A Little Bird Paid Me A Visit Today.

There comes a time in each day when I reflect back on the day. Mine started with a call from one of the assistant managers at a Walmart where I shop. Yesterday was my necessity run to the grocer. Almost immediately, I have the day started to go south but I wasn't going to let that happen. The store had the max number of people allowed with the new guidelines. That, however, didn't mean much as those that were in the store were still grabbing everything that they could cram into their carts. While reaching for a pack of bacon, and still keep my distance in the bacon isle, I reached in from the side to get a couple of packs from the middle since the woman that didn't seen to care about the 6-foot rule, just declared the whole of the cool unit as her own. Any way, as I pulled the bacon out it caught on a inch-high bar on the bottom of the unit and I lifted my hand up to free the bacon from the bar. As I did, the back of my hand caught the underside of the shelving and there it was---that feel of cut skin and then came the blood. With that, I ask at the deli counter if they had a first aid kit. "No", came the reply. "Go to customer service". So, I headed from the back of the store to the front of the store.I kind of thought that the extra exercise of walking that lap wasn't that bad of a deal. Shortly, came the store manager who I kid with most of the time, if only a one-liner jab. Then came the assistant manager with the iPad to take an incident report.

The phone rang this morning while I was still in bed. It was the assistant manager checking on how I was doing. Laughingly, I said to her that, "I'm alive!". She ask me a question and I said, "no, I'm fine" and we parted ways. That was nice to check in on me, I though. It's wasn't that "The Legal Beagle Made Me Call", attitude. That's the difference between the young managers an that seasoned manager of 30 years. I noticed her pin yesterday as she was talking the info on her i-Pad. She was a 3 decader!

I face the northwest so the strong winds that come from the NW are the only time I feel the chill inside. Even my heat came on and I had the thermostat set much lower than normal. Still, I could feel the difference in what it was doing outside. When I got up to go pull the drapes over the door, there was a baby sparrow that had just fledged from the area below the downspout where sparrows have built nest for as long a I can remember. He had managed to fly--or glide--down onto my porch. I think he might have been aiming for one of my towering trees, but he didn't make it. He was cherping for mom. The sun had just begun to come onto my porch at the gate and it was hitting just about a half foot from the baby bird. I knew that if he got into the sun he would warm up and he would be wanting to try out those wings from the grown up. In about a half hour he was stretching each wing and then he would do it again.  The next time I looked, he was gone. I saw mom sitting on the gutter and had been calling to him. I haven't been able to get to the birds  at the lake so I guess, something in the world of Karma had the bird come to me. Thank goodness I didn't get mad yesterday at Walmart. Seeing the baby bird on the porch was a good token come my way.

Sunshine Is A Mood Lifter at any age. The shade of a couple of leaves from the trees can be seen.

Not much movement, but the head is responding when my lens clicked the glass in the door.

Cars,Planes and Trains and the winner is Ezra Dyer.

A Two-Seater Fighter Jet at Love Field.

Allow me to be blunt and to the cause of it all. Since the stay-at-home orders went into place, watching a lot of web cams has been better than what is on television. All the episodes of the comedy and drama shows have been watched. Boredom isn't the problem. The problem is, all those webcam cameras are, "always moving away from the action." Truckee Airport has a great camera that pans up and down the runways, around the terminal building , down the row of extensive hangers and back around to the front tarmac where all the charters, general aviation, CHIP helicopters, and corporate jets park. The pan is always the same, counterclockwise from the facing runway. The view of the mountains with snow caps, the clouds coming over the Sierra Nevada Range near Carson City is most beautiful all year long.

Imagine 8 of these pulling a train 100 to a 110 cars long up a mountain.

But having a cam at an airport is pretty cut in stone that people who watch it are aviation buffs.  Pulling away from a plane just starting his roll down the runway to take off is what we all want to see.

So, you close out that came and go two miles into downtown Truckee where a cam is set up on the side of the The Truckee Hotel  at Bridge Street and Donna Pass Road. There, massive Union Pacific trains pull 100 to 110 car trains over mountain passes where east bound climbs are gradual and the westbound  climbs are steep. It takes a lot of horsepower to pull and push 100 or more cars up the mountains. Sometimes snow  slides comes down the side of the mountain onto the track. There are snow sheds along the way.Usually there are 5 engines leading, two in the middle of the train and one on the end,being the little engine that could as it pushes forward on the cars ahead. 

What I'm getting at is that the airport cam, the downtown cam is always moving away from the action. Watching the DFW Airport cam is the same way. The camera will move away from a big 747 coming across the "A" bridge and pan over the tops of green trees from Airfield Drive all the way to Arlington and  park there for what seems like a lifetime. By the time it pans back to the "A" bridge, that 747 is no where in sight. I tell you this because it resembles life in more ways than one. It reminded me that when I was growing up, we had magazines with writers that kept your mind moving and thinking and guessing and all we had to do is turn the page as we read. It even kept you anticipating what was coming next. You could not wait for the next article from you favorite writer. Then they would leave the magazine as it took you a bit to find them at their new mag.

Yesterday, I came across an article--on the web no less-- written by one of the young upstarts that I had followed for several years. Almost instantly, I was laughing as I read and the farther I got into the article the more I was laughing. It got to the point that I had tears running down my cheeks and still laughing to the point that I had to wait until I could stop laughing so that I  could finish the article. The guy. The writer. Ezra Dyer! He is working for a car magazine. Actually he has written for sev- eral car magazines. It made no difference if he was writing for an ant breeder, he is that good of a writer.

His story was about a French engineer that had worked for the French fighter jet maker who was retiring and his company hooked him up with a ride in the back seat of their fighter jet. Any other time it would have taken a lot of strings to get set up with a ride like that, but no one ask the guy if he wanted to go on such a ride. They just went ahead with the planning---LOL-- that's where the story gets really wild and to make a long story shorter and sill save the laughs, the whole retirement gift went south--really south-- after it went north on a rocket that malfunctioned. I'm still laughing about that story today and can't wait until I can read Ezra's next story again. I even sent a copy of the story to my brother. He's getting ready in  a few more miles down the road to retirement. 


 

Do You Know a Rodentologist?

A Ramp Rat at Love Field. Ramp Rats are a good thing at SWA. Without them, you could never get a plane off the ground, in and out of terminal gates, baggage loaded and unloaded an a whole lot of others things. So, see, SWA learned from a bunch of rats about human nature.

That's the person to call when the invasion of rats are searching for food because all the restaurants that we all so love have pulled the plug and no food on the ground is available. Rat colonies are territorial. As long as they  have food they are happy. When they run out of food, look out!

The far-reaching different worlds that have come into play with the coronavirus-19 have gone more far-reaching than even a lot of the experts had anticipated. Unfortunately, good 'ole human nature can account for a lot more of that than expected, also.

So, what's the take-away from this? It's simple. When faced with trying to understand people, don't call your Psychologist, call your Rodentologist for two reasons. One, you will learn a lot about human nature from the study of rats. Two, the bill from the Rodentologist is going to be a lots cheaper than the one you get from the Psychologist but the results is far better from the rat man! ( My friend JM doesn't send me a bill, period! So drop one of them attorneys or judges from your friends list and add a good psychologist as a friend...then, ask him those off the wall questions.) LOL.

From Patty to Pot

The title today came from one of those out of the blue places where things like that originate. More about that in a jiff.

As my old friend, the shrink, Jim M. once said to me when asking him a question at church one Sunday, years ago..."When you try to think of something and you can't seem to recall it, then sometimes an hour later or ever a few days later, you can be doing the dumbest of things and the answer comes to you like a lightening bolt just struck," he said, "that's called a Eureka Point."  I've been having a lot of those of late. Nothing like not being able to find your car keys or worse yet, finding them in the refrigerator. Thank goodness.  This evening, it came to me that I had not set the code keys on my camera for picture ids. When I checked, it was no surprise to find them still set for January. I had reset them after getting out of the hospital after a brief return following my 5 and a half weeks stay over the holidays beginning with Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years. The total images shot from that point to now has been less than 25. For some comparison, it is usually more like 6 to 10 thousand shots a month.

So, I've been going back and looking at past images. That's legally called checking assets. Yet, it's been a good experience for a couple of reasons. One, I have actually found some images that were missed and resubmitted them. They were approved for publishing and my stock assets have actually increased. The second reason, reminded me of an old Red Skelton comedy routine. The one that I am thinking of is that crazy hat that looks like the brim is airplane wings with that "V" sticking up at the back of the hat.

Gertrude or is it Heathcliffe that's in the middle with its wings tucked  away. I wonder where Red Skelton actually saw a seagull due that or was it really a pelican?

 Skelton imitates two seagulls named Gertrude and Heathcliffe  by putting his hands
under his arms. Several other things were discovered, like the bobcat on the island next to the Mockingbird bridge stalking a pelican then an egret. I also found along the treeline going between the stone tables and Dreyfuss Club at the lake, a mother cayote with four pups. Totally missed those details.

Now, about that title name. From Patty to Pot is about any and everything that happens to rice between,you know it, the patty to pot! It's in an old cookbook of my mothers that talks---rather---explains why you should rinse your rice. It's not really unhealthy, but by doing so, you end up with great fluffy rice. In short, it explains all the accidents from start to finish with a happy ending! I can live with that.

American Coots with the green air inflated feet. It enables them to actually walk on water as they take off.

American Really Is Parking Planes At DFW And Not At Gates!

Qutar Landing at DFW and headed to Terminal D

American 787 Landing at DFW.

American Home Base is DFW and has a physical presence at most terminals.

With the temps hitting a record 97F yesterday (It's only the first week of April, folks) I stayed inside. It did come to switching the AC to run for the first time since October. Speaking of October, it will be that later on in the week after Easter. So, the heat will be on a bit, I'm sure with temps in the 30/40 range for several days. (Out TXU!! Out!)!  And therefore, watching video cams was a way to pass some time during the corona ordeal. Seldom, do I get bored, but it got pretty close yesterday.

There is so much construction going on at DFW right now. From run ways being replaced, to new runway and taxiway markers to Terminal "E" finally taking shape as a real terminal. It has given me a chance to really observe rather than just watch a webcam. If you look at the layout of DFW, there are three runways on the 17/35s and  two on the 18/36 with a cross wind on the 17s and one on the 18s numbered 13L,13R. The future #8 runway is layed out as one of  the 18's taxiway, but the threshold as a future runway is in place already.

With the terminal construction and the replacement of the 17's runway (after all, they are 40 years old already) truck load after truck load of dirt, of which some is coming from the deep trenches being dug on the 18L side of the terminal taxiways and tarmac. I saw 5 long trailer dump trucks being escorted to the end of 18R where it is being dumped. There are so many theories that can be made from that move, such as expanding one of DFW's long runways to something longer for one; moving ahead with the 6th parallel runways at KDFW (lets use the official airport code here), and many, many more.

But, the one thing that stands out from the infield cam is the parking of 18 American Airlines planes in two different holding areas, of which 11 are lined up on the angle in the dreaded, "lineup and wait" area for the north flow when the winds are coming from the north/northwest, which is less that the normal flow for operations.

The past week, the traffic at terminal D (international terminal) which has 40 gates, is empty except for the 4 most northern gates assigned to American and one gate a bit farther down is for JAL. Even Quantas' big A380 double deck, is now clearly absent as is Qutar and Lufthansa, Air France,Korean, and all the Gulf-Carabbian hot spots airlines. British Airways has been switching off between a 747 and a 777 daily but instead of parking at a gate, it's being parked where the charters park and the ball teams park their planes.

What I'm saying is this: The airport (really a city within itself) is hurting. Airport hotels reservations are down. Not only in planes coming in and landing fees and fuel sales collected, but the business services and restaurants and curio shops loss of revenue right down  to rental cars to parking garage fees. Sure, it's a good time to get the construction out of the way when plane traffic on taxiways and tarmac movements is down. But with less services due to the non-essential rules and others, employees are without paychecks, many which support whole family units not just the single college kid or young men and women in the job market. It one area that gets overlooked,generally.



13 April 2020.Update. As of this writing there are now26 planes parked in the areas used for equipment storage (planes) charters etc.; in the line up and wait area. Most, are in the line up and wait area for the south flow. The total had been as high as 28 but two have been  moved elsewhere, or put back in service.
14 April 2020. Update. As of this writing there are now 32 American Airlines planes parked at DFW.

20 April 2020. Update. As of this writing, there are now 31 American Airlines planes parked at DFW on the west runways line up and wait area and the equipment hold for charters between the terminal tarmac and the "A" bridge. The construction on Runway 18/36 nearing the threshold of 36 continues. The boys are working their tails off to get this done. The new runway signs and lighting is amazing at night. It's a very noticeable change. 

Ya'll Railroader Listen Up Here.

It's a little warmer today in Dallas but the gloom is still hanging a couple hundred feet off the ground. At the 10AM reading, the fog and mist layers were at 400 and at 11AM it was overcast and some broken was reported at 2400. It has been a good morning to get some work done but right around 10:30 I went to the Truckee channel and watched a good 'ole Sierra snowstorm start accumulating quickly. By 11:30AM (9:30) their time, it had pilled up about 4-6 inches with another 3-5 due tonight and 3-5 due tomorrow (at least I don't have to shovel this snow storm.)

 Then, it was a bit of railroading at the crossing at Donner Pass Road and Bridge Street in downtown Truckee,Ca. Wow, with the mountain passes down to one track, the east bounds have to stop and wait for the west bounds to come through, then it's reversed. There has been a Union Pacific pull a consist of near to 100 cars west. Fifteen minutes later, A west bound Union Pacific sat on the east bound track waiting for the BNSF to come east. Both those consist were about 60-70 cars.

Low and behold, there pulled up a beast of a Union Pacific. He had six engine/power units poised like a patient pointer dog. When he got the clearance, he pulled out and made the crossing car after car after car. About three-quarters way down the line of cars he had a boost engine (#7 if you are counting power unites to pull through the passes and the High Sierra). Behind him continued the consist with inter modal units single stacks and double stacks. There were some inter modal frames that were all shinny and yellow fresh out of the factory unloaded and in transit. Most likely, they will carry their first full loads on the return trip from the west coast.  And-- at the end was engine #8, in the number of power units, gave push power from the tail end. All total, eight great and mighty diesel power units to get a 100--maybe 110 cars nearly a quarter mile up the mountains.

All this in a snow storm hitting the bend between the California state line with Nevada. The snow units to clear the tracks and mountain passes sat ready in Truckee. They will be heading out tonight most likely. The snow that those units can move is amazing. Railroading in this part of the world of the United States Rocky Mountains and ranges across Sierra Nevada to the California High Sierra takes a lot of equipment for maintenance, safety, just to bring the ocean cargo across America from China and Korea and Japan. Even Australia and New Zealand  ship their products via ocean containers to the west coast and then the inter modal ride carries them all across America. Seeing inter modals like CSX (the old Seaboard Coast Line) based in the Carolina's and running side by side tracks with the Florida East Coast Railroad is just amazing that commerce is moving from coast to coast and half way round the world as we shelter in place.

Just for reference: Reno is 4,506 feet above sea level. It is 35 miles from Truckee
                              Truckee is 5,817 feet above sea level.
                              Lake Tahoe is 6,224 feet above sea level. It is 14 mi south of Truckee
                              Donner Pass  is 7,239 feet above sea level and is 9 miles west of Truckee.

From Reno to Donner Pass Summit, that's 2,733 feet in elevation in as little as 45 miles.
As you can see... The western approach to Donner Summit and Pass is steep, while the eastern approach if gradual. Between Reno and Donner Pass Summit requires an enormous amount of power to push a massive train up the western approaches. Hence, the 8 engines needed for the Union Pacific with the 100-110 car train I just wrote about. Some of that weight being pushed are loaded and unloaded cars.

Another thing about Truckee that I like is that the Pacific Crest Trail crosses there and some of the most beautiful scenery can be found in this stretch of the Sierra Nevada Ranges. Some of the hikers come into town for supplies, a bath or shower and a good bed for one night over their sleeping bags. They also like a good sit down meal once and awhile on the trail. Needless-to-say, you see a lot of backpacks walking around downtown Truckee.

The Old Big Boys of the Union Pacific are still around in museums and one the UP still runs on tours around the west. These original big wheels were designed especially for this terrain. All steam, too!

A Union Pacific Big Boy...One of the Originals

Being moved from Fair Park to the Railroad Museum in Frisco.

Being pulled out of Fair Park, it's home for 50 plus years by a BNSF on its way to Frisco. Not the Sierra of  Nevada or California but it's seen the scenery many times.

The Minnesota State Bird Has Arrived

Here it is only the first week of April and already I have seen the Minnesota State Bird here in North Texas. It seems like they come earlier and earlier each spring. And---they seem to be staying longer and longer each year. While the folks in the Carrollton area are fighting off the egrets choosing their trees as nesting sights the rush is on to scare them off and get them out of the neighborhood before they build a nest. Once, they do, they are protected as an endangered species. I sure wish they would put that Minnesota State Bird on the extinct list and just bypass the endangered species.

Some of you know what I'm walking about. Are you still thinking or wondering about the Minnesota State Bird? Well, for anyone living up in the Great Lakes as long as I did, you will soon find out that the blasted bird is a mosquito. Why? because Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and that is home to where a lot of mosquito's grow up. So, when you see one or fell one from its bite, you slap it as hard as you can and then make sure it's dead. The people of Minnesota will thank you. They need all the help that they can get with this pest of an insect that they call the state bird. LOL

()--()--()

Last week I heard someone make a joke on TV about toilet paper. "Toilet paper companies are on a roll as they ramp up production'', they said. Well, little did that person know that after making that remark, a couple of days later, a truck load (45,000 pounds +/-) crashed on I-20 here in Dallas and spilled the entire load across the expressway. People were stopping on the other side of the road and grabbing rolls and rolls of the stuff [tp]. The expressway was a mess in that the load caught fire afterwards and the expressway was shut down for most of the day. Big excavating type front loaders were scooping the stuff up and dumping it in the long bed dump trucks. Lucky, those travelers to the east could hop on LBJ 635 and drive up to I-30 10-miles up the road and come back down on I-35E to I-20 on the west side of the accident. Or, they could elect to just stay on I-30 if they were going through Texas to the west and be just fine, as they both merge in west Texas.

0--()-()-()--0

You know with the shelter-in-place orders across the land, these are the apex days that took wing and were gone after this ordeal is over and you find yourself  pondering, 'where did all the spring and summer days go'? You might want to consider charging it off as a soul massage. 

Another way to look at this experience is that this time we are in now, will forever adorn the hallways of our minds. Or the virus that screwed up our planned annual bacchanal that went on in New Orleans without us. Better yet, I choose to think that this will all be over by autumn and will be a second chance when every leaf is a flower! Hopefully we can go for a drive in the hinterlands and enjoy it as a calm respite for the soul that is as precious as a gem.

In ending, I recall listening to one of the press conferences where the stage was lined with people that just filled in spaces, I think. Some, I'm sure, were security for the President and that is to be expected, but of those that spoke, in one segment each of the speakers were given a chance for them to comment briefly on the corona virus-19 situation. I noted adjectives used by each of the speakers: great;excellent;lovely;fabulous;astonishing;spectacular;beautiful.

 It came to mind afterwards that this is what social media has produced---a new bunch of followers and career personnel that are asleep at the wheel just as the TXDOT chief explained to me during the LBJ remake between the Hi-5 and I-35E when I ask him what is wrong with people today? Now, the next time I see him, I can say, it's not just Dallas where they are asleep at the wheel, it's all across America. When the crown jewel of the city park system has to be shut down with park rangers and code enforcement officers, blocking every entry because people can't use common sense; when they hear government officials making declaration that are punishable by fine and/or jail time or both, reality has mutated in the human gene. One runner " I can't control where people run". Well, sweetie, go home and google where another park might be that isn't on the news like the Katy Trail or the White Rock Trail. I can think of about 8 right now. In fact, White Rock has posted on their information boards at Boy Scout Hill that if you are experiencing problems with other park goes, you might consider going elsewhere where you can continue your training for your sport. Good advise if I might say so, myself. At least, I have read the board posting with the park rules listed.

Then, I see a national news report yesterday where its not just White Rock, its Central Park in the city (NY) the Pacific Crest Tail, The Rocky Mountain Trail or the oldest and premier of all three, the Appalachian Trial. It's society in general. That's what we have become as a Nation. So, in closing, those "woke" people that can't live without their Facebook page are the same ones that gave me this warning. Just remember that summer nights in mid-July is mating season for the Kardashians. (Lord, forgive me for that one!).

Ya'll stay safe, healthy.

Not the front gate!

Not the back gate. My house keeper says that the garage door keeps going up and down!

Sure helps with the blood pressure!