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Getting home about 2 pm, Jan and I headed right back out over to Dickinson to the Enterprise office to pick up our rental car. We had made a reservation to pick up a car to use while our Jeep is at our mechanics.
I had asked for our usual Chevy Malibu, but getting there, I found a Nissan Altima waiting for us.
When I asked why no Malibu, I was told that Chevy had discontinued the Malibu last year. And when I checked, I found the last one had rolled off the line in November of 2024.
* * * * * * *
With Jan following me, we made our way to Joe’s Hwy 6 Automotive to drop off the Jeep, leaving Joe a list of things to take care of, one of which was to get the Jeep inspected so I can get it licensed here in Texas, getting rid of our last connection to South Dakota.
* * * * * * *
Then, since we were over that way, we continued over to Pearland to have supper at El Pollo Loco, our first time in a good while.
El Pollo Loco chicken is marinated for 24 hours in citrus marinade, and then grilled over an open flame
Note on the grill photo above, rather than keep changing the grill temp as the chicken cooks, they have a grill area separated into different temperature zones and move the chicken from one to the other.
So good that Jan got a dinner to bring home.
* * * * * * *
Tomorrow it’s back over to Bacliff for our bi-weekly Doggone Crazy fix.
YUMMM!
Thought for the Day:
Scientists say that a long, long time ago a bunch of nothing exploded and created everything.
How does that work exactly?
I think they left something out.
And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™
November 17, 2009
Sweet Home Alabama…
Today started off with a big scare!
About 9:15 am, our daughter Brandi called and told us that our son Chris had collapsed at work and was on his way to the hospital by ambulance. He had suddenly fallen to the ground, clutching his stomach, and throwing up.
She said she was on her way down to St. Johns Hospital in Nassau Bay and would let us know something as soon as she knew something. She called back about 10 to tell us that she was at the hospital and Chris was awake and talking.
She called back about 11:15 am and said that Chris had had an attack of kidney stones, and they were sending him home with pain medication and antibiotics to pass the stone.
Although it was painful for Chris, this was really pretty good news, considering all the other, much worse possibilities it could have been.
At 11:30 pm, we met my Uncle Tom and Aunt Lenette at Bob Gibson’s BBQ for lunch down in Decatur. My Uncle Tom played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 4 years back in the 1950’s, after playing football for the University of Alabama. He then coached high school football in Alabama and is considered “The Winningest Coach in Alabama High School History”.
About 4:30 pm, my cousin, Glee, her husband, Dave, and my cousin, Joy, my wife Jan and I all headed out to eat supper at Catfish Cabin, a local seafood place.
We had a great time talking over old times. I haven’t seen either Glee or Joy in over 40 years, but as Jan said, it was like we had known them forever. And she had never met them before.
About 5:30, Chris called and talked to us for a few minutes. He was home and really enjoying the pain medication. Apparently, they were going to just wait for him to pass the stone. Ouch!
November 17, 2010
Pretty Toes . . .
Jan got an early start this morning by heading up the road to Kemah about 9:30 to get a pedicure. She now has pretty blue toes with glitter. I wanted purple with glitter, but they didn’t have it with glitter, so blue it was.
Jan and I headed out for our walk about 11:30, and it was another beautiful day, mid 70’s, and then mid 40’s tonight.
And of course, hot coffee was waiting for us when we got back.
About 2 pm, we drove up to Kemah for another dose of Hooter’s XXX wing sauce. Not sure why, but it seemed a little hotter this time.
Still great though.
After Hooter’s, we stopped off at Wal-Mart for some groceries. Jan’s started stocking up on stuff for our Thanksgiving meal, and I’ve already booked a HoneyBaked Ham for us.
We’ll be taking the ham and several dishes up to Brandi’s BFF, Shawna’s, for Thanksgiving dinner. Over the years, it has become kind of a tradition with our families. Usually it’s Thanksgiving, occasionally Easter, and even once for Christmas. But no matter when it is, we always have a great time.
Finally, we went by Kroger’s to pick up a couple of things that we didn’t find at Wal-Mart. And by the time we got back to the rig, it was almost 5:30.
Sometimes you wonder where the day went.
November 17, 2011
No More Tonsils. . .
As I mentioned yesterday, our weather here was forecast to be pretty nasty the last few days, but all of a sudden, it all just went away.
Nice!
About 10 am, Jan and I headed out for the day, first to a few sites down the road to see Eldy Tompkins and Jeanne Sparks. They just got in last night, and we wanted to set up a time for a supper get-together tonight.
Then it was off to Pensacola via Alabama Point. Our first stop was our favorite Sonny’s BBQ, where we try to eat every time we’re in this area. And we’re always sure to have enough leftovers to bring home.
Our next stop was at Artesana, a really neat gift shop that we’ve been visiting for more than 30 years. And every time we find something new and interesting.
Heading home, we came back via US98 through Foley. I wanted to stop there because I had seen signs for the Holmes Hospital Museum.
The reason was two-fold. My mother, an Army nurse during WWII, and a Public Health nurse in Birmingham, worked here for Dr. Holmes as a part-time nurse after we moved here in late 1950.
And I had my tonsils out here in 1953 or ’54.
The hospital opened in 1936 and was the first hospital in Baldwin County. It occupied the top floor over Crosby Drugs, as seen here, and closed in 1958 when the Baldwin County Hospital opened north of Foley.
This would have been the operating room where my tonsils were yanked out, and the room below is where I remember walking up. My bed was against the far wall, and I remember my throat hurt, and I got ice cream and a new toy truck.
They also had a book listing all the people born there, and I was able to find several kids in there that I went to school with.
Really brings back a lot of memories.
We got back to the park about 3 pm, and then at 4 we picked up Eldy and Jeanne and headed up to Lulu’s at Homeport, Jimmy Buffett’s sister’s place.
On the way, our son-in-law Lowell called and said our roller coaster pic had gone viral again. We had a bad connection, so I don’t know who saw it, but the website for Ch. 2 in Houston has a series called Scared Straight – Best Roller Coaster Faces Ever, and if you check out #16, you’ll once again see our happy faces. Well, mine’s happy, anyway.
I really loved the comment at the bottom of the picture.
Eldy and Jeanne really enjoyed Lulu’s and said they’ll go back before they leave in 10 days or so.
Tomorrow we’re taking them up to Lambert’s for some Throwed Roll dodging. Hopefully, they like it too.
November 17, 2012
Snakebit?
Since this was our last morning here in Gulf Shores, we wanted to end it with a delicious breakfast, so about 6:45 (OMG!), we headed down to Orange Beach to have the breakfast buffet at Hazel’s Seafood Restaurant. Hazel’s is known for their buffets, especially their Sunday Brunch and evening Seafood Buffets. But we love the breakfast buffet and always try to visit at least once each time we’re here.
We were back at the rig by 7:45 and on the road by 8:45. The rig cranked up with no problems, and we were on our way back to Texas.
But our first stop was Dodge’s up in Foley to top off our diesel. Jan had followed me in the truck, so it would be easier to get in and out of the station to fill up. She waited for me right down the street, where we hooked up the toad and were on our way.
And everything went smoothly until we were in Mississippi several hours later. As we were coming off a section of rough pavement on a bridge, I noticed a funny vibration. But since we were planning to make a rest area stop about a mile up the road, I decided to wait until then to check it out.
Getting out of the rig I did a detailed walk-around. Something didn’t look right, but it took a little checking to figure out what the problem was.
At first, I thought one of my rear airbags was deflated, but after crawling under the rig, I discovered that neither airbag was airing up. Since my dash air pressure gauge was showing normal pressure, I’m thinking the problem is in the proportional valve that equalizes the air between the front and rear airbags. But I’ll have to wait to get back to Houston to track it down. By taking it easy, we should be able to get home OK. We did about 200 miles today after I discovered the problem.
I’m beginning to think our travels this year have been kind of snakebit. It seems to have been just one thing after another.
We pulled into Poche’s RV Park in Breaux Bridge, LA, about 4:30 pm and got parked and set up. Then it was off to supper at another of our favorite places, Pont Breaux.
We’ve eaten here for more than 30 years, when it was called Mulate’s. But when we got here last year, we found it had changed hands and was now called Pont Breaux. But lucky for us, they’ve kept the same menu, and it’s as good as ever.
So after a great meal, we were back at the rig for the night, but on the way in I did get this great sunset photo over the RV park lake. If you look carefully, you can see a great heron perched on a float out in the lake.
And to make it even better, we have new Landon pics.
Brandi, Lowell, Aunt Sherry, and Landon, along with some friends, Jason and Shawna Oakley, and some of their family, all visited the Texas Renaissance Fair north of Houston.
It was his first time, and Landon had a ‘Two’fer’.
His first big Turkey Leg.
And his first elephant. If you look at his face, he’s not too sure of the whole thing.
Tomorrow will be our last day of RV travel this year. We’ve got about 230 miles to go, which will give us a little over 7100 miles for the year. Far short of the 10 – 12 thousand we usually do, but since we spent 4 months oil rig gate guarding in south Texas, it cut down on our traveling this year.
November 17, 2014
Last Days on the Gate . . .
Tuesday:
Recapping our day off the gate, we finished up by having a great steak dinner at Solodak’s Beefmaster, a place we pass every time we travel to and from Bryan/College Station. And lunch or dinner, the parking lot is always full, a good sign.
And our experience was no different. Our steaks, Jan’s Sirloin, and my Ribeye, were great, and so was the price. A really good meal.
We got home a little before 8 to find that Charlotte, our relief guard, had things well in hand and had done a good job working our gate.
Wednesday:
Today, our drilling rig, that’s been here since the first week in September, started moving out to their new location about 10 miles away. Of course, the first thing Jan wanted to be sure of was that they didn’t forget Russell the rig dog. One of the guys said Russell had already moved to the new site. Said they just opened the truck door, and he jumped right in. He said they’d bought him a new fluffy bed and put it right next to the heater in the common room, and he made himself right at home. Turns out that the rig originally adopted Russell when they were on a location in the Dallas area, and he’s been with them ever since.
Thursday:
Our frack started moving out today, with a lot of big stuff coming out of the pad right next to us.
But at least no more sand trucks are coming in and out.
Found out that even though the frack crew is all headed to a new job near Shreveport, all the equipment is headed back to their yard near Longview to be reconditioned, as it is after every frack. The crew in Shreveport will be using fresh equipment
Friday: Starting to Break Down
I spent the time behind trucks today breaking down our canopy and the rest of our camp. I wanted to get a jump on this since it’s supposed to start raining tonight and continue through Sunday morning.
Saturday:
So by the time Saturday rolled around, we were working completely out of our truck (and staying much warmer), and everything else was packed away and ready to travel.
Sunday: Leaving the Gate
I had hoped that I would be able to get a couple of hours of sleep after Jan relieved me at 7 am, but that was not to be, as we were notified that our replacements would be arriving closer to 9 am than the original 10 am. So I was up about 8:30 and got the rig ready to move out of our spot so our replacements could pull right in and park.
But because of this early start, we were able to pull out about 9:45 am and get on our way. Our first stop was the Buc-ee’s on I-45 in Madisonville for diesel (at $3.39 a gallon) and breakfast kolaches for the trip. Then it was on down south to the Two Texan’s Truck Wash in Huntsville, where I hoped to get all the dust, dirt, and drilling mud washed off our rig. But that didn’t work out.
I found it pretty much impossible to nail the guy down on the price. Finally, he said $2 a foot, which would be $80, about twice what Blue Beacon charges. Then he wanted to charge an extra $1.50 to $2.00 a foot for the roof. So we were looking at $160 for what Beacon charges $40 – $45 for. No way.
So it was back on the road, still dirty but no poorer, for the last 25 miles to the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails. Luckily, we were able to get a site in the ‘E’ area, in a site we’ve stayed before, E-59.
By the time we got backed in, plugged in, and set up, I was running on fumes, so a nap was in order
Later, we met Lynette and Gregg McHenry, their friend Arlene, and Donna Huffer and Bob Parker at El Bosque for dinner, only to find that the location had closed. So rather than track down the new location, we adjourned to the Ryan’s across the street for our usual great meal there.
And our usual great time.
Monday: Our First Day of Freedom
We started out by sleeping in, in fact, I didn’t get up until about 11:30. But ironically, that’s the time I usually got up when we were on the gate. Of course, on the gate, I wouldn’t have gone to bed until about 7:15 am when Jan relieved me. So this was much better.
A little before 2 pm, Bob Parker dropped off his NetGear WiFi router for me to take a look at for him. There’s a problem with the WiFi setup or the configuration. I’ll take a look on Tuesday.
After a nice two-hour nap, we got ready to meet everyone for dinner at The Fish Pond Restaurant, which is part of the Convenience RV Park and RV Parts Store about 4 miles north of here.
We had a big group with Jan and me, Donna Huffer and Bob Parker, Lynette and Gregg McHenry, their friend Arlene, Debi and Ed Hurlburt, and Rick and Janice Binns.
The Fish Pond, a downhome type of place, turned out to be really good, with ribeyes (mine), catfish and shrimp (Jan’s), Chicken Fried Steak, Hot Beef plates, etc. Of course, as usual, when you get a bunch of RV’ers together, we spent a couple of hours just talking after we finished eating.
A great meal with great friends.
November 17, 2015
Missed It By That Much!
We Will Rebuild!
It’s only a scratch. A few tie-wraps and some Gorilla Tape, and that’ll buff right out.
Well, we almost made it.
For each of the last three years we’ve gate guarded, we’ve lost a canopy sometime during the year.
Year 1
Year 2
Couldn’t find a photo
Year 3
But this year, since we only have 5 days left for this year, I thought we had managed to dodge a bullet.
WRONG!
Although running a little late, Mother Nature finally caught up with us this morning. After riding out the high wind gusts all night, (according to the Weather Channel, 45 to 55mph), I finally gave up and went inside. I had been watching the heavy squall line running southwest to northeast west of us. But it was also sliding sideways in our direction. And as it did, the wind gusts increased even more.
So I moved all the electronics and other stuff into the rig and the truck, and then garbage-bagged the heaters, and anything else not waterproof. Then, about 5:30, I retreated inside the rig to ride it out.
At that time, I wasn’t really worried about the canopy since it had braved the high winds all night, but I didn’t want to be out there when it was raining sideways. I had even added a couple of extra tie-downs using 220# rope, one to the tow bar attachment on the front of the truck, and the other to the hitch on the rear of the RV. I figured if the rig and the truck didn’t stay in place, I wasn’t going to worry about the canopy.
About 6 am, the bottom fell out with a loud WHOOMP! All at once, it was coming down so hard that I could just barely see the truck 10 feet away. We even had some hail for the first few minutes. The wind gusts were now rocking and rolling the rig back and forth with no letup. I finally went to bed about 6:30, with the canopy still holding its own.
Even in the storm, we were still getting the water tankers coming in and out. Jan would wave them in from the door, and try to get their tag numbers on the way out. But usually it was just tanker at 8:05, tanker out at 8:25.
Jan said the canopy went down somewhere between 7 and 7:30, and a little bit later, we lost the floodlights and the bell alarm as water got into some of the connections and popped the GFCI on the generator.
I was back up about 11, and we were going through lulls as the bands of rain passed over us. About this time, a truck that I didn’t recognize pulled up, so I ran outside since it was only drizzling at the time. Found out that it was the advance guy for the workover rig that’s coming in tomorrow.
Well, that was a surprise since flowback wasn’t supposed to be finished up until Thursday or Friday. But it looks like they’re getting an early start. Told the guy they picked a hell of a day for it. He agreed and said that driving over from Longview, he had trouble just seeing the road in front of him.
The storm had pretty much died out by 5 pm, so I went outside to survey the damage and try to figure out what had happened. And it quickly became obvious what caused the canopy to go down.
All four of the 12″ metal poles had been pulled sideways out of the now soggy ground, leaving only the 220# test rope holding the canopy against the wind. And at some point, it had snapped like a strand of spaghetti. I figure it must have been a big gust that did it, since a steady wind of enough strength to do that would completely shred the tarp, and it was still pretty much intact.
I also found the ground littered with these connectors.
These are what hold the cross braces of the canopy frame together. In some cases, the bolt snapped, but in a couple of others, it looks like the bolt threads were just stripped out.
Wow! That was some wind.
That’s about it for today. We’re working out of the truck for tonight, and tomorrow I’ll see if I can pop the canopy back into place.
We’ll see.
November 17, 2016
Check These Out. . .
Several of our blog readers noted that the detailed specifications for the Porter-Cable 150 psi Air Compressor that I mentioned yesterday say the unit is ‘Gas Powered’.
It’s not. It is 120VAC.
Also tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 18th, Amazon is discounting their normally $99 Prime membership fee down to $79 for one day only.
Here’s what they say:
In anticipation of the launch of the Amazon Original Series The Grand Tour, Amazon is offering a limited-time promotion–new members can sign up for Amazon Prime for just $79, a 20% savings on the first year’s annual membership fee. The first episode of The Grand Tour will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, November 18, and the one-day discount will be available starting Friday at 12:00 am ET and ending at 11:59 pm PT.
Go Here for the Discount Price:
Note that this discount price is for individual memberships only, and not for gift memberships or renewals.
Following up on yesterday’s blog, here are some products that we use and recommend:
I mentioned several times how much we like our Zero-G RV water hose. It never kinks and stows away easily, even when it’s 40 degrees outside. Although it is flexible, it’s not expandable and has a canvas-like feel, like a fire hose. Well Recommended.
Although I just got this a few days ago, so far I really like it. After charging it up, I used it to power my phone for a 24 hour period with plenty of juice left over. Check it out.
PowerCore 13000 Portable Phone Charger
A friend turned me on to these. It’s a pen, an automotive glass breaker, and possibly a weapon.
Tactical Pen and Glass Breaker
You’ve heard me sing the praises of Strike-Hold numerous times over the last few years for good reason. It’s great for resurrecting flaky electrical connections of any type. Just a single squirt into a phone or Kindle connection will work wonders. And like WD-40, it will displace moisture, but unlike WD-40, it is also a real dry lubricant made originally for military firearms.
I replaced our 8-year-old Shurflo water pump this past May with this new one. The old one started leaking and then quit turning on. This new one is much quieter and has better pressure. So far, so good.
We started using these 900-lumen LED flashlights on our frack gate up near Carthage, TX, last year. They’re the brightest ones around for the price, and are fully focusable. They also have a flash mode that is blinding. We’ve got about six of them scattered around the rig.
Over the last year, I’ve replaced almost all the fluorescent tubes in our rig with these LED strips. The only ones I haven’t replaced are the ones in the two 18″ fixtures in the bedroom. I already have the strips, but I’m waiting for one or more tubes to die.
The two links below detail how two strips will replace two 18″ tubes and six strips will replace two 4′ tubes.
https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/12/cooking-for-christmas/
https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/11/grey-friday-2/
These Mighty Mules are the best vehicle alarms we’ve found. And we’ve been through a bunch of different ones, believe me.
What makes them pretty much false-alarm-proof is the fact that they only sense large pieces of metal moving through their magnetic field. So no cows setting off the alarms.
Unless, of course, it looks like this bison taken near Glacier National Park.
This is one of Jan’s favorites. The keys light up in your choice of 6 different colors. Great for computing at night when you’ve only got the light from the monitor to work by.
Several years ago, I replaced the original Xantrex/Heart Interface Source Manager Power Converter/Transfer Switch/Inverter combo unit that originally came with our rig. First, the transfer switch died, and then the power converter followed it into oblivion.
So I replaced the 4′ long, 18″ wide, 18″ high, 80# unit with two boxes the size of a shoebox
Progressive Dynamics 50 Amp Transfer Switch
PowerMax 55 Amp Power Converter
I didn’t worry about replacing the inverter since we almost never boondock anymore, and when we do, we just run the generator. But if I had it would have been another shoebox-sized unit.
I use these modules to monitor the 12 VDC and 120 VAC systems in the rig. They’re cheap and easy to install.
For dinner tonight, Jan whipped up a delicious batch of her Pasta e Fagioli soup. Very spicy and very good.
So we’re set for the next couple of days of good eatin’.
I’m going to bed about 10 pm tonight since I’ve got to be up at 4 pm to be on the road by 4:30 to be at my gate by 5 pm. And that goes for the next three days.
Yuck!
November 17, 2017
Chicken and Waffles?
My new toy, my Harbor Freight Circuit Detector, worked perfectly this morning, finding the correct circuit breaker in about 15 seconds.
I just plugged the small transmitter into the plug strip, and seeing the light was on, went to the circuit breaker panel and ran the detector down one side of the breaker row and back up the other side. And then did it again.
As the directions said, the first trip up and down gave me a couple of false beeps, but the second loop narrowed it down to one particular breaker. So, crossing my fingers, I flipped the breaker and went back in to check the power strip. And finding the light on the transmitter light off, and everything else still on, I had my separate power outlet and was now clear to move the server.
After being sure that no one in-house was logged in, and no users were in the shopping cart, I shut down the server and unplugged everything. The first thing I moved was the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and got it plugged into the AC power. Then the server followed, and 5 minutes later it was back up and online.
At this point, I started scrounging up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for the server so I don’t have to keep switching them back and forth.
While I was letting it all settle in, I drove down to the nearby O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to pick up the parts for a front brake job for our truck. Two new rotors, and a set of pads ran me about $160.
I don’t worry about having the rotors turned down. I just replace them every other pad change. It’s worked great for 267,000 miles so far. And lucky for me I have a son who’s really good at this stuff, so we’re going over to his house tomorrow afternoon and let him take care of it while I supervise.
When we were in Kroger’s the other day, I came across this new flavor of Lay’s Potato Chips.
Really? Chicken and Waffles?
What’s next? Liver and Onions?
And there’s more.
OK, I’ll give you Sriracha. But Cheesy Garlic Bread?
We’re bordering on heresy here.
November 17, 2018
I’ll Be Back . . .
In A Few Dollars.
After a nice, quiet morning and good coffee (a Texas Pecan/Mocha mix) we left the rig about 12:15 for an afternoon of fun, frolic and . . . stuff.
Our first stop was the J.C. Penney at Victory Lakes, and the Sephora right inside the front door.
And “I’ll Be Back In A Few Dollars.” was Jan’s parting shot as I let her out. Apparently, her definition of a ‘Few Dollars’ is $56.16.
Who knew!
Our next stop was lunch at the newly-opened breakfast/brunch/lunch place, Snooze The AM Eatery.
By getting there about 1:30, we had hoped to avoid the weekend crowds, but it seems like a lot of other people had the same idea, so we had about a 30-minute wait.
To speed things up, we did take First Available, so we ended up outside on the patio, but it was sunny and in the low 70’s so it was fine. A little breezy at times, but fine.
One thing different about Snooze from other breakfast places is that it has a full liquor license, so you can get Bloody Marys, Mojitos, and Margaritas, as well as Mimosas and several craft beers.
However, Jan and I started out with Lattes, Jan’s Pumpkin, of course,
and mine Hazelnut.
Jan went there planning on getting their Avocado Toast, her new fav, but after looking over the menu, and wanting a treat this weekend, she went with the Smashin’ Pumpkin Pancakes.
Served with cream cheese filling, and topped with bourbon-infused maple syrup, sweet cream drizzle & maple-spiced pepitas (shell-less pumpkin seeds), she said it was well worth the calories.
And rather than my usual Eggs, Bacon, English Muffin, and Fruit, I went with the Shrimp & Grits . . . and Fruit.
It’s cheesy grits with sauteed shrimp, andouille sausage, peppers, and leeks, and topped with an over-medium egg. Very nicely spiced, but of course could be a little hotter. Next time, I’ll bring my hot pepper flakes in with me. And a really lot of shrimp.
Everything was very good, and we’ll definitely go back, maybe when the crowds have died down a little.
Our last stops were Wal-Mart and Sam’s before we headed home about 4:30.
Yesterday morning, we ordered some stuff from Costco for the first time, and were surprised to find that anyone can order from Costco.com, but you only get the full discount if you’re a member and enter your membership number.
And it seems like Costco is trying to match Amazon, since we ordered yesterday morning at 9 am, and it was shipped about 3 am this morning. Nice.
Now that I’ve got a good address in South Dakota, I went online and ordered the new vehicle tags for our Dakota and American Eagle. And I was surprised to find out the price of this year’s tag stickers.
Several people had said that since my address had moved from rural Madison to Sioux Falls, that I would be paying a lot more now in a ‘wheel tax’. But checking back, this year’s tags were exactly the same as last year, $474.40. Still not bad.
So I still don’t know about the ‘wheel tax’, but it didn’t make any difference for me.
November 17, 2019
Back To Santa Fe Tomorrow . . .
We’ve had a Great Weekend getting together with the whole family up here in Kingsland.
And we’re looking forward to doing it again soon.
I’ll try to catch up with real blogs either tomorrow night, or Tuesday night at the latest.
So Stay Tuned.
November 17, 2020
An Old Friend In Town . . .
I’ll do a full catch-up blog tomorrow, but tonight we got together with an old friend in town for a few days.
November 17, 2021
It Wasn’t Me . . .
Today was my first day back at work since my surgery, and I walked right into a big problem. Our website was down, and had been since around 8:30 last night, since that was when the last order came in.
But a few minutes of checking things out told me that the problem was on GoDaddy’s server end, and not on my end. And after about 30 minutes on the phone with them, they said it was a server problem and it was being worked on.
And sometime around 7:30 pm, it all came back up.
Tomorrow we’re heading up to the Spring area to meet up with Ed and Debi Hurlburt at El Palenque once again. Really looking forward to it.
Since we’ve been doing a lot of searches involving ‘spinal cords’ recently, this article popped up that seems to show a lot of promise for people with a lot more serious spinal cord problems than I have.
Mouse study points to potential breakthrough against spinal cord injury
Severe spinal cord injuries are incurable today in humans, but a new injectable therapy that restored motion in laboratory mice could pave the way for healing paralyzed people.
The therapy – liquid nanofibers that gel around the damaged spinal cord like a soothing blanket – produces chemical signals that promote healing and reduce scarring, researchers report.
“We found that in about four weeks effectively, somewhere between three and four weeks after injection of the therapy, the paralysis was completely reversed and the mice are able to walk almost normally,” he said.
Faster, please!
November 17, 2022
Kountry Katfish . . .
Jan and I were out the door this morning about 9 am, heading up to Conroe to meet up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt at a favorite of ours, Vernon’s Kountry Katfish.
The food was great and the company was even better, so good in fact, that in the 2-1/2 hours we were there, I didn’t remember to take a single photo of the food or the people.
Coming home this afternoon, we saw a billboard for the King Tut’s Tomb Discovery Experience at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
We had been waiting for this, so we’ll have to get tickets soon, though it’s here through May, so we don’t have to rush. So next year.
Another thing that we saw on a billboard recently was one for The Four Tops appearing in Galveston on January 28th, 2023.
Since Jan and I love the old Doo-Wop groups, and over the years have seen most of the top ones, Little Anthony (both with and without the Imperials), The Drifters, The Coasters, The Del-Vikings, The Temptations, and most recently The Platters in Branson last December, I decided to check this out.
But it looks like The Four Tops are going to be a little out of our league.
Appearing at the 2023 Annual Meeting Of The Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce, here’s the price list from the website.
Jan and I are still trying to decide if we want to be a Presenting Sponsor for $15,000 or a Dance Floor Sponsor for $10,000.
Decisions, decisions.
2023 Annual Meeting Back to Detroit City Non Member Pricing ($225.00)
2023 Back to Detroit City Presenting Sponsor ($15,000.00) ““ Reserves 20 attendees
2023 Dance Floor Sponsor ($10,000.00) ““ Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Four Top Sponsor ($10,000.00) ““ Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Hybrid 7 Sponsor ($10,000.00) ““ Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Recording Studio A Sponsor ($10,000.00)- Reserves 16 attendees Sold Out
2023 Recording Studio Snake Pit Sponsor ($10,000.00) ““ Reserves 16 attendees
2023 Boogaloo Dance Pod Sponsor ($5,000.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Table Decor Sponsor ($5,000.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Motown Lounge Sponsor ($5,000.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees Sold Out
2023 Era Car Sponsor ($5,000.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Drink Sponsor ($5,000.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Arcade & Games Sponsor ($5,000.00)
2023 Motown Sweet Shop & Coffee Sponsor ($5,000.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Big D’s Diner Sponsor ($5,000.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees
2023 Hitsville Table Sponsor ($3,500.00) ““ Reserves 8 attendees
Photo Opportunity Display Sponsor ($1,200.00)
Getting back in our area, we made a Cowboy Coffee stop for Sugar-Free Hot Chocolates before getting home about 3:45pm.
And our Old Faithful 2004 Dodge Dakota, with over 309,000 miles on it, made the 140 mile roundtrip with no problems, holding 70-75 with no problems.
Good Girl!
But as I’ve said, she does smoke.
So I told Jan I going to get a set of these Magnetic Signs for the doors.
A set of two 12″ x 18″ signs is only $24.95 on Amazon. Should take care of any problems.
November 17, 2024
Dueling Fronts . . .
Today was on our usual Sunday schedule, with lunch at Denny’s, and then groceries and gas at HEB, before heading home.
But in between Denny’s and HEB, we drove up the feeder to FM518 to scout out the parking situation at the Cracker Barrel and nearby for an upcoming get-together.
* * * * * * *
Coming home, as we passed through the FM646/FM517 intersection, I was once again intrigued by the pricing of the two gas stations on diagonally opposite corners.
On one corner is a Mobil station with unleaded at $2.45. But on the other corner is a Chevon station with their unleaded going for $2.87!
So a $0.42 difference between the two.
And this is not an unusual difference. The Chevon station consistently prices their gas 30 to 40 cents a gallon higher, and has for years.
* * * * * * *
Jan and I spent the morning watching more YouTube cruising videos, especially ones that illustrate the embarkation (boarding) procedures at the RCL Terminal.
Looks like after we work our way through luggage drop-off/security screening, we’ll have a nice hike out to the ship.
Kind of pre-exercising to counteract all the good food we’ll be having.
* * * * * * *
Looks like our dueling incoming cold fronts/warm fronts have our weather all confused. Which is why we’ve had a nighttime low of 48° one night and 72° the next.
Make up your mind.
