Pleasant Weather / Medical Appts / Disappointed

We have had very pleasant temperatures this week as well as much-needed showers. The A/C did not come on automatically until this afternoon. During the evenings I have left the bathroom window open and with the temperatures dipping into the low 60's I have had to use a blanket.

Yesterday I had my four-month follow-up doctor's appointment and this morning I went to get my labs done. I was glad that they are still following Covid protocols, are making you fill out a questionnaire and following up by checking your temperature before they place a bracelet on your wrist to indicate you have been checked as well as requiring you to wear a mask.

Before going anywhere else I decided to drive to the Del Rio Civic Center to cast my early ballot for the May elections. It appears this will be the new early voting location from now on and not the Val Verde County Courthouse.

I was disappointed to see hardly any vehicles in the parking lot of actual voters. They were mainly of the voting personnel and the vehicles with the candidates' placards and their supporters.

The above barricades are to bring ballots to the cars of handicapped voters.

Vehicles of candidates' supporters

When I went in I did not have to wait in line and it appeared that they were glad to see someone show up. There was only one elderly gentleman voting besides myself.  By the time I finished two more people had come in.  Hope more people show up on election day in May.

Once I completed my civic duty I ran a few errands and as I passed Whataburger I saw very few cars in their parking lot as it was only 11:00 a.m. so I decided to go in and beat the lunch crowd.

Now that my labs were completed I could treat myself to a Whataburger with jalapeños and cheese, some french fries, and an unsweetened ice tea.

If I were to rate my meal on a scale from 1 being the worst and 10 the best...I would rate it 7.5...the best thing was the iced tea.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

A Very Productive Day - Updated

I decided to get my labs done today and get that out of the way. While I really like my new doctor I am not impressed by his staff...the first being his male nurse who told me that I just needed to come fasting as he had already sent the labs my paperwork (this was Monday). I show up today and he never sent them anything. I had to wait an additional 20 minutes because my doctor was with a patient and could not sign the order.

I was inputting my appointments to my medical calendar when I noticed that my follow-up was set up for 3 months and not the 4 months the doctor had written on his order. I got that taken care of over the phone Tuesday. The clinic is now part of Val Verde Regional Medical Center (the only hospital within 60 miles) they now have a full-time employee at this clinic whose sole job is to schedule appointments for the patients at the hospital. She set up an appointment for me for next week when it needed to be in May.

From there I went to the northside post office and then headed to the bank to deposit my stimulus check. The teller told me something odd...she said a lot of her customers had complained that they were sent checks instead of direct deposits to their bank account on this last stimulus payment. I bet the former administration had something to do with screwing that up for future stimulus payments after having lost the election fair and square.

I failed to mention that since I left the house the dashboard was lit. Now that I had the three most important things out of the way I decided to go for a drive to Comstock, Texas a small town 30 miles west of Del Rio. The only time I come by here is when I am on my way to Terlingua.

There were doing road work in Comstock so I kept on going since the speed limit is 75 mph and I wanted to exorcise the demons out of Midnight at times reaching 80 mph. Due to my CRS, I had forgotten how close the Pecos River bridge was so I headed there. 

Much like Lake Amistad, it is sad to see how low the water level has fallen.

The Pecos River in Literature and Folklore marker...

The Medal of Honor Fight 1875...

The Pecos River High Bridge marker...

This is a popular rest area but has no restrooms. Just for your information, there are no public restrooms between Del Rio and Terlingua, Texas...so you will have to visit a Stripes or similar store.

Dash lights were still on as I drove back to Del Rio.

It was a nice drive back.

For some reason, there was a lot of litter between Comstock and Del Rio.

I made several stops on the way the last being at the south side post office when the lights finally turned off...at least for now...

It was a very hot day we reached a high of 102 degrees making Del Rio the hotspot for the area covered by KSAT-12.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Lab work / One Entrance Walmart / Gummy Vitamins / Ice Cream

Howdy folks, did you all think I ran away with my tall weathered cowboy?  I am sorry to report that he has not made it to Del Rio yet...apparently, Alexa sent him further south and he is now in Mexico drinking frozen margaritas and dancing the night away with several Señoritas.

This year I opted to change medical providers and one of my main concerns was that he be on board with me getting my labs done in Mexico as I do not have medical insurance and are what they call "self-pay".

Once upon a time before the current occupant of the White House took office the local hospital would offer $40.00 tests for uninsured individuals. When he was elected the hospital reversed its policy fearing that he would do away with Obama Care and raised their prices to a ridiculous level. For four tests...I paid $160.00. Those same four tests then cost $1150.00 but if you paid with a credit card it would cost you $575.00 or thereabouts.

I marched right on over to my former medical provider to see if she would be open to me getting those same tests done in Ciudad Acuña which she was.  It was a good thing because if she had not been I would have had to say good-bye and gone to my Mexican doctor.  In Mexico, I was able to get all four tests done with a free urinalysis thrown in for less than $100.00 USD.

So where am I going with this? On my telephone appointment with my new doctor, he wanted me to get some new labs done but knew of my predicament.  Not just because of the steep price the hospital charges but the fact that I was afraid to go to Ciudad Acuña whose Coronavirus numbers which used to be below Del Rio's for a long time have now skyrocketed along with the death toll.

Monday I got a phone call from his nurse to let me know that their labs were now offering a more reasonable price to uninsured patients which would be capped at $300.00 I was beside myself with joy!

Wednesday I went to have them done and I must say that they had a well-executed plan. You were met at the door by a nurse in full PPE you filled out some questions, they reviewed them took your temperature before you were allowed inside and placed a hot pink wristband on you to signify that you had been properly vetted.

There were very few people and they had marked places where you could and could not sit. There were four individuals ahead of me so it took a while but at least I was not as freaked out as I thought I might be.

The doctor wanted me to purchase some vitamins which I had been putting off so much to my chagrin headed to Walmart. Upon entering the parking lot I did not see that many cars on the south side where I usually park but as I walked to the entrance saw that the door was closed and there was only one entrance and one exit which was not the case the last time I was here.

I had read in other blogs where they were having problems finding vitamins and I ran into the same problem here. When did vitamins become "Gummy" everything?  As you can tell it has been a while since I have purchased some.

Bought some sunscreen lotion and my favorite Sweet Freedom Ice Cream which I thought was sold out. Since all, I saw at eye level was Butter Pecan and I hate anything pecan...yuk!!!

JudithK...I swear I am not trolling you but this was the first thing I saw when I walked into the now one entrance Walmart...

I think they must have lowered their price to be competitive with HEB.

I have previously mentioned that anytime they change or add a medication it makes me sleepy.  This week I have not even been able to stay up to watch my Late Night shows and with everything that has been happening in our nation, I could really use a laugh.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Economic Boost

Some parts of Del Rio were hard hit by golf size hail two weeks ago.  Since then we have had an influx of hail repair businesses setting up all over town.  While the local paper only mentioned the better hotels being at full occupancy, the other hotels in the area seem full as well.

This past Friday,  April 1st around 2:10 a.m. being the night owl that I am...I was up, when I heard like rocks hitting the roof and my bedroom window.  It did not take long to realize that it was hail. It was so loud it even woke up mother.

Went to open up the front door to look out and yep it was hailing pea size and quarter size hail. Saw the neighbors running outside to put their cars under the carport and others turning on the lights to see what was going on.  Lucky for us, the car was in the garage and we have a metal roof,

Seems a lot of cars in this area substained damage and now we have even more hail repair shops and roofing contractors setting up shop in our little town,  Goes to show how there can be a silver lining even in hard times.

For the past two weeks I have been trying to eat right, gave up my 7-UP, menudo, pizza and all those things that are delicious but not good for you.  All so the lab work I had done today would not come out as bad as I think it will.  I know two weeks of sacrifice can't make up for months of bad habits but at least I can lie to myself and say...I tried?

I was fasting but was not able to make it to the hospital until 1:30 p.m.  Had to run other errands and was starving, decided  that since I have one week until I get the results, I might as well reward myself since I do not anticipate good news.

Stopped at Whataburger as it has been at least three or four months since I have eaten a hamburger. By this time it was around 3:00 p.m so I was very surprised at how full the parking lot was and how many people were dining inside...again an economic boost to our local economy.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.