2014 - Day 158/207 - Saturday...

There has been a lot of impersonating going lately; electronically and otherwise, but when one chicken starts impersonating another chicken for their own personal (chickenal?) gain and profit, there has to be a line drawn.  This particular girl was scratching around in the tall weeds when I was going out to check the meters.  She gave me that seductive and beguiling 'Vera' come hither look, and I started falling for her guile like a confused sailor guiding his vessel onto the rocks under the influence of some alluring siren.  Just as I was about to fall under the spell, Vera arrived on the scene, her chiffon gown all a flutter and cussing in chicken language at the other girl.  I was able to make out part of the discussion, something about "fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a rough ride" or something like that.  Chickens give a whole new meaning to "scratching your eyes out" as well.  It is best not to mess with a chicken scorned, I'm just sayin'!

Okay, I just want everyone to know, I take and accept full responsibility for California Chrome failing to achieve glory and the Triple Crown.  I jinxed the whole thing.  I should never watched the race, I should have never taken an interest in it at all.  I should never have even acknowledged that I knew what a 'California Chrome' was.  It is all my fault, and I will (try to) never take any interest in any sort of sport (really, horses participate in sports?) again.

My bad!

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

2014 - Day 157/208 - Friday...

A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr. They are often casual, and are typically taken either with a camera held at arm's length or in a mirror.  I call this one Still Life with Bill & Emily at the new Facility... 

Today was a pretty great day if I do say so myself.  I did not get any extra sleep, but I did get to waste a little extra time doing the morning ritualistic kinds of things before heading off into the city.  I went directly to the Board (do not pass go, do not stops for stop signs, do not collect $200), for the new member orientation.  There were 147 new agents signed up for the orientation, and I am not sure how many actually attended, but it was a pretty good turn out.  One of our new members (Dan) is running for a position on the Austin City Council, place 5, and that is always great to have a REALTOR® colleague run for public office and jump on that advocacy train.  I will let you all know how this turns out.  Another friend of mine (not a REALTOR® colleague) is also running for a council seat (Jimmy) in place 9.  Interesting that I know a couple candidates in this HISTORIC (HYSTERIC) election.

After the orientation, I headed to our new Board facility (under construction) for a tour and a bar-b-cue lunch.  Does any one know the real spelling of bar-b-cue?  Please forward on to me and I will report in a later journal entry.  The folks joining us for lunch arrived in three waves, and I stayed for the whole thing.  I did not realize there were going to be three waves, and I did not eat three lunches, but it was a great tour of the building, and great to see all the folks!

I am not even going to discuss the fact that this is a Friday, but just be aware that I am not at all happy about that.

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

2014 - Day 156/207 - Thursday...

Honestly, it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood!  I took a couple photos of everyday types of flora that is around the house this morning.  Things that we basically take for granted.  Things we really pay little or no attention to, but if you look closely, they are amazingly complex living things.  I for sure cannot make one of the Cannas.  And why do you think it is that we cannot make artificial grass that actually looks like real grass?  We are kind of getting the synthetic flowers (rows and rows of them in various hobby shops) look like the real thing, but grass we do not seem to be able to conquer.  Anyway, if you think about it, take a second to stop and LOOK at the flowers,  I don't even care if you smell them, just look at them before you discount them.

I made it into the office this morning, then headed off to a meeting, then back to the office.  Tomorrow it will be meeting, meeting, lunch (meeting) then off to the office.  Good work takes time!

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

2014 - Day/210 - Wednesday...

This is a selfie of me and my BFF Birthday Girl Vicki taken before the Board meeting this morning.  Happy Birthday Mrs. D!  And for all the rest of you, I hope you enjoy the photo and can appreciate the radiant beauty of Vicki!

As reported in the previous paragraph, if this is the first Wednesday, it must be a Board of Directors meeting.  It was a really good meeting today, and I think a lot of good achievements were made, and there was also some realization of other work that needs to be accomplished to make our association even better.  I do not believe our work will ever be done, we can always make things better!

Tomorrow will be a mixed day of meetings (two) and working in the office to get some real estate work done.

But for now, I am planning on rewarding myself with some ice cream.  I have to make sure my priorities are straight!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, ICE CREAM, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 154/211 - Tuesday...

If you were paying attention this morning as I was driving down IH-35 into Austin while playing Words with Friends and posting my random observations as my Face Book status, I was annoyed in the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic by the s/he (never did figure it out) behind me who kept creeping up to the back end of my car, flashing his/her bright lights and trying to get me to go faster.  I am not certain where s/he wanted me to go but it got worse and worse the further we went.  FINALLY s/he made a series of moves that effectively put him/her onto the left shoulder or the highway and then careened across three lanes of traffic (not an easy feat at 7ish in the morning) giving him/her access to the right hand shoulder where s/he raced off ne'er to be seen for the rest of the morning. 

And then there was this car, driven by an obviously proud city staffer, equally unconcerned about traffic courtesy and protocol, oh her way to wreak havoc with some unsuspecting property owner.  DO NOT MESS with the slum lords, go directly to someone who just bought the house and got a notice from the city that there is an open permit from 25 years ago that now needs to be closed.  Oh, and that means you have to bring the items on the permit up to current property codes.

And how was your day?  I actually had a pretty good day after I got to my office and out of my car.  And the ride home proved uneventful, so that is a good thing.

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

2014 - Day 153/212 - Monday...

I am getting to where I prefer Monday's over Friday's.  There has to be some diagnosis there, please feel free to discuss among yourselves, and let me know your findings.

I absolutely LOVE Butterfly Iris.  I have never been able to grow them (I can also kill Day Lilies telepathically) but I like them very much.  I planted three or four of these several years back and they did not survive the transplanting process.  I think they were actually pronounced dead during the ride home from the Depot.  I am not sure what it is, but some things I am just incapable of nurturing.  Now weeds on the other hand absolutely thrive under my lack of attention.  If you need to grow you some weeds, just send 25 cents and a self addressed, postage paid legal size return envelope and I will send you everything you need to know about the cultivation and proliferation of weeds.  Go ahead, you know you want to.  Wait, in case you are hesitating, come back to this journal entry later this evening after you have had a couple glasses of wine.  Drinking and dialing, it is becoming a national past time!

Today (as insinuated above) was a good day, full of accomplishments and the sharing of good ideas.  I wish every day could be like this one.

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

2014 - Day 152/213 - Sunday...

The chickens are happy, Jody is happy, I am happy.  Overall, not a bad day!

These are some of the roses that are blooming themselves into a stupor around the house.  I must say that the roses do not seem to be harmed at all by the extreme temperatures and drought conditions of the past several years.  Obviously some things thrive on abuse!

I did get to sleep in this morning, and Jody was actually up before I was, and when I finally got up, I was off to loose the chickens, bring in the paper, make some coffee and settle in for a bit.  It was a slow morning since there was no need to be anywhere at any specific time AND my helper was not going to be out today, so things could all slide for a while.  I did get the chicken coop cleaned and put fresh pine shavings in (most of) the nesting boxes.  There were three girls who chose not to give up their nests, so those three boxes got left out.  After that, I made sure there was fresh water everywhere, put out a fresh 'flock block' so Earl the Squirrel would not feel left out, and then hooked the shredder up to the tractor and massacred some of the higher weeds here and there and particularly up at the road.  Things look much less like Grey Gardens if I do say so myself.

Welcome to June by the way!  June looks like it will be a little more calm overall, and that will be a good thing!

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