Running errands all over town

I had a lot of errands to run today that I had been putting off due to my plumbing problems. I went to the Post Office to pick up our mail. I am curious to know how many times I have opted out of getting AARP's bi-monthly magazine as well as their monthly Bulletin. However, this month's issue appears interesting.

I have been carrying around my recyclables in the trunk and remembering the Center is open till noon on Saturday headed there. This year a second Dollar Tree opened its doors. Two months ago as I was headed east of Highway 90 was surprised to see that another one along with a Family Dollar next to it (they are owned by the same corporation) was being built. Decided to go check it out since I was already on that side of town but it is still not completed.

I went to Walmart Optical to get my eyeglasses adjusted. The A/C was nice and cool and for once did not mind waiting. However, as my luck goes they were done in no time. I went to check the price of their galvanized trash cans. I need to look back on prior pictures but it appears they went up by five bucks though I could be wrong.

Their River tubes were on sale.

Many vandwellers that I follow on YouTube refill their gallon jugs at Walmart. Their prices have increased from .29 to .36 cents a gallon but it is still a good deal.

I decided to have an early dinner and stopped at Wendy's to try their Summer Strawberry salad. It was delicious as well as their unsweetened iced tea.

In a prior post earlier this month, I posted an Auntie Acid meme where she questions if she is getting older or were stores now playing really good music? Well, that happened to me today as I ate my salad. I was bobbing my head and moving to the music. I was not the only one, the lady at the table behind me was singing along and a gentleman about my age was more discreetly dancing in place.

It is now 6:40 p.m. It is 105 with a feel-like temperature of 110 degrees. I am so looking forward to fall weather though I know it will be a while.

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Auntie Acid

Recycling Center / Plaza del Sol Mall

I have been carrying my recycling items for far too long in the trunk of my car. Decided today was the day to take a trip to the City of Del Rio Recycling Center and unload them. 

I wanted to go check out some stores at Plaza del Sol Mall mainly Burlington Coat Factory. The last time I was inside one was twenty years ago in Houston. This new store is located in the former Beall's department store but it somehow seems bigger than the former store was. I looked around but did not find anything I could not live without.

I am glad Burlington set up shop at the mall because even before the pandemic stores have been closing right and left. Today I saw a lot of vacant spaces. I walked over to Ross also located inside the mall and found a couple of Baggallini purses. I do not know what has happened to this brand but the quality of their purses has been on a steady decline.

Then I walked to the opposite side of the mall to Marshall's but again found nothing I could not live without.

I started watching "La Casa de Los Famosos" which is the Mexican version of Big Brother VIP.  This is a very addictive show which is streamed live 24/7 on the Internet. With my insomnia issues, I have been watching it on my old cellphone and/or my tablet but after a while, my hand hurts from holding it or the electronic gets warm.

Ollie's is having a sale this week on Pillow Pads for your small electronics for only $5.99 but you could not remove the cover to wash it. I opted for a Cozy Tablet Buddy by Total Vision that has a detachable and washable cover, space for a wireless keyboard, and five small pockets for storage of accessories for only $9.99.

I was surprised that Ollie's already had window air conditioners on sale. Perhaps I should not be because it has been hot lately though today I did not watch either the afternoon or the evening news so do not know the actual temperature we reached but I did have to turn on the car A/C.

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

Wildfires / Warm Temperatures / Goodyear

It has been very warm lately but as soon as the sun sets it cools down significantly. Our dew point levels have been low 10 to 15% something I do not recall ever seeing before. There have been two wildfires close to San Antonio and many acres have been burnt.

At noon I heard there was a new wildfire in northern Kinney County which is where Brackettville, Texas is located and only 30 miles from Del Rio.

There is no rain in the forecast.

I drove to the post office to pick up the mail, dropped off recyclables, and paid a visit to Ross. I wanted to check out their tennis shoes hoping to find some with more padding and support. My parents house has a lot of cacti and darn mesquite trees branches whose sharp thorns do a number on my shoes.

I was very surprised to find that Goodyear...yes, the famous tire maker now makes tennis shoes 😁 

They look sturdy and at $26.99 a good price but they were more like hiking shoes and were heavy so I had to pass.

Learned that Goodyear also makes luggage...who knew?

I considered going to Marshall's which is located at the other end of the mall but my feet were hurting perhaps on another occasion?

On the way home I passed by HEB and this was the going price for gasoline today. They seemed to be doing a brisk business.

$3.79 for unleaded gasoline

I do not know what I did but I messed up the alignment of this post...sorry about that!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Thought of the Day

Recycling Center / Ollie's and Dollar Tree / KFC

I can not believe it is already December...time has sure flown by! With the Thanksgiving holidays, I had avoided going into town to elude the crowds. The Mexican citizens that had not crossed the border to shop in the United States are thankfully back and it has been a boom to the local economy. Per my border crossing app, the lines at the international bridge were one and a half to two hours plus this weekend. Have I mentioned that I do not venture to Ciudad Acuña during November and December for that same reason?

First stop this morning was picking up the mail at the post office. Post office #1 is across the street from the Federal Courthouse there must have been a big trial because there were law enforcement vehicles everywhere and few parking spaces.

Headed to the Recycling Center to drop off the recyclables I have had in the trunk of my car for a while and was pleasantly surprised to be the only one there. With that checked off my To-Do List, my next stop was Ollie's. Another pleasant surprise awaited as the store was practically empty.

Ollie's has a large section of As Seen On TV products so headed to that section but the Christmas music was so loud that I just picked up what I was actually there for which was to purchase a wireless mouse and keyboard combo. I took pictures but as usual...I am not able to upload them at this time 😢

Dollar Tree is in the same strip center so left my purchase in my trunk and headed there. I was lucky to find a cart as there were only about six left. The difference was like night and day from Ollie's there were a LOT of people there.

Headed to find my buttered popcorn, mushrooms, and canned whole jalapeños peppers. No luck with the popcorn or mushrooms. Picked up some cleaning supplies and some large cans of Campbell's Tomato soup.

There was no Christmas music playing at this store but two girls decided to start singing as they shopped...they had probably been to Ollie's...😄

I almost stopped at Walmart as there were very few cars there but my right foot was starting to hurt so only passed by Murphy Oil USA and confirmed that they had the cheapest gas in town at $2.659 for unleaded and $3.169 for diesel.

Drove by Whataburger and Sirloin Stockade and even though it was around 2:00 p.m. their parking lots were full so had to settle for KFC. They did not have original KFC so had no choice but to buy crispy. I hate it when I cheat on my diet and the food is not up to par!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Finally quit procrastinating...

This morning the darn cats started running like wild horses on the roof but this time I was already awake so went out to feed them as I had a long list of errands to run that I have been putting off and I wanted to get an early start (well early for me anyway).

First stop was the post office where those darn house flippers refuse to give me a break...grrrrrrr!!! I have a separate bag that I keep in the trunk for my mail and when I opened it I realized I had forgotten that I had items I needed to take to the Recycling Center...so no time like the present to get rid of them.

The City of Del Rio Recycling Center is next to Highway 90 the main highway coming from San Antonio so I decided to go pay dad a visit since tomorrow it will be full when people honor their late loved ones for El Día de Los Muertos celebration.

There were some persons there mostly retired like me who decided to get a head start and beat the crowds. There were two funeral canopies set up so I suppose the burials would take place later in the day...I did not stay long.

HEB needed to be visited and what was my surprise but that it was full of people which is not customary for a Monday morning.  If that was not bad enough it was full of screaming tykes since they had the day off! I don't ever remember getting the day after Halloween off if it fell on a weekend 😡

Made a stop at Stripes to pick up some lunch plates and saw several Texas National Guardsmen doing the same...I could have sworn I read that they were being fed at Broke Mill RV Park...that or they are tired of their food.

Came home to eat and then headed to the laundromat which again for a Monday had way too many people and kids for my liking. Not a single person other than myself was wearing a face mask. This is the reason I had not wanted to come but that is what I get for procrastinating.

I went outside to sit in my car but it was hot. I figured since I was wearing two masks I would be safe but sat far away from people just to be on the safe side.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Ran errands / CRS moments / A/C came on

I do not know what happened to me today but I definitively forgot what it was like to drive into town.  I do not know if it is because it has been a while since I left home or my CRS is getting worse. It is a good thing I stopped trusting my memory and made a detailed list of all the errands I needed to run.

As usual, I got a late start and was almost in town when I realized I was not seeing clearly. I thought my face shield was perhaps dirty and when I looked in the mirror it looked clean...then it hit me...did I remember to put my glasses on?  I looked again, but I was wearing my face shield with a glasses frame to keep it in place so I could not tell. I took off the shield at the stoplight, and sure enough, I did not have my glasses on, but it would have taken too long to drive back home.

This previously would not have been a problem as I always carry spare glasses, sunglasses, change, and all the stuff most car owners carry in their vehicles. However, since I started having car problems I emptied the car of everything in case it burned to a crisp.

The first stop was the southside post office where there was not a single place to park so parked on the street. This older lady decided to do the same but she was not doing a good job so I came back and moved my vehicle to give her more room but most importantly to keep her from hitting me. I could not believe how much mail I had. Since it was late decided to trust this post office and mailed my payment from here rather than drive to the northside.

Headed to the City of Del Rio Recycling Center where I got rid of a large bag of magazines, pamphlets, and basically most of our junk mail as well as our metal cans. As I was getting ready to head to my next stop I looked down at my tires and one of them seemed low. Decided to head to Mario's Tire Shop instead. The guy's dad told me that three of my tires were low not just the one I brought it in for. So for $2.00 plus $1.00 tip, I got that potential problem resolved.

Forgot to mention that I also did not bring cash with me as I usually pay for everything with a credit card but this small mom-and-pop shop does not accept them so had to make an unplanned trip to the bank.

When I went by the main HEB the parking lot was full as usual so headed to Little HEB instead. I was in and out in 15 minutes. It was so hot I did not have the energy to finish the rest of my errands...they will have to wait for another day.

We had a high of 101 degrees today and though we have already reached both 102 and 103 in April 2021 somehow it just felt a lot hotter than that. Sure glad we do not live in Cotulla or Laredo! It is no surprise that the A/C came on this afternoon.

This evening Boerne and areas in Bexar County (San Antonio) got pelted with more hail.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Header Picture

Recycling Center / Closed Parks / Little HEB

Had to run some errands in town. I was hoping to get an early start but my morning chores took longer than expected. As I headed to town I saw a long line to get into the Val Verde County Community Center for a free food give away.

As I passed big HEB I noticed that gasoline prices were once again on the rise. Regular Unleaded gasoline was selling for $1.979 a gallon... before we know it, it will be over $2.00 a gallon...and I have not been able to take advantage of it.

My steel cans and plastic bottles were growing exponentially and were begging to be taken to the Recycling Center so that is where I headed.

The City of Del Rio Recycling Center is very close to the parks that are along the banks of San Felipe Creek. I drove by some of them and only Moore Park had cars in its parking lot but I did not see any people.

Headed to San Felipe Lions Park where they had barricades set up to keep people from parking and it worked as I did not see a single soul there.

The County Library is close by and it was open today it had some patrons but I bypassed it and went to pick up our mail. When was the last time I was here?  Our P.O. Box was full, glad I stopped by.

Having been by the main HEB and seeing a full parking lot, there was no way I was going to stop there even if it meant that I would miss out on buying my favorite ice cream or my larger size package of spinach for my salads.

Little HEB was the focus of my shopping on this day. While the parking lot was not full a vast majority of the people that shop here walk to the store. This store is small so I had to go around the aisles a couple of times to respect the social distance.

Happy to report that egg prices have once again gone down to even lower prices than pre-COVID.  Before a dozen medium eggs sold for .88 cents and today, they were priced at .77 cents a dozen which made them cheaper than at Dollar Tree.

I was going to take a picture but had left my phone in the car.  What did go up was the price of beer by $2.00 for a 30-pack of Natural Light and it appears that the "beer smugglers" have taken a break or perhaps are buying beer at larger establishments like big HEB and Walmart to then smuggle into Mexico for resale.

I only purchased 23 items mostly bread, serranos, a large bottle of Tabasco, eggs, and canned goods.

We had another triple-digit day. Per KSAT12 we had a high of 103 degrees and were the hot spot in Texas.

Per AccuWeather, the high was 104 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Trip to Post Office / Recycling Center / Dollar Tree

Stayed up late last night writing checks so had to drive into town to mail them. I mentioned back in December 2019 that my post office lost two of my payments including their own payment for my annual P.O. Box fee. Their excuse was that they had new personnel. Since then another payment has been lost in the mail so I now mail things from Post Office #2 which is the main post office in Del Rio. This is where you can apply for a passport or renew your existing one in this area.

Post Office #2 in Del Rio, Texas

I had so many plastic bottles, metal cans, and junk mail that I needed to take to the Recycling Center and I took the opportunity to do so this afternoon.

I then headed to Post Office #1 so I could pick up my mail since it had been 9 days since I was last there.

This weekend I washed my favorite tennis shoes only to find that one of the traction strips (not sure of the correct terminology) was coming apart so I needed some super glue to re-attach it.  I decided to head to Dollar Tree to purchase some.

I had mentioned that Dollar Tree was now selling stuff costing more than that...now $3.00 and $5.00...so decided to photograph those items.

Fabuloso, Ajax and Palmolive...

Laundry detergent...

I know Clorox cleaners with bleach are in low supplies elsewhere but they had plenty on hand for $3.00.

Storage containers...

Pet beds are very reasonable may buy some in the winter to put in the boys' cuchas.

Electronics...

Plenty of Scott toilet paper and other no-name brands with no limits for $1.00 a four-pack.

I had no idea they also sold Viva paper towels...

I really did not need anything just bought super glue, a yellow highlighter, and some canned mushrooms (actually they come in glass containers) for my salads.

It was cloudy in the morning but the sun finally came out this afternoon.  We had a low of 73 and a high of 93 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day