squeakyzig's Blog

We live in an unincorporated residential area of Tarrant County, on 2 acres. Across the back of our property is an impassable county lane. This lane is impassible from our property line southwards. At the end of the passable part of the lane the guy who lives there is in the process of setting up a bio-diesel manufacturing operation. He has already brought in fill dirt and gravel and numerous very large plastic tanks. All of these tanks have been set up in his front yard, not 25 feet from the front of his mobile home. (He and his wife have an infant, 3 dogs and a cat in this mobile home)

Now our house sits in the middle of our property so it’s not real close to these tanks, however, I can reach across my fence and touch the tanks. These tanks are also very close to where our burn barrel is located. We haven’t used the burn barrel since we went under a burn ban earlier this year but the barrel has been in its current location and in use for over 10 years.

Over the years this guy has blocked the lane with tires, trees, general junk and when the county made him take down the gate he put up across the lane he used heavy equipment and covered all the debris with fill dirt and piled it against the front of his trailer. This filling has caused all the natural run off to be detoured onto our property and down our driveway. Our driveway has been washed out on a couple of occasions, with holes up to 14” deep. We have fixed the driveway ourselves to avoid conflict with the neighbor.

We are not the only ones upset that a bio-diesel operation is being set up in our neighborhood. The fire marshal and the sheriff departments have been notified however, they said that what he is doing is legal because it’s bio-degradable.

WHAT PART OF DIESEL FUEL IS BIO-DEGRADABLE?????

Where these tanks are sitting there are no container pits in case of spillage, they are completely exposed to the elements, they are sitting on gravel on top of fill dirt, there is very limited access to these tanks in case of fire, and there are neither hazard placards nor fire extinguishers that we can see. Because of the fill dirt he already has in place, any spillage is going to be directed onto our property and down our driveway.

I have filed a complaint with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and at least one of the other neighbors has also been in contact with the TCEQ.

So what are we supposed to do now? Wait for this guy to blow up the neighborhood before someone takes action? Since he’s operating under a business name, shouldn’t this be in an industrial zone instead of a residential zone?

Thank-you for letting me vent a little. . .

The Great American Smoke-Out – November 16, 2006

Tomorrow is the third Thursday in November, the day set aside by the American Cancer Society to encourage smokers to quit. The first national Great American Smokeout was held in 1977.

I am a smoker and my husband is a smoker. I haven’t been smoking as long as he has nor do I smoke as much as he does. Both of us had parents and other relatives that smoked. My parents both gave it up years ago. His father passed away a long time ago, his mother continued to smoke well into her 80’s but she too is no longer with us.

Something happened the other night and I think the time has come for the both of us to quit smoking. Steve had a bit of an incident night before last. He was out cruising around and going through a new home addition that he likes to drive through and check progress on. As he was getting ready to pull out he had a coughing spell and blacked out. He drove up into some landscaping and got stuck in the mud. He says he thinks he was out for 10 or 15 seconds. There were some construction workers on the site and they tried to push the truck out, but it was stuck. Finally someone came along with a chain and pulled him out. He got the number of the developer so he could call and confess to what he did.

When he told me about it I griped at him about his smoking too much. He tried to blame it on allergies, but I told him that he never used to have allergies and he's been smoking way too much. Well, I think the incident scared him. (I know it scared me) Yesterday he talked to a doctor about hypnosis to quit. The Dr. told him it would be $75.00 per session and didn't know how many sessions it would take. He talked to some of the guys at the legion and they all told him to just put the cigarettes down. Monday night I watched him and he was lighting up about every 15 minutes. I commented to him about that. Last night after we had been in the living room and watching TV for about 1 1/2 hours I asked him how many butts he had in the ashtray. He said he only had 2 over there and showed the ashtray to me, so maybe he's starting to cut back a little bit. I told him that I would quit right along with him, but he has to be ready and committed to do it. I've also reminded him that as of the first of the year Texas is supposed to add a 1.00 tax to each pack. Ever since I heard about that a few months ago, I've been telling him that we both need to quit.

I was on a roll the other night and told him that I was going to keep griping at him. I told him that we can't go to the movies or out to eat because I end up sitting by myself while he goes out and smokes. What if the coughing incident had happened while he was in traffic or on the highway? He's had a couple of incidents like this in the house, once he fell over into the coat rack and once I caught him to keep him from falling. He dismissed both of those occasions but every time he starts with the coughing like that I remind him about them.

It wouldn't hurt my feelings to quit. I've told him that before. It would be difficult for me, especially when he continues to smoke and more than makes up for what I don't smoke. But if we work together and don't kill each other in the process, I'm pretty sure we can do it.

I called him a few minutes ago and told him that tomorrow was the Great American SmokeOut and that he needed to get his mind set for it. He laughed at me. I told him I was serious, he laughed again.

What I’m thinking about discussing with him tonight is that if we both make an extreme effort we can do this. We’ll need to make the effort and be supportive of each other and come up with a common goal, to buy something that both of us want, like maybe a pool table or that big compressor he wants for the garage. We can take the money we spend each week on cigarettes and put it aside, in a container or a jar with a picture of the goal.

I don’t know, maybe I’m spinning my wheels but I think the time has come to take a giant step and go cigarette free.

If there is a separation of church and state that means that prayer and the 10 commandments are not allowed in schools, why are we voting in churches?

Are you expecting any trick or treaters tonight?

Are you going trick or treating?

Are you sending out trick or treaters?

We live in the country and quit buying candy several years ago, due to not getting any little goblins or ghosts.

What's happening in your neighborhood?

Vote Early With Kinky in Fort Worth


Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

Tomorrow, October 26th, at 12:30 PM, Kinky will be at the Tarrant County Elections Center, located at 2700 Premier Street (park across the street), to be with the people casting their Early Vote in this historic election.

This will mark the first time since Sam Houston was elected 150 years ago that Texans will have the option of casting a ballot for a true independent! Please accept Kinky’s invitation to join him at the Tarrant County Elections Center to Vote Early, or, if you’ve already cast your ballot, show your support for the man breathing life back into Texas Independence.

Early voting lasts from Monday, October 23rd through Friday, November 3rd. Please remember that during early voting you can vote at any polling place in your county.

So bring your friends! Let your voice be heard! Kinky will win if we all just vote! We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Thank you for your support and “May the God of Your Choice Bless You!”


-Go Kinky!

"Here's my strategy on the Cold War:

We win, they lose."

- Ronald Reagan


"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

- Ronald Reagan



"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

- Ronald Reagan



"Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong."

- Ronald Reagan



"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress."

- Ronald Reagan



"The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."

- Ronald Reagan



"Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

- Ronald Reagan



"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."

- Ronald Reagan



"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program."

- Ronald Reagan



"I've laid down the law, though, to everyone from now on about anything that happens: no matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting."

- Ronald Reagan



"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

- Ronald Reagan



"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

- Ronald Reagan



"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book."
- Ronald Reagan



"No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.

- Ronald Reagan



I notice that all the people who are for abortion, have already been born.

- Ronald Reagan

Everyone in the Metroplex knows of at least one if not several roads that are in terrible shape. I know of 3 particularly bad ones that I drive on or past every day going to and from work. If everyone lists a road or two (or three) maybe Saul can visit some of the sites and find out what the delay has been in fixing them.

I’ll start with Tarrant County, South / South East side of Fort Worth

Anglin Drive, South of I-20 between Forest Hill Circle and the new bridge (that is rapidly deteriorating)

Lon Stephenson – between Anglin Drive and Forest Hill Drive

Forest Hill Circle – between Anglin Drive and Forest Hill Drive (does anyone see a pattern developing here???)

These roads have been torn up for (literally) years.

Anglin Drive had a water leak or something underneath the road back around 1998 or 99. They dug up the road and patched it a couple of times. Since then they’ve put in a new bridge that caused a 6 month detour, they’ve laid some pipe and made a couple of attempts to patch some of the holes with asphalt. Right now you almost have one lane of pavement to drive on, but it’s so full of patches and holes, you can’t drive over about 10 mph. The other lane is gravel, a few pieces of pavement and a lot of pot holes.

Lon Stephenson Road is almost all pavement, but trying to drive it, you might as well be on a small boat in choppy water. There are ruts, uprisings, dips, buckles and potholes the complete length of the road.

Forest Hill Circle recently had utility work done. The roads are part pavement, part gravel and full of holes.