Vet / Cats / Shopping without buying

Monday when I was in Ciudad Acuña I took the opportunity to set up an appointment for Paquito (My One-Eyed Jack) to be neutered.  His vet has a lot of customers mainly from the USA.  The earliest appointment they could give me was Thursday, March 28th.  I guess the receptionist saw my disappointment and asked if I wanted to be put in a waiting list in case there was a cancellation, of course, I said yes.

They called me late yesterday afternoon to see if I could make it this morning.  I only have one cat carrier and it has been outside for a while so I had to clean it.  Paquito was right next to me when I was doing that even going inside it unprompted.  I was happy because he had obviously gotten over the drama or perhaps trauma involved in our prior trips to the vet.

This morning he was a no show.  I looked everywhere for him and thought the worst because if you do not follow my other blog...I recently lost my other cat Rudy Gay :-(

Not wanting to lose my appointment I grabbed Nico LaHood (Paquito and Rudy's brother) and off we went to Ciudad Acuña.  Being that tolls have gone up and me being a centavera (Spanish for penny pincher) I did not want to have to pay $5.60 twice...$4.00 to cross to Acuña...$1.60 to cross back to the USA.

Decided to kill six hours by going shopping but not actually buying anything.  This is when I wished that Terlita my camping van was still drivable.  It was a cloudy day in the '70s so I could have taken a nap in my van if I had it.

I ate at the food court of Plaza Bella, the only mall in this border town.  It made me sleepy so I had to go walk it off at Aurrera (owned by Walmart).

Could not help but notice that in every store I walked into that had automatic tellers there were long lines.  I asked one of the security officers why and he said that maquiladora workers get paid on Thursdays. Their paychecks are automatically deposited into whatever bank their employers work with and they go and withdraw it.

Went to pick up Nico and noticed that in his new official paperwork his name was listed as Niko, not Nico...oh well...I was too tired to argue.

Unlike Monday this time I got lost trying to find the International Bridge. They have changed the traffic flow of a lot of streets and made many one way. Had to go around and around until I finally found my way.

This time I only had a 15-minute wait to cross back to the USA.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

No Internet / AARP / San Antonio

It seems that each month I am running out of Internet GB's sooner and sooner and NO, I do not plan on purchasing additional capacity.

Warning

You have exceeded your plan’s Monthly Anytime Usage Allowance and as a result your download speeds have been greatly reduced. If you would like to increase your Monthly Anytime Usage Allowance for the remainder of this Current Usage period, you may do so by purchasing additional capacity below.

Actually, I ran out last week but since we had to go to San Antonio decided I would use the free internet at the hotel that being an AARP member affords me.  Surprise, as of March 4th, they did away with special benefits to AARP members like late checkout and free internet. In its place, they instituted an across the board 10 percent discount to seniors.

What is this world coming to? No late checkouts, no free internet, no Spurs games, no Telemundo...looks like I am going to have to find me another hotel chain...grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

That is unfortunate as I had finally learned how to arrive at this location and to the three doctors offices that we frequent in the Medical Center without getting lost. So I ended up lugging my heavy laptop for nothing. I could have tapped into their Wi-Fi but I was not going to pay for the privilege. Mother is right, I am a "centavera" (Spanish for penny-pincher) jajajajajajaja :D

I finally made it to Target and got to use my $5.00 discount card. We were already packed but I managed to free up some space for huge rolls of paper towels, and other paper products I bought. Schlotzky's is located in this shopping center so off we went for a late lunch only to find a sign saying they had moved to Potranco Road...so goes my luck!

Asked around found Potranco Road but did not find the new location so left San Antonio with a heavy heart and an empty stomach.  I usually take stuff for mother to eat but not for myself. Who cares about cholesterol, saturated fat, carbohydrates or high glucose levels when you are in San Antonio?

We stopped at Dairy Queen in Castroville and had a great meal, we even had snow cones for dessert. I have always liked this little town, in particular, its small and well-kept cemetery. Yes, I know I am strange but what do you think finally sold me on Terlingua?  Its historic cemetery of course.

Good night,  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Spurs Corner

Arrived in Del Rio just in time to catch the Spurs vs Sacramento Kings game last evening. For a while there I could not believe the score, thought perhaps my glucose levels had gone through the roof and I was seeing things.  Glad we got our act together and pulled a win!

Though I was very tired, I stayed up to watch the Golden State Warriors drop three in a row...man, I love basketball :)

Centavera?....Moi?

I try to schedule medical appointments in San Antonio for the early afternoon, to give myself ample time to arrive.  This appointment was with the eye specialist who referred us to the cataract doctor. They call you in at your scheduled appointment time, rarely is there any waiting which is a definitive plus. With that said, this time, it was me who left late and once again sort of got lost.  I think I am going to have to start leaving even earlier though not for this doctor.  I seriously doubt we will come back to see her.

I do not know why she referred us to the cataract doctor when she knew there was a strong probability that the operation would have little success.  If anything mother is worst off than before. Sometimes I think they just want to milk the Medicare system.

After we left her office, I was surprised that mother said she wanted to go eat at Schlotzky's, you see she is not a fan of sandwiches.  This Ophthalmologist is off Huebner Road close to Leon Valley, an area we do not often frequent like we do the Medical Center. There was a lot of construction and frankly I did not know if I could even find my way back to Del Rio.

Out of the blue, I caught a glimpse of a Schlotzky's when we were on Bandera Road and quickly pulled in. It was an older location but the food was just as tasty.

When I went to get my tire fixed there was an ad for Harbor Freight with a lot of coupons. I asked the father of the owner if I could cut two of them out and he gave me permission.  However, by the time we reached the store, it was rush hour traffic and I decided to pass, as this area is also under construction. I knew I would encounter delays and I wanted to get home before dark...maybe next time?

There are a lot of pros of living in a small town but access to medical care and specialists is not one of them.  It is not just us that have to make these trips but many of my mother's friends and neighbors. Even in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico our lady friend has to go to specialists in Saltillo, Coahuila (the capital of the State) or Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico for medical care.  She is fortunate in that she has two sons who take turns taking her.  They hop on the bus at midnight and arrive in the morning. In Del Rio, we do not even have bus service to San Antonio anymore.

Another reason for arriving late was because I forgot to stop to gas up the day before (one more thing to blame on my CRS). I had to fill up at $1.95 a gallon when I could have gotten it cheaper!  My mother called me a "centavera" Spanish for "penny pincher"....jajajajajaja...I am saving the woman money and she still complains :D

Fortunately, on the way back the price of gasoline had gone down and I was able to fill up for $1.87 a gallon in Uvalde, Texas.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.