Volume 18 - Day 223/142, 2026 - Tuesday

OMG, I am a tired old man right now. Well, I forgot to self-medicate last night, and I didn't realize that until it was too late. I slept very poorly, although I know I slept a little bit. I got out of bed at five, and I already knew I was not walking this morning or going to the ROMEO breakfast. I had an appointment in Austin at 8:15 this morning, and I got home from that appointment at about 2 o'clock this afternoon. The good part is, we got our work done in the meeting, and I believe we did some really good work. I have a zoom meeting tomorrow at 11AM, and that is very civilized! The girls were a little bit confused this morning, because my schedule changes affected them as well. But, it is all done now, and life as we know it at the Curious House will get back to normal in the next several hours. Paulina and Oliver are back from Las Cruces, and they came over and visited for a little while. I think they too are tired, it's a long drive back to Georgetown. All is good. I left the Curious House this morning at 7AM, since you never know what traffic will be like at any time of the day. The clouds were really interesting, so I thought I would share it with you.

Volume 18 - Day 222/143, 2026 - Monday

In the very early evenings of the last several days, I have had notifications on my phone: Lightning has been detected in your area. No. It hasn't. Not in my area, although I am not sure how they define 'my area.' But also, if there is lightning, you would think there would be a drop or two of rain. Nope. Just really warm (hot) days and really high humidity. Ugh. I will continue to complain about this for another seven or eight weeks, so just sit down and be quiet. Today is Melody's birthday and it was fun to talk briefly with her and Bruce. I think they are all heading out for dinner later tonight. Melody is who planned Jody's and my wedding back in 2013. I went in to Austin this afternoon and had a late lunch with Jetta and Julie, always a lot of fun, we talked and trashed people, and laughed and had a good time. There was not much else that needed to be done after lunch, but I did break down and made a stop at HEB. I filled the little white car up with gas, and bought a few things inside the grocery. I expect I will make another stop at HEB later this week, since I am kind of close to running out of ice cream, and if you know me, you know I cannot let that happen! No walk or ROMEO breakfast for me tomorrow, I have an early appointment in Austin tomorrow, so I will be leaving the Curious House at about 7 or 7:15 in the morning.

Volume 18 - Day 221/144, 2026 - Sunday

My friend Deb is visiting from Vancouver, WA...okay, she WAS visiting...she got here on Friday evening and right now she is on a plane heading home...but that is just a detail. I'll start over...my friend Deb was visiting from Vancouver, WA, and she had lunch with another couple friends in the neighborhood, Mike and Judy. I was asked to attend and I did, and it was a LOT of fun. We laughed and talked and caught up with lots of stuff, and the lunch was delicious. After lunch, I had planned to go to Target and HEB. On the way to Target, I talked myself in and out of going to either one of them at least four times, and Target is not that far from the Curious House. I did make it to Target, but I decided I could go to HEB tomorrow or the next day. We shall see. Otherwise, it was a very nice Sunday that was unhurried and untroubled. During my visit with Deb, Mike and Judy, I discovered my next book (before I start the September book club book); The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett that also wrote The Help. Deb said she laughed out loud a lot while reading the book, and that is what I am looking forward to. However...it is a 29 hour listen on Audible, so I expect I need to start listening pretty quickly. Tomorrow I am having lunch with Jetta and Julie, and on Tuesday, I have an early morning meeting in Austin. That is as far as I have looked on my calendar, and...there is always tomorrow. Or Tuesday! The photo is me, Deb, Judy and Mike.

Volume 18 - Day 220/145, 2026 - Saturday

Well, there was no need for me to chop and pull the morning glory vines out of the trees behind the rock wall today. Oliver, 19 year old monkey person that he is, climbed up the wall (no ladder needed) and cut the vines and pulled them out of the tree. This is an annual chore, and I appreciate Oliver doing it. He said he was helping, but he did it all, I did nothing but watch. There were five estate sales for me, Judy, Marian and Diane to visit this morning. I spent about $35 on stuff that I really needed, and I think Val and I will go to a couple tomorrow. Paulina and Oliver are in Las Cruces right now, so Val and I went to Taylor and had catfish for dinner at Lucky Duck's. I have been having a craving, and that is taken care of for a month or two now. The most recent lawn folks cut the grass today, and so far, so good. It is not easy to find good grass cutters these days; first world problems. I am getting itchy to get on a train, so I think, if all goes well with the knee injection next week, I may plan something. I am thinking a seven day trip, maybe. I will have to see what I can come up with.

Volume 18 - Day 219/146, 2026 - Friday

Well, that was disappointing. I made an appointment with a pain relief doctor, hoping to get a viscosupplementation injection in my knee, but NO! They have to submit it to my insurance companies (Medicare is one) to approve the fee. The office for this pain group is $) miles from the Curious House, one way. I feel like I have been driving for most of the day. I am not in constant pain, I just want to have the gel injection to SEE if it will lessen the bone-on-bone challenge I am experiencing. The steroid shots worked the first time, but after that, nothing. I was prescribed a pain drug, which I do not expect to use, I don't want to use, but I guess they know better than me. Whatever. The pills are in my medicine cabinet if you want them. Other than that...Oliver brought me a burrito (I think) that was really good, he is quite accomplished at burrito making! I did a few things around the Curious House, and there are five estate sales tomorrow, that will be fun! Me and the girls (real girls!). I also expect that I will go chop down some morning glory vines that are growing up in one of the trees on the other side of the rock wall. I do that every year, nothing terrible. I have no idea what the police, fire and ambulance was doing on 38th Street this afternoon, but that is not unusual, either. Always something going on that I can't figure out.

Volume 18 - Day 218/147, 2026 - Thursday

The photo accompanying this entry showed up on my phone the other day, and it reminds me of just another day at the farm. Every now and then, a snake, I think this is just a rat snake, would show up in the chicken coop, and I would need to relocate it. Relocation meant either taking it across the road or putting it in a drainage ditch across and down the road. Only one time did I kill a snake, because it ate one of the nest eggs. The fact that it had swallowed the nest egg meant it was going to die anyway, and I wanted my nest egg back. Enough of that. I took the girls to the beautiful parlor this morning, and they were ready to be picked up about three hours later. In the mean time, I did a few things around the Curious House, nothing of any real consequence. In late morning, Oliver asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him, and so we did. We went to Gold's Burger in Georgetown, and I had liver and onions. As I recall, that is about the only place I go that offers liver and onions, so I was happy with that. My doctor appointment tomorrow is 40 miles away from the Curious House, so I am planning on it taking me at least an hour-and-fifteen-minutes to get there. The appointment is at 12:45, maybe 1, and the pre-appointment paperwork took me 30 minutes to complete this morning. Unbelievable. We shall see if I get a gel injection in my knee that will take the discomfort away. Fingers crossed. 

Volume 18 - Day 217/148, 2026 - Wednesday

The fact that the 'normal' traffic lanes are moving more quickly than the toll lanes is not an uncommon happening in central Texas. I took a photo of the stopped traffic in the toll lane this morning on my way in to Austin, and a guy in a black truck (I have a photo of his license if you want it) went through the barriers and into the regular lanes. I displayed my displeasure with him by blowing the horn on the Buzz, and he displayed his displeasure with my by showing me his teeth. Not really, but we played tag for a couple miles, and then he exited. Idiot. One of us, not completely sure which one. BUT, the reason for the back-up was this car (see photo) in the toll lane that apparently caught fire and burned. Not sure how that happened, but it did. I made it to my meeting with time to spare, then I picked up prescriptions and made a stop at Upper Crust. While I was out, I stopped at the VW collision place, where yesterday they told me the replacement of the VW badge (the one they broke when they repaired the earlier damage) would only take 15 minutes. They were correct, it only took them 12 minutes to break the replacement badge, and now the back end of the Buzz is 'badgeless,' and I guess they will let me know when they have another one that they can break. Whatever. Since I put the chandeliers throughout the Curious House, I have been unhappy with the can spots in the kitchen. They WERE daylight colored, and I wanted a warmer light, something to go with the warmer color of the chandelier lights. SO, this morning, before I left for Austin, I climbed up on the kitchen counter and removed one of the spots to take to Home Depot to see if I could find a warmer white bulb to replace them. What I found out is, the light I took with me has about five different color settings, and all I needed to do was change the toggle on the bulb, and they all match the warm color of the chandeliers. Several trips up and down the ladder to change the setting on the four spots, and now i am happy.