See, Beans Do Belong . . .
After a lazy morning, Jan and I headed up to Webster to meet up with long-time friends, aka The Alvin Group, some of whom we’ve known since the mid-80’s.
We usually rotate around to different places, and this month was the Saltgrass Steakhouse once again.
Jan and I both got the Wedge Salad, but I got mine as my entrée while Jan got hers first before her steak.
Jan’s the 9 oz. Center Cut Filet, with the Green Beans, along with some creamy horseradish.
For my ‘salad’ course, I started everything off with a bowl of the Chicken Tortilla Soup before moving on to my Wedge Salad.
Really good, especially after I picked all the avocado out to give to Jan.
And here’s the motley group.
Then on the way home we WalMart’ed once again before getting back to the rig about 5:15.
And chalked up another nice day.
And now, just to stir up things, there’s this.
Texas red chili purists are wrong. Beans do belong in chili, and historically, they’ve always been there
An article in the Sept. 14, 1877 edition of the Fort Scott Daily Monitor penned by an anonymous writer visiting San Antonio from Kansas gives one of the earliest published descriptions of chili.
“Speaking of hot things, at San Antonio they have a dish called chili con carne,” the article reads. “It is of Mexican origin, and is composed of beef, peas, gravy and red pepper. It is awful seductive looking, and gives a fellow the idea that he has a soft thing on hash. They always have enough to go around, for no stranger, no matter how terrific a durned fool he is, ever calls for a second dish. He almost always calls for a big cistern full of water, and you can’t put the water in him fast enough with a steam engine hose.”
The historian wrote that bean’s were often called ‘peas’ back then.
So let the Bean Wars began.
Again.
Thought for the Day:
A married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no use in two people remembering the same thing.
March 9, 2009
We’ve got satellite TV again…
Jan is ecstatic!
We’ve got satellite TV again.
The Direct TV receiver/DVR we had when we left TX last year died a few months later. I bought a new cheapy one at a pawn shop in Arizona, but never set it up since we were heading to Alaska.
Alaska is so far north that you need a larger disk to pick up the satellites, plus where we were parked for 5 months in Fairbanks had a big mountain in the way.
Then when we got back to Houston, the park we were at on Dickinson Bayou was so windy, everyone’s dish kept getting blown over so I didn’t even try.
But it’s working now and Jan’s happy, and as you remember from a previous post, if Jan’s happy, yada, yada, yada.
In weather news, when we got up today it was foggy, and it stay pretty foggy all day.
Here’s how it looked out the front of our coach this morning.
With more to come tomorrow. Oh, boy!
March 9, 2011
Cactus Queens and Dairy Queens . . .
When we got up this morning we had a nice surprise waiting for us from our daughter Brandi. New Landon Photos!
But the real surprise was how much he’d grown. In these two new photos he’s almost 7 months, lying in his ‘Froggy Chair’. And note that he’s more hanging out of it than ‘in’ it.
And here he is in the same chair at two months. Quite a difference!
Brandi said he’s getting so tall, he’s growing out of a lot of his outfits.
We got up at 8:30 even though we didn’t want to, because I still had a lot of work to do on my seminar today. We were really overwhelmed by the attendance at yesterday’s seminar. As I said I thought we might have 20 or so. We had 117.
For today’s class I had planned on giving everyone a CD containing the programs that I was going to talk about. But based on yesterday I was going to need a lot more CD’s. So I made 50 last night and then did another 30 this morning.
And at the same time I was revamping my outline. I realized yesterday that I didn’t talk near as fast as I thought I did, so I knew I had to shorten the topics I planned on covering.
About 11 Jan and I took a break to walk over the the food vendor to get hot dogs for lunch. Turns out they were nicely grilled rather than boiled, and were delicious. We brought them back to the rig and had them with the last of Jan’s Twice-Baked Potato Casserole from the BBQ potluck on Saturday that Dennis Hill did for the parking crew.
Then it was back to making CD’s, and finally we able to started printing the handouts. The class was called Do’s and Don’ts of Computer Security
Just to be on the safe side we printed up 120 handouts, and Jan finished stapling them together just fifteen minutes before the class started at 1pm. Talk about cutting it close!
The class went pretty well, and once again we had a lot of questions.
A LOT OF QUESTIONS!
But that was good. Everyone seem to have a good time and enjoyed themselves. And once again Jan had to drag me out of the room so the next seminar could start.
We ended up with about 79 attendees, so we were almost perfect on the CD’s and a little high on the handouts, but I’d rather have too many than not enough.
At 2:30 Jan sat in on a panel-discussion seminar entitled “How Not To Kill Your Spouse Living Together In A 400 sq.ft. RV” or maybe it was “Staying Married & Happy In An RV”, or something like that.
While Jan was learning to count to 10 before tazering me, I went shopping in the Vendor area. BTW I don’t think the ‘counting to 10’ thing is so she’ll calm down and reconsider tazering me, I think she just wants to give me a headstart to be fair about the whole thing.
Anyway, I went ahead and bought the new TireTraker Tire Pressure Monitoring System that I had my eye on.
Unlike my other system, the batteries in the tire sensors are replaceable, so they don’t have to be sent back to the factory for service every three or four years or so. I’ll let you know how it works.
We were supposed to have the Pizza Party at 6pm, but the pizza showed up at 5:30. So they had to get on the fairgrounds PA system to let everyone know to come and get it early before it got cold.
It’s really amazing how well this was organized. All 300 or so people were fed in less than 15 minutes. Almost like magic.
And there were plenty of seconds (and thirds) for anyone who wanted it.
Finally about 8pm, we all decided we needed a Dairy Queen fix so off we went to our local hangout. We’ve been there so many times, they now recognize us when we come in the door.
Or at least the girls behind the counter run and hid.
I’m not really sure what that’s all about.
Tomorrow will hopefully be a slightly less hectic day, although Jan had 8am front gate duty again, so no sleeping in.
March 9, 2012
Leaving Yuma . . . almost.
Today was the final wrap-up of this year’s rally, finishing up with coffee and donuts, and a lot of hugs and goodbyes. All the attendees were supposed to be off the fairgrounds by noon, so the exodus soon started, with some lining up at the dump station before heading home, or just back on the road.
But luckily for us, a number of people stayed around long enough to help us clean up the main hall by stacking the tables and chairs, and then sweeping the floor.
Then it was our turn to head back to the rig and pack things up to travel. Normally we hang around for a few days at the fairgrounds while they wrap things up with the rally. But there’s a horse show coming in to the fairgrounds right after us today so we have to be gone by 5pm ourselves.
We all pulled out a little after 2pm and headed down the road . . . about 15 miles away to the Foothills area east of Yuma. We had been invited to spend a few days on Daryl and Cheri Lawrence’s RV lot while I help them out with some website stuff, as well as helping out Charles and Chris Yust who are also parked here.
After I got our rig parked and hooked up, we all sat around in the shade and just had a great time talking. Then a little before 7, Chris Yust and Cheri Lawrence set out a great dinner with grilled halibut Chris caught in Alaska, grilled shrimp from Galveston Bay, with baked potatoes, salad, and French bread, along with cupcakes for dessert.
And here’s the cook, Chris, hard at work.
And when the food is laid out, the crowd closes in, kind of like a pack of hyenas surrounding a limping antelope. You just know it’s not going to be pretty.
Tomorrow, I’ll be working with Daryl and Chris on website stuff, and hopefully we’ll also be able to visit the Yuma Indoor Flea Market too. We’ll see.
March 9, 2013
YAY! Jan’s Home . . .
After cleaning up the RV and getting rid of all the liquor bottles and other evidence of the partying that went on while Jan was gone, I headed out for Gina’s about 11am. Along the way I stopped off at the DQ in Startzville to pick up a couple of her favorite Strawberry Malts to take with me.
I got to Gina’s about 1pm, and after getting all of Jan’s stuff loaded up, we headed out for home. But since Jan hadn’t had lunch yet, we drove over to Milagro’s to have a late lunch of Shrimp Enchiladas for Jan and a Ground Beef Taco Salad for me. And it was the usual great meal we get here.
Then it was back on the road to Medina Lake. Then just after we crossed US281 at Spring Branch, we made a Starbuck’s stop for a couple of Cinnamon Dolce Lattes, our favorites.
Along the way we passed this entrance to a high-end subdivision. Someone really wanted this road cut through solid rock and spent a lot of money doing it.
And from the road you can see it winds all the way up the mountain that way.
$$$$$
Getting into Boerne, I made a couple of quick stops at RadioShack and Home Depot before getting back to the rig about 5pm. And boy, were the cats happy to see her.
And so were the deer. Jan went out pretty quickly and started putting out the food for them, and they came from everywhere. You’d think I hadn’t been feeding them while she was gone.
Jan’s sister Debbie sent over another snow-covered bird feeder photo.
Too much snow for my taste.
Tomorrow we drive over to San Antonio for some shopping before we head out for Balmorhea, TX on Monday morning.
March 9, 2014
Problem Found, Solution to Come . . .
I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that while she was shopping at Tractor Supply Store, she found her new favorite shirt.
And to see why it’s her favorite, you have to see this close-up. It’s called ‘Girls Just Want To Have Guns’.
After getting up about 11am (Hey, it was really 10, and I didn’t go to bed until after 2am.), I went thru some more bins and started putting away some stuff getting us ready to move tomorrow.
We plan on leaving about 10am or so and make the 120 mile trip over to the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails for a two week stay, and then we’ll come back here for two weeks.
About 3:45 we picked up Lynette and Gregg McHenry and headed up to Peter’s BBQ in Ellinger for an early dinner. This was our second visit since we’ve been here, and It was as good as before. Jan got a sliced brisket sandwich plate, and I got a double meat (brisket and ribs) plate. The plate part means you have access to their great sides bar. With about 10 different delicious vegetable selections and several desserts, it all makes for a great meal. We certainly plan another visit when we’re back in the area.
We got back to the rig about 5pm, and then, crossing my fingers, I cranked up the rig and tried to bring in the slide as a test, hoping that the greasing that I had done a few days ago would have solved the problem that I had bringing in the slide two weeks ago before we left Galveston Bay RV Resort. (that sentence ran longer than I thought).
But I still had the same problem. The slide would pull in normally on the front end, but not enough on the back end, causing the slide to try and pivot around the rear end. At this point I again started sliding my 3’ ruler underneath the cabinet, and unlike last time, this time I kept hitting something under there. And it turned out to be this.
A piece of the Corian floor tile that had come loose and was jamming the cabinet end of the slide and keeping it from coming in. So now the problem was solved.
NOT!
Although it now moved easier, it still wanted to run crooked. About this time Gregg McHenry showed up and figured out that, hidden under the grease and gunk, the shear pin on that side of the drive was sheared. Apparently the gear was tight enough on the shaft that it would move that end of the slide a little before it started slipping.
By this time it was starting to get dark, and since we didn’t have enough time to knock the other half of the pin out, and then get everything lined up, and had no replacement shear pins anyway, we decided to just push the slide in manually, and worry about it at Lake Conroe. As far as the shear pins, I’ll stop at the Camping World that we pass by, and hopefully, pick some up.
March 9, 2015
BBQ and A Bucket . . .
After our coffee this morning, Jan and I walked over to the Market Building to look around some more. Then since it was getting close to lunch time, and Jan wanted to eat before the 11:30 seminar she was going to, we decided to have quesadillas from the food truck parked in front of the building, so Jan had a plain cheese one and I had a really good Chicken and Bacon one.
I was working on my own seminar, “Gate Guarding for Fun? and Profit” that will be held Wednesday at 11:30am in Old Pueblo Hall’s Seminar Room 1. I haven’t given this seminar since the rally back in September of 2012. And we’ve gate guarded twice more since them, and learned a lot more, too.
Jan came back to the rig for a while before heading back over to her next seminar.
When Jan got back about 2:30, we headed out on some errands, dropping a big bag of trash off as we left the fairgrounds. Sure hope they empty the dumpsters soon because the one we used was brimming over with trash.
Our main chore was to get the truck washed. We got it washed a day or so before we left Houston, but with about a thousand miles since we left, and a lot of rain and mud along the way, a wash was really needed.
The place we used, Octopus Car Wash, did a really nice job, especially the wheels and the fender wells, areas a lot of places don’t do very well.
Coming back toward the park, we stopped off at the new Dunkin’ Donuts to pick up a couple of dozen Munchkins (holes) to have for breakfast with our coffee over the next week or so
Getting back to the rig, I carried the shower bucket over to a nearby bathroom to empty it. A shower bucket is a kitty litter bucket we keep in the shower when we’re boondocking like this with no sewer connection. You’d be surprised how much water runs down the drain just waiting for the water to get warm in the shower. So we run it into the bucket until it’s warm, and then every 3 or 4 days I dump it out. Works for us, and keeps our grey water tank from filling up so fast.
A little after 5pm we drove over for dinner up at Brushfire BBQ. We’ve really liked this place in the past, but for some reason it just didn’t click with us tonight.
It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as good as we remembered. Or maybe we just remembered it better than it really was.
March 9, 2016
I want one!
Well, as forecast for today, the weather was pretty much non-stop heavy rain, interspersed with bouts of even heavier rain. And it looks to be the same for the next couple of days.
We didn’t try to leave the park today, but if we had it might have even been worse than back in December when the bridge coming into this park looked like this.
![Colorado River Flooded Crossing 1_thumb[1]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Colorado-River-Flooded-Crossing-1_thumb1.png "Colorado River Flooded Crossing 1_thumb[1]")
Some places in Texas have reported rainfalls of over 10” so I guess we’re pretty lucky so far.
With all the rain, I didn’t get chance to try out my slobber tube collection can idea for our rig’s oil spraying problem, but this is what I came up with.
![Slobber Can IKit_thumb[3]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Slobber-Can-IKit_thumb3.png "Slobber Can IKit_thumb[3]")
I plan on punching a couple of holes in the top of the can and use a piece of coat hanger to hold it in place and away from the oil pan and the engine.
Then I’ll slip a length of the heavy vinyl tubing up over the slobber tube shown below and let it rest in the bottom of the can.
![Slobber Tube 1_thumb[4]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Slobber-Tube-1_thumb4.png "Slobber Tube 1_thumb[4]")
I’ll have more photos when I finish it up.
For dinner tonight we had Baked Spaghetti from Crusty’s Pizza in Camp Verde, AZ, just south of the Verde Valley Thousand Trails. No, it wasn’t long distance delivery or take-out, but just a vacuum-sealed bag from the freezer.
Before we left Verde Valley last July, we picked up several of their Baked Spaghetti Dinners to vacuum-seal and freeze for later. ‘
![Crusty's Pizza Spaghetti_thumb[4]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Crustys-Pizza-Spaghetti_thumb4.png "Crusty's Pizza Spaghetti_thumb[4]")
We had them a couple of them while we were on the gate last year, and this is the last one.
And heated up, along with some cheese and grilled bread, it was a great meal, and a nice reminder of our time at Verde Valley.
I got an email from Passport America this evening, announcing a new program. Join now through April 30, 2016 and get 4 extra FREE months on your membership.
Just click on the ad above and follow the directions on how to enter my PPA membership number on your signup form. Don’t miss out on this great deal.
Jan and I have been member of Passport America since we first started RV’ing in 2008, and have probably saved thousands of dollars in those 8 years, using it at RV parks from Alaska to Quebec and Nova Scotia, and down to the Keys, and over California.
And when we stayed in the Keys in 2009, we were saving $45 a day at a $90 a day park, so just one day’s savings paid for our year’s membership. Check it out.
I came across this article the other day on recent advances on the rocket belt/jetpack front from a new company, Jetpack Aviation. Unlike most previous models, this one, the JB-9, uses small jet turbines.
But the big advance is in the duration of the flight. The best of the original versions, the RB 2000, could fly for only 30 seconds, but even the test flight shown in the video below flew for over a minute.
Even better, this new version is supposed to have a flight duration of 10 minutes, a top speed of over 120 mph, and an altitude ceiling of 10,000 feet.
And most importantly, a built-in parachute in case things go horribly wrong. Especially important if you’re a mile or so up. I want one!
OK, so now where’s my flying car?
March 9, 2017
One Last Time . . .
For one last time we were out the door at 8:15 for the two hour drive down to Clear Lake for our last two Dr. appointments.
Mine at 10:30 was a redo with my GP to repeat some blood work that gave some anomalous results. There seems to be some disagreement between two different blood testing companies.
In Jan’s case, she had blood work done at her oncologist, and then 8 days later, the same blood work done at our GP. Tested by two different companies, they show a couple of major discrepancies. Levels that were outside the norm on one were firmly in the middle of the normal range from the other lab.
It’s kind of like the saying “A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.” So which lab do you base any treatments on?
Although my appointment was at 10:30, I didn’t get called in until after 11:15, which meant that when I got out at 12:15, we didn’t have time to have lunch one last time at King Food before Jan’s endocrinologist appointment at 1pm.
So our Plan B was the nearby Whataburger as soon as Jan was finished. Not a bad Plan B.
Then it was on over to our son Chris’ for goodbye hugs. And it was our good luck that Miss Piper was there too. So we got double hugs!
We were back on the road to Columbus by 2:45, managing to stay mostly ahead of the Houston going-home traffic. Along the way we called our friend and Colorado River park ranger, Barbara Spade, to meet us at the Los Cuco’s Mexican Restaurant in Columbus for dinner.
Since Jan and I had eaten about three hours earlier, we just shared a Fajita Mexicanas Platter for one. A great time, great food, and Barbara was nice enough to treat us.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Heading home we made a quick stop at HEB for a couple of things before getting back to the coach about 6:30.
Tomorrow we have a 250 mile trip to Junction, TX, the first stop on our way to Tucson. Really getting the hitch itch.
There is a possibility that there will be no blog tomorrow night. Phone/Data service has always been very spotty there in the past, so we’ll see if there’s been any improvement.
March 9, 2018
Nailed It !
I went into work this morning still trying to figure out how to fix my SSL certificate problem. While I was off yesterday I spent a lot of time working my way through the server trying to locate the folder where the SSL certs were stored. And it was slow going continuing at work this morning.
But finally, a little after noon, I thought I had it worked out. So after figuring out how to stop the webserver, I started moving the new SSL files that I had downloaded from Godaddy into the SSL area on the server.
This was a two step process, involving downloading the files to my PC, SSH’ing them to the Linux machine, moving them into the SSL area, and then renaming the old files from XXXX.crt to XXXX.crt.2017. Finishing up, I renamed the new files to the correct names.
Then crossing my fingers, I restarted the server.
And it failed.
But it gave me an error message that lead me to what needed to be corrected. So then it was fix it, cross fingers, and restart.
And it failed . . . again.
But did make it a little further and left me another error message.
So fix, cross, restart.
And it failed again. But this time, no error message. ???
So I went back over things several times but I could find nothing wrong.
To be sure I hadn’t screwed something else up, I put all the 2017 files back in place and once again restarted.
And it worked. So I hadn’t screwed up with that.
So, making a list of questions, I got on the phone with Godaddy and luckily got a Linux expert. After going over what I’d done, and what I had, he questioned a couple of the files that I had listed. He said something wasn’t right, and they shouldn’t be there, and would interfere with the initial setup of the new SSL files.
So I moved the files in question out of that folder, then cross, restart . . .
and it worked.
And when I went to the website, the Not Secure message was gone.
YAY!
The Godaddy guy and I tried to figure out why those files were in that folder. They couldn’t have been there last year when the 2017 SSL files were installed. And in fact the file dates showed they had been copied over in May 2017.
If I was just a little more paranoid, I’d might just think it was to sabotage anyone who came along after him.
Now that I’ve got root access to the server, I can get back to my original task which is to move the website off this in-house and up to Godaddy in the cloud.
For dinner tonight we had has become our usual Friday night meal at Floyd’s Cajun Seafood, starting of course, with a dozen raw oysters. But since this batch was a little small, we actually got 14 instead of 12. Nice.
After dinner, we stopped by our son Chris’ for our mail and Sam’s Club for a prescription, and then it was back home for the night.
March 9, 2019
It Was Fun While It Lasted …
And Cheaper too!
The weather held off long enough for me to get one of my rig’s windshield wipers replaced, which involved replacing the hardware on the wiper arms themselves. But when I have to replace them next time, probably two years from now, it will only take me a couple of minutes per wiper, rather than the hour or so that it has taken in the past.
We headed out about 1pm with our first stop at Cheddars for lunch, our usual Key West Chicken & Shrimp for Jan, and the Veggie Plate with a bowl of Chicken Tortilla Soup for me. Then it was a quick stop at my client’s for some Amazon stuff that came in after I left work yesterday.
After that it was right down the street to the HEB to pick up some of their Lola Savannah Texas Pecan Coffee, and a couple of things for Jan. Next up was a stop at WalMart and then Sam’s Club for a prescription and a fill-up for the truck.
Just a month or so ago, gas here was $1.74. Then last week it was $1.88. And today it was up to $2.05. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Tomorrow morning we’re meeting some good friends for breakfast at the IHOP over in Seabrook. Now Jan and I are not really morning ‘breakfast’ people. We’re more early or late afternoon ‘breakfast’ people. So you can tell that they’re REALLY, REALLY good friends since we’re meeting them at 8:45 in the morning.
I mentioned earlier that our idea to extend our stays in Paris and London had fallen victim to scheduling and, well, more money than we really wanted to pay due to cancellation charges.
But as usual, we have a backup plan. We’re going to forget about staying extra days in Paris, and concentrate on a possible London extension for the 3 days. It then basically just depends on getting flight home changed without paying United’s outrageous ticket change fees. So we’ll play it by ear once we’re there, maybe by getting ourselves bumped to a later flight.
We’ll see.
Several readers have asked about our cruise route, so here’s a map,
It’s 3 rivers, the Danube, the Main, and the Rhine, 5 countries, Hungry, Austria, Slovenia, Germany, and The Netherlands, and 13 stops in 15 days.
Don’t forget to Spring Forward tonight/tomorrow morning.
March 9, 2020
Only The Lonely . . .
I spent today at work trying to recover a corrupted InDesign file. Last week I made a price change to our catalog, save the file, and then tried to generate a PDF file from it, which is what we print the catalog from.
But now I just get an error message and then InDesign shuts down. And it does the same thing if I just try to print the file directly from InDesign instead of from a PDF.
I think I’ve figured out to fix the problem, but I’ll have to do it one page at a time, for a 133 page document. Fun!
Brandi set over a photograph of the finished version of Landon’s New York City Skyline puzzle.
This puzzle has almost 1500 pieces, smaller than 1/8”, and needs a special pair of tweezers to build.
And Landon did a great job on it.
March 9, 2021
Are The Seven Dwarfs Next?
Jan and I were on the road up to the Snooze in Webster a little before 1pm, for a tasty start to an errand day.
Jan got her usual Bravocado Toast, the reason we come here, at least for her.
Though I have occasionally veered off to Snooze’s Shrimp and Grits, I went with my usual 3 Egg Classic Breakfast, with Bacon, Fruit, and a Grilled English Muffin.
Then it was on up Bay Area Blvd. to make an office stop to pick up some Amazon stuff that came in yesterday after I left.
Then we made a stop at the big HEB down on 96 to pick up some things. Jan likes their fresh-made meals, so she wanted to pick up some extra to take up to Brandi’s in Katy for her house-sitting gig.
Next up was the always-necessary WalMart stop for a few more things, before heading home, with a stop at Cowboy Coffee for Cold, Blended Sugar-Free Hazelnut Cappuccinos with Almond Milk and Sugar-Free Whipped Cream.
Perfect for sitting out on the patio and listening to the wind chimes after we got home and put the groceries away.
First they came for Gone With The Wind, and now it’s Dumbo, Peter Pan, Animal House and Dr. Seuss. And Pepe Le Pew has been cut from the new Space Jam 2 movie because he’s now designated a ‘stalker/rapist’.
Can Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs be far behind?
So when are the mandated Book Burnings scheduled to start?
I find it kind of entertaining to listen carefully to prescription drug ads on TV, where they list all the side effects. And it’s amazing how it often seems the side effects are as bad, or even worse than the disease that it’s treating.
Or the birth control method that says in fine print at the bottom of the screen that it’s 93% effective when used correctly and 86% effective with typical use.
There’s a name for the women who use this birth control method for any length of time.
Mothers.
March 9, 2022
More Beans . . .
A few months back I mentioned that I had purchased this WiFi-Controlled Water Faucet Switch so that I could turn off/on the shore water without going outside. But it was only yesterday that I got around to getting it set up and installed.
And it was probably the easiest setup of a WiFi/Internet device I’ve come across. But that did not extend to adding to my Alexa system.
I tried following their guide which didn’t work at all, so I tried a couple of other ways I’ve used in the past, finally getting it to where Alexa recognized the commands and says it had turned the switch on, but it didn’t work.
But I could still turn the switch on/off manually. So this morning I sent an email to the company’s tech support to ask for help.
What I got back was from ‘Matthew’, who said, “I do not have any access to any of the Alexa app information but I can help you out the best I can with getting your Alexa compatibility to show up in our app.”
So he knows less about it than I do, but he’s going to help?
I’ll let you know how it goes.
A couple of weeks ago when we were coming back from Spring after meeting up with our friend’s Debi and Ed, I glanced over at the location of The Catch just north of Almeda Mall, and thought I saw a For Lease sign on the storefront. And when I checked after we got home, I found that, unfortunately, I was right. According to Google, it is Permanently Closed.
It always seemed busy when we were there, but it was kind of hard to get there. You had to work at it.
I know they were looking for a location down in our area, so I hope this closing doesn’t put the kibosh on that.
And just to stir up things, there’s this.
Texas red chili purists are wrong. Beans do belong in chili, and historically, they’ve always been there
An article in the Sept. 14, 1877 edition of the Fort Scott Daily Monitor penned by an anonymous writer visiting San Antonio from Kansas gives one of the earliest published descriptions of chili.
“Speaking of hot things, at San Antonio they have a dish called chili con carne,” the article reads. “It is of Mexican origin, and is composed of beef, peas, gravy and red pepper. It is awful seductive looking, and gives a fellow the idea that he has a soft thing on hash. They always have enough to go around, for no stranger, no matter how terrific a durned fool he is, ever calls for a second dish. He almost always calls for a big cistern full of water, and you can’t put the water in him fast enough with a steam engine hose.”
The historian wrote that bean’s were often called ‘peas’ back then.
So let the Bean Wars began again.
