Another year comes to an end

When I was a teenager it seemed like the year lasted forever, now in my later years they just fly by. This year in particular came and went at what seems like the bat of an eye.

I have never really been into going out on New Year’s.  I usually spend it at home as I will tonight.  Will stay up mainly because we live in the county where the use of firecrackers is permitted.  The neighbors are going crazy popping them left and right.

It is a shame that the man that mother hired to mow her grass never showed back up but of course that was expected.  Mother is a little upset because I blogged about it.  With the grass being as tall as it is, it can easy catch on fire.  The last thing we need is for the house to burn down, so I have the hoses ready just in case.

If you go out tonight please be careful.  I wish each and every one of you a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Joint Problem

To say that I got a good night sleep would be a lie.  Could not go to sleep no matter how hard I tried.  Finally got up at 7:30 a.m. and people in the blogsphere know that unless I am traveling or have some pressing business…this gal is NOT a morning person.

We had beautiful weather and a little bit of wind, which is conducive to doing laundry and actually getting it to dry (we don’t have a drier, we use a clothesline).  However I could not get my mind off of my shared bank account number with an absolute stranger.

Got the phone book out and looked up the gentlemen’s name and thank goodness he had an actually landline number listed.  Debated for a while whether to call him or not and inform him of the situation since I knew darn well IBC Bank was NOT going to do it.

At noon after weighing the pros and cons decided if the shoe was on the other foot, I would want to know about our joint problem.  I must say he was a very nice gentleman and just from talking to him I could tell he was a man of honor, and that was of great comfort to me.

He has not one but several accounts at IBC and informed me that the one we have in common is not a checking account but a CD account.  That is the reason why no money was actually commingled or compromised in our duplicate account. 

Around 3:58 p.m. I got a hysterical call from the little boy who had unsuccessfully tried to help me at the bank yesterday but did not have the cojones to go up to the manager in charge and interrupt his dual conversation on his cell phone and regular phone nor his immediate supervisor who was engaged in a very loud personal conversation with one of his “boyfriends”.

Did he really think I was going to leave it at “Believe me you have nothing to worry about.  If I thought your account would be compromised in anyway, I would be the first person telling you to close it.”  He obviously does not know me…

He wanted to know HOW I had been able to locate Mr.____  I told him “ how do you think?  The phone book of course” his next question was “what did you tell him?”  My answer “why don’t you tell ME what YOU are doing about my problem?”  His reply “I told you your account was not being compromised”. 

Well this little boy better be trembling in his boots (even though he was wearing shoes) because my account may be a little measly one which they can easily afford to lose but I don’t think they want to lose this gentleman’s business.  He must have scared him silly for him to have called me in such a panic :D

This afternoon a man from my mom’s congregation came by because “he had noticed her grass was tall”.  I had not seen him in four years and though I cannot prove it, I think his son had something to do with the disappearance of my beloved 14-year-old cat that mysteriously vanished the last time he mowed her yard. 

Of course mother hired him on the spot.  I would not have a problem with it if it weren’t for the fact that he never quite completes the job.  He will mow one day and then show up two or three weeks later to “finish the job”.  There is nothing I hate more than people who do not honor their word or lack a work ethic, to me they are BUMS.  However, I cannot say anything bad about him or my mother takes it as a personal attack on her friends.  It was hard to keep my mouth shut but I know deep down inside that he is NOT going to show up tomorrow.  Oh well, it is her money not mine.

I would like to welcome the Foot family (Big Foot, Little Foot and Underfoot) for signing on as followers.  Thank you.

Incompetent Institutions

On the agenda today was to go by the P.O. Box, the library, the bank, the county clerk’s office, and the pharmacy.

My life has been a whirlwind since September and I have not had the time to focus on things that really required my attention.  I did find it odd that I had not seen a bank statement in a while.  Decided to go to the bank and inquire.  What I found was a horrific nightmare.

Turns out someone (they told me the name but I have no idea who that person is) signed up for e-mail statements for his account and somehow registered mine.  But wait it gets better, turns out that we both have THE SAME ACCOUNT NUMBER.  How can this be?  How can a bank be so terribly incompetent to issue the same number to two different customers?  Even worst is how did they not know?  Do they not have an audit department?

I might add that I did not just open my account.  I have had my account since August 2007 and the other person since July 2007.  If it weren’t because I stopped getting my statement I would have never found out.  I presume that other person already knows or maybe not since he has not notified the bank. Thankfully I don’t have much money but imagine if the bank had deducted his checks from mine or mine from his.  This is just totally unacceptable!!

Yesterday, when I went to the P.O. Box I found another jury summons for my mother.  This is the third summons in five years even though each time she receives one I have gone and personally hand delivered an exemption request and been assured that she will not get another one in the future.



Val Verde county courthouse



For those readers who are not from Texas or are from another country a person gets a jury summons about every two years or so to appear at the courthouse from a pool of citizens whose names are derived from voter registration records and/or driver’s license data banks.  However if that person is over 70 years of age they can choose to exclude themselves.  Theoretically this should only have to be done once, but this will be the third time mother has to file one.

Back of courthouse where the County Clerk's offices are located

 Last week I called in to refill mother’s medications.  The automated service said they would be ready on Dec 23^rd but I did not go to pick them up till yesterday.  Only one was refilled because the other two needed authorization from the doctor so the pharmacy sent the doctor’s office a second fax.

Today I went to pick up her prescriptions and no response from the doctor’s office so will have to make another trip.  Guess today did not turn out like I envisioned but heck at least I am alive and in somewhat good health.

Dear Santa

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth…hey wait, I already got those back when I was eight…

Santa, I have been very good this year hoping that you would not forget about me like you have in prior years :-(

Here is my list:

1. I am not greedy Santa, even though there is a lot of acreage in Terlingua, I only ask for 1 acre or less of highway frontage so I can sit in my front porch and watch a car drive by every 15 minutes.

2. A rebuilt transmission for Terlita (my camping van)

3. An honest and knowledgeable mechanic

4. A heavy duty weed eater and a gardener to operate it

5. A chain saw to cut down Mom’s horrible mesquite trees and a gardener to cut them

6. A heavy duty zero gravity chair

Last but not least:

7. A weathered cowboy…preferably with a job :D

Since you are probably sick and tired of milk and cookies, I have left you the following:

Snow in the forecast?

It was a cold, cloudy and gray day so slept in.  Have been going through my mail, filing stuff and doing the kind of things you do when it is ugly outside.

Was watching the San Antonio station KSAT12 news (Del Rio has no TV station) and almost died laughing when I heard that there were probabilities of snow for Val Verde county…yeah right :D

Hope everyone has gotten their shopping done so you don’t have to go out in this awful weather.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

If you passed away, would someone notice?

A while back Ben InTexas posed a hypothetical question “what if one of us bloggers died in our home and no one knew.”  Since he is a daily blogger with updates throughout the day…well we would certainly take note that something was out of place if he did not do his daily post. http://benntexas.blogspot.com/  But how about those people who do not go online or who for that matter do not even have friends or relatives living close by? Worst yet if they happen to be elderly and living by themselves and whose families do not even care about their well-being?

This is a topic that perhaps very few of us care to discuss but one that perhaps deserves our attention.  I was going to post about this two weeks ago when the death of an elderly gentlemen touched me.  He lived alone and apparently did not have family. The only reason they found him was because the mailman reported that there was a foul odor emitting from the residence.  When the police entered his home they found his body in an advance state of decomposition.  They performed an autopsy and ruled he died from natural causes.

I was reading the free online page of the Del Rio News Herald and I was literally shocked to find that three more have died in the same fashion.  Del Rio is not a very big town.  We have just shy of 50,000 residents and in the past two weeks we have had four deaths of senior citizens in their residences.   The common factor is that they all lived alone. http://delrionewsherald.com/news/article_fceb2238-2b31-11e1-8d4f-0019bb2963f4.html

Do you keep in touch with your elderly relatives or neighbors?  If you live alone whether you are elderly or not, is there a person you are in contact with that would take note if they did not hear from you?  Do you have a trusted friend that has a key to your house and that could get access to your home just in case?  Do your friends have a way of contacting your family in case you became ill or had to be hospitalized?

Food for thought….

On a much happier note, it turned out to be a beautiful day. Since there is rain and a cold front in the forecast decided to take advantage while I could and did two loads of laundry.

Tiny Texas Houses

The Houston Chronicle article on Tiny Texas houses http://tinytexashouses.com/ brought to mind that I have tried to stop there on several occasions but either I have missed the exit heading east or I have been in a hurry when I am heading west or a combination of both.

This time I did not miss the Luling exit as one has a better view of the houses that sit on a hill on the left side of the road when one is headed west on I-10.  Took a couple of pictures but I did not go into the sales office.

Maybe the next time I am out that direction and I am not in a hurry I will stop and see what these houses built with salvaged materials sell for.  My guess is that it is not cheap. These tiny houses would be ideal for my future Terlingua property.

I think I am getting too old for these long distance drives.  I am still recuperating from yesterday’s trip back to Del Rio.  While I was ready to go at 5:30 a.m. the rain prevented me from leaving at that time.  Decided it was best to wait it out even if it meant driving in rush hour traffic.  Of course in Houston it seems like it is always rush hour.

Sunny but cool Sunday

Last night my neighbor lady called me at 10:30 p.m. to let me know she was back from her Christmas shopping trip.  She lives a block down from me and she is a very sweet lady who is in the homeowners association board of directors. Told her I was already in my pajamas and if I could take her my keys tomorrow (today).

She agreed since it was late for me to be walking at that hour.  However she is a chatter and she kept me on the phone for 3 hours 20 minutes 12 seconds.  It would not be so bad if she had not told me these stories hundreds of times before.  I would politely say,  “Yes Ms. Josie, you mentioned that to me before” but it would go in one ear and out the other.  She spent two of those hours telling me about her late husband’s funeral.  I never met her husband besides he died in 1991 and she hated him.  Serves me right for misplacing my keys!!

Needless to say I woke up late.  Had a couple of errands to run but decided to read the Houston Chronicle instead.  What a treat that was, it has been such a long time that I do not read the paper cover to cover.  Lots of information and well worth its price.  Can’t say that about the Del Rio News Herald, they can’t even get the spelling right.  You would think a newspaper would use spell check.



Even though it is well worth the $2.00 price I buy my newspaper at the .99 Cents Only Store for $1.50 on Saturday



Had an interesting article on tiny houses and people that design and live in them



It was a beautiful sunny day even though a bit on the cool side.  Tomorrow in the afternoon we are supposed to see rain.  We need it and its welcomed.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Grocery Wars

I love going grocery shopping in Houston because in comparison to Del Rio everything here is reasonably priced specially if you know where to shop.  The long time discount grocery store has been Food Town and in their home delivered flyer they always offer a special priced coupon, be it for $1.00 off a select item or a free item altogether.

About a year and half ago HEB decided to join the grocery wars and opened up a discount store called Joe V’s.  It has all the in-house labels carried by their regular HEB stores as well as national brands but at a great discount.  I should know the prices at HEB, as they are the only grocery store we have in Del Rio.

As I have mentioned previously my culinary skills are nil to non-existent so I buy quite a lot of can goods.  I found a great bargain on ravioli (my favorite can product) a 40 oz can for .88 cents this is what you would typically pay for just one can.  I bought 8 cans, so I am set for next year’s chili cook-off :D 

For size comparison a 15 oz can of peas and my 40 oz can of ravioli

I would have bought more but I forgot that Joe V’s only takes cash or debit cards. No credit cards, no checks in order to keep their prices low.  For my safety and because I plain do not like to carry cash this is all I was able to buy.

Saw this homemade trailer on the road bet he saved a lot money doing that

I am happy to report that yesterday morning I was able to find my keys, they were in my car the whole time.  I barely slept Friday night worrying about them.  Yesterday I was watching the six o’clock news and fell asleep.  Woke up at 8:00 p.m. and decided to go to bed until the evening news.  Unfortunately did not wake up till 11:15 p.m. so I just said the heck with it and turned around and went back to sleep until this morning.  Guess I was really tired.

My neighbor is going to call me as soon as she gets back from Christmas shopping so I can go take her my spare set of keys, hope she comes home early.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Close but no cigar

This morning at 9:18 a.m. I went to check out John Wells’s blog  http://thefieldlab.blogspot.com/ to see if he had reached the one million mark yet, but it was at 999,968.  Decided to keep a close watch and see if maybe I could be that person.  But alas it was not to be, I was:

999,998

999,999

1,000,001

Congratulations to John as well as the winner from Boise, Idaho who only stayed for –0- seconds.  Maybe if he/her doesn’t materialize, I can claim his/her prize?

I am in a quandary tonight.  My Terlingua friends know that I am famous for losing my keys but in Terlingua the factor of alcohol is involved and I usually end up finding them before my departure.

I am sober as can be.  After the news I went to the grocery store then came home.  The thought of having to eat cereal for dinner did not sit well with me so decided to go buy me a patty melt at Whataburger.  I usually carry my house keys with my car keys on one of those plastic wristbands.  However, this trip to Houston I have been carrying the house keys separately.

The thing is that I lost the darn keys between my house and Whataburger.  Went back and asked if anyone had turned in my keys and searched the parking lot.  Searched my car but no keys.  It is a good thing that I gave a spare key to one of my trusted neighbors and that she was home or I would be spending the night in the driveway of my house.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

A Man’s Word

Last time I was in Houston was back in September and as you might recall if you were reading this dribble back then was that I was sick as a dog.  I have an electric lawn mower and it doesn’t cut well when the grass is high.  I mowed the front yard pretty good to keep from getting a love letter from the homeowners association.  I did not do a good job on the backyard and since the HOA can’t see the backyard I was not too concerned about it at the time.

Fast forward two and a half months and you can imagine what my backyard looks like now.  As soon as I saw it I knew I had to hire someone.  The neighbor on the corner has a yardman and I asked him for his telephone number.  Called the man Friday and he assured me he would be here today.  Even made him take down my phone number so he could call me in case he could not come. You guess it…he did not show up nor did he call.  I called him a while ago and he said, “He did not feel well today” when I asked him why he did not call me, he said, “he forgot”.  He assured me he will be here tomorrow…I won’t hold my breath on that one.

There is no way I can tackle this with my little eletric mower

This Grasshog is the best weedeater I have ever owned but it bit the dust a year ago and the new models pale by comparison. 

My father always told me that a man had to honor his word and just because I was a woman did not mean I was exempt from that rule.  I can still hear him telling me “don’t ever give your word and then not keep it, a person without a word is not worth a plugged nickel and you would be disgracing your mother and I if you did so.”  So why do I keep running into people that don’t keep their word?

Yard work is seasonal, I would have imagined he would be glad to have a new customer.  Will give him the benefit of the doubt…

It was a cloudy and gray day.  Spent most of it cleaning and sorting through stuff.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

The Virginian

For some inexplicable reason I have been going to bed before eleven o’clock and waking up at five o’clock in the morning.  Of course today that I needed to be at Target when they opened, true to form, I woke up late.  One good thing about Houston, if the store you are at does not have it, you can always drive to another location.  Took me three stores but I finally tracked down what I needed.

 Kroger (local grocery store) offers a .03 cent reduction on your gas purchase if you have a store card.  The closest store to my house does not have a gas station so decided to stop and fill up at $2.96 a gallon at a Kroger I do not frequent and that was across the street from Target.  I needed cereal so went in to buy it and got in line in the express check out. There was an elderly gentlemen in front of me in one of those electrical store cars for handicap people and he had more than the allowed 10 items, no big deal I was not in a hurry and at his age he deserves to get in whatever line he chooses.  The cashier, a girl in her late 20’s was very nice and attentive toward him and had to repeat some things to him since he obviously had a hearing problem.  The guy bagging the groceries was equally attentive and offered to help him to his car but he declined and said he could manage.

The guy bagging the groceries was not a “ bag boy” he was older, nicely dressed and looked to be one of the store managers.  He told her “ do you know who that is?” She said “No”.  He told her he was _____(blank failed to catch the name).  She responded that she did not know who that was.  Then he said he used to be in “The Virginian”.  She replied she had never seen the show but perhaps her dad would know him or her husband since he was into westerns.

Now I have to admit that I never even heard of that show.  As a kid the only westerns that I used to watch was Bonanza and Big Valley.  So I hurried outside to get a better look at him without being too obvious.  He was parked in front of the store in the handicap section but he was busy arranging his trunk and had his back toward me so I did not get a look at his face.  Ran to my car and got my camera and drove by slowly but as you can see, it is not a good picture. 



He had his trunk raised and he appeared to have a suitcase as well as other items inside





Wish he had looked up so I could of gotten a shot of his face

He was reading something and gave the impression that he was waiting for someone who was still inside the store.

 Wanted to welcome Suerte for signing on as a blog follower.  Thank you.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Home Again

Finally after postponing my trip for the umpteenth time due to the weather, left early this morning.  Got to see a sunrise something I don’t always get to do.  Even the agents at the Border Patrol Check Point were in a good mood and did not bombard me with questions.

My only regret is that I did not get to meet Ara and Spirit who were going to be coming through Del Rio…maybe next time.  I did however visit a mom and pop eating establishment in Sabinal, Texas called Nora’s Tacos which he featured on his blog http://theoasisofmysoul.com/?p=16289.  I told Nora he had sent me.  Lucky for me they were celebrating their 6th anniversary of being in business today and I got my choice of pozole, cabrito or cake.  I chose pozole and just heated it up a while ago, it was as delicious as their tacos.

Dang, there were tons of DPS troopers on I-10 from San Antonio to Houston.  Was surprised considering it is not the weekend.  Had no other choice than to follow the speed limit.

Glad I filled up after my visit with Billy Bob because Monday gas went up ten cents from $3.09 to $3.19 and I don’t know why.  It was $3.06 in San Antonio and $2.98 a gallon here in town.

Remember my rant about Time Warner Cable?  When I got home I scanned my TV converter box and I have 80 free channels here in Houston and they don’t cost me a dime!!

It is freezing cold in the house, need to go buy me an electric heater for my bedroom.  Only had four hours of sleep last night so I think I going to turn in early.

Good night and may you have Terlingua dreams.

No Electricity

Short post tonight.  The lights went out in our area around 9:00 p.m. and it is now around 12:48 a.m.  Do not know if this is just in the county or if the city is also affected.

This would not be an issue if tonight were not going to be the coldest night in the season.  It is expected to be 28 degrees tonight or so that is what the weatherman is saying and you know how I feel about weather forecasters.

One good thing about being a procrastinator is that I still have not put away my Terlingua stuff so was able to find my flashlights and camping lantern without too much problem.

Wanted to welcome long time blogger friend Tffnguy for signing on as a follower.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua dreams.

Car Problems

Woke up to cloudy skies, wind and cold.  There was rain on the way to Houston so decided to postpone my trip yet another day.

Had totally forgot that I needed to renew my drivers license and I sure as heck don't plan on spending all day standing in line in Houston to do so.  Since my car is all packed and ready to go decided to drive mom's car.  Right away I noticed that it was having the same brake issue problems that the worthless mechanic was supposed to have resolved.  Really should not have driven it but since dad's old car won't start (another issue mechanic can't seem to fix) and Terlita (my camping van) has transmission issues decided to chance it.

It was a good thing I took the back roads and that there was not much traffic.  I kept on pumping the brakes to see if I could get them to catch.  As soon as I got out of the DPS office I headed back home and thankfully made it safely.

Wanted to mention that there were only two people in line in front of me and it took me 20 minutes to get in and out.  A friend of mine is coming down for a visit and I asked the lady if she could renew her license here even though she lives in Houston and she said she could. She mentioned that a lot of hunters and fishermen from Dallas and Houston like to drop by and renew their license because of our relative short lines.

Spoke to a friend in the Midland and she said they had three inches of snow on the ground with more on the way.  Our weather channel which has a bad track record in my book claims it is going to snow in Langtry (Judge Roy Beans place) about 90 miles away.

Get bundled up and may you all have Terlingua dreams tonight.

Cable Rip Off

If you live in Val Verde or surrounding counties if you do not have cable you basically have a blank TV.  All of our local channels that are FREE in other cities like ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc… come from San Antonio, Texas a city 144 miles away including local news as there are no television stations out here.

Just opened up Time Warner Cable e-mail saying our statement is ready to be viewed and I will be darned if they did not raise the price again.  All we have is basic cable and it is now $63.72 a month, it would really be $64.73 but if you sign up for e-statements they knock a dollar off, they are so generous.

I will take that back, if you have a TV in Del Rio even the old analog type you can get Mexico’s two main networks Televisa and TV Azteca that are transmitted via satellite from Mexico City. Of course that does not do you any good unless you speak Spanish.  Ciudad Acuna (border city with Del Rio) as poor as they are have a television channel and reporters but again you have to speak Spanish to be of any benefit. So I guess we have no choice but to keep paying their ridiculous prices or turn the cable off.  Ok, I will get off my soapbox now.

I certainly had Terlingua dreams last night, so much so that I did not get up till noon.  It was a cool, drizzly and cloudy day so conducive to sleeping in.  I have been running around in circles this whole week so today was a “do nothing day”.

It drizzled this afternoon but nothing like the rain they forecasted.  However it is raining on the way to Houston and that is interfering with my plans.  I do not drive in the rain unless I absolutely have to and if I have waited two months, I guess one more day wont kill me.

Have a good night  and may you all have Terlingua dreams.

Erroneous Forecasting

I am really beginning to loathe weather forecasters.  For the past two days we were supposed to get substantial rain by their account and to date I have yet to see a drop.  I was worried because I had to drive to Eagle Pass, Texas (about 60 miles from here) to take my mom to her doctor’s appointment yesterday.  I am not a morning person but I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and could not get back to sleep thinking I was going to have to drive in torrential rain, yeah right…turned out to be a beautiful day.

I had a lot of errands to run this afternoon but luckily finished with still plenty of daylight left to pay a visit to Billy Bob at the San Pedro Campground on Lake Amistad.  Usually this campground has few visitors but today I was happy to see that there were quite a bit of people including a Boy Scout Troop.

Sweet Sadie Mae barked alerting her daddy of my presence but since I was a welcomed guest (or at least I think I was) she just laid by his feet and listened in to the conversation.  Mr. Billy Bob is such a character; I don’t think two hours is sufficient time to spend with him.  I would need a couple of days, weeks, months just to scratch the surface.

I asked him if there was something he wanted to say to his bloggers?  He said yeah, tell them “Boy, howdy”.    Message relayed…

Have a good night and may you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

Oh wait, I think I got that wrong….Billy Bob is coming to town :D

He was at Judge Roy Bean’s place yesterday http://billybobsplace.blogspot.com/2011/11/where-i-at.html since Langtry is a stones throw to Del Rio,  I bet he is already sipping a cup in beautiful San Pedro Campgrounds on Lake Amistad.

I will have to go pay him a visit once he gets settled down and has caught a couple fish (so he will be in a good mood)….shhhh don’t tell him I said that or Santa Claus is NOT going to come visit YOU.

Good thing is the biggest internet provider in the US does not have a cell tower in Del Rio, Texas so he can not read anything I write until he leaves town and can finally catch a signal about 100 miles from here la,la,la,la…hey that’s kind of a catchy tune!!

Nothing new on this front, except doing more laundry. watering all of mother’s trees and plants, and finally washing the cars.  By washing cars I mean using a hose with a spray nozzle to rinse of the dust. Don’t by any stretch of the imagination think I actually washed them with soap and water and scrubbed the tires and carefully detailed the inside, that is too much work.  I wonder if Billy Bob’s mentality is catching?

Was reading Shoeless Joe’s blog http://travlinwithjohn.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-ran-out.html   and from the comments I found that there are other people  besides myself that don’t much care to do laundry so a light went on, hey I’m open to barter. I will do your laundry if you mow my lawn…any takers?  Will throw in mesquite wood, just bring your chainsaw and cut your own.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Beautiful Tuesday

These past two days I have been busy doing laundry, a chore I have really never liked to do until I had to take up doing yard work.  In comparison doing laundry is a breeze.  Speaking of breezes the strong winds of days past are long gone.  While it has been a little cold in the morning, the sun has been abundant and the temperatures perked right up by mid morning.

Can you believe we still have mosquitoes?  I do not know how they did not freeze to death on Sunday night.  They are alive and well and have an affinity for my blood.

Drove into town to pick up the mail from the P.O. Box, went to the bank, and picked up a couple of items at HEB.  I was pleasantly surprised that there were hardly any people out and about.  Took advantage of that and decided to buy stamps as there were only two people in line and I know in December this place will be very busy.

While I don’t get to go online daily, on those days that I can, I am going to be changing the header picture to show some of the shots that I took this year at the Chili Cook-off.

Have a good night and may you all have Terlingua Dreams.

A Drive Through the Back Roads

My mom lives outside the city limits of Del Rio on the southern edge of Val Verde County.  Lately we have seen a lot of county trucks drive by the house loaded with asphalt so we wanted to know what streets they were paving.

We looked and looked but found nothing paved.  It had been like ten years or so since I had not taken our main road that eventually comes to a dead end at the gates of a private ranch.  It was a nice drive and the skies looked menacing but with the strong winds the hope of showers were literally…gone with the wind.  Even though I cannot complain we did get a little rain last night.

Saw this horse with pretty eyes and soon a pregnant mare joined him as not to be left out of the picture.

We then took a drive along Vega Verde Road it is a road that borders the Rio Grande for  a few miles until again it dead ends into a private ranch.  Across is Mexico and the majority of that land is owned by a very wealthy Mexican family…the Ramon’s of Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila.

There is a heavy presence of Border Patrol in the area and they just looked at us going 5 mph in a 30 mph zone, as we were taking in the scenery.  My family owns a lot here but our lot along with few other adjoining ones is heavy covered in carrizo from 30 plus years of neglect, so we have no idea  exactly which one it is.  Heck you cannot even see the river from the road anymore.

This might be our lot, who knows?

This would be what our lot would look like from the road if the carrizo were not blocking it.

Who says El Alamo is located in San Antonio?

We have an Alamo right here in Del Rio, Texas

All in all it was a nice leisurely afternoon drive.  Right now the winds are very strong out of the north and we are supposed to have a freeze tonight.  Turned on the heater a few minutes ago and plan on keeping it on all night.

Good night and may you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Thanksgiving 2011

I have never in my life gone to the grocery store on Thanksgiving day but since I was going to prepare my first turkey dinner wanted to do it right and decided to go to HEB to pick up crescent rolls and egg nog.

Was surprised at the number of people there at 1:00 p.m. considering they were closing the store at 2:00 p.m.  Some had cart fulls of stuff while others I suspect dinner guests had beer, wine, pies and flower arrangements in their carts.

As you can see I survived cooking my first Thanksgiving turkey and did not kill my mom or myself in the process.  Hope everyone had a wonderful day as well.

Is everyone ready to go take advantage of Black Friday deals at midnight?  I must admit that I only went once and that was like eleven years ago when the offers began at 6:00 a.m. at Wal-Mart.  Not being a morning person I showed up at 8:00 a.m. and by that time the TV/VCR I wanted was long gone.

The one thing I miss about Houston is the wide variety of stores all within ten minutes drive of my house.  Here in Del Rio the only big retail store is Super Wal-Mart.  I am a fan of Target and now that stores open up at midnight and me being a night owl I think I would go there and to Academy.  But alas the nearest Target and Academy are in San Antonio a whole three hours away.

Would like to welcome WeArePennyandCJ as followers.  Thank you for reading my blog.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams..

Monday November 21, 2011

The day started out a little dreary and I almost believed the weatherman when he said today would be cloudy and rainy.  Should of known better, the sun came out and it was a beautiful and warm day.

We still have tons of mosquitoes and the worst part is that they are in the house.  I do not know how to get rid of them.  Does anyone know of a homemade remedy?  I cannot spray any chemicals because of mother’s allergies.

The day after I got back from Terlingua I started dad’s old car, and you guessed it…it does not want to start.  I take that back it has a new battery, it turns but it does not want to catch no matter how much I floor the accelerator.  Oh well, it will just have to wait until next year when I can find another mechanic.  It is shame since it was running so well but it does have to be started everyday or at least every other day.

Decided to brave the crowds and go to HEB (our only grocery store besides Super Wal-Mart) and try to pick up a couple of groceries to hold us over to next week.  Totally slipped my mind that today was a Mexican holiday so everyone was there shopping for turkeys. Turkeys are very expensive in Mexico and both HEB and Wal-Mart know this and advertise heavily in the mexican media to lure the mexican shoppers  during pre-Thanksgiving sales when they are on special here. They buy them for the traditional Christmas as well as New Year’s dinner.

The majority of people that  "know me" from the blogging world are aware that my culinary skills are non-existent.  If it does not come out of a can or a fast food joint, well then it is obviously not going to be served at my house.  But since I am at my mom’s house she does the cooking ( I know it’s shameful) so I decided to buy a small turkey this year and see how it goes.  YES, I am actually going to prepare it myself.  I may end up in the emergency room but at least I gave it a swirl :-)

Good night and may you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Slowing Stewing

This past week I have not been in a blogging mood.  Not because I have nothing to blog about but because I am highly pissed off, but the problem is that I am not sure WHOM I am pissed off at.

Let me explain, September came and went so fast I totally LOST that month between my two trips to Houston and being ill.  October faired no better with my income tax woes and getting ready for the chili cook-off.  Now here it is November with only ten days left before tumultuous December descends on us.

Upon my return from Terlingua I sat down and opened a lot of correspondence that I felt could wait until I got back.  How WRONG I was!!!  Or maybe how right because if I had opened it sooner I think it would have definitively RUINED my trip.

What the heck happened in September that could of caused my 401-K to look like a 101-K ???  I remember a few days of ups and downs in the stock market but then I thought it recuperated?  I am middle class working gal that is temporarily retired so I can take care of my elderly mother and I certainly cannot take a 13 percent loss in my portfolio.

I do not like the uncertainty of the stock market but the government leaves me NO CHOICE, my hard earned money has to be with an accredited financial institution or brokerage firm until I am of retirement age to begin withdrawals and at this pace I am not going to have anything to withdraw.

At this time of my life I cannot be in an aggressive investment strategy that is why I am so shocked at how much I lost in September.  Which leads me to another question, how much do you trust your financial advisor?  Are there other Bernie Madoff’s out there?  Do you all understand your monthly statements or is it like a maze?  I think they make them confusing on purpose.

Thus you can see I am quite angry but I don’t know if I should be angry with myself, my financial advisor, the stock market or WHOM?  I have always been a saver and I think I manage what little money I have quite well so this is really eating up at me and has for the past couple of days.

I will be calling my financial advisor tomorrow but is that going to bring back what I have lost? NO.  Is he trying to swindle me?  Who knows.

For the people who moved their 401-k plans from your former employer to a brokerage firm are you happy with them?  Would you recommend them? What advice can you offer me?

I don’t think I will be having Terlingua Dreams tonight…more like WALL STREET NIGHTMARES…grrrr!!!!

Tent Shower

Got a nice e-mail from a reader asking me to elaborate more about my tent shower, as they had never heard of one before.

They come in all sizes, my first one was pop up one 4 x 4 that I purchased from Cabela’s this is not the one but it resembles it in many aspects http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=746435&destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct.jsp%3FproductId%3D735058%26type%3Dproduct&WTz_l=YMAL%3BIK-516873

I have never been able to fold it no matter how many times I have watched the video.  It really did not matter as I had Terlita and there was plenty of room in the van to accommodate it.  Here is a picture back from the 2007 Cook-off and I used it along with my Zodi water heater.

I bought another one at Wal-Mart in 2008 that was a little more compact but it was only 3.5 x 3.5 and got skinnier on the way up.  I still have it but I don’t much care for it.

Last year I purchased a 4 x 4 shower so I could have a little more room to put a chair in there (so I could sit down and shave my legs) that is the one that got trashed this year.  I also purchased it at Wal-Mart for around $39.00 and in my opinion worth every penny.

The shower has mesh on three sides to let the water out and in the center there is room to hang your solar shower bag but I can’t really lift that much weight without assistance so I prefer to heat my water in clear gallon milk jugs and then pour it in my garden hose sprayer.  It also has a back window that you can zip and unzip to let it air out and dry quicker but it is hot enough in Terlingua that you don’t really need to do that.

This is what was left of my shower

I also take this opportunity to thank Terry for signing on as a follower.

Chili Cook-Off 2011

Did you think I had run off with a tall, dark and handsome cowboy?  Sure wish I had :D   

Well folks one thing about the cook-off is that you make plans and hope to accomplish this or that but it very seldom happens because something always sidetracks you.  So if you ever attend don’t really plan on following a schedule, remember you are on Terlingua time.

Got to the cook-off a little after 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 30^th was planning on setting up my tent but things got in the way and ended up partying and catching up with friends until 3:30 a.m.

It took me six hours to set up my camp the next day and even though my friends offered to help me, I believe in being self-reliant and I did it myself.  Above is a picture of me after a nice shower and with my Halloween clothes.

On Wednesday Nov 2^nd I was the designated driver so I could take my campmates to the Dia de los Muertos celebration.  However some were pretty partied out and it ended up just being me and my friend Toni.  She has a brand spanking new fancy truck and it was the first time in my life to drive one.  We had not gone far when we saw this huge orange haze in the horizon.  Got to the cemetery and noticed that there were hardly any people there even at this late hour.  We were not there even 10 minutes when a terrible windstorm came and we barely had enough time to run back to her truck and head back to the cook-off.

We arrived just before the dust storm hit and I was able to salvage my chairs, orange cones, solar lights and other items thanks to the help of the guy that was camping next to me or they would have blown to the next county.  He was also nice enough to take me into his trailer along with another friend of mine and her boyfriend.  From his window we watched my shower being torn apart but it was just too dangerous to try to go out and save it.

We thought the storm would pass after and hour or so but it kept on all night.  My friends decided to brave the storm and walk to a party and I decided to go to my tent and with the added weight of my fat butt make sure it would not fly off in the night.  It got cold but I had my new zero rated sleeping bag and was toasty warm.  One of the reasons I bought my tent was because it is Burningman approved, now up there they REALLY have white outs that last for hours and pack hurricane winds. Therefore I was confident I was safe or I would have gone to my car or to one of my friend’s trailers.

The next day everyone was surveying the damage and let me tell you it was considerable.  A lot of torn and twisted awnings from those high dollar motor homes as well as regular portable shades structures.  It was rather cold too, so everyone was pretty bundled up.  People looking for their shoes, boots and other items that blew away.  The majority of my friends pull trailers, toy haulers, teardrops or pop-ups.  I am the only one that still does tent camping.  Needless to say I spent it indoors going from trailer to trailer and it was something different but fun.

Saturday I was taking the trash to the dumpster when I did not see a hole and twisted my ankle.  Lucky for me I was able to grab my friend’s truck tire and did not fall on my face or skinned up my knees.  This did limit my mobility a bit and I am still suffering the consequences.

The cook-off lasts until Sunday but a fair amount of people do not want to brave the traffic and the long lines at the Border Patrol Inspection station and stay another day or two which is what I usually do.

Sunday was sitting around with my friend Debi reminiscing about the past week when I see this dog jumping off a truck and running around like he was possessed and all of a sudden it hit me “ it’s hell dog” and then a light bulb goes off and I remember that Frann has a little red truck so here I get out of my chair and hobble along shouting at the top of my lungs Frann, Denise, Hell Dog.  Of course they do not hear me but some people see me waving my arms and tell them and they come over.

We had a nice conversation at my friends Debi’s camp since she was had a shade structure and I did not, thanks Debi.  These ladies are hard working gals that really know their stuff and their skills and knowledge rival or surpass any mans.  I am sure all of you all know them but if you don’t give their blogs a look Denese’s is http://thepathtobliss.blogspot.com/ and Frann’s is http://frannbro.blogspot.com/

I want to thank them for coming back later that evening after hearing I was planning on eating a can of ravioli and they brought us some delicious fajitas.  I really appreciate it girls, I owe you one.  The next morning Denese came by so I could follow her to their place and get the grand tour.  I am sorry to say that I have no pictures as the night before I packed up my camera so I would not lose it and forgot which container it went in.  If you saw the picture of how I packed going to the cook-off you should have seen how cramped my car was coming home, as I just threw everything wherever it would fit.

When I got home Monday I took a shower, ate and went to bed.  Tuesday had to take my mother to her doctor’s appointment and I somehow ended re-injuring my ankle so was not able to unpack my car until today when I finally found my camera.  However I have not tackled the trunk that will have to wait a couple more days, as my tent weighs a ton.

May you all have Terlingua Dreams.