I Think, Therefore I Am?

Just a test, only a test...  is it really like riding a bike?  I wonder...  Do I remember how?  I think this is better... now for a picture. 

The placement is right in the middle.  This is from a recent trip I just returned from.  I think I'll tell you all about it a little bit later, as well as catch you up on a few things.  It's been awhile.

Traversing Texas With Princess Annie And Her Dog Shellby

It's been a while, and I must admit that the look of Blogger has somewhat changed, but I think I am able to navigate this wreck of blog to some degree, fairly accurately.

Speaking of navigating, Princess Annie and I will be headed to some of the great State Parks of Texas, Sunday.  Over the humpy hills, through the towering trees and across the randy rivers we will make our way to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

Our first stop is Llano River State Park.  Annie and I secured a camp site for our tent that includes running water and an electrical outlet.  Just because I will be "roughing" it does not mean I have to go without freshly brewed coffee!

The most challenging part of our trip, in my opinion, is the traveling with a dog part.  You are not allowed to leave your pet unattended at the camp site, which in essence means that Shellby must do all the activities that we have planned, such as tubing, canoeing, ghost hunting, wild life viewing and fishing.

My buddy Durango is coming along.  He is an expert camper and traveler and we are excited that he will be tagging along! 

Range Resources Blunders

Ooops...how sneaky of me. Did I lead you to believe that RANGE RESOURCES had actually apologized for the spill? Here's what they really said:

Waller said he believes residents overreacted to the spill out of anger over recent air quality tests that found elevated levels of benzene and other harmful chemicals during several stages of the drilling process at the first Rayzor Ranch well.

Waller said the tests, performed for neighbors by Flower Mound-based Wolf Eagle Environmental, were inaccurate and unscientific.

The Railroad Commission “did call by phone, and we did explain to them what the situation was, and they understood the political issues that were going on for all those people to call,” Waller, of Range, said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it except try to deal with the public there.”

Range Resources

"Although there are some temporary inconveniences associated with the drilling process, our industry is one of the most technologically advanced and well regulated industries in the world. As a result, we take great care to preserve and protect the environment"

AND THEN:


Range Resources is terribly sorry for the poor judgment of our contractor Pioneer Drilling Company and the foreman has been warned that taking shortcuts of any kind is not an acceptable practice.

Awww...How quaint, they apologized.

Truth?

This morning as I sipped coffee and watched the morning news, the anchor woman stated that a study completed by the University of Texas's Energy Institute found that no link exists between hydraulic fracturing and ground water contamination. I found this statement hard to swallow.

Upon further reading of other sources this is what has been revealed:

First of all, these are ONLY the preliminary findings and the report will not be completed and released until the early part of 2012.

Second, the word used was "SUGGEST" the report suggests... doesn't that mean to imply? To seduce? To influence? To hypothesize?

Third, the preliminary findings state that when there is ground water contamination that we should look at the surface processes, such as "poor casing" and "shoddy cement jobs". Okay, so we do admit there is GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION.

And the All Mighty Groat, the lead UT geology professor on the study, said this...

"The violations that we've seen are of no, minor or small impact," Groat said. "The impact on groundwater, the impact on the surface is not of anything substantial, certainly not compared to coal mines or metal mines."

Whew...I feel so much better. Heck, it's better than a coal mine (ha ha ha...snort). Kind of reminds me of that silly thing that some presidential wanna be just said recently..."I just don't know the third thing that I'd do away with." Senseless babble.

The Big Machine

So, if we're part of a big machine that's governed by let's say, certain laws that never change, then it would be a safe or an ignorant assumption to say that most of our choices are predestined. That we have no other way to react or respond, but within those laws. Now, there exists certain particles, or maybe atoms, that are unpredictable, that act randomly and we are unable to determine their course. That part is true, from what I understand, that there are certain elements that swerve, that do not have a particular course.

Let's then assume that we are made of these particles. Some are fixed and adhere to the governing laws, then we are also composed of these particles that act randomly. Let's also say that some of us are mainly composed of the fixed particles and have very few of the unpredictable particles. Therefore, we could say that the majority of us are predictable and follow a rather predetermined course. We react within the normal range of actions.

Then there's a group of people that are composed of the more unpredictable particles and have very few of the more stable law adhering particles. These people do not react in the "normal" range of actions. They tend to be unpredictable and not follow the governing laws.

I wonder if it's that simple? That no matter what you instill in someone, that they have a genetic make up to either be predictable law adhering particles or they have the genetic make up to be unpredictable unlawful particles. What if it's really all in the genes?

The Walking Dead, Yes, I'm Hooked

Normally I don't do a whole lot of television watching, until recently that is. I can't help myself, seeing that I'm a morbid zombie loving undead watching sorta person, the air waves, or is that radio? have been filled with shows that I just can't get enough of.

I started watching the Walking Dead last season and was immediately taken with the believable characters and wonderful story line and subplots. It's a feast for TV viewers, not to mention that when the Zombies get a chance to feast, they chow down!

Another show that I happened upon is American Horror Story. Zowie! That show is hot, disturbing, hot, wicked, hot... well, you get the point. Basically, from what I have gathered so far is there is this house with a murderous history with an evil presence lurking. And the dead? Oh, yes, the dead not only walk among the living they leave a few more corpses behind!

Switching genres from horror to historical fiction, I viewed the season premiere of AMC's Hell On Wheels. Intense! Being a novice history buff, I rather fancy time period pieces and heroines in distress. I'm looking forward to this coming Sunday's lineup.

So, with now three hours of TV watching a week, I find myself being strapped for time. I spend about 8 hours a week at the gym, 50 hours a week at work, 7 - 10 hours a week cleaning, 6 - 8 hours a week preparing and doing an internet radio show, about 35 hours a week sleeping...exactly how many hours are in a week?

My Buddy Durango Turning 47 Today

Happy Birthday Mr. Durango! I sure am glad you decided to transplant your incredible self to Texas. I've been lax in keeping up with my friends as of late or I would have sent you a little something from the desert, but seeing that Fort Worth is on day 41 of drought and heat above 100, I'm thinking that your landscape is starting to resemble my own.

Instead, I'll post for you one of my favorite songs.

The New York Times Joe Niocera Is In Pickens Back Pocket

Okay, for those of you who love the idea of oil and gas drilling...you know, the Drill Baby, Drill, shrill...please do not read this.

For the rest of you, please read on.

I read a rather disturbing reply by Joe Nocera regarding comments made on his previous opinion in The New York Times. Well, at first I thought that he was just uneducated on the matter of natural gas fracking...but it turns out that he is Picken's lackey. Please tell me you have not forgotten T. Boone Pickens.

What caught my eye about Nocera's opinion was this line:

In Texas and Oklahoma, it has been used for decades, with nobody complaining much about environmental degradation.

Really? NOBODY has complained MUCH? Well, I know for damn certain I have complained A LOT and I live in Texas.

Then, Mr. Informative lists the three main reasons and quickly dispels them without an ounce of back up or provided research.

fracking supposedly allows gas and dangerous chemicals to seep into the water supply. This is pretty implausible.

Well, if I remember correctly I just read an article about an EPA study concluding that fracking has contaminated drinking water. And you know what else? THE NEW YORK TIMES also reported on the same story! Hey, Joe? Do ya not read anything else besides your own bloated arrogant opinions?

The second problem is the disposal of the chemical waste.

Yeah, no kidding. This is a problem and no, Joe, they do not all bury it under the ground in spill proof containers, there are reports of it being dumped late at night off of county roads or kept in big open pits lined with plastic.

natural gas is dirtier than coal.

He quickly dismisses this as a biased opinion. What I find rather ironic (or maybe moronic) is that at the end of the article he then admits that there are problems with natural gas drilling and fracking the Shale, but that with best drilling practices and with strong state regulation (bahahaha, snort, choke...ouch) we, America (covers heart and sheds a tear) can finally end our dependence on foreign oil...and his cliched rhetoric doesn't stop there...

while diminishing the strategic importance of the Middle East, where American soldiers continue to die.

Of course, I wanted to leave my comment on his article, but due to the outpouring of outrage about his uniformed ignorant rant...he is no longer accepting comments.

Being Selfless

Have you ever made a decision? I mean a real life changing decision? One that you had thought about for several weeks, maybe even a month and you thought you were doing the right thing, but then after the decision, you felt worse than before?

Can you ever go back? Do hurtful things that are said can ever really be forgiven? Or do the words build and build until there's a protective wall that just stays there. I read a quote today:

"Be selfless today if it's going to be for the betterment of someone else's life. U and they will be better off for your sacrifice."

I had planned on trying to reverse my decision today. Go back and undo it, if it could. But after reading that quote, maybe the decision was what was better for the other person. Dang...being a human is so hard sometimes...