February 2015 trip to Uvalde, Texas

We got an early start today as we had an 11:15 a.m. appointment in Uvalde, Texas. It was very cold this morning.  While I fixed mother breakfast, I decided to skip mine but stopped to buy me a cup of coffee so I could be awake and alert. Remembering last month's nearly tragic trip http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2015/01/morbid-thoughts.html  I gave myself more time to get there while not having to drive over 55 mph in case another deer decided to give me a scare.

Just this past Monday gasoline was selling for $1.91 a gallon and today it was going for $1.99...it was nice while it lasted.  Was hoping it would be cheaper in Uvalde but it was the same.

HEB in Uvalde

I have mentioned before that we really like her Uvalde doctor and he is well worth the two or three hours that we have to wait to be seen.  With that said, I draw the line at five hours!

He comes from San Antonio once a week and they over book him.  Wish they would call and say he is running behind and tell us to arrive later like her primary doctor's office in town does. My poor mother was starving to death by the time we left his office!

I turned into the first fast food place I saw which happened to be a Jack in the Box.  My mother does not like fast food much less hamburgers but she gobbled it up.  I bought some coffee for her as she was freezing and the guy behind the counter told me he was going to brew her a fresh pot.  We had excellent service and they won her over which is not easy to do.

Neither one of us are coffee people...I am still jittery from my morning cup...hope mother can get to sleep tonight as she had hers in the afternoon.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Frustration

Remember I was shopping around for a better electric rate plan for my mother's house?  One of the factors that made it difficult was that I wanted to see if I could include the outside light in the plan.  Did not find a single one that did so.

In the meantime the outside light had gone out but we did not bother to report it since I figured we would not be billed for a non-working light...wrong again...CPL billed us as if it was working.  I called their customer service department but dealing with their incompetent personnel is more than my nerves can handle!

Today they came to replace the light bulb and it puts out half of what the other one did.  Guess I will have to call them back whether I want to or not.

I called the mechanic so he could bring me mother's mini van and I could then drive him back to his shop.  Saturday when we went to the lake he left a message saying it was ready and that he had found no evidence that the gasoline was getting into the motor oil.

I was on the phone to him so I heard when he tried to start it...and it wouldn't!!!  He finally got it going but said that he did not like how the choke performed and perhaps it would not hurt to give it a tune-up.  HELLO!!!! Did he not have time to check that out all these days that he has had it?

When oh when will I find a knowledgeable and competent mechanic?  I know he is going through a lot right now but he needs to focus on his work or his customers are going to go elsewhere.

OK...end of rant!

It was a windy day in the high 70's.  A lot of the trees are starting to bloom.

I could not believe when I saw what gasoline prices were going for today.  I guess I better get used to it because it seems this is just the tip of the iceberg  :-(

I have never had much of a sweet tooth until recently.  I will have to blame Billy Bob (as I obviously can not blame myself)...but ever since he blogged about his famous chocolate and cherry cake...I seem to have a strange craving for chocolate cakes.

I bought this Three Leches Cake on our last trip to Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico.  It came in handy in helping me forget about my problematic day. :-)

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Mechanic makes a House Call

As you will recall I flooded Dad's old car back in October 2012 but with taxes, getting ready for the Chili Cook-Off, Thanksgiving, Christmas as well as visits from relatives I had not been able to get to it.  Then in December mom's van quit running, I thought it was a dead or a loose battery but true to my procrastinating ways never got around to it either. :-(

I had gone to see the mechanic on two occasions but he too was busy with IRS audit problems but today he finally made an appearance.  Even with a new battery for dad's old car, he could not get it started.  Needs to take it in to his shop and believes the fuel pump might be the culprit.

What I thought would be a simple jump start for mother's van turned into something else. Somehow gasoline is getting into the oil and that has to be addressed.  Had to make a bee line to have the oil changed even though I had it changed about 500 miles back. The fuel  air filter smelled to gasoline as well and had to be replaced. The car is so old they do not carry them, so it had to be special ordered.

Made two trips into town.  It was a nice warm day even though a bit on the cloudy side or it would have been downright hot!

Gas just keeps on going up and up....

The good news is that there is a 50 percent chance of rain for this evening. Look how cloudy it was this afternoon.  I sure hope they materialize, we definitively need the rain.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.