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Lunch was at Denny’s once again today, with Jan getting her new favorite, the Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad.
As usual for me, I stayed with my Ultimate Omelet, with a side of fruit.
Next it was HEB, and then gas, this time at $2.15/gallon, down another 2 cents since last week.
Nice!
* * * * * * *
Came across this article about Stingless bees in the Amazon, and how they’ve become legally protected.
Rare Stingless Bees in the Amazon Become Some of the First Insects to Receive Legal Rights
“Globally, we have around 600 documented species of stingless bees. In Peru, we know we have at least 175 species. That positions Peru as such a biodiversity hotspot for stingless bees, which means we need to be driving the change and the actions to help bring back the stingless bee,” she said.
Espinoza, along with others like Prieto, is advocating for legal protections for the stingless bee due to its contributions to the surrounding environment.
Her efforts have paid off. In the past few months, ordinances were passed in two Peruvian regions to protect bees and support their growth, marking some of the first legal rights for insects worldwide, according to The Guardian.
Back in December 2024, Jan and I had our own encounter with the Stingless Bees while we were on our RCL Caribbean Cruise in Cozumel.
Cozumel And Stingerless Bees . . .
Luckily, the real ones aren’t this big.
In fact, they’re small, about the size of a BB. For example, this hole in the tree is only about 1/2″ in diameter.
They look more like a wasp than a bee, and they have NO stingers. To protect the hive, it seems they will swarm your hair until you run away.
* * * * * * *
This is Me.
New Research Explains Why Some Minds Stay Awake at Night
For many people, it feels like their brain keeps sorting, analyzing, or predicting long after they want it to power down. This creates a loop where bedtime triggers more thinking instead of less. Age adds another layer. If you’re an older adult struggling with sleep maintenance — waking and then staying awake — your internal timing signals may already be softer than they once were.
Over time, this disorder affects your mood, your ability to think clearly, and the way your body responds to daily stress. A night of insomnia often follows the same script. Your body wants rest, but your thoughts hold you in a state that feels too alert. Instead of drifting into the loose, dream-like mental space that usually opens the door to sleep, you stay anchored in the same style of thinking you use during the day.
My problem is not really insomnia, just my mind trying to solve any problem or questions that I came across during the date.
This is exacerbated by the fact that I’ve always been a night person. Given my druthers, I would go to bed sometime between 2 and 3 am, and get up around 10 to 11 am. And I tried to work a night schedule whenever I could.
Between working for the DOD, NASA, UHCL, and various radio/TV stations, I always tried to work the night shift.
The other problem is that I only need about 4 hours of sleep at a time. This is how I slept when Jan and I were gate-guarding. We split up our 24-hour shifts, with Jan working a 6-hour shift and a 5, and I worked a 7 and a 6. This meant I slept for 4 hours twice a day. And I could do this for months at a time.
So what happens now is that I will sleep for 4 hours or so, and then wake up. Then I’ll have to read for a couple before I fall asleep for another 4 hours or so.
Ad infinitum.
Thought For The Day:
“Be yourself” is about the worst advice you can give to some people.
I’m one of those people.
And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™
January 4, 2011
Spicy Chicken and 330 Million . . .
Today was an errand day, with a long list of things to do and people to see.
But first we started out with Spicy Chicken Sandwiches from Wendy’s. This is one of our favorite sandwiches, and their new Natural-Cut Fries are pretty good too.
Our next stop was at a client’s office up in Clear Lake. He was supposed to have some files for me, but he hadn’t picked them up yet. So I told him I’d come back by after I ran some more errands.
But first, I went across the street to a former client’s Air Conditioning company to use a vise in his shop area. I had a piece of electrical conduit I needed to cut with a hacksaw, but I needed to hold it steady to do it.
After that, we drove over to Sam’s Club to pick up some vitamins and other stuff. Then, since it was close by, we drove over to the house to check our mail.
Then it was back to the client’s to try again. And luckily, this time he was back with the files I needed.
Jan wanted to get her hair done, so our next stop was at the TGF Hair Salon over in Kemah. The place was pretty busy, so it took a while, but I had a book to read, so I was good.
Before heading back to the rig, we stopped off at Kroger’s for some groceries, and also some Mega-Millions Lotto tickets. The total has risen to $330 Million, so I had to get a piece of that action.
We got back to the rig about 4:15, but without much time to rest.
Since tonight was Bingo Night, we left a little after 5 to drive over to Monterey’s Little Mexico in Dickinson to meet Bob and Maria for dinner, before she and Jan headed down to La Marque for bingo. Leaving there, I dropped Bob off at his house before heading back to the rig.
Only to get back and find the power off at the park and the surrounding neighborhood. Of course, everything in the rig was still running fine on the batteries and the inverter.
The power finally came back on a little before 8 pm, and then about 9:30, I headed down to La Marque to pick up Jan.
She won again, but only $25 this time. But then maybe I won the Mega-Millions tonight, so it really won’t matter.
January 4, 2012
Sony and SuperCuts . . .
Thought you might find this video interesting. It was prepared for a Sony stockholder’s meeting in 2009. It really makes you think.
Prepared for Sony Stockholders’ Meeting
Jan decided to go with me today since she wanted to get her hair and nails done, so we headed out about noon, with our first stop at King Food for a great lunch of Chicken in Hot Garlic Sauce, XXXXX spicy, with added jalapenos. Hmmmm Good!
Then, after dropping Jan off at SuperCuts, I got gas and read a Kindle book on my Droid until Jan was finished.
After that, we stopped off at Brandi’s to pick up our mail, and then it was on to Sam’s Club for our prescriptions and a few other things.
On the way to my client’s, I dropped Jan off right down the street to get her nails done, while I installed the extra RAM in the two new computers I just got for him. Or at least, I tried to.
Turns out I was misinformed (lied to?) about the memory configuration in the two machines. They come with 6 GB, and the computer has 4 RAM slots. I was told the installed RAM was a 4 GB stick and a 2 GB stick, leaving two slots open.
However, when I popped the cover off the machine, I found it configured with 3 – 2 GB sticks, leaving only one slot open. So now I’ll have to take the RAM back to Fry’s Electronics and trade it in for 4 GB sticks.
It’s always something.
After picking Jan up from the nail place, I drove over to the client’s house where I had recently battled AT&T over their DSL service. And Surprise, Surprise, it was fixed. It had been switched over from Static IP’s to Dynamic, and was working perfectly. I’ll come back tomorrow and finish setting up the new router now that everything else is working.
Heading back toward the rig, and since it was now about 5 pm, we decided to have supper at the IHOP in Kemah before getting some groceries at the Wal-Mart right down the road.
It was good to finally get back to the rig after a long day.
January 4, 2013
Boring . . .
Well, today was even more boring than yesterday, at least for you readers.
I hadn’t actually planned to go anywhere today, at least until dinner. But I was halfway expecting a call from the client that I just finished setting up her new computer with a new OS and a new version of MS Office (2010). She and her husband spent the last month out in San Diego and just got back yesterday afternoon. So I was betting with myself whether she would make it through the weekend without having to call me.
Well, I lost (won?). She got on the new computer about 11:30 this morning and was on the phone to me at noon. So I ended up going up to her house for a while to get her straightened out, and while I was there, I talked to her husband about what he was looking for in the new computer that I’ll be getting him in the next month.
By the time I got back home, it was almost 4 pm, so Jan and I headed out to Chili’s for dinner, and then right down the road for a Wal-Mart visit.
And that was about it for the day.
Like I said . . . BORING!
January 4, 2014
Blah, Day Two . . .
Neither Jan nor I felt much better this morning, but I needed to get my client’s UPS system up and running before he leaves for Ecuador tomorrow. So I once again headed about 10:30 for his shop over in Alvin.
I was trying to get his Customer Address book off of his old Win2000 machine transferred it to his new Win8 laptop. Yesterday, UPS sent me a link to download the 2012 version of their Worldship software. This is because you cannot transfer data from an old version to a new version separated by more than two years.
So, trying to get from the original 2010 version to the new 2014 version, we had to use the 2012 version as an intermediary. So I downloaded and installed the 2012 version on my Win7 laptop and took it over there with me.
3 hours later, after a marathon Tech Support phone call, several false starts, a couple of detours, rebuilding some corrupted data, and a few more lost hairs (like I have them to spare), we had all 494 customer addresses moved into the new program. Job Done.
Getting paid (Yea!), I headed over to another client’s office to do some work on a network problem with his computer cash register program. But that was not to be.
He forgot to tell me that since I was here last year, he changed his office locks, and my key no longer works. Oh well.
Before I left, I called Jan to see if she wanted to be ready to go to linner when I got home, but she said she really didn’t feel like going out, and suggested I bring Monterey’s Little Mexico Chicken Tortilla Soup and Beef Fajita Nachos home.
Later in the evening, I fixed us a couple of K-Cups of Hazelnut Cream Cappuccino with our new brewer. So much easier than setting up for brewing a carafe.
Lowell sent this photo over of Landon getting in some last playtime before the cold snap hits tomorrow.
Speaking of the cold snap, tomorrow should bring us our coldest temps so far. Our low tonight is supposed to be 60°. But tomorrow night’s low is expected to be 28°. And then 26° on Monday night.
Time to disconnect and drain the water hose and put the heat lamp in the water bay.
January 4, 2015
Soup’s On . . .
Jan and I did pretty much nothing this morning, just enjoyed the bright sunshine for the first time in more than a week. Mister even went outside for a while, but despite the sun, it never got out of the 40’s and was windy enough so that he came back in after just a few minutes.
About 1 pm, I got out the slow cooker and started putting together a batch of our chicken vegetable soup. One thing about our soup is that it’s never the same twice. We always start with chicken broth and poached chicken breasts, but after that, it’s more just what we have in the pantry and the freezer
At some point, we buy a big package of boneless chicken breasts and several cartons of chicken broth. At home, we put all the chicken breasts in the slow cooker, add the chicken broth, add seasonings, and then poach the chicken breasts for a few hours.
Then we vacuum-seal the chicken, two breasts to a package, and put them in the freezer. Since we always use liners in the slow cooker, it’s then easy to take the broth and freeze it for later also. And we’ll be doing this again soon since today’s batch used our last package of chicken.
So after the broth is in the slow cooker, it’s time to get creative. I started with a can of Rotel Hot Diced Tomatoes with Habaneros, a can of Whole Kernel Corn, a can of Red Kidney Beans, and a can of Black Beans, and set the cooker on High for a couple of hours.
At this point, I took the chicken breasts, which had been thawing in the fridge, and shredded them into the soup. Then, about 30 minutes later, I added half a bag of pasta twirls to the soup to cook. About 10 minutes before we were ready to eat, I put a bag of steam-in-the-bag veggies in the microwave, and when they were done, they went in the pot too.
To go with our meal, I heated up a couple of the free rolls we got from Golden Corral last night. And this was the result.
Really, really good. And enough left over so that we can add another couple of cans of stuff, and maybe some more chicken broth, and we’re good to go all over again. Which will probably be Wednesday night after we get back to the Colorado River Thousand Trails.
Tomorrow we’re going down to Fry’s Electronics for a few things, and then eating at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria on the way home.
January 4, 2016
But The Patient Died . . .
With temps in the 50’s, and a lot of sun, it was perfect for a walk this morning.
But I had to map up a new 1-mile trek for us since we’re parked closer to the river this time, and not up on the ‘A’ Loop where our previous route was located.
So I ended up with us doing a double loop around the ‘C’ and ‘D’ roads.
During our walk, we did check out the Colorado River for the first time since the recent flooding. There was more water there than we’ve seen in the past, but not a lot really.
We did see the riverbank cave-in, another flooding leftover. They’ve got it roped off, but it doesn’t look like they plan to do anything about it.
Along the way, we ran into Janice Evans, Debi Hurlburt, and, I think, Claudia Horak and Lynette Starwalt in the back seat. They were on a girls’ day out and were coming back for a left-behind cellphone.
Getting back to the rig, we sat out in the sun with our coffee and breakfast bread, enjoying the sunshine and the nice views.
Back inside, Jan read, and I worked on several projects before getting back to my cellphone repair.
Well, the operation was a success, but . . .
I worked a little longer on my son Chris’ Galaxy S5 cellphone to remove and replace the cracked front glass.
The actual removal process went fairly smoothly, just time-consuming.
Getting to this point by using a hair dryer it took a couple of hours of slowly and carefully prying off the glass. At this point, I put the battery back in, turned the unit on, and it still worked.
But things went quickly downhill after that. When I completely separated the glass from the LED/digitizer board underneath, I discovered that the thing I had been trying to avoid, cracking the LED, had been pre-done for me. The board was already cracked along a crack in the glass itself, but it was still working because the glass glued on top was holding it all together. But as soon as I removed the glass, the LED screen came apart and just up and died.
Bummer!
So now we’ll have to go the more expensive route and replace the $125 glass/screen combo rather than the $10 glass that I already bought. I guess I can save it in case I break my glass, but I have an Otterbox on mine, which makes it a lot harder to break.
Later in the afternoon, our ex-next-door neighbor’s Bonnie and Vance Clegg stopped by to say “Hi”.
They were parked next to us when we were here at Colorado River a couple of weeks ago, and are still in the same space up in the ‘A’ loop. But somebody was already in our A2 space, so we had to park down here this time.
January 4, 2017
See I Told You So . . .
Well, no new Gate call today, so to guarantee one for tomorrow, we’ve scheduled a day trip into San Antonio once again.
So if I don’t hear from Todd tomorrow morning, we’ll head out about 11 am with a first stop at the Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club in the City Base area. Then it’s on to see Passengers at the Alamo Quarry theater. Then, to top off the night, we’ll meet up with Jim and Peri Dean at our other favorite San Antonio eatery, La Fonda on Main.
Of course, scheduling this much fun is almost sure to attract a new gate job. So we’ll have to see how it goes.
Next up, I want to thank everyone for their kind words of encouragement on my blog topics. It always helps to know that there’s somebody out there on the other end of the Internet who appreciates my efforts. Thanks again.
As I mentioned, I’m working on a couple of other articles, one on Global Warming and another on the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact(NPVIC).
This is an agreement between states that they will give their Electoral Votes to whoever wins the Popular Vote. So far, 10 states plus D.C. have signed up. The compact will only become active when enough states with enough Electoral Votes join to guarantee the result.
There are various ideas on the legality of the whole thing due to the fact that Article I, Section 10 of the US Constitution states that: “No State shall, without the Consent of Congress . . . enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power.”
And actually, the last time a group of States made a compact, it led to what we call in the South, ‘The War of Northern Aggression’. You Yankees call it the Civil War.
So there is that.
See, I Told You So.
Regular readers know about my (and Jan too, to a lesser degree) love of hot stuff. Hot wings, hot Mexican food, BBQ, pretty much anything. And I’ve seen articles in the past about the possible health benefits. And now here’s another one.
Chilies could help beat cancer as research finds capsaicin destroys diseased cells
However, in this one, they think you won’t get the full benefit from eating the capsaicin, but that it must be part of a drug treatment. But other articles say differently.
Of course, it may just be Big Pharma trying to keep me away from the hot wings so they can sell me something expensive.
January 4, 2018
Jan’s Home!
After a lot of starts and stops, I picked up Jan at the hospital entrance a few minutes after 4 pm. And boy was she glad to get out of there. Kind of like escaping from prison.
Our first stop was at my client’s to pick up an Amazon package that came in today, then off to Sam’s Club to pick up her Levaquin prescription. Levaquin is the antibiotic she’ll be on for the next 3 weeks. They also gave us a couple of scripts for a painkiller and something for spasms, but they’re both p.r.n. or ‘as needed’, so we’ll wait and see if they’re needed before picking them up.
Then it was on to King Food for a big bowl of their Hot & Sour Soup and an order of their Crispy Chicken Wings with Garlic Butter Sauce. Really delicious. We were first introduced to these by Brand and Lowell at our Christmas Eve dinner at King Food.
We were back at about 6:30, and Jan was really happy to be on her sofa again. She’s getting around fine on her own, but still a little shaky, so she takes it slow.
Looks like they will be taking care of her remaining kidney stone using Lithotripsy as they had thought. That procedure is scheduled for 11:30 on January 12th. She also has a meeting scheduled with the anesthesiologist for the 10th to go over things beforehand.
January 4, 2020
Making Up For Lost Steak . . .
About 4 pm, Jan and I headed up to the Saltgrass Steakhouse in Webster to make up for missing our New Year’s Eve dinner while she was under the weather with our sequential colds. So, since the only cold-related problems we’ve got are an occasional hacking cough, we decided that tonight was the night.
We’ve found that if we can get there around 4:30 or so, or at least before 5, we can usually get a table pretty fast, or even immediately, like tonight. But by 5:30, the place was full, and there was a line.
Between the Wedge Salads, Jan’s 9oz. Filet and my 16oz Ribeye, the meal was as delicious as usual. And even better, we had a $25 discount on our Loyalty Card, so my steak was pretty much free.
Coming home, we had planned to drop off our Christmas decorations at the storage room. Both of them.
Our Rig Christmas Tree,
and our Christmas Wreath on the front of the rig.
but it was getting dark, so we’ll do that tomorrow probably.
Between everything we had going on, and our NYC trip, I never did get around to putting up any lights this year.
Bah, Humbug!
I’m sure you’ve probably seen the TV commercials for the TV streaming channel, CuriosityStream. Started by the founder of the Discovery Channel, it features very well-made shows on History, Science, Space, Society, Technology, and a lot more.
We had been talking about signing up, and then Jan found a post on Facebook giving you a 40% discount for yearly signups. So, 1 year of HD service, that is normally $19.99, is now $12.99.
For an entire year.
And if you want 4K service, it’s $42.99 rather than $69.99. Another great deal.
But there is a lot of 4K content on the HD service, also. Which meant that I got to see 4K video on our TV this afternoon, and it’s fantastic.
BTW, this sale only goes through tomorrow, so check it out now at the link above.
January 4, 2021
No Blog Tonight . . .
Just Don’t Feel Like Doing One.
But I will leave you with one of Landon’s Christmas presents. Brandi found this waiting for her when she got up this morning.
He worked on it straight through after they got home yesterday. Nice job!
January 4, 2022
More Pho Barr . . .
Jan and I met long-time friend Tricia up at the Pho Barr in Webster about 1:30 for another fun get-together with her.
I’ve known Tricia probably since the late 90’s when I started doing computer support for her business, and we’ve been friends ever since.
And we had our usual great time, talking old movies and TV shows, politics, CoVid, and a lot of other topics. So much so that our planned first visit to the new HEB at I-45 and El Dorado had to be put off, since when we finally got around to checking the time, it was after 4 pm.
So maybe Thursday?
Tomorrow I’m going to put in a call to a local RV handyman to hopefully set up an appointment for Thursday morning for him to come out and remove the Captain’s chair and the mounting plate so I can start using my new gaming chair in its place.
Finally, a use for Oklahoma.
Texas Annexes Oklahoma, Turns Entire State Into One Giant Buc-ee’s
OKLAHOMA–Texas has announced the unilateral annexation of Oklahoma. The entire state will be leveled and turned into one giant Buc-ee’s convenience story, according to sources within the Texas state government.
The move was made as part of an attempt to find a use for the state to the north of Texas, as it seemed to just be acres and acres of nothing worthwhile.
Sorry, Lowell.
January 4, 2023
How Many Can You Identify?
This is a montage of all the celebrity deaths in 2022.
How many can you identify?
If it helps, you can click the link below for a full-size version.
2022 Celebrity Deaths – Full-Size
And this link will give you an answer guide.
2022 Celebrity Deaths Guide – Full-Size
Have fun!
Tomorrow morning, Jan and I are heading up to Conroe to meet up with Debi and Ed Hurlburt at Vernon’s Kuntry Katfish once again. We’ve been eating there for about 10 years since we became Thousand Trails members and started staying at the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails park, and it’s always delicious.
Unfortunately, Janice and Dave Evans won’t be able to join us this time.
Maybe next time.
January 4, 2024
From Lunch To Dinner. . .
After wondering if they were going to pour concrete today, what with all the rain last night, we got our answer about 10:30 this morning when this showed up.
And it was easy to see why we were told that we wouldn’t be able to leave the park while they were here.
The outrigger stabilizers extend out 10 feet on either side of the concrete pumper, blocking any vehicles from getting past, unless we would drive through people’s yards and driveways, some of which were blocked by other vehicles.
So our lunch at Yummy Yummy Chinese Buffet this afternoon became dinner.
And by about 2:30, they had moved down to right in front of our rig
Then by 4:30, they had moved on past us to do the last few sites, so we finally were able to head out.
When we got back to the rig a little before 6, the pumper was gone, and a few guys were floating the last few sites.
Still curious to see how they’re going to handle the fact that these new sites are so much higher than the road.
Jan and I have been talking about what’s coming up for us in the next few months.
First up, we’ve got our yearly Kingsland get-together, when the entire family meets up in Kingsland at Chris and Linda’s place. After that, we’ve got our 3-day trip up to the Killeen area starting April 7th for the Total Eclipse. Then the next weekend on the 13th, we’ve got tickets to see Bernadette Peters at the Grand 1894 Opera House down in Galveston.
Next up, sometime in late April, early May, we’ll do our yearly trip back to Alabama to visit family and friends.
After that, who knows?
January 4, 2025
45 Degrees!
Today’s lunch, scheduled for Los Ramirez Mexican last night, somehow morphed into Grimaldi’s Pizzeria up at Baybrook Mall. And though it was good, it wasn’t up to its normal excellence.
The small Apple Walnut salad that used to give us each a couple of servings now gives us just one. And it’s still the same $12 price.
In comparison, here’s what our salad looked like today, just on a plate, about one serving each.
And here’s what it looked like last July.
A whole big bowl of it.
And our 18″ Don pizza was not up to snuff either. In fact, it looked like they forgot to put pizza sauce on it, or at least on most of it.
In fact, it kind of looked like they only decorated half of it and then just quit.
And here’s what that pizza looked like last July.
But it was still pretty good.
And when we pointed it out to our server, he gave us a 25% discount.
Even better.
Then, after our weekly Wal-Mart visit, we stopped off at the Santa Fe McD’s to pick up 3 McRibs to have for next week. Probably keep doing this weekly until they go away.
* * * * * * *
Apparently, the Texas Lottery Commission has decided that it would be the end of civilization as we know it if someone under the age of 18 were to buy a lottery ticket from one of their vending machines.
As I usually do, after I checked out at Wal-Mart this afternoon, I walked down a couple of aisles to the Lottery vending machine and tried to give it some money. But it wouldn’t take it. Finally, I noticed a small sign on the front that said it was now illegal for someone under 18 to buy lottery tickets.
So I had to dig my driver’s license out of my wallet, and let it scan the barcode on the back, which took 3 or 4 tries before it worked.
Yeah, that makes things better.
* * * * * * *
Right now, lunch tomorrow looks like Kelley’s Country Cooking, but who knows.
* * * * * * *
Tomorrow we’re looking at one of those typical Texas winter days, with a high of 76° and then a low of 31 as the arctic front comes through. That’s a drop of 45°.
Yikes!
