Return To Normal in Texas . . .

Like all of our Alvin Opry House nights, last night was no different, starting with having dinner at the local Monterey’s Mexican Kitchen. And it looks like they’re falling into line with the dropping the masks mandate thing.

They have a sign on the door saying that since Governor Abbott had dropped the mask mandate for the state, they were doing the same thing, and that masks were now optional for their customers, though the staff would continue to wear them.

Works for me.

In last night’s short blog, I posted about 5 year old Blair Kudelka and how good she was, since this was her first time singing onstage.

Alvin Opry Blair Kudelka 3

You can read about that again here, Blair Kudelka

Well Jan updated me that though this was her first time singing onstage, her poise and stage presence comes from the fact that she’s a regular on the child beauty pageant circuit. Which also explains those cute little high heels she was wearing, I guess.

But this is not our first time to see a beginner appearing onstage for the very first time. This is a clip from our blog post from January 19, 2013.

We had some great singers at the Alvin Opry tonight, but it’s also nice to see some beginners like Zack Clifton.

Opry - Zack Clifton

At 9 years old, this was his first time on stage and he did a really good job. Local Opry’s like these are where a lot of famous singers get their start. Some day we may be able to say about Zack that we knew him when.

And that’s what happened here. On last night’s bill was Zack Clifton, 8 years older, and now having opened for Merle Haggard and other stars, we can truly say, “we knew him when.”

Zac Clifton Now

He and his family were sitting at the table next to us between his sets, and it was fun to show him that old photo of him back then.

All the talent on last night’s Opry show was great, one of the best shows ever.

Jumping forward to today, we had lunch once again at the Eggcellence up in Webster, and again, masks were now optional, but the staff were still wearing them. The best of both worlds, I guess. Something for everyone.

Though Jan was disappointed that they no longer had her favorite Greek Omelet, she really enjoyed their Avocado BLT with a side salad.

Next we made a quick stop by the office to set up system image backups on two of the office machines. I’ll remote in later tonight and finalized the backups and reboot the machines.from home.

Our next stop was at the Home Depot down on FM646 in our area, and once again, masks were now optional there, with all the signs requiring them pushed to the side.

I was there to pick up a few things for our patio setup, that I’ll talk about in another blog.

Then after a WalMart stop we finally headed back to the rig. And like the WalMart up in Webster, this one no longer requires masks either. So I guess it’s chain-wide, at least in Texas.

So now, apparently it’s back to this.

Return To Normal: Texas Announces They Will Go Back To Shooting People Wearing Masks On The Assumption They’re Stagecoach Robbers

AUSTIN, TX—In yet another return to normalcy, Texas has announced that effective immediately they will return to their normal mask policy: Anyone wearing a mask is automatically shot, on the assumption that that person is about to rob a stagecoach.

“We done licked that virus good,” announced Texas Governor Greg “Tex” Abbott. “Now it’s time to get back to protecting our precious, precious stagecoaches. So, if you’re wearing a mask — BAM! Ya dead! Yee-haw!”

Good Ole Texas!


Thought For The Day:

“It’s just a mask.” “It’s just six feet.” “It’s just two weeks.” “It’s just non-essential businesses.” “It’s just non-essential workers.” “It’s just a bar.” “It’s just a restaurant.” “It’s just to keep from overwhelming the hospitals.” “It’s just to make the cases go down.” “It’s just to flatten the curve.” “It’s just a few inmates.” “It’s just to keep others from getting scared.” “It’s just for a few more weeks.” “It’s just church. You could still pray.” “It’s just until we get a vaccine.” “It’s just a bracelet.” “It’s just an app.” “It’s just for tracing.” “It’s just to let others know you’re safe to be around.” “It’s just to let others know who you’ve been in contact with.” “It’s just a few more months.” “It’s just a large gathering but for protests.” “It’s just a few violent protests.” “It’s just a little microchip.” “It’s just a blood test.” “It’s just a scan.” “It’s just for medical information.” “It’s just a vaccination certificate.” “It’s just like a credit card.” “It’s just a few places that don’t take cash.” “It’s just so you can travel.” “It’s just so you can get your driver’s license.” “It’s just so you can vote.” “It’s just a few more years.” It’s just . . .