Good riddance Harvey!

It has been a very trying week for the residents of the State of Texas.  I am so glad Harvey has finally left the Lone Star State, I sincerely hope they retire that hurricane name.

My nerves have been on edge and with my CRS, I misplaced my cell phone charger.  While I can look up the telephone numbers of my friends that still have a landline phone, that is not the case for those that have cell phones. If my friends are reading this please do not call or text my cell phone as I will never be able to get your messages. Call me at my mother's house or e-mail me.

Spoke to the only two neighbors I trust and was relieved to find out that my house did not flood. While that is good news for me, it makes me sad for all those that were not as fortunate and whose lives changed overnight.

The only friend from the City of South Houston that I have heard back from, actually I heard about it from a mutual acquaintance is that her home flooded once again. She recently lost her husband and now she has lost her home and vehicle and is understandably devastated.

Gasoline prices have skyrocketed, I drove into town yesterday and gasoline prices ranged from between $2.19 to $2.25, I am sure they are much higher today. Saw where people were panic buying all over the state and there were long lines at the gasoline stations.

Finally dropped off the DISH equipment at the UPS store.  They sent me two nasty emails last week saying if I did not return their equipment I would be charged X number of dollars. I was furious! Called them and told them I had yet to receive the boxes they were supposed to send me.  He looked it up and sure enough, they were still in transit.

In the instructions on what equipment to return, they actually wanted me to retrieve two things that I would have had to climb on the roof for. On a YouTube video read a comment from a gentleman who told them he was handicap and could not climb on the roof...after checking with their supervisor, he was informed he did not have to return it.  I do not believe in lying so I told the guy the truth...I have a fear of heights and suffer from vertigo, so he told me the same thing.

In the same instructions, it said that if I needed tape to seal the box this would be provided free of charge at UPS. Needless to say, I was pissed when I found this was not the case.  I had just taken mother to the doctor and I was not about to go shopping for packing tape in 95-degree weather. Those UPS price gougers charged me $7.95 plus tax for the same tape I could have bought for a dollar at Dollar Tree. I am so glad I dropped that worthless DISH!!!!  OK...end of rant!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

The worst of Mother Nature...the best of Human Nature!

For those new to my blog, let me give you a little background on myself. I moved to Houston as a young adult in the late 70's after graduating from college.  I loved this town, it had everything I ever wanted and did not have in Del Rio.  No matter the day of the week there was always something to do, an event, a get-together, a party or a concert to attend...Yes, even on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.

One of the downsides to living on the coast is the threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding and tornadoes. After 30 years of living here, I have been through many of them.  I am an only child, my father passed away many years ago and mother has always had health issues. That was the main reason we reluctantly moved from Austin, Texas to Del Rio in order to be close to affordable medical care... by that I mean close to Mexico.

Things changed back in 2013 when she had two back surgeries and could no longer live by herself. She refused to move to Houston so I moved back home to Del Rio though I still would go to Houston regularly to mow the lawn and make sure my house was ok. It was a no brainer, my mother took precedence over a house. That is why I currently live in Del Rio though my home is in Houston.

With that said, now you may understand why I have been following Harvey so closely.  Though I have to be discreet and keep my feelings to myself as I do not want my mother to feel guilty that I am here with her but worried about what is going on in Houston. By that, I don't just mean my house but I am also worried about my friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

I have been watching the Weather Channel and CNN non-stop as sleeping does not come easily to me (I suffer from insomnia).  It is here that I have seen the worst of Mother Nature and the best of Human Nature. I am so proud of all the good Samaritans who decided to go out in the storm in their own boats and rescue people they did not even know. People carrying the elderly, the wheelchair bound, the most vulnerable of people.

I heard so many stories of people helping friends, neighbors and total strangers.  Just saw a young man about 15 or 16 years old taking water to people who had been dropped off at a staging area under the bridge at I-45 and Tidwell just because he thought they might need some water. It is so heartwarming to see such acts of kindness. These wonderful stories were repeated area wise and bear mentioning. It makes me so proud to be a Houstonian!

The worst if not over, we have received in three days the equivalent of a year's worth of rain and more rain is in the forecast. If you are so inclined, please pray for Houston...we really need it.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Catastrophic flooding in the Greater Houston area

I am kind of numb from seeing all the flooding and evacuations taking place in the Greater Houston area. I have lived through a lot of storms the first one being tropical storm Claudette in 1979 that dumped 42 inches in one day in the city of Alvin, Texas.

Lived through tropical storm Allison in 2001 which I thought would be the worst flooding I would ever see.  Water came mid way up to my driveway.  I never in my wildest dreams thought it could get any worst but tropical storm Harvey has proven me wrong.

I was finally able to talk to two of my neighbors and both say that so far the water has not come into the houses. This could change as the area where my house is located is expected to receive another 12 inches this evening.

Was able to text two of my closest friends and they and their families are doing well. Can not reach my friend who lives in the City of South Houston, that city floods very easily.

Leilani, if you can read this I hope you and yours are safe and dry.  I sincerely hope all the people in the path of these catastrophic rain storms fair well.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Hurricane Harvey

I stayed up watching the Weather Channel, so when the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. I turned it off and went back to sleep.  By 8:00 a.m. I was back monitoring said channel and saw that power outages were possible for our area. Knowing that we lose power at the drop of a hat decided to go purchase some additional canned goods, batteries, and water.

HEB was not packed like I expected and there was plenty of water available. Refilled mother's medication just to be on the safe side.  Later in the afternoon went to Walmart and purchased an additional trash can in case I needed it (to bail water). By this time their water supplies were running low. Saw a lot of people that were obviously fleeing the storm, many vehicles jammed packed with household belonging. It made me feel thankful that my family and I did not have to evacuate.

This hurricane came in as a Category 4 storm and it is going to be catastrophic. San Antonio, Austin, and Houston will be hard hit. The only major city in Texas that will not be affected is the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

I am glad Barney of OFM fame is not in Rockport at this time and that Billy Bob is no longer in Sinton, Texas.  I sincerely hope their family and friends are safe as the reports out of Port Aransas and Rockport are not good.  A senior center and a high school are reported to have collapsed with people in them in Rockport. News reports are constantly coming in with grim news.

Circumstances were so dire, Rockport mayor who issued a mandatory evacuation, told citizens who chose to stay, to write their name and social security number on their arm so they could be identified.

I have not had a chance to contact my Houston friends and neighbors but to those that read my blog and have not evacuated, please leave and come to Del Rio. We do not expect heavy rains or winds. Harvey's effects are expected to be minimal here. Everyone, please stay safe!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Cone of uncertainty

What a difference a day makes, yesterday I was streaming my favorite Houston news channel and seeing how people were preparing for tropical storm Harvey.  Was a little worried that my particular part of town was forecasted to receive 10 to 12 inches of rain.

This morning the cone of uncertainty has changed and San Antonio and surrounding area look like a more likely target for Harvey.  This is going to be a very rainy event and heavy flooding is likely.  I bought an additional 32-gallon trash can but I think I should have bought two for my primitive rain catchment system.

Gasoline prices have gone down, took the opportunity to fill the tank at $2.02 per gallon for regular unleaded.  While at Stripes I remembered that the Powerball lottery was around $700 million so for the first time in my life bought one. The clerk threw me for a loop when she asked if I wanted the $2 or the $3 ticket...perhaps I should have Googled it?

I used to buy the Texas lottery and it is in my budget but I seldom if ever purchase one. That one costs $1.00 or at least it used to. This morning I read that some lucky person or persons in Massachusetts held the winning ticket.

For three days in a row, we have been lucky enough not to have gone over the 100-degree mark. We had rain showers yesterday bringing the temperatures down to the eighties, a welcome reprieve.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Jessy Serrata, "Mr. Iron Throat"

I have been a little bummed since I learned last night that one of my favorite Tejano singers died. Tejano Legend Jessy Serrata, also known as "Mr. Iron Throat" passed away on August 4, 2017, he was 63 years old and succumbed to Stage 3 Kidney cancer. He played with several bands throughout his career. I met him when he played with Bobby Naranjo and Dirección.

I once mentioned a very popular Tejano nightclub in Houston that did not advertise and one only knew of its existence by word of mouth. That is where I was fortunate enough to meet him and be able to see his metamorphosis into the legend he was destined to become. RIP Jessy.

If you would like to a listen to sample of this musical genius, here is a sampling...https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ObZysMAkvb4

Would have loved to have been able to drive to a location where I could have experienced the solar eclipse in its totality...if I am alive in seven years...I hope to be able to see it from Del Rio, Kerrville or wherever I may be at that time.

I am still having problems with Windows 10 after yesterday's update and now I am wondering if it is not on purpose.  For some reason, it keeps on wanting me to use Microsoft Edge as my browser. Where is my tall weathered cowboy who is computer savvy?

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Early start to my day

Got an early start to my day as we are pretty much out of everything since I have not been able to make a grocery run to Ciudad Acuña.  To wake up I stopped and bought me some coffee, it was not the wisest thing to do as coffee affects me differently than it does most people.  I have had a headache all day and even at this late hour, I am very jittery.

This evening Windows 10 did an update and the darn computer froze on me, I could not even get the keyboard to work. It is still not working properly and all kinds of windows are popping up...darn, when it is not one thing, it is another!

One thing for sure is that I will never upgrade my Windows 7 laptop to Windows 10 no matter how many times it suggests I do so.  That was the computer I used to go online earlier.  I must say that it was a real treat being able to click on a video on one of the many blogs I follow and be able to watch it without all the buffering.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Heat / Eclipse Sunglasses

We have been experiencing three digits temperatures for a while. It makes me lethargic and takes away any kind of motivation to tackle the weeds and vegetation due to the heavy rains we have received. I am now having to deal with the mosquitoes generated by said rains. Though on the positive side it has made the purple sage bloom like crazy all over town.

I contemplated driving to the lake to take pictures as I am sure the purple sage blooms are hardier there because the northern part of Val Verde County has received considerably more rain than the City of Del Rio or for that matter the Southern part of the county where we live. But like I previously mentioned, the heat even in an air-conditioned vehicle makes me sluggish.

I  have to admit that after nine years of living in Del Rio, I have finally fallen victim to the small town mentality that thinks that driving the ten or so miles to the lake...is too far...imagine that!  I am sure my Houston friends will die laughing when they read this as I thought nothing of driving from Northwest Houston to Pasadena, Channelview, Deer Park or the City of South of Houston on a whim.

The last time I was at the library they were giving away special eyeglasses to view the upcoming eclipse. Took them up on it before they run out like they have in San Antonio at the events where a local television station (KSAT12) has held such give aways.

I can not believe that now that I actually have a fast internet connection, this is only the second time I go online since I got it.  I do not know if to blame my Fibromyositis, my laziness or the hellish temperatures for my lack of energy.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Good-bye, good riddance!

I should have done this a long time ago but I finally gave DISH the boot!  I hope to never have to decry my new Internet Service Provider, only time will tell.

I hope to soon be able to catch up with the blogs I follow now that I have no more data caps.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Heavy downpours / No Electricity

The skies got dark and thunder and lightning made themselves present around 6:30 p.m.  My mother only has one show she watches and that is the Lawrence Welk Show on PBS. Informed her that with our worthless Dish satellite that goes out at the slightest hint of rain or wind, she would probably miss it.

True to form we lost the signal and soon after the electricity went out at approximately 6:50 p.m. We were hammered by strong winds and heavy downpours. Once again we got so much water in such a short period that had it not been for the fact that I used mulch bags to dam up the windows where the water got in the other time it would have been a repeat performance.

Unactivated horse pine pellets

This time I could not go outside to bail water as there was lighting involved. The house got hot fast and it brought back memories of the two weeks where we suffered without air conditioning. After the storms passed, the neighbors began to congregate outside in their effort to keep cool. With the storms gone, I had to go bail water once more.

I only had half a sack of horse pine pellets but they certainly came in handy.  If you are not familiar with them, they are used to facilitate the clean up of horse stalls and soak up horse urine. In my case, they soaked up backed up water,

Once wet the horse pine pellets look like vomit

By 9:00 p.m. the neighbors across the street had their electric service restored. Our side of the street and the neighbors in back of us stayed without electricity.  To make matters worst, since I seldom use my cell phone it had not been charged in days and the battery was down to 20 percent.

In an effort to contain our mail clutter, I signed up mother for e-bills on most of her utilities. Thankfully, I remembered that I still had the bills I had to present at the Department of Public Safety so Mom could get a Texas ID card and was able to report the outage. The service tech said it would not be until midnight, so we went to bed early.  At 3:55 a.m. I felt the cold breeze of the A/C hitting me in the face. We were without power for nine hours and I still do not know why. With no more internet data available and speeds worst than dial-up will have to wait until someone fills me in.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

The return of Mata Gatos

For those new to my blog or to my readers that have been with me for a while but had not heard me mention Mata Gatos (Spanish for Cat Killer) in a while...he used to be mother's handyman, a sort of jack of all trades and master of none.

His regular job is being a school bus driver but during the summer and Christmas vacations, he would come to mother's to try to do side jobs. That would not be bad if he was at least average at fixing things but that has never been the case.

Even mowing the lawn proved difficult for this man.  He would do the front yard leave and not come back for weeks to do the back yard. I finally got so sick and tired of him, I decided to keep up with the yard myself. The last time I saw him he showed up wanting to mow the yard but thankfully I had Walter and Dulcinea (the neighbors horses) grazing and Pedrito (my little stray) barking at him, so I sent him on his merry way. The header picture for my other blog, Walter's World was taken the last time he came.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon when I heard a lot of racket coming from the front yard.  I looked out the window and he was cutting the front yard using his weedeater.  I only go into town once or twice a week so to deter salespeople I use a heavy chain and lock on the main gate.  Would you believe he brought a ladder to climb into the property...he has some gall!

This man did not call to tell us he was coming, he just showed up unannounced to mow a weed infested yard that no one hired him to do. I was livid, even my calm, cool, and collect mother was visibly upset.  I needed to go into town to run an errand but I was so upset and afraid of the demons that would be coming out of my mouth if I had a conversation with him that I decided to pretend that we were not home.

Funny that he would show up at the beginning of the month when he knows my mother receives her Social Security check. He even brought his wife along to help him as his kids like many Del Rioans, myself included, got the heck out of Dodge as soon as they graduated from High School.

He has yet to call to inform mother how much she owes him for a job she did not request. We will eventually pay him but he is going to have to wait because I seriously doubt this was Pro Bono.

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Out of data...again!

Hi Belinda As a courtesy, we wanted to notify you that you have used a significant portion of your Monthly Anytime Data Allowance for the last few service periods.

Currently, if you exceed your 5GB Monthly Anytime Data Allowance, your download speeds will be reduced for the remainder of the current service period. To view your usage, please visit mydish.com/mybroadband. Tired of speeds slowing down? Your dishNET account qualifies for an upgrade to the latest generation of satellite internet, with faster speeds, more data, and no hard data caps. Call 1-888-210-6481 today for more information on your special 2-year offers.

Thank you for being a valued dishNET customer. I am so sick and tired of running out of data even after the nice Dish guy gave me an additional 5 GB's after I blew by my monthly allotment in 3 days.  I hope to soon be able to ditch them and hopefully, you will never have to hear me moan and groan about this issue again....yeah!