Volume 18 - Day 312/53, 2026 - Sunday

Howdy, y'all. It is a rainy day in central Texas, not that there is anything wrong with that. Val, Paulina and I left the Curious House at a little after 11 this morning. I am beginning this blog entry in the airport in Austin, and I will finish it in the airport in Dallas. That is because I am too cheap, and likely too illiterate, to figure out the complexities of paying for WiFi in the plane. Plus, I am not expecting anything exciting to happen after I leave Dallas. So, that is it for now, more in a couple hours. Okay, the plane was late leaving Austin, but the pilot hauled ass and I am on my connecting flight. We were side-by-side with another plane almost the whole way here, and that was interesting. I have to pee, but there is no time for that right now, I will wait until we are in the air, but at least I have an aisle seat, so that will be convenient. Time for PM pills, then time for some sleep. There will be more tomorrow. Lexie was not really happy this morning, but I am sure that Paulina and Val will spoil both the girls rotten while I am gone. 

Volume 18 - Day 311/54, 2026 - Saturday

After our walk this morning, I headed to the Amenity Center in our neighborhood, and we turned it into a Blood Bank. When I left this morning, we had sixteen donors scheduled. As the day progressed, we had two no-shows, four walk-ins, and counting the platelets that Marian, Paulina and I donated yesterday, our count for the day is a total of twenty donors. That is the goal that the Blood Bank was hoping for, but I was trying to get twenty five. Twenty is twenty more that they had yesterday, so all is good. We were done by about 1:30, so I headed to two estate sales that were open until three, and again, I bought nothing. I got back to the Curious House, did a few chores, and sat with the girls in the big chair dozed off for a couple minutes. I have turned the sprinklers off, because all the prognosticators are prognosticating rain over night, maybe heavy rain, and tomorrow is supposed to be a wet day. Fingers crossed. Otherwise, that is all the news that is fit to blog, and I am almost ready for bed!

Volume 18 - Day 310/55, 2026 - Friday

The windows in the Curious House are officially closed until further notice. It was chilly outside when I got up this morning, and I don't think it got warmer than the low 70s all day long. It became a beautiful, bright and sunny day, so that was good. We had a good walk this morning, and that was good, too. There was nothing on my chore list that needed to be done this morning, so I went to one estate sale with Val. It was disappointing for a couple reasons; first, it was a full price day, and second, there was nothing there that even remotely interested me. Awful! Soon after that, Paulina, Marian and I headed in to Austin to donate platelets. We did not even stop at Upper Crust, I have no idea what is happening to us. That place was extra cold this afternoon, and I think I was actually donating ice cube platelets. We were all freezing, and it was lovely to get back in the Buzz that had been sitting in the sun for a couple hours! We got back home about 4:30, and after taking a little rest, I am washing clothes. Tomorrow is a blood drive day in our neighborhood, so I will be there before 8AM and hang out until a little after 1PM. The blood bank goal is 20 donors, my goal is 25 donors, and right now we are at 16 scheduled, and there is still time, AND walk-ins are welcome. I will let you know how it turned out tomorrow.

Volume 18 - Day 309/56, 2026 - Thursday

Okay, it's Thursday night and it is almost my bedtime. The weather remains tolerable, and that makes for nice walks in the mornings. There was nothing on my chores list, but I did not think that was a good enough reason to do laundry. Paulina and I went to lunch, which did not take too long, and I brought much of it home. I did arrange for the tree limbs in the front of the Curious House to be trimmed off the roof, and that worked out well. Tonight was the last class for the Civilian Police Academy, and I am glad of that. It was only a ten week commitment, but I am still glad it is finished. Tonights session was about the K9 Unit in Georgetown. Here are some interesting facts: All the K9s at Georgetown (and I assume many other places) are bred in Poland. Apparently, they have superior canine breeding programs in Poland. The cost of a new canine for a police program is currently $21K. The dogs are constantly being trained, but they are not considered police officers. They are in some states, but in Texas they are considered service animals. Last (and maybe the most interesting) fact, the canine we observed tonight, is given instructions by his handler in Czechoslovakian. While working they don't want the dog to respond to someones command in English, so Czechoslovakian it it for that particular dog. I thought that was pretty interesting. Tomorrow will be a platelet day, and before that, Val and I are going to an estate sale. Busy, busy, busy!

Volume 18 - Day 308/57, 2026 - Wednesday

I think a cold front came in overnight, and it was somewhere in the lower 50s when I got up this morning. Cool enough that I had to put on a jacket for our walk. The prognosticator just said another cold front comes in tomorrow night. The high tomorrow is 82 and on Thursday, the high will be about 73. Nothing for me to complain about there. After the walk, I watched some news, and then got ready and took off to Austin for our monthly office meeting. On the way back to the Curious House, I stopped by the Capitol, just to see what I could see. I love going inside that building. I got home about 12:30, went down for a nap, and then met a guy that will be trimming tree limbs off the roof tomorrow. I prefer preventive stuff rather than emergency repair stuff. That is just opposite of some people I know. I have crossed my fingers, hoping I have everything together for my trip next week. Hotel reservations, flight tickets, train tickets, tour tickets...it seems like a really long list of stuff, but I think I have everything under control. We shall see...

Volume 18 - Day 307/58, 2026 - Tuesday

Another busy day, but it didn't start with a walk, we had some rain overnight, about a half-inch, and it was raining off-and-on, so we decided to call it a rain day. We did not call off our ROMEO breakfast though, and it was fun seeing Dick, Rick and Bob. Bob rode with me, and we did make a stop at Galaxy bakery, and Rick was stalking us. He had never been to Galaxy, and I think he is now a convert. Once I got back to the Curious House, I changed clothes and headed in to Austin. There was a Past Presidents luncheon at the Austin Board, and then I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up one prescription. Heading back home, I watched, what I thought was, a low-speed chase down the Interstate, but apparently this cop was just following the box truck being pulled down the highway. It has been a long time since I saw something like that. It kind of brings back memories of when I could push a car and pop the clutch to get it started. I am really not interested in doing that again. I have not had the air conditioner on for a week or maybe longer, and that makes me happy. It has been a series of really nice days and evenings, top down on the little white car, and sitting on the front patio or back deck. I am enjoying it as much as I can, because I know it will not last for very much longer.

Volume 18 - Day 306/59, 2026 - Monday

I had a few more things to do on my chore list, and I got everything done that needed to be done. It was a lovely and warm, cloudy day, just the kind of day that lends itself to keeping the top down on the little white car. I did make it in to Austin for a couple things, as I will do tomorrow and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are not certain, but I wouldn't be surprised. There is a chance of storms overnight tonight, and I like watching that when it wakes me up. As long as it is just a good storm, no damage or injury, I am good with it. Tomorrow is election day, get out and go vote.