Terlingua Dreams

Terlingua Dreams
Governors Landing Campground - Lake Amistad - Del Rio, Texas

Thursday, April 8, 2021

A Very Productive Day - Updated

I decided to get my labs done today and get that out of the way. While I really like my new doctor I am not impressed by his staff...the first being his male nurse who told me that I just needed to come fasting as he had already sent the labs my paperwork (this was Monday). I show up today and he never sent them anything. I had to wait an additional 20 minutes because my doctor was with a patient and could not sign the order.

I was inputting my appointments to my medical calendar when I noticed that my follow-up was set up for 3 months and not the 4 months the doctor had written on his order. I got that taken care of over the phone Tuesday. The clinic is now part of Val Verde Regional Medical Center (the only hospital within 60 miles) they now have a full-time employee at this clinic whose sole job is to schedule appointments for the patients at the hospital. She set up an appointment for me for next week when it needed to be in May.

From there I went to the northside post office and then headed to the bank to deposit my stimulus check. The teller told me something odd...she said a lot of her customers had complained that they were sent checks instead of direct deposits to their bank account on this last stimulus payment. I bet the former administration had something to do with screwing that up for future stimulus payments after having lost the election fair and square.

I failed to mention that since I left the house the dashboard was lit. Now that I had the three most important things out of the way I decided to go for a drive to Comstock, Texas a small town 30 miles west of Del Rio. The only time I come by here is when I am on my way to Terlingua.


There were doing road work in Comstock so I kept on going since the speed limit is 75 mph and I wanted to exorcise the demons out of Midnight at times reaching 80 mph. Due to my CRS, I had forgotten how close the Pecos River bridge was so I headed there. 


Much like Lake Amistad, it is sad to see how low the water level has fallen.



The Pecos River in Literature and Folklore marker...



The Medal of Honor Fight 1875...



The Pecos River High Bridge marker...



This is a popular rest area but has no restrooms. Just for your information, there are no public restrooms between Del Rio and Terlingua, Texas...so you will have to visit a Stripes or similar store.



Dash lights were still on as I drove back to Del Rio.


It was a nice drive back.



For some reason, there was a lot of litter between Comstock and Del Rio.


I made several stops on the way the last being at the south side post office when the lights finally turned off...at least for now...


It was a very hot day we reached a high of 102 degrees making Del Rio the hotspot for the area covered by KSAT-12.



Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Aunty Acid Saying of the Day




12 comments:

  1. Kathy had tests this morning and they couldn't find her forms either. After I recalled the Doctor's Office only to leave Voice Mail they suddenly found them.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. I have a very low tolerance level for incompetence of any sort but it is especially shameful when this happens at a doctor's office.

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  2. I think Franklin hit the nail on the head. But my check did go to direct deposit.

    You took a nice ride for yourself, good to do that sometimes. Maybe that's what the car needed to.

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    1. While the ride was strictly to get the lights to go off it turned out that my nerves and stress levels also benefited.

      Just parking at the rest area as I looked down towards the river and read the historical markers made me think of how many native Americans must have lived nearby and the cowboys and cavalry who would later invade their lands and drive them away.

      While my thoughts were sad it made me realize that by comparison, my problems were minuscule.

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  3. I do recall that Mr. Souze and because of it many individuals that did not have bank accounts or direct deposit instructions with the IRS had to wait longer while the checks with his big old signature were printed.

    Fortunately for me, I did not have to wait as mine went via direct deposit to my bank account.

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  4. Good you got out of town....and that you never felt like you were going into a stall. Vehicles are such a mixed bag these days. They are usually highly reliable (compared to 60 years ago, ha) but also not many people can really work on them as they come with high tech problems. $200 for a tire sensor. Yikes. Yes, I'd just eyeball them frequently and check the pressure once in a while. (My old Honda Element doesn't have a tire sensor. So that's what I have to do. Meanwhile, it does have the dreaded check engine light, which tells a person nothing!! It could be bad, or a teeny problem.) Today here the weather was a glorious contrast to the 95 of yesterday. Yea!!

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    1. I miss my late mechanic so much he was a nice guy who was like an older cousin to me but more importantly I could trust him when it came to what was wrong with our vehicles.

      You are right hardly no one can work on these newer cars so repairs can run into the hundreds to thousands of dollars at the dealership. Nothing is scarier than the dreaded "check engine light"...well, except for a snake!

      While cool and cloudy this morning I am not complaining as I so dislike the heat. Hope you are enjoying this nice weather as well.

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  5. I have learned to triple check every encounter I have with medical people and labs. And then not be surprised when they screw up anyway. Always good to take notes at the time, as well.
    I enjoyed your drive and photos. It us been many years since I was in Comstock and around your area. I saw your comment about imagining how tough things were for people first settling the area. I always have imagined the same thing.
    I just wonder if you have double checked the fuses on Midnight?
    I hope your temps stay under a hundred. It is way too early for such hot temperatures.
    Stay safe my friend.

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    1. I learned to triple-check everything medical-related when I began to manage my mother's health care. I could not believe the number of mistakes that were made not just with her but with other patients per their families as we sat around the waiting room sometimes for as long as five hours and interchanged our horror stories to pass the time.

      Comstock has grown mostly due to the increase of Border Patrol agents who now call this small town home. Things had to be tough for the first settlers as this area can be unforgiving in so many ways.

      Check the fuses on Midnight? Penelope, I know zero about vehicles all I can do is call Triple-A and have them tow it to the mechanic. I have taken it twice to the Toyota dealership and all they tell me is that the dash is not lighting up for them and if it does to bring it back even if I do not have an appointment.

      I don't see why I should waste my time with them when all they do is take the car for a ride to lake Amistad so I would rather do that on my own and take them out of the equation. My new doctor recommended a repair shop but when I called the owner told me her shop has been closed for a while because she does not have a mechanic and does not know when she will.

      This post was made on Thursday, April 8th, and on Friday, April 9th we set another record when we reached 103 degrees. Since then we have been in the '90s except for today that a "cool front" moved in and we only reached a high of 71 degrees.

      I heard you all got snow up in Big Sky country. Stay safe as well amiga.

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    2. Checking fuses is not hard. Google your car model and year and youtube will walk you through. If you can change a light bulb, you can do this! I use O'Reilly here and they will usually do this. I know Covid rules have changed some things but try using a twenty dollar bill to get around this snag.
      No snow here..still dry as a bone. There is some snow predicted for next week. Fingers crossed.
      Oh I just thought of that tire place you visited some time past? If auto parts place won't help, try there. Although I do believe you and youtube can do an easy check. If the dash light fuse is loose, it could cause your problem. Best to replace it no matter what. Fuses are pretty cheap. :)

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  6. P.SSS...Google will answer all your questions. Where the fuse box is located, also how to tell if fuse is blown. You may need a screwdriver to get into the fuse box.


    I keep a small flathead and a Phillips head in my glove box.

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    1. You give me too much credit, I would be afraid that I will damage the car even more so. I could not even find where to insert the code reader though the guy at Auto Zone told me it was under my steering wheel.

      Mario's Tire Repair might be an option though all they do is repair flat tires and do auto inspections for the annual State of Texas sticker.

      Thank you for the suggestions.

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