And The ETR Is . . .
Lunch today was at Gator’s, a first of us during the week. Normally, Gator’s is a weekend thing for us, for their great brunch. But we noticed a FB ad a couple of days ago for their Thursday lunch special, the Fried Catfish Dinner, and it looked really good.
With Fries, Cole Slaw, Jalapeno Hushpuppies, and Cornbread, it was delicious, and at only $9.95, it was a great deal.
Then it was on up the road to Wal-Mart for a few things before heading home for the day.
I called into Roland’s this morning to give them a credit card for a deposit on the engine repair and ask the receptionist if she had any idea what the ETR (Estimated Time for Repair) for our Jeep might be, or would I need to talk to Roland. She said they had the engine out, and the repair would take 2-3 days, which sounded about right to me.
I’ve done engine rebuilds like this in the distant past, and I could have done it in about that time. And I always did them ‘in situ’, still in the car, since I didn’t have the luxury of an engine lift or stand.
BUT, she then said it might take a couple of weeks to get all the parts in, said that they’re having a lot of problems getting on-time deliveries from their suppliers.
So now we wait.
Tomorrow is another Alvin Opry night, with dinner first at the local Monterey’s beforehand, so probably little or no blog tomorrow night.
Then on Saturday we’re still hoping for the rain to hold off for the Three Acre Food Truck Park’s Country Christmas Market. The rain chances have been dropping, so there is something to look forward to.
Thought for the Day:
“Oh, bother!” said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.
December 8, 2010
Cold Weather . . .
Well, our really beautiful weather went away last night when it started raining about 9:30pm and pretty much downpoured all night, and got a lot colder too.
And it didn’t get any better today, with a heavy overcast and more wind. It never got out of the 40’s, and with the wind chill probably was in the 30’s. Brrrrr!
So this was a great morning to just sit around the rig with a hot cup of coffee, listening to the wind and a little rain.
A little after 1 we headed over to Dickinson to have lunch at Dickinson Seafood, which is one of the best places in the area for inexpensive seafood. Jan loves their 1 catfish fillet, 3 Shrimp, 3 Oyster Combination Platter.
Then it was on up I-45 to Sam’s Club to pick up our prescriptions, then next door to Wal-Mart for some groceries and other stuff.
After stopping by Brandi’s house to pick up our mail, we drove over to Chris’ to visit for a while.
Leaving there, we headed back toward the rig, stopping off at the PO to mail our the first batch of Christmas cards.
We finally got home a little before 5 and settled in for another cold night with temps in the 30’s again. More hot coffee was in order.
This ‘Snowbird’ thing isn’t working out quite right. Of course, right now it’s 25 degrees and snowing in Elkhart, IN where we were a couple of months ago, so, on second thought, we’re not doing too bad.
How’s that Global Warming working out for you?
December 8, 2011
Just what I need . . .
another thing to fix.
Jan and I headed out about 11:30 for a day of errands, but our first stop was at King Food for lunch. As usual, our Chicken in Hot Garlic Sauce XXXX Spicy with added Jalapenos was delicious, and hot enough to make my head sweat. A really good batch.
After that, I had a series of client visits. First up was a stop at my biggest client to check in and see if he was having any problems.
Finding it all good, I headed over to another client’s office to pick up a check they had left for me. The office was closed today, but luckily this is an office I have a key for, so it was no problem getting my check.
Next I drove over to this same client’s home office to retrieve my Verizon AirCard and Cradlepoint router that I loaned them before they left town. And, since I had never heard back from AT&T Level II Tech Support, I wanted to see if, perhaps, they had fixed the problem remotely.
But getting there, I still did not have an Internet light, so I guess I’ll be back on the phone again tomorrow.
Our next stop was the Wal-Mart near Brandi’s house to pick up some supplies, and then across the street to Sam’s Club for our prescriptions, Kitty Litter, and Joint Juice.
After a stop at a nearby Kroger’s for some lottery tickets, a relaxing Starbuck’s coffee, and a quick pass through Chase Bank to deposit the check I had picked up earlier, we ended up at our daughter Brandi’s for the evening.
We’re babysitting Landon this weekend while Lowell and Brandi have a weekend in Galveston, and Jan wanted to go over Landon’s bath and bed routine.
For supper Brandi fixed a delicious Turkey Enchilada Casserole using ground turkey meat. We want the recipe.
After a long day we got home about 8 pm, and true to form, Jan was asleep on the sofa by 8:30. Of course, she got up about 6am this morning to watch the sunrise, so it was to be expected.
Tomorrow looks to be another busy day, with two client visits and maybe more. We’ll see.
Now as far as my next repair job.
A few days ago our Splendide washer/dryer combo started making a funny noise that occurred only when the dryer fan motor was operating. But due to the trouble it would be to get the washer/dryer out of its cubbyhole, I decided to take a wait-and-see attitude.
Well, all that gained me was a few days respite. After doing a load of clothes this morning Jan said they not only weren’t dry, they weren’t even warm.
Starting up the dryer and listening, I could tell that although the drum was still turning, the fan motor was not running at all.
So after we got home this evening, I was able to find a Splendide repair manual on line, and it looks like it won’t be too difficult . . . I hope.
My first task will be to get the unit out. To aid in that, I’ll use a furniture dolly from our store room, and pull the washer out and on to the dolly, and that way, be able to easily move it out into the living room to get access to it.
According to the manual, removing the top should give me easy access to the fan motor. I also want to check the nearby heater coils to be sure that they were weren’t damaged by the lack of air flow over them. There is a thermal overlimit switch in the circuit, but sometimes these don’t work, especially 12 year old ones like this.
I’ll keep you updated as I work on this, though it’ll probably be this weekend before I have a chance to really tear into it.
December 8, 2012
Fireworks & A Boat Parade . . .
After a very nice day doing pretty much nothing, Jan and I headed out about 3:45 to meet Chris, Linda, Brandi, Lowell, and Landon at Franca’s Italian Restaurant up in Clear Lake. Unfortunately Piper had to work, so she couldn’t join us.
We were getting together to have dinner and then park down on Clear Lake to watch the annual Clear Lake Boat Parade. Every year people decorate their boats and cruise around Clear Lake and then out into Galveston Bay and then back to the marina where prizes are awarded for the best looking boat in a number of different categories. We attended a number of times over the years and have always enjoyed it.
Franca’s was called Franco’s until a few years ago when the daughter took over the family restaurant from her father, Franco.
We first ate at Franco’s on December 17th, 1978. I remember the date so specifically because is was the first place we ate at after we moved here from Montgomery, AL when I went to work for NASA on the Space Shuttle.
When we first were there, Franca was just a little girl running around the restaurant. It doesn’t seem like long enough for her to have grown up and to be running things now.
But after all the buildup for going to Franca’s, Jan and I got there first and found they didn’t open until 5pm, which wouldn’t give up enough time to have a nice dinner and get to the boat parade by 6.
So I called an audible (by calling Chris and Brandi) and we moved things to Mom Alone’s Mexican Restaurant right next door. The food was good, and Landon was good (he really likes chips and salsa), so it was a very nice meal. We’ll save Franca’s for another time.
Leaving the restaurant and meeting back at Chris’, we all headed to the Lockheed building right next door where we could sit our chairs right out on the side of Clear Lake and watch the boat parade come by.
But this year they started out with a great fireworks show out over the lake that lasted for almost 10 minutes.
And like all good firework shows, this one had a great finale.
Then a few minutes later the boats started moving into position and headed our way. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a lot of good boat pics. The distance was too great, and the light was too low. But I did get a few good ones.
They had everything from sailboats,
to cabin cruisers,
to speedboats, and more.
One thing that was kind of interesting, at least for us, was that the sailboat shown before, the one with the tilted mast, got stuck in the mud. The channel is a little narrow there, and outside the channel it’s just a mud bottom, perfect to get your keel stuck in.
After the parade was over, several power boats converged and pulled him out of the mud.
So after a really nice family evening (except for Piper) we all headed home for the night.
Looking at the weather report, it looks like winter is finally on its way. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 81 with a low of 51. But then Monday the high is 53 with a low of 35. And that’s pretty much the way it’s supposed to stay for the next 10 days or so.
Nice.
December 8, 2013
A Dreary, Sleepy Sunday . . .
Today was just such a cold, overcast day that we just decided to stay home. A few days ago I had put together a crockpot of Chicken Vegetable Soup, and this certainly seemed like a good day for it.
I did come across a couple of interesting things online. The first one is the Best Tourist Attraction in Every State. Check and see how many you’ve done and let me know.
The second one is pretty neat. It’s the LA CARAVANE DANS LE CIEL. This translates to “The Caravan in the Sky”. A Caravan is what most of Europe calls an RV.
I guess this might be the solution if you’re parked in that beautiful heavily wooded RV park and find your satellite dish blocked.
Although it might be a problem if you take the dog out for a late night walk and forget you’re 50 feet in the air.
Check out this video on how it works.
December 8, 2014
Yummmm!
After a nice, slow morning, Jan and I headed out a little before 2pm for lunch and errands. Or errands and lunch. Or more like, an errand, lunch, and more errands.
Our first stop was over in Willis to pick up my pants and our Alaskan coat at the alteration place. I had my FRC jeans from our gate guarding hemmed and our Alaskan coat repaired.
We never had time to get the pants hemmed because we bought them at the Cavender’s in Huntsville, and then started on the new gate later that afternoon. So we just kind of let them bunch up at our ankles.
Our Alaskan coat
that did such a great job keeping us warm on the gate had a couple of seams coming open under the arms so we wanted to get that repaired too.
Finishing up. we headed about 15 miles down I-45 to the Red Robin located at The Woodlands. Jan and I have been wanting a good burger, and it’s hard to do better than Red Robin. And of course there’s the Bottomless Fries.
Jan got her usual Shroom Burger with Cheddar Cheese, but I went with something a little different this time, the Big Sky Burger.
I normally do something like their Burnin’ Love Burger with the Ghost Pepper Sauce, but the Big Sky Burger has a 1/2 pound blackened Black Angus beef patty, topped with crispy bacon, onions drizzled in Sriracha sauce, goat cheese crumbles, arugula and roasted garlic aioli served on a toasted ciabatta bun.
With the aioli and the arugula, it was a little more frou-frou than my usual choices, but the picture in the menu convinced me to try it.
And I was really glad I did. A really great burger. And did I mention the Bottomless Fries?
Finishing our meal, we drove across the Interstate and down the road to The Container Store, one of our favorite places. We both enjoy just walking up and down the rows, checking out all the neat storage ideas and gadgets. We always find something we want, but not necessarily need, but then that’s the fun of the place.
Heading home,we made a quick Kroger’s stop before getting home about 5 pm.
Another nice day.
Tomorrow, I’m going to do some stuff around the rig before we head over to the Colorado River TT on Wednesday.
December 8, 2015
See, I Knew It Was Just Her . . .
Jan and I headed out for Houston about 1:15. We were meeting up with everyone to do the Houston Zoo Lights Christmas light show. But we had left early so we could make a stop and then grab some lunch before ending up at Brandi’s house.
Our first stop was Harbor Freight Tools because I wanted to get a couple of extra blades for my Multi-Function Oscillating Tool that I plan to use to cut into the wallboard behind the shower to track down my leak. But Harbor Freight is one of those places that you can’t just go in and buy only what you want. You end up with 10 or 15 other things things that are on sale and you just had to have. Even Jan found several things she needed.
Well, maybe not needed, but really wanted.
Finishing up at HFT, and remembering there was a Whataburger nearby, this became our go-to place for lunch. Although I went to the one in Carthage, TX once or twice a week while we were on the gate, this was both Jan’s and my first time to actually eat in one. It was always take-out before.
Regular readers will remember my regular trials and tribulations with the cashier at the Whataburger in Carthage. She could just not get my order straight, no matter what I did.
I would repeatedly tell her I wanted a #6 with cheese, and ONLY mustard, ketchup, tomatoes and grilled onions. Her next utterance would always be, “You want lettuce on that?”
And then we would circle back around a couple of more times until I finally saw the correct items on the little screen in front of me.
And then we would start in on mine.
“You want lettuce on that?”
ARGGGGGGHHHHH!
But this time when I told the young lady that I wanted a #6 large combo with cheese, and ONLY mustard, ketchup, tomatoes and grilled onions, she hit a few keys, read my order back to me, and we were ready to move on to my order.
See, I knew it wasn’t me.
Well, sometimes it is. But not this time.
Wrapping up our really good Whataburger meal, we headed over to Brandi and Lowell’s about 15 minutes away, getting there just in time to hop in the car with Lowell to go pick Landon up at his school which is only about 10 minutes from their house.
Then we were off to pick up Brandi at her office building at the corner of Westheimer and Beltway 8, so we were in the thick of the Houston going-home traffic by then. But we got to the Houston Zoo about 5:15, still in time to get a good parking spot close to the entrance, which was nice considering how tired we were walking back to the car.
The Zoo itself closes at 5pm, and then reopens at 6pm for the Zoo Lights, and Chris, Linda, and Piper showed right just a little before they opened the gate.
The Zoo Lights were really spectacular, much better than the ones at Moody Gardens in Galveston that we checked out several years ago. Though I think that’s mainly due to all the big oak trees at the zoo that they don’t have at Moody Gardens.
Landon got one of those whirling LED wands and had a great time with it.
Even the flamingos were still up and about, although they don’t look as pink in the dark.
Jan even had a moose sighting, probably her first one in Houston.
Brandi, Piper, and Landon even got a carousel ride together.
Every time you turned a corner it was just one spectacular scene after another.
They even had a large ‘S’ gauge train set on display, one of which was Landon’s favorite, Thomas the Tank Engine.
One of the last places we visited had this display of Jellyfish. Really neat.
Finishing up on a real Christmas note,
we got our hugs and goodbyes from Chris, Linda, and Piper, and headed out, reversing our trip by dropping Brandi off at her office so she could pick up her truck, and then we all headed back to Katy to Brandi and Lowell’s house.
Then getting Jan settled in, I turned around and headed back to Columbus and the rig. I did stop off at the Kroger’s for gas, now down to $1.56 a gallon.
How Low Can It Go.
I finally got home about 10:15, got this blog done so I could get to bed early and get an early start tomorrow on all my plumbing projects.
December 8, 2016
Sam & Steven . . .
Jan was in Happy Homemaker mode this morning, so she whipped up a a loaf of Cranberry Orange Nut Bread, made with fresh cranberries.
Unfortunately it wasn’t quite cool and ready to try before it was time to leave for our San Antonio day trip. So we were on the road about 11am with our first stop the Tuesday Morning in the Olmos area of town.
It only took Jan about 10 minutes to find 4 boxes of high-end cards, a total of 60, that were originally priced at $20 a box, so $80 of cards for only $25. Nice.
Then it was back down south to the City Base area to the Sam’s Club for my prescription and a couple of other things. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to use the new Scan & Go app that I talked about yesterday. Since I checked out at the pharmacy, I just let them handle the other two items as well. Maybe next time.
Then it was a couple of miles down the road to the theater to see Dr. Strange, the latest in the Marvel Universe pantheon of superhero movies. Although I guess you can’t really call Dr. Strange a ‘superhero’.
His backstory is a little different from the typical superhero one – you know, born on another planet, bitten by a radioactive spider, really a Norse god, or maybe given a lantern by a dying alien, all those normal ways to gain superpowers.
No, Dr. Steven Strange was a world-renowned, but arrogant and egotistical, (but I repeat myself) neurosurgeon whose hands were seriously injured in a car accident. As a result he can no longer do surgery. So after exhausting the range of Western medicine, he journeys to Nepal to seek out an ancient sorceress to heal him. Instead he becomes a master sorcerer himself and resolves to spend his life making up for his past.
The casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange is an almost perfect match to the comic book version that I remember from the 60’s.
Although not nearly as cerebral as Arrival , the sci-fi movie we saw a couple of days ago, it was fun and added a new link to the ongoing story line in the Avengers’ movies and TV series. Well recommended if you’re into this kind of movie.
It seems like most sci-fi movies, and Marvel movies in particular, have extra scenes during the credits, scenes that usually add a lead-in to the next movie, and sometimes the whole over-arcing Marvel story line. And the RunPee app always gives us the info on these extra scenes.
Since this movie’s been out for over a month, there were only about 10 people in the theater, and most of them stayed for the first extra scene in the middle of the credits, but only Jan and I, and two others, stayed for the second one at the end of the credits. When I see people leaving early like this, I’m always tempted to yell out that there’s more, and I have done it a couple of times in the past, but not this time.
After the movie, our last stop was the nearby Cracker Barrel for their Thursday Turkey and Dressing. Just as good as always.
Then it was back on the road, heading home, getting back to the rig about 6:30.
A very nice day.
December 8, 2017
Snow Flurries? No, 2” of Snow Instead . . .
When I went to bed this morning about 1pm, I looked outside and it was not snowing. But a few minutes after 7 when Jan got up, I heard her squealing.
Getting up and looking out, it was, to quote Landon, ‘a winter wonderland’.
That’s 2” on the ruler.
In case you’re wondering, that snow in my rain gauge melted out to .25” of rain.
Although the ground was covered in snow, the roads were clear and not slick at all, so I had no problem getting to work.
It never got out of the 30’s today, with high 20’s tonight. But tomorrow we’re looking for low 60’s That’s Texas weather, what can I say.
I spent most of the day repairing epilator cords. Going through some old cabinets I found a box of cords of all different types, many with no or broken connectors. When I ask my client about them he said no one had been able to repair them.
Don’t know who had worked on them before, but by the time I left a little before 4pm, I had 17 of them repaired. And most of them only needed to be resoldered, so I don’t know what the problem was. The other few did need new connectors made, which I did out of old ballpoint pen tubes and heat shrink tubing. They looked almost new.
I’ve still got about a dozen more to go that I should finish up on Monday. Unless another crisis rears its head.
Getting home about 4:45, Jan and I headed right back out and up I-45 to the Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant up in Webster. And yes, we had Mexican just last night.. What’s your point?
We pretty much go to Chuy’s for their Mexi-Cobb Salad along with their Creamy Jalapeno Dressing.
But I also started out with a small bowl of their Chicken Tortilla Soup. Very good, and filled with chicken and white cheese.
Then for dessert we shared a piece of their Tres Leches cake, but we were so full that we had to bring h half of it home.
We’ve got a busy social schedule for the weekend, with lunch tomorrow with old friends, Bob and Maria, followed up with dinner on Sunday with another old friend down in Galveston at the Old Mexican Café.
Really looking forward to both get-togethers.
December 8, 2018
Baby, It Was Cold Outside . . ,
We had a nice slow morning/afternoon today, mostly just doing much of nothing.
Really nice.
Jan and I headed out for the Kemah Boardwalk about 3:45, wanting to get ahead of the expected crowd for the Boat Parade. Miss Piper was supposed to meet us there but had to bow out at the last minute.
Her loss, and ours too, since we were hoping to see her.
We planned to have a leisurely dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse and then walk right next door to the channel between Clear Lake and Galveston Bay for the parade.
We got seated within a couple of minutes so we didn’t need to use the Priority Seating that comes with our Landry’s Select Club membership, but it was nice to have as a backup.
We started off, as usual, with our favorite Wedge Salad, one of the best we’ve found anywhere.
Then, continuing on down our ‘favorites’ path, Jan got the Center-Cut Filet, with the Grilled Green Beans,
while I got the 12oz Ribeye, also with the Grilled Green Beans.
The beans are really good, but are not on the ‘Sides’ menu. On our last visit to Saltgrass, Jan noticed them in a photo of another entrée, and found we could order them too.
We also each got a serving of the creamy horseradish sauce to go with our steaks. And it also makes a good dip for the green beans.
Everything was as good as we’ve come to expect from Saltgrass, and so knowing we wouldn’t be able to finish them, we both got desserts.
So Jan got the Cheesecake,
while I got the Pecan Pie Bread Pudding with Bourbon Cream Sauce.
As the waiter sat it down in front of me, I was stunned. It looked a lot smaller in the photo on the menu. II was the size of my dinner plate.
Delicious, and both of us had plenty to take home.
By now it was a little before 6pm, so we headed over to the channel to get a viewing spot along the rail.
And it was a good thing since the crowd filled in behind us pretty quickly. The bad thing was that the first of the boats didn’t show up for another hour, and it was freezing. Or at least darn close.
Although we were bundled up pretty good, with coats, gloves, and watch caps, the 45 degree temps and the 15 knot wind running along the channel gave us a wind chill in the mid to high 30’s. Yikes!
But finally the boats started showing up a little after 7pm. So to finish up I’ll just post some of the photos, with some more tomorrow night.
December 8, 2019
Subways and Ferry’s and Roses! Oh My!
Today was another long, busy day, starting with the breakfast buffet here at the hotel, then an Uber to the 911 Memorial,
a subway ride,
a ferry ride,
another subway ride, a walk in Bryant park,
and another Uber back to the hotel.
The about 5:30 we took an Uber down to Chelsea Pier 61 for our Bateaux Holiday Lights Dinner Cruise, which went from 7pm to 10.
We had great views,
great food, a great band, and a fantastic time.
And Jan got roses since this was pretty much a Anniversary celebration, delayed from this past September.
And like last night, we didn’t get back to the hotel until almost 10:30.
Tomorrow we plan on spending as much time as possible at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and then dinner at Serendipity.
December 8, 2020
Jan Goes For The Food . . .
I Go For The Scenery . . . And The Food!
After all, their slogan is Eats! Drinks! Scenic Views!
About 12:15 Jan and I headed up Webster way to the Clear Lake Dermatology Office near Ellington Field. It had been a year since I had last seen Dr. Joe and it was time for another head check.
I had a couple of spots I wanted him to look at, and hopefully just freeze off. At least I hope that’s all it needs.
Or else it could be another session in, what I call, The Devil’s Easy Bake Oven.
Or Photo Dynamic Therapy.
I had called yesterday, wanting to get an appointment before the end of the year so I wouldn’t have to pay the annual deductible yet. I asked for a Tuesday or Thursday appointment before the end of year, and after a few moments, the nurse said, “How about tomorrow at 1:15”. So I guess they had a cancellation.
Great!
And as it turned out, a little poking and prodding, and a few squirts of Liquid Nitrogen, and I was done for another year. So no Extra Crispy in the Easy Bake Oven this time.
I did have a little fun teasing Dr. Joe about his ‘toy’ that I found around back of the office parked in a little, almost hidden, alcove.
It was a shiny red, very new looking, Porsche 911, which starts out at about $100,000, and goes up, WAY UP, from there. So when I asked him if that was his shiny red toy hidden around back, he looked surprised, and somewhat sheepish, and mumbled something about “his other car was in the shop.”
I was afraid to ask what his ‘other car’ was.
Then it was on down Hwy 3 to one of our X-favorite places, Twin Peaks. I say ‘X’ because we used to eat here all the time, maybe about once a week, and even coordinated our visits to the work schedule of our favorite server, Lauren.
But we kind of drifted away when Lauren left to get married, and they kept dropping our favorite dishes, first the Average Joes, mini-hot dog sliders, and then the Pulled Pork Sliders.
But they still have Jan’s favorite Tomato-Basil Soup, and my Spicy Venison Chili, so with that, a House Salad, and splitting a Smoked Pork Cubano Sandwich, we’re back.
And like I said, the scenery was nice too. Unfortunately though, it wasn’t Lingerie Week.
But you can’t have everything, I guess.
Then after Jan dropped off a favorite Christmas Sweatshirt to be altered, our next stop was the Webster PO for Christmas Stamps, and then a quick visit to my client’s to fix a small problem. Then, after an HEB stop for a few things we were home about 5.
A very nice day.
