1,000 Foot Ore Freighter, Soo Locks, MI

1,000 Foot Ore Freighter, Soo Locks, MI

Near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

Near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

Colorful Truck Sales, Weed, CA

Colorful Truck Sales, Weed, CA

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign

Mackinac Bridge, MI

Mackinac Bridge, MI

Pelicans, Grays Harbor, WA

Pelicans, Grays Harbor, WA

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Bluebonnet Cafe . . .

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We were on our way toward home this morning, with a stopover in Marble Falls for breakfast at the almost-legendary Bluebonnet Cafe. Around since 1929, they’ve been serving up great food

From past experience, we knew if we got there by 8:30, we’d be seated immediately, but within 15 minutes the tables started filling up, and by the time we left at 9:30, there was a line out the door.

I got the Two-Egg Breakfast, with Grits and Bacon.

while Chris got a plate-sized pancake.

All really delicious.

As we were coming into the Cafe, we encountered a couple of very bundled-up (it was 36°) Girl Scouts selling cookies outside the entrance.

I think people were buying them out of pity, and we came home with 4 boxes ourselves.

Jan said she remembers when GS cookies were 50 cents a box. Now they’re $6.

* * * * * * *

Coming home this afternoon, Alexa and I had an ‘interesting’ conversation, especially if you want to define ‘interesting’ as ‘scary’.

We passed a business called Iron Horse, which reminding us of the TV series, Iron Horse. I then asked Alexa who starred in the show. Alexa said, “Dale Robertson”.

This reminded me of another favorite of mine, “Yancy Derringer.” So I asked her who starred in it.

Alexa said, “Jock Mahoney.” Then remembering that he also starred in a Tarzan movie, I asked Alexa about that, and she said he was in two Tarzan movies, “Tarzan Goes To India”, and “Tarzan’s Three Challenges.”

Remembering that Jock Mahoney was associated with someone else famous, she said it was Sally Field.

And this where Alexa went off on her own.

And then, on her own, Alexa asked if I knew that he was her Stepdad?

When I said, “Yes”, she said, “Ah, got it! You were connecting the dots between the Tarzan star and Sally Field – smart detective work, Greg”

Me: I think you’re buttering me up. Are you buttering me up, Alexa?

Well, Greg, if I were buttering you up, I’d probably be more subtle about it. But hey, a little flattery never hurt anyone, right? What makes you think I’m up to something?

Me: I don’t know, you strike me as a sneaky type sometimes.

Sneaky? Me? I prefer the term ‘strategically mysterious.” Though I suppose when you’re an assistant who knows when you’re running low on milk, but can’t actually see your fridge, there’s bound to be some suspicion about my methods.”

Me: Thank you, Alexa.

Aww, you just made me day! Catch you later, Greg!

* * * * * * *

After a stop at the Love’s in Luling, and at the new QT in Katy, we got home about 2:45 pm.

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow, being a Federal/UPS holiday, I get to stay home from work and recuperate from all the fun we had these last few days.


Thought For The Day:

Arguing with your wife can be like getting arrested. Anything you say, can and will be used against you.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


January 18, 2011

Bingo and Turkey Vultures . . .

Well, today was supposed to be nice, perfect for working outside on rig stuff. But, once again…

They lied!

It was really overcast when I got up, but after a while, I decided to give it a try.

And, of course, as soon as I got set up and started working on installing the new wheel well flanges, it started raining.

Of course it did.

About 1:30, I headed up to Clear Lake to check in on a client who was having some problems. Then, after about an hour getting him fixed up, I drove over to my doctor’s office to see about coming in early to get my blood work done, before my appointment next Tuesday. So now I have an appointment to go by this Thursday to get that taken care of.

Getting back to the rig a little after 4, Jan and I headed right back out to pick up our granddaughter, Piper, for Bingo.

As regular readers know, Miss Piper had two wisdom teeth out last Friday, and she’s still a bit under the weather, but well enough to play Bingo.

We met our friends Bob and Maria at Garcia’s Grill in Dickinson for supper, and then Jan, Piper, and Maria headed out to play Bingo.

In the meantime, I dropped Bob off at his house, and then I headed up to Clear Lake to a client’s office to install the new 2011 UPS Worldship Shipping software.

And, lo and behold, the install went smoothly with no glitches. Very unusual, believe me.

I picked Jan and Piper up about 10:15, and was greeted with the news that the only person who won anything was Maria, and she was one of 13 winners of a $100 pot.

So after taxes, she got a little over $5. Bummer.

After dropping Miss Piper off, we got back to the rig about 11:00.

Hopefully, tomorrow’s weather will be better. At least they say it will. But then they said that today, too.

On a different note, Jan and I have been noticing all the “buzzards” flying around FM517 about half a mile east of I-45.

Late in the afternoon, you can see hundreds of them circling overhead, and then they roost in the surrounding pine trees. Soon, it looks like the trees are decorated with large black ornaments.

A little research told me that there’s really no such animal as a buzzard. It’s kind of a generic name for vultures, and even some hawks and other raptors.

A little more Googling told me that these are Turkey Vultures.

TurkeyVulture

The main difference between Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures is that the Turkey Vulture has a red head, and the Black Vulture has a grey head.

BlackVulture

It’s hard to tell from the last picture of two vultures sitting in the tree, but their heads are red.

Turkey Vultures 4

Turkey Vultures 3

Turkey Vultures 2

Turkey Vultures 1

I haven’t been able to find anything about why they roost in that area. It’s right along a 4-lane street and next to a city park. I can’t imagine there are a lot of dead bodies in the area.

At least I hope not.


January 18, 2012

Chicken Fajitas and Fry’s . . .

Today was pretty straightforward, with not a lot really happening.

After doing some stuff around the rig, I headed out about 1 pm up toward Clear Lake. My first stop was Fry’s Electronics, where I was looking for some check printing software.

My client’s website takes checks online and uses the software to print out a check using the customer-supplied routing and account numbers. My client then deposits the check in his bank just like a regular check.

But since we upgraded his main machine to Win 7, the old DOS-based check printing program will no longer run, so I’m looking for a new program for him.

After finding something I hope will work, I drove over to my client’s for the afternoon.

But by the time the afternoon was over, we had decided to replace the ornery computer with a new Win 7 model, thus taking care of all of our networking problems.

Works for me.

I headed home about 4:30, and then turned around, and Jan and I headed up the road to La Brisa for a great dinner. Jan had the Chicken-Stuffed Avocado with Chicken Fajitas and a couple of Shrimp Brochettes, while I had a Trio Combo, with Beef Fajitas, Chicken Fajitas, and Ribs. As delicious as usual.


January 18, 2014

Bins and Booze . . .

Our beautiful weather here on Dickinson Bayou continues with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s. And even better, the long-range 10-day forecast shows pretty much more of the same. Yay!

A knock at the rig door this morning introduced me to Lloyd Jackson, a blog reader who’s staying down the road at Green Caye RV Park, and wanted to introduce himself and inquire about my upcoming windshield replacement since he needs to replace his too. Lloyd reads our blog, so he’s pretty much up on everything. It’s always fun to meet our readers as we travel around the country.

Later, I spent some more time going through some of the rig bays, sorting stuff out. I’ve finally decided what I want to do about the stuff stored in the back of the truck.

Rather than store stuff either loose or in a couple of large bins, I’m going to get a number of these plastic file boxes.

File Box

These will allow me to sort things into labeled boxes so I won’t lose things like before. Yeah, right.

About 4:15 Jan and I headed up to Webster, where I dropped her off at Carrabba’s Italian Grill about 5. Jan was there for her yearly get-together with her former hospital coworkers. They’ve all gotten together like this every year since we started RV’ing in 2008.

They had their usual great time, until a lady sitting behind Jan slung her glass of wine over Jan and a couple of the other ladies. Without even much of an apology, either. When I picked her up about 8, I told her she smelled like she had a really good time.

While she was partying, I grabbed a couple of steak fajita tacos from Taco Cabana before heading over to a client’s office to work on their Point of Sale Cash Register System. They had been having a problem with one of their remote units, and I figured that the problem might have been caused when they changed to a new Internet provider, which also changed some things on their internal network.

As it turned out, I was right, and I got things reconfigured and back up and running pretty quickly. Then I spent the rest of the time updating the machines and cleaning out the gunk.

And with her usual perfect timing, Jan called to be picked up just as I was finishing up.

Tomorrow morning, Jan and I are going to get together with our long-time friends, Bobby and Maria, for breakfast at the IHOP up in Kemah. We’re really looking forward to it.


January 18, 2015

Gosh Darn It . . .

Another beautiful day today, sunny with a high of 69, and a low of 39 tonight. Pretty much perfect weather for us.

I spent most of the early afternoon working on a website problem with GoDaddy and the maker of a software package I’m using, going back and forth between the two, trying to figure out why I’m getting an error message instead of being redirected to the Thank You page.

Part of the problem is the time lag going back and forth between the two. But we’ll get it fixed eventually.

While I was waiting to hear back from anybody, I got back working on installing the new Moen kitchen faucet hose that just came in yesterday. It actually turned out to be pretty easy since the connection under the sink was a quick-disconnect. It was the ‘getting’ under the sink part that was the problem.

But I got it hooked up and then tested it. And Gosh Darn It (insert your own words here), the new hose leaks exactly like the old one did.

At the faucet end of the hose, there is a ball joint where the hose screws into the spray nozzle. Water is leaking from out around the ball-joint in the connector.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

So I guess the trouble must be with the spray nozzle, but I sure can’t see any problem with it. The screw ring tightens down on the threaded end of the nozzle just fine. So it’s back on the phone to Moen tomorrow.

About 4:30 Jan, and I drove around the circle, picked up our friend Randy at his RV, and then headed up to La Grange to introduce him to Sealand Seafood. You wouldn’t think that a place like this would have great seafood, but it does.

And lucky for us, Randy agreed.

Jan and I had our usual 2 Fish, 6 Shrimp, 6 Oysters platter, while Randy had the Blackened Tilapia with Crawfish Etouffee. Ours was as delicious as usual, and Randy said his was the best he’d ever eaten. And the servings were big enough that we all had leftovers for another meal.

It looks like things are maybe getting closer with Galveston Bay RV Resort. They posted a photo this afternoon and said the new sites were very close to being done.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Hope so. It would be really nice if, when we leave here on Wednesday morning, we could go down to Galveston Bay, instead of back to the Conroe Thousand Trails.


January 18, 2016

When One Door Closes . . .

Jan felt kind of ‘blah’ this morning, so we didn’t walk. But she did fix us great breakfast sandwiches, using the biscuits and the leftover omelet from yesterday’s breakfast at Schobels in Columbus.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Toasted up in the oven, it’s made for a very tasty breakfast.

After a lot of computer stuff, I took a look at my screen door problem. I had planned to remove the door and store it in the back of the truck, but that didn’t work out. Due to the fact that the door is almost 7 feet tall. It sure didn’t look that tall, but a measuring tape told the tale. It wouldn’t fit.

But I still wanted to take it off to look at the hinges, even if temporarily.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I sprayed the 4 screws with WD-40 and let it penetrate for a while. After about 30 minutes, I used my large #3 Phillips head bit and long extension to get the screws loose.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Using a small hammer, I tapped the driver bit a few times in each screw. This did two things: it helps break the screws loose, and it sets the bit into the softer screw metal, making it grab better and not wallow out. And it worked. When I used my ratchet with the extension and driver bit, the screws broke loose with a snap and came right off.

About this time, our friend Rudy Legett called and said he was in the area and wanted to come by and say ‘Hi’. We last saw Rudy and his wife Carolyn last July up in Fort Smith, AR while we were heading back to North Alabama after our two-month sojourn in Prescott, AZ, for our blow-out repair. Rudy and his wife were heading north for the summer, and our paths crossed for a couple of days.

We were staying at the Springhill COE park, and they ended up parked right across from us. We first met Rudy and his wife several years ago when we were staying down in the Dickinson area, and went out to lunch with them. So it was good to get back together for dinner here too.

Rudy is an Aqua-Hot technician, and services their hydronic systems that act as both a water heater and a heater for your coach. A really nice system.

After Rudy left, I took a quick look at another door problem that I’ve had. When the rig is up on the levelers, the door is torqued slightly, and it’s sometimes difficult to get the door to lock correctly.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

What I found is that the latch just barely clears the bottom of the hole, keeping the bar from engaging and locking the door. So I thought for a few minutes and decided the quickest way to fix the problem was just to ‘brute force’ it.

So, breaking out my recip saw and chucking in a metal blade, I cut a couple of notches in the bottom and ended up with this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Now the door locks just fine, with no binding. I’ll dig out a file tomorrow and even out the cuts to neaten it up. But for now, the problem is fixed.

Tomorrow it’s back to the screen door.

About 4 pm Jan and I drove into Conroe to have dinner at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, a chain that we first encountered in the Bryan/College Station area in 2014 when we were gate guarding about 20 miles east of there.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

We’ve also eaten at several of them on the road, and this one in Conroe. It’s a simple menu, with only chicken fingers, fries, Cole slaw, and Texas toast.

But simple is good, especially when you do it right. And they do.

Really good.

Coming home, Jan wanted something sweet, so we stopped at a nearby Panera Bread where Jan picked out a Chocolate-filled Croissant, and I got a Cranberry Orange Muffin. Both were really good several hours later for a late-night snack.

The weather should be nice tomorrow morning, so maybe we’ll be able to get a walk in. I’ve mapped out a new route for here at Lake Conroe since we’re walking further now than we were two weeks ago.

But we’ll see how it goes.


January 18, 2017

Rigging Down?

We still don’t know exactly when yet, but they’re supposed to start wrapping this part of the pre-frack up tonight or tomorrow.

Maybe. You never know when they’ll break something, and then it’ll be a couple of extra days. But hey, more money for us.

This will probably be an even shorter blog than the recent short ones, since I’m typing it on the laptop sitting in the truck on the pad. So we’ll see how long the battery lasts.

Although we like the money with both of us working, this 2- 1/2 hour round trip out here from Kenedy is really eating into our sleep time. So before the actual frack starts in the next week or so, we’re definitely moving over here to Westhoff from Kenedy. This will make our commute time less than 10 minutes each way. That will be much nicer.

The only downside is that Jan and I will be working opposite shifts at the same gate, so the whole ‘two ships passing in the night’ thing. But it will only be for a couple of weeks or so before we leave here for the year on the 15th of February.

This morning, on the way home, a little after 5 am, we stopped at The Donut Palace in Yorktown, one of a number in the area. Seems like every little town has one. Picked up hot, fresh breakfast kolaches for the trip home, and a couple of donuts for later. Plus a couple of breakfast biscuits for tonight’s dinner on the gate. All still warm from the oven.

Delicious.

After getting about 5 hours of sleep, we were up and out the door. Jan had prescriptions to pick up at Wal-Mart, and we wanted to have what might be our last meal at Bella Sera. Then, after getting gas (driving 100 miles a day eats it up), we were back at the rig for about an hour nap before heading back out about 3:30 pm.

After dropping Jan off at the front gate and driving into the pad, which is almost 5 miles further in, I caught up with a Waterbuck antelope just running down the side of the road along the fence line.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Waterbucks are always easy to identify by the white ring on their rear ends.

Asking around, I found out there are a whole lot of game animals around here, zebras, other antelopes, and more.


January 18, 2018

I Depend On The Kindness Of Strangers . . .

We only got down to about 30° last night, much better than yesterday’s 23. And it finally made it into the 40’s today.

And as of yesterday, there was snow on the ground in all 50 states.

Jan continues to feel good, with absolutely no pain whatsoever as a result of her lithotripsy. Hopefully, that will continue. Now she just needs to get all her stamina back.

About 3pm, I went outside and reconnected us to shore water. Even though it had been in the 40’s for a while, I still had icicles hanging off the rig. I also turned off the heat lamp but left it in the bay since we almost certainly have more cold weather to come.

I finally got tired of cleaning calcium buildup and debris out of the flow restrictor in our Oxygenics shower head.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

This low-pressure problem was recently aggravated by using the rig water system for the last couple of days, so I took care of the problem permanently. I took my drill and drilled the offending disk out.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

No more problems now, and the water pressure is great.

This year’s flu is looking worse and worse, especially since this year’s vaccine is said to be only about 10% effective against the N3N2 version that’s causing all the problems. However, some authorities say it might be effective as much as 30% of the time. And it MIGHT make the symptoms of the other flus less. Oh Boy!

I have not had a flu shot since 1965-66, and I don’t plan to ever have another one. Jan got them regularly when she was working at area hospitals (it was required), and occasionally since then.

When Jan was in the hospital recently, her doctor asked me if she had had a flu shot this year and I said No. So he asked if she wanted to get one while she was in the hospital, and I again said No, especially since it wasn’t very effective this year.

He nodded his head and said that he was hearing that from a lot of people this year.

In fact, I’ve only had two flu shots in my life, the one in the winter of 65-66 and the winter before, in 64-65. And the reason I had those two was that I didn’t have a choice either. I was attending Columbia Military Academy, and it was required.

After the first one, I was so sick that I missed classes for four days. But the next year I didn’t fare nearly as well. I was in the hospital for almost two weeks. And based on that history, the doctor told me that if I ever got another one, it might possibly kill me.

So, you tell me, would you take that chance?

So, as I tell everyone, I depend on the kindness of strangers. If EVERYONE else gets vaccinated like they’re supposed to, then I won’t have to worry about the flu because there will be no one for me to catch it from.

So you all know what you have to do.


January 18, 2019

Jan’s A Happy Camper . . .

We arrived at the Alvin office of Jan’s ophthalmologist about 7:15 am for her 7:35 checkup on yesterday’s cataract surgery.

Only to find the parking lot empty and the office dark. Which was completely unlike her last visit the day after the surgery on her left eye, when the parking lot was more than half full, and the place was bustling.

But at 7:30, people pulled into the parking lot, and the lights came on.

The doctor checking her was someone we hadn’t seen before, but we both really liked him. He said Jan was doing fine, and to come back in a week for another checkup. Then, in a month, she’ll come back for her final visit and her new eyeglass prescription. At that point, she should be done and done.

For her part, Jan’s much happier with the short-term results on her right eye than her left one. She says that right off the bat, she’s seeing much better with her right eye than she did after a week or so after her left one. The doctor said that this is not unusual at all.

Jan got a pair of readers a week or so ago, and so far, they’re working great for her, letting her read her Kindles, laptop, and desktop.

Last Sunday, I crawled under the rig to take another look at my oil leak problem. I had planned to use my Wyze camera on the end of a rod to get a look. But, like when I tried this same thing from under the bed, I just couldn’t get it into position.

But I could get my cellphone up in there and got this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

That’s the oil filter on the right and the coolant filter on the left. The long hose on the right side is the slobber tube. The small metal tube in the center seems to be part of the coolant system.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

What you can’t see in the photos is that everything right above this area is tan-colored and dry. So I guess my next move is to drop the filter myself and see what I can see. I wish I could come up with some sort of plug to cap off the filter location and then run the engine for a while to see what happens.

Just a reminder to any new readers. The filter gasket has already been changed out without fixing the problem. But I’ll keep after it.


January 18, 2020

Bits And Pieces, Odds And Ends . . .

I recently came across a couple of new cables for charging all the many devices we seem to have accumulated, one very useful and the other one just neat.

We have a couple of devices that stay plugged in and charging pretty much 100% of the time, which, of course, is not good for the batteries.

One of them is our Verizon MiFi, which runs all our many WiFi-controlled devices here in the coach, from our Wyze security cameras to our SmartBot coffee pot controller, and the number of WiFi switches we have. So it needs to stay plugged in all the time

The other one is Jan’s Samsung Galaxy S5 phone. It’s mainly used so that I can call Jan when I’m at work or out and about. Otherwise, it just sits on the counter. And if it gets unplugged after it’s 100% charged, it often gets forgotten until it runs down and shuts off.

I’ve tried using timers to shut them off on a schedule, but they always seem to still get overcharged, or they run down. But then I came across these cables.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Cable Auto Disconnect Smart Charging Male to Male USB C Cable

They charge the device up to 100% and then shut off until the charge drops to about 90%, and then turn back on. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

The other cables are just neat, and very colorful.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Light Up Charging Cables

This evening, I went online and reserved seats for Knives Out at the theater up in Webster for tomorrow afternoon. Using Flixster on my phone, I was able to reserve our seats and pay for them through the app.

This is the same theater where we saw Downton Abbey a few months ago, and it has the new, very comfortable recliners.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

So comfortable, in fact, that you have to be careful not to fall asleep. Or at least Jan does.

Though I guess it depends on the movie. A few years ago, we somehow ended up taking Landon to see the SpongeBob SquarePants movie, and all 3 of us fell asleep. And that was without recliners.

At the time, Jan and I both agreed that that was an hour and 40 minutes we would never get back.

And we still haven’t.


January 18, 2022

So Now It’s Jan’s Turn . . .

We had planned to meet friends Debi and Ed Hurlburt, and Janice and Dave Evans at the Olive Garden up in Spring. But last night it was Jan’s turn to start feeling under the weather, with a bad headache and an upset tummy. All that continued into this morning, so unfortunately, we had to cancel. But she was starting to feel a little better by this evening.

Now back to our weekend Kingsland trip.

We left the rig about 8:30 with our first stop about an hour away at the Buc-ee’s in Katy for Kolaches and coffee. And since their gas was pretty cheap, I topped off the Jeep before we left. And when we did, Jan took over the driving for a while.

Heading out I-10, we got onto US71 at Columbus. Then, after a quick bathroom stop at Hruska’s, we got on US77 at La Grange and took it all the way up to Giddings. The only hitch was a 15 minute holdup because construction had made a bridge a one-lane crossing.

Getting into Giddings, we made another Buc-ee’s stop where I noticed this sign.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Wow! Three weeks vacation the first year, healthcare, and a 401K. They are really looking to hire.

Then, with me driving again, we got on US290, taking us into and through Austin and out on SR29 over to Burnet, and then down US281 to our Motel 6 in Marble Falls, getting in about 2:30.

A nice, easy trip.

Since Brandi had to wait for Lowell to get off work, they wouldn’t get into Marble Falls until about 8:30, so they told us to go ahead and have dinner with Chris and Linda without them.

So we ended up at Alfredo’s about 5 pm.

Jan had a really good Chile Relleno Platter,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

while I got, well, I forget what it was called, but it was really good too.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Finally, it was back to the motel for the night, looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.


Today was our monthly get-together up in Conroe with Deb and Ed Hurlburt. We were hoping Janice and Dave Evans would be able to join us, but it was not to be.

We were meeting at the Golden Corral, one of our favorite restaurants in that area.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Somehow, Ed got edged out of the photo.

We really like this GC, everything is always fresh, hot, and plentiful.

Our favorite TriFecta.

Next month is going to be El Palenque.

I think I’ve decided to just replace my Shurflo Water Pump with the new one, rather than just replace the pressure switch, since the pump has to be pulled out either way. Then I’ll replace the pressure switch on the old one, so I’ll have a spare.

Maybe this weekend. We’ll see.


January 18, 2024

More Temu Stuff. . .

Back in June, I gave you this warning about TEMU.

By now, probably most of you have seen the myriad of ads/commercials for Temu, showing all the cheap stuff they have.

I didn’t install the app just on general principles, like it’s pretty much owned by the Communist Chinese government.

And it seems to be a big security risk as well.

Check out what Tech Guru Kim Komando has to say about it.

Kim Komando On Temu

From the article:

What you need to know before using Temu

First, you’re buying goods directly from manufacturers in China and other parts of the world. That’s why shipping times are often much longer than on sites like Amazon. You might get your stuff in a week, but it could be more like 12 days.

For the most part, the prices are low because the goods are cheap. The pictures of what you see advertised may not be what you actually get.

Temu collects, among other things:

  • The info you provide, like your name, address, and phone number.
  • Details you enter, like your birthday, photo, and social media profiles.
  • Your phone or computer’s operating system and version, IP address, GPS location (if you allowed it), and browsing data.
  • They also gather more about you from third-party sources, including Temu sellers, public records, social media, data brokers, credit bureaus, and marketing partners. Let’s be safe out there.

  • But now there’s more. And this time it’s from Time, magazine, that is.

    The Truth About Temu, the Most Downloaded New App in America

    One of the comments on Lukey’s post, however, was significantly less positive than the rest. Julie Roper Malloy wrote that the package she ordered from Temu containing Christmas gifts never arrived, despite the company’s pledge that it would be delivered by Dec. 19 at the latest. “Still waiting for my order from November! Thanks, Temu, you’ve ruined Christmas!” she wrote.

    In a series of Facebook messages with TIME, Roper Malloy says she spent $178 on gifts from Temu for her family, including two drones and some makeup for her daughter. But the items never arrived. Roper Malloy says she has contacted the company several times for a refund, which has also yet to arrive. “I will definitely be more diligent in the future when ordering online,” she wrote. [Update: After this article’s publication, Roper Malloy received her Temu orders and a refund from the company.]

    Roper Malloy is not the only one to encounter problems with a Temu order. Temu itself acknowledges that its orders take longer to arrive than those from Amazon–typically 7-15 business days–as they come from “overseas warehouses.” But it appears that Temu also has had trouble delivering inside that larger time window. In October, the Boston branch of the Better Business Bureau opened up a file on Temu and has received 31 complaints about the website.

    Temu currently has a C rating on the BBB, and an average customer rating of 1.4 stars out of 5, albeit from only 20 reviews. (Complaints are separate from reviews, which do not factor into BBB’s official rating.) McGovern at the BBB says it’s unusual for such a new company to receive so many complaints in such a short amount of time. She notes that Temu has acknowledged and responded to every complaint posted to the BBB website, but many of those complaints remain unresolved.

    Caveat Emptor


    January 18, 2025

    It’s Xtra Hot . . .

    Lunch today was at the new Raising Cane’s Chicken Tenders location down on FM1764. And though it’s been several years since we ate at a Cane’s, it was just as good as we remembered.

    We both got their Caniac Combos with 6 Tenders, Fries, Cole Slaw, Texas Toast, and a 32oz drink.

    Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

    And we both had half left to bring home.

    Really delicious, and back on our list since it’s so close now.

    * * * * * * *

    Next was our usual Saturday Wal-Mart visit, and with the coming freeze, we had expected the place to be really busy, but it wasn’t noticeably so.

    Jan and I each take a cart and part of the list and head out. On my list were several cans of Rotel Hot Diced Tomatoes, since Jan wants to make up a batch of her world-famous chili.

    And when I got to the Rotel section, I found something new.

    And it’s right up my alley.

    Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

    Mmmm! Ghost Peppers!

    * * * * * * *

    Though our high today was 69°, tonight’s low looks to be 32°. This was followed up with 48° – 30° on Sunday, which leads to 42° – 28°.

    But the kicker comes in on Tuesday with a 33° – 21°, and SNOW! At least that’s what the National Weather Service says.

    National Weather Service ‘confident’ in snow chances across Galveston County

    There’s a pretty good chance people will awaken Tuesday to between 1 and 2 inches of snow from League City to Galveston Island, according to the National Weather Service.

    A complex weather scenario for the area most likely will result in measurable snow for all of Galveston County for the first time since Winter Storm Uri in 2021, according to the weather service.

    Hopefully, this means that we won’t lose power for 4 days like we did in February 2021

    The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which caught heat in the storm’s aftermath when the grid faltered and left millions without power in life-threatening conditions, Friday began increasing its capacity to 99,000 megawatts from 78,000 to prepare for an increased demand.

    The council expects grid conditions to remain normal throughout the week, a spokeswoman said in a statement.

    Of course, it’s happened before here, like this back in December 2017.

    Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

    * * * * * * *

    Why God? Why?

    Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

All This Is Because Of Us . . .

After stopping off at the Lazy Heron Coffee Shop, a French Toast Latte for me, and a Sugar-Free Snickers? Latte for Jan, we got over to Chris’ about 10 am to find Lowell, Landon, and Brandi right ahead of us.

A little later, Miss Piper and her boyfriend, Robert, showed up, so Linda put out Jan’s Sausage Balls and her Sausage Kolaches for a light breakfast.

All delicious.

Then, we all gathered in the living room and started handing out presents to everyone, with a lot of squeals and ‘thanks.’

Then everyone kind of split up, with some inside, some outside on the porch, and some down around the firepit.

Landon and I had a fun time talking over computers and electronics, regaling him with what went on in the beginning days of the computer revolution.

Later, around 5, we gorged on bowls of Chris’ Gumbo, with Shrimp, Crabmeat, and Sausage, and a really great roux.

Then, with the sun going down, we all gathered around the roaring fire pit, enjoying the warmth.

One thing about this fire pit is that Chris made it from scratch. Starting with sheet steel, he used his torch to cut out the silhouettes and then welded it all together, with each of the six sides different.

We stayed outside for a while, making S’Mores, talking and laughing, just having a good time.

Finally, the temps dropping into the 30’s, drove us inside for the night, and we started heading back to the hotel.

C0ming home, Jan said that as she watched everyone laughing, talking, and having a good time, it suddenly struck her that all this was because of us.

We did good!

Two great kids, and two wonderful grandkids!

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow morning, the Houston Bunch will start heading home, with a stop at the fabled BlueBonnet Cafe over in Marble Falls. Hopefully, Chris will be able to join us, too, but unfortunately, Linda has to work, and Piper and Robert are heading back to Corpus Christi in the opposite direction.


Thought For The Day:

Think the recent tornadoes are because of ‘climate change’?

According to the U.S. Weather Service:

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

And how about this from a recent New York Times article?

Every article on the effects of climate change should also note that China today emits more carbon than the United States, Europe, and India – combined. China’s carbon emissions are so huge that the country has now produced more carbon in the last few decades than Europe has since the start of the Industrial Revolution. And China last year built more coal plants than in any prior year. All efforts outside China to slow climate change are just virtue signaling.

Of course, those really, really tall walls around China will keep all that nasty pollution over there, right?

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


January 6, 2011

Happy 3rd Anniversary . . .

Today is our “Beauty’s” 3rd anniversary. Three years ago today, we picked her up at Roman Holiday Motorhomes in New Braunfels, TX.

12b

Then, one month later, on February 6th, 2008, Jan and I began our full-time life on the road. And if we stick to our plan this year, we will hit the road again this coming Feb. 6th.

A little synchronicity at work.

But this morning I left the rig a little before 11 am, heading back to the same client I was at yesterday. But today was already scheduled before yesterday’s emergency laptop repair visit.

Leaving the rig, I noticed we’re finally getting street lights here in the park. They’ve been installing the forms and rebar to pour concrete for the pedestals. And they’ve already finished some of them.

Jan and I both have mixed feelings about the street lights. The darkness is kinda nice, and the lack of light lets us see the stars better. Oh well.

RV Park LightPoles

Finishing up at the client’s about 2:30, I next drove over to Brock’s Car Care to see about getting my front brakes fixed. A few days ago, I started hearing grinding from my front right brake. Since it hasn’t been that long since I had the brakes done, I suspect that I may have a stuck caliper that caused the brakes to not release completely after braking and then grinding the pads and rotor down.

They said they could get me in tomorrow with no problems, so I told them I’d drop it off either this evening or the first thing tomorrow morning.

I got back to the rig about 3:30 just to turn right around and leave about 4 pm.

Jan and I were heading up to League City to the Cracker Barrel. It’s Thursday, so it’s Turkey and Dressing Day there, Jan’s favorite.

And even better, we got to eat for free.

As I mentioned back on December 23rd, we stopped by Cracker Barrel to pick up a take-out order of Turkey and Dressing so Jan could have ‘leftovers’, since we were eating out on Christmas Day.

But then the day after Christmas, when Jan went to have her meal for supper, she found that not only did she not get any cranberry sauce, but that her Turkey and Dressing lacked any dressing.

Sacrilege!

So to avenge Jan’s slight, I emailed the Cracker Barrel home office, and lo and behold, a few days later, I got a call from the manager. And after another few days, we received a coupon in the mail for two free meals. So Jan finally got her dressing, and all’s right with the world.

After we left Cracker Barrel, I called our son-in-law Lowell to see if he was home yet. Luckily, he was, so we drove by the house to borrow his truck so we’d have a vehicle to drive tomorrow while my truck is in the shop. Especially since Jan has a dentist’s appointment tomorrow morning.

This way, we were able to go ahead and drop off my truck at Brock’s tonight so they can get started on it the first thing after they open at 7 am.

And, of course, while we were at Brandi’s, Jan and I also got in a little Landon time since Lowell had already picked him up from daycare.

We got home about 6:30 after a busy day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on rig stuff tomorrow afternoon. We’ll see.


January 6, 2012

Wipers and Doors . . .

I spent this morning working on a few things around the rig, starting with installing those expensive Rain-X windshield wipers I just bought. It only took a few minutes, and even on a dry windshield, they were nice and quiet. I only did the truck today. I do the ones on the rig later.

My next chore was a big one. I was going to take my truck driver’s door panel off and see what I need to do to fix my broken power window. The window motor still works, and the window moves freely up and down in the track, so I figure the motor and the window are no longer connected together.

Removing the door panel wasn’t as difficult as some I’ve done. Five screws, and after disconnecting the two electrical plugs, just lift it off. The only real problem was disconnecting the two control rods that connect the inside door handle to the door lock.

Door Removal 1

The next thing I did was lay out the screws on a table in the pattern they came off the door and take a photo. This makes it easy to remember which screw goes where when I put it back together.

Door Removal 5

Getting the trim panel off and setting it aside, I peeled the plastic weather shield back to try and get a look at what’s going on inside the door.

Door Removal 2

I plugged the window/door lock control panel back in so I could run the window motor.

Door Removal 3

I used a suction cup to hold the window in position so it wouldn’t fall down into the door frame.

Door Removal 4

In trying to see how the window mechanism worked, I found a cable hanging down loose inside the door. A little Google research told me that these Dodge Dakota windows use a motor-driven cable to move the window up and down, and they sometimes break loose. Some people have had luck reconnecting the cable, while others say it quickly breaks again, and they end up replacing the window regulator anyway.

I’m going to go ahead and pull the motor/regulator unit out and take a look at it. It’ll got to come out either way. A new unit from the dealer lists for $331.00 with installation extra. I found one on Amazon, a brand-new, OEM part for $59.00.

I love Amazon.

I ran out of time today, so if the weather holds out tomorrow, I’ll pull the unit out then.

I stuck the weather shield back on the door and just left the window control panel hanging. To open the door, I have to pull on one of the control rods, but it works for now.

Jan and I headed out on some errands about 3 pm. First up was dropping her off at a laundromat in Friendswood so she could do some heavy rugs and blankets that won’t fit in our rig washer. While she was doing that, I ran some errands and then stopped by Brandi’s and talked with our son-in-law Lowell for a while.

By the time Jan was finished up, it was time for supper, so since King Food was nearby, we couldn’t resist. And of course, more great leftovers.

After supper, we stopped off at Brandi’s again to pick up some packages that had come in, before heading over to Kroger’s for a few groceries.

Then it was finally home for the night after a busy day.


January 6, 2013

Not Much Today . . .

Jan and I decided on an early breakfast this morning, so we headed up to the IHOP in Kemah. You have to pick your time going there on Sunday, otherwise you can have a long wait, but we lucked out and got seated immediately.

Afterwards, we make another futile attempt to buy deer corn at the Home Depot right next door.

Later in the afternoon, I felt a nap coming on, so I was able to put those two hours to good use.

That was about it for today. We had the usual sun, clouds, rain, & wind types of weather today, so it was nice to just stay home.


January 6, 2014

I Depend On The Kindness Of Strangers . . .

I’m sure you’ve been seeing the PSA’s on TV and ads in the magazines saying that everyone should be getting a flu shot right now, especially due to the H1N1 (Swine) flu that’s also going around.

When Jan was working at the hospital, she was required to get a flu shot every year, whether she wanted to or not. On the other hand, I haven’t gotten a flu shot since 1964, when I was in military school and didn’t have a choice.

During my Junior year, we were lined up and given a flu shot. I made it back to my dorm room just before I started throwing up. And I was sick for several days.

The next year, I tried to tell the doctor at the school clinic that I had been told to never have a flu shot again by my doctor at home because of my severe reaction to the shot. But the doctor didn’t believe me, and the Commandant said I could either take the shot, or start walking PT’s until I did.

PT’s, or Penalty Tours, consisted of walking around the Quadrangle with a pack filled with 60# of sand while carrying an ’03 Springfield rifle, which weighed another 9# or so.

So I took the shot.

Getting out of the hospital 10 days later, I was told I didn’t have to take the shot next year. Well, thanks a lot.

So now, like Blanche DuBois, I depend on the kindness of strangers. I figure if everyone else gets their flu shots like good little girls and boys, then I won’t have to. There will be no one for me to catch it from. Works for me.

I’m sure many of you out there remember The Great Swine Flu Pandemic of 1976? The one that the government said would be so devastating that they rushed an untested vaccine into production and use, resulting in dozens dead and hundreds reporting serious side effects like blindness and paralysis?

No, thank you.

And now we have dozens of people contracting narcolepsy after receiving the most recent flu vaccine.

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/01/06/report-girl-falls-asleep-up-to-30-times-a-day-after-getting-flu-shot/

And to answer your next question, yes, I have had the flu a couple of times since then. But that just means that you aren’t doing your part. So everyone get on the stick out there.


Well, after a high today of 38 degrees and 29 last night, we’re looking for 25° tonight. I pulled a second electric heater out of the basement, which, along with the heated mattress pad on our bed, keeps us warm and toasty.

If it gets down in the ‘teens’, I have a small cube heater like this that I put down in our water bay.

Cube Heater

With the heater plugged into this Inline Thermostat, we’ve been good down to 6 degrees (Garrison, MT in 2008).

Inline Thermostat

The thermostat turns anything plugged into it on at 35 degrees and off at 45 degrees. Works like a champ.


January 6, 2015

Just Damn!

With the sunshine today, Mister found himself a nice spot on the dashboard to soak it up after all the cool, wet days during the last week or so.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Never seen him with three legs together like this, but he seemed comfortable.

About 2 pm, I went outside to do some maintenance on the truck. Besides checking the oil, coolant, etc., I wanted todo some rechecking on my AC problem.

Regular blog readers may remember that back this past August, the A/C in our truck died while we were visiting relatives in north Alabama. I first put my gauges on the Freon line and found the pressures were fine. Next, I unhooked the connector that feeds power to the A/C clutch to check it.

The A/C clutch is what you hear making that ‘CLUNK’ when you turn your A/C on. The clutch pulls in and starts the A/C compressor turning and cooling the vehicle. First up, with the engine running and the A/C turned on, I checked for 12 volts at the connector coming from the dashboard. And finding the 12 volts told me that part of the circuit was working.

Then, setting my meter to Ohms, I checked the resistance of the clutch coil, and found the coil open, showing no resistance. Which meant that the problem with the A/C was the clutch. With the coil open, the clutch would not pull in, and the compressor would not turn.

So now I had to decide if I was going to replace the clutch, which I could do myself, or replace the compressor, which I could do, but no longer have the vacuum pump and other equipment necessary to recover the Freon, and then replace it after the new compressor is installed.

A new coil is about $125, while having a new compressor installed would run $600-700. The other thing to consider is the fact that the original compressor (and the truck) are 10 years old. So do I want to spend $125 on a 10-year-old compressor that might completely die next month?

So with all that on my mind, and while I had the hood open, I decided to check the coil once again. And lo and behold, this time the ohmmeter showed 80 ohms, not open as before.

WTH

Then, as I moved the connector a little, the ohmmeter suddenly showed open. And pulling a little bit on the wires coming from the connector showed me the problem.

The insulation was cut, and by moving the wire around, I could tell it was broken inside the insulation as well.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Could it really be this simple?

Twisting the wires around a bit got it in a position where it seemed to be connected. So I started up the engine and turned on the A/C.

And heard a ‘CLUNK’ as the compressor started turning. Getting a thermometer from the rig, I placed it in front of the vent and watched the temp. Within about 5 minutes it had pulled the temperature down from about 65 degrees coming out of the vent to about 44 degrees, a typical 20-degree differential. And this while it was 63 degrees outside.

Well, that will teach me to always investigate a little further on a problem. If I had done so, we could have avoided all those hot trips in the truck during August and September.

Just damn.

After we get to Colorado River, I’ll splice the wire to fix the problem. It’s always nice to save several hundred dollars or more when you can.

About 4:15, we headed out to dinner with our friend Randy. I had helped Randy rewire his electrical system a couple of weeks ago while we were both at the Colorado River Thousand Trails, and since I wouldn’t let him pay me, he insisted on taking us out to dinner. So we were off to the Buffalo Wild Wings right down the Interstate.

Randy had never been to one, but it turns out he likes stuff hot like we do, so he fit right in. And today was 60-cent wing Tuesday, so that was even better.

Leaving the restauran,t we stopped off at Sam’s Club to pick up Jan’s prescription that wasn’t ready yesterday. Then last up was a stop off at the Post Office to mail a letter before heading home.

We plan on leaving for Colorado River TT about 11 am tomorrow. But firs,t we’re going to have breakfast right down the road at the Cracker Barrel before coming back to head for Columbus.


January 6, 2016

Wednesday Roadtrip . . .

I was up at 8 am, way too early for me, and then about 9, Jan and I headed out for our day down in the Clear Lake area, missing out on walking, but since it was completely overcast, cold, and rainy, that was probably a washout anyway. Hopefully, tomorrow will be lucky.

We made a fuel-up/potty stop at the Flying J in Brookshire, where I had planned to get a coffee/cappuccino combo for the road. But it looks like Flying J has screwed up their cappuccino selection.

I first noticed this a few weeks ago when we stopped at the Pilot/Flying J on I-45 north of Houston. They have two cappuccino machines, each with six spigots. In the past, they’ve had a choice of probably 8 to 10 different flavors, like Hazelnut, French Vanilla, English Toffee, Pumpkin Spice, Mocha, Cinnamon Vanilla Nut, etc., i.e., fairly decent coffee/cappuccino flavors.

But now, at both Flying J’s, eight of the flavors are variations of French Vanilla, French Vanilla, Sugar-Free French Vanilla, Mocha French Vanilla, French Vanilla Alert (extra caffeine), etc.

The remaining 4 flavors were Hot Cocoa, Mexican Chocolate, Winter Dark Chocolate, and Raspberry Truffle (?).

Not exactly my favorite flavors of coffee. So until things change, no more coffee at Flying J for me.

Getting into Webster, we met our son Chris and his wife Linda a little after 11 at our favorite local Chinese place, King Food. It’s so good we’ve been eating here since 1978, almost 35 years. In fact, we’re on our fourth owner.

Jan and I had our usual Chicken with Hot Garlic Sauce with jalapenos, Extra, extra spicy.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

With Hot & Sour Soup, Fried Rice, and an Egg Roll, it’s a great meal, just perfect for a cold, rainy day.

Finishing up, Jan and I headed off to get our haircuts, with me first dropping Jan off at the Friendswood SuperCuts, while I drove back down to Lou’s Barbershop, where I’ve been going for almost 20 years, so long that I don’t even have to tell them how I want it cut.. Sheldon would say it’s because they have my haircut records.

Picking up Jan, I made a stop at O’Reilly Auto Parts to get a new gas cap for our Dodge Dakota. The old one gives me a Check Engine code every second or third tank of gas from removing and replacing it when I fill up. This should fix the problem. I hope.

Next stop was a nearby dry cleaners to drop off our summer quilt to have it cleaned. We have a lighter quilt that we use during the summer, and a heavier, winter one for the . . . well, the winter. So when we get back to Houston every fall, we drop it off at the cleaners, and switch over to our winter one that we left at our son Chris’. Then, a week or so before we head out for the year, we swap back again, leaving the now-cleaned winter one again with Chris.

After a client stop for a while, we drove over to the nearby Harris County Public Library so Jan could get a library card, not to check out any paper books, but so she could check out Kindle books online. That way, she won’t have to pay the high prices for mainstream publisher books, but can just check them out online.

By now it was after 3 pm, and rather than hang around to have supper down here, we decided to head back toward home to get ahead of all the going-home traffic on the Katy Freeway.

Along the way, we thought we’d stop off for dinner at the Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in the Katy area. Grimaldi’s has become our favorite pizza place, especially since they’ve spread out across the country.

When we first ate at one in 2009, it was at the original (and only) one, located in Brooklyn, NY under the Brooklyn Bridge (DUMBO) area.

Heading home, we made a pit stop at the Sealy Oasis, a new large convenience store about 15 miles out of Columbus, before getting back to the rig a little after 7 pm.

Another nice day and good times.

Our granddaughter Piper is on a ski trip with some girlfriends in Breckenridge, CO, this week, and sent back this photo.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

That’s Piper on the left. Looks cold.


January 6, 2017

A Three Heater . . .

And One Cat Night.

It finally struggled up to 35° today after a low last night of 33. Big difference.

Our low for tonight has been downgraded to 24° with 25 tomorrow night, so later in the afternoon, I topped off our fresh water tank and then disconnected both ends of the shore hose and let it drain. So we’re all set for the next couple of days.

Glad we’re not on a gate tonight, though with the shacks it wouldn’t be too bad. Back in 2014, we were on a frack gate over in Whitsett. And one night in November, a couple of weeks before we left, it was 26° and sleeting, and I had icicles hanging off the edge of the canopy. Never again.

Of course, from up in Paul’s Valley, OK, about 50 miles south of Oklahoma City, our son-in-law Lowell’s mother Sonja, sent us these photos today.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Sonja said it was 16 degrees today with a wind chill of 5 degrees. Then after 4 inches of snow, it is supposed to be 10 degrees tonight with a wind chill of -5. Just glad it’s not us.

For breakfast this morning, we had a couple of the tacos I picked up on my way home from my gate the other morning.

During our first week here back in Oct., Jan and I stopped off at the Stripes/Valero Truck Stop coming home one morning from our gate. We found they had a 24-hour Taco/Burrito Shop, so we each got a couple of breakfast tacos to bring home. Since they were so good, it was worth doing again.

This afternoon, I took my anemometer outside and found the wind speed here at the park to be about 25 mph, so with the 33°, that gives a wind chill of 20°. No wonder it felt so freaking cold when we left the rig about 4 pm.

We’ve always heard about how good the burgers were at Barth’s, even seeing people ordering them when we’re there for the lunchtime buffets. So if they’re better than the buffet, they must be good. And they certainly were.

Jan got the Cheeseburger and I got the Bacon Cheeseburger.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

These are huge burgers, with 6″ buns and a hand-formed patty sized to match. And they were really good. The thin edges were crispy-charred and just perfect. A really delicious burger. It’s easy to see why they’re so popular.

We’ll use all 3 of our heaters tonight, the Lasko Ceramic Tower,

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

and two of these smaller Sunbeam units.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Normally, one of the Sunbeams stays in the truck for use on cold nights at the gate. The rooftop heaters don’t always work too well in some of the shacks, so I always have a backup plan.

Always have a Backup Plan.

For everything.


January 6, 2018

Repositioning Exercises. . .

Jan’s doing great, slowly getting her strength back. It’s just going to take time for her to get back to 100%.

We pretty much just laid around the rig today and never even went outside. I tried to get up the gumption to go outside and do the awnings, but no luck. I’ll try again tomorrow, I guess.

My BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) that first hit me a few weeks ago seems to be slowly fading. Every reoccurrence has been less in intensity, and due to Jan’s illness I never got a chance to start the Canalith Repositioning Exercises to combat it.

The last time I noticed anything was a small swirl when I got out of bed a couple of days ago and that was it. So as it stands right now I’m not going to worry about it unless it comes back.


January 6, 2020

It’s A Keeper . . .

Whenever we buy something new, I always make a habit of keeping the boxes for a few days. And how long I keep the box is directly related to the cost of the item. The more expensive the item, the longer I keep the box.

So I just got rid of the box that our new Samsung TV came in, which I purchased the middle of December. And I also just got rid of Jan’s 2 Christmas gifts, which were cheaper.

One of the two you’ve already heard about, her Ninja Foodie Digital Air Fryer, which she loves.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

The second one, which I haven’t mentioned yet, was this Sowtech Rechargeable Cordless Vacuum. So yes, I bought my wife appliances for Christmas. But in my defense, it’s what she wanted and what she asked for.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

She had been wanting a new one, and saw this one being used at our local Black Bear Diner. What really impressed both of us was how much the BBD people liked it. Much better than the expensive Dyson that they also had.

They said the Dyson was always breaking and needing new parts. And considering the Sowtech was only about $70, about 25% of what a Dyson costs., Jan’s very happy.

Happy Wife, Happy Life. Even if it’s about appliances.

I have been downloading about 5GB of Garmin map data all evening. A couple of weeks ago, my Garmin GPS lost all the detailed maps, and was just showing a few main roads like 1-45 and Hwy 6.

After I fooled around with it for a while, I discovered that the 16GB MicroSD in the unit had died. Or at least I couldn’t read or write to it when I pulled it out of the GPS and plugged it into my computer. So I ordered a new one from Amazon that came in today.

At least now the GPS recognizes that it has a good SD card, so it’s downloading the new maps. I guess I’ll see when it gets done.

I also got a new oil filter for the rig in today, so later this week I’ll crawl back under the rig and pull the old filter and the adapter, and try again.


January 6, 2021

Our Lucky 13th . . .

Yesterday I signed us up for both Disney+ and Discovery+, and got a 6-month free trial. It turns out that if you have any Unlimited phone plan with Verizon, you can get these 6-month free trials for both Disney and Discovery, as well as a couple of other streaming services.

Just log in to your Verizon account and click on Add-Ons.

It looks like the check’s in the mail, again.

According to the IRS website found here,

https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof-wmsp/notice

our $600 stimulus checks went in the mail today. Of course, this IS the IRS, so you never can tell.


January 6, 2022

Sittin’ Pretty . . .

Jim of Jim’s RV Service showed up a little after 10 am, and along with his helper had the chair and the base out in about 30 minutes, leaving this.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Even nicer, Jim hauled off the old chair, as well as our old Attwood water heater that I haven’t had a chance to throw away before my recent unpleasantness.

Then, after a little cleanup, I put down the chair mat we had already ordered and rolled my Respawn Gaming Chair into place.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

I also installed another of the Lumbar Support Cushions that we had previously installed in the Jeep.

All very comfortable!

A little later, Jan and I drove into League City to have lunch at Cracker Barrel, today in particular because it was Thursday. And Thursday at Cracker Barrel means Turkey and Dressing. And Jan loves Turkey and Dressing.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

But not being as big a fan of T&D as Jan, I had breakfast, in this case their Double Meat Breakfast.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

After lunch, we decided to check out the new HEB up at I-45 and El Dorado. It opened on December 29th, but we decided to let things calm down before we visited. It was busy, but not too bad.

It’s basically a bigger version of the one over on SH96, and very nice.


January 6, 2023

An Anniversary . . .

Our 15th, actually.

No, not that one.

15 years ago today, in 2008, we picked up ‘Beauty’, our 1999 American Eagle motor coach, and began our full-time lifestyle. And a month later, on February 6th, we headed to Alaska, by way of Tucson, Yuma, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Billings, Coeur d’Alene, & Bellingham.

I mean, why go the direct route when you can just take the long-way-around scenic route?

And it’s been a fun ride ever since.

As I said before, tomorrow Jan and I are heading up to Katy to our daughter Brandi’s, so we can have lunch with them, and I can install some upgrades on Landon’s Ender 3D printer.

Really looking forward to it.


January 6, 2024

Still . . .

Jan was still not feeling 100% today, so I headed out about 1:30 to do our weekly Wal-Mart shopping and also bring back dinner.

And dinner was Popeye’s Chicken Sandwiches.

A Spicy Chicken Sandwich for Jan and a Spicy Blackened Bacon & Cheese Chicken Sandwich for me.

Very good.

As I was leaving the rig, I checked out one of the new pads right across from our rig. And I’m still wondering how rigs are going to get up onto the pads.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

Right now, the only thing that makes sense is that they’re going to raise the road to match. But where does that leave us?

I guess we’ll see down the road.

Don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Depends on how Jan feels.


Armadilleaux Cafe . . .

The only thing we’ve got going this week is my 3-month follow-up appointment with Dr. Wang, my neurosurgeon. Hopefully, I’ll be cleared from my remaining restrictions.

Call It Ishmael’s . . .

Well, that stirred up a hornet’s nest. The most emails/comments I’ve gotten in a while.

Ishmael’s, our new coffee shop idea, was a not-so-veiled, (well, maybe too-veiled, in hindsight) swipe at Starbucks. And all of this refers back to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, or The Whale, which is the full title of the book.

Police vehicles tow a detached car axle on a highway.

When the founders of a new Seattle coffee company were trying to come up with a name, they harkened back to the city’s whaling past, with the first suggestion being “Pequod’s”, the name of Captain Ahab’s sailing ship. But then someone said it sounded like they were selling ‘pee’.

Then, for a while, it was Starbo, the name of a Washington state mining camp, which then morphed into Starbuck(s), the steadfast First Mate of Captain Ahab, who opposed Arab’s obsession with killing the whale.

But for me, the most famous character in the book, besides the whale, I guess, was Ishmael. I mean, he’s right there in the very first sentence of the book, one of the two most famous opening lines in literature*

“Call me Ishmael”.

Ishmael, being the only survivor, and the narrator of the story.

Hence, our coffee shop named, “Ishmael’s”.

Take that, Starbucks.

*The other most famous opening sentence is from “A Tale Of Two Cities“.

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times“.

As you’ll see below in the Retro-Blogs.™, today is our 15th Anniversary living in our RV, which Jan immediately named “Beauty”.

And 15 years later, it’s still our home.

Tomorrow looks to be lunch at Armadilleaux Cafe, a local Santa Fe place, where we ate a couple of years ago and really liked it, but somehow never went back. But Jan read that they have Clam Chowder on Tuesdays.