Ophthalmologist/ IHop/ Locksmith

How can I describe today?  Went to bed at 1.00 a.m. and woke up at 4:15 a.m.  Could not for the life of me go back to sleep.  Mom had a 10:00 a.m. appointment with the ophthalmologist so we left early without eating breakfast. Dang....even with the eye doctor we had an over an hour wait.  I guess I should be used to this...but somehow, I am not!

We went to IHop afterwards and while Mom had an omelet (which she barely ate)...I decided to have an early Thanksgiving dinner since we don't plan on having one on the actual day. Too much trouble to cook something just for two people.

The mash potatoes were dry and the turkey was horrible but you would have never been able to tell it as I managed to scarf it all down.

Afterwards I stopped by the local locksmith as we have been unable to open the front door in the past month...seems that darn DISH guy besides giving us his flu...also managed to damage the front door mechanism after slamming it.

In a perfect world I would have probably walked out after my first encounter with this outfit...but when they are the only player in town...one does not have much choice.

Was told he would be here as soon as his lunch hour was over, but that was not the case.  I would have liked to have had the courtesy of a call...but none ever came. So three and a half hours later and after I had to call them as to the status of their arrival...he finally showed up.

It was not an easy job and it took two hours and a beating of the front door to get it to open.  All in alI I was pleased with the final result. I also had a lock installed in the outside bathroom and he fixed the door mechanism to our junk room.  

When I stopped at their office, I was told they charged in fifteen minute increments so I was a bit pissed as he spent 17 minutes trying to tell another customer over the phone how to resolve his issues. Luckily, I was only charged a $45.00 service fee, a labor fee plus the bathroom lock and it came in a little over a hundred bucks.  For the peace of mind it provided...it was well worth it.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Spurs Corner

Though it had nothing to do with the SPURS...I just got through watching the Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors game.  Only if you are a true Spurs fan can you relish this score  LAL 77, GSW 111...talk about making my night...that is besides the beautiful full moon this evening :)

Deceived

For those that read my blog it is no secret that I am a die hard San Antonio Spurs fan.  After I dumped Time Warner Cable, I resorted to listening to the games on the radio...but that did not cut it. My mechanic is a friend of the owner of the local DISH store so he hooked me up. Both my mechanic and I made it clear that the only reason I was signing up was so I could watch the Spurs games.

At first I got a lot of channels that later went away (after three months) and since we were eliminated in the first round, it didn't really matter.  Fast forward to this season...I was not able to see a single home game unless they were on national television.  Every time I selected the game a banner came up that I needed to have an NBA League Pass.

Last Thursday I chatted with one of their customer service people (a woman) and again I told her that my main interest was to be able to watch ALL the Spurs games.  Oh yes, she said...with a NBA League Pass you will be able to watch them among others. So I happily paid $199.00 for the privilege.

Friday the game was on national TV and we lost.  Since it ended early decided to watch my second favorite team....the Dallas Mavericks.  It did not let me!  Said it was blacked out in my area....grrrrr!!!

Saturday I sat down to watch a Spurs game and got the same message.  I was hot under the collar and I called and gave them a piece of my mind.  Why would I pay for an NBA League Pass if I could not watch my favorite team and I specifically asked and was told I would be able to see it. The woman I got was very hard to understand, she had a terrible accent and it was not a Hispanic accent.

I am not being sexist but I would have liked to have spoken to a man.  I asked her point blank if she was in Texas and she said she was not...obviously...I don't think she had any idea who the Spurs were. Told her I did not want the NBA League Pass as it was worthless.  She offered me another package so I could watch the game on Fox Southwest for an additional five bucks for three months.

We will see if they keep their word as my monthly bill already went up an additional $10 since the six months perks have ended.

Sorry about the rant but I am so tired about being deceived by cable and satellite companies.  I do not go out to eat, I do not go to the movies, I do not go dancing, I do not go to bars...my only form of entertainment is television and rooting for my Spurs.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Letting off some steam...

When I was young and planning my retirement, I always imagined spending my golden years in a tranquil setting free of stress, problems and obligations.  I worked in the oil patch for 25 years in Houston, Texas. Three of those years were for a major oil conglomerate and twenty-two for another.

When I say I worked...I mean I WORKED!  I have never known what it is like to work a 40 hour workweek. That is because in those 25 years, my average week ranged from 60 to 80 plus hours. NO...I am not complaining, as I was young, mentally tough and could handle it. The overtime was great and I was able to pay off my mortgage early and retire at a relative young age.

What I never knew was how hard retirement was going to be. I am not really retired, as I work 24 hours a day, seven days a week taking care of my mother  The month of October is super busy for me to begin with but with both of us being sick, it was a duzzy.  Now add to that three strays and that the female stray just had five puppies!!!!

It was bad enough having three grown dogs jumping at me as soon as I got off the car...now I have five puppies biting at my pant leg as soon as we get in from wherever at whatever time we get home...talk about stress!

I have pictures and the complete story on Walter's blog...click on the header picture if you care to read about it.

Last Thursday we went to see the Uvalde doctor.  Appointment time was 2:00 p.m. we got to see the doctor at 5:35 p.m. which is about average.  For a while I thought perhaps he had forgotten about us and gone home, as I could not hear any noise...Mom is usually his last patient.

I had all this scenarios in my head as to whom I was going to call to open up the door and let us out. Surprise!  When we left at 6:00 p.m. he still had a waiting room full of patients. I have poor night vision and it took me close to two hours to drive back to Del Rio when it is only 70 miles away.  I think next time, we will be spending the night in Uvalde!

If things could not get anymore stressful, last week I saw something dart in front of me in the kitchen. Instinctively I knew what it was, even though I was really hoping it was a roach  No such luck,,,it was a baby mouse.  I grabbed my mixture of clorox and water (remember I was trying to kill the mold in my tent) a few months ago...please don't ask about my tent :(

We had another doctor's appointment today, then mother wanted to go to Walmart before the holiday crowds make it impossible.  I was DEAD after we got home but managed to heat up some leftovers for dinner and went to try to catch the Spurs game.

DISH is a POS...I did not contract with them until the end of the Spurs season last year, when they were in the playoffs. Seems that if I want to catch a game, I am going to have to purchase an NBA League Pass...this is not what I had in mind.....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Sad to have to admit that TWC was a better provider than DISH...but I am stuck in a two year commitment ,,,Darn, how I HATE commitments!!!

DISH gives you a free one month preview of some of their elite channels and this month I get to preview the NBA channel.  Wow, I watched announcer Rick Fox last night...and though I deeply dislike the Lakers...this ex-player is like fine wine...hummm...delicious and better with age :D

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Old friends in new settings

Our hospital is so worthless, locals drive to other cities especially if they need to go to the ER. Mother's Oncologist (San Antonio doctor who we see in Uvalde, Tx) had enough of them and now we go to another lab in town for blood draws.

The lady that drew Mom's blood today recognized her from 20 years ago, when she worked for another doctor. How funny that in spite of my CRS...I remember her as well.

Afterwards, we went to try to find the house of a friend of Mom's. No luck on that front but we did run into a very nice and modern nursing home that we did not know existed.  Across the street from it, we were surprised to see a nursing home that we had not been to in ages.

I was still living in Houston when mother broke her hip and she stayed in this facility to undergo therapy. There is a friend of ours that resides here and whom we had not had the opportunity to visit in a while.

There is no getting around it...no matter how pretty on the outside or inside...nursing homes are HORRIBLE!

Since mother and I still have a cold, I placed a mask on us both before entering the facility. Lord and behold I ran into a girl that was our neighbor when we first moved to Del Rio.  I knew who she was right away.

I asked her if she was La Cuata (the twin) she looked surprised and asked who we were behind the mask. Mom and I removed them and she was able to recognize us. It brought back many nice memories from my youth.  She gave me her phone number and I hope to call her soon and catch up on the all the years since we last saw one another.

I guess that is the beauty and also the pitfall of living in a small town...crappy medical facilities but small enough to run into wonderful long time friends.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Dia de los Muertos - November 2, 2015

It has been three long years since I have had an opportunity to be a part of the Dia de los Muertos celebration and was definitively looking forward to it.

While the ceremonies begin after sundown, volunteers are there early cleaning the graves, decorating, putting offerings in the altars,setting up the tables for the pot luck dinner, etc. etc.

Many locals and people that are in town for the two chili cook-offs come to the event.  Many dress up for it.

Some I recall from past Day of the Dead celebrations.

Others I have never seen before.

I enjoy seeing everyone having a good time.  After all the candles on the graves are lit, the bonfire is ignited.

Ran into Frann at the cemetery or rather she recognized me. Warned her I was ill and did not want to pass it on to her. She stated she did not catch things easily. Frann knows practically all the town and introduced me to a lot of folks.

People of all ages and walks of life attend.

For the first time I stayed to eat the pot luck dinner that the community prepares.  It is a BYOB (bring your own bottle or beer) event :D

Even this little tyke enjoyed it!

Local musicians come and entertain as people sit around the bonfire and take in the celebration. Frann introduced me to Bill Ivy and his wife, he is the unofficial mayor of Terlingua and owner of the Old Ghost town, including the cemetery.

We stayed till the very end and then went to the porch where I got to hear Moe (a local musician) that I first heard on YouTube.

I met a young lady from Houston who had gone online and learned of the festivities. Her little dog and her made the long trip to the desert for the very first time. She too dressed up for the event. No pictures were taken as I left my camera in the car.

I had such a wonderful time.  If you are ever in the area on Nov 2nd you might want to check it out.for yourself.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

One day trip to Terlingua

I pondered all night on Sunday and decided I wanted to go to Terlingua, both to save my prized camping space at the Chili cook-off as well as to attend the Dia de los Muertos 2015 celebration. Unfortunately, I got a late start but made it in time to be part of the Day of the Dead experience.

While I have attended several of them, the people that came with me got bored, tired or wanted to go back to the campground.  It was wonderful to go by myself and to leave when I was good and ready to do so.

I will do a separate post for the Dia de los Muertos...stay tuned.

Remember I was not feeling motivated or excited about going to Terlingua?  Well, that changed as soon as I went over Lake Amistad bridge.  Right then and there I felt this overwhelming sensation...I was no longer in Del Rio!

I had a smile on my face until my face hurt.

The new Border Patrol station in Comstock, Texas was officially inaugurated this past October after almost two years of construction.  The nice young lady officer asked how far I was going. Told her I was headed to Terlingua...I was still smiling like a fool...she told me that a lot of people had been by going out that way and she wished me well.

I was so giddy I had to really watch my speed as I caught myself going close to 90 mph on several occasions.  Last thing I needed was to get a ticket and ruin the great insurance rates I currently pay.

I wll give you an advance...I stayed till the very end and then headed to the porch to listen to some local musicians jam.

I finally arrived at my favorite camping spot a little after midnight.  While my spot was still available, an RV was next to it and that is where my Houston friends were going to camp.  No big deal, they can have my spot as I plan on car camping this year as well.

Only one person was up at one of the adjoing camps. I stayed there for a while until my cough and the smoke got to me and I went to bed.  Unfortunately, I was up by 5:00 a.m. even though I tried to go back to sleep.

As soon as the sun came up, I set up my tarp and secured it with rocks and water jugs.  I left before any of my friends were up.

This was my one day trip to my favorite desert.  Hopefully I can return shortly.

I apologize as I am having difficulty uploading pictures and some of them are out of sequence. :(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Gasoline Prices this trip

Del Rio, Texas

$1.88 at the Del Rio Walmart

Sanderson, Texas

$2.19 at the Stripes in Sanderson

Alpine, Texas

$2.17 at the Stripes in Alpine

Feeling weird

When daylight savings goes into effect I am usually in Terlingua and it is the last day of the cook-off. Not this year as the cook-off takes place on the first full weekend in November and that wont be until this weekend.

I believe this is also the first time in a while that I spend Halloween in Del Rio. It makes no difference, we live too far away and no kids have come trick or treating in decades.

For some reason I am not as giddy as I usually am come cook-off time...have no idea why.  There is no anticipation no excitement...no nothing...hopefully it is only temporary.

Now that I have finally been able to access my blog e-mail account, I came across a bit of sad though anticipated bad news.  Irwin, late Betty's husband passed away.  I knew he would not last long without her. They were such a perfect couple and even at their age, the love and respect they felt for each other was something beautiful to behold. May you rest in peace Irwin next to your beloved Betty. They were an institution at the cook-off and will be dearly missed!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.