Val Verde County Property Taxes / Flu Shot / Long lines

I woke up Friday morning to some powerful wind gusts and waited until 1:00 p.m. for them to die down before I went to run my errands. First on the list was to pay our property taxes at the Val Verde County Courthouse. For the past two or three years, it has been a mess and tax statements did not even go out until November last year but I came down anyway so I could get our discount for paying them in the month of October.

This year they were sent out the last week of October but since I drive down to the post office once or maybe twice a week if I am expecting something I do not know exactly which day they arrived. I was very surprised to find a LONG line of people there for the same reason. We in Del Rio are not used to long lines especially retired people such as myself. The line was made up mostly of women who shocked me when someone came in and wanted to walk directly up to the three payment windows...they would yell at them and tell them to go to the back of the line....jajajaja...😄

Though they had three windows open, one clerk had a closed sign on her window, and another had a lady that was there when I arrived and was at the same window almost the entire time I was in line. Needless to say, the women were all commenting on why this lady was taking so long.

I made my payments and was given four envelopes but I paid for five so I thought perhaps she had placed two in one envelope as that is the way they mail two of the lots. By now my feet were killing me so took a seat on the bench next to the license plate division and checked on it. Sure enough, she forgot to give me a receipt for one of the lots so I sat there waiting for the line to go down before I rejoined it.

At least I had the check number to prove I had paid it. In past year's blog entries, I mentioned that I could not believe how many elderly property owners pay with cash, and this year the trend continues...that is so dangerous!

The clerk apologized for her mistake and handed me my receipt and told me that I should have just gone up to her window and not stood in line again. Fat chance I was going to do that with those aggressive women!

For the past couple of days, I have been looking for my Covid-19 vaccination card but have not been able to find it. Hopefully, the four vaccines I have previously been administered will keep me healthy until I can locate it. I went to HEB and got a flu shot instead. Here I encountered another long line but at least they had chairs to mitigate the wait. Again most were senior women I only saw one young lady in her twenties.

I had every intention of going to Ollie's but my plantar fasciitis did not agree...so I came home 😒

Just Thursday gasoline at HEB had gone up a dime to $3.159 for a gallon of unleaded gas. Friday that same gallon went down by .12 cents to $3.039...what a roller coaster ride!

Today's Aunty Acid is a day late since I failed to make a post last night but I think we can all identify with it. Happy Belated Internet Day!

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Should not have procrastinated / Recycling Center / Library

I have had two opportunities to fill my tank but passed due to long lines at the pump. I knew I would get the call to go pick up my prescriptions but due to some "kitty drama" got a late start. I thought gasoline prices were on the way down but today I found gasoline went up by .10 cents to $3.159 for unleaded gasoline. My camera has a problem taking pictures of pixel images like the ones used at HEB for their gasoline prices so I had to delete it.

Went to the Recycling Center where each time they reduce the items you can bring to them. Yet they do nothing about people that bring their dirty cat food cans that stink and contaminate the clean ones...I was pissed off but I could not find anyone to complain to....grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Swung by the post office only to find our P.O. Box full of political and flipper junk mail. When are those darn Houston area flippers going to give up? 😝

Needed a lot of room to spread out to sort my mail and write checks...what better place than the Val Verde County Library. They have lots of light, cold air conditioning, and I do not have to listen to the neighbor's dogs barking or put up with the free-range chickens of Walter's former owner. Not to mention our own cats, hopefully, I will have an opportunity to update their blog soon.

My trip to the library left me calm and relaxed that I fell asleep before the ten o'clock news and did not have a chance to make a post.

Since it's morning I can not wish you Terlingua Dreams so have a nice day!

Aunty Acid

Early Voting / Whataburger

The State of Texas began early voting this past Monday, October 24th for the 2022 Mid-Term Elections. I usually cast my vote during this time as there are fewer people and in case I drop dead at least I did my civic duty and voted for the candidates of my preference.

There were not that many cars in the parking lot, but quite a few people were voting inside. There was no line and I was checked in and given a ballot in less than one minute. The ladies and men that work the elections are always so nice. They greet you with a smile and when you leave always thank you for voting. Kudos to them for having to run elections in these trying times.

As usual, there were more people supporting their candidates than actual voters. Early voting takes place at the Del Rio Civic Center for all Precincts.

The reddish-brown brick building in the background
 is the Del Rio Police Department. There were also
two units from the Val Verde Sheriff's Dept. by
the front door.

After being disappointed on my last visit to Dairy Queen decided to give Whataburger another chance. It was the ideal time as hardly anyone was dining inside. It was the best hamburger I have had in a long time!

As I ran errands afterward noticed that Wendy's was closed for remodeling which is a good thing because this store has always been dingy and I have not eaten here in years.

Gasoline went down by .04 cents to $3.059 for Unleaded and by .03 cents to $4.529 for Diesel.

The weather has been beautiful the high yesterday was only 76 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Great Weather / HEB Haul / Power Outage

Click on the Pictures to Enlarge

In my last post of exactly a week ago I mentioned cooler temperatures coming our way. They were wonderful and even allowed me to sleep with a soft fleece throw. These were last night's Texas temperatures on the 10:00 p.m. news...a wonderful 74 degrees both in Del Rio and Houston.

I have the A/C set at 82 degrees and this past week it has not even triggered the unit to come on...so I am very pleased about that as it will save us money!

I do not know if it is a good thing that I follow a lot of Financial Channels on YouTube. They usually also endorse Prepper channels of their preference many of which I subscribe to. I already suffer from chronic insomnia and have for decades...now I can't sleep from all the information I absorb from said channels and wonder how really prepared I am for when the economy tanks and drags us to a Depression worse than the one my grandparents and parents lived through.

Even though it was Friday morning and I never went to sleep on Thursday, I dragged myself to HEB to stock up on more preps before our currency is severely devalued as most if not all YouTube Financial Channels tell us...note...I said YouTube Financial Channels as the mainstream media is keeping this from us.

With all this stress it was nice to be greeted by this Día de Los Muertos ofrenda altar.

It relaxed me and I almost bought a candle before reality made me snap out of it...I can not eat a candle better I spend my money on provisions...but a cute candle nevertheless.

Remember I was whining on my October 9th post about how expensive a 5 lb bag of potatoes was at $2.67 in comparison to a 15 lb bag that was selling for $3.47? Well, today I really have something to whine about...that fifteen-pound bag is three dollars more...grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

I checked out a lot of items mentioned on Prepper Channels but that I do not buy such as sugar and baking powder since I do not know how to cook...much less how to bake.

On Pinterest, I learned that you can kill ants using Corn Starch but after I took the picture I got distracted and forgot to buy it :-(

Bought some HEB brand cereal...

This Mango flavor is new but I am not a fan...though I probably should have bought it anyway...beats starving to death!

I have no idea where my last bottles of Tabasco Hot Sauce are so bought another one...

Stocked up on a lot of cans of tuna...

Chunk Chicken Breast was cheaper here at HEB than at Walmart.

I still have cans that I bought for $2.00 each during the pandemic and look at the price now...

The same goes for canned Diced Tomatoes I purchased the ones in my stash for .88 cents each back in March and they are selling for $1.36 now.

Since I have no room or the budget for real potatoes...I purchased boxed mashed potatoes which should last me longer :-D

I debated whether or not to buy Powdered Milk but talked myself out of it since I know it would be cheaper in Ciudad Acuña. For those readers new to my blog Del Rio, Texas is a border town with neighboring Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México.

I also debated whether or not to buy liquid eggs for hopefully my upcoming trip to Terlingua. I have never bought any before and since I do not have a camping stove I am better off just buying regular eggs and boiling them before I head there.

Decided to buy my favorite paper towels while they are still affordable at $17.98

Bleach is expensive that is why I buy mine at The Dollar Tree or in México. I guess HEB noticed that and now has their brand for the same price as Dollar Tree...$1.25 each

Even before the pandemic bleach was expensive and it has not gone down these are HEB brands...name brands like Clorox are even higher. Clorox has factories in México so I can buy them much cheaper there.

I spent almost $200.00 dollars but hopefully, it will be my insurance against inflation, a disruption in the food supply chain, or a World War III scenario.

The price of gasoline went down once more to $3.099 for Unleaded and $4.559 for Diesel. By the time I left the store, the lines at the pump were long so I will fill up this coming week.

Friday evening/Saturday morning I was editing my photos around 12:15 a.m. when out of the blue the power went out. As soon as the internet was restored it would go out again so in disgust I just shut down the computer. At around 2:10 a.m. the power went out for good and it was not restored until 5:20 a.m.

The weather was wonderful and most people did not have their A/C on, there was no wind or storms so I have no idea why this happened. It had been a while since the last outage but I suppose this is going to be the new norm?

Now I am going to sound like the YouTube Channels I watch...leave a comment and let me know how the prices in Del Rio compare to where you live.

Today's Aunty Acid hit the nail on the head for me. I know worrying is silly so I am poking fun at myself...but I am still worried 😔

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

New glasses / Cool front on the way

I received a call around noon Friday and it caught me by surprise since my excellent telephone system does not allow calls through unless the caller identifies themselves otherwise it will not ring. Most of the calls are Robocalls or house flippers so they do not bother to do so. It happened to be the lady at the Walmart Eye Center to let me know that my eyeglasses had arrived.

Ordinarily, I would not consider going to Walmart on a Friday afternoon but it is better than going during the weekend or Monday when we are supposed to have heavy rains. If you have been reading me for a while you know I do not drive in the rain or at night...so I went to retrieve my new glasses. 👓

I am very happy with them and I can see much better. It's a bummer that my vision changed so much in just one year...old age :-(

This time I needed some more salads and a couple of other items. I found two marked-down salads but did not notice that only one took and the other I was charged full price so had to stand in line to be refunded $1.05.  It made me think of my dad, he hated when Mom and I did that...he would have just let it go.

I found some good prices on Family-size canned green beans for only .88 cents...better still lids that do not require a can opener.

Family Size Whole Kernel Corn for $1.00

I have mentioned in the past how much I miss buying Sara Lee bread at Dollar Tree. They now sell a no-name brand for $1.25 which is not very good. Went to buy a loaf only to be surprised by the price of $4.17...I passed 😠

I was also shocked to find that these two-can bundles of Chunk Chicken Breast were selling for $9.98 when last month I bought the same item but it had four cans for the same price.

Was glad I had purchased my Starkist tuna packs at HEB for a dollar each as they were much higher here.

Guess what I found as I walked around...cardboard boxes to make cuchas for my cats...that means beds in Spanish. As you know Grayson had five kittens who are now four months old.

I am still dismayed that Walmart has not been able to sell its canopies...maybe if they lower the price I might buy the white one for next year.

Gasoline prices went down a nickel for unleaded gasoline at $3.139 a gallon but Diesel went up .30 cents to $4.599 a gallon.

I was going to stop to fill up but there were just too many vehicles there and I still had 2/3 of a tank left.

I did stop at Dairy Queen to fill up my tummy. However, DQ and Whataburger are always a hit or miss and today's burger was OK but their fries were cold and horrible. If I am going to cheat...it better be worth it...grrrrrrrrrrrr! 😠

I was going to buy myself a soft cone for dessert just as a family with a screaming toddler sat next to me forcing me to make a beeline for the door. I guess it just was not my day for cheating.

Finally, after all these hot temperatures we are expecting rains and a cool front which will bring the temperatures down to the 70s for a high and last for four days before inching back up for the weekend.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

New Eye Doctor / Ollie's

I mentioned last November that I had ordered new eyeglasses and went for the third time to have them adjusted only to be told that the Optometrist was unexpectedly retiring and moving out of town while only giving his staff and patients a two-week notice.

I have a great doctor who is always on top of my health needs urging me to go to the dentist, eye doctor, getting a mammogram, bone density test, pap smear, etc., etc., things women my age need to address before they become a problem. I asked for a referral to an Optometrist...one was the Betty Boop-hating optometrist that I have mentioned on this blog before or an eye doctor from a San Antonio practice that has a branch in Del Rio, as a bonus, he also resides here. Who do you think I chose?

If you guessed the San Antonio Optometrist you would be correct!  I really liked him and he has an uncanny resemblance to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy...whom I hold in high esteem. 😊

I have put off going to have my eyeglass prescription filled as I hurt my shoulder doing yard work. I have for well over a week been in excruciating pain but was afraid to go to the doctor and then be funneled to physical therapy when the Chili Cook-Off is only a couple of weeks away...nothing is messing with my Terlingua trip this year...I repeat...NOTHING!!! If that means car camping since I will not be able to set up my tent as pounding stakes to the ground would not be a good idea...so be it.

Got an email this afternoon that I had a prescription ready for pick-up at my HEB Pharmacy. When I got there the drive-thru was limited to only one lane with a long line, so I decided to bite the bullet and go inside. I am so proud of myself as I fought against my demons and did not go shopping.

I headed to Walmart and ordered new eyeglasses and once again fought the need to go shopping and headed instead to Ollie's to use my one-time 15 percent off coupon on the entire purchase of my cart.

I am enamored with the shoe trays they sell at Ollie's as I have found so many uses for them besides their original use. I purchased four today as well as body lotion, rubber grip slim hangers, and liquid hand soap.

Afterward, I headed to the Post Office to pick up our mail only to be surprised that there were no cars there or at the Federal Courthouse across the street.  I had no idea that today was a Federal Holiday...Columbus Day! 

I pride myself on being a "news junkie" but this past week I have disconnected from the world due to my shoulder injury.

With fuel prices on the rise, I was surprised to see that unleaded gasoline had gone down .04 cents to $3.15 for regular unlead and $4.59 for Diesel. I apologize for the poor picture quality.

Usually, Walmart has the lowest price in town but that was not the case today...except for Diesel fuel...Murphy USA was .30 cents cheaper than at HEB.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid