a lot of trouble flying, no matter how well developed the left wing is.

If I remember right I have explained previously why I think it is just fine to engage in the uncivil name calling behavior, making fun of the overweight Putnam by calling him Pudgy, since this is the low standard which has been set by Pudgy's hero, Trump.

Before, reading this Facebook post about Pudgy Putnam I had no idea he had so much in common with his Trump hero, ethics-wise, truth-wise, name calling-wise, financial finagling-wise, and other-wise, including apparently there have been multiple children born to multiple wives, though, I don't know if the number totals equal or exceed Trump's.

And now, on to the text of this enlightening Facebook post which you see when you click to "See More" ...

CHRISTOPHER PUTNAM: MY OPINION OF THE GREAT PRETENDER IN DISTRICT 12

While Granger’s opponent is out touting several things about who he is and what he wants to accomplish; I’d like to point out another side that her opponent doesn’t like to talk about.

1. Granger’s opponent stated he was offered an “in” with TAD to reduce his property values while in office. While he claimed he did not pursue it, his home value decreased $207,000 while he was in office. An Open Records Request shows no record of him reporting this “in.” His home value increased $795,386 when he sold his home. How does his home decrease in value 5.11% while he is an elected official when every other home on his block increased an average of 22.83% over the same time? This represents a 27.94% difference.

2. He claims he provided for the first known tax cut in city history while on the Colleyville City Council. The fact is, each year he was on the council, ad valorem tax collections increased (12.3% from 2014 – 2017). For comparisons sake, property tax collection only increased 6.8% from 2009 – 2014. He also ignored the city’s own CAFR that would have shown him the city of Colleyville actually collected less in property taxes in 2011, 2012, and 2013 than they did in 2010.

3. President Trump has openly supported and endorsed Kay Granger in this race, not her opponent. Even the President understands how toxic Granger’s opponent would be in Washington. To be clear, Trump endorsed Granger on 12/17/19. He also had some nice things to say about Kay at his Dallas rally on 10/17/19. Nor do I understand why Putnam is attempting to tell everyone that Kay Granger is currently pro-choice when she is endorsed by the pro-life groups Susan B. Anthony Candidate Fund and the National Right to Life Organization; then again, her opponent has not been able to tell the truth about many subjects in the almost 3 years I’ve known who he is.

4. Granger’s opponent is telling his supporters that Trump endorsed all of the incumbent Republicans right before the impeachment vote. He obviously forgot to verify this information. Ballotpedia only shows 4 endorsements from the House, with Granger being the ONLY one from Texas. As Putnam frequently has done, when the facts do not support his narrative, he just keeps repeating the same lie and hopes people will believe it.

5. Kay’s opponent likes to spout his successful business career. The fact is, her opponent’s business was kicked off of Nasdaq over a fraud allegation of inflating their revenue. The court proceedings that followed indicate that Kay’s opponent was aware this was going on. https://www.docketbird.com/…/AMEN…/njd-3:2017-cv-02978-00081

6. Kay’s opponent was incredibly proud to state that he raised over $500,000 in a week. What he failed to mention is that he gave himself a $250,000 loan, not to mention his college aged children also managed to donate $5,600 to his campaign as well. In total, only about 5% of his total campaign funds have actually come from inside District 12 as can be verified from his campaign finance reports.

7. Kay’s opponent lives in Colleyville. To be clear, Colleyville is not in District 12. Her opponent is not even able to vote for himself in this election. While his supporters claim he owns a home in District 12, the only home I’ve been able to locate using Tarrant, Parker, and Wise counties appraisal districts is his $1.5 million dollar home in Colleyville. His college aged son indicated a home address in Forth Worth when he donated to his father’s campaign but according to the appraisal district, this is a rent house. Furthermore, the address that Putnam used when he gave his campaign a $250,000 loan comes back as a Parcel Plus storefront; in Virginia. Why is Kay’s opponent going to such lengths to hide where he really lives? Even the CEO of one of the groups endorsing him questions why someone would run in a district that they do not live in. Putnam’s own Congressman is stepping down and not seeking reelection. Why didn’t he run in the district he actually lives in?

8. Kay’s opponent thinks sexual assault is something to joke about. During the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, Mr. Putnam thought it would be appropriate to claim that Diane Feinstein raped him when he was 13. Is this the mentality that you want representing your values in Washington?

9. Mr. Putnam fully supported, and still supports, an elected official in Colleyville that Chief Justice Brian Quinn wrote about, “…Interacting with prostitutes because “it was to be funny,” sexual promiscuity, and fondling a drunk stepsister who later protested adds plausibility or factual bases to Fletcher’s characterization of Lindamood as a sexual predator...” Rape jokes, supporting a married elected official that took advantage of his intoxicated stepsister; Kay’s opponent seems to have a problem with understanding what good character truly means. http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx…

10. Kay’s opponent claims he will be accessible, responsive, and accountable to all constituents – even Democrats and the liberal media. What Mr. Putnam will not tell you is that he will want to see your W2 before engaging with you. Specifically, he thinks you are only worthy to talk to if your bank account meets his approval.

11. When Kay’s opponent perceives you as a threat to his success, or you are successful in calling out his lies, his go to response is to threaten to sue you. What’s particularly interesting is his comment about asking someone how getting sued works and pointing out that she has been tied up in a suit for three years (now six) at tremendous expense. Kay’s opponent will do whatever he can to silence those that show who he really is.

12. Kay’s opponent incorporated Direct Action Texas in 2017. After his wife lost a school board race in Grapevine – Colleyville ISD, he used DAT to submit open records requests, in multiple districts looking for, “…all personnel records and correspondence relating to disciplinary action, job performance, and/or separation from the district for Greg Hart.” When Kay’s opponent is unable to argue facts, he tries his best to discredit the messenger. Why does an organization that claims to focus on government transparency, government ethics, public debt, and civil liberties find it necessary to seek information regarding disciplinary action about a teacher that opposed his wife in a school board election?

13. With Granger’s opponent being nothing more than a school yard bully, he found it convenient to delete all of his social media accounts prior to running for office. What he did not count on are the screenshots that show exactly what kind of person he really is.

14. Mr. Putnam feels the only way to win an argument is to personally attack those that disagree with him. These comments truly speak for themselves as they relate to Mr. Putnam’s character. What kind of person tries to belittle an educator for taking a second job to help make ends meet? Not all of us are fortunate enough to live in a million dollar home.

15. In my experience with Mr. Putnam, when the facts do not support his narrative, he makes up his own. As his wife ran for school board, Mr. Putnam continually lied about our school district, Grapevine – Colleyville ISD. His anger towards me comes from my constantly calling out and correcting his misinformation and lies about our district.

https://www.facebook.com/greg.hart.792/posts/10160455240415542

https://www.facebook.com/greg.hart.792/posts/10160468951600542

https://www.facebook.com/greg.hart.792/posts/10161060177085542

https://www.facebook.com/greg.hart.792/posts/10161381957815542

https://www.facebook.com/greg.hart.792/posts/10161796315290542?__tn__=K-R

16. Kay’s opponent has a difficult time accepting reality. When his wife lost in her school board race, he tried to blame it on mail in ballots. To be clear, there were 339 absentee votes out of 6,216 votes cast. In reality, our community understood that while his wife is a nice lady, his influence on our district would have caused significant damage to the success of our district. Grapevine and Colleyville both voted overwhelmingly for the incumbent in a 63.87% to 36.13% landslide. Granger’s opponent, once again, has a problem with truth.

17. Granger’s opponent claims he worked in the private sector for 30 years (although his resume with his former company does not support this), building a startup company into a multi-billion-dollar company. The fact is, his company misrepresented their financials and the value of the company, and the stock, tanked. Putnam was aware that that the financials were not accurate yet he still walked away with about a $1,000,000 buyout when he left the company.

18. Once again, I’m reminded of Chris’s “promise” to listen to everyone. The problem with his promise is that it is a lie. Not only has Putnam deleted my comments from his page, he has blocked me from further commenting. I guess being a teacher means my W2 does not meet his approval for open dialogue. So much for his “promise.”

Like Putnam, I am not able to vote in this election. My prayer is that as you vote in the upcoming primary I pray you stop and reflect on the character of who you are voting for. I’m tired of people like Kay’s opponent making things up and attacking people because they disagree with them. Elected officials should work together for the betterment of our country. In my dealings with Granger’s opponent, he has proven himself to be unethical, a liar, and nothing more than a school yard bully. There is no doubt that our country deserves better than Kay’s opponent.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Hot Sunday Wichita Falls Lucy Park With Orange Trump Trees

Seems like only yesterday, because it was yesterday, or the day before, that the outer world at my location had chilled itself to being only a few degrees above zero, factoring in the wind chill.

I think the actual real temperature got down to something like 14 degrees.

With snow.

Now, today, on this second Sunday of the second month of 2020, the outer world was a bit warmer than it was a couple days ago.

74 degrees when I rolled my mechanized wheels to Lucy Park to do some nature communing, along with a lot of other people enjoying the sudden arrival of early summer.


I zoomed in to take a photo of the above scene of a cute little girl going all goo goo gaw gaw over the ducks that were playing with her at the Lucy Park duck pond.

I really have not seen all that many duck ponds in city parks. But, of the ones I have seen, the duck pond in Lucy Park is the coolest one I have ever seen. Scenic. With an adventurous bridge. And some feisty geese co-habitating with the duck majority.

That is not the Lucy Park duck pond's adventurous bridge you see above, at the top. That is the suspension bridge across the Wichita River, which connects Lucy Park to the RV park on the other side of the river.

When that which you see below came into view the first thought which crossed my simple mind was it looked like some sort of abstract homage to our demented Dear Leader.


It looks like the forest of Lucy Park trees is using the same person to apply makeup as Trump has been using to create that orange look he, apparently, is so fond of.

Viral photos of Trump's cotton candy hair mop being blown asunder, revealing his poorly applied mango orange makeup, have been quite amusing.

Amusing and revealingly explanatory.

Now if only a gust of wind could somehow solve the mystery of that bizarre toupee looking chia pet mess which covers the top of the pumpkin. Well, covers that unfortunate eyesore most of the time, when naughty wind is not mis-behaving.

Anyway, it sure is fun having a demented president who has set such a low bar for us for the 2020 version of civil discourse...

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Day Two Iceman Blizzarding North Texas

It is the morning of the day after a day of snow blanketed North Texas.

During yesterday's ongoing blizzard eventually I could take being snowbound no longer.

At the point in time, yesterday, when I left my abode, the view from my living room window is what you see photo documented, looking north past some shivering blinds.

Before I forget, I must mention a word or two of appreciation of our US Postal Service.

On Monday I ordered a couple items from Amazon. The projected shipment arrival day was Friday.

However, Wednesday morning I got an email from Amazon telling me the shipment was already out for delivery, two days early.

I left my abode, went to the mailbox, and found that which I had ordered only two days before, successfully delivered by the Post Office, always true to their "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" motto.

I brought the packages back to my abode and then made my way through the blowing snow to my motorized means of locomotion to take an icy drive to ALDI and Walmart.


As you can see the road at the point in time I was driving on it was not covered with snow, and not yet slippery from a coat of ice.

I think a snowplow may have cleared the road. Though I do not remember ever seeing a snowplow in Texas of the big truck sort.


Eventually I made it to the Walmart parking lot, which is the view through my windshield, and snowflakes, you see above.

A device which looked like a riding lawnmower on steroids was snow plowing the Walmart parking lot, leaving big piles of snow which will likely take several days to disappear, if above freezing temperatures ever return.

Currently the temperature, this Thursday morning, is 14, with the wind chill making those 14 degrees feel like 5.

I think I may resist the need to escape being snowbound today...

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Iceman Cometh Blizzarding North Texas

Looking out my office window this morning I can barely see across the street to the Texas Lone Star flag, drooping, due to likely being frozen stiff, barely visible through the white blizzard currently covering almost everything in the outer world a bright white.

Two days ago, on Monday, I was in Walmart, surprised at how crowded the grocery part of the store was, with some shelves being stripped of goods.

I asked what was going on to be told people were stocking up because of the Winter Storm Warning.

And then, last night, whilst suffering through the litany of lies which currently passes for being a State of the Union address, the crawl across the bottom of the screen was informing of various closures, already scheduled for today, for the Winter Storm event which had not yet arrived.

I guess the locals know, from experience, to take these type warnings serious. And to plan ahead.

Back in my old home zone in the Puget Sound part of Washington, it was only after the snow actually arrived that we would eagerly listen to the radio, usually KBRC, to learn if school was going to be late, or cancelled.

I likely will not be leaving my abode today. I did not stock up on anything when I was in Walmart with all those emergency shoppers.

I have sufficient supplies, I think, to survive until the thaw arrives...

Monday, February 3, 2020

Texas Summer Heat Wave To Winter Blizzard In Two Days

Well, the winter version of summer has lasted two days, so far, at my North Texas location.

My phone just let me know that the National Weather Service has issued one of its Winter Storm Watch warnings.

Apparently tomorrow a cold front arrives with a rapid temperature drop, followed by extreme cold and snow on Wednesday.

If I was still at my old location in Western Washington I would be stocking up on supplies, anticipating a possible long instance of being snowbound. But, my experience with Texas weather is that the extreme cold never lasts long enough to cause a supply shortage problem.

I remember back in the mid 1990s being snowbound on my cul-de-sac hill in East Mount Vernon. At that point in time I grew so desperate for supplies, by about day five, that I slid my cross country skis down the hill and all the way to the grocery store then known as Thrifty Foods.

Now that I am typing that out I think this may be a false memory. Because that would be a long distance to Thrifty Foods. Maybe what I actually did was slide down the hill all the way to the AM/PM convenience store at the intersection of Waugh Road and College Way. That seems more likely.

Anyway, there will be no sliding to a grocery store from my current location. For multiple reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that I threw my cross country skis away years ago when I found that the Texas heat had caused them to delaminate.

Today I am going to enjoy this current last day of pseudo Texas summer by rolling my bike wheels on the Circle Trail through the Wichita Bluff Nature Area...

Sunday, February 2, 2020

81 Degree 2/02/2020 Super Bowl Sunday In Texas

Til this mighty fine Sunday of 2/02/2020 it had been several days since my bike convinced me it was warm enough to enjoy a pleasant bike ride.

When last I was out in the outer world for some salubrious endorphin inducing activity, as in, yesterday, I found the outer world to be too chilly and myself underlayered with outerwear.

And now, one day later, a day like today would be considered a HOT summer day back in my old home zone of the Pacific Northwest.

Tomorrow is currently scheduled to be another HOT day. And then Tuesday winter returns with the temperature plummeting to well below freezing, along with likely snow, possibly in blizzard form.

So far this winter has seemed extremely mild, compared to my previous Texas winters.

I remember doing a lot of shivering last winter. I flew out of Texas in early March of last year. That day was extremely cold. Two weeks later I returned from being HOT in Arizona to find it was no longer long pants and coats season in Texas.

Today, on this second day of February it was also not a long pants day, bike riding in shorts and a t-shirt.

As you can see via the accidentally selfie I somehow managed to take with my phone we are currently sweltering at 81 degrees in the middle of this Sunday afternoon.

The 81 degrees has not caused me to want to turn on my abode's air conditioning.

But, this morning, whilst returning from ALDI, I did turn on my motorized motion devices A/C.

I am prepared for my Super Bowl Party. Air fried chicken wings are awaiting being re-heated, along with onion rings, and other delicacies...