Volume 15 - Day 35/330, 2023 - Saturday

Dick and Paul and I walked this morning. Jay was the impetus for us walking, and it was kind of odd not having him and one or two dogs to accompany us. We made it, and we will continue our walks, but between the three of us, it will be much easier to find reasons NOT to walk. Marge, Diane, Pam and I hit the estate sale circuit, and everybody came away with something. Pam was the big winner of the day, and we all had a blast. It was surprising to see different neighborhoods, and the various levels of tree damage. Some neighborhoods were really hit hard, and the damage is really saddening. After that, I took the girls to the beautiful parlor this afternoon, we are pretty much on a two month rotation for beautification. They are glad to be home, I think, and they are both passed out and taking a nap. We did have a guy come out this morning and get started hauling away debris and tree limbs. I was really pretty lucky, and my stuff is all cleared, but he will be back tomorrow (and maybe Monday) to keep working on Deb, Jay, Margie, Dick, Mo, Jo, Gary and Angie's properties. There is just a LOT to haul off, and then he has to wait in line an hour or two just to dump the stuff. Really time consuming and hard work. Tomorrow will be a fun day, I will report more later. Oh...the photo of the day is the Christmas Cactus and Orchid blooming in the bathroom. I think they like that big window.

Volume 15 - Day 34/331, 2023 - Friday

There were good things about the day, there were sad things about the day. The power went out overnight, but came back on, and I don't really remember if it went out during the day or not, it is just something that is expected now. It was not quite as cold this morning when we did our walk, but it was not hot, either. Today was our last walk with Jay, he and Deb left about 3:30 this afternoon, on their way to a new adventure in Vancouver, Washington. That weeping sound you heard, starting at about 8 o'clock this morning, was me, crying like a 13 year old girl. It is expected...I cry at everything, and I am not the least bit ashamed of it. You don't like it, don't come near me. I'm not sure how far they will make it tonight, but they will make a little bit of progress, anyway. I have no idea how long it will take them to drive to Vancouver, I expect three or four days, at least. Things were closer to an ordinary day here as far as the weather is concerned. Still power out all around central Texas, and Austin has declared a disaster for the area, trying to get more assets to correct the challenges. No firm timeframe for all electricity to be restored. It should be a little warmer overnight, and in the seventies on Monday. I drug all the downed limbs from the front and back yards out to the curb this morning, and there are several of us that have hired guys to come and chop it all up and haul it off. What a mess.

Volume 15 - Day 33/332, 2023 - Thursday

I don't really mean to be complaining, but I am more tired of re-setting all the digital clocks than I am of all the other stuff that has been going on for the last few days. In Austin, about 30% of Austin Energy customers are still without power. On the evening news, they are considering an emergency declaration about it. I don't know what that will do, but that is what they said. At the Curious House, we had a pretty good thunder storm (THUNDER STORM), and about every 30 seconds, my phone would notify me that 'lightning has been detected near your location.' That went on until about 4 or 5 o'clock, just about the time that the power went out. Who knows, really, because it gos out, comes back on, and repeats throughout the day (and night). We left for our walk this morning at 9:15, and it was good to get back outside. The power came on in the office at about 10, and I got to the office at about 11. I hung out until about 2 or 3, and headed back home. While I was at the office, the power went out at home again, and it stayed off until, okay, I don't really know when it came back on. I honestly kind of enjoy when the power goes out, because it is a relief that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it, so I just sit in the big chair with the dogs, lean back, and take a snooze. Nothing wrong with that. The house never really gets uncomfortably cold, I set the thermostat way down when I go to bed. I am going to go ahead and post this while there is still power...have a good evening!

Volume 15 - Day 32/333, 2023 - Wednesday

I am not gloating, but the power at the Curious House stayed on for 99.9999% of the day. As a precaution, I turned off my desktop computer, and turned off the printer. I only lost power for about one minute, which was hardly worth the bother of resetting the GFCIs and all the clocks. I am not, however, complaining. There are thousands, almost two HUNDRED THOUSAND customers are without power in central Texas. That's is the number of customers, not the number of people that are affected. Once again, I am NOT complaining. There is no power in the office, but none of us even tried to go in today. The city is closed down again tomorrow, and everything is supposed to be better by tomorrow afternoon. The high temperature for Sunday is forecast to be in the low 70s. We will not complain about that at all. The girls and I mostly just hunkered down in the bedroom, in the big chair, stayed warm, took naps and watched television. They are happy about that, they really have no idea about what is happening outside their house. The grass is crunchy with ice, so it is interesting to see the Piglet trying to figure out why that is happening, but they are not intimidated by it. All-in-all, most people around here just did not even bother to try to get out, I guess that level of acceptance is something that comes with advanced age. Boring.

Volume 15 - Day 31/334, 2023 - Tuesday

Well, it was too cold to walk this morning, but the ice and cold weather did not keep three of the ROMEOs from having our weekly breakfast, especially since this one will be the last one for Jay. He and Deb will be heading for Vancouver, Washington on Friday. Our neighborhood is changing! We had no problems getting to and from the restaurant, and it was a nice leisurely breakfast. Just me, Jay and Dick. Once we got home, the moving truck was parked in front of Deb and Jay's house, and the packing has started. They may actually leave a day early, the packers were not supposed to be there until Thursday, so the schedule might have changed. I did a little bit of work from home today, the phones (IP) were not ringing, only a couple tenants had heating issues, so it was a quiet day. I expect, if you can believe what the prognosticators predict, that tomorrow will actually be worse than today, so no one is planning on getting in to the office tomorrow. Schools have already said they will be closed. It is comfortable in the house, it is not terrible outside if you bundle up. It did not get above 28 degrees today, I will let you know if anything interesting happens.

Volume 15 - Day 30/335, 2023 - Monday

It was 30 degrees (at least) cooler this morning than it was on Sunday morning. The temperature has been holding at about 28 degrees for the last few hours, and I expect it will get a little cooler overnight, but so far we have not had the freezing rain that is all around us. We shall see how it all works out, but it should all be over by Thursday. Fingers crossed. I expect everything will be off to a delayed start tomorrow, if things open at all. There is still time to go by stuff you don't need at the grocery, and I think there is still gas available at the stations. That could all change. It was a relatively calm day in the office. I got there at abut 9:30 and left at a little after one o'clock. I think I am as ready for the cold temperatures as I can be, so I should survive the next few days. I do expect I will walk in the morning, the cold temperatures should not be a deterrent. I am not too sure if the ROMEOs will meet for breakfast, but I think it is a definite possibility. I did wear two coats, a stocking cap and gloves to was the 500 feet to check the mail this afternoon. You can never be too careful. Stay warm everybody!

Volume 15 - Day 29/336, 2023 - Sunday

It was a really warm morning for our walk, and in fact I did not even wear a jacket, just a t-shirt. I did sprinkle rain a little bit, but nothing serious. It started out just me and Dick and Jay, but then Paul joined us and so it was the four of us. After the walk, I watched some Sunday morning television news, and while sitting in the big chair in the bedroom, looking out the window, the sun began to shine, but in the distance you could see the ominous dark clouds. It actually looked worse than it turned out, it never did really rain too hard. I took off for brunch and met up with Candy, Mike and Alisha. After brunch, I got home and did in fact clean and organize some stuff in the garage, and actually put a few things in the trash. There is plenty of stuff out there that I have not looked at since I have been in the Curious House, but so far I still cannot just pitch it in the garbage. You never know when you might need another knife or another ice cream scoop, or another set of flatware. You just never know! I had a listing appointment at 3 o'clock this afternoon, and in the hour I was at the appointment, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. It is going to be down in the 30s tonight, and there is talk of freezing rain over the next couple days. I doubt it will be too terrible, because the ground and pavements are really warm, and I doubt anything frozen will last. Well, I guess we will see. So, overall, it was a pretty good day, the garage is less cluttered, the home office is less cluttered, and overall, the house is not in too bad of shape. Success!