Hot kitchen / Low flow at San Felipe Creek

First thing yesterday (Tuesday) even though they had not opened yet, I called the A/C company where I purchased the unit so they could come to check it out. The owner's wife would later call me back only to inform me that they could not get to me until Friday and would put me on the list...I was 53rd!

She went over some things I could do in the meantime to determine if it was the compressor or the blower? She said if it was the compressor it would take longer to fix as they would have to order it. One of her suggestions was to turn off the unit for 6 HOURS!!! Is this lady crazy? Yesterday we had another 108-degree day.

Thanks to YouTube and the local news (from San Antonio) found out it was perfectly fine if it does not shut off after the temperature outside is 20 degrees higher. YouTube had some suggestions like washing down the unit but our unit is on the roof and I suffer from vertigo so that was a no-go.

I was very worried about the kitchen since that was a later addition and the A/C does not cool as well there. It needs a small a/c or a mini-split that was not yet invented when the kitchen was added. This was the temperature in the kitchen even though I had three windows open that face north, south, and east. Where were the wind gusts when you needed them?

My main concern was the refrigerator breaking down trying to keep the contents cool when it was 104 degrees in the kitchen. Thankfully, I am the proud owner of ice chests of all sizes which I refer to as "My Terlingua Boys". Got out all the things I needed from the fridge. Good thing I keep frozen water bottles so did not even have to go buy ice.

This morning the temperature had come down to 80 degrees so I closed all the windows placed aluminum foil on them and opened the air vents.

The "830 Times" website said that if needed they would open the Del Rio Civic Center as a cooling center but I do not know if they did. Everyone in Del Rio knows that our unofficial cooling center is the Val Verde County Library where you need a light jacket in the summer. I needed to make copies this morning but there were a lot of cars there so I passed. I do believe some people might have been there for the cold A/C.

Drove by San Felipe Lions Park to see how the drought was affecting the flow of San Felipe Creek.

The flow has definitively been slowed...

Little HEB is close by so went to stock up on salads, bread, ham, and milk as there is no chance of me warming up anything in the kitchen.

I don't usually drink sodas but I saw this was Caffeine Free, was on sale for $1.00 so decided to give it a try.

Gasoline was selling for $4.089 for regular unleaded and $4.919 for diesel at Walmart.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Memories

Yesterday (Saturday, June 18th) I gave myself the morning and afternoon off from yard work. I had not left the house in a week and needed to pick up the mail at the post office. Glad I did because it was so full I could barely get it out.

Del Rio has some very long trains that cross through town and while there are several ways to get to the post office that is not going to happen when the trains are in motion so I headed to the very first overpass that was built (we only have three). That involves driving by the main HEB, the price for unleaded has not changed it was still $4.49 a gallon and the store parking lot was almost full at 11:00 a.m.

When we first moved to Del Rio we rented a house close to downtown which is known as Historic South Del Rio. The house where we lived as all the houses on our side of the street were sold and moved, or torn down.

Last year I had seen one of the houses on the next street over for sale on Realtor.com someone bought it and appeared to be working on it. What would be my surprise two months ago when I saw they had torn it down and were building a new one in its place. In a way, I am glad it was torn down, though the owners of the house had to pay a heavy price through no fault of their own for being related to two family members who up to that time or even perhaps today committed the most heinous murder in Del Rio history.

A new large structure caddy corner to that one is going up. It brought back memories of the late Mrs. Salas and her four grandchildren that she raised on her own after her irresponsible daughter took off to Chicago with some guy and never sent them a dime for their care. It made me feel sad and at the same time old since I doubt anyone else would know this besides their family who are dead and the kids now adults who all live in Illinois.

You know how we tend to forget a lot of things later in life which I call CRS? Well, it is like the floodgates opened and so many thoughts and memories long forgotten suddenly became fresh. I recalled dating Mrs. Salas's oldest son before he too left for Chicago...in the '70s that was the city most Del Rioans moved to obtain a good-paying job. We had already moved out to the county when I learned that her youngest son had taken his own life. I remember helping him with his homework and having long talks with him. All this just from looking at a new house?

Little HEB is three blocks away so I parked there to wipe my tears and get myself together before driving home. That is when I realized there were very few cars there so decided to go in.  All I needed were serranos, bread, and bottled water. Got the first two but they were all out of HEB brand water and had very few of the other higher-priced brands.

Here is what a loaf of bread is going for in our little HEB...

I bought Essential Grains that if you bought two using a coupon came out to $2.00 each

I checked on the price of beef though I seldom purchase any...

A 5-pound bag of potatoes was going for $2.37...

At that price, I could purchase the 15 lb bag for an additional $1.10 and save some money but we can not eat that many nor do we have room to store them. If I was getting ready for Terlingua I would have bought it.

No shortage of Valentina Hot Sauce...

They also had a good selection of Peanut butter that I understand there was a shortage of last month.

Now what I do like...Mayo 😋...I purchased Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil though I have also been seeing it made with Avocado Oil.

I purchased some sliced salad olives for $2.72 a jar.

They had good prices on tuna but I bought those on my last trip to the main HEB and have not opened any yet.

Mushroom stems and pieces are still cheaper at the $1.25 Dollar Tree.

I have never understood why there is a price difference between the HEB brand and Hill Country Fare (also an HEB brand)...

I do not eat a lot of eggs (except boiled eggs when camping) but took a picture for you to see the price.

I almost bought some cream cheese...

Talk about getting ready for Terlingua if it was closer I would have bought these Clamato's which were for half price at $2.49 for 64 oz.

They had a product I had never seen before Clamato Michelada Especial with jalapeños, spices, and lime 32 fl. oz size for $1.48.

I suppose they had wine boxes on sale for Father's Day, another must-have item for the Chili Cook-off.

I am a little late but I hope all my male readers had a great Father's Day.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Another cold front / Breakfast tacos / Little HEB

Even though we have had temperatures in the 70's as soon as the sun goes down it gets cold fast. If you have been reading me for a while you know I do not do well in cold temperatures. Last night (Friday) I went to bed at 8:45 p.m. so it is not a surprise that I was wide awake by 4:00 a.m. I was not about to get up at that ungodly hour so remained in bed.

I have been craving menudo and Stripes breakfast tacos so as soon as daylight broke I was out the door. Bought four different kinds of tacos and some chocolate Abuelita (a popular brand of Mexican hot chocolate). Being a truck stop I was surprised that there were few people there.

Swung by the post office to pick up our mail and since Little HEB is just down the road I headed in that direction. This is a very small store and its parking lot is even smaller. I was no longer living in Del Rio when they built the new larger HEB and the plan was to close this store down. My parents told me that the people organized, petitioned, and held demonstrations to prevent its closure and they were successful in their efforts to keep it open.

The front parking lot was empty and the side parking lot had three cars so I was not sure if the store was open or not but walked in anyway. I guess the early bird does get the worm as I practically had the store to myself.  All I wanted to buy was a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and some serrano peppers. I apologize because when I email me the pictures for some reason they shrink and I have no idea how to make them bigger so you can see the price. Anyway, serranos remain at $1.37 lb.

I was not planning on purchasing avocados...but you know how that goes! As usual, I bought the small ones at .88 cents each. Medium avocados were selling for $1.25 and jumbo ones for $2.50 each.

Bananas remained the same at $.48 cents a pound.

I had heard that potatoes were one item that had remained stable in price. I do not typically buy them unless I am headed to Terlingua where I cook them or my idea of cooking is wrapping them in foil paper and placing them in the campfire.

15 lbs bag $3.47

5 lb bag $2.26

I would later look at the Joe V's ad (HEB's discount store in Houston) and shed a tear when I saw their price for avocados and potatoes. 😢

HEB Whole Wheat bread sells for $2.00 a loaf but with their in-store coupon, you could save a dollar if you bought two and that is exactly what I did.

Bought a couple of cookies as this store does not have as big a selection as their main store.

I had missed their Oatmeal Raisins cookies...

While I do not buy meat as I do not cook, I noticed they had placed limits on some items...

I like their black beans with no salt, they went up a nickel to .78 cents so bought a couple of cans.

Canned sliced peaches were on sale for $1.68

I was not expecting to find Juanita's Hot and Spicy Menudo but did not hesitate to take the last four cans on the shelf at $3.68 each.

They jumped right into my cart 😁

Some HEB brands of cereal were on sale for $1.98 each bought only two as I really wanted the one with strawberries but they did not have them at this location.

Since it was early I do not think they had sold out of milk, it must be a supply chain issue. They did not have my Non-fat Milk, or 1% Milk so I had to purchase their 2% Milk for $2.86 a gallon.

They had plenty of name-brand paper towels...

They finally got around to selling 40 bottle packets of water previously I could only find that at Walmart but they never had anybody around to put it in the cart for me. I did not need any water at this time.

I saw these Unsalted Restaurant Style chips for $2.18 so purchase one to try it out...

I ended up spending $59.81 which I don't think is too bad as I also bought frozen broccoli florets, hot salsa, foil paper, and HEB brand 1000 sheet bath tissue.

On the way home I passed by the main HEB and as expected it was already getting packed. I took this picture while driving so it did not come out very well but gasoline prices are going down for now no telling what they will be tomorrow.

$2.989 for a gallon of unleaded

A block away at the corner Exxon, it was going for much more...$3.249 a gallon or 26 cents more.

I got home just in time as the strong winds from the north were ushering in yet another cold front. I am sick of winter. 😭

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid