Another Power Outage / Face Shields

After the horrible debacle, all Americans got to witness last night that was passed off as the first presidential debate I had a hell of a time going to sleep. Stayed up until around 5:30 a.m. watching cable news until I finally fell asleep.  

After only three hours of sleep, I got up to take care of my morning chores.  I was debating what to eat for breakfast when the lights went out at 9:42 a.m. Great, I thought...it was in the mid-'60s by then...so I do not think many people had their A/C on.

Our power outages are a common occurrence in our area that can last for a couple of minutes, a couple of hours, or even a day. I, therefore, did not want to open the refrigerator to rummage around it. Decided to go outside and use my rain catchment stash to water the trees I have been neglecting.

As I was doing that more of the neighbors were coming out of their homes to tackle their yard and/or to visit among themselves...I choose to stay in my backyard and avoided them. I saw a lot of trucks from the power company drive by and finally, at 11:09 a.m. the lights came back on after being out for 1 hour and 26 minutes.

Later on in the afternoon, I got an e-mail letting me know that the face shields I ordered online were ready to be picked up at Walmart...so off to Walmart I went. I needed to pick up some more salads and after not having any beer around to drown out the sour taste in my mouth after what I had to endure last night I made sure to remedy that.

What was my surprise when I passed by the meat and seafood section to see all those areas draped off and or lined with large tarps. When I asked an employee about it, I was told that their power had gone out for an hour and a half...so I suppose it was a city-wide event?

When I came to the pre-packaged salads aisle it was draped in almost clear plastic. I suppose I could have lifted the plastic and bought some...but I decided it was FATE...I was not meant to eat a salad today :D

The price of gasoline went down four cents.

We had a low of 50 this morning and a high of 89 degrees this afternoon.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Emails / Cool Front

Decided it was a nice day and did not want to ruin it by tuning in to my cable news channels. Therefore, if only for one day I gave myself the day off from the tube.  I keep on putting off going over old e-mails and deleting things that are no longer relevant so took on that chore this afternoon.

Read some recent articles I had set aside for a rainy day regarding decluttering and organization that lead to videos and other links and it was just a vicious circle. I ended up disheartened that my closet, pantry, or refrigerator were never going to look like theirs...😞

We are expecting a cool front that will bring the temperatures down to the '80s sometime tomorrow at least for a few days. Today we had a high of 101 with a heat index of 104 degrees. 

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Blood Pressure meds side effects / Grocery Run / Fill-up

I have been experiencing a lot of pain lately in my kidneys. I did a Google search and just like I thought the "probable" culprits might be Hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg and Amlodipine 5mg. I have high blood pressure and have been taking Losartan 100 mg. for a long time. They had to first add Hydrochlorothiazide and recently Amlodipine to bring my BP readings to more acceptable levels. As much as I dread it, I am going to have to go in person to see the doctor. 

I have been so tired lately both Thursday and Friday night I went to bed early. Last night I sat down to watch an HGTV show before the ten o'clock news and when I woke up it was 1:00 a.m. Went to put on my pajamas and surprisingly went right back to sleep. I was wide awake by 3:20 a.m. but at least I had gotten 6 hours of sleep something that I do not usually get.

Waited for the sun to come up so I could go to the post office, as well as to fill up my car.  It was very cloudy this morning. As I passed HEB I noticed that there were very few cars in the parking lot so decided to make a quick stop.

Bought my usual salads, grape tomatoes, olive oil, nopalitos (cactus), and bananas.  Rick and Kathy of "It's About Time" fame https://ricknkathyrousseau.blogspot.com/2020/09/ourlocation-today-is-at-windsor-ontario.html

mentioned that in their locality the price of soup has doubled from two weeks ago so filled my cart with several as well as other canned goods.

While dairy prices have remained steady bought a carton of 18 eggs versus the 12 egg-carton. I paid a very reasonable $1.59 for them.

As I passed the aisle where flour is found I could not help but think of Penelope when she told me she had scored a 10 lb. bag of flour a couple months ago.  So took these pictures to see how they compare currently price-wise to those in her area.

They still do not have national brand disinfecting wipes but today they had these large containers of them that in my opinion, were overpriced. I still have the ones I bought at Dollar Tree before the shutdown so I'm good.

The last time I was at Little HEB I bought some Viva paper towels. Since this is their larger store they had their bigger sized one, took the opportunity to stock up on them as well. I paid for the 8 = 24 rolls $16.98.

Noticed how high the price for Clorox was...at over $4.00 plus for a gallon container...it would be a budget buster for me. Sorry, the picture is so blurred :-(

Even the cheap and in-house brands were high.  Glad I purchase mine at Dollar Tree.

I wanted to buy my favorite brand of sugar-free ice cream but they only had Banana Split so I passed. 

As I was in line to pay I saw this Día de los Muertos reusable bag but it did not have a price tag and I did not need it either.

Filled-up at their pumps as gasoline prices have been rising.

Today we had a high of 94 with a feel like of 97 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

San Felipe Rotary Park / Tropical Storm Beta / First Day of Fall

I can not believe it is once again Wednesday and half the week has flown by. I was worried about my friends in Houston with all the flooding that took place due to Tropical Storm Beta since many of them live in South Houston. Only one that lives in a high rise condo was not able to go to work because they closed the 610 Loop and parts of I-10 so there was no way she was going to be able to drive to downtown Houston.

I have not wanted to drive into town but needed to go check the P.O. Box so I waited until late in the afternoon to do so.  Being that yesterday was the first day of Fall and that two weeks ago the city parks and San Felipe Creek once again were opened to the public I drove by there to check it out.

This is at San Felipe Rotary Park there were more ducks than usual this afternoon.

The high today was 91 degrees so these young people made good use of the creek and were getting ready to head home.

Saw a lot of people riding bikes and walking with their dogs/and or families.

I will have to come back another day as it was late in the afternoon and I was not able to take good quality pictures.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Insomnia / Rain / Snake

Howdy folks! Here it is 6:30 a.m. and I still can not go to sleep.  It is HELL to suffer from insomnia...if you are lucky enough to be able to go right to slumberland after you hit the sack...you have no idea how lucky you are!

I want to clarify that by the above comment I am NOT soliciting any advice on how to rectify this situation. We are all different and I have suffered from this malady for 30 plus years and NOTHING has worked for me and I have tried EVERYTHING.  As I have mentioned in the last nine years that I have had my Cyber Journal this is only to document things that are important to me and lack of sleep is one of them.

Thursday night we had even more rain and as soon as we had first light on Friday I had to go outside and sweep all the rainwater that ponded...not a fun thing to have to do!

The rains have made all the weeds explode...it is disheartening to see how much work this is going to take. I am having a hard time loading pictures due to the fact Blogger has eliminated the "Legacy Version" and I now have no choice but to use their new format which I do not find to be user friendly.

I have not had a chance after struggling with this blog to go and make a post on Walter's World but I will try to keep up with that as well...just do not know when.

Today (actually it was Saturday but I had not gone to sleep yet) I had another bad experience...a SNAKE!  If you have been reading me for a while or you personally know me...you know how much I DISLIKE them!

I would try to find out what type it was but I am not that brave to confirm it...you can click on the picture to enlarge it if you wish.

Katie's kittens first trapped it but by the time I came out with the camera...Katie decided to battle with the snake. I am not this close, I had to zoom in and crop the picture...and hope that this snake did not harm my little girl :-(

I suppose I am going to have to let the weeds grow as I am in NO mood to run into this wayward snake!

Good night,  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Four teachers test positive / Hula Hoe / Rat Trap

It is hard to find information about what is happening in Del Rio if you only rely on the local newspaper that prior to COVID-19 only published three times a week and now it is down to twice a week. The online edition does not allow you to read more than one article before asking you to pay up.

While El Zócalo ( Cd. Acuña) newspaper prints daily and you can read all their articles for free...there is a price to pay...millions of pop-ups and ads. When you go to their Texas articles that means Eagle Pass and Del Rio. For some reason, they give priority to Eagle Pass, Texas and I have to navigate through a stream of ads to get to the Del Rio section.

That is when an article caught my eye...four teachers in the Eagle Pass Independent School District namely Eagle Pass High School have come down with COVID-19. I certainly do not envy those parents who have to make the difficult decision of whether or not to send their children to school.

We had a high of 91 degrees today but I barely felt it because I stayed in the A/C only going out to feed the cats and hang some laundry. That is until this afternoon that I grabbed my stirrup hoe also known as a hula hoe to remove some weeds by the clothesline. The hula hoe reminded me of Billy Bob...I miss him :-(

Most of my clothes were dry except for the long sleeve sweatshirt that I wore during our cold front so decided to leave it outside since it was only 6:30 p.m.  Bob Woodward was going to be on Anderson Cooper's show this evening at 7:00 p.m. CST so five minutes before I went to retrieve it.

Where are you going with this Belinda?  I am coming to that...an odd thing happened...there was a large rat trap in the area I had cleared near the clothesline that would have been impossible not to have seen before. I should have taken a picture of it, it was a rather new trap but it is rare that I carry my cellphone around with me.

How did it get there? The cats are not going to carry a rat trap in their mouth. There are no dogs here and I doubt someone could have thrown it that far from the street or the neighbors from their back yard. Hmmm...all kinds of bells went off in my head. Just to be on the safe side I pulled out my pea shooter like Penelope likes to call hers...you just do not know what crazies might be lurking around.  So if something happens to me please mention this small detail to the Sheriff's Department.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Rain / More Covid-19 cases / National Grandparents Day

It was a gray and rainy day and it rained non-stop for almost an hour. Once again the backyard was a small lake. The leak in the kitchen is getting worst thank goodness for horse pine pellets they are true lifesavers. There is money in the budget to get it fixed but I do not know anyone I would trust to do it especially not in the middle of a pandemic.

The Zócalo (Ciudad Acuña's newspaper) online edition reported that of the 289 COVID-19 tests performed last week...51 came back positive!  I was also reading where there were massive crowds at the Amistad National Recreational Area during the Labor Day weekend as they once again opened the area up during the weekend. That can only mean more cases in the pipeline 😟

Spent a great part of the afternoon and early evening watching shows I had taped but had not had the opportunity to see. I do not know why I even tape "Going RVing",  I think I have watched every show at least a couple of times...thank goodness I suffer from CRS and can not remember what unit they picked out.

My best friend and her boyfriend have gotten their money's worth with theirs and are considering upgrading to a bigger unit preferably one that they do not have to tow with their truck.

Today was National Grandparents Day and while I am not a grandma...I found an applicable Aunty Acid to commemorate the occasion for those who are.

I am trying out the new Blogger interface where nothing is familiar. The only thing I like is the emojis. 

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Warm temperatures are back / More Rain on the way / Not a fan of the new blogger

The wonderful cool temperatures came to an end today. I never turned off the A/C just had raised the thermostat to 82 degrees and this afternoon when it came on I had no other choice but to once again close the windows.

With all the rain we have had though it was welcomed...has already started sprouting weeds. We are expecting more rain this evening and tomorrow morning. The ground is already saturated. Been tracking tropical storm Sally and it is dumping a lot of rain in Florida and then might head to Louisiana a state already hurting from the hurricane that hit it a couple of weeks ago.

The heavy-duty containers I bought at Home Depot got a different use than I intended. While I cleaned them really good once you placed the top back on, it reverted to smelling to rubber.  I used two of them for my garden tools and cords and left them on the back porch.

The cats decided they made a nice place to take a nap.

They found another use for them as well...water fountain...though they have three bowls full of water in different locations around the yard.

Anyway, to get back to the rubber smell I poured dishwashing detergent on them let them collect rainwater, and then closed the top back up.  Hopefully, that will solve the problem.

Today Gyspy of On The Road Again fame http://gypsy97.blogspot.com/2020/09/new-blogger-layout.html  voiced my concerns about this new blogger format.

It is a real PIA and I feel they made these changes to benefit people who blog from their phones and tablets and not from computers. I am an old dog and I can not be taught new tricks.

We had a low of 72 and a high of 91 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

We set a new record high for this day...

That is right friends, we set a new record high for this day...you will never believe it...we had a high of 65 degrees!!!  No, I am not pulling your leg :D

I do not recall ever while living in Texas to have a cold front hit us so early in the year and especially NOT during the summer. The first cold front always arrives when I am getting ready to go to Terlingua, once I get there or on the way back and that takes place in late October to early November.

We have also had rains that have left the yard a soggy mess...

We have had ponding issues in the backyard and all my rain catchments containers are completely full.

I have been wearing a sweatshirt and a jacket all day. It feels wonderful to be able to turn off the air conditioner and crack open a window.

Hope everyone is doing well in particular those bloggers that live in states that are currently experiencing wildfires.

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Reminders

Strong winds / Light Rain / Mail woes

Thursday afternoon we started having strong winds, thunder, and lightning. I ran outside to make sure there was not anything that might blow. While Katie and her kittens are afraid of me, Paquito and Nico ran towards me and followed me inside. I have heard that animals know when some bad weather or a meteorological event is going to occur.

The wind was whirling and I could see the dirt flying by then I heard a thump but thought nothing of it.  It was followed by a nice three-minute shower. Remembered I had washed two tank tops that I did not have time to bring inside and which would have to be re-washed. When I opened the kitchen door the temperature had gone down and it was actually pleasant outside. I did not have to chase the cats out...they went out on their own.

It did not take long to figure out what the thumping noise was...

Nico decided he liked it better now that it had fallen and proceeded to claim it as his.

As you can tell it did not even look like it had rained. Though later on that evening the thunder began again and we got some more showers.  Per KSAT-12 in San Antonio, we received .35 of an inch of liquid gold.

If you look closely the southern tip of Val Verde County where we live is in extreme drought.

I had called the doctor's office because I had not received their bill and was told they sent it out two weeks ago. Why do I continue to have problems with my mail?  They mailed me another so I decided to go check the P.O. Box this morning.

I have been craving ice cream and had run out of serranos so made a quick stop at Little HEB.  Ended up buying 16 items versus the 2 I had in mind.  Doesn't it always happen that way?

At least two of those items did not cost me a dime thanks to HEB's but one/get one free.  Got a free Herdez Guacamole Salsa and A Hill Country Fare (their brand) 15 oz. can of chili. Even with only 16 items, I ended up spending $33.60.

Penelope, I did not find the green chili enchilada sauce.  This store is small I will look for it when I go to the main one.

Today's Aunty Acid resonates with me as I always b*tch about having to eat salads, it made me laugh :D

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

The Cassinelli Gin House

The Cassinelli Gin House is located in the corner of Pecan and Academy Street. When I was young this house was unoccupied and in bad shape. Located in historic South Del Rio it is one block from San Felipe Creek and Del Rio Rotary Park that was not in existence when I was growing up.

I have been wanting to feature it on the blog for a long time but it is difficult to find a parking space and a little dangerous if you try to walk to the corner to photograph the Texas marker.

I was not living here when it was remodeled and housed an insurance company.  I remember going in once and dropping off my parent's check payment but as hard as I try I do not recall what it looked like inside.

The current owners have done a formidable job keeping up with the grounds and seem to be avid Volkswagon fans as they have several in their property. They own a VW Westfalia Camper Van in pristine condition that looks like someone is living out of. It even had its second-floor camper out unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of it.  It has a Kennedy/Johnson campaign sticker.  I have featured that van on a prior post when it was parked at HEB a couple of years ago.

Drove down the street to Del Rio Rotary Park and took a picture of its vast backyard and though you can not see it from the lens of my cheap phone it has a vegetable garden, a chicken coop and though I can not be sure I believe a compost pile that is not visible from this picture.

The ducks sure seemed to be enjoying themselves now that the park is closed and they do not have to compete with the locals to swim in its cool waters on this hot day.

A little sad to see the park closed but we know it is for the well being of our citizenry. These pictures were taken on Monday, August 31st.

This morning it was very cloudy and I was hopeful that we might be the beneficiary of another 3-minute shower but it was not to be. The sun came out around 2:00 p.m. and the heat once again took over.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day