Spectrum Service Outage

Since August we have been experiencing various service outages with our ISP, Spectrum. Usually, it involves the internet but today it is all-inclusive...cable, landline phone, and internet. I called them but they had such a long wait I opted to let them call me back on my cellphone which thankfully is with another provider.

Briefly considered going to the library but remembered that they open at 1:00 p.m. on weekends. They also have Spectrum as their ISP so it would not have done any good. Two weeks ago I went to print out some documents only to find that several of their computers were not working. I had better luck this week.

The customer service representative informed me there was a two-city-wide outage as a fiber optic cable had been cut and they were working on it. I regret not asking her what other city was involved. She also mentioned that if the outage lasted more than four hours we could get reimbursed...I thought that was funny...how much would I receive...a quarter? 😄

Ordinarily, I would not care if it involved cable. Still, today Telemundo was going to carry live El Día de los Muertos parade from Mexico City and I was looking forward to watching it. I am seeing it now but it keeps on going on and off.

It has been a while since I posted gasoline prices. I was in shock to learn what California residents are paying for theirs. We have more reasonable prices at $2.829 at HEB. I filled my tank up at Walmart for $2.819 for regular unleaded.

Aunty Acid

Casa de los Famosos

I am not into reality shows the last time I watched one was in early 2000 when Big Brother premiered.  If I am going to watch regular television it is going to be HGTV shows or the Hallmark Channel though I prefer my cable news channels.

During the recent deplorable border incidents, I did not even want to watch the news so I opted to watch the premiere of a much-talked-about show on Telemundo. It is in the format of Big Brother and is televised from Mexico City to the USA. It is comprised of Latin American soap opera stars, a former Miss Universe, a famous Mexican Ranchero singer, and several internet influencers.

I can not believe I actually liked it! I tuned in the following day to watch the daily 2-hour recap as I was not about to watch it 24/7 online. I soon discovered that they do not show you a lot so I went online... a bad idea...that darn thing is very addictive!

Saturday nights they have theme parties and are allowed to drink alcohol. There have been several accidents of people falling and breaking a hand, others falling off their bed, and Alicia Machado (former Miss Universe from Venezuela) jumping into the pool and then taking her clothes off.  Just a silly show to make you forget reality for a couple of hours.

I recently learned that you can watch it on YouTube as well which beats being glued to your computer or cellphone. They have a live chat going on at the same time and it brought back good memories of my days in chatrooms where I met so many people.

If you want a good laugh here is the link https://www.telemundo.com/shows/la-casa-de-los-famosos

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Food for Thought

Laundromat / Flu Shots / Kawhi Leonard

I finally got around to going to the laundromat, the best part is that I was the first one there.  They have one washing machine with a capacity of a Maxi-load (equivalent of four loads) that they have a special price for their regular customers.  It is not advertised you just know it if you go there frequently and happen to pay attention to the price.

I have often mentioned that I do not buy the local paper so I do not know what goes on around town. I happened to be watching San Antonio's Telemundo when they were doing a story of free flu shots in Del Rio. I showed up early in the morning and took advantage of this offering. I asked the lady in charge where they would usually post something like this and she said the radio and fliers around town. No wonder I never see anything...thank you Telemundo!

It has been warm and the trees have started to bloom and that includes the weeds  I do not look forward to spring!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Spurs Corner

I am very happy we finally broke our losing streak, the fact that it was against the Cleveland Cavaliers was the icing on the cake!

With that said what the heck is going on with Kawhi Leonard?  The sport shows claim that he fired his agent and his uncle is now his manager who seems to be giving him bad advice.  Why would anyone...sports figure, actor/actress or a person in any profession...hire a family member in particular one with no experience?

I hope he gets his act together before the Spurs organization decides to trade him.

No library, no Internet, no Soap Opera

Just got off the phone with an employee at the Val Verde County Library and it remains closed to the public. You are probably asking...if you have a computer at home, why do you need to use the one at the library? For one I am nearing the end of my allotted 5GB Anytime per monthly cycle (I have 0.3 remaining or almost nothing).  While I have 4.2 GB Off Peak (2:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.) that defeats the purpose of taking my computer out of my bedroom and being able to go to sleep at a normal hour (OK, normal for me).

I do not have a printer and do not plan on purchasing one. However, I am in need of printing out some coupons so I can have my car serviced. Whenever I have printing or copying needs...I like everyone else head to the library where it is more economical (.10 cents per page).

Thirdly, I have missed three episodes of my soap opera that ends next week. My mother told me just to imagine what happened.  I did not devote six months of my time to imagine anything, I want to see it live and in person.  That is never going to happen with my low Internet speeds, even when we had Time Warner Cable, it would buffer continuously.

I went to Walmart and attempted to use my tablet to watch it there but it told me that I did not have that programming on DISH.  Called DISH, called Telemundo and I still can't watch anything. Where is my TWC (tall weathered cowboy) to help me deal with all this technology?

On a more positive note, it was warm yesterday and it will be warm today.  Went by Tractor and Supply to pick up more food for the critters and the young man that checks me out and then puts the bag in my vehicle remembered me and said: "this time it took longer for you to come, had not seen you in a month".  I just smiled at him, with my CRS...I have no idea when was the last time I came!

Stopped to wash my car and was going to fill-up but I think I will wait a couple more days and see if the price comes down some more.  It was at $2.13 per gallon in HEB.  Monday we went to San Antonio and Hondo, Texas had the best price at $2.04 per gallon for regular unleaded.

Heard from three people yesterday, that I had not heard from in a while...have not decided if that is good or bad in particular from two of them...I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. There is a saying in Spanish "Piensa mal y acertaras" that more or less translates to "think the worst and you will be on the right path". Sorry, that is the pessimist in me coming out.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Jenni Rivera 1969-2012

Yesterday I finally bit the bullet and set-up my Kodiak Canvas tent in the backyard in order to clean it out after my trip to Terlingua.  It took me 40 minutes to pound in the stakes but I used the heavy duty ones that came with the tent...in the desert I only use four of the heavy duty ones in the corners. Then I cheat and use the regular metal ones and even doing that it takes me between two to three hours to pound them in, in the heavy rock area where I camp.

I got it set up too late to be able to clean it out last night, so this afternoon as I was sweeping the tent I noticed little black specks.  Upon further examination it turned out to be the darn pesky flies that invaded the area and who Tffnguy had warned us about before our departure. Swept and mopped it real good but the bending over did a number on my back so I decided to quit while I was ahead and go online instead.

A note on Yahoo caught my attention regarding a missing plane with Jenni Rivera on board.  You might ask yourself, who is Jenni Rivera?  Unless you are Hispanic, Latino, Chicano or Mexican-American you  probably have never heard of this well known singer, composer, author,  business woman and  entrepreneur from California.

I knew of the one forum where I could get reliable and up the minute information and that is where I got to see pictures and video before it was broadcasted in the regular media.  Unfortunately  the news was not good.  After her sold out concert in Monterrey last night she and her entourage boarded a private chartered plane en route to Toluca, Mexico.  The radio tower lost communications after only 10 minutes of flight time.

Last known picture of Jenni aboard the plane that ultimately lead to her death

I became glued to the forum and then to the Spanish speaking networks that were frantically trying to beat each other to the tragic news.  Telemundo broadcasted live for four hours and Univision got caught with its pants down and did not chime till later with coverage until midnight.  I had never seen this extensive coverage since the death of another well known Mexican-American singer Selena back in 1995.

While not a fan of her music...I was a great admirer of Jenni the woman, mother, daughter, sister and over all great human being that she was.  Will not go into specifics on this post but I am sure if you care to Google it, you will agree with me that this woman overcame a lot of adversity in her life.  I know of no one in my circle of friends, relatives or acquaintances that has faced the kind of trials and tribulations this lady had to face in her lifetime and yet come out triumphant.

May you rest in peace Jenni!