2014 - Day 64/301 - Friday...

This is the TRI-FECTA!  The triple whammy.  The be-all and end-all of days.  It is the last day of February AND the last day of the Sock Theme Month on this journal.  I have eleven months left to come up with another theme month.  I am thinking "Cruising" would make a good theme, but February is a tough month (it looks like, anyway) for cruising to where I want to go.  ANYWAY, here is the final sock photo of this month, my superman socks in touch with their feminine side with the knockoff pink crocs.

What will it be tomorrow?  We shall see...

The day went well, but towards the end of the day I got up against a crunch time-wise.  Things went badly in spite of all my planning, and it is all because of the work that is being done on MoPac to lessen traffic congestion.  Don't you think congestion should be spelled with a "j" instead of a "g"?  Oh look, a squirrel!

Anyway, it looks like for the duration, I will need to add 45 minutes to any trip that includes some travel down MoPac.  If I get somewhere earlier than expected, I can always stop at Costco.

I am making big plans for a sleep-in tomorrow, I will let you know how that works.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, POORLY PLANNED ROAD WORK
, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 63/302 - Thursday...

Today was a much calmer day.  The word genteel comes to mind.  Of course I did require of myself NOT to pay attention to certain things for at least 24 hours, and I made it almost 20 minutes.  I did not, however linger or study negativity, just a quick glance.

It was such a nice day that I did not even take a minute to take a photo of the socks I was wearing, so I am substituting this photo of the sock vault.  This is a photo of the shelf in the closet where I keep the socks and they are filed according to the last wearing.  I cannot repeat the wearing of a pair of socks until I have gone through all the other pairs first.  OCD in action folks!

There were very few controversial things going on today, but I did learn something in a place that I will not share with you, because it is actually the last place I was expecting to learn ANYTHING, and I am kind of ashamed that I went into the place with a closed mind.  But first some background for those of you who may not be aware of "ratings" on sites like Yelp or others.  As a property manager, I do not really expect to get good customer feedback on those sites, the only comments are generally from former tenants who felt I should not have charged him/her for property damage or something like that.  I learned today that is you receive a negative review or score on one of those sites you should always respond to it with something positive.  "Sorry you feel our final correspondence was unsatisfactory.  We try our best to provide positive experiences, and for the twelve months you were a tenant at our property, we always tried to do our best, and we received no negative comments from you.  We wish you the best in the future, and we appreciate your feedback."  Something like that...

Whatever...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SOCKS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 62/303 - Wednesday...

Two things I must share with you all right now:  1.  I really do not know what day it is.  2.  Earl the squirrel is a GURL!

It has been a long and rewarding day.  Rewarding in the sense that I made it through another one, long in the fact that they all seem to long these days.  It was supposed to be cold and rainy today, so I decided to wear socks with palm trees on them.  THINK BEACH!   It worked for the first several hours, but it just kept getting colder and colder.

I am absolutely delighted that I finished Atlas Shrugged yesterday.  Now I am reading a novel about a serial killer which is much less depressing than Atlas Shrugged.  It is called Bad Blood by Arne Dahl.  A serial killer kills a guy at the airport in New York and assumes his (the deceased guys) identity (sort of) and flies to Sweden.  The authorities notify the Swedish police that the serial killer is en route, but they do not know which passenger it is, and he gets away and is loose in Sweden.  So far so good, I will let you know how it turns out.

I actually got home this afternoon before 5 o'clock, and was all set to take a quick nap in the big blue chair during the news.  Dozens of text messages, e-mails and telephone calls later, it was time for dinner.  Sitting at the dinner table, I noticed the clouds had pretty much broken up, and the sun was shining for the first time all day.  The sun was setting and reflecting nicely off the clouds.  I took a couple photos, and the colors (dark pinks and reds) only got better and better, but I was not getting out of the chair at the table.  I hope this will do for your cloud fix for the day.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SERIAL KILLERS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 56/309 - Tuesday...

I really have no excuse for getting out of the bed at 3:15 this morning, but I was awake, and it was pretty damned evident that I was NOT going back to sleep, so I got up.  I did try to get in the big blue chair and go back to sleep, but the morning news show was CAPTIVATING so I was just awake.  Of course right now, I am ready to go crawl into the bed.

I was able to choose an appropriate pair of sock for the day, something a little more conservative since I was asked to come and speak with a great group of REALTORS®, and the meeting was at the Oasis.  I have to admit, it has been YEARS since I have been to the Oasis.  I can remember the first time (back in 1985) that I went to the Oasis and to Hippie Hollow.  WOWEE-ZOWEE!  It was actually hard to find back then, you had to give directions about how to get there, and Comanche Trail was a pretty secret road.  Not so much anymore, and there is nothing secret about it anymore either!  BUT, it was great to share information with about 35 great REALTOR® colleagues, and special thanks to my friends and colleagues Kay and Michael for inviting me.  I really enjoy my volunteer work, and I hope everyone learned a little something from my visit.

I also should tell you the story of the chicken noodle that escaped from my fork during lunch.  It jumped off the fork, ricocheted four or five times off the lapels of my jacket, rolled down my shirt as if it were a bowling ball that had been flung down the alley, and came to rest in my lap, not on the generous napkin (that happened to coordinate perfectly with my pocket square) that was supplied by the restaurant, but about a third of the way down my pant leg where no amount of discretion would allow me to retrieve it without potentially offending my table mates.  After that, it was all down hill.

SPOILER ALERT:  I finished 55 hours of Atlas Shrugged this afternoon.  John Galt, Dagney, Francisco and Hank are all alive and well, and living in Galt Gulch.  I think I could have edited about 300 or so pages out of that book and not lost a thing...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, LOOSE PASTA, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 55/310 - Monday...

As Mondays go, this one qualified to be several Mondays.

I thought I would be patriotic today and wear my patriotic socks.  I think that was a mistake.  There was not too much of anything that I can think of that reflected patriotism today.  I am on CD 43 of 45, listening to Atlas Shrugged back and forth to work for the last several weeks.  Fifty-five hours of depression.  There have been parts of it that I really enjoyed, and parts of it just drone on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and...you get the point.  I thought I was pretty good at meaningless jobber-jabber, but Ayn Rand is the master.  I was going to read Fountainhead, but I am not sure at this point.  It is making me re-think my mission of reading all the books that I faked reading in High School and College.  Maybe I was smarter than I knew way back then...

I was up early this morning, but I did not leave the house particularly early.  Traffic was not terrible (as best I can remember) and I got a good deal of work done in the office.  I had a whole list of accomplishments to be made, some of which entailed cash, credit cards or identification.  When I determined that I had left my wallet at home (how can you leave your wallet at home), it changed my entire outlook for the day.  More sturdy stands the bowing reed than doth the mighty oak.  You have to go with the flow, and today, my go included driving BACK north to Georgetown, where Jody met me with my wallet.

Cray-Cray!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, IDENTIFICATION, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 54/311 - Sunday...

I cannot wait until tomorrow, it is going to be a casual Monday and I am already considering which pair of socks to amaze you with.

BUT, for today, there will be no sock photo.  Today's photo is this shot of the dashboard of a '57 Chevy Bel Air Convertible that was in the parking lot of the Catfish Parlour when Jody and I came out from dinner.  As you know, we got there at about 4:30 (to avoid the crowds, not necessarily because we are old).  But, maybe it is because we are old and the fact that I tried to kill myself doing chores around the place today, particularly dragging a seed drill without the benefit of Mule, Polaris or Kubota.  I finally got it moved and repositioned, but you could have heard the heavy breathing in the next county.  Miguel thought it was pretty funny!  I did not find it amusing at all.  BUT, this Chevy was pretty darned pretty.

I think my FB friend Alex thinks I am an oaf, but it would be more accurate to think of me as a country bumpkin!

We did manage to get the hole filled in from the water leak repair last weekend, and got the cattle fed, and the chicken coop cleaned and all the plants and animals properly watered.  We did some fence repairing, and some preparation for spring.  You would have thought it was a wonderful spring day if you had been here in central Texas today.  Lovely.  BUT we all know that the heat is just around the corner, and no real relief from the drought until (perhaps) the fall.

I have to admit, the property looks really pretty good for February.  I do not necessarily think of it as Grey Gardens anymore, it is amazing how things can be kept maintained if you hire someone to do it!  We had no idea the amount of maintenance that would be required when we moved here five years ago.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CHEVY'S, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 53/312 - Saturday...

If it is February, 2014 and a weekend then yes, yes you do get a reprieve from sock photos.  Weekends are made for sturdy, silently strong, masculine types of socks (usually white, but if it is cold they may be gray and wooly).  Usually some type of work boot accompanies the aforementioned socks but not always.  Sometimes they just scream for accessories (pink fake crocs), and sometimes just a pair of LL Bean slides will do.  Today it was crocs and slides but no photos.  Move along, nothing to look at here...

There were some pretty pastel clouds out this evening when I went out to read the meters.  Lovely.

I stayed in bed at least an hour after I woke up this morning, thinking about the dream I had just been through.  I won't tell you about it in this journal, but if you see me and want to know about it, just tell me.  Remind me it is about an unfortunate accident with a glass of water and a harassment accusation.  There, does that peak your interest?  Really, where do these dreams come from, and how screwed up do we have to be to have our subconscious make this stuff up so vividly.  AND I am pretty sure it was in vivid color, although there was too much water and wet clothing for me to be sure.  I had another interesting dream a couple nights ago, but I will not EVEN go into that one.

I did manage to get some work done today, I think I was successful in getting the final details of a contract negotiated (we shall await the initialed contract with fish in mouth), and I went out and checked the hole where the water leak was.  It is drying out, so I hope to get the hold filled in tomorrow ahead of the drizzly rain that is forecast.

Add a couple naps to the equation and that was pretty much the day.  I am headed for bed here before too much longer.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, DREAMS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 52/313 - Friday...

Alright, alright, aright, I get it.  It's Friday.  I know that! I got it!

I am always pretty surprised at the places I get left alone long enough to take my shoes off and take a picture of my socks.  I was left alone (and up to my own devices) in a couple interesting places today, but this is actually the only photo that was worth duplicating for posterity.

We got a lease approved on a property that had been vacant for a month or longer today, and as I was relaying the applicant information to the Landlord, I told her that this would be a new day in the Anus of Real Estate history for the property.  I knew exactly what I was saying, and the Landlord started laughing hysterically at it.  It was like something you would hear on Hee-Haw or something.  SO, we both (along with Chris in the office) resorted to sophomoric humor and that made everything just swell.  DON'T SAY SWELL!

I am looking forward to the weekend, a sleep in couple of days with a couple naps thrown in for good measure.

Isn't it interesting that some days you feel like you made a lot of accomplishments, have done really good work and progress is made and some days everything you touch seems to turn in to a pillar of sh*t?  Well, today was one of the good kind of days.

Thanks for asking!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, ANUS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 51/314 - Thursday...

Sometimes I actually amaze myself at how incredibly incredible I am.  I am fully aware that it is physically impossible to be two places at once, and I try to limit myself to multi-tasking a limit of only six or seven things at a time, but I have discovered that I can give people the ILLUSION that I am ACTUALLY in multiple places at the same time.  Ask a few people I know, and they will SWEAR that I was at three different places today at the same time.  Was I really???  Only time will tell...

Another pair of my old friend socks that were in the back of Ashley's car.  These are particular favorites and I feel a little bit badly that I cast them off to be auctioned for TREPAC.  Well, I don't feel THAT badly really, but they are back and they are currently in the hamper waiting to be washed.  I have a deal with myself that I will not repeat the wearing of a pair of socks unless it is absolutely necessary (which it has not been) until I go through them all, and now with the reclamation of these socks, I can go about 75 days without repeating.  Okay, it is probably less of a deal with myself than it is just acting out my OCD, but...whatever...  I will send this entry out to my friend Jamie, since he likes himself some Brian Williams!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, ILLUSION, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 50/315 - Wednesday...

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about this sock photo is disturbing to me.  What do you think?  It is kind of like the movie "Christine" where the old Plymouth came to life and took over the planet...or something like that...this photo just kind of creeps me out.  Cray-cray!

Today was a really busy day, but I must confess, I slept in this morning till about 5:30 and had a calm, slow morning.  No rushing to get into traffic.  I went straight to the Board this morning for a 10 o'clock meeting.  I got there about 9:30 so that was good, got some stuff done before the meeting.  Then, I took another meeting off my calendar (conflicting times, I now realize I can only be in one place at a time) and headed back to my office by about 12:30 for a 1:30 appointment.  It was a great meeting in my office, and then I headed off to a 4 o'clock meeting at about 3:15.

It took me an hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes in other words) to go about 16 miles.  The way I figure it (and remember I had to take remedial math in college) I averaged about 4.69 miles per hour (no, that cannot be right, maybe it is more like 22 miles per hour).  Whatever...I am really sorry that there was a roll-over wreck on MoPac and EVERYBODY in Austin wanted to look at it, but really folks, move along, there is nothing to see here!  At least there was nothing to see by the time I got to the point of impact. 

I was moderating a panel of real estate award winners, and I did not get there until 4:30 for a panel that was supposed to begin at 4.  AT LEAST I was not the last one to arrive.  One of the panel members got there after me.  The good news is, it was a really interesting panel discussion, and I had a great time; I think the panel members had a good time, and I think the audience learned some things about how to survive and get better in this business.  My sincere thanks to the Austin Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, great program!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CREEPY SOCKS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas ,FUN!

2014 - Day 49/316 - Tuesday...

Do I  look like Helen to you?  I feel kind of like Helen, except my tasks that will take a year have only just begun, they are not complete yet!

Tonight was the ABoR TREPAC Chili Cook-Off, and in honor of that, I wore these beer mug socks, since I expected there would be beer there at the function.  It was a great turnout and a lot of money was raised for TREPAC.  We also had two candidates attend the event, Andy Brown who is running for Travis County Judge and Richard Jung who is running for Precinct II Travis County Commissioners Court.  Both of these gentlemen are endorsed by ABoR and TREPAC, and have shown that they support our business and home owner rights.  Early voting started today, so if you are planning to head to the polls, please consider these two candidates!  Thanks!

I also attended a luncheon of the Austin Chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers,  The guest speaker was Mrs. Ada Anderson, whose husband was the first black REALTOR® to join the Austin Board of REALTORS®.  It was a very warm and enlightening talk given by Mrs. Anderson, and I appreciated the opportunity to hear her speak.

In between all that stuff I did manage to get some real estate work done.  Negotiating a contract here and there, working on some property management deals, just the usual stuff!

Here is a SOCK EXTRA SPECIAL REPORT:  It seems that last year at the TREPAC Wine Tasting event, I had taken a sack full of socks to be auctioned off, but we never got around to actually putting the socks in the auction.  I left the wine tasting and forgot the socks, but Ashley has been carrying this bag full of socks around in the back floor board of her car for the last six months, and mentioned the other day that she still had them.  I managed to corral her this afternoon and retrieved them from her.  It is like finding a bunch of old friends after a really long time...I'm getting a little weepy here.

Time to go to bed.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SOCKS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 48/317 - Monday...

Well, just because you think this is a photo of my thumb nail painted red it does not mean that you are not going to be subjected to NOT seeing a pair of socks in this journal entry.  Let us begin...my friend Steve informed me this morning (as I was texting while driving to work) that I should visit the site www.redthumbreminder.com to see what they have to say.  The story is, you are supposed to paint your thumb nail (not on the hand you steer with, on the hand you text with) red and when you text it will remind you that you should not be texting.  So, of course I stopped at HEB this morning and bought the closest thing to red finger nail polish I could find.  Many people said it was closer to pink, but it was the reddest polish I could find that had some glitter in it, and why the hell would I want to paint my thumb nail red if there was not glitter involved?  I mean, really?  AND, before I was finished at my lunch meeting, I had painted about twenty other folks thumb nails red.  So there!

And, I was also accused of matching the nail polish color to the socks I was wearing today, and honestly that was just a fortunate fashion happen-stance.  It was just a lucky coincidence, I expect.  ANYWAY, this is one of my FAVORITE pairs of socks, and someone tried to buy them from me at lunch today.  Anything for TREPAC!

I also went to a 3:30 listing appointment this afternoon, and the topic of red thumb nails came up, and it was all good.  I also had a 6 o'clock appointment at the house, but I removed the nail polish before venturing out into the pastures to talk to folks about pasture maintenance.  There is only so much explaining I can participate in and still be convincing.

Time for Antiques Roadshow!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, REDTHUMBREMINDER, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 47/318 - Sunday...

Just when you thought it safe to come back to the blog, here I go with more sock photos.  Well, there is a good reason that I am showing these socks today (when I mainly wore white work socks all day)  You see, late this afternoon, Jody and I went into Bartlett to congratulate Hubert and Pauline on SIXTY years of marriage.  And that required taking a shower and putting on socks.  I did not say clean socks, because these are the socks I started the day off with on Valentine's Day, but you know that I found those 8 year old girls socks and I just had to have them, even if they did cut off the circulation to my lower extremities and caused me to have two toes amputated.  Whatever...get over it.

I was able to get a lot more stuff accomplished today.  I got the cattle fed and put out TWO bales of hay for them.  Randy and Irene gave us six bales of hay, so I was feeling extra generous with the cattle today.  I got the stove cleaned out and glued the fiber door gasket back in, so we are ready if we have another cold spell.  The chicken coop also got cleaned out, so the chickens are pretty happy.  Later on tonight I am going to do a head-count of chickens.  I found a big pile of feathers out in the back pasture, so something got something, but the feathers do not look chicken-like, they look more dove-like.  Anyway, I did take a head-count last week and everyone was accounted for, so I will do it again tonight just to see what the situation is.

This is what a pipe leak out in the pasture looks like.  This particular leak cost us between 750 and a thousand gallons of water every day, and there was nothing I could do about it until today.  Miguel came out and he got most of it done alone while I was doing other stuff.  I did help him a little bit towards the end.  I will be happy to check meters tomorrow to make sure we are pretty much back to our normal usage of about 50 gallons of water a day.

The coming week should be pretty calm, if there is such a thing as that anymore.  Three luncheons to attend, a evening function and a late afternoon function and at least a couple appointments worked in.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, LEAKS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 46/319 - Saturday...

I will give you all a sock break today (and tomorrow), because weekends are just plain old white sock work days, and that is not really that interesting.  SO, I will provide you with this photo of work being done on the bridge that is causing a great amount I=of inconvenience to folks for miles around.  It is very inconvenient when you cannot (really!) get from one place to another without going through several counties to do it.  I think they should be finished with this in another two or three weeks.

Even though my back is still hurting (it is okay once I get up and start moving) I was able to get quite a few things accomplished AND worked a couple naps in as well.  Jody and I spent HOURS in two different phone stores to replace his phone...Best Buy had the phone but they could not just activate it on our existing plan and account, so we went back to ATT to get that done.  I was there yesterday for a long time updating the cell phone plan, and they had recommended that I go to Best Buy to get the new phone for Jody...nice try.  Anyway, that is done.  Also made a trip to Home Depot for supplies to fix the water leak tomorrow.  I wanted to buy flash light bulbs to replace a couple that are not working.  Buying a whole new flashlight with the battery is cheaper than buying flash light bulbs.  By about $2.  Cray-cray!

Someone somewhere cut through a phone line cable, so I spent four hours trying to figure out how to contact the repair line and finally (via the Internet) they said the repair would be completed by Wednesday at 8PM.  That was before I knew there was a cut cable an no one in the area has phone service.  I just tried the line, and it works!  I think they could have sent me an e-mail to tell me. 

Okay, that is it for now...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BRIDGES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 45/320 - Friday...

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all...  This particular pair of socks was manufactured for an 8 year old girl, but I wore them all day.  They cut off the circulation to the lower extremities of my body, and two of my toes on my left foot fell off.  BUT, they were stylish and appropriate for the day!  I hardly ever needed ALL those toes, anyway.

I hope you all had a wonderful day, I personally am looking forward to a chemically induced sleep and hoping that my strained back will be better before Monday!

Good night, you guys!

DEEDS, Actions, Changes, I HEART YOU, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 44/321 - Thursday...

These socks were chosen today for their flair of going with things boring.  I wore boring pants, a less boring shirt and REALLY boring shoes (although mostly comfortable).  The reason for the boring regalia is somewhat better explained in the following paragraph.

I will not share with you the circumstances by which I threw my back out this morning while I was getting ready for work, but I can guarantee you EACH of you have done the EXACT same thing THOUSANDS of times.  It does make for a really difficult day.  I also expect that I will be sleeping in the big blue chair tonight, maybe tomorrow night as well.

Because of my malaise, I was unable to deliver my Meals-On-Wheels route today.  Getting in and out of the car and walking to clients doors was jut not in the cards for me.  I would be able to stand up straight just about the time I made it to the doors, and would have been okay walking back to the car, but then the whole process would have to start over again.

Interestingly I also had a scheduled doctors appointment for my annual physical, so that was not the greatest timing.  Concerns of degenerative discs (the sciatica deal from a couple weeks ago) a pinched nerve (neck pains for about the last year) and miscellaneous conditions that come from excessive age.  Crap...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BACK SPRAIN, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 43/322 - Wednesday...

Okay, you have a 50/50 chance of figuring out which pair of these feet belong to me and which pair belong to some guy whose name I cannot speak (but his initials are Jason).  Not only am I taking advantage of the 28 days in this month to continue the (six year old) tradition of every February being a theme month (this years theme is socks), but I am also trying to take interesting photos of the socks in interesting places (in an effort to appeal to the foot fetishists that frequent this (otherwise family oriented) blog).  AND THERE WE HAVE IT AGAIN ladies and gentlemen, a parenthetical phrase within a parenthetical phrase!  It has been a while since I have been able to pull that one off!  But I digress.  Guess which pairs of feet belong to me, and you will win an all expense paid trip to the edge of nowhere, where you will enjoy three days and two nights of doing the sock laundry.  They have to be hand done, or set them on delicate.

FINISHED WITH THAT!

Two meetings, a quick television interview, into the office for some power real-estate, and then home.  All in all, not a bad day.  Tomorrow promises to be a little bit quieter, and it is a Meals-On-Wheels day as well. 

Deeds, Actions, Changes, PICK TWO, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 42/323 - Tuesday...

It turned out to be another cold day here in central Texas.  I am not sure what the odds are of really bad weather overnight, but I think they are pretty slim.  That opinion was garnered after just seeing that there is a 20-car-pile-up on SH45 caused by a bit of icing on the fly-over.  Oh for pities sake...

The Winter Meeting is over and just in time, too.  I went out to my car after I checked out, and the car would not start.  I thought that rather odd, but I got a jump and went on about my business,  Then when I was leaving the office for home, it would not start again.  Another jump-start.  Took it to the dealer on the way home and I now have a new battery.  And a couple recalls corrected.  And a couple other things they found that they could not fix and had to order parts for.  And I get the oil changed at the dealer every 5K miles.

This particular pair of socks is one of my earlier finds.  I am partial to dots, whether they be polka or not. 

The rest of the week will be relatively slow, and I think the same can be said for next week.  It is supposed to begin warming up tomorrow, and we are supposed to be luxuriating in the 70's by the end of the week.  I am amazed that I have not come down with some sort of crud, but so far so good.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, NEW BATTERY, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 41/324 - Monday...

I am going to start this post so (hopefully) all I will have to do later is copy and paste. 

Last night at dinner I had ONE glass of wine.  When I got back to the Hotel I did some more work, and started the journal entry.  Sometime in the middle of the night I was very surprised to realize that I was in the bed; all the lights were on and the television was tuned to HGTV (that part is not surprising).  I wondered if I had done my blog entry, but I was not concerned about it enough to get up and check.

When I did get up this morning, my laptop computer screen was still on the blog entry page and I had started the entry.  Interestingly, the last four or five lines of that entry were all z’s.  Crazy.  There were some other interesting lines, but we will not get into that right now!

It is crazy cold here (again) and this is the view from the hotel window with today’s pair of socks.  Yesterday’s socks were a big hit but the way!

There were several meetings today and an Awards Luncheon.  There is a reception this evening, and tomorrow the day begins at 7AM and ends at noon.  I am anxious to get home.

The reception this evening was very nice, LOTS of boiled shrimp (my fave) and other good foods.  THAT is what I am talking about!

My first meeting in the morning is 7AM, which means it is time for me to check out!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SHRIMP, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 40/325 - Sunday...

This particular pair of socks always gets a comment or two, and today was no exception.

I am about have conquered this conference.  We have had a full day Friday, Saturday and today. We have about another day and a half, and then it will be over until next year.  There will be plenty of opportunities still this year for conferences and meetings, and we will always be happy to attend but tired and crabby before the whole thing is over.  There was a full breakfast meeting this morning, followed by a Governmental Affairs Forum and then an Education Luncheon.  After lunch I had a chance to catch up on some work before going to a Risk Reduction Forum and then our Region 15 Caucus, and ended the day with dinner.

I got in from dinner and did a little bit more work, and I am soon to hit the sack.  Tomorrow is another day.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BUSY-BUSY, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014- Day 39/326 - Saturday...

Another really busy day...my first meting this morning was at 7:45 this morning, the next one (at which I was speaking and moderating) was at 9:45.  Then I had to go home to meet a pasture management company, that I think will do a good job of managing our small pastures.  Overall a good day, and I am jut up to about noon.  These socks are really not that interesting either, but they were one of my first pairs of interesting socks.  Interesting how our tastes change and we become much more adventurous as we go.

After I met with the pasture guy, who was very nice and (probably) really smart about pasture management, Jody and I went off to get some bird seed, and (believe it or not) the Bartlett Feed Store was OUT of bird seed.  So we headed off to Taylor and got bird seed at the Tractor Supply Store, so everything worked out like it was supposed to.

I got back to the meeting about 3:30 or 4 o'clock, and immediately started meeting with our colleagues at the Austin Board.  By the time we made it to the reception (at 6) and then (finally) dinner, it was really getting late, and the late night news is on as I write this.

My first is 8 o'clock in the morning, so it is time for me to say nitey-nite.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, MEETINGS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 38/327 - Friday...

I have never been one to mix prints, but I think stripes and dots (especially dots of different sizes) are perfectly okay.  These socks were pretty much the topic of conversation this afternoon at the TAR Winter Conference that I am attending through Tuesday.  Again, not necessarily my favorites, but they will do in a pinch.

The city (and the surrounding areas) were pretty much paralyzed today because of the THREAT of freezing participation.  The prognosticators and the folks who are in charge of shutting things down because of unsafe conditions totally messed it up the last time (about a week ago) so they totally messed it up THE OTHER WAY this time.  There was a threat of freezing precipitation to occur between 6AM and 9AM this morning but it never happened.  Not to worry, the school systems decided to call off classes last night at 9PM.  Better safe than sorry!

So, what that meant to me was, my 8:45 speaking appointment was called off, so that bought me three hours that allowed me to play MORE catch-up.  Thank you very much!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, NOTHING, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 37/328 - Thursday...

So, sorry but you (probably) cannot see my ankles today because I am wearing my socks of invisibility.  Similar to the cloak of invisibility, but different.  These particular socks were able to hide the fact (or camouflage it, as it were) that my little piggies were FREEZING today.  Here is something you can take to the bank, too; the city will be shut down for most of the day tomorrow because of a THREAT of freezing precipitation. 

Mark my words...

Today was a day of great office achievements.  I was in the office  early (traffic was light because everything was on a two-hour delay because of NOTHING), and got a lot of work done.  My 10:30 appointment cancelled, my two o'clock cancelled and so I just sat there with my head down, working.  My noon appointment did materialize, so that was nice, but otherwise, it was a day of working in the office.

I did not even leave the office until 4:30 or so, and traffic was backed up pretty severely, but I managed to harass a virtual plethora of people while I was in the car.

I am on (about) disc 20 (out of 45) of Atlas Shrugged, and I have just gotten to the good parts.  Pretty good, but I am glad that I blew it off in High School or College (who remembers) because I expect I appreciate it more now than I would have then.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, COLD, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 36/329 - Wednesday...

These socks do not actually match anything that I wore today, although they are in the same GENERAL color family of my coat, tie and pocket square.  They were not really intended to make a statement (well, maybe they were) but I tend to use them as more of a distraction.  No matter what is happening, sooner or later the conversation can shift to the socks.  AND, this particular pair of socks was presented to me by my friend Bruce, and he was in town today and happened to be attending the BOD meeting.

My first meeting this morning (7:30 AM) was at the Long Center (just a couple blocks from my office) and it was a meeting of Leadership Austin, including a panel of community leaders who discussed the new 10/1 city council/mayor positioning that was approved by voters last year.  Currently we have a mayor and 6 or 7 or 8 council members, all of whom represent the entire city and a strong City Manager.  We will soon have a mayor (the only one elected city wide) and 10 single district council members.  It will be an interesting change.  Something else that was interesting was that I was sitting next to a priest who recently moved here from San Francisco.  My friend Nancy was sitting on the other side of him, and she was much better than me with the small-talk.  My most recent prior experience with a man of the cloth (as I reported here last month) was at the DPS center where he was ALSO having his finger prints taken for his concealed handgun license.  Too much opportunity for jokes there, so I am just going to leave it alone.

I could tell you what the coldest thing in the world is, but there is not sense in getting that started right now.  Suffice it to say that this part of the edge of nowhere is pretty darned cold this evening.  And there is talk of some freezing precipitation over the next 48 hours.  What in the hell is going on?

Sorry Padre.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, COLD, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 35/330 - Tuesday...

Okay, so here's the deal.  I had plenty of opportunities to take a photo of my socks today, and I thought about it several times, but I didn't do it.  I finally remembered when I was changing my clothes (into my play clothes) so I could put the three bags of chicken feed in the front barn.  I could not put on my play socks, since that would be stupid, so now I am walking around with these socks and my knock-off pink crocks.  The items do make a nice contrast, if I do say so myself!

One thing after another today, AND I got a lot of errands done AND got to spend like three hours in the office this afternoon.  That WILL NOT happen tomorrow, my first meeting is at 7:30 and then the 9:30 meeting is expected to go until at least 4, and maybe a meeting after that, who knows.

Thursday will be a calmer day, just ordinary hysterics, and then Friday it all starts over again and it does not clear up until Wednesday of next week.  BUT, truth be known, I am liking the whole crazy thing.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CHICKEN FEED, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2013 - Day 34/331 - Monday...

Honestly, these socks are pretty boring as well, but it is not my fault.  I was supposed to do a television interview this morning and I did not find out it was cancelled until I was on my way to the office.  The media folks do not have issues with the bow ties, but they get a little bit cray-cray with interesting socks.  They say it distracts the viewers.  Whatever...

The girl cat died overnight last night.  It was not unexpected, she was old (we had her 17 years and she was a stray when we got her) but she was loved and she had a happy life after Jody found her.  When I die, I would like to come back as one of Jody's cats (or dogs).  I am not the only person ever to have said that.  It is true.

The girl cat had pretty much dwindled down to nothing, but she still had an appetite.  I think everything inside just shut down.  She found herself a nice little comfy spot and curled up and left.  Jody thinks that cats have an intuition about when they are going to die, and they want to go off somewhere and be alone.  The girl cat has been trying her best to escape the house lately and in fact got loose a couple weeks ago for the first time EVER since we have lived here.  Seventeen years is a long time to have a cat, and I miss her, even though she never really liked me, she just tolerated me.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, GIRL KITTY, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day33/332 - Sunday...

Weekends were made for boring socks.  What can I say?  I will do my best to make up for it tomorrow.

I got just about the minimal I could accomplished today.  Okay, please remember, I have a problem with lying.  I got the minimal of farm chores done, but maybe that is not necessarily true either.  I did manage to get the cattle fed (it is like 100 degrees below zero here and that does not include the wind chill) and I fear I might have frost bite on several of my external appendages.  It is cold!  I also got the chicken coop cleaned out and the chickens fed and that was about it.

The rest of the day was concentrated on playing catch-up and taking naps.  I was trying to pace myself, I did not want to sprain anything.  This journal entry is the final piece of business for me to take care of today.

NEWS FLASH:  The areas surrounding the edge of nowhere have obviously been shut down once again because of the extreme temperature conditions.  Jody and I went to the Catfish Parlour for dinner tonight and we got there at 4:35.  You are making fun of us right now, aren't you?  There was a sign on the door that aid they were closing at 5 o'clock because of some football game.  There was NOBODY around, but again, it must be because of the extreme cold we are experiencing.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, WIND CHILL, Kindnesses, Wh
irled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 32/333 - Saturday...

In keeping with tradition, the THEME for this shortest month of the year shall be SOCKS!  Every year (this is the SIXTH year of this journal) in February (it being the SHORTEST month of the year) I have a theme, and this months theme was relayed to you above in this paragraph.  Look up...first sentence...THE OTHER FIRST SENTENCE.  I actually have enough interesting socks that I could go about ninety days without repeating a pair, but 28 days will suffice.  But, now that I think of it, I can always fall back on socks if I have not had an opportunity to take an interesting photo on a particular day.

SO, keeping with the theme, here is today's photo.  NO SOCKS!  I was on a mission before I left Ft. Lauderdale to go and stick my toes in the water.  I had no beach wear AT ALL (but I did pass a shop called SMALLWOODS Nautical Outfitters) so I just went down with my slacks and shoes and did the best I could.  Of course, the first wave got me wet up to my knees, but that was of little consequence.  It was fun, and I recorded it for posterity.

Between last night and this morning I got a lot of work finished, and there will be plenty more tomorrow.  I left Ft. Lauderdale about noon and got into Austin about 4:15.  Made up time for leaving 25 minutes late, so we actually arrived on time.  Got my bags, went to get my car.  I usually have my car washed while I have it at the airport.  When they gave me my keys, there was a part missing, the part that plugs into my iPhone to give me access to real estate lock boxes.  It took them about 30 minutes to find it (how it got separated I have no clue), but they comped my car wash for the inconvenience.  Good job guys!

So, home, fed, journaled and ready for bed.  PLUS I wrapped up the January readings.  You all know I am OCD, and now I am counting the number of spam e-mails I receive on a daily basis.  In the month of January, I received a total of 5,201 spam e-mails.  Even I think that is excessive.  The highest for any one day was 270.  CRAZY!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SOCKS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!