Volume 12 - Day 366/0, 2020 - Thursday

My very first entry to this journal was done on December 31st, 2008. It was the test run. This journal entry is number 4,381. Twelve years of entries. The name of the journal is 365daysofbill and I should have known better than to start something. It has just gone on-and-on-and-on. I've always referred to this journal as the 'Seinfeld Journal,' because it is about nothing. Nothing at all. It looks like I will be in for at least one more year. If I do entry number 4,382 I won't be able to stop until next NewYear's Eve. Are y'all in?

I don't know what was the most difficult thing I did today, move a lot of furniture from the farm to the new house in Georgetown, or put clean sheets on the bed. I considered just sleeping on the mattress with a cover, but I thought the Georgetown Police would probably issue me a citation. I could get away with stuff like that out in the country, but I am not so sure about here. I have all the necessities of life here as of now,  as long as you don't think cable television is a necessity, and I will spend this evening in the new house. Part of the reason I am going forward with the journal is because I believe my posts will be a little bit more up-beat. Everyone has a lot vested in 2021, I don't want to let anyone down. All is well that ends well, so I am not sure what to expect, but I (and I hope all of you) will be just fine.

I love you all...and by the way, I intend to kill off the last of the box wine tonight...I am prepared to pay $4.50 for a bottle of wine now.

Volume 12 - Day 365/1, 2020 - Wednesday

It rained off-and-on (mostly on) all day today. Here at the Edge of Nowhere, we have received (at last count) 0.43" for the day. And it is chilly. Last I looked it was 46 degrees and still sprinkling rain. Not supposed to get too cold overnight, but I will need to bring the plants back in the garage tomorrow afternoon. There is a threat of freezing temperatures for the next several nights. Then it is supposed to be back up in the 70s on Monday. Can you smell that? It smells to me like I got the Ikea dresser totally put together this afternoon. I am aware of only two screws that I used that should have been two other screws, and I call that a win! The girls are in the fancy kennel this evening, and they will be there for the next two nights. I will pick them up on Saturday. The movers are supposed to be here tomorrow morning, and I expect to spend the night at the new house tomorrow, if everything works out the way I have it planned. Except for the rain. I did not plan on rain. It is supposed to be raining all day (again) tomorrow. I guess it will be messy, but I will get it all worked out. More tomorrow...

Volume 12 - Day 364/2, 2020 - Tuesday

Today I was (yet again) the victim of false advertising. I am a pushover for Madison Avenue, but this was not the fault of some wise-guy GSD&M, media savvy copy pushing middle management person. It was none other than Mother Nature. Now, I am aware that I need to be very cautious when criticizing the aforementioned Mother, and I will be as delicate as I can possibly be, but the photo that I have chosen for this journal entry is as good as it got. I took this photo as I was walking to let the chickens loose, and the sunrise looked as if it was going to be a beautiful day. Alas, that was not meant to be. All day was a vision of grey and darker grey. It was a pleasant temperature, unseasonably warm as a matter of fact, but grey. Not a pretty grey (like the colors of my most recently painted walls), but an ugly grey. And windy. Really windy. I did make it in to the office this morning, did some work, managed to get my desk cleaned off, and headed home. I made another (unfortunate) trip to Ikea, but chose not to purchase any patience challenging furniture. Most everything on the display floors is 'temporarily unavailable' anyway, so there is that. I got home in the greyness of mid-afternoon, and took a couple naps. It has drizzled a little bit, but I expect that will be more prevalent tomorrow and Thursday. Oh, dear...

Volume 12 - Day 363/3, 2020 - Monday

It was about 75 degrees in Austin today, but it did not make it that high on the Edge of Nowhere. We were covered by clouds, so there was very little sun. There is expected to be a temperature repeat tomorrow, but we should be warmer, and there is a prediction of snow flurries on Thursday morning. I really doubt it, but ever if there is, it is not going to stick. They are also predicting that we could get over an inch-and-a-half of rain in the next couple days...I kind of doubt that too. Of course I expect it to rain crazily on Thursday, because that is the day the movers are supposed to move the furniture I am taking from the farm to the new house. I expect nothing less than the worst. We got just a trace of rain today at the farm, maybe just a heavy fog, but it did rain on me while I was driving in to the office. I got another bid for blinds at the new house, signed and accepted, and they should arrive in a couple months. So much for instant gratification. I also completed a few more steps on the Ikea furniture build. It is complicated...and the pictures do not really match the reality. Hopefully I will get it completed in the next couple days. Things are moving forward!

Volume 12 - Day 364/4, 2020 - Sunday

At this point, I would settle for the intelligence of a trained monkey. I also realize that that is asking too much, even though I am three days in to the Prevagen stuff. They say it takes at least ninety days to show any results, I think they are just thinking you will keep buying it for at least 90 days, and then you will be too far into it to quit. If after ninety days you think you are dumber than you were when you started, well... But I digress. The dresser I bought at Ikea yesterday came in three boxes. You have to sign your life away before they will let you buy certain items, but I did it anyway. Three boxes The photo accompanying this journal entry is part of the contents of the first box. Did I mention that the dresser pieces came in three boxes. I couldn't remember if I mentioned that or not. You are all most likely familiar with the assembly booklets that accompany Ikea products. No words, just pictures. There are 51 various assembly steps to putting this piece of furniture together, and I made it through 21 of the steps before I decided to finish it another day. Some of the steps took me twenty or thirty minutes to interpret, but so far, I think I am right on course. I have not yet had to un-assemble any pieces, so I think that is a win. I am threatening to offer cash compensation to someone that thinks they can finish this, but I think another five or six hours and I will have it knocked. Putting together metro shelves is much simpler.

Volume 12 - Day 361/5, 2020 - Saturday

I got off to kind of a slow start this morning. I just really cannot justify getting out of bed when it is still dark outside. Is it just me? I let the chickens loose, fed the dogs, had some coffee, did my usual morning stuff; read the e-edition of the newspaper. One nice thing about the move to the new house, I will actually be able to get a real subscription to the newspaper. I think that is fantastic! Also, I need someone to tutor me in the art of having stuff delivered to me; food, groceries, drugs. You know, just the essentials. I did take a load of stuff to the new house this morning, but first I made a stop at Home Depot. I wonder if I can go a day WITHOUT going to Home Depot. It was a futile trip, but I was able to round up a loose chihuahua running down the electrical aisle. His momma (not the canine kind) was in hot pursuit. I did not get the escapees name, but he and his momma did favor each other. Then it was off to Ikea, then a stop at Wendy's for food. I ordered the 10 piece chicken tender meal, but there were only nine chicken tenders in the package. As I was composing my letter of complaint to the corporate big-wigs at Wendy's, I found the missing tender in my french fries. If that is any indication, maybe 2021 will be markedly better than 2020. I doubt that it could get any worse. 202 pretty much set the benchmark as the annus horribilis. I don't care what the Queen said back in 1992. I doubt that many of you were even born yet!

Volume 12 - Day 360/6, 2020 - Friday

Merry Christmas everybody! It was a really beautiful day in central Texas, temperature in the 60s, sunny, calm winds. I got up this morning and decided to make an egg loaf, and I forgot to put the cheese in it. I did not even think about it until a couple hours later. I took all the 'loose' wine over to the new house this morning, and a couple other small things. Yesterday, I bought ten sets of metro shelves, and I put five of them together this afternoon. I escaped with only three blood blisters. I also have the whole assembly thing down to an art (maybe a skill), and I can get them together in about 30 minutes. I did a little bit of driving around the new neighborhood after I left the house, it was just a really pretty day. I don't know if it is just the season or what, but whenever I am at the new house, I am pretty surprised about how quiet the neighborhood it. That is perfectly okay with me. I have some errands I want to get done tomorrow morning, and I have a furniture delivery tomorrow afternoon. If everything goes as planned, I will spend my first night in the new house on New Year's Eve. I guess that will be the test to see exactly HOW quiet the neighborhood is.

Volume 12 - Day 359/7, 2020 - Thursday

Back in the good old days, 1992-2000, Jody and I would have a Christmas Tree Trimming party every year. These parties were a total fun-fest, every guest brought an ornament for the tree, and we all had a blast. Very much fun. Our moods changed after 9/11, and neither of us was much in the mood for decorating the house after that. Occasionally, I would string some lights outside the house, and since we moved to the farm, I put lights on the fence up by the road. The lights would go on on Thanksgiving day, and stay on 24 hours a day until January 1st. Another friend of ours sent us a wreath for the front door every year as well, and that was always lovely. This year, as with many years past, the wreath is on the front door and the lights are shining up by the road, and again, that is the extent of the decorating. Last summer, I was going through some stuff out in the garage or in the house, I'm not sure, but I found Jody's tree topper. I knew Michael and Lynda traditionally had a tree every Christmas, so I gave it to Michael to give to Lynda. Lynda sent me a picture of the tree topper on their tree, and that made me smile. There are lots of smiles surrounding that tree topper, and I hope that tradition will continue. I made it to the new house this morning, and the electrician showed and got the plug for my car installed, as well as a new light fixture over the front porch. I also got a slew of metro shelves at Home Depot. After a couple other errands, I had a very nice lunch with Michael and Lynda, and then it was home. Putting some of the metro shelves together will be my task for tomorrow. I doubt that I will get them all put together, but it should be a nice way to spend part of the day. 

Volume 12 - Day 358/8, 2020 - Wednesday

I had a nightmare last night that lingered on for about an hour after I woke up. I dreamed that I ordered a gas dryer for the new house, and that it really needed to be modified for propane. After I woke up, I went on-line to find out where I could buy a kit to convert the dryer from gas to propane. After I had been searching for a while, I realized that the dryer I already have is propane ready, so why didn't I just keep the washer and dryer that I have instead of buying a new set. It was at that point that I realized that there is no gas OR propane connection at the new house, it is set up for an electric dryer, and THAT is why I bought a new washer/dryer. Have you ever had a nightmare linger into your awake time? It's a first for me, I can hardly imagine what I will dream about tonight. My first appointment at the new house this morning was due for a 10 to noon window, and the second was from noon until 6. Everybody arrived early, and everything was delivered and installed by about 1:15. I went back over to the house earlier this evening, just to make sure nothing was leaking, and everything was just fine. Today also started the 'how much crap can I get in the car' period, which will go on for about the next month or six weeks. Otherwise, everything is good. I did hang the first picture this morning, in a similar spot at the new house as it was here at the farm. I have always loved this painting, and I am very happy that it will be with me in a good place going forward. Tomorrow will be much like today, meeting an electrician in the morning, then running a couple errands, then meeting up with Michael and Lynda, and then home.

Volume 12 - Day 357/9, 2020 - Tuesday

I think I am probably the least thoughtful person in the whole world about everything there is to be thoughtful about. I received an anonymous gift in the mail today, and even though it was anonymous, I am pretty sure who sent it, and also because what the gift is gave the whole entire thing away. The person who sent it is likely one of the MOST thoughtful people in the world, and I will get around to thanking that person in good time. The girls passed their intake exam at the new vet/doggie day care/kennel this morning, and I am happy about that. I was going to say that I was grateful for that, but I don't like the way grateful looks in print. I would be happier if it were greatful, but it is not, and grateful makes me think of cheese. But I digress... The girls got the green light at the new place (the interior of which looks a lot like an alpine ski lodge), and they forwarded photos to me throughout the day so I could witness for myself how they were playing well with others. I also stopped at Costco on the way to work, bought pies and toilet paper. If you need toilet paper, let me know, I cannot pass it up, although I was much more careful today, because the last toilet paper I bought was like sand paper. Which could have its benefits, but I am not there quite yet. Tomorrow, I am expecting appliance deliveries at the new house, so I am prepared for that. I will be at the new house a good portion of the day, so if you need me, that is where I will be.

Volume 12 - Day 356/10, 2020 - Monday

The overnight low was mid-40s, so I took all the plants out of the garage and the front barn this afternoon, and everything got a good watering, too. It is supposed to get close to the freezing point (34 degrees) overnight on Thursday, so I will keep my eyes on the forecasts, and maybe bring everything back in Thursday afternoon. Maybe. I made a couple trips to the new house today, just dropping some this-and-thats, and there will be more trips throughout the week. I called this very, VERY posh vet/doggie-day-care and kennel today, to get the girls records transferred over to them. I am also going to try and board them on the 29th, assuming that the first round of moving will be on the 30th. I think I could more easily enroll a five year old in Manhattan in a private academy than I can getting these girl dogs into this place. They have an appointment tomorrow to see if they 'fit in,' and I will explain to them later tonight and tomorrow that they have to be on their best behavior. Ugh! I did see the Christmas star tonight, I think, but it was hard to tell. I could see them better last week than I could this evening, so for what it is worth, I will tell everyone that I saw them. Earlier this afternoon, I donated Jody's car to Caritas, for their Season of Caring campaign. They will in turn give the car to a man who has not had it as easy as I have. The man is 37 years old, and he came to this country from Cuba when he was 13. I hope this helps him continue to make a better life for himself, and I did not cry until I got back in the car with Carrie. I was a little weepy telling him and the others gathered about what a kind and loving man Jody was, and how he would be happy to know that he too was able to help someone.

Volume 12 - Day 355/11, 2020 - Sunday

Well, I am doing laundry. My second load, because I forgot to put some of the dirty clothes in the first load, that had plenty of room for the other stuff. So, I am on my second load. I even washed the placemats on the breakfast room table in the first go 'round. I had only a few chores to get done on my list today, and everything has been checked off. The girls have started laying again, so I am happy about that. So far this month, I have retrieved 15 eggs, so they are well on their way to being productive again. I had brunch today with Candy and Terry, and I am happy to have this new routine starting. Sunday brunch is fun, and I like getting out. I had a few things in the car to drop off at the new house, so we did that after brunch, and Terry (apparently a technical wizard) got my internet connected, so I have WIFI at the new house now. Although it is supposed to be 1 gig, I don't think it really is, but it is a lot faster than the internet at the farm, so that is an improvement. This week will kind of be a downhill slide to Christmas, and I do not have very much on my plate. The garage floor is supposed to be finished on Tuesday, some appliances are supposed to be delivered on Wednesday, car charger installed on Thursday, and furniture delivered on Saturday. That should be enough to keep me busy for a while. Interestingly, Michael and Lynda visited the new house a couple weeks ago, and they brought me this amaryllis for the new house. I had brought Lynda and Michael one as well, so we just swapped amarylli, is that the plural of amaryllis? And, by the way, today is Lynda's birthday!

Volume 12 - Day 354/12, 2020 - Saturday

It rained a wee bit overnight, 0.06". I got off to a slow start this morning, thinking I had the luxury of time, until I realized it was 7:40 and I had an 8:30 appointment. Of course, by then, it was raining again, and I am not really happy to be driving in the rain, especially if I have not followed my own advice, and left late. Everything worked out alright, and by about 3 o'clock this afternoon, I was back home and ready for a nap. I forgot to mention to you all yesterday, that I bought a new house. I was a couple months in the happening, including terminating the contract on one house because I just could not get past the poor construction. I put this house under contract just after Thanksgiving, and closed the transaction yesterday. I like it, and it will be another journey. The plan is to get into the new house (for all practical purposes) by the end of 2020, clear out the house at the farm by the end of February, do some painting and make ready stuff in March, and get the house at the farm on the sales market by the end of April. I am putting the house on the market with five acres, and keeping the other 70 acres, just to see what the future might bring. You never know about the future, but the consensus seems to be that I sell the house and five acres, and keep the rest of the land. I love this house (at the farm), but I think it is best that I move. The new house is in Georgetown, and there are things to do and people around, so...that will be the beginning of the next chapter.

Volume 12 - Day 353/13, 2020 - Friday

Yes, it's Friday. YAY! I was a grey, GREY day in central Texas today. Not a sign of the sun, but maybe tomorrow. The day was busy, and there were lots of accomplishments made, and that is good. I started with an 11 o'clock appointment, then off to the office, then a 2 o'clock, and a 3:30. I left the office about 4:30, and made it home pretty close to 5:30. I have a few things to get done tomorrow, and the usual chores around the house. Sunday will be brunch with Candy and Mike, and then it will be Monday again, but next week will be a short week. I like short weeks. I mentioned last night that we had our office Christmas party last night. Did I mention there was pizza? It is what's for dinner, for the next couple days. Lots of pizza!

Volume 12 - Day 352/14, 2020 - Thursday

I have lived in the Austin area since 1985, and it is not the same place it was when I moved here. I have changed a lot in 35 years, and Austin has changed a lot in 35 years. I am pretty sure that it would be hard to find something that has not changed in 35 years. I hope I am a better person now than I was 35 years ago. If I am, it is because of the people I have surrounded myself with over those three and a half decades. But that is not the point of this journal entry. The point is, what a beautiful city Austin is. It has its' faults to be sure, and there are plenty of them, but to most people that live or visit here, the good stuff tremendously outweighs the bad. We had out annual office holiday party this evening, and once again we were on a boat on Lady Bird Lake. It was called Town Lake when I first moved here. All social distancing protocols were observed, masks were worn, and we had a very nice time. I took the photo that accompanies this journal entry, just so you can see this side of Austin. Many people who don't know any better, still think of Austin as a provincial little place, all hat and cattle (or all hat and no cattle), but it isn't, and if this does not change your opinion, my advice to you is to just stay where you are.

Volume 12 - Day 351/15, 2020 - Wednesday

I think I want a refund. As I reported to you on Monday, I had my annual physical, and there was the obligatory blood draw for whatever testing it is they do with a couple vials of blood. For all I know, they could have injected me with some kind of tracking device, that is the level of attention I was paying to them. I got the results back via telephone this afternoon, and the person reporting back to me said that all the results came back normal, that I should keep taking the prescribed medications, plan for another visit in six months, or earlier if you think you are going to jump off a bridge. I cannot comprehend how my indicators can be considered normal when my daily diet consists of frozen chicken pot pies, potato chips, diet coke, and the apple pie I bought from Costco for Thanksgiving. I still have a couple slices of the pie, and then I will be out of that. I have a key lime pie (a birthday gift) in the freezer (just thaw and enjoy), and plenty of chips. I am soliciting opinions as to whether that diet could be considered 'healthy,' and I am pretty sure I know the answer. I am really looking forward to 2021. What do you think it has in store for us?

Volume 12 - Day 350/16, 2020 - Tuesday

It should really be Thursday or Friday already, but I guess that it really is just Tuesday. I had no interesting photos to document the day, so I just went to the first picture in my phone, and this is it. October 15, 2011. It had to be either a Saturday or a Sunday, because this photo is of Jody enjoying a Blizzard at the Dairy Queen in Georgetown. It was one of the things we did, every Saturday and Sunday. There were lots of small achievements today, I am ready for freezing weather, but I think it will be another day before anything really gets serious, and even then, I don't think it will be too serious. It is nice to sleep under the covers with a couple dogs with you, one on each side. We are all getting used to the togetherness, and I think Callie is getting used to hanging out with me and the Piglet. I have two zooms tomorrow, I was happy that a zoom scheduled for this afternoon was cancelled. I like having an extra hour-and-a-half given to me, that's always nice.

Volume 12 - Day 349/17, 2020 - Monday

Another day is in the books, and I finished everything on my TO-DO list. Some chores are definitely easier to complete than others. i am NOT a very big fan (not even a little fan) or corporate medicine. A year ago, our GP closed his office and went to work for a corporation. Think Walmart, only it's a doctors office. This was my second visit (I go every six months), and today was my annual physical. When I arrived, the squares on the sidewalk said to wait there and someone would be out to retrieve me momentarily. When the assigned person came out to retrieve me, the question was "Do you have an appointment?", which I thought was totally stupid, because if I were only there to rob them of prescription samples, I would most likely NOT was within the confined of the taped off square on the sidewalk. The experience (mostly) went downhill from there. I filled out some forms, signed some things electronically that I was not asked to read or review (there goes my first born child), and then told to go sit in the corner and they would call me. Interestingly, there were three people named William in the waiting room, and it was like the Three Stooges trying to get through the door at the same time. But alas, I was escorted to a small room where a very nice (allegedly competent) young lady started to ask me questions; What medications are you taking? Isn't it all there in the computer? We just want to verify. I don't know, I just take what has been prescribed. There are four of them, not including the Ambien. Whatever. My doctor (who I really like and have been seeing for about 15 years), came in and we made it through the rest of the physical. I think for an old guy, I am in pretty good shape, but that will not be confirmed until the blood work comes back. I told him my basic diet consists of frozen chicken pot pies, potato chips and diet coke. I hope he is seated when the blood work results are presented to him.

Volume 12 - Day 348/18, 2020 - Sunday

The day started out badly and ended badly. The middle parts were okay though. When I woke up, I could not tell if it was raining, dribbling of just really, REALLY humid. I decided it was just really humid. As the morning progressed, it did rain some (harder while I was driving south), and we got a tenth-of-an-inch here on the edge of nowhere. I got a lot of things done while I was south, and got home and there was a little bit of sunshine (not really), and A LOT of wind. Wind gusts were expected to be over forty miles per hour, and I believe we had some of them. I cleaned the polaris once and the pool skimmer three times. I expect the skimmer is full again already, and the winds are supposed to die down later in the evening. I really have no idea what the weather forecast for the coming week is, and I begrudgingly brought the pot plants back in to the garage, into the utility kitchen, and into the front barn. I was going to take the other Polaris back to turn the water off to the cattle (so it doesn't freeze), and I was confronted by these two possums eating the cat food. Scared the sh*t out of me, indeed. And I am not in the mood to go into the proper spellings of opossums v possums. Walking back from the pasture, I stepped into a hole or a rut and I thought I broke my ankle, but apparently not. Maybe just a little bit of a sprain. I have an appointment with my GP (six month check-up) tomorrow morning, so I will let him take a look at it. AND, I think my chocolate milk has spoiled (best by December 10, and this is only the 13th), but I am drinking it anyway. AND, as I said, the middle part of my day was just fine, how was your day?

Volume 12 - Day 347/19, 2020 - Saturday

The weekend is half over. Crap. How did your day go today? Mine was pretty good, although it started when I made my first cup of coffee, and I forgot to put the cup in the place to catch the coffee as it was spewing forth. It could have been worse. I guess those little trays that you put the cup on can actually hold a whole cup of coffee, and in my case, there was really not even any spatter. I was kind of puzzled to start with, because I could remember starting the coffee, but the cup was in the dish drainer, and there was no mess of 8 ounces of coffee all over. That was not too terrible, to be honest. I got some errands done in the early morning, and the afternoon was mostly spent replacing the battery in Jody's car, and then taking it to Georgetown to have it washed. waxed and detailed. Every year, the Statesman has a 'season of caring' program, so I am going to donate Jody's car to a person that is not nearly as lucky as I am. If course, now that it is all clean and has a new battery, there is a light on the dash that says it will need scheduled service soon. The car is 14 years old, and it has less than 107,000 miles on it, so hopefully it will be a good car for someone.

Volume 12 - Day 346/20, 2020 - Friday

It is the weekend, and that alone is reason to celebrate! It started off dribbly and chillish this morning, and it pretty much stayed that way until late afternoon. Around five o'clock, it was clearing, and there was a little bit of color, and I thought it was worth documenting. I started the day with a quick nine o'clock meeting, then it was off to the office. I had an 11:30 zoom call, and I forgot to take my laptop with me, so I did the zoom call on my phone. My office computer does not have a camera (how if the hell did that happen), but, just go forward one step at a time. I left the office at about 2:30, got my hairs cut at 3, got home about 4, and at 6 I went to Crossroads and a double cheese burger (ketchup, mustard and mayo only), an order of onion rings, and two plain patties for the girls. The girls have not had their patties yet, but I gave them some of mine so they don't really feel cheated. It is supposed to be sunny and a little bit cooler tomorrow, and I expect I will be able to find plenty of things to do.

Volume 12 - Day 345/20, 2020 - Thursday

It seems the shelter in place order from last night was a mistake. It was an ammonia leak from a farmer's fertilizer stash, not terribly far from here, and the shelter order (apparently) should not have been sent. The powers that be are going to have a big confab about it tomorrow. It was kind of interesting for a little while, though! I spied these little pretties yesterday when I was out in the back. I have taken all the potted plants away from the pool and the deck, but I guess these little ones were little volunteers, growing up out of the rocks. Little volunteers are always the most determined to grow, like pretty little flowers that grow up out of the asphalt. Determination is the biggest part of success. The question now is, do I nurture them, or let them be. I will probably nurture them a little bit.Today was a pretty okay day, a casual start to the day, and then in to the office. A few errands were completed this afternoon on the way home, and I got home at a reasonable hour. All good there. I have a nine o'clock appointment in the morning, and that is a civilized time to start the day. One zoom meeting late morning, and then the weekend. Weekend means chores!

Volume 12 - Day 344/22, 2020 - Wednesday

I got calls on two different telephone, a text message and an e-mail, telling me to shelter in place. Then, a little while later (maybe 15 minutes), I got a text and an e-mail, and one phone call that it was done. This is an emergency message from Jarrell Fire Department. The incident in your area has been contained. It is safe to leave your residences and you may turn on your heating and air conditioning systems. For the latest news, go to www.wilco.org. I went to www.wilco.org and there was nothing there about whatever it was. I have no idea what the incident was, but I was supposed to make sure all doors and windows were closed, and to turn off the HVAC systems. It was kind of interesting and exciting, and I wanted to go outside to see if I could see anything, but I didn't, I thought that might be kind of counter-productive. So, that was my excitement for the day. I'm glad SOMETHING happened, it took all the thought out of this journal entry!

Volume 12 - Day 343/23, 2020 - Tuesday

I have six more zoom meetings on my calendar for this year, and that will be it for 2020. Many of us are suffering from 'zoom fatigue' (did I just make that up?), so I decided to check out the history of zoom. You will be surprised to learn that zoom had its' origins years-and-years ago, and I was able to find a copy of the first zoom meeting. Back then, they were apparently not too concerned about what they were wearing for their zoom meeting, since I don't think Al Gore was born yet, therefore the Internet had not been invented, so nobody really cared if it was 'business on top, party on the bottom!' It was, also apparently, party all the time! But I digress. Here is a question for you: When you are logging on to a web-site, and you are entering your password onto the site, do you ever think about being held captive by Russian operatives that are trying to get your password, but you are just too damn smart for them to break your code? Asking for a friend...

Volume 12 - Day 342/24, 2020 - Monday

To continue my rant from last night about my concerns about continuing this journal, just so you will know, this journal entry will the the 4,356th entry to this journal. One entry per day (I have missed two or three days along the way). That's a lot of days. I am totally crazy. I am OCD and CDO all wrapped into one crazy man. I told someone today that I could charge admissions to get inside my head, and people would not want to leave once they got inside. Whatever. Enough of that. I had a zoom meeting today that went from 9AM until about 2PM, a great zoom meeting it was, too! Then I headed in to the office. I did some power real estate, and then left for home at about ten minutes til 5. Along the way, I encountered lots of twinkly lights and thought for a minute that it was a Holiday display on the Interstate, but alas it was not to be. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that this particular wreck occurred across the service road from the Bee Safe Storage place in Round Rock. I just find that to be a little ironic! The wreck was not even on my side of the highway, but everything slows down so everyone can get a good luck, and some of us take pictures to document the event. Tomorrow is going to be much the same as today, except I do not expect to make a trip in to Austin. Maybe I will make one in to Round Rock to get some errands done, but not in to Austin!

Volume 12 - Day 341/25, 2020 - Sunday

Birthday stuff is still happening. I had brunch today with Mike and Candy, and Candy told the waiter it was my birthday. We high-tailed it out of there before he could bring us whatever it was he was going to bring us in a carry-out. I do not need more stuff in this house, of a cake or pie or candy nature, that needs to be consumed. I am up to here with sweet stuff, and I am all out of will power to resist. I was able to check most of the things off my chores list, and I may check one more of them off the list before I call it a night, you never know. Otherwise, it was a beautiful day here in central Texas, and it is supposed to be in the 70s much of the coming week. I drug all the plants out of the garage this afternoon, and there are no freezing temperatures in the 10 day forecast. I will be all zoomed out by the time Wednesday gets here, but then the next couple weeks should be relatively quiet. Every year about this time, I start thinking about the continuance of this journal. I have done it every day for almost thirteen years, and sometimes I think it is done. I guess I have about three more weeks to decide if this will be it or not, and maybe I can think of something else to occupy my time. We shall see...

Volume 12 - Day 340/26, 2020 - Saturday

I stayed in bed until almost 8 o'clock this morning. I was not asleep the whole time, and the only reason I really got up then was because I had to let the chickens loose. I did some office work and then did a little bit more stuff in the office, and then I decided it would be good to review my list of weekend chores. There are eleven things on the list, and I got four things accomplished. Most of the items are Sunday things, anyway, so no real big deal. The temperature is not supposed to be close to freezing in the next week or so (I will confirm this when the news comes on tonight), and I think I will drag all the plants out of the garage and the front barn tomorrow. Hopefully there will be a little bit of rain in the next couple days, and they can all benefit from that. Next week will be busy to start off, and then it will taper off (I hope). The following week, and leading up to Christmas and the New Year should be really quiet. Again, that is hopeful on my part. I am going to have brunch tomorrow morning with Candy, and then meeting Maggie in the early afternoon. Both of those things will be fun, and then it will be time to clean the chicken coop!

Volume 12 - Day 339/27, 2020 - Friday

Who moved my cake? I think that sounds like a best-seller, what do you think. Hi, my name is Bill, and I have not had any cake in 24 hours. That is not as easy as it sounds, if you could see the kitchen, you would understand. I had a good nights sleep last night, and I had an 8 o'clock appointment this morning, and then I had a zoom class that started at 9 and ended at about 4 o'clock this afternoon. Over break times and the lunch break, I got a couple other things accomplished, and that is all good. I am kind of looking forward to the weekend, but I am not too excited about the fact that you could store Corona Virus vaccination drugs outside my house right now with no additional refrigeration required. I may be exaggerating (just a little bit), but we are not used to these frigid climes, and I am ready for it to be either fall or spring. Not winter or summer, see the previous sentence. I don't have a lot on my list to get accomplished, so it will be nice to just chill (not really), and take it easy.

Volume 12 - Day 338/28, 2020 - Thursday

The last four days should have earned me an asterisk (*) in the Wikipedia dictionary under the word 'cake.' There have been office cakes, weekend cakes, hotel cakes, restaurant cakes, pancakes, cup cakes and USPS cakes. You name a cake, I have had a slice of it. And I left all the cakes wherever they were. 'Why aren't you taking the cake home with you?' BECAUSE I WILL EAT IT! It has to be some kind of record for the number of cakes one person can receive and partake of in such a short period of time. Who knows? I made it home by about 2 o'clock this afternoon, and checked on stuff around here, and everything was fine since it was all checked-up on by our neighbors (the ones we like). Then I went and retrieved the girls from the vet, where they spent two nights and got a bath and a shampoo and set. I do not believe they were too happy about the whole thing, but we are all home and happy and fat, and life is good!

Volume 12 - Day 337/29, 2020 - Wednesday

I think it is Wednesday. Sometimes I find it difficult to keep up. Today was the second day of meeting up with my TREPAC Leadership peeps, and it was a really good and productive day. I am really lucky to share a spot at the table with these dedicated, motivated and innovative volunteers and staff. We are truly a family, and like all families, we have our ups and down, but we never fail to remember the important stuff. After our day long work session, we went and did a couple team building exercises. We did the same thing last year, and I have to say, I made a little bit of improvement in that year. In the bow and arrow exercise, I hit the target two or three times (that is two or three times better than last year), and with the hatchet throwing thing, I think I at least equalled last year. BUT, with the skeet shooting thing, I did much better than last year. I think, out of 25 shells, I hit the clay pigeon three or four times. A notable improvement. We will meet again in the morning, and have a full morning of planning, and then head back home tomorrow afternoon. And for now, it is time for me to pile up, and close my eyes!

 

Volume 12 - Day 336/30, 2020 - Tuesday

I may have finally seen the Marfa Lights. Or maybe not. These are the Lost Pine Lights! I am in Bastrop for a couple days, planning and getting ready for New Trustee Training and a TREPAC Trustee Meeting next week. The lights are what I see outside my little balcony attached to my room. I am lucky to be attending this with my fabulous extended family; TREPAC Leadership and Texas REALTOR® staff. We are missing one of our sisters in crime, but that happens every year. Two years I was the new guy, and two years from now I will be the guy that I hope they will remember kindly. We all work so hard, we all have ideas, we all want to innovate and move forward in spite of the issues that affect the lives we used to know and take for granted. But, just like Darwin discovered, we can all adapt to survive within our surroundings, and if they can't, they will be faced with hardships. Although I may be fooling myself, I feel this TREPAC family of mine has adapted to the change and the challenge, and we are all working together to make change at breakneck speed. We have a blast when we are together, and we also work our asses off when we work together. Some of us (most of us) swear like sailors when we are together, and even when we are not together. BUT we get our work done, and we do what we have to do, and we get tired and then we stop until tomorrow.