Tacoma Mountain Biking With Nephew Theo

On this final day of the 2017 version of May, what we see here is my nephew Theo mountain biking on the rugged trails of Tacoma.

If my calculations are correct Theo is currently *four years old.

*UPDATE: Theo's Aunt Jackie informs me that Theo is now six years old.

I had barely learned to walk by the time I was four.

I do not remember when I got my first bike, but I know it was a few years past four.

When I was four we lived in Mount Vernon, across the street from what is now Skagit Valley College, under construction at that point in time.

Being four in Mount Vernon would seem to indicate I learned to ride a bike after we moved a couple miles north, to Burlington.

My most vivid memory of riding a bike in Burlington was my little brother (Spencer Jack's grandpa) and me pushing our bikes to the summit of Burlington Hill and then coasting down at high speed with the high speed descent halted by a duo spectacular bike wreck in loose gravel which left us a bit bloodied.

Apparently now I have two nephews to go mountain biking with. Theo and Joey.

Below you get to watch full action video of Theo mountain biking. Theo's brother, David, and sister Ruby, make cameo appearances....

Lake Wichita Memorial Day With Big Brother & Long-Nosed Gars

 Last week I read 1984, you know, that dystonian novel by George Orwell that sort of missed its future foretelling mark when 1984 became the actual year, with 1984 not being quite as bleak in reality as Orwell foresaw it being.

And then over three decades after 1984 George Orwell's book was back being a book store best seller, along with borrowing waiting lists in libraries across America, and other parts of the world where the literate found themselves appalled to find the American president to be an Orwellian nightmare of doublespeak, doublethink and totally doubleplusungood.

The last couple days I have been having myself some computer aggravation. Every time I think I have solved the problem I find I am erroneous.

Feeling I had reached some sort of computer plateau I decided to take a break and join the throngs of Memorial Day memorializers at Lake Wichita for some sun time whilst enjoying the cooling breeze blowing from the lake.

I was not long at Lake Wichita, atop Lake Wichita Dam, when I saw that which you see above, which is the reason I mentioned 1984, because when I saw that which you see above I thought to myself it looked like what a 2017 version of 1984's Big Brother might look like.

Soon after seeing the Lake  Wichita Big Brother I saw the bucolic scene you see below.

These fisher people are fishing near the ruins of the Lake Wichita Pavilion.  All which remains of the pavilion, which succumbed  to fire in the 1950s,  are the wood pilings you see the fishing pole pointing towards.

As you can see there are also non-fisher people wandering about under the watchful eye of the Lake Wichita Big Brother.

Another view of the Lake Wichita floating dock. That dock looks nice and stable today, but if one visits it on a windy day, when whitecaps wave across the lake, the ride on this floating dock can be sea sickness inducing. The last time I was on this dock when it was in rocking mode it reminded me of being on the Port Townsend/Keystone Ferry ferrying from the Olympic Peninsula to Whidbey Island during a stormy tidal change, with the ferry rocking so much walking was extremely difficult.

As you can see fishing and walking was not the only activity at Lake Wichita this Memorial Day. The people you see here are on the Circle Trail  on top of Lake Wichita Dam, heading north away from the Lake Wichita Big Brother.

Okay, I have mentioned the Lake Wichita Big Brother a couple times. Now let's see what it is this Big Brother is looking out from.

A fishy sign. Can you find Big Brother?

This Fish of Lake Wichita sign identifies all the fish which live, or try to, in this lake.

I have never seen anyone swimming in Lake Wichita. I know in the past, long ago, swimming in this lake was a popular summer thing to do. A streetcar system delivered  people to the lake. Long ago Lake Wichita was a popular resort-like destination, with multiple attractions in addition to fishing and swimming.

There is an ongoing attempt to revive Lake Wichita and restore it to some semblance of its former glory.

Methinks this effort should be accelerated.

I have seen the Lake Wichita Revitalization plans. If those plans come to fruition it will be a real good thing.  I do not understand why there is not a more vigorous effort to bring about this lake's revitalization. I've heard other towns in America fund such developments by having its citizens approve of some sort of funding  mechanism, rather than rely on car washes and selling memorial bricks to raise money.

If Lake Wichita does get revitalized and swimming again becomes doable I sort of would like to know a couple of those Fish of Lake Wichita are no longer in the lake. Like the long-nosed gars. Or the channel catfish. The other Fish of Lake Wichita look harmless.

I have never liked fish with whiskers. Or long sharp pointy noses...

North Texas 100 Degrees HOT First Time In 2017

The outer world has heated up to the century mark for the first time this year at my location on the planet.

With about an hour to go to get hotter, before the sun does its daily retreat, we may still hit the predicted high of 101, or higher.

My air conditioner turned itself on several hours before noon today. At that point in time I had not been outside and so did not know a heat wave had arrived.

Meanwhile up north, well, up northwest, at my old home location of Western Washington, the locals are sweltering with a heat wave of their own type.

Temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s.

The Washington hot hell on earth has sent throngs of Washingtonians, by the thousands, west to the Pacific coast beaches, such as Ocean Shores,

I learned of the Washington heat wave earlier today via Sampson and Deliah's Facebook report about joining the thousands trying to get cool via being near the Pacific Ocean in the Ocean Shores zone.

This is not a picture of Ocean Shores you are looking at below.

An hour before noon I ventured out into the heat, to the Circle Trail, for a period of short duration. What you are looking at above is what a 100 degree day looks like in the North Texas burg of Wichita Falls, looking east across Holliday Creek Canyon.

There is no ocean a short drive distant to escape to to beat the heat at my current location. There are a couple lakes. None of which has an ocean type beach. Or big waves. Or whales and seals. Or clams to dig.

I have seen seagulls though...

Dallas Settles Legal Pipeline Fight With Imaginary Bogeyman Monty Bennett

Shocking news, shocking I tell you, today in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Dallas settles legal fight with Monty Bennett over East Texas pipeline

Didn't Dallas get the memo that Monty Bennett is a notorious evil bogeyman hotel magnate who owns downtown Fort Worth's Hilton and Ashton  hotels?

For years the Dallas partner in water acquisition, Fort Worth's Tarrant Regional Water District, has fought the imaginary Dallas bogeyman who the TRWD scared voters with shameless propaganda spewed claiming Monty Bennett was wanting to steal Fort Worth's water.

When what Monty Bennett was actually doing was trying to convince the TRWD and its Dallas water partner, not to install a pipeline across his East Texas ranch.

God forbid someone in Texas is protective of their property and uses whatever resources are at their disposal to do so.

The Dallas City Council approved settling their fight with Monty Bennett, with one Dallas Councilwoman, Sandy Greyson objecting, opinionizing "it’s just infuriating that if you are rich enough, you can hold the city hostage for years and then get what you want. There’s something really wrong with that.”

Imagine that. If one has the resources one can fight, successfully, to prevent someone from impacting their property.

Usually this is a hopeless battle in the eminent  domain abuse capital of the world.

We have blogged about Tarrant County's chronic eminent domain abuse dozens of times.

Such as in a blogging from a couple months ago about The Fort Worth Way With RICO Racketeering in which we heard from one of Fort Worth's victims of eminent domain abuse, with that instance of abuse executed by what is now known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, which took this victim's business in ordter to dig a ditch and a bridge over the ditch, neither of which has been dug or built, long after this victim's property was bulldozed.

Bulldozed before the victim, unlike Monty Bennett, had had his day in a legitimate court system of the sort which does not exist in the eminent domain abuse capital of the world. Hence the taking and destruction of property before a legal settlement had been reached.

So, I don't understand how or why Dallas Councilwoman Greyson finds it infuriating that someone has the legal resources to protect his property from something he did not want to see happen to his property.

To do so, such as Monty Bennett did, is pretty much what used to be known as the American Way, where the courts protected citizen's property from seizure unless a clear case could be made that such a seizure was in the public's interest, with no alternative to the seizure, such as re-routing a pipeline.

To take a person's property, with that person having no legal recourse, other than trying to fight the seizure in a Kangaroo Court, well, that is how the Soviet Union used to operate.

Operating like the Soviet Union used to operate is not the American Way.

Sadly though, operating like the Soviet Union used to operate is, in many ways, is the Fort Worth Way...

Throw Back Thursday All The Way To Newborn Baby Spencer Jack

Today is Thursday. The final day of this sort in the May month of 2017.

It being Thursday, this particular day has also become known as Throwback Thursday, known as such for reasons, and by whose instigation, I do not know.

Is this Throwback Thursday thing a Facebook invention? It is on Facebook I first saw and continue to see Throwback Thursday photos.

This Throwback Thursday thing came to mind this particular Thursday when I was scrolling through photos and came upon the photo you see here.

I believe that is Spencer Jack I am holding, or appearing to hold. This would seem to indicate this photo is about ten years old.

Holding a baby when the baby is in newborn mode has always made me nervous. Such a tiny, delicate little bundle of joy.

Being the eldest of four siblings, I do not remember siblings number one and two whilst they were in newborn infant mode. I do clearly remember siblings three and four in newborn infant mode.

Sibling three is my little sister, Jackie, now the mother of Christopher and Jeremy. I do not remember Christopher in newborn infant mode. I do remember Jeremy in that mode because I was in the building when he was born and was sent out to buy bottles of celebratory champagne to lubricate the party which ensued in the fun hospital in which Jeremy was born in Everett, Washington.

Sibling four is my extra little sister, Michele, now the mother of David, and the twins, Theo and Ruby. I was not present for the birth of any of these three, nor did I see any of them in infant newborn mode.

I do not remember where I was when Spencer Jack's dad was born. Spencer Jack's dad is my sibling number two's eldest son, Jason. I think I met Jason soon after he was born, but not whilst he was in the hospital. However, I do remember driving from Bellingham to United General Hospital, located between Burlington and Sedro-Woolley, to see newborn nephew, Joey, for the first time. I do not remember if I got to hold Joey whilst he was in the hospital.

 I wonder when next I will be blessed with holding a newborn bundle of joy, if ever? I am almost 100% certain such a thing will not be happening on this particular last Thursday of May....

Dallas/Fort Worth Traffic Nightmare Drive By The Infamous House Of Horrors

Today was the day of my almost regular monthly return to the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington Metro Mess.

Until today this monthly return habit had not seen any traffic woe that was too woeful.

All went well on the way into D/FW this morning. Traffic was stalled on I-35 south, but that did not impact my movement due to quickly exiting I-35 south after its juncture with 287 and that juncture  having a convenient exit only lane which leads to Western Center Boulevard, and no traffic problems.

Eventually I made my way to Hurst where I was scheduled to drop of an item, then continue south to Arlington. In Arlington I went to Chinatown, to Saigon Cho Market, then headed back north, stopping at the world's only Walmart which also serves as a shrine to football  and baseball, with multiple footballs and  baseballs stuck all over the Walmart structures.

This particular Walmart  is due north of the gigantic monument to futuristic spaceships, also known as the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, or AT & T Stadium, because that phone company paid a chunk of money to tackily stick its name on the stadium which the people of Arlington largely paid for, in more ways than one.

This Walmart is due west of the place where the Texas Rangers play baseball. I do not remember what that Ballpark is currently called. The name seems to change frequently. When I first saw this Ballpark and attended part of a baseball game there, watching the Seattle Mariners get beat by the Rangers, the Ballpark was called the Ballpark in Arlington. This seemed, to me, to be a good name. But that name did not stick.

The former Ballpark in Arlington is about to be replaced by a shiny new ballpark.  I hope this shiny new ballpark does not take its design aesthetic from the nearby football stadium.

Eventually I headed back north, to pick up something I'd left in Hurst, then headed to East Fort Worth to visit a bank, then to Haltom City to visit a building under construction. After a short stop at Winco in North Richland Hills it was time to aim my steering wheel back towards Wichita Falls.

And that is when the traffic woes took over. My usual problem free route is to go west on Western Center Boulevard, then take a right on the I-35 north frontage road, then soon painlessly enter 287 and sail free and easy back northwest to Wichita Falls.

But, today the entry to 287 was not working. This soon had me in a long line trying to take a left on to Tarrant Parkway, to head west to 287. Except that traffic was moving turtle slow due to the dud of a roundabout about a mile distant, where Harmon Road intersects with the entry to 287.

I escaped that nightmare by driving through a mall's parking lot, eventually getting to Harmon Road. I knew Harmon Road. When I moved to Texas it was to a little ranch on what was then Hicks Road, now named Bonds Ranch Road. Harmon Road intersects with Bonds Ranch Road.

Which would have worked great except for the fact that hundreds upon hundreds of vehicles were trying  to go the same route, trying to escape the previous traffic jam.

When I finally turned on to Bonds Ranch Road I saw the traffic was backed up all the way to 287. I was now in an area I was familiar with, so I knew the backroads. But, the backroad that I needed to take took me by that aforementioned little ranch I originally lived at when I moved to Texas. A location I long ago vowed to never return to, a place which those who experienced it now refer to as the House of Horrors.

So, I took a right right by the east pasture of the House of Horrors, eventually made my way to Avon-Haslet Road and then to 287 for a traffic jam free remainder of the drive home.

Before my next visit to D/FW I must figure out an alternative to that which I experienced today...

Does Something In The Water Stupify Too Many Fort Worth Voters?

Way back last year, on October 18, I blogged about what was supposedly the biggest election fraud investigation in Texas history.

One of the instances of alleged election fraud was the allegedly fraudulent re-election of TRWD Board Directors, Jim Lane and Marty Leonard, beneficiaries of a statistically impossible number of absentee ballots.

Jim Lane and Marty Leonard are what are known as insiders, part of the Fort Worth Political Machine which runs Fort Worth in what is known as the Fort Worth Way.

Fort Worth's Political Machine is not well known, unlike other town's political machines, such as the Chicago Political Machine, the corrupt shenanigans of which sort of ebbs and flows. I do not know if currently a Daley family member is in charge of the Chicago Machine.

One of the all time most famous political machines was known as Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall, in its heyday, controlled New York, both the city and the state.

Another famous political machine was the one run by Huey Long in Louisiana.

I do not know who is the head of the Fort Worth Political Machine.

Is it Kay Granger?

Fort Worth's Political Machine is a rather low rent version of the genre, so Kay Granger being its Godmother would seem likely. One piece of evidence pointing to Kay Granger as the Fort Worth Machine's Godmother is when Betsy Price was asked why she was running to be Fort Worth's Mayor, Betsy infamously replied, "Because Kay asked me to..."

Another piece of evidence pointing to Kay Granger being the Fort Worth Political Machine's boss is she was able to finagle getting her son, J.D., the job of running a Fort Worth public works project for which he had zero qualifications.

J.D. was given that job with the quid pro quo being J.D.'s mom would then finagle federal money to funnel to J.D.'s public works project, known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, which, after many many years of J.D.'s inept mis-management, has evolved into being known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Currently stuck for well over a year trying to figure out how to build three simple bridges over dry land to connect Fort Worth's  mainland to an imaginary island.

The Fort Worth Political Machine came to mind today when I noticed a blog comment I had not noticed previously, and on which I had not hit the publish button til today. This comment was from someone with the odd lower case name of moncorpl....

moncorp1 has left a new comment on your post "Evidence Corrupt Tarrant County Political Machine Steals Elections":

Kelleher was no saint either. She was in the hip pocket of Marty Bennett of Dallas. 

Mary Kelleher is the former TRWD Board Director who beat the Fort Worth Political Machine, to become a TRWD Board Director two TRWD Board elections ago.

Mary Kelleher getting elected was a threatening anomaly the Fort Worth Political Machine could not let happen again, allowing some upstart to beat the Fort Worth Political Machine's chosen candidates.

And so, in the TRWD Board Election two years after Mary Kelleher's upset win, the Fort Worth Political Machine went into overdrive, spending a ridiculous amount of money spewing out a ridiculous volume of propaganda misinformation attacking the non Fort Worth Machine candidates, Craig Bickley and Miki Von Luckner, accusing the pair of upstarts of being  tools of an evil Dallas bogeyman who the Fort Worth Political Machine propagandized was trying to take control of Fort Worth's water.

Yes, I realize you reading this in other parts of America are thinking to yourself are Fort Worth voters actually this stupid that they would fall for such a ridiculous imaginary bogeyman ploy.

Well, the sad truth is they are that easily duped. That and not enough voters vote.

Or are allowed to vote in the TRWD Board Elections.

And the Fort Worth Political Machine will to go to absurdly extreme measures, in addition to propaganda lies, to insure their desired outcome, hence the biggest Election Fraud Investigation in Texas history, triggered by that aforementioned statistically impossible number of absentee ballots which re-elected Jim Lane and Marty Leonard.

Because Fort Worth is run by a corrupt Political Machine, in the ensuing two plus years since their bogus re-election there have been no demands that Jim Lane and Marty Leonard resign from their ill gotten TRWD board seats.

Because that is not the Fort Worth Way. That and until an intervening out of town political force intervenes, the Fort Worth Political Machine is in full corrupt control.

Back to that comment from moncorpl. Such a comment is indicative of the insidiousness of the Fort Worth Political Machine's manipulation of easily duped sheep. Moncorpl apparently bought into the propaganda that Mary Kelleher was a bad person, somehow under the control of that imaginary Dallas bogeyman out to steal Fort Worth's water, Monty Bennett.

Yes, moncorpl, it's Monty, not Marty. One would have thought the reams of propaganda spewed by the Fort Worth Political Machine would have correctly implanted Monty into moncorpl's memory.

In the most recent TRWD Board Election the Fort Worth Political Machine did not dare to use the same tactic which re-elected Jim Lane and Marty Leonard. In this most recent TRWD Board Election we saw a HUGE drop in the number of absentee ballots, yet there was still an inexplicable anomaly.

Moncorpl fell for the propaganda that Mary Kelleher was in Monty Bennett's hip pocket.

Mary Kelleher's campaign received, from Bennett, what amounted to a small pittance, compared to the thousands of dollars the Fort Worth Political Machine received from Dallas donors to pay for the propaganda which led to Mary Kelleher's defeat and the election of the Fort Worth Political Machine's candidates, Jack Stevens, James Hill and Leah King, giving the Fort Worth Machine total control of the TRWD Board.

I am always an optimist. I think the days of the Fort Worth Political Machine's corruption are near their end, that the Fort Worth Way will soon be going the way of Tammany Hall and Huey Long.

I am always an optimist. But I am also frequently disappointed....

Sunday Fresh Air Wichita Falls Caribbean Bedrock Walk With Flintstones

On this mighty fine next to last Sunday of May I decided to imbibe in enjoying the freshly cleaned atmosphere which is hovering about at my location on the planet.

In the past couple days that aforementioned atmosphere  has been washed and blown clean of airborne pollutants, such as pollen.

With multiple strikes of lightning providing further cleanup via shocking the air with multiple zaps of negative ions.

To benefit from those negative ions I opted to head north to the Caribbean on my neighborhood Circle Trail. At the point where I took the above picture we are looking north across bedrock at a Flintstone car following a Weeks Park course on the east side of Holliday Creek.

I ambled along the Circle Trail til I got to Haiti, then headed west on Haiti til I got to Barbados, then headed back south to my abode.

I am now feeling fully benefited by the extreme dose of negative ions and super clean air.

I do not miss the air I used to breathe in what local savant, Don Young, years ago, nicknamed Dirty Town. I no longer suffer the allergy woes I suffered whilst breathing that dirty air in Dirty Town.

I am currently scheduled to return to the D/FW zone on Wednesday. Part of that return will be a short time in East Dirty Town, a short time I hope to make sure is short enough so as not to activate those currently dormant  allergies....

Saturday At Dry Lake Wichita Falls Not Catching Crappie Catfish

Rain in copious amounts fell on my location  the past couple days, in amounts so copious at times I was pretty much surrounded by a moat.

I figured what with all that copious rain Lake Wichita would be in full pool mode with water spilling over the Lake Wichita Dam spillway in amounts so copious that a virtual Niagara-like roaring falls would be seen and heard today.

I figured wrong.

The lake needs to raise another foot, or so, before it even gets close to trickling over the dam.

Copious amounts of rain apparently selectively downpoured during the recent storms, with some areas apparently avoiding getting drenched, hence the dry Lake Wichita Dam falls.

I sure like that copious word.

What with the respite from lightning strikes, and some areas getting way too wet, a lot of people were at Lake Wichita Dam on this fine Saturday in May, enjoying the near perfect temperature, and the outer world  being dry.

The  Lake Wichita floating fishing dock had a lot of fishermen and fisherwomen fishing today. Along with more fishers fishing from the shore.

It has been awhile since I have climbed  to the summit of Mount Wichita, that volcano looking mound you see on the opposite side of the lake. I did not see any mountain climbers climbing the mountain today. Usually from today's vantage point I do see mountain climbers. I suspect that those aforementioned copious amounts of rain must have targeted the area's only mountain, rendering it too muddy for climbing.

A closer look at the fishing line casters.  I have frequently seen people fishing at this location. I have never seen anyone catch a fish.

I have never been a fan of fishing. I have long been a fan of eating fish. But not the type fish which call Lake Wichita home. Fish like catfish. And crappie. Who would want to eat a fish called crappie?

Relative Arizona Check From Spencer Jack's Dad

Yesterday I mentioned my Favorite Nephew Jason took a Look At A Snowy Mountain On Way To Check Aging Arizona Relatives.

Today I got a report on Jason's aging Arizona relatives check...

Photo after your dad's daily morning physical therapy session. Not photographed, by choice, is your mother, who arrived via middle sister taxi. The taxi driver is also not pictured, as she is the photographer.

We left shortly after noon when your dad's pot roast lunch arrived, and your mother insisted he eat the food while it was hot.

I most likely will check back in again tomorrow to see the pair.

I have been informed that your younger sister is arriving this afternoon.

Overall, your Pa seems to be where he needs to be, and appears to be in excellent care.

_________________

A few minutes ago I blogged about a Call From Rabbi Linda. In that blogging I did not mention the first thing Rabbi Linda asked me about, before asking about today's storm, was to ask how my dad was doing. I told Rabbi Linda I'd received a photo documented  report from Jason, which I might get around to blogging about later.

Later is, apparently, now.