Catching up with friends

I finally had a chance to catch up with my friends this weekend.  It had been a while since I had spoken to some of them and it was great to hear their take on what is going on in our nation as well as in my former home town...Houston, Texas.

They each have their own take and as expected are doing their stay-at-home sheltering differently.  Some like me are only going out to buy groceries or run only important errands while others are brave enough to go eat at restaurants or shopping to help the local economy.

I do wish they would send me some of their rain as it has been bone dry here though we must have had a little precipitation as my rain catchment barrels had about two inches of liquid gold...so you know it did not rain much.

The Saharan dust finally showed up on Saturday and Sunday giving me an excuse not to wash clothes as I use a clothesline to dry them.

Not much else going on as I took a break from yard work, the Internet, and cable news.

Today we had a low of 79 a high of 98 and a heat index of 102 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

More Covid-19 cases / San Felipe Creek Closed / Darn Pissy Ants

If you have been following the news you know that Texas is among one of many other states who have been setting daily records of new Covid-19 cases. Even our Ruby Red Texas governor has said "If you do not have to go out...stay home!" and is now allowing local governments to issue face mask mandates although without fines or penalties they are useless.

Nelson Wolff (Bexar County Judge) was smacked on his hand as well as verbally abused at a San Antonio Lowe's for coming to the aid of an employee who was letting a customer know he needed to have a mask on.

All these Coronavirus cases are becoming worrisome to me. I so wanted to treat myself to breakfast today after doing some early morning yard work but decided otherwise. It appears the only store in Texas that is transparent about virus infections is HEB...neither Walmart, Target, or others for that matter release that data.

San Felipe Creek has once again been closed by a mandate from the City Council until cases go down. With the 4th of July just down the road, I think this is a good move.

The pissy ants are driving me crazy. With my CRS...I completely forgot to look for ant traps and borax last time I went to HEB. I have vacuumed, mopped with both Clorox and then tried a vinegar solution to no avail :-(

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Car Wash / Post Office / San Felipe Lions Park / Little HEB

We have been experiencing strong wind gusts and the car has been caked with dirt for a while. Therefore my first stop was at the car wash. I then headed to the post office to pick up our mail.

Here I scold my uncle daily when he calls because he can't or won't stay home but on the flip side he always encourages me to LEAVE my house...hmmm, note to self...take him out of my will!

I had heard that Del Rio had once again opened up their parks but not the access to San Felipe Creek. I wish I could tell you the reason why but our local newspaper will only allow me to read the first couple of sentences without having to pay to read the entire article.

Glad to report that the locals were heeding the restrictions.

There was not a single person swimming in San Felipe Creek.

I was going to head home but since Little HEB is not too far away and we had already finished the ice cream I bought at Walmart last week...decided to go purchase another one...though Little HEB does not carry my favorite brand.

I needed some more pre-packaged salads but this store only carries the small ones which I had to settle for as I had NO plans to go to the main HEB much less to Walmart which is way in the north part of town.

Picked up some freshly-cut fruits as well.

I do not think I have to mention the other item I came in for as the selection on my last trip to Walmart was very disappointing.

There were plenty of dairy products and once again the price of eggs had gone down and were well stocked.

The bargain of the day was Hill Country Fare's Chunky Savory Beef Pot Roast for $1.18 a can.

They had good prices on store-brand cereals.

Plenty of toilet paper to choose from...

We had a low of 73 and a high of 99 degrees today.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Different take on an alarm clock / Yard Work

Last night I fell asleep before midnight...that just does not happen very often! Sometime around 4:00 a.m. the guard dog in the corner lot started barking his head off and was soon joined by all the other dogs on the street.  Ordinarily, I would get up and yell at him and the others to SHUT UP...I was like in a trance or heavily sedated...and NO...I had not been drinking.

This went on until about 6:00 a.m. and as usual, the barking did not bother any of the owners...sadly it never seems to. The good thing is that for once it did not bother ME.

I have a friend whose grown children were urging her to adopt a pet to keep her company during the stay-at-home mandate.  She flat told them NO...she did not mind babysitting theirs...she calls them her "grand dogs" which I think is hilarious!

You might be asking yourself where am I going with this?  She said something very pointed to them which rang a bell with me.  She told them she did not need "an alarm clock".  If you are a pet owner it might resonate with you as well.  If I do not feed Paquito at his appointed hour...he starts crying by my bedroom window and does not stop until I go feed him. This morning I was two hours late and I didn't care!

After my morning chores, I decided I better fill up another 55 lb trash bag of leaves and weeds rather than waiting until the last minute on trash day. 

That is exactly what I did and now I don't think I am going to have room for the actual trash :D

We had a low of 69 a high of 99 with a heat index of 102 degrees.

Good night,  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Library / Doctor's Office / Jerk / Walmart

With the high temperatures, we have been experiencing I had not had a chance to pick up trash along the outer fence line or tree limbs after the wind gusts the "cold front" brought yesterday. Today was trash day so I did not want to put it off much longer since the only good thing the cold front brought or rather took away was the humidity.

I decided to change doctors this year and while I like him his staff is so incompetent. I made copies of everything important and took them to my first doctor's visit. They somehow lost one of them...his nurse claims even the hospital does not have a copy of it (they are now affiliated with the only hospital we have in town).

I had to dig through my multiple boxes and go make copies at the County Library.  I have not been here since they closed during the pandemic so I did not know what to expect.  I called ahead and they told me the only requirement they had was that a face mask be worn at all times.

You can no longer make your own copies. You have to ask one of their employees to assist you...then get on another line to pay for said copies. Not a problem as there were very few people today.

I then went and sat down so I could organize my copies.  I took my own disinfectant wipes but was glad to see that as soon as a person got up from a desk or a computer they had someone wiping down the desk, chair, and computer keyboard. BTW while most stores are out of wipes Dollar Tree has plenty in stock.

Headed to the Clinic only to find a full parking lot and a line to get in. They had a nurse in full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) taking your temperature and asking questions before they allowed you to enter the building.

One man in line asked the nurse how long they had been doing this...she replied that they just started today because there were six new COVID-19 cases at the hospital...that perked up my ears!

Then, of course, there had to be a JERK who was getting irritated with the nurse and I was glad she stood up to him and said: "the questions I am asking you, I am asking everyone for your safety as well as the safety of everyone here and I would appreciate it if you were more respectful!"...good for her I almost wanted to clap!!!

Turns out this jerk had all the symptoms of Coronavirus and here I was in line with him. She did not let him in the building and asked him to take a seat (they have always had benches outside) to wait for a doctor to come outside.

When it came to my turn I told her I just wanted to drop off an envelope for my doctor's nurse, she took it from me and said she would deliver it to him.  I added, "please do not lose it, it is very important".  She replied, "I won't, I will take it right now...just then the man in line in back of me stopped her to ask a question."  I got home too late to call the Clinic to verify he indeed received it. That poor nurse needed another person to help her out.

As I headed back to my car the jerk was headed back to his...so he did not wait for the doctor to come outside to evaluate him...I did not know I could walk so fast!

The clinic is closer to Walmart than it is to HEB.  Walmart used to be the only place I could buy Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom ice cream you can now purchase it at HEB but Walmart has a larger flavor selection so headed their way.

I have not been here in a long time. Surprisingly they do not have a Pharmacy drive-thru window so they have improvised.

After the ice cream, you know what item I headed for next...though they were not exactly "fresh" but what the heck.

Then I saw a Manager's Special that made it worth my trip. I ended up buying eight avocados to go with my salads.

I was surprised there were still low on stock of the usual popular items.

They did have plenty of their store brand (Great Value) toilet paper...

Gasoline prices are on the rise...

Today we had a low of 70 and a high of 98 degrees but with little humidity.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

It is HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

It has been so hot all this weekend...I have been cowardly hiding out in my little bunker this past couple of days...but today was outright HOT!

My $5.00 Flex tub I bought at Dollar Tree a couple of days ago has been working well and I have managed to hand wash many of my winter items.

We had a low of 77 and a high of 107 degrees breaking a record by 3 degrees today of a prior high of 104 degrees.  

Every time I went to go hang something on the clothesline I could feel the heat blaring down on my back. This evening I had the marks of a deep tan even though each time I went out I rarely stayed out more than a minute...tomorrow we are expecting more of the same :-(

This evening on the Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC they had a clip of Alpine, Texas that showed so many people peacefully marching down its main street in a segment where they showed even small towns joining the Black Lives Matters Movement.  Even Del Rio had a peaceful protest last week!

I wish I was younger and not so prone to dying from the Coronavirus as the younger protestors...so I am proud that these young individuals have taken upon themselves to take the reigns in this long-needed movement.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Unsolicited buyer / Prescriptions / Lunch Plates and more beer

It was going to be a warm day so I was outside watering the trees by 7:30 a.m.  At this hour it was still pleasant when a car came to a stop by the fence and a man got out without a face mask on...I did not have one on either as I was in my home with two locks on the main gate and not expecting company.

I did not walk to the fence I just asked him what he needed and he yells that he wanted to know if my van was for sale (Terlita my camping van) and I told him it was NOT.  He does not go away asks me if it runs...what difference does it make?  It is not for sale...grrrrrrrrrr!!!  I was polite and told him it did not. He then asks me what is wrong with it, I reply the transmission went out on it. Then he asks what kind of motor it has.  I was losing my cool...told him I had NO idea.  He asks again if I was sure I did not want to sell it...my polite reply was...No, Sir... as I moved on to a tree further from the fence.

This man wants to buy Terlita, Pollito wants to buy Mom's mini-van and a creepy man wants to purchase dad's old car.  Excuse me but I do not have a For Sale Sign on any of our cars. Ok...end of rant!

I called it a morning and went inside to take a shower to cool off and calm down.  I usually do not go online until the evening but I was waiting for an e-mail from my new health care professional but his staff is so incompetent I am having second thoughts even though I like him.

That is when I got an e-mail from HEB notifying me my prescriptions were ready to be picked up...darn has a month already gone by? With or without a pandemic time sure flies by in my little world. Our temperatures are in the high 90's and starting next week we will be in the triple digits.

After some consideration decided to go pick them up today using their drive-thru. I apologize for the poor quality as my windshield was dirty...I need to stop off at the carwash soon!

It was past noon and I was hungry so I decided to go back to the same Stripes as yesterday to purchase some lunch plates. Today I did not crop the pictures so you could see the plexiglass that protects the food from people sneezing on it.

In this picture, you can see the plexiglass goes almost all the way down leaving about an inch clearance towards the bottom.  You might have to enlarge it by clicking on it as I have a cheap cellphone that takes terrible pictures.

Here are the Salsa and Fruit Bars that have been closed since the pandemic began.

My lunch plate consisted of a Chile Relleno, with rice and beans with a flour tortilla that I had to give to the cats :-(

The other lunch plate was half a chicken with rice and green beans.

Yesterday when I came to purchase my breakfast tacos it was early in the morning. Today it was past noon so they had even more beer for sale for our Mexican neighbors though actually since the border is officially closed only American citizens or legal residents can cross it into Mexico.

Today we had a low of 76 a high of 99 with a heat index of 104 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Stripes on Spur 239 / Breakfast Tacos / Long food lines

Tuesday after I left Dollar Tree I wanted to buy something to eat so I would not have to make something at home as I am sick of sandwiches, salads, and canned soups but being late in the afternoon the lines at fast-food joints were long.

Regular Unleaded was selling for $1.739

This morning I woke up way too early and decided to drive to the Stripes closer to the house to pick-up some breakfast tacos. This is the Stripes on Spur 239 going to Mexico and the only truck stop we have in town.

Though you can not see it because I cropped the
picture there is a plexiglass shield between the customer
and the employee who takes your order.

The same applies to this picture there is a plexiglass
shield that has always been there even pre-COVID

I almost died laughing because where there used to be tables (they have a dine-in area) that I am sure were removed for social distancing there were large quantities of beer for the "beer smugglers" to take back to Mexico. Noticed that the prices were very much in line with what they sell for at HEB.

When I was heading back home I noticed that the lines to get into the Val Verde County Community Center had grown longer that is when I realized that this must have been a free food drive for this Precinct.

Lots of people hurting without jobs and families to feed.

Today the big school bus did not come to deliver breakfast to school-age children instead it was a smaller bus.

All morning we had gray skies it was not until the afternoon that the sun came out.  We had a low of 75 a high of 96 with a heat index of 99 degrees.  This evening we had a beautiful almost full moon.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Cyber Journal Note

Rowdy/drunk neighbor came back home to momma yesterday afternoon...oh joy!