Volume 18 - Day 259/106, 2026 - Wednesday

At my advanced age, I should no longer be expected to remember to take photos to include with these journal entries. After my committee meeting this morning, I had a lovely lunch with Eileen and Holly. I consciously thought about taking a photo shortly before lunch, but left, headed back to the Curious House, with no photo. I did, however, bring home the crispy chicken parts of my club salad, so take a look at the photo, and you will know what I will be having for dinner later in the week! One of our neighbors complained this week about the condition of the community pool, and that there may have been a vandalism event, because there was pool furniture in the pool. The HOA manager response was, and I quote: We have video record of mini cyclone picking up the chairs and blowing them into the pool and one over the fence. This same cyclone deposited a lot of dirt in pool. The dirt is from beside the pool where there is no grass. Was the mini-cyclone reported to our local weather prognosticators? I heard nothing about it, so I looked up the definition on the Googles. A 'mini cyclone' is an informal, non-standard weather term usually used by the public and media to describe a localized, intense wind event, small tornado, or a midget tropical storm. I am not sure about you, but I think the proper term these days would be 'little people tropical storm.

Volume 18 - Day 258/107, 2026 - Tuesday

Even though I don't have a lot of appointments and tasks anymore, I feel like today was another busy day. I got a few things checked off my list, but not everything. I did another solo walk this morning, and then I met Rick and Bob for our ROMEO breakfast. On the way back to the Curious House, I made stops at Galaxy Bakery (cannolis for Paulina) and then a stop at the Post Office ( it was the day to send my estimated taxes). That was all well and good, but then I took off to send some documents to a law office in Mexico. All was good, EXCEPT I had to go to two different places, because I needed a RFC number to make it through Mexican customs. It is always something. I did get all that done, and then it was time for a nap. Now, I am composing this journal entry, and then it will be an evening of television. Record breaking heat in central Texas today, 103 degrees in Austin. Hopefully we will have some relief in about ten days, I am counting those days! I have an 11 o'clock meeting tomorrow in Austin, and then lunch with Holly and Eileen. Overall, I remain, a really, REALLY lucky man. I'm not sure how I worked everything out to be as lucky as I am! Oh yeah, and apparently it is becoming frog season at the Curious House. I think they are coming around the house more due to the lack of rain. Needless to say, they are interesting, and the girls are fascinated by them.

Volume 18 - Day 257/108, 2026 - Monday

I did a nice solo walk this morning, and I will walk solo again tomorrow morning. Whenever I pass by this tree, I think of Jody. This was going to be the 'Jody Tree,' but the developers kept putting me off about it, but things worked out for the best, anyway. I was going to buy the house to the right of the tree, and the lot the tree was on, but apparently it was not meant to be. I always liked the Curious House better, so it all worked out. SO... other than the walk this morning, I did very little of anything today. Tomorrow, I will walk and then gather for the ROMEO Breakfast, and then stop at Galaxy Bakery for scones and cannoli. Wednesday, I will go in to Austin for a meeting, and then lunch with Eileen and Holly. A week from today, the weather forecast says the high temperature will be 88 degrees. Bring it on!

Volume 18 - Day 256/109, 2026 - Sunday

Sundays are good for some things, but Dr. Google does not know what Sundays are good for. Check it out for yourself. I walked this morning, and after that, I did very little of anything. Val and I went to two estate sales late this morning, Val bought nothing, I spent one dollar. Then it was time for a nap (or two) and later in the afternoon, Paulina called and I rode with them to HEB and the storage place. I got bananas and oranges, that was the only thing I could think of from HEB. More heat, no rain, it is getting ridiculous. The sprinklers run twice, two days a week, and that is just going to have to do. I water potted plants, front and back, every day, so they are holding up well. This week coming, I should do laundry this week and I should vacuum, but, who knows. There is nothing critical on my calendar for this week, but I will be having lunch with Holly and Eileen on Wednesday, after a TREPAC meeting. Otherwise, we have clouds all around us, but no rain. There were a few drops on the windshield, noting worth getting excited about, and nothing at the Curious House. Dangit!

Volume 18 - Day 255/110, 2026 - Saturday

To be clear, it is 10:47PM, and I am just starting this journal entry. We'll see how this turns out. After our walk this morning, I got back to the Curious House, sat in front of the computer for a while, and had a banana and a bowl of cereal. At 9:30, Linda and Paulina and I left for the estate sales. There were four sales, and they were all either very proud of their goods or lousy. I bought two things, and they are both still out in the garage. After the sales, I went down for a nap, and that was what I did for most of the afternoon. At about six o'clock, I put on a pair of very uncomfortable penny loafers and Paulina and I went in to Austin to attend the Opening Night of the fourth season of ATX Chamber Music and Jazz, at the Mansion on San Gabriel. My friend Nicole gave me tickets and I was a really fun evening. Always go for the new experience. Tomorrow, Val and I will hit a couple estate sales, and maybe I will see what I overlooked today. Who knows?

Volume 18 - Day 254/111, 2026 - Friday

I have shared this many, many times over the past 25 years. In the week leading up to 9/11, Jody and I were traveling from Montreal to Portland, Maine. Jody was driving and I was riding my bike, having raised money for AIDS research. It was my last seven day ride, and it was great. Jody and I left the jetport in Portland, Maine on September 10th, and the terrorists left the jetport in Portland, Maine on September 11th. I believe that the lives of every person on the planet changed that day, and none of us will ever be the same. I remember there was no laughing for months after that, and I also remember watching a television comedy show months later, and I laughed out loud. It had been months of no laughing, and I very clearly remember the day that I thought it was okay to laugh again. Today was again a busy day, I walked with Paul, and then I got ready to head south. I needed to do several things in Austin, so I left the Curious House before 9 o'clock, picked up a prescription, got a shot in my knee (number 4), and spent a few hours at the Secretary of State's office, getting some documents Apostille'd about the condo in Playa. On the way home, I stopped at HEB and got bird seed, some flavored sparkling water (I am trying to cut down on the Diet Cokes) and some hard boiled eggs. That is a testament to how lazy I am. Tomorrow will be estate sales, and tomorrow evening Paulina and I are going to a chamber music and jazz concert at The Mansion in Austin. Bottom line: I will be out AFTER DARK tomorrow night. You have been warned!

Volume 18 - Day 253/112, 2026 - Thursday

Hopefully, I will be able to upload a photo to this journal entry. If there is no photo, you will know that it still didn't work. If it does, I will try to edit the entry from yesterday, time will tell. It was a pretty busy day, I left the Curious House a few minutes before 8 to make it to my 9 o'clock appointment in Leander. It was a REALTOR® caravan to introduce properties to our colleagues. There were seven properties on the caravan, we were number three. I got back to the Curious House at EXACTLY 1PM, and did not do too much until I got ready to go to my second Citizens Police Academy class. Tonight was about SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics). There was a lot of history about these groups, but the part that interested me the most was about the 'gadgets' that are used during the course of their jobs. Very interesting. Tomorrow will be another kind of busy day, and it is not time to see if I can upload a photo to this entry. Well, it kind of worked...the hard way!