Snoozing On A Sunday . . .
Jan and I left the right about 1pm this afternoon, in the middle of the rain that had been going on since Oh Dark Thirty this morning. And it didn’t really slack off all day.
The reason for all the rain is the front coming through, taking today’s mid-70’s temps down to 41° tonight, leaving us with daytime temperatures in the low-50’s in the daytime and the low-40’s at night, continuing for the next few days.
Our first stop was for brunch at our perennial favorite Snooze. And being Sunday, we had about a 15 minute wait before we got seated. We’ve eating here since they day they opened, long enough for several servers to wave and say ‘HI’.
After Jan’s Bravocado Toast
and my Shrimp & Grits,
both as good as always, it was on back down to the HEB for some groceries before we headed over to the Santa Fe PO to check our mail, ending up with a stop at the nearby Jack in the Box for Frozen Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
All still in the pouring rain.
I’ve been looking at a new service called Privacy.com.
It’s a service that allows you to generate your own personal credit card numbers to use online. They can be for one-time use only, i.e. burner cards. Or you can create cards that are locked to one Payee, i.e. your cable company, power company, etc.
You can also select a spending limit, with these limits per transaction, per month, per year, or total. So, if you’re Netflix bill is $10.99 a month, you can set your card to decline any transactions over $11. So you can’t get phantom charges that you’re not expecting.
And even better, if you’ve ever tried to cancel a service and they keep charging you until you finally had to cancel the card to get them to stop, this will solve that problem With a Privacy.com card, you can cancel it at anytime.
The reviews of the service seem to be pretty good, so I’ll be checking it out, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
And Now, From Around The CoVid World
Coca-Cola Tests Positive For CoVid
What’s the World Coming To When You Can’t Even Trust Coke
(right-click on page and select Translate To English)
Covid-19 vaccine: Australia stops trials after volunteers develop antibodies for HIV
CNN: ‘Don’t Be Alarmed’ if People Start Dying After Taking the Vaccine
“That won’t necessarily have anything to do with the vaccine.”
UK Health Workers Suffer ‘Anaphylactoid Reaction’ After Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine
New York Times: You Must Wear A Mask Even After Getting A Vaccine
The Vaccine Just Sounds Better And Better
Thought for the Day:
“A ‘Managed’ Democracy is a wonderful thing . . . for the Managers.” – Professor Bernardo de la Paz
December 13, 2011
Bingo and BBQ . . .
After coffee, this morning started out with chores around the rig, working on the Christmas tree, fixing a drawer slide, etc. Then about 12:30 Jan and I headed into Clear Lake to take care of some errands and see a couple of clients.
First thing, I dropped Jan off to get her hair done while I went by the bank, and then Brandi’s to pick up a package that had come in. Then it was getting gas and stopping off at Lowe’s for a few things.
Next, I checked in on a couple of clients, the last one being the one with the AT&T DSL problem. I called Customer Service to complain about being charged for a new DSL modem. They said they’d check it out and call me back within one hour.
Guess what? I’m still waiting!
By this time we’d kill enough time that it was time to go pick up our granddaughter Piper for Bingo.
We then ended up at Rudy’s BBQ for supper. Brisket and Jalapeno Sausage, MMM MMM Good!
Our friend Maria picked up Jan and Piper about 6:30 and I headed back to the rig for a couple of hours. Then about 9:30 I headed down to La Marque to pick them up.
And, as it turns out, Jan won a $100.00 jackpot. Not bad at Christmas time.
Thought for the Day:
I sometimes have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
December 13, 2012
We Missed It . . .
and I’m sorry I didn’t alert you ahead of time. This past Saturday was Time Traveler Day.
This was the day you are suppose to run up to someone on the street and frantically ask them, “What year is it, what year is it?”. When they tell you, you say “Thank God there’s still time”, and then run off down the street.
If you have my twisted sense of humor, you’ll think this is as hilarious as I do. Jan doesn’t.
Out walking the other day, Jan and I saw this small camper who apparently travel with their own rock garden.
The rocks don’t look like they’re from anywhere local so they must carry them around with them. But they’ve gotta weigh almost as much as the camper, and with all the plants, take up most of the space. Must be tight in there.
After three days of house repairs, I took the day off today, and except for juggling some client problems on the phone, pretty much did nothing but play on the computer.
Then a little before 5 Jan and I headed up to Clear Lake to meet Chris, Linda, and Piper, and finally get to eat at Franca’s. And we got an extra surprise when Piper brought her boyfriend Casey along.
As we left we got to talk with Franca for a few minutes and reminded her that when we first started eating there, she was 7 and running around playing with our daughter Brandi, who was 5 at the time. In fact this coming Monday the 17th, it will be 34 years since we first ate there.
After a great dinner, we all checked out Piper’s new car in the parking lot. She’s really proud of it as you can tell.
It’s a 2008 VW Eos, a sport coupe with a retractable hardtop that folds into the truck.
Leaving Franca’s Jan and I headed over to Brandi and Lowell’s to pick up our mail and get in our Landon hugs. It’s really rewarding the way his face lights up when he sees us.
Not sure yet what’s on tap for tomorrow. Just have to wait and see.
Thought for the Day:
Remember, a job not worth doing is not worth doing well.
December 13, 2014
Frankly, My Dear . . .
I went ahead and ordered the new Transfer Switch today, which should be here Tuesday or Wednesday. I had it sent to Brandi’s in Katy because I don’t know where we’ll be by then. We’re hoping to hear something from Galveston Bay RV Resort the first part of next week, but you never can tell.
We know we won’t be moving on Monday because we’ll be in Austin checking out the Gone With The Wind exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the movie, the exhibit showcases many of the dresses worn by Vivian Leigh, scripts used by the actors, and even screen tests of the many actors who auditioned for the movie.
Afterwards we plan on eating at Trudy’s, a Mexican restaurant near the campus where Brandi went to college, and where we used to eat every time we came to visit her. So we’re really looking forward to it.
About 3:30 we headed up to Peter’s BBQ for dinner. Peter’s is one place we always eat when we’re in the area. Great BBQ, and even better, are the many great sides they have. Green beans, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, carrots, boiled carrots, pinto beans, and more. And for dessert, there’s banana pudding, peach cobbler and ice cream. All for the price of just BBQ and two sides at other places. Great!
A little while after we got home, Tom & Lily Christian came over from their rig across the street to talk about gate guarding. They’ve worked for Timekeepers the last several years and wanted to compare notes. But as it turned out, Tom and I had other things in common, both have spent time working at White Sands Missile Range and other places, Tom with the Army and me with NASA.
We stayed outside talking until we got so cold we had to come in for the night. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to get together again before we leave.
Lowell and Landon usually go out for Starbuck’s on weekends to let Brandi sleep in.
Of course Landon only has chocolate milk and a sucker.
Then later, the afternoon found Landon in a serious discussion with Santa concerning his upcoming visit.
Can’t leave anything to chance.
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Thought for the Day:
“There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes!” – Dr. Who
December 13, 2015
Called On Account Of . . .
Tornados, Rain, and Wind.
Well, our 10am departure for Galveston this morning was cancelled due to all the bad weather running around the area. But since our friend Linda is leaving Galveston tomorrow morning, driving to Dallas, we decided that we would meet in Conroe for lunch tomorrow instead. And that works for us since it’s about 20 miles closer for us on the round trip than Galveston.
But since I was already up about 9am, Jan took the opportunity to lure me out with the idea of breakfast at Schobel’s Restaurant over in Columbus, so we headed out about 9:30. With all the rain we had last night and early this morning, I was interested to see what the river crossing coming into the park would look like.
In fact, early this morning, a little after 5am, I listened to some of the loudest rain hitting the rig that I’ve ever heard. It seemed to be lashing the coach in sheets, over and over. But what was very unusual is that there was no horizontal wind rocking the coach like you would expect with this blowing rain, so it must have been coming down vertically.
And when we got to the bridge it was easy to see that all the rain had had an effect on the water level
Even though it was several inches deep over the bridge, our Dodge Dakota with its high clearance, made it across with no problems. But the way the river crossing looked here reminded Jan and I of the Little Blanco River crossing near the home of our late friend Gina’s house near Wimberley, TX.
Like a lot of these crossings in this area, the water is flowing over the bridge most of the year, but usually not deep enough to be a problem.
But if you are careless enough to gun your SUV as you’re heading up the hill, you might find yourself suddenly sliding sideways off the road and into the creek due to the slick concrete. So, don’t do that.
Coming out after our really good breakfast at Schobel’s, I saw this very nice trike out in the parking lot. Nice looking V-8 engine.
It’s hard to see clearly, but it seats3, with the driver sitting in the middle steering using regular bike handle bars, while the gear shift appears to be a standard auto stick shift. The two passengers sit on either side of the driver.
I think a setup like this makes more sense than the Polaris Slingshot reverse trike we saw at the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails a couple of weeks ago.
While I guess the Slingshot is a little flashier, it’s certainly not very practical for inclement weather.
Our next stops were the Wal-Mart and HEB right across the street for a few things. With the cold, rainy weather I decided to whip up a batch of my famous (well, Jan really likes it.) Chicken Tortilla Soup so we picked up what we needed that we didn’t already have at home.
Back at the rig, I got out the slow cooker and got to work. First up was to slice and then poach the chicken breasts in chicken broth. Adding salt and pepper, I let it go for a couple of hours, until the meat was done and tender enough to be pulled apart with a fork.
Then I sliced up the jalapeno and Serrano peppers and dumped them in the cooker,
along with a can of Rotel Habanero tomatoes, a can of Hunt’s diced tomatoes, a can of black beans, a package of frozen kernel corn, and half a package of frozen chopped onions.
Next I added some coarsely chopped cilantro,
some cumin, and few other seasonings. Then, after a taste test, and Jan’s approval, I put the lid on and let it go for a couple of hours.
At this point, I took a very nice nap, and when I got up, the smell of the soup permeated the coach. Very nice to wake up to.
Checking the cooker, I saw it was looking good, and just about ready.
I started dishing it out into bowls,
and then garnished it with shredded Monterey Jack and Queso Fresco cheeses.
Mmm! Mmm! Good!
Finishing up, our son-in-law Lowell sent over these photos of Landon’s Santa visit for this year.
Looks like he’s trying to convince Santa he really was a good boy this year.
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Thought for the Day:
Walk in fear of no man
No matter what his size
When in trouble call on me
And I will equalize
Samuel Colt
