A Hot Tub Hydrotherapy Session With Beef & Biscuit

In the photo you are standing with me on my patio viewing platform on the outer world from whence I am zooming in on the location of my hot tub hydrotherapy on this Thursday the 13th, day before Valentine's Day, on another blue sky morning in North Texas.

Due to freeze related issues I had not had a hot tub hydrotherapy session for several days. Without hydrotherapy the outer world frigidity causes my aged joints to ache.

The hot tub hydrotherapy quickly abated my aching joint woe this morning.

Due to the return of normal weather I was feeling sort of gungho to have myself some high speed Tandy Hills hill hiking today. Then I thought that it might take a day or two of not freezing for the Tandy Hills to dry up. And so I think I will do  some faux hill hiking at Oakland Lake Park today and hope to remember to bring the Fosducks some duck food.

Changing the subject to something else.

Decades ago whilst I was preparing to leave home to go to college my mom insisted I learn a few skills. Like  ironing. I never actually used that ironing skill, so that lesson from mom was not needed.

The skill I did end up having a use for was learning the basics of cooking.

Mom thought it a good idea for me to learn how to make four basic recipes. Of those four I only remember three of them. Beef Stroganoff, Sweet and Sour Chicken.

And Beef & Biscuit.

I have not made Beef & Biscuit for decades.

A couples weeks ago I was talking to my Arizona sister when she made mention of the fact that Beef & Biscuit was on her Super Bowl Party menu.

Being reminded of Beef & Biscuit and totally not remembering how to make it had me asking my sister for directions. The directions were fairly simple. One of the absolutely necessary ingredients is a green pepper. I acquired three green peppers on my last visit to Town Talk.

And so, this morning I've done the prep work for making Beef & Biscuit. Only my version is Turkey & Biscuit.

Lunch should be tasty today. If you've been invited, don't be late...

Blue Sky Returns To A No Longer Freezing Texas

After day after day after day of gray, as you can see, via the view from my patio viewing platform, blue has returned to my location on the planet, along with an outer world heated to above freezing.

My SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) mood should soon dissipate.

I hope.

Due to the outer world still freezing when the sun came up this morning I once again aborted my regularly scheduled, much needed, hot tub hydrotherapy session.

Miss Puerto Rico is due to return today. She made it to San Juan yesterday, hoping to get out of town early by waiting on standby, hoping to not get stuck in today's ice disaster freezing up the southern part of the east coast.

However, Miss Puerto Rico was not able to get out on an earlier flight, and so had to spend the night in a San Juan airport hotel, inside the security perimeter, thus not easily able to have a fun night on the town.

Miss Puerto Rico's route back to D/FW goes from San Juan to Miami,  then a plane switch to get to Orlando, then another plane switch back to D/FW, with arrival on the ground in Texas scheduled for just before 5 this afternoon. I suspect flight delays will have Miss Puerto Rico returning much later than she hoped to return.

Which means I remain on cat sitting duty til further notice.

Speaking of flying somewhere.

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex are back in the air, heading to Portugal again. Seems like they just got back from Portugal, because, well, they did just get back from Portugal.

I have noticed that more often than not when the Galtex's leave town the sky turns blue. I suspect this is just some sort of freak coincidence.

But, I have also noticed that more often than not when the Galtex's return to town the sky turns gray, usually for a short duration. Again, likely just some sort of freak coincidence.

I called my mom yesterday to lament my SAD condition. Mom  told me that today the Phoenix zone is predicted to get into the 90s today, breaking the temperature record. I told my mom her temperature bragging was unseemly. Mom told me she was not bragging, just stating facts.

Are the record breaking temperatures in Arizona why we are warming up here in the way too often Arctic-like Texas?

I hope it lasts....

Seattle's Big Bertha Boondoggle vs. Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

What you are looking at on the left is part of a tunnel which a machine nicknamed Bertha is boring under downtown Seattle.

Bertha came to a grinding halt a couple months ago. And then when she finally began grinding again, four feet later she overheated and stopped again.

And now Bertha has been grounded for what may be months due to problems with clogged clutter heads and a damaged main bearing seal.

Are we now at the point where this $3.1 billion project might be referred to as Seattle's Big Bertha Boondoggle?

Some are already comparing the Seattle project to Boston's notorious Big Dig Boondoggle whose original $2.8 billion dollar cost ended up being $22 billion.

The current state of Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct tunnel replacement project and its current potential boondoggle status got me comparing Seattle's Big Bertha Boondoggle to Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

I would guess that the Seattle project will fairly quickly get back on track and out of its current boondogglishness. As you can see, the Seattle tunnel project has already resulted in some impressive engineering, already having tunneled one-tenth of the tunnel's 1.7 mile distance, before Bertha stopped.

The Seattle tunnel boring only began in the last year, and already one sees more accomplished than well over a decade of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

The Seattle tunnel project addresses an actual serious problem. That being the fact that the Alaskan Way Viaduct could collapse in an earthquake, causing great loss of life. The Alaskan Way Viaduct was badly damaged by the Nisqually Earthquake, earlier this century.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle was originally propagandized as being a much needed flood control project, to protect downtown Fort Worth from a flooding Trinity River, by building an un-needed flood diversion channel, so that levees built over half a century ago, could be taken down.

So, unlike the Seattle tunnel project addressing fixing a real problem, the Fort Worth TRV Boondoggle addresses a non-existent problem, because downtown Fort Worth has not flooded in over a half a century, due to the protection afforded by those aforementioned levees.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is also an economic development project, developing a blighted area north of downtown Fort Worth with a little lake, maybe some canals, housing, restaurants, other commercial developments, plus one of the world's premiere waterfront music venues, along with this century's first drive-in movie theater and summer time's Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Floats on the pristine Trinity River.

Seattle's Alaskan Viaduct Replacement Project also has some economic development aspects. Such as upgrading the Seattle waterfront's seawall along with taking down the Alaskan Way Viaduct, opening up an area for a new waterfront promenade.

I wonder which town's massive public works projects will be completed first? I wonder which town's massive public works project will be successful? I wonder which town's massive public works project will get national and international attention of the positive sort? I wonder which town's public works project might gain lasting fame as a classic boondoggle?

I bet you can guess what my answers to the above questions would be.

Spencer Jack Sees Dean's Pies Instead Of Seeing Dick & Jane Run

This morning in my incoming email I saw incoming from Spencer Jack's dad, he being my favorite nephew, Jason, with the message in the email saying....

Spencer Jack's first grade reading assignment was to read the book "Dean's Pies". He learned that people named "Dean" dream of eating a lot of different types of pies.

So, what's the big deal about this Dean guy dreaming of pies and this book being Spencer Jack's reading assignment?

Well, those who know me well know my full name is Durango Dean Jones, with those who know me well usually referring to me as Dean, not as Durango.

Then again, it is also true that those who know me well sometimes also refer to me as Durango, or Durango Dean, or Mr. D.

As evidenced by this "Dean's Pies" book it would appear that first grade literature has evolved from the seeing Dick chasing Jane up a hill type books I read as a first grader.

I don't think I reached such an elevated reading level, as Spencer Jack's, til I was at least in 4th grade.

The text on the two pages Spencer Jack is holding up for us is...

Dean lies in bed. He dreams of pies. He dreams of apple pies, peach pies, and cherry pies. He dreams of cream pies, custard pies, and lemon pies. He dreams of pickle pies, carrot pies, and bean pies.

Pickle pies, carrot pies and bean pies? This particular Dean has never heard of those three type pies. The pickle pie sounds particularly disgusting.

Spencer Jack's book's Dean should be also dreaming about blackberry pie, rhubarb pie and key lime pie, because those are some of this particular Dean's favorite pies....

Another Special Weather Statement With Freezing Rain & Snow Again Falling On North Texas

This morning my computer based weather monitoring device is flashing red. I clicked on the flashing red to see the dreaded "SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT" announcement.

I clicked on the "SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT" to learn that the National Weather Service is once again predicting incoming icy cold, this time coming in from Nevada.

Last week the weather predictors missed the mark on their prediction, with the predicted snow falling in amounts more copious than predicted, resulting in extremely slippery roads, which were not predicted.

So, even though the forecasters are forecasting just a little sleet along with a little snow, with only a fraction of an inch accumulating, with most roadways and city streets remaining warm enough to remain wet, I am going to assume the forecasters may be off in their forecast, once again, and so I will refrain from driving anywhere tomorrow, lest I find myself in a repeat of last week's slippery icy scare.

Below is the aforementioned SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT....

...LIGHT WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL AFFECT NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING THROUGH NEVADA THIS MORNING WILL MOVE ACROSS THE ROCKIES TODAY AND ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS LATE TUESDAY. AS TEMPERATURES FALL BELOW FREEZING TONIGHT AND SPREAD SOUTHWARD...A MIXTURE OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND LIGHT SLEET IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP NORTH OF A COMANCHE TO EMORY LINE. AFTER MIDNIGHT AREAS SOUTH OF THIS LINE WILL SEE LIGHT RAIN BECOME MIXED OR CHANGE OVER TO LIGHT FREEZING RAIN.

ON TUESDAY MORNING...TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE BELOW FREEZING AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WILL BECOME MIXED WITH OR CHANGE OVER TO LIGHT SLEET. SOME LIGHT SNOW WILL ALSO FALL ALONG THE RED RIVER VALLEY ON TUESDAY MORNING WITH SNOWFALL AMOUNTS AROUND ONE TENTH OF AN INCH POSSIBLE. AS TEMPERATURES WARM TO OR ABOVE FREEZING ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON...THE PRECIPITATION WILL BECOME A MIX OF LIGHT RAIN...LIGHT SNOW OR LIGHT SLEET NORTH OF A LAMPASAS TO CENTERVILLE LINE. ON TUESDAY EVENING...THE WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL BE ENDING WEST TO EAST AND SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE REGION BY MIDNIGHT.

PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT DURING THIS EVENT...BUT WILL BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE A LIGHT GLAZING OF A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH MAINLY ELEVATED SURFACES SUCH AS BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. ALTHOUGH MOST ROADWAYS AND CITY STREETS WILL REMAIN JUST WARM ENOUGH TO REMAIN WET...THOSE ALONG AND NORTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR MAY BECOME ICY AND HAZARDOUS WHERE ROADS HAVE TIME TO CHILL TO OR BELOW FREEZING.
PLEASE STAY TUNED TO LATER WEATHER FORECASTS...AS SUBTLE CHANGES IN UPSTREAM SYSTEM BEHAVIOR CAN PRODUCE CHANGES IN THE DETAILS OF THE FORECAST.

A Cold Texas Bike Ride To Check In On Miss Puerto Rico's Jeep & Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread

Those are my bike's handlebars parked in front of Miss Puerto Rico's Jeep that you are looking at in the picture.

Today I decided to try and get myself some aerobic stimulation with its resultant endorphins via a bike ride around my neighborhood, hence part of the bike ride passing by Miss Puerto Rico's Jeep.

My morning hot tub hydrotherapy session went well. I sort of enjoyed getting my hydrotherapy in a gloomy foggy mist. A gloomy foggy mist always adds good atmospherics.

The bike ride did not go as well as the foggy hydrotherapy.

Too cold.

I had several layers covering several areas, but any area left exposed, cheeks for example, got way too cold. I only rolled my bike wheels a mile or two before deciding I really did not need any additional endorphins today.

And now changing the subject back to the aforementioned Jeep.

I had never ridden in or driven a Jeep before experiencing Miss Puerto Rico's. Upon first riding exposure it took me about a minute to wonder why anyone would want one of these noisy contraptions. And then on my first summer HOT ride in the Jeep I asked why the A/C was not on, to find myself being told that the Jeep does not have A/C.

Who buys a vehicle in this climate without A/C? Who sells a vehicle in this climate without A/C?

All the time Miss Puerto Rico has had the Jeep she has not switched it into 4 wheel drive mode. She is always saying she wants to go off roading somewhere where the 4 wheel drive mode would be used. I have suggested a location or two, but nothing ever comes of it. I think the furthest this Jeep has ever traveled is Dallas.

I must go make lunch now, something to warm me up, as in jalapenos and cheese cornbread with chili on top. That should warm me up....

A Warm Walk In Fort Worth's Quanah Parker Park Before Finding Mango Coconut Yogurt

I parked at the Quanah Parker Park parking lot on my way to Town Talk today and had myself a mighty fine walk for the first time in a few days.

Since I was walking at Quanah Parker Park that would make the body of water you see in the picture the Trinity River.

The Trinity River was flowing so clear today I could see the river bottom as the water flowed slowly by. But, I saw no fish or any other living creature swimming in the temporarily clear water.

Today I was not the only person at Quanah Parker Parker enjoying the respite from our recent visitor from the frigid north.

Town Talk was back to its Saturday norm, number of shoppers-wise, from last Saturday's pre-Super Bowl frenzy.

The most interesting thing I found today at Town Talk was a case of mango-coconut yogurt. That flavor combo sounds good to me. I also got a case of strawberry Power yogurt. Power yogurt is real thick, Greek-like, loaded with protein, hence the power-ful name.

Since it is currently being relatively warm in the outer world I think I'll go over to Miss Puerto Rico's to attend to my cat-sitting duty and to sit outside enjoying Miss Puerto Rico's elevated view of the world.

A Hot Tub Hydrotherapy Session Combined With A Texas Temperature Above Freezing Has Alleviated My SAD Symptoms

24 hours ago, looking at the ground 30 feet below my patio viewing platform, that ground was white, covered with snow.

That white snow is now mostly gone, replaced by a soothing shade of brown.

The temperature currently is only two degrees above freezing, heading to a high somewhere in the mid-50s on this 2nd Saturday of the 2nd month of 2014, if the temperature predictors are correct in their prediction.

Due to the temperature being at a relatively balmy one degree above freezing when the time of my regularly scheduled morning hot tub hydrotherapy session came around I decided it was hot enough for my first hydrotherapy session in three days.

The hot tub hydrotherapy session greatly alleviated my SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) sad situation.

I am hoping to experience additional SAD alleviation today by going on a hike, walk or bike ride prior to going to Town Talk.....

North Texas Remains A Snowy Icebox On The First Friday Of February

As you can see, looking down to the ground thirty feet below, from my outer world patio viewing platform, we are still not rid of snow at my location on the planet.

However, the snow has removed itself from the roads, for the most part, so, currently driving on those roads is not the treacherous nightmare it was yesterday.

But, snow is forecast as possible again today, with a possible repeat of yesterday's slick debacle.

I am now on my third day in a row of not getting my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session. The lack of aerobically induced endorphin stimulation is starting to take a toll, as I seem to be slipping into SAD, as in Seasonally Affected Disorder.

Yesterday when I had my snow driving slip and slide to ALDI my intention had been to also go to Walmart, needing as I do an inkjet cartridge. But in ALDI I was told that Eastchase Parkway was a vehicle strewn mess on the Walmart side of the I-30 freeway. Even so, I almost risked it, not realizing til I almost got home how slippery that hill that leads down to Walmart would have been. I think I dodged a bullet on that one.

This current winter in Texas may be the worst since I've been in Texas, worse that the icy mess that greeted Super Bowl week a couple years ago. We still have plenty of winter to get through before the arrival of Spring on March 20.

I am thinking I may get myself some firewood today. I've only lit a fire in my fireplace one time previous.

I think a nice roaring fire might help break me out of my bout of SAD.....

North Texas Snowstorm Causes Me A Scary Slippery Two Hour Roadtrip To ALDI

In the picture you are looking at the snowy view from Miss Puerto Rico's elevated viewing platform on the world.

I walked over to Miss PR's over the snow covered ground without slippery incident.

I then walked up to Albertsons to get Fort Worth Weekly, again without slippery incident.

I saw no vehicles having slippery incidents on the snow covered roads.

And so, with me having a strong hankering for a hot pot of chili I decided road conditions were just fine for a short drive to ALDI to get myself what I needed to make a hot pot of chili.

I decided wrong.

I saw I had a problem when I saw the east side of the John T. White Road overpass over I-820 when I saw about a dozen vehicles in slipping mode trying to head west up the slight incline to cross over the freeway. When I saw all that slippage I knew I had to find another route back, if I actually made it to ALDI.

The only serious slippage, for me, pre-ALDI, was at the right turn on to Cooks Lane. When I got past that I saw the road ahead was being sanded, which made smooth sailing the rest of the distance  to ALDI.

Leaving ALDI I took the Ederville Road route home. That was slow going. There is one long downhill slope on this route that had me worried til I saw it was no problem.

I had some serious slipping by a QT gas station and again at the next stop light. After that I was back on a road that had been sanded, the I-30 overpass. I thought I was home free by the time I drove through the Albertsons parking lot.

And then I turned left on to Boca Raton, the road I'd driven slip-free on when I took off for ALDI. As soon as I turned on to Boca Raton I knew I was in trouble, because I was slipping and I saw a lot of other vehicles stuck and slipping, with a Fort Worth bus stuck at the top of the hill.

I had no steering control. I could go a slight distance and then lose control. I went til I could go no further because I was getting too close to a car trying to get up the hill. I got out and helped them, convincing the driver to slide in reverse back down the hill and try to get up it again by staying on the center of the road.

That worked. I now had a clear shot at the entry to my driveway. But, I again lost control with my right wheels ending up on the grass median between the road and sidewalk. That grass median gave me traction, so I was able to get to the bottom of the hill and the driveway entry.

I thought I was home free. But then when I turned into the driveway I lost control again. By that time I was shaking from the stress. After about 10 more minutes of slipping and sliding I successfully parked.

I am thinking what is happening in the D/FW zone today may be one for the history books.

Snow Is Falling On North Texas On This First Thursday Of February

Stepping out into the outer world on my patio viewing platform was a step of a duration only long enough to snap a photo of the snowballs falling from above.

Actually the falling ice was not in snowball form, the flash of the camera made it look like snowballs.

What actually is falling is snow in the flurry form, just as was predicted to be falling today.

I think it goes without saying that I will not be engaging in my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session this morning. In addition to the falling snow the additional weather information provided by the graphic below provides an additional reason as to why a hot tub hydrotherapy session does not seem like a good idea this morning.

16 degrees with the wind and humidity making that 16 degrees really feel like no degrees at all.

Zero.

I do not remember being this cold in Texas during the previous winters of my Texas exile.

On a positive note, I think the Mountain Cedar Pollen problem has gone away. At least it has for me. I made it through the night, last night, without the need to spray anything into my breathing apparatus.

I do not know where, or how, I will be getting my much needed endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation today. I suppose I could go up and down the three flights of stairs which lead to Miss Puerto Rico's abode, if the steps are not slippery from snow....

Over 700,000 Fans In Downtown Seattle For Seahawk Super Bowl Victory Parade & Moment Of Loudness

Every once in awhile I get myself feeling a bit homesick for the Pacific Northwest. Usually this homesick thing happens when something happens in the Washington zone that I wish I was there to see.

Like when the Kingdome was imploded earlier this century. Or was it late in the previous century?

Or when the 1999 Battle in Seattle happened during a WTO meeting.

During both the Kingdome implosion and the Battle in Seattle I got live reports, via phone, from people on the scene. I remember a particularly tearful account during the Battle in Seattle when the caller was describing watching her Starbucks being destroyed on the ground level, below her skyscraper riot viewing location.

And now today, the largest crowd ever to assemble in Seattle, is downtown, even as I type.

Over 700,000 people. More people than the population of Seattle, lined up from the Space Needle to the Seattle Seahawk CenturyLink stadium, two miles to the south, as the Seattle Seahawk's players paraded past the fans, escorted by the Washington National Guard, with the players in Humvees and those weird Seattle Amphibious Ducks that haul tourists around town.

Washington's Governor, Jay Inslee, proclaimed a "Moment of Loudness" to last 30 seconds at 12:12 Pacific time, which was a couple hours ago. 700,000 is about 10 times the number of noisemakers that can fit into the Seahawk stadium. Those Seahawk stadium noisemakers twice triggered earthquakes this year.

I have heard no reports, yet, that the "Moment of Loudness" has triggered any earthquakes.

Anyway, very cool day, in more ways than one, for Seattle, Washington and the Pacific Northwest. I wish I was there....

Federal Judge Issues Order In TRWD Election Case

Interesting incoming email from the Texans For Government Transparency regarding the ongoing lawsuit against the Tarrant Regional Water District Board's arbitrary adding a year to two of the Board's Director's four year terms to which they were elected, with the objection being to the added, un-voted for, 5th year.

Below is the text in the email from the Texans For Government Transparency....

Federal Court Waits, but Points State Court to Texas Supreme's Ruling as a Hint !

(Fort Worth, TX)  United States Federal District Judge Reed O’Connor has decided to abstain from making a ruling at this time in the case brought by Reverend Kyev Pompa Tatum, Sr., a member of Texans For Government Transparency, against the Tarrant Regional Water District Board.

Judge O’Connor opted instead to issue an order pointing the state court to appropriate case-law.

In the order handed down by the Federal District Court late Tuesday; Judge O’Connor wrote, “In State v. Catlin, however, the Texas Supreme Court held that the Texas Legislature could not extend a city clerk’s two-year term, as provided in the Texas constitution, by enacting legislation that moved the election to the following year.”

Judge O’Connor expounded on this important case law stating the Texas Supreme Court found, “Article XVI, Section 17 ‘never contemplated such legislation, but was intended to meet such emergencies as might occur under laws requiring elections or appointments to such offices to be made every two Years’”

In the federal lawsuit Reverend Tatum says the TRWD board of directors is illegally granting two of their directors a fifth year in office, after being elected to four year terms, by misrepresenting a newly passed state law. Reverend Tatum’s suit goes on to contend this action denies both he and the people of Tarrant County their basic constitutional right to vote for their elected representatives.

TFGT President John Austin Basham was pleased with the Judges order saying, “Judge O’Connor essentially passed this case back to state district court while giving them a nudge in the right direction.” Basham went on to say, “Judge O’Connor made it clear that Reverend Tatum could redress this claim in his court if the state district court’s ruling is in error or the state fails to rule at all.”

The state case brought by TFGT, John Austin Basham, and Darlia Hobbs against the TRWD Board of directors will continue Thursday February 6th in Tarrant Counties 48th District Court in front of Judge David Evans. Basham commented on the case continuing Thursday by saying, “With the clear guidance and reading of the law by the Federal Court, I expect the state court’s decision will come quickly. The big question is whether or not the TRWD board will then allow voters to vote or drag us back into court?”

A Wind Chill Of 11 Is Keeping Me Off Fort Worth's Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail Today

24 degrees, feeling like 11 degrees, due to a strong wind blowing in from the north, on this first Wednesday of the 2nd month of 2014.

With possible snow predicted for tomorrow.

I miss Global Warming.

Even though the outer world was ultra frigid early this morning I braved the frigidity and had myself a much needed bout of hot tub hydrotherapy.

Yesterday I finally got around to fixing the flat on the rear tire of my bike. It was way back on Saturday, October 12 of last year I had an unfortunate encounter with a big nail at Gateway Park.

I blogged about this unfortunate nail encounter in a blogging titled The 2nd Saturday Of October With Computer Woes, Rusty Nails, Broken Pumps & Pomegranate Yogurt.

Until this morning's colder than I expected chill I had planned on going on a bike ride today on the aforementioned Gateway Park's mountain bike trail. But, with the wind making it feeling like 11 degrees I'm thinking going on a bike ride would not result in me having a mighty fine time today rolling my wheels.

I must remember that I am babysitting a problematic Puerto Rican cat and visit the hissing feline today to make sure her living space is being adequately heated.

Just Another Cold Wet February Texas Tuesday

The dreary patio view of the outer world at my location looks sort of like snow has fallen.

But no snow has fallen.

However, precipitation has precipitated in the form of melted snow, also known as rain.

Due to the morning drippage, for the second day in a row, I skipped my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session.

I think I  may be becoming a Weather Baby who no longer embraces the icy cold like a polar bear having himself a mighty fine time getting wet and extremely cold.

Yesterday I finished the PDF Conversion Project I whined about last week. The PDF Conversion Project turned out to be way less annoying than I feared.

With the PDF Conversion Project completed, and with the outer world being so cold, today for my daily walk I think I will walk around a couple stores finding stuff to buy.

I just looked at the calendar stuck on my wall and realized that by the time today ends already one seventh of the second month of 2014 will have passed in to history. Time flies.

Tomorrow Miss Puerto Rico flies to her home island. This means I get to babysit a badly behaved elderly cat for a week. That is going to be a lot of fun....

The 3rd Day Of February Singing The Post-Super Bowl Monday Blues

I did not venture out into the icy cold this morning for my regularly scheduled hydrotherapy session in the hot tub of which you see part through the veil of green foliage.

Should not that green foliage have turned brown and fallen to the ground by this point in time?

Yesterday an incoming Google voice mail message came in from my mom. I'd called my mom on her happy birthday and found no one home. I called again early on Super Bowl Sunday and found no one home. I then called my Arizona sister and found no one home, and left a message saying I was finding no one home.

Hence (please note proper usage, Miss Julie) the Google voice mail message from my mom a couple hours before the start of the aforementioned Super Bowl game. So,  I called my mom back before continuing with my Super Bowl Party prepping.

Regarding that aforementioned Super Bowl game. I made it through Bruno Mars' excellent halftime show and then found myself losing interest at some point in the 3rd quarter. It is sort of ironic that this football season I made it through two previous Seattle Seahawk games, plus the final Dallas Cowboy loss of the season, but I did not make it through to the end of the Super Bowl game.

All in all, Seattle finally winning the Super Bowl seemed to be totally anti-climatic.

I have never been much of a fan of viewing various sports. Baseball has always been boring to me. With football I never got what it was that people found entertaining enough to watch for hours on end. Basketball was the only sport I enjoyed watching. From high school on.

After the Supersonics arrived in Seattle I went to many games. I watched them on TV. When the Sonics would make the playoffs it seemed exciting, like a big deal. I went to several playoff games. They were fun.

And then the Seattle Supersonics won the NBA championship. After all those times not quite making it in the playoffs I figured it would somehow feel like a really big deal for the Sonics to win the championship. But it wasn't. It basically meant nothing to me in any real meaningful way. I had no interest in joining the thousands in Seattle watching the Sonic victory parade.

After the Seattle Supersonics won the NBA championship I never attended another game. I lost interest. I really don't understand why.

I have only attended one Seattle Seahawk game, years ago, in the now dead Kingdome. Over the years, whilst still in Washington, I did watch a lot of Seattle Seahawk games on TV. I don't remember if the Seahawks ever made it to post-season games whilst I was still in Washington.

What I do know is this. If the Seattle Seahawks make it to the Super Bowl again next year I will likely watch. But it won't seem like any big deal to me whether they win or lose.

New York City's Empire State Building's Seattle Seahawk Colors

This morning on Facebook, via Martin B's first wife, I saw the picture you see here.

I was not at all surprised to see the Seattle Space Needle lit up with the Seattle Seahawk colors.

But, I was a bit surprised to see that New York City's Empire State Building is lit up with the Seattle Seahawk colors.

How does one go about getting your colors on the Empire State Building, I can not help but wonder?

Did Paul Allen buy the building?

I also could not help but wonder if the Dallas Cowboys ever got themselves into the Super Bowl. And if that Super Bowl were played in the New York City zone, would Reunion Tower, in Dallas, be lit up in the Dallas Cowboy colors? Would the Empire State Building be lit up in the Dallas Cowboy colors?

I believe the Dallas Cowboy colors are silver/gray & blue. Not quite as vibrant a color scheme as the Seahawk's shade of blue and extremely bright green.

I think maybe the Dallas Cowboys might want to consider trying to be a bit more colorful....

A Cold Super Bowl Sunday In Texas

As you can see via the view from my computer room window the predicted cold predictably arrived overnight, along with a slight amount of drippage which dripped slightly on me this morning during my Super Bowl Sunday hot tub hydrotherapy session.

I can definitely tell there has been a huge diminishing in the mountain cedar pollen, or whatever it has been which has made me allergically miserable, off and on, the past couple weeks.

This morning my respiratory system seems to be just about back to what I think I remember normal being.

Speaking of the Super Bowl. And who isn't? Yesterday I mentioned that I'd never seen Town Talk busier, with the parking lot being a traffic jam and inside the store being a human traffic jam of stalled shopping carts. Late Saturday afternoon I went to ALDI and Walmart and found both stores at a day before Christmas level of busy.

This morning, on Facebook, I learned that this Super Bowl shopping frenzy is not just a Texas thing, but also happened yesterday up in my old home state of Washington.

Sampson, of the infamous Sampson & Delilah duo, posted the following comment on Facebook....

I have never seen soooo many people in the grocery stores. We went to QFC which is always a nightmare, then Safeway, at least they had more checkers than QFC, then we went to Costco...believe it or not, they had the least people! Love seeing all the Seahawk attire every where!

Sampson & Delilah live in Kent. Kent is a Seattle suburb about 20 miles south of where the Seattle Seahawks play football when they have a home game.

One of Sampson's Facebook friends followed up with another shopping comment...

We went into Fred Meyer this afternoon and there were no grocery carts in the store!! Crazy!

Fred Meyer is an enormous combo department and grocery store. It'd be like a Super Walmart or a Super Target running out of shopping carts.

A few years ago Portland based Fred Meyer was taken over by Krogers. On a visit back to Washington, earlier this century, I was appalled the first time I was in a Fred Meyer after the Kroger takeover, to find that Fred Meyer had been Kroger-ized. A grocery store being Kroger-ized is not a good thing, in my opinion.

My Super Bowl Party starts at 5. If you RSVPed, I'll be expecting you. Don't be late.....

A Visit To Quanah Parker Park Before Discovering At Town Talk That Super Bowl Sunday Is America's #1 Holiday

With today being the first Saturday of the second month of 2014 the one person who regularly reads my blog is likely thinking, in the picture, they are looking at the Tandy River in the Tandy Hills Natural Area, due to that area being the location of my regularly scheduled Saturday hikes, weather permitting.

Well, the one person who reads my blog would be wrong. On this first Saturday of the second month of 2014 I parked my motorized transport on the Quanah Parker Park parking lot, to go on a walk, prior to continuing on to Town Talk.

Being at Quanah Parker Park would make that green body of water the Trinity River, not the Tandy River.

The reason I opted not to hill hike today, even though the weather permitted that activity, was because today is the 6th Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash. Due to the fact that I lacked the needed equipment to properly Brush Bash I could not bring myself to go to the Tandy Hills where I would likely have seen hundreds of people having themselves a mighty fine time bashing brush, whilst I was unable to, due to that aforementioned equipment lack.

At Town Talk today I learned that Super Bowl Sunday is America's favorite holiday. I came to that conclusion due to the fact that I'd never seen Town Talk busier. Not the Saturday before Christmas, not the Saturday before Thanksgiving, not the Saturday before the 4th of July.

Traffic trying to get onto the Town Talk parking lot was backed up both on Beach Street and whatever Randol Mill Road is called at that location. First Avenue, maybe?

When I finally made it on the parking lot there was not a parking spot to be found. People were parking off the parking lot, on the grass and any other open spot. Eventually someone pulled out so I was able to pull in.

Usually Town Talk has plenty of shopping carts. Today all were being used. Which worked out for the best because inside Town Talk it was one big shopping cart traffic jam. When I first walked in all checkout lines, but one, were open, with the lines lined up all the way to the back of the store.

With no shopping carts available I used one of those handheld basket deals. Which worked out fine because I only got three items. Two bags of tortilla chips, a big block of extra sharp cheese and a bag of tomatoes.

I lucked  out at checkout when that final checkout line opened right when I was right by it. Four Town Talk shoppers got in that line ahead of me, which that short line only causing about a ten minute wait. The Town Talk checkout checkers are the speediest I've ever seen, anywhere.

I asked the Town Talk checkout checker if this was the busiest she'd ever seen it. She said there'd only been one other time. Also Super Bowl weekend.

Some of the excessive number of Town Talkers may have been caused by people stocking up before tomorrow's possible blizzard blows in to town.

The temperature in the outer world has begun its predicted afternoon descent towards freezing. I was really liking the return to warm air and am not liking the idea of possible incoming snow.

Frozen Precipitation Predicted Across North Texas On Super Bowl Sunday

Yesterday I was visiting my neighbor when she told me that snow would be falling at our location on Super Bowl Sunday. I did not think, at that point in time, that my neighbor knew what she was talking about, due to the fact that I'd seen no warning of such a thing happening.

And now, this morning, I saw my computer based weather monitoring device flashing read. I clicked on that which was flashing red to see that the National Weather Service has issued one of its dreaded Special Weather Statements.

I clicked on the Special Weather Statement link to learn the following....

...WINTRY PRECIPITATION EXPECTED ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS SUNDAY...
A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTH TEXAS TODAY WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE 30S OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA EARLY SUNDAY MORNING AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE APPROACHES. WIDESPREAD RAIN WILL DEVELOP SUNDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY.

THE RAIN MAY INITIALLY FREEZE RESULTING IN SOME LIGHT ICING ON ROADS AND BRIDGES. AS THE SYSTEM MOVES EAST DURING THE DAY...RAIN IS LIKELY TO MIX WITH SLEET AND SNOW ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM COMANCHE TO WAXAHACHIE TO PARIS. THE BEST CHANCES FOR SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE NORTH OF A LINE FROM BRECKENRIDGE TO DECATUR TO SHERMAN WHERE 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOWFALL MAY OCCUR...MAINLY ON GRASSY SURFACES. LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED FARTHER SOUTH AND EAST AND ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LESS THAN AN INCH.

DURING THE EVENING HOURS...THE WINTRY MIX MAY TRANSITION TO ALL LIGHT SNOW...ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST...BUT NO ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED.

TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE MID AND UPPER 20S SUNDAY NIGHT SO ANY LINGERING WATER ON AREA ROADS WILL LIKELY FREEZE. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE ON MONDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING ABOVE FREEZING.

Will the above wreak havoc with my Super Bowl party plans? I suspect not....

Fort Worth's Pancake Pig Picks Seattle Seahawks To Win Super Bowl

Today I learned who is going to win Sunday's Super Bowl Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos game.

I learned this via Fort Worth's porcine pigskin prognosticator named Pancake

Pancake is a potbellied pig currently residing at the world renowned Fort Worth Zoo.

Pancake has an 80% success rate at  picking Super Bowl winners, correctly picking the winner in 4 out of 5 games.

Pancake picks the Super Bowl outcome via a highly evolved food bowl choice method.

According to the Pancake biography the pig is only 3 years old. So, how, I can not help but wonder, has Pancake managed to prognosticate 5 Super Bowls?

You can go to the Dallas News and watch Pancake pick the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl.

Now that I know who is going to win I really see no reason to watch on Sunday.....

Today I Looked For Brush To Bash At Tomorrow's 6th Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash

Yesterday the outer world at my location was chilled to sub-freezing. Today, on this last day of the first month of 2014, the outer world at my location is being heated to almost 40 degrees above freezing.

And so I thought it a good idea to toss the long johns and put on my hiking shorts to go have myself a mighty fine time inducing endorphins with some fast hill hiking.

In the picture you are looking at a fallen tree which has been obstructing the trail which leads from Tandy Falls, west, to the location of the former Tandy Hills Hoodoo, for months now.

Tomorrow, Saturday, February 1, 2014, the 6th Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash takes place from 9 am til 2 pm. You can find the Brush Bashers via View Street. If you want to Brush Bash among the things you might want to bring are gloves, sturdy shoes, a sun-blocking hat, water, lunch, tarps and a small wagon or wheel barrow. There will be coffee and tea available to keep you caffeinated.

I do not know if the above trail blocking log is scheduled to be bashed. I suspect not.

Continuing on with today's hill hiking.

At one point I was hiking down a hill when I heard loud noises coming from the direction of a creek bed. The noises were too loud to be a foraging bird or squirrel.  As I got closer to the creek bed the noises grew louder. I readied my whacking stick and prepared to defend myself against a possible mountain lion, bobcat or rabid road runner.

And then a pair of humans popped out on the trail. A young lady and an older gentleman. Dad and daughter? Grand-dad and Grand-daughter? I didn't ask. I just howdy-ed them and continued on my way.

Happy Birthday To My Mom On An Extremely Breezy Next To Last Day Of January In Texas

That is my mom you are seeing in the picture. I am fairly certain the body of water behind my mom is the Pacific Ocean.

However, that body of water could be the Atlantic Ocean, with the photo taken when my mom and dad had their first long roadtrip, back before they were blessed with multiple offspring.

Today is my mom's happy birthday. I must remember to call.

You can sort of tell that my mom is bracing against a strong wind.

I just returned from a walk in the outer world at my current location and found myself bracing against a strong, cold wind. With no ocean visible. Plenty of fog-like dust though.

I am almost 100% certain I will be seeing my mom and dad soon. Maybe in March. My last visit to Arizona was in March. That seemed to be a not too hot not too cold time of year in the Phoenix zone. Due to my relative allergic woes I will need to wait til the dreaded BS-LS allergen has blown north from Arizona before I land in that state.

Emergency TRWD Board Meeting Attempts To Boot Board Director Mary Kelleher

I stepped away from my computer for only an hour and returned to find multiple emails telling me that a fresh eruption of madness is erupting in Fort Worth. Well, at the Tarrant Regional Water District Board Meeting in Fort Worth.

What have these people done that is so bad that they are going to such extreme measures to try and keep it covered up? Will the Star-Telegram report this latest TRWD Board arrogant act?

Fort Worth 4pm January 29, 2014:

BREAKING NOW...

In a hastily called emergency TRWD Board Meeting at 3pm today... The TRWD board voted to have Director Mary Kelleher removed from executive sessions.

KELLEHER IS REFUSING TO LEAVE!

As you know she filed a suit two weeks ago seeking TRWD documents and data in her role as a Director. The TRWD board and management have continued to withhold the requested information since her landslide election last May.

Director Kellher also requested, in the court filing, depositions from TRWD GM Jim Oliver, TRWD Records Director Nancy King, and TRWD Board President Vic Henderson.

The board decided to vote Director Kelleher out of executive session so they may secretly discuss hiring a special counsel to defend against the records release to Director Kelleher. The management and board also want to keep from giving depositions under oath on why they continue obstructing Director Kelleher's job.

Today PDFing Syndrome Sent Me Up Fort Worth's Stairway To Heaven In Oakland Lake Park

On the left you are looking at Fort Worth's Stairway to Heaven, leading skyward from the west bank of Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

My search for Oakland Lake remains futile, after something like six years of searching.

I did not have my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session this morning. The sub-freezing temperature was too sub for my delicate temperature sensibility.

By mid-morning I was suffering from a mild case of a misery known as Too Much PDFing Syndrome, so I took a break to go visit the Fosducks and do some high speed stairway climbing to a strain sufficient to aerobically induce natural endorphin sedation.

The flock of Fosducks was very odd today.

The Fosducks were split into two flocks. One flock was in tight formation circling the Fosdick Fountain. A larger flock huddled near the east bank of Fosdick Lake, going in the water, en masse, upon my arrival.

Above you can see the aforementioned east bank Fosduck flotilla escaping from me. As this occurred something very odd happened. As in a cacophony of bird-like tweeting bearing no resemblance to the quacking noise ducks are supposed to make. I heard nary a quack.

Perhaps the extreme cold does something to a duck's quack box, causing the noise made to turn high-pitched.

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine time walking with the tweeting Fosducks today.

Escaping PDFs By Taking An Un-Natural Walk With Arlington's Village Creek Indian Ghosts

I had myself a sub-freezing hot tub hydrotherapy session this morning which proved to be more therapeutic than is the norm. If I remember right the outer world was heated to 21 degrees at that point in time.

After the hydrotherapy session my thinking synapses had themselves a tiring workout, thanks to 28 PDFs I had delivered to me yesterday. 28 PDFs that need to be converted in to 28 web pages. And then the 28 web pages have to be converted back into 28 PDFs, then added to an existing catalog of PDFs before being stuck on a thumbdrive, all due to be done before a Trade Show next month in Houston.

If Elsie Hotpepper is reading this Elsie is likely empathizing with my degree of pain due to Elsie knowing better than anyone my extreme aversion to PDFs.

So, needing a break from the PDFs, combined with the fact I'd not visited the Village Creek Indian ghosts in what seems like a long time, combined with the fact I needed milk, a product easily acquired near where the Indian ghosts do their haunting, at ALDI, I drove to Arlington to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area to have myself a mighty fine time enjoying the mighty brisk air.

I may have wondered about it before, but today it seemed like a fresh wonderment when I wondered  why this particular Arlington park has the word "Natural" attached to it.

The "Historical" part of the name, that I get, due to the fact that this park was the location of one of the largest Indian villages in North America, before incoming Texans used a primitive version of eminent domain abuse to evict the inhabitants.

But why "Natural"?

In the above photo you can see two things which are not "Natural". That being the paved trail and the power line poles. A large swatch of the "Natural" area is taken up by power lines. Power lines are not all that "Natural". Or so it seems to me.

There are other un-natural things in this "Natural" area.  Such as big cement blocks sticking out of the ground in a couple locations which vent some way too natural odors from the sewer pipeline which runs under the "Natural" area.

Then there is the Village Creek Blue Bayou overlook. I like the overlook, but it is not very "Natural" what with being made with some sort of plastic product made to look like wood.

Anyway, I enjoy my walks in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area, even though some of what I see is not very "Natural".

And now it is time for lunch. Pizza. From ALDI.

The Last Monday Of January Blows Cold In North Texas With Extreme Mountain Cedar Tree Pollen Allergic Misery

It was not freezing this morning when I had myself a last Monday morning of January hot tub hydrotherapy session. But the temperature was 33, with an extremely speedy wind making the temperature really feel as if it was frozen way below freezing.

Nonetheless I had myself a mighty fine, albeit breezy, time hydrotherapy-izing. I had some soreness from Sunday's overdoing of the high speed hill hiking on the Tandy Hills which seemed to be quickly abated by the hydrotherapy.

When I woke my computer up this morning I quickly found that some websites were having issues. Facebook was one. Another was the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

An hour or two later the misbehaving websites were back working and so I was able to learn, via AccuWeather, accessed from the Star-Telegram, that the Pollen Counters have returned the Pollen Level to EXTREME. No mention was made of the EXTREME level being caused by the dreaded Texas Hill County Mountain Cedar, but I assume that is the Tree Pollen culprit being referenced.

With the dreaded Tree Pollen level back being EXTREME, after a three day break, I, so far, am not having a return to the EXTREME respiratory woes which began about a week ago today. I suspect my relief may be short lived, which is the norm for any relief that manages to come my way.

Looking at the picture above, looking west through the metal spears which, for the most part, keep malicious forces from penetrating my security zone, you can not tell how windy that wind is blowing out there. I had a ski band ear covering device installed, plus two hoodies, long underwear, several top layers under the two hoodies. And still cut short my neighborhood inspection due to excessive shivering.

Relief from the cold is scheduled to arrive in a couple days, followed by relief from the EXTREME Tree Pollen a couple days after the cold leaves town.

I must try and remember where I put my extra blankets. Tonight the low is supposedly going to get quite low, as in the teens  low, so I'll likely need some extra blanketing. Or three dogs.....

Sampson & Delilah Turned Me Into A Homesick Melancholy Baby Today

This Sunday afternoon has me feeling like a Melancholy Baby.

Sort of homesick.

Yesterday I was told that Sampson and Delilah were taking a roadtrip this weekend. This morning I learned the destination of the roadtrip was the Swinomish Casino and Lodge in my old hometown zone of the Skagit Valley.

Sampson and Delilah posted a couple photos today, on Facebook, taken from their location in the Swinomish Casino Lodge and Resort's RV Park, which I have swiped, without permission.

In the first photo you are looking northeast, towards the Cascade Mountain foothills, with the Mount Baker volcano being that white thing sticking up on the middle left side of the picture. The water you see is saltwater. Padilla Bay if my memory is correct.

Make note of how clear the air appears to be. I miss clear air, that smells good. Fellow Washington exile, Steve A, has asked, more than once, regarding all the tree covered mountains and hills of Washington, pertaining to the Cedar Fever Texas woe, "What makes Mountain Cedar pollen worse than Western Red Cedar pollen?" It is a perplexing question.

In the next purloined Sampson and Delilah picture we are looking slightly northwest at a couple of the islands sticking out of the bay. I don't remember if that is still Padilla Bay. There are a lot of named bays in the Puget Sound zone. My memory is starting to fail regarding Washington geography. Is this considered the Straits of Juan de Fuca, north of Puget Sound? I can't remember where Puget Sound ends and the next named body of water starts up, let alone its name.

The Swinomish Casino was about 15 miles from my abode in Mount Vernon. To the left in the above picture, which is west, in another 10 miles, or so, you come to Anacortes. Anacortes is the town where Spencer Jack's dad, my nephew Jason, has a restaurant called the Fidalgo Drive-In.

Speaking of Spencer Jack's dad. One of the reasons I am feeling a bit melancholy is I got email from my nephew this morning telling me he was thinking of burning up some frequent flier miles by coming to Texas in early February. Spencer Jack's dad was last in Texas nine years ago, way before there was a Spencer Jack. I am appalled that that is nine years ago. Time flies. I felt bad explaining this was a not a good time to come to Texas.

Looking at these Sampson and Delilah pictures has me thinking how extremely different Skagit County is from the county I am currently in, Tarrant County in Texas.

As you can see, via just a small glimpse, Skagit County has some rather scenic natural water features. Tarrant County has some man made lakes, a polluted river, creeks prone to flash flooding and a bizarre plan to make a fake lake and build an unneeded flood diversion channel.

Speaking of channels. There is a marina at the Swinomish Casino. There is also a channel. Called the Swinomish Channel. I believe the Swinomish Channel is manmade. I know it is a connection between two bays and that the scenic tourist town of La Conner is on the channel.

The total population of Skagit County is 118,222. The total population of Tarrant County is 1,809,034. The total area of Skagit County is 1,920 square miles. The total area of Tarrant County is 897 square miles.

So, Skagit County is more than twice the size of Tarrant County, with a population less than one-fifteenth the population of Tarrant County.

And yet, all of Skagit County is served by public transit, known as Skagit Transit.

From the Skagit Transit website, this blurb....

"Our goal is to provide high quality public transportation that meets the needs of the citizens of Skagit County at the least cost to the taxpayer contributing to the county's economy and quality of life."

How come it is no ones goal to provide high quality public transportation that meets the needs of the citizens of Tarrant County I am sitting here wondering? And somehow it is someone's extremely goofy goal to provide the citizens of Tarrant County a Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which no one has voted for?

Another stark difference between Skagit County and Tarrant County is the existence of casino resorts. There are two. In addition to the already mentioned Swinomish Tribe's operation the Skagit Tribe has the Skagit Valley Casino Resort.

Whilst living in Skagit County I would visit the Skagit Tribe's casino more frequently than the Swinomish Tribe's Why? Nothing to do with gambling. It was the Skagit's buffet, usually at lunch, that I frequented. However, for seafood, the Swinomish Casino's Two Salmon Cafe was my favorite. So good. With pan-fried oysters just like mom used to make. And no catfish, ever.

I purloined the below image from the Swinomish Tribe's website about the aforementioned Two Salmon Seafood Buffet.

Before the Washington Tribes won their battle with the state over casinos it was a novelty for me to go to Nevada, usually Reno. It seemed so exotic, all those noisy slot machines. It took awhile for the Washington Casinos to get to being totally Nevada-like.

Unlike Texas, Washington did not use a primitive form of eminent domain to evict its Tribes. There was some hostility, early on, but for the most part relations between the natives and the newcomers were fairly cordial. Hence the name of Washington's biggest town being Seattle, after Chief Seattle, well, Sealth. It is why a lot of Washington place names are native based.

Unlike Texas, Washington has multiple Indian Reservations. During the 60s and 70s and 80s the Tribes got themselves some good legal help that helped them win court battles against the state, over and over again, over things like fishing rights. And their rights to a high degree of sovereignty on their tribal lands. And to open casinos.

The income from the Tribe's casinos  has noticeably improved conditions on the tribal lands. I remember when the Swinomish Reservation was an extremely impoverished, depressing thing to see, back decades ago in the previous century. That extremely impoverished depressing thing to see no longer exists in 2014.

I really think I need to move back to a progressive, liberal, well-educated location. I must try and figure out how to make that happen.....

Reading Cryptic Hieroglyphics On The Martian Surface Of The Tandy Hills With A Lower Cedar Fever

On the left you are looking at the old wagon train trail which heads west to where the west is alleged to have begun, at a trio of the skyscrapers which make up the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

I had had myself such a mighty fine time hill hiking yesterday that I decided to try for might fine time hill hiking part II today.

Turns out this was the right thing to do because I did have myself a mighty fine hill hiking time today.

My primary reason for returning to the hills today was because I wanted to enjoy the outer world in semi-balmy temperature mode before frigidity returns to North Texas tomorrow.

I was not alone hiking the hills today. I had myself an interesting conversation with a lady hill hiker of well-seasoned vintage. We both lamented the allergy woes which are currently causing lament across a wide swath of Texas.

Today the Pollen Predictors had predicted a drastic decrease in the amount of the dreaded Cedar Pollen and its resultant Cedar Fever plaguing this part of the planet. I do seem to be experiencing noticeable improvement in my air intake system.

The lady hill hiker of well-seasoned vintage told me she heard that the return to cold, tomorrow, would also bring with it a fresh increase in pollen allergens.

Today I had a longer bout of hill hiking than is the norm. Over an hour with eight hills climbed at fast speed. Doing this is very aerobic, though I can get a bit winded by the time I reach a hill summit, due to that vexing, aforementioned, allergy woe.

I made a big loop over the Tandy Hills, starting on the summit of Mount Tandy, crossing the Tandy Escarpment past Tandy Falls, then up the trail which leads to the View Street trail and the Fallen Hoodoo.

Just a short distance from the Fallen Hoodoo I came upon the first instance of the white chalk trail markings I mentioned yesterday.

I do not know what the above cryptic hieroglyphics mean. The one on the right points west at a big E. The one on the left points south at a big T.

I went the big E direction and headed west.

I have never noticed it before, but in some of my photos of the Tandy Hills the topography bears a remarkable resemblance to photos the Mars Rover has sent back of the Martian surface, except for the white hieroglyphics.

I don't think I will return to Mars, I mean, the Tandy Hills, tomorrow. I think I will take a cool tour of my neighborhood instead, a neighborhood which does not look like modern day Mars, but which probably looks like Mars looked when it was still in industrial wasteland mode before becoming a planet devoid of living organisms.....

In Fort Worth Learning Why Austin's Cedar Fever Makes Me Sick

I finally have a name for that which has vexed my breathing apparatus this past week.

Cedar Fever.

I learned this via Mrs. Galtex via a posting and link on Facebook.

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex returned to D/FW on Wednesday from one of their frequent Portugal visits.

This is what Mrs. Galtex had to say, in part, about their return to Texas...

"Mr. G is not doing too well right now, as the cedar pollen count was sky high on Wed when we flew back to Texas. He immediately started sneezing and sniffing once we landed at DFW and went outside."

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex moved from Austin to the North Texas zone of Fort Worth to escape the dreaded annual Cedar Fever attack.

The link Mrs. Galtex Facebooked went to Jeffee Palmer's Now and Thenadays blog to a blog post titled  Austin Makes Me Sick!!! which gave me a lot of info I lacked about this Cedar Fever from which I have been suffering.

Below is a blurb from Austin Makes Me Sick!!! Read the blurb then click the link to read the rest of the story about this living hell known as Cedar Fever....

The number one reason not to live in Austin is CEDAR, specifically the pollen that cedar trees produce resulting in the truly abominable cedar fever. “Cedar is juniperus ashei,” allergist Dr. Eric Schultz told a local television reporter recently, “It’s one of the worst allergens, or most potent allergens on the planet. Here in central Texas it’s rampant, especially in Austin.”

You might think I’m talking about a runny nose or some sneezes here and there. Again, you’d be wrong. It’s far beyond that.  For weeks you can be plagued by sore throat, amazing phlegm production, a nose that won’t stop running, watery, itchy eyes, intermittent sneezing attacks, and ultimately a hacking cough. 

White Arrows On The Tandy Hills Point Me To A New Hoodoo Before Going To Town Talk

On Monday I shivered my way through a frigid Tandy Hills hike, not adequately attired for the extreme cold.

Today, the final Saturday of the first month of 2014, I returned to the Tandy Hills adequately attired in shorts and t-shirt.

Adequately attired I still managed to get quite warm with the high speed hill hiking, what with the temperature being nowhere near freezing, more like 30 degrees above freezing.

For the first time in a long time I parked on View Street and hiked the west side of the View Street trail. I soon came upon an arrow on the ground made from a white chalk substance.

The white arrow was soon followed by big white chalk dots. By the time I came to the second arrow it occurred to me that I was likely on the marked path of the recent Manly Men Wild Women hike.

I was pleased to find all the west side trails to be in better shape than I'd ever experienced them. And for the first time I managed to not need to backtrack after a trail petered out. This discovery today greatly increases my hiking range when I'm on the Tandy Hills.

In addition to finding new trails to hike I found a new Tandy Hills Hoodoo. That is the new Hoodoo that you see above. This new Hoodoo is in a more isolated location than the Hoodoo at the north end of the View Street trail which has been destroyed and resurrected several times.

Soon after finding the new Hoodoo I came upon that which you see below which looked to be a Hoodoo in the making, with what looked to be a stick cross sticking out of the pre-Hoodoo rubble.

I guess it is fairly obvious that I had myself a mighty fine time hiking the Tandy Hills today. And then it was on to my regularly scheduled Saturday visit to Town Talk.

I had some good yogurt luck at Town Talk today. Got a case of Chobani black cherry and a case of Cascade Fresh marionberry, hubcap-sized whole wheat tortillas, a giant bag of cabbage already chopped up for cole slaw, two bags containing a total of 24 whole wheat hamburger buns, six big avocados and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

Fort Worth Weekly's Late To Class & Off To Court!

It seems like every month or two Fort Worth Weekly will publish a story about something taking place  in Texas on a scale matched by no other state in the union which is so appallingly, obviously wrong, that my reaction to the information is to think that this is so bad that FW Weekly shining a light on it will surely bring a swift fix.

I can be such a naive optimist.

This week's Fort Worth Weekly expose by Peter Gorman needs to be read all over Texas. And the rest of America.

The article of which I speak is titled Late to Class? Off to Court!

Below are the first two paragraphs. Read them and then go to FW Weekly to read the rest of Late to Class? Off to Court!....

When high school sophomore Brandon Jefferson’s parents split up and his mother’s rheumatoid arthritis worsened to the point that she couldn’t get out of bed, Brandon took on the job of getting his two younger brothers to school. That chore often made him late getting to his own classes at Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland and later at North Mesquite High School and Mesquite Academy, both in the Mesquite school district. No big deal, right? Just explain that you were doing what you had to for your family, and that would be that.

Not in Texas. Instead of being applauded for stepping up, Brandon soon found himself at one of five special truancy courts set up in Dallas County. For his first offense, he was forgiven, but during his junior year he had to continue to help with his brothers and racked up five more appearances at the court for being late to school, each one representing 10 late days — and fines totaling $2,400. He ended up with five Class C misdemeanor convictions on his record, was sentenced to community service, and had his driver’s license suspended. Losing the license meant losing his fast food job, and without his job he had no way to pay his fines. His mother, living on about $700 disability monthly, couldn’t help much, nor could his father.

Tandy Hills Hoodoo III Has Been Destroyed With A New Hoodoo Rising From The Ruins

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to make an extremely frigid return to the Tandy Hills today to discover that Tandy Hills Hoodoo III has collapsed.

A forensic examination of the area surrounding the collapsed Hoodoo revealed no clear clues as to what brought about this latest Tandy Hills Hoodoo's demise.

There was a wire hanger leaning on the Hoodoo ruins which seemed a bit out of place.

Slightly to the southwest of the collapsed Hoodoo a new Hoodoo has risen, it being a baby-sized Hoodoo that you can see in the photo above, on the upper left side of the Hoodoo III ruins.

The outer world temperature had dropped to below freezing by the time I drove to the top of Mount Tandy. A strong wind made the outer world temperature really feel as if it was way below freezing. I had not attired myself in sufficient layers of outer wear for the outer world's cold condition, I quickly discovered upon my vehicular exit.

The low tonight is currently scheduled to get as low as 17. This North Texas winter habit of being in the 70s to 80s one day and then sub-freezing and then back in the 70s to 80s again, over and over again, really does where on a delicate person's nerves.....

A Quick Recovery From Allergic Misery Has Me Heading Towards Fort Worth's Tandy Hills

In the picture you are looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the hot tub where this morning I had myself a mighty fine hydrotherapy session.

Having a myself a mighty fine hydrotherapy session would seem to indicate that I am feeling much better, with my allergic woes no longer making me so woefully miserable.

For today and tomorrow the Pollen Level Predictors had predicted that the Pollen Level would be EXTREME.

However, by early evening, yesterday, I found myself suddenly feeling much less plugged up.

I do not remember such a quick turnaround from a woeful misery since early in the last decade of the last century when for about two weeks I thought I was right on the edge of being a flu fatality, when I woke up one morning to find myself back feeling totally okay.

I remember that flu recovery morning as if it were yesterday. I had not eaten much for two weeks, had lost a lot of weight. The recovery morning I phoned my favorite feeding crew and arranged to drive 30 miles north, to Bellingham, to the Dickinson's Buffet, that being the location of the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had the pleasure of being pleased by.

This latest recovery morning I won't be driving up to Bellingham to a buffet, or anywhere else for a buffet. Although allergic woes do do some appetite stifling, it only lasted for a couple days, not long enough to require a buffet to make up for lost calories.

With this latest temperature drop to barely above freezing I am thinking I would greatly enjoy doing some fast hill hiking on the Tandy Hills today.

So it is written, so will it be.....