Strong winds / Power Outage

I can not say we were not warned...we were...that is why I spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon batting down the hatchets. I made sure to secure items that might become projectiles with the strong winds and wind gusts that were expected today.

Last night some parts of San Antonio and surrounding areas were pounded with baseball size hail the worse being in Dilley, Texas. That poor town (literally and figuratively) took a beating. Car windows,  windshields, roofs, and house windows were shattered.

I was getting ready to go outside to feed the cats but I was not able to open the kitchen door due to the pressure on the door (the door opens toward the outside like in Florida). As my luck would have it at 4:30 p.m. the strong winds began. It was more of a terrible dust storm. Exactly one minute later at 4:31 p.m., the power went out. It is a good thing I made sure I had my solar lights charged as well as our phones and my tablet.

Ordinarily, not being able to watch TV would not be a big deal but I wanted to watch the 5:00 p.m. news. I thought with the Spectrum App that I downloaded today I would be able to do so either on my tablet or phone but to my surprise it told me that I had to access my "Home Wifi". That would be fine and dandy...but without electricity, I had NO Wifi!

It looked weird with no visible lights and all the houses in the dark. Finally, at 7:43 p.m., the power was restored. The winds had died down some by now but they started up just before the 10:00 p.m. news.

Once again there was hail in the San Antonio viewing area...

Even at 10:02 p.m., KSAT-12 was showing 500 households without power in the Del Rio sector.

I like to watch several networks and  KENS-5 was reporting wind gusts of 53 mph at 10:00 p.m.

Today we reached a high of 95 degrees but Eagle Pass had a high for the area of 102 degrees. I would later learn that Eagle Pass was the hottest spot in the nation.

Tomorrow we are going to remain with high winds and under a red flag warning.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Can you believe...another power outage?

This is just getting ridiculous I am sick and tired of all these power spikes and worse yet the power outages...grrrrrrrrrrr!!!

I finally managed to corral Paquito and put him out so I could heat up my dinner and watch the game that had already started (My Spurs).  All of a sudden I am left in the dark it was 8:33 p.m. at least I had my solar lights nearby so was able to eat my dinner without a problem.

Looked out the window and saw that the neighbors were outside. The dogs were going crazy barking at them since they decided to walk up and down the street. I had lowered the A/C this afternoon as it was so hot therefore the house remained cool.

At 9:44 p.m. the power came back on after being out for 1 hour and 11 minutes.  I was glad it came back so soon relatively speaking.

We had a low of 79 and a high of 104 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Heat Wave / Power Outage

It has been incredibly hot lately. Thank goodness for the breeze and wind gusts. If I am not outside by 8:00 a.m. it gets too hot to water all the trees. The heat has done a number on them and with the wind, they are shedding their leaves as though it was fall.

Today was the first time in a long time that there has been low water pressure. The water coming out of the faucet was also warm even though it was on the cold setting. It remained that way until late in the afternoon.

I have been cleaning my 32-gallon rain catchment barrels (trash cans) as soon as I empty one I fill them up with Del Rio City Water whose source is San Felipe Springs. We are very fortunate to have this true gem as our border city neighbor to the south...Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México has to rely on the Rio Grande for their drinking water.

San Antonio is already under Stage 1 - water restrictions as many other Texas towns so we are lucky in that respect.

With this heat wave, I have been doing some yard work but just a little at a time. The only plus to being in a severe drought is that it has kept the weeds at bay. If only it would also kill those darn mesquite trees!!!

I had just taken a shower and had sat down to watch the 4:00 p.m. news. The nice cold A/C was blowing in my face and I started to doze off when the power went out at 4:16 p.m. I could not believe it! Why did I not lower the A/C earlier so the house could stay colder longer in case of that eventuality?

After I while I went outside and I heard someone's window unit running. Mr. Joe's wife was watering her lawn so I asked her from my side of the street if her power had gone out. She said she did not know but would go check...it had gone out. Though it seemed that the neighbors in the back of her house (the next street over) still had their electricity on...that is why we could hear the window units still operating.

Our landline telephones are electric so I could not use them to report the outage. When I found my cellphone it only had a 20 percent charge plus I did not have the number to report it to. Instead found my solar lights and took them outside to charge. One of those lights has the ability to also charge cellphones and tablets.

Power outages are common in southern Val Verde County the last one was just a couple of days ago and lasted six hours. We were fortunate that the power came back on at 5:09 p.m. after only 53 minutes.

We had a low of 81 a high of 108 with a heat index of 115 degrees. This weekend is going to be extremely hot in the Southern States. Stay inside and be safe.

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Severe storm / Power Outage / New Covis-19 Case

Was busy raking and cleaning up the yard from our prior hail storm that took down many small branches and leaves but could not find the larger of the Cat's Food Bags since using even the heavy-duty plastic trash bags will poke holes in them.

I like watching the afternoon news but passed on them because I knew if I took a break I would never get back to my yard work.  I, therefore, had no idea we might be in the path of a severe storm later in the evening.

It was around 8:20 p.m. and I had just finished washing dishes when these terrible wind gusts began even the kitchen door rattled and then I heard the tree branches (that I need to prune) rubbing on the kitchen roof. The rain and lightning show followed shortly by the lights turning on and off several times as I ran around turning off the power strips.

Around 8:45 p.m. the power went out not to return again for the evening. Thank goodness for my solar lights. The wind calmed down but the light show continued.  It was eerie seeing the streets so dark only being lit by the passing cars. The good thing was that the temperature went down so even without the A/C on it was comfortable inside the house.

No electricity meant no TV, no Internet, no computer time. I sat in the recliner trying to unsuccessfully go to sleep. I would have loved to have had a glass of wine or a beer but aside from the beer being hot I had taken a Metformin and that just does not go well with alcohol. While I finally did fall asleep for a while I kept on waking up. Sometime between 4:10 a.m. and 6:25 a.m. the power came back on.

After two weeks without any new cases, the Val Verde County Health Authority reported Sunday the 13th local contagion of Covis-19 case which has been labeled as community spread per the Del Rio News-Herald online site.

Since it is afternoon I can not wish you Terlingua Dreams instead have a nice day and if you can stay home.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Camping Van / Gasoline Prices

Have been asked why I have not posted gasoline prices lately.  No reason really, I guess I have either not had access to my purse or I left my camera at home.

Stripes in Uvalde, Texas

Last week when we went to Uvalde I spotted the perfect camping van.  It wasn't in the best of shape but it had great bones, When his owner came out he saw me taking pictures of it.  I told him how pretty it was.  He looked at me and in Spanish said "are you making fun of me?"...No, Sir I replied...I like your van.

Look at all the space up on top. I could carry so many supplies to Terlingua.  Heck, I could probably bring a lot of things from Houston to Del Rio.

The Corolla gives great gas mileage or I would have filled up in Uvalde as it was cheaper than in Del Rio.

HEB in Del Rio, Texas.

It has been so hot and humid lately. Have been under thunderstorm warnings but luckily they have not materialize.  We have had two more power outages...the last one this morning.  Woke up to a flashing alarm clock so Mom got her medication at 7:30 a.m. instead of 6:00 a.m.

Gasoline prices have been on the rise, thus was pleasantly surprised that it went down seven cents yesterday.

o 

If anyone would like to read more about the puppies you can click on this link or click on my header picture and it will take you to my other blog. http://mylittlewalter.blogspot.com/

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Spurs Corner

Besides my beloved Spurs, I also follow other NBA teams.  This evening I was happy for Corey Joseph a former Spurs and now Toronto Raptor.  They have so much fight in them.  I certainly hope they beat that Miami team.

Even though this evening Golden State beat the Portland Trailblazers and advanced to await the winner of the Spurs vs OKC series...give Portland a lot of credit.  They have played their hearts out and never gave up, no matter the score, I have so much respect for them after following them in these playoffs.

I hope my Spurs win tomorrow.  GSG!!!

Annoyed

Last night we had a thunderstorm, nothing out of the ordinary when DISH went out.  I was in the middle of finding out how much a camouflage metal container which was magnificently remodeled by the husband/wife team known as the Young Guns on "Texas Flip and Move" went for at auction. It was the perfect structure to have in Terlingua...it had an outdoor shower, a deck on the roof with strong railing and an enclosed garage for your ATV.

This afternoon I turned on the 5:00 p.m. news only to find that the series I watch on weekends was going to air then instead of at their usual time.  I had just checked the TV Guide this morning and there was no indication of the change.

Was watching the series when all of the sudden the TV went blank...uttered a few choice words about DISH...only to find out that this time it was not their fault...the power had gone out.  I was so pissed! It was 5:50 p,.m. perfect weather, blue skies, no wind.  If you have been reading for a while you know that this is a common occurrence in South Val Verde County.

My blood pressure started going through the roof as 7:00 p.m. neared and the electricity had not come back on.  Why?  because it was Game 1 of the Spurs vs Thunder series.  Looked everywhere for a radio but the only one I found uses like ten C-batteries of which I did not have a one.

Went to the garage but had to move the car to get a better signal.  Parked in the back, the front and finally the side of the house where I got a better reception. I had turned the outside light on so I could tell when the electricity came back on. It did so with about two minutes before the end of the second quarter.

I still have no idea why we lost power.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Spurs Corner

I knew we would come out strong in the first game against the OKC Thunder but I never imagined what a great game we would have against them.  It was a smack down!

I can hardly wait until Monday!  My prediction is Spurs in six.

GO SPURS GO!!!!!