Sirens / Yard Work / Cobwebs - UPDATED

Was outside by 7:00 a.m. picking up trash along the outside fence line with Paquito following me around like he was a dog.  Cars were whizzing by as they were headed to work and hard as I tried putting him back in the safety of the yard he kept coming back out.

We had 60 mph winds in June that knocked down a lot of limbs that I had put aside hoping that Pollito would take them away but since he has not been back decided to take them to the curve and let the trash take them.  I was hauling them out when Pollito passed by and waved at me...how did he expect me to wave back with tree limbs on both hands?  That man has no shame!  What I did give him was a dirty look.

Got one of my old 30-pound dog food bags and filled it up with more debris ended filling up two more bags. While I was doing that I could hear sirens heading into the neighborhood but that is nothing unusual.  The vehicle with the sirens turned on the street before ours so I never found out if it was an ambulance, police or a fire truck.

Even more vehicles with sirens blaring headed into the neighborhood.  I happened to look up and saw a black cloud not far away.  A while later as I was dragging more stuff to the curb two ladies who were on their morning walk said to me "whatever you do DO NOT burn your weeds".

They stopped to talk to me and said a lady that had recently moved to a house down the road was doing yard work and decided to burn the weeds...it got out of control and burnt the house down.

We had some old magazines dating back to the '70s that were yellow and dusty and did not make good recycling material that also went to the trash heap.

I finally got sick and tired of all the cobwebs in the garage and the back shed and got rid of them as well.  I drank a bottled iced coffee that cooled me off and energized me. Did laundry and cleaned the kitchen. It was so hot today we had a low of 78 a high of 103 with a heat index of 107 degrees.

It is no wonder that my back and my arms are aching at this hour.  I have not been able to find my aspirins and I do not want to take a Paracetamol.  I just may turn in early this evening or not.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

The High Cost of Health Care

It has been so hot lately I have not even wanted to go outside but sometimes one does not have a choice.  Have been getting up early and doing my chores while it is still tolerable outside.  Friday, I stopped to fill up and glad to see that gasoline has been stable at $2.459 per gallon.

I apologize for the poor picture quality

On December 2017 I went to Val Verde Regional Medical Center to get a quote on a mammogram.  That year they purchased a new state of the art machine.  The price I was given was $549.04 but the hospital offers 50 percent off for people without insurance so my cost would have been $274.52. Decided to pass.

The other day I had other business at the hospital and stopped for another quote.  I just knew it was going to be higher but to my surprise, it dropped to $125.00 for an uninsured individual such as myself.  The lady that gave me the quote told me about a program for women out of Eagle Pass, Texas that offers free to low cost mammograms and pap smears for women without insurance.

Back in 2017 as well my doctor gave me a quote of a little over six hundred dollars for a pap smear with no discount.  Who would have thought a pap smear would cost more than a mammogram? Way too high for my budget so passed as well.

Del Rio lost their Social Security Office due to budget cuts a couple of years back.  If you had business with them you had to drive to Eagle Pass, Texas an hour south of Del Rio. The commissioner of my district worked out an agreement and offered them free office space so Del Rioans would not have to make that trip.  However, their hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

Got there at 8:15 a.m. before they opened and I was 28th in line!  Once inside it was nice and cool.  We lost power twice and it was so funny when everyone moaned in unison. In the waiting room, there is an armed police officer who takes your name and gives you a number.  He is also in charge of the television remote.  On both occasions, I noticed the signal came back right away while my television at home takes 8 to 9 minutes to reboot.

So I asked him who was their cable provider and he just smiled and said they did not have cable they get their television for free from Ciudad Acuña who gets theirs from the channels beamed to the border from Mexico City.  Glad my taxes are not going to waste on cable.

If you are planning to drive down to Del Rio this week please do not use the Amistad Dam Port of Entry as it will be closed until Sunday as they are making repairs on the bridge.  Use the Main International Bridge to come and go to Mexico.

OK, think I went a little long on this post.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Tired / Busy days / Spurs Corner

I have not been feeling well lately in particular when I have more than one busy day in a row.  An out-of-town trip on Monday and a very busy Tuesday. Once again the weather forecasters got it wrong and we did not receive the rains that were expected or I would not have made two trips into town to run all the errands I needed to get to yesterday.

The only positive was that I have been going to sleep early and sleeping soundly though I am wide awake by 5:00 a.m.  The sun is not even up at that hour!

Finally took the old microwave and a TV to the recycling center.  I need to get rid of more stuff but that is a subject for another post.

As if I did not have enough on my plate now I have four more problems on my hands http://mylittlewalter.blogspot.com/2019/07/katie-brought-her-kittens.html

I am so tired I think I am going to once again call it a night early.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Spurs Corner

I must admit I was a little surprised Tim Duncan was named assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.  Perhaps I should not be as he has been working out with the new guys since his retirement and at least now he is being paid for it.

Though I see him as a laid back type of person not able to yell or curse out players like many coaches have to do.  Nor do I see him wearing suits during game days.

Restless night / Unorganized / National Ice Cream Day

Friday I had such a restless night. I tried to go to bed early I usually leave the television on low to lull me to sleep. Briefly woke up and turned it off only to hear the music from the rowdy neighbor that the TV was masking.

That did it, woke me right up.  Fortunately, it did not go on for long.  I laid there for two hours before I gave up and got up.  Watched some shows I have recorded on my DVR but could still not fall asleep.

I have been looking for three documents for some time now.  I am sure they are here and not in Houston but just the thought of having to go through all my boxes is discouraging.  I remember when I was so organized while working a full-time job and frequently having to shuttle back and forth from Houston to Del Rio. What excuse do I have now?

Not surprisingly we have been having power spikes though they only last a few seconds they mess up the cable box and internet and it takes 9 minutes for them to boot back up.  Why does it take so long?  I got tired of resetting the clocks so I just disconnected them as well as the flashing microwave.

While it has been hotter than usual in all the nation it has been the same or near the same in Del Rio in the 102 to 104-degree range.  Not even an e-mail from Dairy Queen offering a free small cone today to celebrate National Ice Cream Day lured me to drive to town.  Already had my cone last week.

We are finally going to get a break on Tuesday as thunderstorms are forecasted that will lower the temperatures to the low 90's.  We need some rain as the ground is starting to show it.

Cracked ground

Hope my readers did not suffer too much under this heatwave, in particular, those that live in areas that do not normally need air conditioning during the summer months. Have an early appointment tomorrow so plan on going to bed at a reasonable hour and hopefully get a good nights rest.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

A nice and fulfilling lunch

As my regular readers know I do not go online until after midnight that is why I have my blog setting set to Pacific Time to give me an additional two hours to make my post for that day.  Yesterday I was two minutes shy of that deadline so please excuse me for all the typos and grammatical errors as I did not have time to review them before the time change.  I have now updated the previous post and clarified some items.

Definitively I had a full day yesterday but for the reason outlined above, I was not able to blog about it. As Chris Cuomo would say...let's get to it!

I was starving to death but we do not have breakfast buffets in Del Rio except on weekends at the Sirloin Stockade but as you know I am not a morning person unless I have not gone to bed.

I finally made my way to Sirloin Stockade for lunch and here is what I ate...OK, no food shaming guys :-)

I enjoy fish so like the last time I was here I had baked tilapia, macaroni and cheese, Brussel sprouts, zucchini prepared with tomato, cheese and cut up bacon. I was only going to put lemon on my fish but spotted some tartar sauce, unfortunately, I did not intend for a big blob to fall on my plate.

First dish

 Did I mention I was hungry?  This time no mac and cheese...

Second portion

They usually have three soups.  One was beans (not a fan) the other some creamy soup (per my doctor should avoid) and then a version of Caldo de Res (Mexican Beef Stew).  While I ate it, it had a different taste perhaps due to some unknown spices, white rice and too salty.

Caldo de Res

I am not big on sweets or desserts and on my last visit the ice cream cone machine was broken but not today so I indulged ;-)

My snow cone

It was very hot yesterday with a low of 78 and a high of 102 with a heat index of 105 degrees.

For some reason I am having problems with the spacing, it is not intentional and I have no idea how to fix it. Sorry about that.

Good night,  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Pollito / Darn Flippers / A Henry Lookalike

Yesterday I got a late start trying to make my way into town and by the time I was ready, it was way too hot to go anywhere. This morning I made sure I got up early (actually I never went to sleep) to get my morning chores out of the way while the temperatures were still tolerable.

I was loading the frozen water bottles into my ice chest when Pollito and his wino sidekick drove by. They were headed to his son's house down the road pulling an empty trailer which usually has his tractor on it both looked surprised, I presume to see me outside early or because they have YET to finish the job I hired them for.  As I spotted them  I smiled and waved...ordinarily Pollito would pull over but this time he kept going...jajajajajaja...it was too funny :D

My first stop was the post office to pick up my mail and to no one's surprise, it was nothing but darn letters and postcards from house flippers wanting to purchase my Houston home.  How many darn letters have you sent me in the past twelve years without receiving a reply?  When are you going to GIVE UP???

Second stop was HEB as I have not had a chance to do a grocery run to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico in some time.  I was minding my own business when I saw this TALL good looking guy with a ponytail and glasses...I had to do a double-take!!!  Yeap, he looked like a clone of Henry Garza. You might ask yourself who is Henry Garza?  He is the lead singer/guitarist of my favorite band...Los Lonely Boys :)

I always purchase perishables last so as I made my way to the dairy aisle I ran into him again. I just had to stop and ask if anyone had remarked about his amazing resemblance to Henry...and without having to ask what Henry he just smiled and said they had. We talked about their music for a while but I could not get the courage to ask if I could take his picture.

It is so funny because Leilani (a blog reader) had previously said I should go to San Angelo, Texas and try to interview Enrique Garza (The Lonely Papi) a darn good looking widowed Tall Weathered Cowboy and patriarch of the Garza family using my blog and readers request as a passport to do so. This guy doppelgänger said he wanted to drive to San Angelo to meet him as well and maybe share a laugh about his resemblance to his son.  By the way, this lookalike doppelgänger is from Del Rio. He certainly made my day!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Los Lonely Boys

This is my FAVORITE song by them...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvkzoqQ5Oak
Enjoy...you're welcome :)

Why I shop at the Dollar Tree

To be factual Del Rio is very much a small town by Texas standards.  We only have two grocery stores...HEB and Super Walmart.  While they both have somewhat reasonable prices, I prefer to shop at The Dollar Tree.

This past Friday, I got an early start to beat the hideously high temperatures we have been having in the area.  Bread is usually not a staple that is easily found at the Dollar Tree but I finally scored some.

For my readers NOT from Texas or USA...all items at the Dollar Tree...cost a dollar.

I had to head to Walmart for some other items.  As I went by their bread aisle, I was very happy that the two bread items I bought at Dollar Tree saved me $4.96.  At Walmart the cost of the same item at Dollar Tree was $3.48 each times 2 = $6.96

While at Dollar Tree I ran into Heinz Hot & Spicy Ketchup...being that I do not use ketchup that much I almost walked away until something caught my eye... that being that this was no ordinary bottle of ketchup after spotting the Tabasco trademark.

I have been hiding out and have not left the house all weekend.  With temperatures prognosticated to be in the triple digits all this week, I am glad I am stocked up and do not plan to move an inch.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams...though it is 6:35 a.m. and have yet to go to sleep...:-(




Walter's World

With Walter's departure and/or my lack of being able to walk over to his corral have mostly blogged about my little stray dogs (now also departed) as well as my boys (the cats)...I have a new post and video about the new tenants at his corral. 

You may click on my header picture to take you there or follow this link...

http://mylittlewalter.blogspot.com/

Housework / Nice Nap

Got up early to go open the gate in case Pollito decided to make an appearance today.  Now that I could walk up to some of the trees that I previously had not been able to reach I decided to use up the last 10 gallons from my rain catchment.

I actually cooked the last of the pork chops, organized the pantry, cleaned out the refrigerator, and did a little house cleaning. Needless to say, I was exhausted sat on the recliner to watch the news and promptly fell into a deep slumber that lasted for two hours and 10 minutes.

Woke up so refreshed I did not even care that Pollito was a no show.  Today's high was 102 with a low of 74 and a heat index of 104 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Crop of Weeds and Stickers

Now that I know we will not be affected by rains this weekend I bit the bullet and called Pollito this morning to come to mow our crop of weeds and stickers.

Guess who is back?

He said he would come this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and believe it or not he actually showed up on time.  Of course, true to form he only stayed about 15 minutes just enough to tackle the big weeds. 

Looking South toward Walter's old corral the little horse
that now lives there got scared by the noise from Pollito's tractor.

Said he would be back tomorrow morning to finish using the lawnmower and weed eater as it was too hot to get it done today.  I do not blame him the heat was stifling. We had a high of 99 a low of 74 with a heat index of 110 degrees today.

See all those trees behind the northern fence line?  Those, unfortunately, are in my lot adjacent to my parent's property and will need to be addressed soon.  In case you are wondering...YES...those are horrible Mesquite trees :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

When is the 4th of July going to be over?

I am so sick and tired of the worthless neighbor across the street popping fireworks every night, I guess he is drunk once more and got started about ten minutes ago.  These are very loud fireworks that sound like a bomb.  He spaces them out so they must be pricey.

Why do I always get the worst neighbors?  Oh well, I think he stopped for the night.  It amazes me how an unemployed 30-year-old with a wife and three kids can leech off his parents but more amazing that they allow it to happen.  OK, end of rant!

It has been so hot lately.  Today we had a high of 102 low of 77 with a heat index of 105 degrees.
I limit my outside time and if it wasn't for the boys (my cats) I do not think I would even go out the door.

As you know I collect rainwater and out of 160 gallons, I am down to 10 gallons just from watering some of the shade trees.  I say "some" because the weeds are too high to be able to reach them all.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Insurance / Recycling / Del Rio Parks

Once again my procrastination got the better of me.  Both my home as well as flood insurance are due next week.  Try as I did, I was not able to pay it online a problem I also encountered last year and never got around to resolving.

There is a chance we might have a tropical event and that it might impact the Greater Houston area so I have to have my flood insurance up to date.  Wrote two checks and made a beeline for the post office.

With that out of the way, I headed to the City of Del Rio Recycling Center. Took all my plastics bottles as well as steel cans.

It was hot it reached 101 with a heat index of 106 degrees.  I was close to San Felipe Lions Park so swung by there to check it out. There were several women there with their children.

There was a young couple on a raft but the water was flowing fast so was not able to photograph them as my phone took a long time to power up. Decided to make a short video of the water flowing instead. Video is not uploading and only have 2 minutes before the blog date changes...may try again tomorrow or not...as I need to post this.

Del Rio's Rotary Park is just down the road and also had people enjoying their facilities. Was surprised there were no ducks around.

Lots of kids swimming...

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Rising gas prices / Dollar Tree / Yard Work

So glad I filled up at $2.249 because gasoline prices are on the upswing. Yesterday it was going for  $2.399 for regular unlead at HEB,

With temperatures being so high in particular the heat index levels, I have not wanted to leave the house.  However, I needed to run some errands that I could not put off for another day.  Glad I got that out of the way.

The Dollar Tree is not known for keeping the same merchandise on their shelves but they usually have bottled mushrooms or at least they have had them for over a year.  I use them on my salads but lately, there are none to be had.  If I were in Houston I would just go to another Dollar Tree but in Del Rio, I would have to drive either to Uvalde or Eagle Pass.  This is when I miss the big city :-(

Late yesterday afternoon (Saturday) I got some yard work done but not enough to make a dent. Will be calling Pollito soon.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Header picture for today's post...

California earthquake / Preparing for fireworks

Last night I went to bed early (before midnight) as I only got two hours of sleep the day before.  Woke up at 6:00 a.m. but decided to stay in bed until 8:00 a.m.  Sometimes the cats surprise me no doubt they are smart.  Paquito came to my window and started whining that he wanted his breakfast so had to get up.

Did my morning chores and by the time I was finished I was a soggy mess.  How many daily showers do I have to take?  Was going to head into town when I heard about the 6.4 earthquake that hit California and decided to watch the news instead.

The first person I thought of was blogger Gypsy of On The Road Again fame.  However, they soon posted a map of the location where it occurred and it was far away from her thank goodness.  They interviewed a lot of people via telephone and there were so many aftershocks that people were feeling them as they spoke to reporters.  So I blew my afternoon watching TV.

I am not looking forward to tonight for as soon as the 4th of July celebrations conclude in the city those same people will find their way to the county to pop more fireworks.  I know the cats will be scared but I can not bring them inside the house.

I do not know if anyone recalls that last 4th of July the neighbor three lots down lost her house due to fireworks. The same happens in Houston, I  live in Harris County and popping them is permissible.

This morning I made sure to set up the hoses just in case.  All I can do is be prepared. We had a high of 96 low of 76 with a heat index of 103 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Header Picture for this post...

Reading old posts

This weekend I decided to take a break from cable television...I say "Cable TV" because in Del Rio you HAVE to have cable or you have a blank TV.

So how did I entertain myself late at night when I can not sleep?  Decided to read my old posts.  I am so glad I made the decision almost eight years ago to start blogging.  If you have been reading me for a while you know that I have "memory issues" more commonly known as CRS (Can't Remember Shit).

Reading my prior posts was like re-living events I had long ago forgotten. To this day I have NO idea how Billy Bob and Nick found me when I did not tell a soul not even my close friends that I had started a blog.  I am thankful though as they posted a link on their sidebar to bring even more readers my way. Wish Billy Bob would start posting again. Nick deleted his blog and I believe he is no longer in Terlingua...sure do miss him.

I did find a common thread and could not help but laugh about that.  For one I still...hate yard work, dislike lying mechanics, continue to be computer challenged, I want to be able to move to a cooler place during the summer months and can't cook to save my life....jajajajajajajaja :D

Now I will ask my readers...how is it that you came to my blog. I would like to thank each and every one of you...I truly value your readership.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Header picture for this post...