Boating on Lake Grapevine (May 2020)

It was a spectacular day, and the U.S.S. Zoso, my little fishing boat was going to go exploring Lake Grapevine. Zoso has already done a handful of outings to Lake Lavon, and dozens on Lake Travis. But she was itching to get out on the lake nearest where she is dry-docked (my apartment). Here’s a nice picture of the U.S.S. Zoso.

The U.S.S. Zoso. 15ft. Max speed 35mph. Model: 1969 Invader with Johnson 70 hp motor.

Zoso did not expect to do much except putt around, but it turned out that she discovered, quite by accident, the Denton Creek inlet. Below is a Google map of the cruise. Zoso started at Katie Woods dock and ended deep into “Deliverance” territory on a river west of Highway 377!

Cruise of the U.S.S. Zoso on May 2020. Katie to past 377!

Captain “Jimmy Page” was at helm today and here is the obligatory self-E.

Captain James Patrick Page at the helm of the Zoso on Lake Grapevine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuJIqmha2Hk

The Zoso spent most of the day exploring the shoreline (no pictures) but she wanted to go as far north as possible just to say she did! There was plenty of gas. Zoso got there and it started getting about 8 ft and a lot of trees. There had been a recent rainy spell and they were submerged. Yet still Zoso pushed on.

UH-OH. It’s getting shallow, better turn around!

But wait what is this little channel? Lets follow it! It can’t go back that far… but it did! And boy did it. We almost called it a day, but the channel led us all the way back another 2 hours! There were a few fishing boats up the channel, but then I came across Trophy Club Park where there was a FREE boat ramp. Finding a free boat ramp made it allworth it.

I powered past Trophy as far as Zoso would take me. We saw a bunch of kids fishing and swimming on the banks. The minimum depth was 10-20 feet – good enough for Zoso. Deep enough that is, until the river widened out and suddenly went to 2-3 ft. My prop was sputtering, and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald began playing in the background. But my expert care and maintenance of my Johnson powered us out. Yay Zoso! I headed back. But as soon as we got going, we ran out of gas!

Denton Creek past Highway 377
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE

Of course, I had a second tank and hooked it up and continued. The river was very narrow, but deep, so I gunned the engine and had a blast racing out of Denton Creek past the kids and fishermen, leaving a big wake! Bad Zoso, bad!

Eventually we made it back on open water and went full speed all the way back to the Katie Woods ramp. When the sun was going down, there was a required stop to drink a required beer and to listen to the required Led Zeppelin album while drinking the said required beer. Houses of the Holy was the selected album this time. My favorite Zepp tune is probably The Rain Song, and it really accented the sunset nicely.

Paying tribute to the setting sun from the U.S.S. Zoso with a Milkaukee’s Best. Note the new nav light on the Zoso? Alex and I smashed the old one while scuba diving a marina in rodeo-style waves.

Want the whole effect? Listen to The Rain Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRt4hQs3nH0

All good days must come to an end. Zoso was happy and so was I. Mission accomplished.

Good bye Mr. Blue Sky. Time to really call it a day and go home.

On the way back, we revisited a potential scuba dive site. Looks like there is some good fishing there.

Water outlet for the reservoir dam. Compare to Manfield Dam. 🙂

Stats: Max Depth 55ft. 12 gallons of fuel used. 7 hours, 26 miles round trip. Signing off from Lake Grapevine, over and out.

Capt. Page says, “Check out the RSS and audio science podcast feeds below, matey.“

Talking about sex and gender doesn't need to be toxic – Nature Podcast

Ever since scientific enquiry began, people have focused mainly on men, or if studies involve animals, on male mice, male rats or whatever it may be. And this has led to gaps in scientists’ understanding of how diseases, and responses to treatment, and many other things might vary between people of different sexes and genders.These days, mainly thanks to big funders like the NIH introducing new guidelines and mandates, a lot more scientists are thinking about sex and, where appropriate, gender. And this has led to a whole host of discoveries.But all this research is going on within a sociopolitical climate that’s becoming increasingly hostile and polarized, particularly in relation to gender identity. And in some cases, science is being weaponized to push agendas, creating confusion and fear.It is clear that sex and gender exist beyond a simple binary. This is widely accepted by scientists and it is not something we will be debating in this podcast. But this whole area is full of complexity, and there are many discussions which need to be had around funding, inclusivity or research practices.To try to lessen fear, and encourage clearer, less divisive thinking, we have asked three contributors to a special series of opinion pieces on sex and gender to come together and thrash out how exactly scientists can fill in years of neglected research – and move forward with exploring the differences between individuals in a way that is responsible, inclusive and beneficial to as many people as possible.Read the full collection: Sex and gender in science Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1. Talking about sex and gender doesn't need to be toxic 58:39
2. Dad's microbiome can affect offsprings' health — in mice 25:14
3. Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health 14:58
4. How gliding marsupials got their 'wings' 28:36
5. Living on Mars would probably suck — here's why 38:11

• Grapevine-Colleyville ISD to host Walk a Mile event May 7
• Gov. Abbott directs TEA to ignore new Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students
• Q&A: Get to know Rebecca Cox, GRACE chief executive officer
• Grapevine-Colleyville ISD student and bus ridership registration now open for 2024-25
• Mughlai Fine Indian Restaurant closes in Southlake

Dallas Urban Hike May 2020

I finally got some time to get out and explore.  My favorite is the urban hike.  It’s a lot like regular hiking, but it is on the concrete and you can stop at any convenience store.  Chicago is a great city for urban hiking… is Dallas?

I got an all day pass for DART for $6, the light rail train system here, which is much like the CTA EL in Chicago.  Overall, the same quality, maybe a notch above.  But remember, Covid is happening and it is deserted.  So maybe that is why I liked it so much.  Either way, the DART train is pretty great!

I have never been downtown, so I decided make first contact at the Ball in the Sky, or whatever it is called, by disembarking at West End.

Actually it’s called the Reunion Tower and it is 42 years old.   Next to it is Union Station where all the real trains like Amtrac can be accessed.  I tried to get in but it was a no-go due to the covid.

I then walked down to the Omni Hotel, and learned that it is about three times as large at the one in Austin; I worked right next to the Omni in Austin and walked thru it everyday.  The staff at Omni were very helpful when I asked for directions where JFK was assassinated.  It tuned out it was just a few blocks north.

I took this photo crossing the street as I approached the Repository (shown) where the assassin shot from the 6th floor.  This brought back fond memories of a few decades back when my dad visited me and we explored the museum in that building.  We had split up each exploring on their own when we were in the museum.  I had finally got to the top floor and able to peer directly out of the window that the assassin used.  So I pretended I had a sniper rifle. I took sniper position with my hands in place as I squinted my eyes and took aim.  I was just about to pull the imaginary trigger when my dad walked right into the sights!  I am not kidding.  That was too weird and I immediately dropped the rifle and ran outside because he was looking for me.  I will always remember that.

Continuing on the urban hike, I had to get back to the DART.  Along the way I saw this striking sight…

It’s called the Old Red Museum.  This is a typical way to name things in northern Texas, and I love it.  The number of places and things named after oak trees is innumerable here in DFW.  I contiinued up to the St. Paul station and caught another line to the SMU campus.  It is my goal to urban hike each university campus in DFW.  But before boarding, I took the obligatory self-E. (Check out the reflections…)

While the DART has a station called SMB/Mockingbird, it is not obvious how to get to SMU campus!  Of course I would never use a smartphone (that is urban hiking cheating) so I laid down the standard search pattern… but I had to use the bathroom and covid had closed everything.  Luckily I bumped into a worker from CBRE (largest commercial building landlord in the USA) and he really put his brain to work to help me.  I even tried walking away but he continued to follow me (in the nicest way possible) trying to solve my problem.  And then he figured it out… pharmacies are essential… they must be open… and have a restroom… voila!  There was a CVS on the edge of the SMU campus.  His directions had killed two birds with one stone!  I thanked him profusely and I could see how proud he was.  That’s Texas for you!

I was on the southern most side of SMU (Southern Methodist University).  There is a lot of George Bush mention on the campus due to the library, as well as a freeway named after him.  I’m not too clear what the connection is, I thought he was a Harvard gronk.   But the Bush library could be the goal of a future urban hike.  SMU was desolate. I owned the campus…

I finally came across some person that could direct me to the chemistry building.  Along the way I saw a lot of buildings like this one…

It’s not an Ivy League gothic architecture motif like U of Chicago.  I never did find the chemistry building.  I did find the science area but it was small.  Guessing SMU is not so much STEM?  Then I got off campus.  I saw this interesting business…

As a ham radio operator, I am very jealous over the antenna tower Megahertz Technology has.  I looked them up and yes, they own this tower.  Isn’t it AWESOME?

Continuing back to DART, I came across the City Hall of University Park, which was closed of course.  Not even a flag.  Gone fishing.

So I jumped on The Orange Line and then the Green Line and went to Deep Ellum, which is similar to 6th St in Austin.  Or the Flats in Cleveland.  It was locked down tightly.

But I did find a place open to eat.  I headed back to city center to meet up with Dr. Brunner at 5:30pm.  Main street was dead as a doornail…

We decided to go back to Deep Ellum and actually found a walk-up bar serving to-go beers.  I love America.  Dr. Brunner and I then enjoyed several tasty adult beverages as we discussed philosophy and our past experiences.  After a whole lot of discourse, I got a ride back to a random spot back in the city to catch DART.  I got a little lost but found this sight:

Since covid requires no encounters of any kind, I walked in the opposite direction of this UFO and got aboard the DART instead.  I wanted to go with them, but it was late so I had to get home.  It was a great urban hike.