Yard Work / Leaking water meter

It has been exactly two weeks since Mata Gatos came and mowed along the street side of the front fence.  Well he mowed but did not bother to rake, bag or pick up the clippings (he is worthless).  I had raked and made little piles but ran out of trash bags so today I could not put it off any longer and finished the job.

I put my new pruner to use and even managed to haul the limbs to the imaginary curb (we have no curb).  It was getting hot so decided to put off lugging the rest of the tree branches until this evening.  Wouldn’t you know it the truck that picks up yard rubbish decided to come by…yeap, if it wasn’t for bad luck I would have no luck at all!

In my to do list was to spray paint the cinder block fence in bright yellow to mark where the water meter is located so I can keep that area mowed and accessible.  It is a good thing I choose to do that today because I noticed it is leaking.  Called in the morning but got an answering machine so left them a message, of course no one returned the call.  Called again in the afternoon and got a live person.  She said since it was after 2:00 pm it would have to be scheduled for tomorrow.  Wanted to tell her I had called in the morning, did that not count?  Decided it was best to save me the aggravation.  The only reason I mention this is so I have a record of it…you know me and my CRS!

It was 103 degrees today.  I have not seen Walter in his corral since the “incident” which is rather odd.  His owner is building a cinder block structure so I can no longer see into his backyard.

Tomorrow mother has an out of town doctor’s appointment so even though I am not sleepy I think I will turn in early (for me that means before 3:00 a.m.).

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

The Return of Mata Gatos

This week has gone so fast and we have had so much on our agenda that I was either tired, asleep or both and have not had a chance to catch up on my postings or my favorite blogs.

I commented when I was in Houston that I wanted to get back to Del Rio so I could sleep late. Well that has not happened yet, but at least I am not awake by 5:00 a.m. like I was when I was there but not by much.

My mother woke me up early (for me) on Monday, July 16^th to inform me that there was a suspicious car along our fence line and it kept on going back and forth (her house encompasses three large lots) and had been doing so for a while but no one would get off.

Reluctantly I got up to look out the window.  I told mother “I can not believe you woke me up for this, that is your friend Mata Gatos”.  For my new readers and those not familiar with this character, Mata Gatos (Cat Killer in Spanish) is one of my mother’s church member’s that comes around to do her yard but never finishes the job.  He is a bus driver for the local school district and comes looking for work during the school hiatus.

While I cannot prove it, I believe he and/or his son are responsible for the disappearance of my beloved 14-year-old cat.  That is why I nicknamed him Mata Gatos.  I cannot stand the man but this is not my house and I cannot run him off or give him a piece of my mind without upsetting my mother.

Turns out he did not expect the yard to be mowed nor did he imagine that we would have a horse in our property…Walter had spent the night…more on that in a future post.  Well he finally decided to get off his vehicle and mow the south part of the property but only mowed less than half the lot. 

My mother went out to give him some bottled water (he never brings his own darn water) and they sat down to talk.  She asked him not to mow the other lots (like he was really going to) because she wanted Walter to be able to graze on the grass.  Mom said he looked disappointed but told her he would then mow on the street side of the fence…he finally had a bright idea!  This time I gladly paid him for his services and I hope he never shows up again.

Want to welcome Dizzy-Dick of Dizzy's Wanderings & Wonderings to the blog role.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Monday Sprinkles

This morning I was rudely awaken at 9:31 a.m. not to yapping Chihuahua’s but by the sound of a weed eater.  Tried to ignore it but then I asked myself…could it possibly be Mata Gatos (Cat Killer)?  It would fit his M.O. of showing up on a day with crappy weather and with thunderstorms looming.

Got up and informed Mom that her hired help was back.  Was surprised he stayed for two whole hours, heck weeds are already growing in the area he last mowed a couple weeks back.  Only reason I am even mentioning it, is so I can have a cyber record of his “work schedule”.

It started sprinkling just before noon and kept on for about three hours. This was a great day to stay home and just chill but alas it was not to be.  Mother asked me to drive her to her friend’s house to pick up some items.  Once in town she decided she wanted to go to HEB and then we swung by the P.O. Box.

Could not help but notice that gas is now $3.38 a gallon. That is 20 cents more than what I filled up at just last week.  Glad we have an economical vehicle.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Cold and Windy

I woke up at 3:33 a.m. to the sound of a heavy downpour. Got up and looked out the window and was thankful that the rain predicted finally materialized. However, the heavy downpour only lasted five minutes and then it was just a light rain that ceased by 3:50 a.m.

For some unknown reason every time I have to go somewhere or do something important I cannot go to sleep…I hate that.  Early this morning I went to start up the car and brought it around the house.  Man, it was cold and windy!!  

This is not the type of weather that I would choose to go out in but we did not have much choice as mother had a doctor’s appointment and multiple errands to run.  Just as we were going out the door I heard the sound of a weed eater.  Yeap, it was Mata Gatos (Cat Killer) who finally decided to show up to finish cutting mom’s lawn (weeds).  Of all the beautiful days we have had since he came in December he decided to show up today on pretty much the worst day possible…go figure.

I am happy to report that I officially have a new checking account at IBC or should I re-phrase that and say “the gentleman and I whom unknowingly shared the same account number for four and a half years, now have separate new bank account numbers”.  I sincerely hope that this has served as a wake up call to their internal audit department as well as their management.

I do have to give credit to their branch manager who is a true professional and who addressed all my issues and concerns and made no excuses for her personnel.  I like people who are straightforward and honest. She is a great asset to the institution she works for.

You might ask, “Belinda why didn’t you open up an account at another bank?”  Have to admit that it did cross my mind, but up until the aforementioned incident I have never had any problems.  They are opened 7 days a week and most importantly they are the only bank in town that have a physical presence in Houston.

“Why is a physical presence in Houston important?”  I rarely if ever carry cash on me and if I have to pay to have my lawn mowed or do some repairs in my home I like to pay with a check.  The people that do this type of work usually do not have bank accounts thus the need for a physical presence so they can go cash them.

Mother and I were gone for about four hours.  When we came home I fully expected to find the lawn mowed, but he only weed ate around two trees and a bougainvillea shrub.  This is just totally unacceptable but I am going to stay out of this only because I do not want to upset her and she is after all the one who hired him and who is going to pay him, that is if he ever finishes.  Worthless, worthless, worthless…

Good night, it has been a long day.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.