He is definitively a talker (Updated)

Drove into town this afternoon to run errands.  One of these was a "quick stop" at the mechanic's. Now I remember why I have not visited him in a while. Whomever said women talk a lot, has obviously never met my mechanic. After an hour and a half of non-stop talking on his part, I was finally able to get away.

His shop is on a higher elevation so even though it is not air conditioned, the strong but hot winds made it somewhat tolerable.  It was definitively hot today.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

NBA Corner

What are the Golden State Warriors trying to do?  Make sure they win every NBA title for the next decade?

Woke up to the news that David West is leaving the Spurs for a one year contract at the veteran minimum.  Same thing with the Mavericks Zaza Pachula and I am now reading that there are others interested in playing for the GSW as well.

A Day of Thank You's

Went back to bed after serving mother breakfast.  Was fast asleep when the phone rang.  It was the mechanic wondering if I was over the Spurs loss yet, lol!  Said he would be coming by later to start mother's mini-van.

Sure enough he fixed whatever was wrong and he did not even charge me...Thank You :)

Needed to go pick up mother's prescription so off I went in her now fixed mini-van.  When I was checking out a little girl came up and asked the clerk for something (I did not hear what) and he handed her two tickets.  In a meek voice she mumbled "thank you" and left.  I guess she felt that perhaps he had not heard her so she came back and thanked him again.  Children with good manners are so rare these days.  This little girl made my day!

Went to pick us up something to eat at Long John Silvers.  I must of looked pretty bad because the girl that took my ordered remarked "it must be pretty hot outside", I told her it was.  Without me asking she handed me a water cup and told me to get something to refresh myself.  How thoughtful...I thanked her kindly.

Today turned out to be an all around great day.  Thank you to all the readers out there in blogger land that take time from their busy schedules to read me.  I sincerely appreciate it :)

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

A rainy day

Woke up to a rainy morning...actually woke up to the phone ringing, it was the mechanic wanting to know if it was raining here because he wanted to come check out the car.  He said "he thought he knew what was wrong with it"...I so wanted to say..."I don't want you to think what is wrong with it, I want you to KNOW it!"  But alas, I kept my mouth shut...finding a mechanic worth his salt is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

I do not know if it was the weather but I was very sleepy today, even took a two hour nap.  Being the insomniac that I am...sleep is a wonderful gift.

Ants have eaten up this poor tree.  Hopefully the rains and the Fire Ant granules will help it thrive once more. Why can't they feast on those pesky mesquite trees?

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Mechanic / Rain

No matter how many YouTube videos I watched there was no way I could possibly strip the cables going to the battery and install the new terminals.  So off I went to see how my poor mechanic was doing...you will recall last time I went...he was on his way to a doctor's appointment after having burnt his leg.

Still not up to par but was agreeable to come with me as he figured it would be an easy fix. Seems with my luck there is never a simple solution.  Even with a brand new battery the car did not want to start and it took him a while to get Mom's mini van going.

Took him back to his shop in said mini-van and I should have turned off and then re-started it...but I ignored my gut feeling...when will I learn???  Went to Home Depot to pick up more Fire Ant granules but when I turned it off it started sputtering and shaking...WTH!!!   I immediately turned it back on.  Decided I could put off buying the granules and came home.  It did the same thing when I turned it off here.  Ran inside to call him and nothing seemed to work until he told me to hit the accelerator...then it finally turned off :-(

Glad I timed it just right because after that the wind picked up and we got a pretty good storm from which we received .46" of liquid gold.  All my rain catchment receptacles got filled to the brim and even overflowed.  We are supposed to get more rain tonight and tomorrow but will have to pass on collecting it...what a shame!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Shot Batteries / Mare Update

I was getting ready to drive into town got in the Toyota and it was dead...darn it all I just drove it Thursday!  This is the only "reliable" newer car we have!  Our cars are pretty old, I am talking 20 to 30 plus years old.  I have the habit of parking them with the motor facing the street in case I need to jump start them.  As luck would have it I did not do this on Thursday night nor did I do it for my mother's mini van that has been sitting there for two months with another dead battery.

This has been a very reliable battery probably has lasted 8 to 10 years
too bad they do not carry them in Del Rio.

Went to practically all of the Auto Parts stores in town and boy...batteries sure have gotten expensive!  A comparable battery is going to run me $152.37...I am sorry but that is ridiculous!

Headed to my local mechanic's shop and that poor man is having more issues.  This time he is the one with the health problems and was on his way to the doctor so I will come by another day.  Dad's old car better hold out...that's all I have to say :-(

Mare Update

The poor thing is still there but they have moved her dirty ice chest to another location.  They moved her rope so she can reach other areas she can graze on but it bears mentioning that there is not much left to do that.

She came up to me and I showed her I had brought her horse pellets in Walter's pink container (sorry Walter) but she didn't seem to know what they were.  After some encouragement she began to eat them but she kept on looking at me with distrust.  She ate everything though.

It became clear why there were two five gallon buckets by her dirty ice chest.  She is located by the Duck Pond the closest thing Del Rio has to a zoo and people come to  feed the ducks.  Then there is a little dam and this water flows down to the Rio Grande which is not too far away.  Her owners are apparently too lazy to bring city water so they get the water from here.

This is where they moved her ice chest to.

However the ice chest and water are still filthy!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Whoever heard of watering trees in February?

I have been busy as a bee.  Speaking of bees...well more like wasps...they are already out and about and buzzing me!

Mother has been making comments about how full and lush our neighbor's trees are because he waters them every day.  Like I told her...he only has two trees...you have a lot more than that.  The only reason he waters them is because he is a "Nosy Rosie" who runs and grabs his water hose whenever he sees something so the neighbors wont think he is prying :D

Guess what I did this afternoon?  Yeah...I watered her trees and plants! I also hosed down our vehicles and my wonderful Kodiak canvas tent after those wicked winds on Thursday.  Made me wonder how strong the winds were down in Terlingua?

Mother's mini van is running good after her recent tune-up. He also fixed the lock on the sliding door and sold us some new (to us) hubcaps that make her look much better.  Hopefully the mini van as well as Dad's old car wont need his services anytime soon.

I have been thinking about starting a separate blog so I can document what is going on in Walter's world and maybe one day Val Verde County will form an animal abuse unit or at least follow up on cases that have been reported to them.  I am still kicking that idea around in my head.

Both last night and today a different horse (of the three that came last week) has come by to eat his hay and it has made him go crazy.  I don't blame him one bit.  His owner is not dumb, he knows if he has bales of hay outside of his corral, the sheriff will not be stopping by.  Apparently these horses that have come for a visit, are hungry too.  If the Deputies could only see that the bales do not get consumed at the rate that a horse of his stature would normally eat.

I heard Walter do his yell (sorry I do not know proper horse terminology) and I ran outside.  If I could hear it two lots down how come his owners did not?  Had to yell for that kid even though his father's vehicle was there.  I almost died laughing when he got a rope and was going to try to lasso that horse...yeah like he really knows how...horse didn't wait, he took off...jajajajajaja :D

Their family dog had the nerve to bark at me!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Frustration

Remember I was shopping around for a better electric rate plan for my mother's house?  One of the factors that made it difficult was that I wanted to see if I could include the outside light in the plan.  Did not find a single one that did so.

In the meantime the outside light had gone out but we did not bother to report it since I figured we would not be billed for a non-working light...wrong again...CPL billed us as if it was working.  I called their customer service department but dealing with their incompetent personnel is more than my nerves can handle!

Today they came to replace the light bulb and it puts out half of what the other one did.  Guess I will have to call them back whether I want to or not.

I called the mechanic so he could bring me mother's mini van and I could then drive him back to his shop.  Saturday when we went to the lake he left a message saying it was ready and that he had found no evidence that the gasoline was getting into the motor oil.

I was on the phone to him so I heard when he tried to start it...and it wouldn't!!!  He finally got it going but said that he did not like how the choke performed and perhaps it would not hurt to give it a tune-up.  HELLO!!!! Did he not have time to check that out all these days that he has had it?

When oh when will I find a knowledgeable and competent mechanic?  I know he is going through a lot right now but he needs to focus on his work or his customers are going to go elsewhere.

OK...end of rant!

It was a windy day in the high 70's.  A lot of the trees are starting to bloom.

I could not believe when I saw what gasoline prices were going for today.  I guess I better get used to it because it seems this is just the tip of the iceberg  :-(

I have never had much of a sweet tooth until recently.  I will have to blame Billy Bob (as I obviously can not blame myself)...but ever since he blogged about his famous chocolate and cherry cake...I seem to have a strange craving for chocolate cakes.

I bought this Three Leches Cake on our last trip to Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico.  It came in handy in helping me forget about my problematic day. :-)

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

No Water...Again!

Yesterday afternoon I went to the laundromat up the road.  Noticed that there were a lot of electric crews installing new telephone poles, did not give it a second thought.  It was a pretty hot day so came home and showered before eating my supper.  It was a good thing because when I got ready to wash the dishes...there was no water!

I knew I paid the water bill but who do I call to inquire if it is only our house or area wide?  The neighbors have all ditched their landlines and I have no idea what their cell phone numbers are.  The water department was already closed so went online to the City of Del Rio webpage.  There I found out the contractors putting in the telephone poles broke a water main.  They refer you to their Facebook or Twitter account for further information.  Darn, I don't do Facebook or Twitter or for that matter use social sites!

The day before I had given Walter 9 gallons of water and since I was in a hurry I did not fill them back up,  the good thing was I still had 8 gallons left.  Heard the toilet tank filling up around 2:14 a.m. but it was filling up with a lot of force...I was afraid it might bust the tank!

This morning I went to water Walter since I knew the owner's son was not going to fill his water barrel before going to school.  As you can tell from the angle the sun hits the barrel...it was empty and had been for two days. Darn kid!!!

By this afternoon the water looked clear so I found some more milk jugs and managed to fill 20 gallons worth.  Good thing I did, because around 7:00 p.m. the water went off again!

On a different note... I spoke to the mechanic earlier this afternoon and he told me to send him Dad's car.  Called Triple A at 1:15 p.m. and they did not show up until 3:55 p.m.  Heck I get faster service in Houston than I do here. On the positive side, it is on its way to be fixed.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Mechanic makes a House Call

As you will recall I flooded Dad's old car back in October 2012 but with taxes, getting ready for the Chili Cook-Off, Thanksgiving, Christmas as well as visits from relatives I had not been able to get to it.  Then in December mom's van quit running, I thought it was a dead or a loose battery but true to my procrastinating ways never got around to it either. :-(

I had gone to see the mechanic on two occasions but he too was busy with IRS audit problems but today he finally made an appearance.  Even with a new battery for dad's old car, he could not get it started.  Needs to take it in to his shop and believes the fuel pump might be the culprit.

What I thought would be a simple jump start for mother's van turned into something else. Somehow gasoline is getting into the oil and that has to be addressed.  Had to make a bee line to have the oil changed even though I had it changed about 500 miles back. The fuel  air filter smelled to gasoline as well and had to be replaced. The car is so old they do not carry them, so it had to be special ordered.

Made two trips into town.  It was a nice warm day even though a bit on the cloudy side or it would have been downright hot!

Gas just keeps on going up and up....

The good news is that there is a 50 percent chance of rain for this evening. Look how cloudy it was this afternoon.  I sure hope they materialize, we definitively need the rain.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

New battery / Mechanic/ Laundry

Remember back in October when I tried to start dad's old car and flooded it?  Well as you know I was busy with taxes and getting ready for the Chili Cook-Off so I put it off as usual.  Called Triple A this morning, even they could not jump start the battery but the guy was nice enough to remove it for me.

Went to the auto parts place where I bought it back in May 2011 only to be told that now they only exchange batteries up to 20 months and then they pro-rate them.  My procrastination cost my mother $38.97 but shhhh... I did not tell her that!

I then went to see the mechanic and had a nice visit with him.  Do not know what it is about the mechanics I frequent but they sure are talkative and know as much or even more gossip than lady hairdressers :D

He has a ranch out close to my mother's house and goes to visit it every Sunday, so I wanted him to swing by this weekend on his way back to town but he said he would come tomorrow.  I do not know if he will be able to or not since it was obvious he was coming down with a cold.

Went to the P.O. Box and saw this restored truck in mint condition.  I thought it looked pretty neat.

Ran a couple more errands while I was in town including going to the laundromat.  I was so surprise there were only three people and thankfully no screaming kids!  Too bad I have to make a return trip to do sheets and comforters :-(

Gas has gone down two cents in the past week.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

New Mechanic/Busted Gate

For those new to the blog we have had issues with mother’s worthless ex-mechanic and after the brakes went out while I was driving her mini-man we decided to give him the boot.  It is not easy finding a knowledgeable and honest mechanic, or at least that has been the case with us.

This new mechanic is a definitive improvement over the old one but we seem to have a communication problem even though we speak the same languages, English, Spanish and Tex-Mex   Just when I think we have come to an agreement for something as simple as calling me before coming to make sure we are home…he shows up unannounced.

His was the first shop to link with AAA in this area and his son drove the wrecker.  Many times he came to tow mom’s old cars to her worthless mechanic.  I do not know what happened but apparently AAA and him had a not so amicable parting and he does not want me to use them…he would rather come and tow the vehicles himself, which is what he did.

Unfortunately the guy he brought to help him (an unpaid friend) hopped on the truck too soon without seeing if there was proper clearance and he hit the gate!  He was very apologetic said he could have the gate welded but if I had someone who could do the cement work?  WTH?  He knows I have been gone from Del Rio for thirty years!

He came Tuesday with someone who was going to take a look at it but since he once again came without calling, he made a trip for nothing because we were at a doctor’s appointment.  Even though in this case our presence was not required to give him an estimate.

Picked up dad’s old car yesterday and while the smell is not as strong as it used to be…you could still smell a gasoline odor.  Today we took it for a quick trip to Amistad dam and it seems to be running well.  Filled up at the Exxon (or is it a Chevron?) by the lake and took advantage that it is the only station in town with free air and a nice man helped me air up the tires.  Gas was selling for $3.55 there, $3.49 at Wal-Mart and $3.51 at HEB.

Oh forgot to mention that the first time I used him was to fix the brakes on mother’s mini van that her worthless ex-mechanic botched…well had to take the van back to him because they once again are falling to engage!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Welcomed News

Woke up early courtesy of the yapping Chihuahuas.  The weather was a spectacular 71 degrees and I went about the task of watering mother’s trees that I did not have a chance to get to last night.

There is a Laundromat close to her house that I had stopped at once but only to check out prices. It had been a while since I had actually needed the service of one so was a little taken back at the cost, as I had no point of reference (at the time her washing machine was not broken).

Today out of curiosity (ok due to my CRS, could not remember the prices) stopped to see how much it cost to use the dryers.  When I saw the price to wash and dry I was so surprised that it was lower than the one in town and these are brand new machines, so I guess I found me a new Laundromat.

Had to drive into town to go to the P.O. Box, pay the water bill, visit with the new mechanic about fixing dad’s old car and then swung by HEB to pick up a few items.

Needed to run one more errand but it was getting late and decided to head back and leave it for tomorrow.  Visiting the local Cricket store requires an early morning visit, as they have a very small waiting area and limited parking to boot.

This evening I got a call from a good friend that I had not heard from in a while. She gave me some welcomed news but I am still incredulous.  Turns out she and a friend will be joining me this year at the chili cook-off!!!

I guess I must of done a good job of selling the event back in 2009 when we camped out at the Renaissance Festival because her friend has been wanting to attend ever since.  Some other friends of hers that also heard me talk about Terlingua are thinking about renting an RV and coming down as well. The more the merrier!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.