Thursday, July 31, 2014

2014 - Day 212/153 - Thursday...

Titz & Myths Part Three:  Otto Titzling and his salesman partner Hans Delving came up with many innovations in breast support.  After Swedish Olympic runner Lois Lung kicked herself in the breast while going over a hurdle, injuring herself and costing her the gold medal, Otto invented an inflatable bra designed for female athletes.  A customer once complained that her bra had been punctured when her boyfriend was pinning on a corsage, Delving sent her a letter of condolence along with a copy of Gone With the Wind.

They next introduced a foundation garment with a change purse built into the cleavage.  Then there was a front fastening model that Delving christened the "Sesame" because it was so easy to open.  That model fell flat, though, because it looked strange hanging on a laundry line, and women considered it to be bad advertising for their assets.  Otto also developed a special chest halter specifically designed for female trapeze artists who spent a lot of time hanging upside down.

Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of this series, and I hop you have a Maidenform dream tonight!

So, Thursday it is.  All day spent in the office, concluding one months and doing all the paper work, and getting ready for the next month which begins tomorrow!  Always interesting to begin a new month at the end of a week.  Things tend to get lost over the weekend.  I prefer a month that begins at the beginning of the week.

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

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

2014 - Day 211/154 - Wednesday...

The appeal of this journal to the great unwashed is such a pathetically common one, evidenced by the overwhelming appreciation of titz over crappers.  Although I have to agree I share the same opinions.  So, shall we begin (or rather continue)?

To continue the fictitious story (urban legend) of Otto Titzling, it should be noted that he got his start in his uplifting career path  in 1912 after befriending  a heavily-endowed opera singer named Swanhilda Olafsen.  She complained of tiring from "hauling these things around all day" and Otto came to her rescue with the new invention, the chest halter. Other similarly endowed women began requesting chest halters for themselves, and Otto set up shop with a salesman/partner named Hans Delving.

An obvious marketing genius, Delving came up with the memorable slogan for padded bras: "What God has forgotten, we stuff with cotton".  When they jointly developed a line of panties, the slogan was "Not the best thing in the world, but the next thing to it".

Tune in tomorrow, I still expect I should be able to stretch this out for another couple days.

So, for a Wednesday, this one was not too bad.  I couple crises here and there, but nothing an ongoing series of ever more fever-pitched e-mails could not totally distort to the point that we all pretty much forgot what the original crisis was.  And in the end (as usual) it was pretty well determined that there was no crisis, and we should all wait-and-see how this latest tempest plays out.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, OVER-THE-SHOULDER-BOULDER-HOLDERS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

2014 - Day / - Tuesday...

I continue on the past of unashamed, unabashed pandering to my thousands of loyal subscribers in the attempt to boost numbers, I am today flush with excitement to bring you a few paragraphs about that hero of the Loo, Thomas Crapper.

Thomas Crapper was born in September of 1836 and was a plumber who founded the Thomas Crapper & Co in London.  He did not invent the flush toilet, although he is widely credited with that feat.  He did however, do much to increase the popularity of the toilet, and developed some important related inventions, such as the ballcock (we all have one or two or three or more and you have a dirty, dirty mind).  He was noted for the quality of his products and received several royal warrants.

Manhole covers with Crapper’s company name on them in Westminster Abbey are now one of London’s minor tourist attractions.  Thomas Crapper & Co owned the world’s first bath, toilet and sink showroom in King’s Road until 1966.  The firm’s lavatorial equipment was manufactured on the premises in nearby Marlborough Road, now Draycott Avenue.

I admit, this is boring, not nearly as much fun as writing about Otto Titzling, so tune in tomorrow for more about that.  It is much more interesting and controversial, and what this journal needs (and I include myself in that) is more controversy!

And, if you have a topic you would like me to research, just let me know.  How difficult can it be?

Not a bad day today, if I do say so myself.  I started by sleeping a little later than usual.  I had mentioned to Jody last night that I wanted to come home early today to move the rest of the have to the storage area, and I wanted to try and do that before it rained.  Jody said "have you ever thought of moving it in the morning when it is cooler?"  Ummm.  Well, no, as a matter of fact I never had thought of that, which is just more evidence that he has all the brains and I am left with nothing much of anything!  It did however, make for a great start to the day.

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

Monday, July 28, 2014

2014 - Day 209/156 - Monday...

It's Monday, and I am all joked out.  No humor here, so I am resorting to cheap Wikipedia stuff about John Titzling.  This is both a desperate attempt to entertain the masses of followers to this journal, and to bring my daily views up with cheap double entendres...  Here we go...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto Titzling is a fictional character who is apocryphally described as the inventor of the brassiere in the 1971 book Bust-Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto Titzling, published by MacDonald in London, and by Prentice-Hall in the USA.  The name, a pun on "two-tit sling", was invented by cunning linguist Wallace Reyburn in the 1970s.  Since then, the name has appeared in the game Trivial Pursuit (the makers of the game fell for the hoax, and listed "Otto Titzling" as the "correct answer" to the question of who invented the brassiere), the 1988 movie Beaches features a song names "Otto Titsling" sung by Bette Midler, the comic strip Luann by Greg Evans (no relation), and has appeared in practice questions sent out to prospective teams by the BBC2 show University Challenge.  A similar situation exists with Thomas Crapper, who was a real plumber but did not invent the flush toilet.  Tune in tomorrow for more about Mr. Crapper!

 Okay, where were we.  Oh yes, it is Monday, and true to its' reputation, it was a Monday.  BUT, on the brighter side, I have a relatively open calendar for the rest of the week.  It challenges ones imagination to see how I can screw this one up, but I will not rest until I find the answer.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CHEAP TRICKS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Sunday, July 27, 2014

2014 - Day 208/157 - Sunday...

Between me, Jody, the boy dog, the boiled eggs and the salmon patties, our house is a laugh riot of stink.  I'm just sayin'!

This is a photo of a seriously large spider, about 3.5" to 4.5".  I was not trying to evict it, I was just trying to photo it.  Its' web was from the truck windshield to the front of the shed behind the house.  I took one photo of it (it was devouring something wiggly) and you could not really appreciate the majesty of its' spider-ness, so I waited until it burped and stretched out a little bit to take this photo.  Much better.

The whole point of being out in the shed anyway was to get in the Polaris and go take an inventory of the hay that Hubert had baled for us.  Twenty bales in the front, 15 bales in the back.  I got the 15 bales from the back brought up and stored, and through the week this week I will get the twenty bales in front stored.  I think Monday and Tuesday I will move ten bales each day, but more likely once I start I will finish.

Good news on the Barney front:  I spied him this morning when I was taking the spy-cam in from the back porch.  He was rustling around in the leaves and we tried to do a stare down, but I blinked.  Anyway, we know he is still around so we are happy about that.  The only thing the spy-cam recorded was Jody's had filling up the cat food bowl on the back porch.  Naturally!

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

Saturday, July 26, 2014

2014 - Day 206/159 - Saturday...

I am considering taking the weekends off, maybe beginning in 2015.  The hits on this journal go down precipitously on the weekends.  Everyone is taking naps is the only thing I can figure.

We planted grapes along the dog yard fences and around the gazebo about three years ago, and they produced very nicely this year.  We have not eaten very many of them, but something thinks they are really good.  We still have peaches to harvest as well, and the figs are ripening nicely too.  Need any figs?  We can keep up with the peaches, we can ignore the grapes, but something needs to be done with the figs!

Jody and I went into Austin late morning and ran some errands.  Before that I went down for my first nap about 8:30 and after we got home the second nap commenced around 3:30.  It was a pretty darned lazy day, all things considered.

Deeds. Actions, Changes, GRAPES,Kindnesses, Wh
irled Peas, FUN!

Friday, July 25, 2014

2014 - Day 206/159 - Friday...

We lost a couple days of progress between cutting, raking and baling (because of some rain, 0.46" all together) but Hubert was out this afternoon baling the hay.  I counted eleven bales in the front field, and that looks like about half of the field is baled.  SO, it looks like we will have a pretty good harvest this time, and hopefully we will be able to get another cutting before the end of the season.  Keep your fingers crossed.

It is Friday, so you know what that means; televised programming SUX, but there will be plenty of naps to go around over the weekend.  We have a couple appointments tomorrow, a couple errands to run, and I have to go into town on Sunday.  A pretty typical weekend.

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

Thursday, July 24, 2014

2014 - Day 205/160 - Thursday...

So, when you live on the edge of nowhere (which is further than the middle of nowhere) you get to take advantage of certain things; no traffic (which provides no reason to stop at those pesky stop signs), no heat island effect (not so great in the depths of winter) and nothing to get in the way of you and the sunrise or the sunset.  This was he case last night as I went to put the girls to bed  Well, they actually put themselves to bed, I just secured them in their chicken accommodations to make sure those nasty chicken predators did not cause them to lose any sleep unnecessarily. 

Not a bad day today, a PM meeting in the AM, Kay brought a pulled pork sandwich to me for lunch (very kind), went to a successful listing appointment, so overall it was a pretty darned good day.  Remember, for every peak there is a valley, so you have o enjoy while the enjoying is good.

Once I got home, I stopped and checked the egg production of the day.  I am like the pied piper of the chickens, or perhaps I have turned them into Pavlov's chickens.  Many of them come with when I call them (because that means I am going to spread feed) and also to keep from feeding them inside the coop which causes much less cleaning on the weekends.  ANYWAY...you have heard of Angry Birds?  This is (usually) one angry chicken.  This is Libby, who really wants to be held and cuddled but just cannot make the jump.  She is also a brooder, which means she thinks she is going to hatch something, even though there is nothing to hatch.  ANYWAY, she gets all ticked off when I reach up under her to see what is under there (usually just a nest egg but they do share nesting boxes), and she used to squawk and peck, not she is resigned to scooching up, letting me do my thing, and then she gets a little bit of petting for the inconvenience.  She likes it but refuses to admit it, and refuses to enable me to make her a lap chicken!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, ANGRY CHICKEN, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

2014 - Day 204/161 - Wednesday...

I have seen bunnies but I have not seen the Barney cat lately.  In fact, I have not seen the Barney cat since I went out of town last week, so it has been about eight days since I have seen her.  I have, however, seen donuts.  In fact, I special order my donuts (it is a long story), but the folks at the HEB in Georgetown are very accommodating, so that is really all that I care about.  About once a week I special order the donuts with sour cream frosting on them and then get them dripped (over the frosting) with chocolate.  I will take a photo of them the next time I do it.  Half dozen for the office, half dozen for the house.  Jody does not care for them.  RATZ!  Okay, I will make the great sacrifice and eat them myself, but I have to limit myself to one per day.

I went to a Forum at the Board today, where I was informed that they had "upgraded" the donuts for the meeting.  Hmmm.  Sprinkles=Upgrade.  Since I had already had my donut quota for the day, I had to pass, but I did avail myself of massive quantities of caffeine, so that made everything better.  And the Forum was well done and informative and a full house at that.

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

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

2014 - Day 203/162 - Tuesday...

Let the giant scissor jokes begin, and let's see how long it takes before we tire of it.  I'm thinking about a paragraph worth, what do you think?  Today was the grand opening of our Board's south (satellite) location, and there was a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11AM.  I was on hand to help out with the ribbon cutting, but before all that, President Elect Barb was documented trying to "cut" my term short.  I had to plead that she "snip" that notion before it got out of control.  My "shear" genius kept me from having my term "sliced", and Barb left the event satisfied that she will "trim" waste in her term.

Okay, I am bored with that already.

Before and after the ribbon cutting, I was at the office participating in some power real estate, and shortly after that I was back on the road to "the mother ship" for a couple more meetings.  BUT, before I could do that, I was working on a form that I could not fill out via the computer, so I documented that fact that 1).  Yes, I do own an IBM Selectric with correct tape, 2).  Yes, it works and I still remember how to use it, and 3).  Yes, that is the instrument that I saved from doom at another of our local Boards.  It is mine, and you cannot have it.

I have to tell you, some days this journal is more interesting than others.  This is not one of them!


Deeds, Actions, Changes, SCISSOR JOKES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Monday, July 21, 2014

2014 - Day 202/163 Monday...

My modus operandi today was to go just as fast as I possibly could, and then slam on the brakes.  Time after time after time I did that today, starting with this turtle that almost caused me to be arrested. I was hauling as* down CR 972 this morning and saw a blob in the road up ahead.  As I passed by it, I realized that it was a turtle.  SLAM ON BRAKES HERE!  Put car in reverse, leave road temporarily while going backwards, apply emergency flashers, get phone so you can document the event, wave at people behind you, put turtle on steep decline towards ditch (in the direction he was heading), avoid losing finger to turtle, realize your hands are now covered with mud, find Dairy Queen napkins in car to wipe hands, realize County Sheriff has pulled up along side you (oncoming), explain it was a turtle, get lecture that gravel trucks go fast on this road, pis* off Sheriff with explanation that gravel trucks should be able to see a red car in the middle of the road with the emergency flashers on, avoid getting frisked and going to jail by giving Sheriff a sheepish acknowledgement (fingers crossed) that he MAY BE right, I should be more careful, then drive away.  Take a drink of my coffee and wonder what happened to all the rest of my coffee.  Take another sip and realize that coffee (an object in motion) spewed itself all over the front of the car (tends to stay in motion).  Much of the rest of the day was spent trying to absorb coffee from the carpet in the car.  Mission almost accomplished.

Other parts of the day were spent playing catch-up from being out of the office for three days last week.

On the way home, this is one of the more interesting causes for a wreck and the accompanying traffic congestion.  If I did not know better, I would swear I was back in New Orleans and that this had happened while approaching or cresting the High Rise bridge.  But nope, it was here in Austin (maybe Round Rock but I am pretty sure I was still in Austin).  I am not sure of the actual events of this, but here are some choices:  1).  This light plane landed on IH-35 and ALMOST made it, and this photo is after it had been scooped p and placed on the flat-bed trailer to be hauled off.  2).  This trailer that was hauling the small plane came loose from the truck that was hauling it (see evidence of this by the guy under the hitch on the truck, careened across several lanes of traffic (back and forth) and caused the wreck that I have documented but believe those photos pale when you see this one, or 3).  Kind of similar to #2 except in this scenario the plane was travelling on the trailer and actually got lift from the speed that it was being hauled at (commonly referred to as hauling as*) but that lift was interrupted when the haulee determined that the trailer and the plane were about eight feet off the ground and was listing the back end of the pick-up off the ground, at which time momentum was interrupted, and the driver went in search of a clean pair of underwear.  Again, if I were still in New Orleans, I would automatically go with #3 because I saw that happen on many occasions, not with a light plane but with washers, dryers and boats.

Have a good evening.

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

Sunday, July 20, 2014

2014 - Day 201/164 - Sunday...

A couple weeks ago (maybe more, maybe less) I showed you a photo of some peaches we had from one of the trees in the back.  They were lovely and red and tasted delicious.  This afternoon I decided to go and take a look at the other tree to see if those peaches had ripened.  They were still on the yellow side, but there were lots of them laying on the ground.  I thought maybe the storm we had the other night knocked them to the ground, and I brought them in the house anyway.  It turns out they may have just ripened and fallen to the ground.  They are delicious as well, and the pits just fell out of them, like I would expect a "free stone" peach to do.  I do not think these are free stones, but they are mighty good.  Jody said his dad used to call them "white peaches", and that white peaches were good for eating, yellow peaches were good for canning.  Well, do not think for a minute that there will be any canning going on here (we did freeze peaches a couple years ago, and we still have some of those in one of the freezers), I think these will simply e consumed!

Jody and I both stayed in bed really late this morning, but I did manage to get some work done around the house.  I got the chicken coop cleaned, got the grass cut in the front (maybe the back next week, time will tell), and Miguel came out and got a lot of weeds in the beds up by the road cleared out.  It looks really good.  After Miguel left, I took a nap (well of course I did), and then got up and vacuumed and washed the car. 

I have really taken a liking to car washing, it is one of those things that I can do and lose myself in thought (plotting and planning really).  It is good, and you can see the rewards of your labors instantly!  After that, I actually jumped in the pool for a couple minutes.  And then, of course, there was another nap on the schedule.

Tomorrow begins another week, which looks to be quite manageable; buy but not overly so.  Manageable.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, WHITE PEACHES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

2014 - Day 200/165 - Saturday...

Well if this does not mean that I am home, I do not know what does.  Well, okay, maybe this would; chicken poop, red wasps, fire ants, dog farts, egg piles, purple martins, humidity, Barney the Cat, 5 pound grasshoppers, poor drivers, crape myrtles, clogged interstates, and my loving mate Jody.  Yep, I am back home and delighted to be.  Thanks for asking.

I did in fact stay in the bed a little bit longer than usual this morning.  I got up, read the paper, made a pile of eggs and then went to the blue chair and took a nap.  After the nap, I took care of some business that I had put off until my return, and then Jody and I took the boy dog for a ride, and then we headed off into Austin.  We putzed around there for a while, made it home by about 4 o'clock, and went down for another nap.

Yep, I am home, and all is right with the world!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, DOG FARTS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 199/166 - Friday (allegedly...)

Okay so let me explain this to you (and try to keep up)...this entry was due yesterday, and it is already tomorrow.  The plane was late leaving (almost and hour) and was late arriving by approximately the same length of time.  It seemed to be one to thing after another, but I am back at Casa JBA and I am very happy about that!

This is a visual record of the amount of sight-seeing I did while I was in San Francisco.  This afternoon, after the last session ended (and before the shuttle to the airport) I walked about a five block radius of the hotel just to see what I could see.  One block over, about three or four blocks down, one more block up and about three or four blocks back to the hotel.  That was the sum total of the sight-seeing, but I was able to get a photo document of an empty street car to remember the event for all the ages.

Tomorrow I expect to stay in bed a little later than usual.  I think it is only fair since I am not getting INTO bed later than usual.  Then a few household chores, and probably several naps.  Let me know if there is anything I can be doing for you!

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

Thursday, July 17, 2014

2014 - Day 198/167 - Thursday...

Apparently the folks that are inhabiting the room across the hall from me are able to order room service, but I am not sure if they are ambulatory enough to leave the room.  I have been in this room for about thirty three hours, and this is the FOURTH room service cart that has been abandoned in the hall.  And if I am not mistaken, they have not varied the delivered items in the slightest bit.  Always the same plates and plate covers, but it is the cardboard box that is the giveaway.  I cannot figure out what is delivered in the cardboard box, and I have studied the room service menu.  I'm just sayin'...

So...today was a much better day than the previous day.  It usually take me
a day to get into the rhythm of a conference, and this one has not been any different than the others.  I have the locations figured out, where the different spaces are, were the bathrooms are.  I have it l down.  PLUS, I had a chance to get a little bit of sleep.  The only remaining challenge is, I am waking up on Texas time and going to sleep on California time.  This will all correct itself tomorrow, late tomorrow night.

It has been a good conference, I made some good acquaintances, did some good networking, now we need to wait and see if anything develops from any of this. 

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

2014 - Day 197/168 - Wednesday...

No matter what you may read into this photo, we were all having a great time at dinner tonight.  It is kind of hard to tell that from the photo, because I think all the folks attending are just as tired as I am.  I got up at 2:50AM in order to get ready and had to the airport at 4AM.  I made it to the parking lot at about 5AM, got to the airport and actually made my flight that left at 6AM,  Made it to SFO, got my bags, got a cab, made it to the Hotel, checked my bags in and made it to my first meeting before 9AM (PDT).  On a positive note, I expect I will be awake early tomorrow, and make it to the first meetings with plenty of time to spare.

That pretty much sums up my day!

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

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

2014 - Day 196/169 - Tuesday...

We have had a few sprinkles of rain all day long, off and on.  Lovely.  Cloudy and that kept the heat down.  Not sure what the high temperature was today, something in the mid-90's I expect.  These are some of the clouds that I was able to enjoy on my ride home.  Beauty!

Busy day at the office, of course I am leaving early in the morning, so there are lots of things in progress.  I went to a NARPM luncheon this afternoon with Chris, and Emily was the speaker at the luncheon.  Do you know that the Federal Transportation Department is on the verge of insolvency?  That was the first I had heard of it, but I also heard it on the news on the way home.  Two more weeks and everything comes to a screeching halt.  No funding for roads, NADA!  Everyone that is working on this is wrong.  Something just needs to get done.  It is like water in Austin, the less we use, the more it costs.  Why fund road programs with gasoline tax, when we are getting better and better at using less gas.  No making sense.  Does not seem reasonable.

Whatever.

Tune in tomorrow, same time, same IP address, but I will be broadcasting from San Francisco!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, ROADS, Kindn
esses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Monday, July 14, 2014

2014 - Day 195/170 - Monday...

I was listening to a local news program this morning, and Bryan and Albert were discussing the soccer game that had been played yesterday, and the fact that the home team (Argentina) was not happy with the loss, and that there had been some rioting and property damage; cars set on fire, properties vandalized, etc.  Albert showed a photo of a beautiful sunrise and made the comment (and I am paraphrasing here) that 'perhaps a beautiful sunrise can fix stupid'.  There you go boys and girls, my words to live by today.  PERHAPS A BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE CAN FIX STUPID.  So, on the way to work, I was met by a beautiful sunrise, but sorry to say, I still feel stupid.  Maybe Bryan and Albert were not talking to me, I'm just sayin'.

Today was an adequate day, the high point was guiding about 8 or our members through a one-hour 'lunch and learn' type of class on the Code of Ethics.  Good stuff.  Before and after was devoted to real estate, and that was all god as well.

One thing I noticed on the national news this evening (okay, maybe two or three things).  There is a cease-fire pending in Israel and the Gaza strip.  Cease fire is scheduled to begin at 9AM tomorrow morning (their time I assume), but in the freakin' mean-time they are going to set off as many weapons as they can...why isn't the cease fire effective immediately?  Sorry to be on this soap box, but it is my journal, and that pretty much answers that.  The other thing I noticed about this most recent conflict; they were showing footage of the area, and there was a beautiful blue sky and lovely clouds in the background.  I told Jody, they have the same clouds there that we have here.

That pretty much sums it up.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, STUPID, Kindnesses, WHIRLED PEAS (get it?), FUN!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

2014 - Day 194/171 - Sunday...

I heard a new saying the other day (one of several I have heard and/or made-up, and/or adopted as my new mantra of life) that I think is VERY appropriate for today.  It is hotter than the first floor of hell.  Yep, you heard me boys and girls, we officially hit 100 degrees today, the first time this year.   We have one more day at 100 degrees predicted (tomorrow) and then we will be back into the mid and lower nineties.  I leave for San Francisco very early on Wednesday morning and the highs there for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are forecast to be 66, 64 and 64 respectively.  Does anyone remember where I put my winter duds?  But I digress...  The reason for this diatribe about the heat is that the cotton in the fields is blooming.  Beautiful, delicate little blossoms, hoping against hope that one day soon they too will be a pair of Levi 501's.  The pinnacle of success for all the little cotton blossoms across the country.

Okay, as you may (or may not) remember, last night we took a vote (sorry, you might have missed the actual voting part of the vote) and decided that Barney (get it?) is a girl.  Earlier today you also voted that I no longer need to know if you get it or not (get it?).  So, there will be no more (get it?)s posted in this journal.  I hope you (get it?).  But again I digress...  Barney (aarrgghhh) was a little bit early tonight, but she was out there eating her food just like it was meant for her.  She seems to be a happy cat.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, COTTON BLOSSOMS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Saturday, July 12, 2014

2014 - Day 193/172 - Saturday...

The new routine seems to be that Barney (get it?) walks down the front path between 7 and 7:30 and makes his/her way cautiously to his/her food dish at the back door off the lab and has a little bit of food, and then retires to somewhere for a while and then comes back and finishes off the food before morning.  I think s/he lives under the floor in the back shed/carport but there are plenty of hidey holes s/he could be using.  I am going out on a limb here t declare that Barney (get it?) is a girl.  I think that is the best bet right now, and that fact can be verified if we end up with a slew of feral cats here before too long.  We heard some hanky-panky outside our bedroom windows a couple months ago, but so far there is no evidence of more than the one cat.  It will be easier to acknowledge kittens and that Barney (get it?) is a girl than to declare her a boy and then have to go through a big gender change officially in the future.  If she never has any kittens, that does not necessarily mean she is not a girl, it could just indicate that she is a good girl, like the chickens. Virtuous.

I had a bit of difficulty sleeping last night, so I spent most of the night in the big blue chair.  It really is a comfortable chair, and not a challenge to slumber.  I did get to sleep a little longer this morning and was able to make Jody and myself a nice pile of eggs before I headed off to Cedar Park to water the newly installed landscaping at one of my listings.  Then there was a stop at Costco, then home and back to the big blue chair.

It will be a lovely evening.

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

PS:  On this date in 1968, forty-six years ago, my dad died. I was just a kid, 16 years old.  I honestly think it is the one thing in my life I have not been able to get over.

Friday, July 11, 2014

2014 - Day 192/173 - Friday...

Let me be perfectly clear about this:  Not my circus, not my monkeys!  This is the promo-photo for my new venture, "How Bill Sees It", an investigative reporting Blog on the soft underbelly of deceit and mis-information.  I think it will be quite lucrative if from nothing else but the payola and hush money I fully expect to collect.  We shall see...

Thanks.

Okay, where was I?  Today was a jam [packed day, and it was a great day!  One of my thousands of journal subscribers actually came up to me this morning and reminded me that I was the luckiest man in the world.  I retrospect, as the sun is sinking this evening in the west, I appreciate the reminder.

The day started with our new member orientation at the Board.  Always something that I look forward to and enjoy.  I think we had about 80 or 90 new members to the association, and it was a fun and enlightening group.  One of the ways I judge things is, I try to learn something from every group, and I did learn some good things this morning.  And let me tell you, I learned even more after the orientation was over.

After the orientation, I headed back to the office to get some work done, and then Chris and I went out and took property photos for a new listing, and got the property active and on the market, just in time for the weekend.

While I was enjoying dinner this evening, I decided to go out in the back and check the peaches on the trees that I feared had ripened so much that they had probably fallen off the trees or some critters had harvested them.  Not the case at all, though, there are still plenty of peaches out there and I brought these in and they have a delicious aroma to them.  I will let them ripen a little bit more inside and then I will report the taste-test results to you once they are consumed.

I will get a chance to sleep a little bit longer tomorrow, always a joy.  Plans are to change the charger on the electrical fence and probably cut some grass.  Wish me luck!

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

Thursday, July 10, 2014

2014 - Day 191/174 - Thursday...

Repeat after me; Bill Evans is the luckiest man in the world.  Now, whenever you run into me, please repeat that to me.  BECAUSE IT IS TRUE!

As I was driving home this afternoon, I was (as usual) on the prowl to find something photo-worthy for the journal.  Sometimes I get lucky and remember to take photos during the day, but often I use them on face book, and I do not care to repeat.  Many of my THOUSANDS of subscribers are also face book friends, so I do not care to be repetitive.  But I digress...  Anyway, I noticed some attractive clouds (just chocker-block FULL of elephants) and I pulled over to the side of the road to complete the proper documentation, and I looked to my left and there were these BEAUTIFUL clouds with the Jacob's Ladder of sunlight coming out from them.  Absolutely magnificent.  I hope I am not boring you to tears with clouds.

As I write this, I can look out the front windows of the house and see the yard.  Barney (get it?) the cat is walking leisurely down the front path.  I alerted Jody, and he came to check out the action.  S/He decided to sit on the gravel path and have a stare down with Jody.  The cat won!  It is nice that s/he is getting more comfortable and letting us acknowledge his/her presence.  Now, just as long as s/he leaves the chickens alone, everybody will be happy.

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

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

2014 - Day 190/175 - Wednesday...

Barney (get it?) the cat was seen lurking about on the other side of the pool last night after I posted the journal entry.  I watched as s/he skulked around to walk through the fence to get to the food bowl we have out.  S/He is VERY cautious, and always on guard.  S/He was taking everything into consideration before making any moves.  Very cautious.  BUT, the food was dispensed with, and we have another full bowl set out for tonight.  S/He has a nice protected place to dine, so that is good.  I am already planning for winter weather, and how we can provide some shelter (including a heating pad) so s/he can make it through the cold.  Of course it is predicted to be 100 degrees beginning Friday and lasting through the following several days, and I am already planning for frozen cats.  One has to plan!

This was a good day overall, nothing really exciting; a couple meetings at the Board, an interview at noon with KVUE, that is always fun.  I have decided I am going to come up with a "word of the month" and see how many times I can use it in the interviews.  Today's word(s) were "duct tape" and I only got it into the conversation once, but it cracked up Brian that was doing the interview.  Totally worth it!

Tomorrow will be a little bit busier.  Two meetings at the Board, one in the morning, one in the afternoon.  Meals-On-Wheels at mid-day, going to Cedar Park to put a property on the market, and then some power real estate between times.

Again, life is good!  Try to remind me that I have the water running in the pool.  Thanks.

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

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

2014 - Day 189/176 - Tuesday...

I mus' say, this was an excellent day.  I'm jus' sayin'.  This is a photo of my work space for most of the day, a lovely space at the Texas Real Estate Commission where I serve on the Education Standards Advisory Committee.  We do really hard but rewarding work on the committee, and I am very proud to be a member, alongside a really great group of very highly respected colleagues, who have no agenda other than to make things better.  Today was an excellent day.

I have not seen Barney (get it?) for a couple days, I guess since Sunday.  We know s/he is still around because something is consuming his/her food like clockwork.  Pretty sure s/he is fine, just hiding out.  Last night one of the neighbor dogs was trespassing, so that might have scared him/her off for a while.  We shall see.

Tomorrow will be busy, but not quite as busy as today.  Into the office early, do some power real estate then off to the Board for a 10 o'clock, then to KVUE for a mid-day interview, then to the office for some more power real estate.

Life is good!  I think I will have some ice cream!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, LIVIN' LARGE, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Monday, July 7, 2014

2014 - Day 188/177 - Monday

We think Barney (get it?) the cat is getting more and more comfortable with us.  S/He watched us watching him/her and back and forth last night for a good long while. S/He was up in the tree where the bird feeder is for a while, and did not panic when we were detected.  S/He then proceeded down the tree and lay on the gravel walk for about thirty minutes.  Pretty comfortable if I do say so myself, and so far so good with the chickens.  As long as everyone knows that the boundaries are, we will all be okay.

Today was an 'all office all the time' day.  Lots of catching up to get done, and lots more stuff to get done tomorrow, even though I will be in an ALL DAY meeting beginning at 10AM.  Perfect!  But, there is always Wednesday!

It was an interesting drive home this afternoon.  Traffic was bumper to bumper for a good part of the way, but at one point we were travelling about 65 miles per hour and this car passes me with BOTH the doors open and the passenger and driver had their feet hanging out the doors.  Well, of course I had to accelerate to document this occurrence for posterity, but of course I could only get a photo with one of the doors open.  The car was in the left lane, the view was best from the center lane (where I had been originally) but the traffic in front of me would not cooperate, so I had to defer to the left lane where the photo opportunity was better but the composition as worse.  Boo-Hoo!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CRAY-CRAY, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

2014 - Day 187/178 - Sunday...

Is it any wonder that I feel as big as a barn?  I really prefer the 'classic' fit jeans and pants.  I can remember when I was a little kid, shopping with my mother for clothes, I was always a 'Husky'.  I did not put two-and-two-together to figure out that was the Federal's Department Store verbiage for 'big-boned'. I thought it meant I was an Eskimo.  I really did.  I associated 'Husky' with Eskimo.  OMG was I ever disappointed when I figured the whole thing out.  But I digress...  Jody and I went out t dinner tonight (we had a coupon for Longhorn Steak House.  I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak and Jody ordered the fried shrimp.  As I rule, I am usually disappointed with whatever I order at a restaurant, and would have (generally speaking) been better off with whatever Jody orders.  That was the case tonight, although I did bring home enough of the CFS so we can each have it as an entrée later in the week.

Today was a pretty successful work day at the house.  Now I need to rest for the coming week.  A full week of work at that!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, FOOD, Kindne
sses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Saturday, July 5, 2014

2014 - Day 186/179 - Saturday...

Vera has been questioning me about all the hullabaloo about flags lately, and no real mention of her or the other girls.  She is actually the top-dog of the chicken coop, and she (and the rest of the girls) are well aware that there is a cat on the property.  The cat (Barney, get it?) has not really threatened the chickens to the best of my knowledge, and they have all been accounted for as of a couple days ago.  I generally make a count about once a week.  I was in the Georgetown feed store this afternoon, and they ha a bunch of baby chicks in there...I got a little tempted to go and take a loser look at them, but I settled for a couple flock-blocks instead.  No baby chicks for us this year.

Wonderfully I got a little longer sleep in this morning, and did some work around the house.  I cut grass and weeds off the electric fence in the back, but there must still be an issue somewhere because the charge is still very low.  What this country needs is a self-propelled lawn mower with a reverse gear in it.  That thing drug me down some contours and it was tough getting back up.  Of course, I am old, so that explains a lot of it!

And then...are you all sitting down boys and girls?  AND THEN I washed the truck.  We have owned the truck for close to six years, and I have never washed the truck.  It is a farm truck for crying out loud.  It is supposed to look like it lives on a farm.  Well, it still does, but it does look like a shinier farm truck now than it has in a long time.  I even vacuumed the interior (a little bit).

Deeds, Actions, Changes, FARM STUFF, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Friday, July 4, 2014

2014 - Day 185/180 - Friday...

I hope everyone is enjoying the Fourth of July Holiday.  Today is officially the last day of Flag Week.  Because I said so.  I started it and I am stopping it.  Here are some things that I observed about flags that are displayed in and around central Texas.  Commercial.  Most flags are displayed in a really commercial venue.  There are more flags displayed at used car lots than anywhere else.  Used car lots average more flags per square foot than any other venue.  AND it does not detract from the generally shabby appearance of the used car lots.  I am here to tell you, you cannot dress up tacky.  Office buildings are another big source of flags, generally the uncommonly LARGE flags, the footprint of which could encompass half of an apartment complex.  State and other municipal properties are next, and there is probably some kind of a law that forces them to fly a flag.  The public schools are not in session now, so there were no flags seen at those institutions of higher learning.  I was surprised to see how many BARE flag poles there are in the area.  Why go to all the trouble of having an expensive flag pole (or three) if you are not interesting in completing the picture?  I don't get it.  Another thing I noticed was a relative absence of flags being displayed at residences.  Not many flags being flown outside houses.  That changed somewhat today, with folks putting out their flags for the Holiday.  We fly our flags every day of the year.  We had lights installed to properly illuminate them (it took us two or three tries to get it right, the solar flag lights have not got the technology down yet), and we swap out the flags when needed, and save them up for friends of ours (several different ones) that are active with the Boy Scouts so they can be retired properly and respectfully.  SO, pay attention to the flags you see, and think about what the mean.

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

Thursday, July 3, 2014

2014 - Day 184/181 - Thursday...

It is Flag Week, and this is a wonderful example of a GIANT flag that I spotted on the way home this afternoon.  Interestingly, you can see flags here and there, but you cannot navigate a motorized vehicle to get close enough to them to get a really good photo.  Do not even get me started about the horn honking.  But anyway...it has been an interesting week to pay attention to where (and really why) flags are flown within the environment we all inhabit.  Tomorrow I will FINALLY give you the observations that I made while documenting a few of the banners I made note of this week.

Chris and I delivered our Meals-On-Wheels route this morning, and we only had four clients on the route today, and one of them was not home.  While out delivering, I discovered a world record holding bird stuck in the grill of Chris' car.  Yes ladies and germs, without a doubt, this bird of undetermined species is noted in the Guinness Book of World Records as the SLOWEST bird in the world, documented by the fact that it was chased down an pulverized (therefore the undetermined species bit) by a SUBARU.  Really?  How slow can a bird travel versus how fast can a Subaru go?  I think somebody has some explaining to do.

There has been another documented sighting of our alleged cat.  Jody has changed the name of the cat from BC (which stood for Barn Cat) to Barney.  Get it?  I think it will be okay even if we determine that it is a girl cat versus Barney kind of being a boy name.  And would you pay attention to that; I have used the word versus two times in this journal entry.  Wait, three times!  Holy Moley Canoli!  Anyway, it is a pretty cat no matter if it is a girl or a boy, we are happy that it is around and willing to hang with us.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SLOW BIRDS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

2014 - Day 183/182 - Wednesday...

Flags to the left of me, flags to the right, here I am stuck in the middle of FLAG WEEK!  Have you been paying attention to flags that you see here and there?  I am still holding out on you, I will give you my observations of (most of) the flags I have observed this week when I post my journal on Friday evening!  HOWEVER, I have to say, this is without a doubt the BEST of the flags I have seen this week.  This is a photo of my friend Andrew and his beautiful son Liam.  I can think of no better representation of why we value our freedoms more than this depiction of the obvious
love of a father for his son.  I'm just sayin'...

So, if you have been paying attention, you will have noticed that we are not only enjoying HUMP DAY but also HUMP YEAR.  Yes, that is right boys and girls, the year is OFFICIALLY HALF OVER.  We have officially experienced more days this year than we have left of the year.  SHOCKING!

Today I was the recipient of a sense of accomplishment (I will even go so far as to say it began late yesterday afternoon and continued til now).  And now, it is time for chillaxilate.  I foresee a frozen dairy concoction in my near future, enjoyed in a big blue chair.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, FATHERS AND SONS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

2014 - Day 182/183 - Tuesday...

Okay, if this is Tuesday, it must mean we are a day closer to Friday than we were yesterday, and that means that we are still talking about flags through the Fourth of July.  Have you been paying attention to where you have seen flags flying today?  Notice anything?  I took this photo of a flag while I was driving down MoPac.  Nicely presented!

This evening was a TREPAC sneak-peek at the movie TAMMY, which will be released tomorrow.  It is billed as a comedy, but I kind of think it was a sad movie.  At least it was not my kind of comedy.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, all day meeting, and then it will be mostly downhill to the weekend.  Next week will be a bear!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, MORE FLAGS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!