115 Degrees With Soaring COVID Cases In Wichita County

Yesterday, Saturday, the last day of the month of July in the year 2021, around 6pm I exited air conditioned coolness to drive to Walmart.

The outer world was HOT.

I got in my vehicle and saw the vehicle's temperature monitor was indicating it was 115 degrees HOT.  I attempted to take a photo documenting the temperature, which you will see, above, if you look closely at the right side of the rear view mirror.

Entering Walmart something happened which has never happened previously during the era of COVID. A Walmart employee was handing out masks. Since being vaccinated I have not been doing the masking thing. I asked the person handing out the masks if Walmart was reversing their masking policy due to the new CDC recommendations. Yes was her reply.

The CDC is recommending that even those who have been vaccinated mask up when out and about where humans congregate. So, I put on my new Walmart mask and proceeded into the store, to find myself freshly appalled to see way too many refusing to be masked, even with Walmart giving you a mask upon entry.

 

And then this morning, the first day of the 2021 version of August I read, via the Wichita Falls Times Record News, that COVID cases are soaring again at this relatively isolated area of Texas.
 

I read elsewhere this morning that Walmart has reversed its masking policy, and I'm thinking, due to what I experienced last night, maybe Walmart will maybe perhaps be more assertive with the mask requirement.

For weeks now upon entering Walmart you see a big sign telling you that you can get vaccinated, for free, at the Walmart pharmacy.

McNutty Strikes Again With Mount Rainier

 

Yesterday McNutty Inspired Iconic Commentary About A Texas Town & Seattle. 

This morning, on Facebook, it happened again.

As in this morning Miss McNutt posted another image of Mount Rainier, as part of her continuing series of posting images which make herself, and others, like me, homesick for our old home zone of the Pacific Northwest.

Currently Miss M is located further from her old home zone than I am, as witnessed by recent photo documentation of Miss M and her multiple offspring playing in the Atlantic Ocean.

McNutty posting today's Mount Rainier photo prompted Miss Carol BD to ask "Are you trying to make yourself homesick?"

To which Miss M replied, "I do get quite homesick! Plus, it's been too long of a stretch since my last visit!"

I do not know when McNutty had her last visit to the PNW. I know mine was way back in August of 2017. I would have been back since then, but this thing called COVID intervened.

Today's McNutty Mount Rainier Facebook posting included an informational factoid blurb about Washington's biggest volcano...

Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma or Tacoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about 59 miles south-southeast of Seattle. With a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m), it is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington and the Cascade Range, the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States, and the tallest in the Cascade Volcanic Arc.

The mountain is only 59 miles from Seattle. I do not know how many miles in any direction from my current location I would have to go to find a mountain...

McNutty Inspired Iconic Commentary About A Texas Town & Seattle

I saw this last night, via Facebook, via a fellow ex-PNWer, Miss McNutt, who shares with me the frequent seeing of scenes from our old home zone which make us long for seeing a scenic wonderland when we look out any random window of our abode.

The above scene of Seattle and the Space Needle is just a tad hyper realized. As in this is not a totally realistic scene of the view from Elliot Bay, looking at the Seattle waterfront, the Space Needle, and Mount Rainier.

However, it is close enough to the reality to evoke that dreaded homesick feeling.

I see this type iconic imagery of my old home zone, Seattle specifically, and it activates my annoyance at the delusional nonsense I experience at my current Texas location, well, not my exact current Texas location, but my previous Texas location.

A Texas location where absolutely nothing is remotely iconic, as in remotely anything which one sees an image of and knows exactly what one is looking at. And yet this Texas town, via its various propaganda purveyors, ever since I arrived, has touted this that or the other perfectly ordinary thing as being something special, something so special it causes other towns, far and wide, to be green with envy.

Or that that perfectly ordinary thing is so special it is iconic. A signature iconic image representing the town to the world. Things like three simple little bridges built over dry land, which look like freeway overpasses, get promoted as somehow being special, unique iconic signature bridges.

Or, something like a sporting goods store will be propaganda-ized to the locals as destined to be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, thus worthy of subsidies and tax breaks.

And then six months later, when another of the same sporting goods store opens in Texas, followed soon thereafter by yet one more of the same sporting goods store in the same metropolitan area as the one which was going to be the imaginary top tourist attraction in Texas, those who spouted the ridiculous propaganda turn silent, never uttering a mea culpa confession to being part of a what amounted to being a scam.

Or there was the time those same lame propaganda-izers spewed nonsense regarding a lame food court type enterprise opening in the town's sleepy downtown, touting it as being the first such public market in Texas, modeled after public markets in Europe, and Seattle's Pike Place Market.

Seattle's Pike Place Market is yet one more iconic signature reality which exists in that Pacific Northwest town. The quickly failing imaginary public market in the Texas town I am talking about was called the Santa Fe Rail Market. It was pitiful. Even more pitifully pathetic than the town's current three little freeway overpass type bridges being touted as being iconically signature structures.

This Texas town we are talking about has been working on building itself a water feature for most of this century. That's what the three little bridges being built over dry land are part of. To one day connect the town's mainland to an imaginary island, where there may be canals, and a lake.

Over the years of this century, that Texas town's touted imaginary lake has changed in size, at times as big as 33 acres, some times shrinking to less than 10 acres. 

So far, we have not made note of that Texas town's propaganda-izers claiming that lake will create a waterfront like Seattle's, where cruise ships dock, along with ferry boats. 

However, the propaganda for that town's future waterfront does claim there will be a Panther Island Houseboat District.

You reading this in modern, sane locations in America, we are not making this up...

Big Rock Hoodoo Appearance On Sikes Lake Shore

Today when I stopped my bike at my regular watering spot on Sikes Lake I was just a little surprised to see that someone had constructed a hoodoo from the big rocks lining the lake.

Some prefer to refer to these manmade hoodoos as cairns.

As you can see via the waveless lake the air was being pretty much dead calm for today's bike ride. With the temperature 93 and the humidity making it feel like 100.

I do not overheat whilst biking when it is HOT. Unless I stop in a shade-free spot. Then I quickly turn into a HOT sweaty mess.

Today was the second incident-less bike ride on the new bike. No seat woes, nor gear shift woes, no speedometer woes, no anything woes. So, since the previous bike ride was incident free, today I rode the new bike to musical accompaniment for the first time. 

Have I made mention of the fact the new bike is foldable? You pull a lever and you can then fold the bike in half, making for easy transport. I thought this type feature might come in handy for my long planned roadtrip to Washington, where I hope to go mountain biking with David, Theo & Ruby.

But, on my own bike this time.

What with the latest COVID status I begin to wonder if that long planned roadtrip to Washington is ever gonna happen...

Six Flags Over Texas Trinity River Bottom Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Ride

A first look at a new Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington attraction.

Trinity River Bottom Adventure.

Apparently it is sort of a Texas take on Disneyland's Jungle Cruise.

Only with this Six Flags ride you are in jeeps, with a simulated Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader in the driver's seat, taking you on a simulated tour of the Trinity River Bottom zone which exists a short distance northwest of the actual ride in Arlington's Six Flags.

The Dallas Cowboys cheerleader takes the line of jeeps into a river crossing where she dodges obstacles like cows, alligators, feral pigs, giant catfish, snakes, flotillas of litter floating downstream from Fort Worth, random simulated corpses for scary shock value and a simulated flash flood from which the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader heroically leads her adventurers back to dry safety.

I have only been to Six Flags twice. When I moved to its vicinity I thought I would be a frequent visitor, thinking it was like Disneyland, because if I lived in Disneyland's vicinity I would be a frequent visitor, getting a season's pass each year.

Actually, back in the previous century, when I lived about 1,200 miles north of Disneyland, I visited about once a year. Which is a solid indicator as to how drastically Six Flags Over Texas is not even remotely a Disneyland type experience.

After my first Six Flags visit there was never any consideration given to getting a season's pass. I only returned a second time because someone I knew had free tickets and asked me if I wanted to go. And so I did.

But, I may return to Six Flags Over Texas, one more time, just to experience this new River Bottom ride.

The simulated Dallas Cowboys cheerleader looks sort of familiar....

Virtually Attending A BEHS Class Reunion In The Skagit Valley

 

Saturday I missed going to a high school class reunion up north in my old home zone.

The reunion was barely underway when I began receiving photo documentation via my phone and email.

The reunion appears to have been well attended, with more attending than evidenced by the above group photo. I know this because two of the people in attendance, who were sending me photo documentation, are not in the above group photo.

The last time my high school class had a reunion, with a group photo posted on Facebook, one of my fellow non-attendees to that reunion, Honey Lulu, called me the next morning because she was perplexed trying to figure out who some of the people were that we were seeing. We made our way through the photo, identifying all but one, which had to await a third part identification.

I have not heard from Honey Lulu after this latest reunion. I can see she is in attendance, kneeling in the middle of the front row. I can identify, with no help, maybe two thirds of the faces I am seeing.

This reunion which took place on Saturday was the result which resulted after the official reunion, which was to take place at the Skagit Country Club, was cancelled, due to COVID. That cancelled reunion will take place next summer, unless something dire intervenes. 

Linda Lou called me Saturday as she was driving away from the reunion. I talked her all the way back to her driveway in Mount Vernon. Linda Lou had a mighty fine time. She had been a tad reluctant to attend, due to a variety of legit reasons, including COVID.

Because that mighty fine time was had by Linda Lou at this makeshift reunion I committed to going to next summer's reunion, if it takes place...

Don't Go To A High School Reunion Not Prepared To Find Old People Claiming To Be Classmates

About an hour or so ago a big event began at a rural location in the Skagit Valley.

Literally, less than a minute after I saw the meme you see on the left, above, incoming email brought me two photos of that event taking place at a rural location in the Skagit Valley. I then merged the meme with one of the reunion photos for blogging purposes.

The two photos are HUGE. So, I was able to read some nametags.

Like that is Dan Sooter, up from California, sitting in the front right, talking to the first husband of Janice Jackson, known as Martin Burwash. I think that is Janice with her back to the camera, to the left of Martin.

Like I said, the photos are HUGE.

Below are the two photos rendered smaller than the email versions, but bigger than what you see above...

No, the meme is wrong, these people do not look like they may be too old to have been high school classmates of mine.

This looks like a classy location for a reunion, an event space decorated to look like a garage. I see some ice chests arrayed around the space. The ice chests must be holding the food stuff everyone was instructed to bring for the Potluck scheduled to begin around 2pm. It's a little past 4pm at my location, so the Skagit Valley B-EHS Potluck must be underway.

I got a few calls the past couple days asking if I was gonna be there today. None of the callers seemed too shocked when I said no, I am not gonna be there..

Where In The PNW Are Theo & Ruby Mountain Climbing & Rappelling Cliffs?

Where in the PNW are Theo and Ruby was the question that came to my phone, along with two more photos, in addition to the one above, and a hint which said "They were at a day camp called Survival Week, run by our local Mountaineers Club."

The local Mountaineers Club hint would seem to have pointed me to nearby Mount Rainier, but that does not seem likely, because even with the drought and the heat waves one should still see some white frozen water if the twins were mountaineering near Washington's most famous mountain..

So, I guessed Mount Si, which is northeast of Tacoma a few miles, due east of Seattle and North Bend, made famous because of Twin Peaks and the Mar T Cafe with its cherry pie and coffee.

I have yet to learn if I have guessed correctly as to where the twins are in the PNW.

UPDATE: I have received a text message telling me I was correct in identifying where in the PNW Theo and Ruby were. Mount Si...

Survivor Week also included some rock climbing at the Mountaineers Club facility in Tacoma's Old Town. Above we see Ruby rappelling down a precipice.

While brother Theo is suspended partway down, or up, a cliff.

I thought, for sure, I would be up in Washington in the current time frame, adventuring with David, Theo and Ruby. And others. But, multiple things intervening rendered such to be not a reality. 

I do have a new bike, ready to mountain bike with the Tacoma Trio. It is a newfangled folding bike, making for easy transport, to haul northwest with me, when the time comes.

Which, I hope is someday soon...

What Did Margaret See Arriving In Seattle?

People with whom I went to school are flying into Seattle this week from all over the world to attend a class reunion Saturday in a humongous man cave located on the Skagit/Samish Flats. One of those flying in posted that which you see above, on Facebook, with the caption saying "This is what I saw arriving in Seattle!!"

Margaret Mikota Grants, flying in from one of those flyover states in the Midwest, I think Minnesota or Wisconsin, organized this reunion from her perch a couple thousand miles east of the Skagit Valley.

I'm not sure what Margaret is exclamation pointing to that she saw upon arrival in Seattle. The lack of other planes on the tarmac? The lack of green in the Evergreen state? Or Mount Rainier minus most of its usual snow cover?

I suspect it is the Mountain which Margaret is talking about.

I have not gone to a class reunion since one way back in 1991. This one in 2021 starts at noon, with a Potluck at 2 in the afternoon, ending when the last person leaves.

I would have planned to go to this reunion except it was made quite clear it is for "ADULTS ONLY", and as hard as I tried, I could not find a baby sitter.

That and potlucks make me nervous.

Margaret Mikota Grants has made it known that to the Potluck she is bringing her famous Italian Pasta Salad. Is she making this in Washington? Or did it fly with her to Seattle, packed in dry ice?

Like I said Potlucks make me nervous...

Saturday Opening Ceremony For New Seattle Bridge Built Over Water In Less Than Two Years

This particular blog post sort of fits into the category of things I read in west coast online news sources, usually the Seattle Times, which I would not expect to read in a Texas online news source, usually the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about something happening in Fort Worth, or Texas.

Last Saturday Fort Worth had a celebration to mark the opening of the Main Street bridge, second of three simple little bridges being slowly built over dry land, with construction starting with a celebratory TNT explosion way back in 2014.

In the Seattle Times Seattle’s new Fairview Avenue bridge opens Saturday morning article we see several differences regarding how something gets done in a modern American city, and how something flounders in a not so modern American city.

Among the many problems which have caused Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision to become America's Biggest Boondoggle is the fact the project has never been fully funded, has never been approved by the voters supporting any sort of bond issue. All that and the person hired to be the Executive Director of the project was, and is, an unqualified boob.

A few paragraphs from the Seattle Times article illustrating the difference between bridge building in Seattle and bridge building in Fort Worth...

After almost two years of detours, a new concrete-supported Fairview Avenue North bridge will open Saturday morning, replacing an old structure on rotting wood pillars.

_______________

Two years? And built over actual water? Amazing. Before we continue on with another paragraph let's look at another photo of this Seattle bridge, with its bike and pedestrian lanes.

I don't know why they didn't drain Lake Union before building this bridge, you know, because bridge building the Fort Worth Way is over dry land, whilst pretending it is easier and cheaper to build over dry land, when there was no other alternative to doing so.

Continuing on...

The $52 million project is funded by the Move Seattle property-tax levy and state bridge money.

_______________

What a concept, a public works project funded by a levy approved by voters.

Continuing on...

Opening ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by two hours to walk, bike, and skate the deck until 11:30 a.m.

_______________

I saw no photo documentation of anyone walking, biking or skating from last Saturday's ceremony opening Fort Worth's Main Street bridge, other than the photo of J.D. Granger, a couple of his minions and a solo bike rider we saw in the blog post from yesterday titled On His Way Out The TRWD Door Jim Oliver Lets Loose Loopy Defense Of J.D. Granger.

Continuing on...

The Fairview bridge is the only full bridge replacement funded by Move Seattle. It’s the city’s 30th seismic retrofit since 1990, and the third funded by the current levy, with nine remaining by 2025.

_________________

Okay, seismic retrofits of 30 bridges is definitely not something you would read happening in Fort Worth, due to the fact that the town is not subject to earthquakes, other than the ones caused by the world's biggest urban experiment in fracking shale to release natural gas.

Have Fort Worth voters ever been asked to support some sort of big project? One of the things which surprised me when first voting in Texas was there being no things to vote on of the bond issue, referendum, initiative sort. 

King, Pierce and Snohomish counties have passed multiple Sound Transit bonds over the years, with the most recent bond being for something like $56 billion. The counties which make up the D/FW Metroplex do not seem to cooperate on doing anything.

Way back from 1968 to 1970, King County voters voted on 12 propositions in an effort called Forward Thrust. This included multiple items, such as building the Kingdome, upgrading Pike Place Market, building the Seattle Aquarium and more. 7 of 12 propositions passed. One of the elements which did not pass in Forward Thrust was building a light rail system. Voters did not begin supporting such until the 1990s.

Five Puget Sound counties were affected by the need to add transit capacity crossing the Tacoma Narrows. So, voters passed a bond issue to build a second Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, built over actual deep swift moving tidal waters in less than four years.

It is having such things stored in my memory bank which cause me to wonder how can another American town be so inept at actualizing relatively little projects? Like building simple bridges over dry land, digging a cement lined ditch to go under the bridges and whatever else in needed to make a vision something someone can see.

And do so in a timely fashion.

So perplexing...