Ransomware consequences

Initially got up with the thought of going to go buy me breakfast but by the time I took a shower, got dressed and put on make-up it was lunch time, lol !!!

Was puzzled that the water bill had not been deducted from mother's bank account.  Headed to the Water Billing Department only to find out that they are still struggling with the hack the City of Del Rio suffered in January.  They are only accepting checks and cash payments but since she is enrolled in ACH payments it is taking them longer but they will not be penalizing the customers that use this method.

The City is also having problems issuing birth and death certificates for the same reason.  They do not want to open up current or older files to protect them from the ransomware demanded by the hackers.

The granddaughter of a friend of ours was born at the beginning of the year and she has yet to be issued a birth certificate because apart from the City of Del Rio hacking there has also been a problem with the State of Texas new system for birth and death records.

Why is this a problem? Without a birth certificate, she can not get a passport for her newborn child.  She works at a Maquiladora in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila-Mexico where they offer free childcare for employees.

Gasoline has once again gone up, filled up at Walmart who had the cheapest price in town $2.14 a gallon for unleaded gas.

I got so much accomplished today thanks to my readers and their suggestions.  I am too cheap to buy index cards so I just cut up cereal boxes to the same size and wrote down everything I needed to do or purchase and then another list of the order in which to do them to save on gas and not to have to do return trips.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Insomnia / Breakfast at Stripes / Rush Hour

Went to bed at 4:30 a.m. but was wide awake by 7:15 a.m.  If you can sleep all night or are able to take a nap during the day, count your blessings, you have no idea how lucky you are.

It was a cold morning and I wanted something warm as well as a hot beverage to go with it. Headed to my favorite to go place Stripes, where I ordered two tacos and Chocolate Abuelita (Mexican Chocolate) for a very affordable $3.86.

This afternoon I made another trip to town to run more errands and tick off more things from my To Do List. 

This is the second time that I am trapped during Del Rio rush hour (almost sounds laughable that we have such a thing) and to make things worst the long trains that traverse through our city made everyone head for the overpasses (we only have two).

I felt pretty good that I was able to take the back streets and avoid it all.  Made me wonder why I was in the minority? I guess I really am back to being a Del Rioan!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Streaming services / rising cable costs

Both yesterday and today we have had sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60's.  However, the wind kind of ruined it for me and I took a day off.  Sat down to watch some of the shows I taped on the DVR.

Speaking of DVR...I do not know what is wrong with the remote...have to program shows by going online.  Hope they do not charge me to replace it.

I bundle internet, cable and telephone services to get a better price but I noticed that each month it goes up not by much but it does increase.  What I can not do without is the internet.  These days there are a lot of streaming services to be able to watch my shows online.  Do any of you use these? If you do are you able to watch NBA games?

Have to take care of a lot of things this week that I have been putting off.  Can hardly believe this month is almost over with.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Spurs Corner

What is happening with my Spurs?  We got beat tonight and significantly by the second-worst team in the league.  I had a bad feeling from the start, oh well hopefully we will do better tomorrow?

Weeds / Pollito

It seems all I can do is write about my ever growing weeds rather than tackling them head-on.  I so hate yard work the closest I have come is picking up tree limbs from the heavy winds of late. Where is my tall weathered cowboy who enjoys yard work?

Trees are already blooming but look at the height of the grass

More weeds at the northern part of the property.

If weeds could be pretty, they would look like this...

 
Or these...

Have all these little weed bushes growing all over

Though it is just February and it has been cold this winter, this little tree never lost its foliage.

Neither did the pomegranate trees...

This is looking at the southern part of the property. This is the last part that Pollito cleared.

Speaking of Pollito he saw me outside and he and his little wino helper stopped to chat.  He asked if I was ready to have my grass (weeds) mowed.  I hesitated but then remembered that it took him three to four months to complete a two or three-day job so said Yes.

Paquito

At least I have the hope of him completing the job "sometime" without me having to actually unbox the electric lawn mower I bought two or three years ago.  Wish the cats would earn their keep and help me.

Paquito and Nico

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Recycling Day / Propane Guy

I was under the impression that it was going to be another cold, gray day. As I made my way outside to feed the cats was surprised to see the sun was shining brightly and at least if you stood under it, it actually felt warm.

Took the opportunity to charge the solar lights that I use as night lights inside the house. The weather is going to go downhill for the next two days so decided to go pick up some groceries.  I now shop exclusively at Little HEB or Dollar Tree.  I can not handle the masses at the Big HEB or Walmart.

Took the opportunity to get rid of my aluminum cans and made $7.70.  Then headed to the City of Del Rio Recycling facility and dropped off our plastics, metal cans and paper products. Felt good to keep these items out of the landfill but most importantly out of the house.

Today was trash day, I was taking one last item before the truck arrived when this huge Propane truck stopped in front of the house.  I did not recognize the name so I figured they might be lost and lord and behold it was my former propane guy who all of a sudden quit about two years ago and I could not locate him after that.

Talk about knowing the area...he knows everyone especially where they live.  Told me he was now working for this outfit out of Eagle Pass and was coming into Del Rio twice a week.  He gave me his card and I will be giving him a call as soon as I need some more propane.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Governors Landing - February 2019

Whenever I go to the lake I have to make a stop at my favorite campground Governors Landing.

Rates have increased to $10.00 a night

I was very happy to see so many campers enjoying President's Day weekend.

I only take pictures if there is no one outside as I do not want to infringe on people's privacy.

I go from not wanting a trailer or RV to longing to have one.

This is the picnic part of Governors Landing that is open to the public.

Sadly lake levels are down.

This caught my eye as it is a new business and at first I thought it was covered parking to store your RV.

It turned out that it was an RV campground and was quite full.  I thought it was a very good idea in particular in the heat of West Texas summers.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Back to being a Del Rioan...

When I went to visit Barney on his last visit to Del Rio I was surprised to see how many new businesses have popped up on the way to the lake. I usually only come this way when he or my other friends come to town or when I am headed to Terlingua.

If you are a blog reader you know that I have missed the Chili Cook-off for two years in a row.  I have now gone back to being a Del Rioan...what do you mean by that Belinda?  People that live in  Houston think nothing of driving an hour or more to go to their place of work, visit friends, shopping or going to a Rockets game as most Houstonian's daily commute can be two hours or more.

I live in Southern Val Verde County, the lake and its campgrounds are in the Northwestern part of the county about a 20-minute drive,  In Houston, such a short drive is almost laughable. In Del Rio, it is considered a long drive, I guess that is why I have missed all this new flurry of business activity.

On Highway 90-West where there is a Y on the road, one leads to Sanderson and another to Sonora on Highway 277. There used to be a store and RV campground that closed a couple of years back and at least the RV park is now opened and appears to be at capacity.

Today I enjoyed the ride and took my time. My first stop was Diablo East Marina.

Even saw a Nature Trail that I am sure Barney has explored many times but with the recently elevated temperatures, I would be afraid to do as rattlesnakes are probably sunning themselves.

Steep slope at the start of the trail...

Back in the early days of my trips to the Cook-off when there was no cell phone service or readily available Internet (no Smartphones then) in Terlingua, I was often asked where the dump station for Amistad National Recreation Area was located.

I had to admit that I had no idea. I think I have asked Barney this question several times in the past but with my CRS I always forgot. They have installed new signs so I was finally able to locate it today.

You can fill up with potable water free of charge.

They have a nice fish cleaning station...

It was a beautiful sunny day in the '70s...was glad I took advantage of the weather...as a cold front is due here Tuesday evening.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Record breaking temperatures

Got up early so I could finish my errands before the heat wave hit us. First stop was Tractor & Supply for cat food and unexpectedly found small three gallon buckets that use the same lids as 5-gallon ones so no need to purchase lids.

Headed to the post office only to find it was closed. Wondered why? Since I am not a morning person I had no idea what time it opened,  A lady told me it wasn't 9:30 a.m. yet. Will just have to swing by another day to buy stamps as Monday is a holiday and will be closed.

Stopped at Stripes to buy me some breakfast tacos and this time followed Leilani's advice and put on my sunglasses to disguise the fact that I had no make-up on, even though there was no sun :D

Walked around the property noting where the weeds were more overgrown and picking up twigs and tree branches from the heavy winds we have had.  I know that I do not have enough string to weed eat the yard...well actually I do but I have no idea where it is at.

We set a new record high for today when we hit 93 degrees. Thankfully it should be cooler tomorrow and in the coming days.

Decided to drive back into town and pay Home Depot a visit. I was considering buying a new weedeater but they really do not have any garden tool on special perhaps they will in March?  I suppose I am in a procrastinating mood again?

While there I saw these water storage tanks as well as plastic septic tanks.  Had no idea they were so expensive.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Friends / Decluttering / Landfill

I have heard from three dear friends this past week it is as if they had planned it when in actuality they do not know one another.

I was surprised that two of them are going through the same thing as myself...trying to declutter and downsize. I really need to make headway in my efforts.

The first obstacle I face is the fact that we do not have any donation centers with the exception of a local church.  However, I once caught our mechanic two times removed whose shop was next to their trash bin going dumpster diving.

According to him, they threw out a lot of stuff which he salvaged and then took to his cousin in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila to sell at a garage sale.  I do not actually care if my donations go to a third party but I do have a problem with them ending up at the landfill.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

My new apparel aced the test

It was cold today and once again I forgot something on my list so had to drive back into town.  I wore my new Terlingua jacket and coat, I have to say that I was toasty warm. Therefore, I consider that they aced the apparel test for the Chili Cook-off.

Made a stop at the library where they had a cart full of free books. I found one that interested me until I realized what the heck I was doing...I do not need more books in the house!

Stopped and picked up some dinner plates at Stripes when I noticed that the price for gasoline was now $1.99 per gallon and I had just seen the price at HEB to be $1.85 so drove back to HEB and saved myself .14 cents per gallon.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Dependent on a To Do List

For some reason, I have been waking up very early lately.  Have I mentioned that I am not a morning person?  I even considered driving to Stripes to buy breakfast tacos and hot chocolate...but the thought of having to get dressed and then put on make-up made me change my mind.

These days I need to make a To Do List or I will forget a thing or two. Yesterday I forgot to go by the bank!  So like it or not I had to make another trip to town this afternoon. 

This is the third time I go to Dollar Tree looking for bread but found none.  However, I found so many other items...I saved a ton! 

I was reading a new blog to me "Our Awesome Travels"  https://geosuzie.blogspot.com/2019/02/blue-sunny-skies-still-cool-wind-silly.html
and they blogged about their trip to a local pizzeria called "Silly Al's Pizza".

It has been a while since I had pizza so I headed to Domino's and came home with one. Truth be told it was not that good...too bad Silly Al's Pizza is very far away :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Spurs Corner

What can I say?  You can not win a game if you have so many turnovers. Teams need to be able to win on the road!!!

A visit with Barney

The past two mornings have been foggy and drizzly but at least it has not been cold.  Today was trash day, I have avoided picking up the trash outside of our fence line that worthless people throw out their window but could not put it off any longer.

The weeds and grass have grown a lot since Pollito mowed them. I either have to tackle them myself or hire someone to do them...man I hate yard work!

We have a cold front on the way and I did not want to take a chance on Barney (OFM Adventures) leaving as I missed him by a couple of hours the last time he was in town...but not today!

We had a long and pleasant conversation. Barney is knowledgeable on just about any topic.  If you have never met him I highly recommend you drop by his campground if he is ever near your hometown.


Spurs Corner

With our two best players out of the line-up this evening and having to play the Golden State Warriors, it was no wonder KSAT12 sports anchor pretty much insinuated that everyone go to bed and check the highlights in the morning.

We had a fighting chance when we were only down two points before the half...then they went on a  run and pretty much dashed our hopes.

The second half was AWFUL!!! Maybe KSAT12's advice was not so bad.

New Terlingua coat and jacket - Updated

Had to make a trip to town but as usual got a late start. The parking lot at HEB was pretty near full so I went to little HEB where I was in and out in five minutes.

Last month I spotted the perfect Terlingua coat and jacket but passed on them. When I went back they were gone even considered driving to their store in Eagle Pass, Texas to see if they had them. However, the idea of having to make a two hour round trip made me change my mind.

Today I dropped by the same store and found them and at an even lower price. I quickly placed them in my cart.

Why is it important to have a good Terlingua coat and/or jacket?  The Chili Cook-off is the first weekend of November and while it is warm during the day nights can be quite cool.  There are a lot of night time activities like dances, parades and riding around in golf carts and other open vehicles.

The ideal coat should have a lot of pockets so you do not have to carry a purse. The pockets should be big enough to be able to hold a couple of beers so you do not have to carry a small cooler.  It should also be bigger than you would usually wear so you can wear over a heavy sweater or light jacket underneath.

Most importantly it should not be a coat that you would care if you got it dirty (lots of dirt out there) or if you lost it.  That is why if you find said coat and/or jacket you pay very little for it.  A lot of people buy them at second-hand stores or garage sales. I bought mine new and only paid $5.00 for each.  Now tell me that is not a good price!

My camera bit the dust and I hate taking pictures with a cell phone but if I ever get up to speed with my new camera I will post a picture of them. We have a lot of time until November.

I am not supposed to eat potatoes but who is going to tell my doctor?  I stopped at the bar-b-q place and picked up a loaded baked potato for dinner. Had another feel old moment when I realized that the tall young man who took my order was the owner's son whom I have known since he was a little boy. I need to clarify that I don't actually "know him".  His mother would pick them up from school (he and his sister) and bring them to the restaurant where they would both sit and do their homework.  Had been a while since I had seen them and today I learned he is now 16 years old!

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Super Bowl Sunday or Feel Old Sunday?

I had every intention of watching Super Bowl Sunday or at least the half time show and commercials. Used to be a big fan of the NFL until the owner of the Houston Oilers (Bud Adams) decided to move the team to Tennessee and change the franchise name to the Tennessee Titans.

The half time show has always been a big draw in the past...that is until this year.  I must really be getting old when out of the three acts I have only heard of one and even if my life depended on it could not name a single song by that group.

Decided to watch a movie instead..."Two mules for sister Sara"...believe it or not had never seen it before.  Wow, I had forgotten how handsome Clint Eastwood looked in his heyday as well as Shirley MacClaine.

The movie ended at 8:30 p.m. so got to watch the last part of the 4th quarter of the game. I personally was not rooting for any particular team but was not surprised that the New England Patriots won. Congratulations to them!

Prior to the trophy presentation, they had Joe Namath on...darn, time is not forgiving and I say that for myself as well not just the celebrities.

The Late Show Super Bowl Special with Stephen Colbert featured a performance by James Taylor.  Once again I felt OLD...I guess none of us can escape father time :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

.

How low can flippers go?

Swung by the post office to pick up the mail and was LIVID to see the latest flipper tactic...a picture of my house in Houston in their usual postcard format with a sign saying...Belinda, do you own this property?

How dare they!  If I have not responded to any of them EVER in all these years why don't they just %$#@ off!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!  Sometimes it is new ones but mostly it is the same ones and if that was not enough they also call me at home...again I have never returned a single call and yet they persist.

Seems it was only last week I was complaining about gasoline prices going up and today to my surprise HEB had a price of $1.86 and Walmart $1.87 well under the $1.99 I paid for unleaded gasoline on my last fill-up.

Swung by Walmart to purchase some spirits for the big game but for some reason, beer prices are higher here than at HEB or Stripes. Walmart has more buying power than the other two so why the higher prices? Bought a bottle of wine instead.

Needed to go by the library but ran out of time...perhaps tomorrow?

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


NBA Corner

Had a chance to watch the Houston Rockets vs Denver Nuggets game this evening and it was great! Won't say who I was cheering for or I might get some backlash......jajajajajajajaja :D