Volume 17 - Day 190/175, 2025 - Wednesday

So, I did a full walk this morning, and I am glad of that. I got my ten thousand steps in for the first time in a long time, and that makes me glad, too. I went in to the office for a little while, put some stuff in the Buzz, and then I went to lunch with Michael and Lynda. It rained like crazy in Austin, and by the time I got back to Georgetown, there was not a drop to be seen. We may be in for a little rain overnight, and I hope that comes true. No matter what, I will likely never turn away rain from at or near the Curious House. I hope I am not dooming myself. I am still delighting on telling stories to my friends about the recent trip to Europe, and I expect I will be talking about it for a good well. I will likely be going back and forth to the office for the next couple days, getting a little of this and a little of that. We have new tenants moving in on Monday, so it has to get done. Overall, I am a happy man, and I know that not everybody can say that. Have a good evening!

Volume 17 - Day 189/176, 2025 - Tuesday

Still having some knee issues, so I have been doing only half-walks, but that is okay. I had an appointment with a 'bone doctor' this morning, and I was fully expecting to be told that I needed a left knee replacement. Mainly because I have been told that by the medicos for at least the last thirty years. I have been told it would be inevitable. Let me share with you some things I learned today about 'corporate' health care, and the caveat is my experience was a 90% positive one. Here we go. When I am directed to go to an appointment with a doctor (actually a PA-C) in a four story building, I need more direction than the street address. A suite number of the PA-C would be considered helpful. After determining where the PA-C in particular could be found, I stood in line for a while at 'check-in.' That seems to kind of contradict the 15 or twenty minutes that I spent doing the on-line check-in, but...whatever. On the bright side, while I was standing in line, I was able to get my 'Wordle' puzzle done, start to finish. In three tries. Once I checked in, I was directed to a spot to go sit and wait. There was a sign there that said I should be called within 15 minutes, and I was. I also think when someone comes to fetch you, they should introduce themselves. I am not opposed to asking 'who are you,' but shouldn't I know who is leading me into the bowels of this facility. The same should be said of the PA-C that came in to talk to me. I would like to know that that person is whom they said I should meet with. It is not my fault that everyones name tags are located in an inconvenient place to stare. Whatever. So, after some discussion and some poking and prodding, I was given some options, and the chosen option was just to get a steroid shot, and to see how that does. I was also told by a few friends that the steroid shot was not at all painful, but I prepared the PA-C for a high pitched scream. Didn't happen. I still have a little bit of discomfort, but not at all like I have been experiencing, so, so-far-so-good. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Volume 17 - Day 188/177, 2025 - Monday

I had a dentist appointment this morning at 8 o'clock, so I did not walk with Paul. I assumed the dentist scheduled my appointment so early so there would be fewer people in the office listening to me scream like a junior high school girl. Interestingly, at my advanced age, I no longer seem to be anxious about dentist appointments. For the last three visits, I have had no anxiety at all, so I hope to keep that streak running! After the dentist, I had a couple errands to run, and Mateo came by at about noon to hook up the printer I bought from the office. Total overkill, but I love that printer. A little later, I checked the mail, put up a couple flyers about the neighborhood blood drive this weekend, and then took some mail to UPS for Dick and Marge. I hope you are sitting down, because when I got home from that errand, I actually did a couple loads of laundry, so most everything in the house is clean now. Clothes I mean. We had a little bit more ran today, nothing to really speak about, and there may be a little bit more overnight. We need the rain badly, bit everything in moderations is best. Last year, we were plagued by vols, and they were certainly not welcome. This year, the bun rabbits are here and there, and this photo was taken from inside the office at the Curious House. Many people don't like the buns around, but I don't mind them a bit.

Volume 17 - Day 187/178, 2025 - Sunday

Well, it waited until late afternoon to start raining today, and that was nice of Mother Nature. It allowed me to get quite a few things done before chilling out with the girls. I got a few things straightened around in the garage, and then I headed off to my storage place. I got a few things straightened out there, and then headed in to Austin, and took a load of stuff from the office to the storage room. I met Val for lunch, and then got home and decided I did not need to do too much more, but I expect I will have another burst of energy before the day is over. A little of this and a little of that, and hopefully all the moving of stuff will be over soon. I am expecting a delivery from Amazon of a cord to connect the office printer to my stuff at the home office. That will make a big difference for me, I think. Time will tell. In the meantime, I think I will go back to the big chair, turn on something stupid on tv, and chill with the girls. More later!

Volume 17 - Day 186/179, 2025 - Saturday

Well, it rained for much of the day, but as I have said many times today, to many friends, if the Curious House gets flooded, the end of the world will be in about twenty minutes. There were evacuations at the bottom of the hill, and I think many of the people down there have returned. We were expecting more heavy rain this evening into tomorrow, but the radar shows that system may be going west of us, where they have already had plenty of rain...about three months of rain in a couple days. In the last four days, the gauge at the Curious House has recorded almost 6 inches of rain. We'll take it. This morning, I did a few things around the house, and then Diane, Marian and I made it to one estate sale. We kind of had to rethink the plan because it was raining so hard, but it was not terrible when we got to the actual house where the sale was. None of us bought anything. The photo of the South Fork of the San Gabriel River, which is at the bottom of the hill, was pretty well out of its' banks this morning, and that is the reason for the evacuations. After the estate sale, Val came over and we went in to Austin to move the copier from the office to the Curious House. Now I am set...I have a HUGE copier in the home office, but I love that copier. Tonight, Jimmie and Linda and I went to dinner, and we went to a Chinese Restaurant in Leander than none of us had tried before. I had sesame chicken and egg drop soup. Very good. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I expect more rain. Do you think this entry was kind of rambling? I think you're right!

Volume 17 - Day 185/180, 2025 - Friday, The Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July to you! I spent much of my day doing things around the Curious House, including rearranging the home office to accommodate the printer from the office that I am taking over. I love that printer, and the way I have reconfigured the office will work out just fine, with the minimum of moving things around. I even vacuumed parts of the office as long as I was doing stuff. I may vacuum more another day, not sure. Around 9 o'clock, I headed in to Austin, and it was raining crazy. I expect many of you have seen news reports of all the flooding, devastation, deaths and missing people just about 50 miles west of us. That is not an uncommon occurrence here in central Texas; Nothing Breaks a Drought Like a Flood! I messed around the office for a little while, seeing if there was anything I could bring home with me (we are clearing out the office, we have leased it beginning July 15th). I move a little piece at a time, no reason to get all worked up about it. We have been in that office for 25 years, and I am not sure where all that stuff was hiding, but it will all get done. After the office, I had an appointment to donate platelets, and that is something I really like doing, and I left there about 1 o'clock. Once I got home, it was still raining, and as much as I tried, I could not get a nap in. My neighbors brought me home cooked food over, last night they brought me a quart of ice cream. I need to keep those neighbors. They either like me or think I am too ald to fend for myself. Whichever, it is okay with me.

Volume 17 - Day 184/181, 2025 - Thursday

We are getting some welcome and appreciated rain. Not a lot, but a little over a long period of time. Again, this was a busy day, beginning by being my own advocate for me. I was scheduled to get a blood draw this morning, and I was hoping to see someone about the pain I am having in my left knee. So...I went to the Georgetown office and WOW, the receptionist was nice and helpful, I got the blood draw (and the results, all within accepted ranges, and there was a doctor there that would see me about my knee. The doctor was very nice, explained tings, ordered three x-rays, and decided I had 'moderate knee osteo arthritis and bone on bone' challenges with my left knee. He gave me five days worth of Prednisone, and I have an appointment with a 'bone doctor' next Thursday. I expect I will be told that I need a knee replacement, and I have known that would be suggested for about the last three decades. Now, the only thing not figured out, is the timing of the replacement. But, maybe I am getting ahead of myself, maybe I need to wait until after the appointment to start making plans. Whatever. After that, I went in to Austin to get some things done and to pick up the prescription, and on the way home, I picked up some bbq ribs and chicken ($17.76 Special), so I am set for the Holiday. Jimmie and Linda and I went to dinner again, and I had some really good catfish. Now we are planning our next visit to Taylor for more catfish. My Holiday will include donating platelets, and doing some work to get stuff out of the office and into storage. Fun!

Volume 17 - Day 183/182, 2025 - Wednesday

I got quite a bit of stuff done today, my first day back in a couple weeks. Lots of mail to go through, lots of stuff to get sorted, lots of calls to make, and I am happy with the way the day went. I got a good nights sleep last night, so I especially enjoyed that, and I am looking forward to a repeat tonight. I did half a walk with Paul this morning, I am still having issues with my knee. I'm kind of waiting on my doctor to tell me if he thinks a cortisone shot will help, or what the alternative is. I went in to Austin for a 10 o'clock meeting, then I went by the office. We need to get everything out of the office by the 15th of the month, so there is a work session planned for Monday. I think. Whatever. I stopped at HEB on the way home, and picked up some basic groceries, and then it was about time for dinner. Jimmie and Linda and I went in to Georgetown for dinner, and Linda went through all 1,090 photos that I took in the last two weeks. Tomorrow I have an appointment to have some blood drawn, that will take a few minutes, and I am doing platelets on the 4th of July. That will be my celebration. According to the photo of the clouds that I am posting with this journal entry, they can't really decide whether it is going to rain. OR NOT!

Volume 17 - Day 182/183, 2025 - Tuesday

Okay, I am back home, and all is well. The girls seem to remember me, but you never know about these girls. I have been up since midnight-30 (Austin time), and I am going to try and get my sleep pattern back to normal. I don't think it will be too much trouble. Self-medication always works. Fingers crossed. Just to recap, we all had a great time. Five countries, more than that in the number of friends to got a chance to hang out together, and a few new friends to add to the list! I am really not going to do anything much except to watch some tv and pet the girls this evening, there is plenty of time to do other stuff tomorrow. So, for now, this is it, I will talk to y'all later!

Volume 17 - Day 181/184, 2025 - Monday

Oh my goodness, today has been a day. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel this morning, and we left for the Paris train station at about 10 o'clock. Sorry, but it was not the greatest of all experiences. It was really hot, and did not seem to be very well organized. In spite of all that, after about a 50 minute delay, we were on the train (Eurostar) and headed to London. I remember when I was a kid, reading about the TGV, Tres Grande Velocite, but that train runs only in France. The Eurostar runs (I think) only between Paris and London. There are monitors on the train, and I did see that the train was traveling at 384 kph, which breaks down to 238 miles per hour. Mike thinks we got a bit faster, but it was a comfortable ride. There was no fan fare when we crossed below the English Channel. SO, now I can say I have done that, and I don't need to do it again. We admitted defeat yesterday and surrendered to our (my) mistake of thinking we had to return to the US through Heathrow. Whatever, live and learn. When we got to London this afternoon, it was a one-hour cab ride to the airport hotel we are staying at. We will be getting up about 6:30 in the morning, and out of the hotel at about 8. This is the last day of the trip, last day in London, so what would have been better than fish & chips. And, it was good. Now to get some sleep, and back home. Mike's flight to Miami leaves about an hour before mine, so I will see what kind of trouble I can get in when left alone at Heathrow.

Volume 17 - Day 180/185, 2020 - Sunday

One more day left of this month...crazy! Still in Paris, we were up leisurely this morning and went to the courtyard for breakfast. We had an appointment at 11AM with Christopher, for a city tour, the same man and tour that was introduced to me last year when I was here with Michael and Lynda. An interesting thing last year was, after the tour I was going to the Louvre, and I mentioned that the directions said to meet the guide at the Arc de Triumph. Christopher said 'not this Arc,' there is another 'Arc' across from the Louvre. If it had not been for him, I would have waited and waited for my guide at the wrong Arc. He said he remembered that conversation, and that was funny. We had a great tour, and we all learned more things...Mike and I learned things about Paris, and Christopher learned things about the US and a bit of politics thrown in for good measure, as well. When we got back to the hotel, we rested a bit and then I walked a few blocks from the hotel to one of the still existing Roman Arenas in Paris. Still there, kind of hidden away, and now it looks more like a playground than a place where Romans enjoyed fights to the death. After that, I met Mike and we had a ncie dinner, came back to the hotel and we sat out in the courtyard for an hour or so. Our taxi arrives tomorrow morning at 10AM to take us to the Eurostar from Paris to London via the Chunnel. I am looking forward to that, even though there will be very little scenery since we will be in a tunnel. We will spend the night in London, then fly home on July 1st. I will be alone at Heathrow for a couple hours, and there is a Harrod's there, so heaven only know what will happen! 

Volume 17 - Day 179/186, 2025 - Saturday

We were up at 3:45AM to catch a shuttle to the airport at 4:30. We made it to Paris with no issues, and we wanted to see if we could change our tickets with British Air, but there was no one at the ticket counters, and none (NONE) of their telephone numbers work. Not really a big deal, just a first world problem. Paulina and Oliver went to Szczecin in Poland, where her parents live, so Mike and I are fumbling around not knowing (really) what to do next! We are settled in here in Paris, in the Latin Quarter. We wandered around a bit today, had lunch, walked down to Notre Dame, took a nap, went to dinner, and now we are done for the day. The B&B we are at is very nice, quite nice in fact, and I was introduced to it last year by Michael and Lynda. Tomorrow at 11 (fingers crossed) we will take a city tour in an open Citroen (I think). The same tour I did with Michael and Lynda last year, but this year I will know better about the places we see. Maybe. I know I could post a photo with this journal entry of hundreds of historical architectural marvels in Paris, and you would instantly know what you are seeing. But the photo I choose for today is something I think speaks more to Paris itself. The City of Love? Maybe, maybe not, but when I saw this couple walking down the street, I thought that is what Paris is really about. Long lasting, enduring love, whether it is love for the city or love for your mate. Just love.

Volume 17 - Day 178/187, 2025 - Friday

Well, today was another busy day. I was up at about 5:30 this morning, getting packed and getting ready to meet Paulina and Oliver in the hotel lobby at 7 o'clock. We wanted to get most of the stuff in the car loaded before we walked to the train station in Lauderbrunnen to go UP the Alps to The Top of Europe. Even though they are calling it The Top of Europe, it was about 300 meters lower than Mont Blanc. Whatever. It was a fun train ride, actually two train rides. We had to transfer to another train about half-way up, but it was well worth it. There are apparently not enough ways for me to say that something is beautiful, but much of this trip has been about jaw-dropping magnificence. Once we got back down, we gathered up Mike from the hotel, and we got started on our drive to Zurich. We stopped at Interlaken (between the lakes) for lunch. We got to Zurich at about 5 o'clock, and Paulina and Oliver went by trian in to Zurich, and they just got back (8:25PM). We (Mike and I) have early flights tomorrow (really early!) to Paris, and Paulina and Oliver are going back to Poland to visit Paulina's mom for a while. More tomorrow from Paris.

Volume 17 - Day 177/188, 2025 - Thursday

We left Chamonix-Mont Blanc this morning at about 9:30 and drove to Lauterbrunnen (don't ask), with a lunch stop in Bern. Bern is the Capitol of Switzerland, and Albert Einstein lived here for some years. Not sure how many. We had a nice walk in Bern, sat in a park with water and Coke Zero, and bought more t-shirts. I will probably have to pay an excess baggage fee just because of the t-shirts. We got to Lauterbrunnen at about 2 o'clock (maybe), and checked in to the hotel. Halfway to Lauterbrunnen it started raining, and it has been raining off-and-on ever since. A nice, good rain. Most of the drive was through or around the Alps, and it is absolutely beautiful. We had lunch at the hotel, and then Paulina and Oliver went hiking, Mike and I bought more t-shirts and walked a little bit, in between rains. Tomorrow we are heading to Zurich, but before we leave, we are taking the Jungfrau Railway to the Top of Europe. The train leaves at 7:30AM and we will have to get the luggage in the car before we leave, and I think this will be a really fun excursion. Except for the getting up at 5AM part. We should be back to the hotel by 1, and then head off to Zurich, which I think will be a two hour drive or so, and probably a couple stops along the way. I was invited to a wedding this afternoon, see the photo accompanying this journal entry. This soon to be married couple were having photos taken, so I joined them, which is something I like to do. They were fun, and invited me to the wedding, which, unfortunately, I had to decline.

Volume 17 - Day 176/189, 2025 - Wednesday

We were up kind of/sort of early this morning, and headed to Chamonix to see Mont Blanc. We were going to do a short drive in to Italy as well, but it dod not work out. Tomorrow, we will have a kind of casual morning, and then drive to Lauterbrunnen (don't even think about asking) in Switzerland. I will Google it later and see what is there, and I will tell you tomorrow. When we got to Chamonix, we walked around the town (I think it is a town, the word 'city' just does not seem to apply) bought some t-shirts, and then headed to the gondolas to go up the mountain. Village might actually be a better name for this area. Chamonix-Mont Blanc. Going up and down consists of two different gondolas, and it is absolutely beautiful. I took about a hundred photos of what look to be the same landscape, but they are all different. Jody and I went to Machu Pichu many years ago, it is in the Andes, and also absolutely gorgeous. Two different mountain ranges, two different kinds of beautiful. We got back down, and did a bit more shopping, and then had dinner. After dinner, we did more shopping, and then went back to the hotel and sat outside and just talked and had fun for a while. We are planning tomeet in the morning at 8AM for breakfast, so now it is off to sleep. The photo accompanying this journal entry is me and Mike, as close to Mont Blanc (behind us) as we could get.

Volume 17 - Day 175/190, 2025 - Tuesday

As much as it pains me to say this, I have a new, favorite airline. KLM. Granted, I won't get too many chances to take advantage of my new found favorite, they are really a great airline. Maybe I am just being lucky. If you want more, let me know! Oh, by the way, on every flight since this adventure started, I have been pulled aside for additional bag searches. I must have pissed somebody off somewhere. Whatever... So...we flew in to Geneva this morning, and we will drive out tomorrow. It has been another busy day, there is plenty to see and do, and there are LOTS of fountains here. I did not get a lot of sleep last night, at least it did not seem that I did, so I am looking forward to getting a better nights sleep tonight. There is a little bit of concern that our flight from Zurich to Paris, but most importantly our flight from London to Austin may have some issues. It seems there is some chaos in the airline industry because of the happenings in the Middle East. We got out of Amsterdam this morning with no real problems, even though NATO is having a meeting at the Hague, and Amsterdam is pretty close (an hour?) to there. I am looking forward to driving from city to city for the nexxt couple days, I think it will be fun to see the countryside. 

Volume 17 - Day 174/191, 2025 - Monday

Amstel. Amstel River. Amstel River Dam. Amstel Dam. Amsterdam. So, now you know how the name came about. Mike and I started the day with breakfast in the hotel, and we met up with Paulina and Oliover about 10 o'clock. We did some walking around the city, and then headed back to the hotel, and Paulina and Oliver took off again and did some shopping. We met up again at 2:30 and did a cruise on the Amstel. I did not know that houses in Amsterdam, many of them anyway, lean to the side and can also lean to the front. They lean to the side because they are built on wood pilings, and the pilings rot over time and cause the houses to lean. They lean forward, because the houses are very narrow and they hoist furniture and other items into the homes because the stairs are very steep and narrow because the houses themselves are so narrow. The homes were (not sure if they still are) taxed bsed on how wide the homes were, not necessarily how large they were. There you have your new information for the day. We went to dinner, then walked around the red light district, then had some ice cream. It is 8:45 now in Amsterdam, and our transportation to the airport tomorrow will pick us up at 5:15AM. Off to Geneva. More later.

Volume 17 - Day 173/192 - Sunday

Today was out last day in Krakow, but we filled it up. We had a nice breakfast at 9AM, then we wandered around for a little while. We said 'goodbye for now' to Maja, Krisa, Micola, Grawshka, and Nancy. Nancy will be in Krakow until Wednesday, then she goes back to Las Cruces, the rest took trains to the cities in which they live, but I am not sure where that is. Our ride to the airport was scheduled for 11:30, and when we got to the airport, we found out our flight was delayed for about an hour. Not terrible. We made it to Amsterdam at about 5:30, got a cab to our hotel, settled in a little bit, then headed out for dinner. After dinner, Oliver and Paulina went to a grocery store, Mike and I headed back to the hotel, and by about 8:45 we were settled back in at the hotel. The photo accompanying this journal entry was taken by Paulina, I have not actually seen this view, but I expect I will tomorrow. We are staying in the central part of the city, I have come close to being run over by two people on a MoPed, everyone is in a hurry, and everyone establishment is pretty loud. Totally different from the days in London and Krakow. We will get some tourist action in tomorrow, got a boat tour lined up, and then on Tuesday we fly to Geneva. I think. Having a lot of fun, stay tuned!

Volume 17 - Day 172/195, 2025 - Saturday

We have been in Krakow less than 24 hours, but we have done a lot, seen a lot and eaten a lot. We got up eary this morning, and caught a transport at 6:30 to Auschwitz and Birkenau. I had an internal fight tonight trying to decide what kind of photo to include with this journal entry. My three choices were: A photo representing Auschwitz/Birkenau, a photo of one of the many beautiful buildings I have seen here in Krakow, or a photo of me and the group eating eather lunch or dinner, or just a photo of us eating. Period. A representation of Auschwitz/Birkenau won out, and it not to be sensational, but I think it is something important that we should not forget. I learned a more about that frightening and deadly period of time, and I just want to put it out there, maybe just to make you feel uncomfortable. If the photo accompanying this journal entry makes you uncomfortable, then my job is done. If you have a specific question, et me know, and we will see if I can help with the answer. After we returned from the camps, which is at least an hour drive, most of us went down for naps. We got up later and did a little shopping, had a lovely lunch, and then met up again this evening for a lovely dinner. It has been great getting to see Krisa again, and this trip introduced me to her daughter (Maya) and her fiancee Nicola. I also met Paulina's mother, whose name I can neither pronounce or spell. But it has been another busy visit. Tomorrow in the late morning, we head to Amsterdam for a couple days, and the journey continues.

Volume 17 - Day 171/194, 2025 - Friday

Well, for all practical purposes, it is still Friday somewhere. Where I am right now, it is 40 minutes in to Saturday, and we need to be in the lobby by 6AM. Friday, for the most part, was a day of delays and pat-downs. And it wasn't even a fun pat down. We got up at a reasonable time and had a nice breakfast, went back to the hotel to check out at about noon. All that was fine. The trip to the airport should have taken about 45 minutes, and it took over two hours. When going through the security check point, they were not fond of the fact that I was wearing a knee brace, so I was pulled aside, and was pulled aside for a full search. Also, those people have no sense of humor. They took me in a little room, with all my other stuff still left out on the conveyor. They didn't care, they just wanted me to drop trough and take off the brace and let them run it thrugh the x-ray machine. It would have been better if it were a cute man that did the patting down, but it wasn't. They touched and rubbed up on parts of me that I had forgotten about thirty years agom but am happy to have once again made their acquaintance. At some point, I guess somebody pushed a panic button, so more enforcement officers cam in to the room three different timeasking who pushed the panic buttons. THere were only three of us in that room, and apparently the button was pushed three times. I can neither confirm nor deny.  Then the flight was delayed, and at one point, the captain said, and I am quoting..."We nowhave a completely working airplane. It should all be okay.' It was in fact all okay, and we arrived in Krakow about an hour and a half late, and then it took an hour to ckear customs.THen we finally got to the hotel, a lovely place, in what I think is an older part of Krakow. I think that becasue it was daerk when we got here, and we couldn't really tell. It is what it is. In four hours, the alarms will go off, and we will begin the 7 hour tour we have planned. More tomorrow.

Volume 17 - Day 170/195, 2025 - Thursday

Okay then, today was another busy day...We have been in London for less than two days, and we have done and seen a lot. I have never been to London before, and everywhere I go for the next (almost) two weeks will be a first for me, and I am looking forward to all of it. We were awake by about seven o'clock (local time), and we all gathered up and went to breakfast (I think I remember breakfast), and then we got on the Underground, and wandered around a lot. We went to Paddington Station, saw the bear (much smaller than I expected), toured Westminster Abbey, saw the Tower of London, waked across the Tower Bridge, had lunch, went back teo the hotel and took a nap. Paulina and Oliver went to Notting Hill, I took a nap. Then we all got back together and went to dinner. I think we have had every meal at one pub or another. Our flight to Krakow is at five tomorrow and we arrive there at about 8:30. So, we will wander around a little bit in the morning, then I will get packed, and we will be off again. So far, so good.

Volume 17 - Day 169/196, 2025 - Wednesday

Okay, most of us arrived in London today, me and Paulina from Aistin, Mike from Del Rey Beach, and Oliver from Ireland. Three different flights arriving at two different terminals, but we all made it and found each other in the airport. We took a black car to the hotel, settled in for about 45 minutes, then we started being tourists. We dis Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, the tube, and various places in between. We had lunch at a pub (I don't remember the name), and we hit several gift shops. Mike and I got back to the hotel at about 6 o'clock London time, and Paulina and Oliver stayed for shopping at Harrods. I took a nap, and now Paulina, Mike and Oliver have gone to have a drink at another pub. I'm here, doing my duty as a blogger, and then I am going to go to sleep. In spite of my knee, I did get my steps in, and I expect I will get my steps in during the rest of this visit. We are here for another full day, and we leave Friday around noon for Poland. I am not sure where Nancy, Krisa and Maya will meet us, but probably in Poland. There are all kinds of stories I can share (ask me about being rewarded for being a 'good boy' on British Air, and the teials and tribulations of 'NO GOULASH' season. Much fun. The photo accompanying this entry is a cute little guy guarding one of the gates at Buckingham Palace. I wanted to take him home as a souvenir, but a spokesperson for the Royal Guards convinced me of all the reasons why I shouldn't.

Volume17 - Day 168/197, 2025 - Tuesday

Okay, so we are off. The flight was abut 45 minutes late leaving Austin, and I am now in my third seat for this flight. It's a long story, and I'll give you more details later in this post. I did not walk again today, still trying to convalesce the knee, and maybe it is working, maybe it is not. As soon as I put on a pair of short pants, I will put the knee brace back on. I was up at four o'clock this morning, I just woke up, so I got up and kept packing and checking stuff off my list. I did make it to the ROMEO breakfast this morning, with Richard, Rick, Paul and Jimmie. This was Jimmie's first breakfast with us, and we hope he will keep joining us. When I got h9me, I finished packing, finished the instruction sheet for the house sitter, and watered all the plants outside. I finished everything with a couple hours to spare. The Uber was to pick me up at 1:30 and he was right on time. By Paulina's estimate, the Uber driver weighed in at 365 pounds, and the air conditioner in his car was not functioning. I was not impressed. We made it to the airport, and my friend Terry came to visit while we were eating a salad, and then we headed to our gate. When we started boarding, they paged me and Paulina...they upgraded Paulina to a higher economy class, and she wanted to give me her upgrade. I did not want her upgrade. Then when they scanned my boarding pass, they upgraded my seat assignment, too. Now we were both upgraded to a higher economy level, but not in the same row. I was in a row with no seat in front of me, meaning I had no place to put all my crap. THen after we got in the air, they asked me if I would change seats with the grand daughter of the lady I was sitting next to, and I said okay, fine. That explains the third seat change, and Paulina was asleep when I moved. She will be very surprised when she wakes up to find that I have transitioned into a 25 year old Indian woman. It's pretty amazing the service you get on British Air these days. More later, nine hours to our stop at Heathrow.

Volume 17 - Day 167/198, 2025 - Monday

Well, it wasn't a terrible Monday as far as Monday's go. I did not walk this morning, and my knee is doing better. I most likely won't walk tomorrow morning, either, I just don't want to aggravate it again while I am trying to get it to convalesce. I'm definitely not as young as I used to be. I had a meeting starting this morning at the Austin Board, so I got there at 7:45 for a meeting to start at 8:30. I just never know what traffic will be like, and I NEVER want to be late. The meeting went until about 1 o'clock or so, and I had one errand to get done on the way home, and I got home about 2:30. I got a few things done around the Curious House, and did sit in the big chair with the girls for a little while, and maybe I took a short nap. I can neither confirm nor deny. Tonight was book club night, and we met at Diane and Peter's new home in Santa Rita Ranch. The photo accompanying this journal entry was taken on their back patio, with a lovely view to the west. Very nice. We are taking a pass on book club for July, and we will meet again in August. The next book is I See You've Called in Dead, and it looks like it will be a fun read. I haven't decided if I will download a book before I leave tomorrow, maybe I will, maybe I won't, but I am pretty sure I won't be listening to any books until I get back from my vacay.

Volume 17 - Day 166/199, 2025 - Sunday

Again, no walk for me this morning, but the knee brace was delivered abut 6 o'clock this morning, and I have had it on most of the day. Not sure if it is helping or not, but it probably can't be making things any worse. I did manage to get a lot of things done today, the most significant of which was getting the laundry done. I also went to Target and got a few things, and I am kind of ready to get started packing. The Uber will be here on Tuesday at 1:30PM, and the flight leaves on Tuesday at 5:45PM. James and Kyung came over this afternoon, they are going to watch the girls for the first few days, and then a lady that Michael and Linda referred me to will be here the rest of the time. I am pretty much a technology Luddite, so Kyung got all my AirTags working, so I will be able to track anything and everything. I don't know if I told you the story of this fountain already or not, but I ordered it a couple weeks ago. It was delivered when I was in DC, and when I got home and started unpacking it, it was shattered in the box. I notified customer service, sent a picture, and they sent a new fountain. This one was delivered this morning, and it was in good condition, but now I don't know if I like the fountain or not. I think I may move it to the back deck, and put the one on the back deck on the front patio. Who knows? Maybe I just really don't like it...even though it does look like the photo that I ordered it from. Whatever!

Volume 17 - Day 165/200, 2025 - Saturday

Well, it was kind of another busy day, and I got a few things accomplished. My left knee is still bothering me, so I did not walk this morning. I am trying to get it back to normal, because I expect I will be doing quite a bit of walking in the coming weeks. I think when I finish this journal entry, I will order a knee brace from Amazon...IF I can get it delivered tomorrow. Otherwise, there is a trip to Walgreen's in my future. I had arranged with Richard to ask his tree guys to come and remove a limb off one of my Live Oaks in the front. They came, removed the limb, and I slept through the whole thing. We did not hit any estate sales today, everybody was busy doing other stuff. I did take a few things to the storage room, took some clothes back to Old Navy that I bought a couple weeks ago, and made a stop at Best Buy for some new Air Tags. The ones I have don't seem to be functioning as intended, so I get some new ones. Apparently, you can never have too many Air Tags. Tonight was also the second House Concert of the season, and that was nice. Folks came and went just as they should, and everyone had a good visit. I have some stuff on my plate for tomorrow, but it will all work out okay. One item is to get some laundry done. I did one load today, towels and stuff, tomorrow is clothes. I also got my book finished, so I am ready for book club on Monday night.

Volume 17 - Day 164/201, 2025 - Friday

Okay, it is Friday evening, past my bedtime, and today was one of those days when I over-scheduled myself. It all worked out, but it was close to cratering. For some reason, I am having some issues with my left knee, the bad knee, the knee that was operated on about 20 years ago, and when I came out of the surgery, the doctor said '...well, that didn't work.' But, I did the whole walk this morning with Richard and Paul. I was tempted to only do a half walk, but I did the whole thing, and I hope I did not outsmart myself. After the walk, I headed in to the office. I had an eleven o'clock zoom meeting, and I had a couple stops to make on the way in. I stopped at Upper Crust on Burnet Road for a couple cinnamon rolls to go. I will have one for breakfast tomorrow. Jody and I used to go to Upper Crust every Saturday and Sunday, and I have not had one of their cinnamon rolls in several years. Then I stopped at the pharmacy and picked up my monthly prescriptions. Then to the office, did the zoom, and then Carrie came in and trimmed my hair. Then I had a one o'clock appointment to donate platelets, and that was done by a little after three. I got home at five minutes til four, and a bunch of us were meeting at 4:20 to go to dinner and then go to a Round Rock Express game. We all had a good time, and at the bottom on the 8th inning, it started raining pretty well, so we left. The score when we left was 8 to 2, Round Rock's favor. So, we pretty much knew how the game would end, but who knows? It rained really hard while we were driving home, only to find that there was not one single drop of rain at the Curious House. I guess I will leave the sprinklers on. Good night! Oh yeah, and I made it on the big screen, not sure who I was supposed to be looking like, but it probably wasn't good. 

Volume 17 - Day 13/202, 2025 - Thursday

Well, we had a little bit of rain overnight, but it was disappointing for us around the Curious House. There were areas in central Texas that had some serious flooding, and tornados, but no injuries that I am aware of. It was still sprinkling this morning when we should have been walking, so there was no walk, either. The girls had appointments at the beautiful parlor this morning, so they are both all beautified. After dropping them off, I had an appointment in Austin, and I was back home by about two o'clock. I have another couple hours on the book I am reading, so I expect I will get it knocked out before book club on Monday. I have an eleven o'clock zoom call tomorrow, then I am giving platelets at 1PM. In between, I am getting my hair trimmed. Later tomorrow afternoon, a bunch of us are going to dinner and then to a Round Rock Express baseball game. It has been a while since I have been there, so it should be fun. Everything gets bunched up!

Volume 17 - Day 162/203, 2025 - Wednesday

Overnight, the rain and thunder woke me up on the hour, beginning at 3:08AM. We had a little over a half-inch in the gauge, and that was good. The same thing is supposed to happen overnight tonight, but we are expecting more than a half-inch of rain. The rain ended before our walk this morning, but I am not sure if we will walk tomorrow morning. I have been feeling kind of lethargic all day today, but it will pass. I ran some errands this morning, and then went to lunch with Jimmie and Linda. I am on a mission for soft food, and honestly, chewing is not an option right now. My next dental appointment, to get all the permanent stuff put in, is July 7th. I will be gumming my way through Europe! The sun finally came out late this afternoon, and that seems to be happening more and more. There were some attractive clouds this morning that I noted during our walk, but last night, there were too many clouds for me to see the full moon. I may try again later tonight, just for the heck of it.

Volume 17 - Day 161/204, 2025 - Tuesday

I really can't believe that I am saying this, but today was a GREAT day. We had some rain late morning, about a tenth of an inch, and we are supposed to get some more tonight. The rain did not hamper our walk this morning, and I had a nice o'clock zoom call so I did not make it to the ROMEO breakfast. The zoom call was great, too, and we got all our work done in 38 minutes. I pretty darn good use of our time. At 10:30, Richard came to the Curious House and took me to my dental appointment. At a little after 5 (I think) Linda and Jimmie picked me up, and brought me home. It was the big chair in the bedroom for me, along with two girl dogs. Rumor has it I was anesthetized for five hours, but I got five or six years worth of dental stuff done al at once, and I am proud of that. I am not at all fond of dentists, so it was worth it to me for this giany, lng appointment. I am now the proud wearer of a lot of temporary dental stuff, and I will get the permanent stuff after I get back from Europe in July. I am writing this while still significantly drugged up, but I am pretty sure you would not have known that if I hadn't told you. I hope the rain wakes me up tonight, I love night time rain and thunder. I also expect to participate in our walk in the morning, and I have four things on my chore list to get done tomorrow, too. Right nw, I think I will take the girls out, do a little self-medicating, have some ice cream, and call it a night. Thanks everyone, just remember, I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people in the world! I took the photo accompanying this journal entry this morning during ur walk. I think we all need to be reminded that even the simplest things are worth paying attention to. OHYES, go outside and look at the moon. It will be officially full at 3AM on Wednesday morning, but I think I will be asleep. I think the drugs are still affecting me, I will shut up now.

Volume 17 - Day 160/205, 2025 - Monday

Today has been a relatively busy day for a semi (mostly) retired person. I had stuff happening beginning at 10 o'clock this morning. Well, of course, that does not include our morning walk. The rain started about 3:30AM, and it actually work me up. We had 0.89" of rain in the gauge, and there is supposed to be more overnight. The radar looks like it may be raining while we are supposed to be walking, so that might make us forfeit the walk. A lot worse things could happen, that's for sure. The girls went to visit their new veterinarian this morning, and all that was okay, there is nothing pressing that needs to be done to either of them. Apparently they both have heart murmurs, though. I think the Piglet might be ten years old, and Callie might be nine years old. I have had them for eight years. Time flies. I am not going to go in to any details, but bureaucracy is a problem for me. I needed to have a paper signed by my doctor to go on my trip in November. We agreed I would be at his office between 12:30PM and 1:30PM. I was not allowed to see my doctor when I got there, one of the people at reception took the papers to him, and he signed them. Why could I not see my doctor when he was signing those papers? I have been going to the same doctor for about 30 years, and his new affiliation is not really working for me. On the other hand, I have no choice but to suck it up and play by their rules. I want a personal relationship with my medical professionals, and it is not possible anymore. Crap. New subject: The photo accompanying this journal entry was taken during our walk this morning, the clouds were really beautiful, and this was after the rain was over at the Curious House. If you zoom in, you will see our neighbor Josh walking two of his dogs...Gracie and Roo.

Volume 17 - Day 159/206, 2025 - Sunday

I know you are tired of hearing it, and I am already tired of talking about the heat and humidity. It was 75 degrees when I woke up this morning, and it was another glistening walk with Richard and Paul. When I got home, I went out and cut back the suckers from the Crepe Myrtle next to the driveway. I was done before 9 o'clock, and I am lucky that I can do a little bit at a time in the yard. We have good chances of rain three or four days this week, and it would be great if we could get several inches over a couple days. Starting tomorrow, we can run our sprinkler systems two days a week instead of one, but I think I will stay with the one day schedule for a while. By doing that, when they cut us back to one day a week later in the summer, I can feel righteous, and look down on others. Kind of like going to the post office. Whatever. Otherwise, I did little of anything most of the day, and went nowhere until about an hour ago when Jimmie and Linda and I went for ice cream. The shop we usually go to was closed, and that is not a good sign. We went to a place on the aquare in Georgetown, and I don't need to go back there any time soon. Oh, and my Meyer lemon has three lemons on it. It will be December before they are ready to harvest, but I can be patient. Maybe.

Volume 17 - Day 158/207, 2025 - Saturday

Well, this should come as no surprise to any of you, but it is hotter than Hell in central Texas. And it was only 94 degrees at the Curious House today. During our walk, we were all glistening (I don't perspire) before we were even half-way done. The sprinklers ran overnight, so watering plants was not an issue. I will need to water potted plants tomorrow, and some of them daily for the foreseeable future. After our walk, I had breakfast and took a quick snooze, and then Diane and I went to five estate sales. I bought one thing for $15 (25% off) and Diane bought a jigsaw puzzle. Not the greatest of all estate sales, but I really wasn't in the mood to buy stuff. There were lots of 'pretties,' but nothing really that I will be sorry for not having purchased. Jimmie and Linda and I went to Bon Aire in Austin for a late lunch/early dinner. I had a dozen peel 'em and eat 'em shrimp, and a pork kabob. Very good. My other neighbors Billy and Gena brought me a cinnamon roll after I got home on Thursday, and I still have about a third of it left. It was HUGE and really good. I expect it will be gone by this time tomorrow. 

Volume 17 - Day 157/208, 2025 - Friday

We are all getting back into our normal schedules, and the girls are doing a better job of it than I am. But, really, all they do is eat, sleep and go outside to pee. It's just a little bit more complicated for me. The day started out, as usual, with a walk; me, Richard, James and Paul. After the walk, I got a little bit motivated and went in to the office, just to make sure my desk was still there. It was. On the way, I stopped at What-A-Burger for some breakfast, because I need to have some food in me before I give platelets. (See two sentences ahead of this.) I had two biscuit sandwiches, but just are the egg and sausage, not the biscuits. Perfectly okay. After the visit, I headed to make my first platelet donation for the month, and today I did platelets and plasma. I'm happy about that. On the way home, I made a couple stops; one to Office Depot and one to HEB. The milk that was left in the refrigerator has an expiration date of June 3rd and June 4th. This is just the 6th, so those partial bottles are still perfectly good. Tomorrow morning should be a little bit busy. After the walk, there are six estate sales to hit, and nobody knows yet what I may find that I cannot live without. 

Volume 17 - Day 156/209, 2025 - Thursday

Okay, I made it home, and I am glad to be back at the Curious House. I hope the girls are glad, too, and I think they are. They are all settled in nicely, and we are all getting back in to our routines. I left the hotel this morning at about 9AM, and my flight was at 11:45. We made a stop in Atlanta, but did not have to change planes, and get to Austin about 30 minutes late. I stopped and picked up the girls, and talked for a while with Paulina, Val and Oliver. The girls had already been fed, so it was just getting back to the Curious House and unpacking a little bit and catching up on some stuff at the house. A little watering here and a little watering there. I had a fountain for the front patio delivered while I was gone, and I did not even get the whole thing unpacked (just a teeny bit unpacked) and discovered that the whole thing was in pieces...and not the pieces that fit together. So...there will be some disputing going on tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see how this works out. I am donating platelets tomorrow, and I need to go by the office first for a couple minutes. But everything is more or less under control...I'm just glad to have a couple girl dogs getting ready to sit in my lap while I turn on the tv. The photo accompanying this entry was at a rally we had in DC (same trip, different year) in 2012. One of my favorite photos. Enjoy!

Volume 17 - Day 155/210, 2025 - Wednesday

Okay, I'm done, all there is left to do is get some sleep, head to the airport tomorrow at about 9AM, get home about 3:45, pick up the girls at Paulina's and get home to the Curious house. Another busy day in DC and another year of Hill Visits is in the books. I went with Holly to see Dale compete in the 2025 Gay Olympics Swim Meet here, and he won a Gold Medal in the breast stroke. Feel free to correct me Holly and Dale if any of that is not accurate. After that, Holly and I went to the NAR Building for my annual Ass Pic, and then to lunch with Dale and Jonathan. After lunch, we went shopping at a nearby Pawn Shop[, and then it was back to the Hotel for me. Regional Caucuses were at 4, and we were done by 4:45. Not bad. Stopped at the bar for a Diet Pepsi, then off to dinner at 6:30 with Veronica, Brandy and Taylor. See photo. I have the alarm set on phone for early in the morning, and that is when I expect to pack. I am looking forward to getting back to the Curious House. 

Volume 17 - Day 154/211, 2025 - Tuesday

It was another busy day, and it started at some point, I really can't remember when the day started. I was busy most of the day, but I really can't remember what the hell I did all day long. Okay, for sure, I had lunch with a bunch of colleagues at Old Ebbit, and during that lunch, I participated in a zoom call. After lunch, I went to one of my favorite retailers, only to find out they were closed up and the place was empty. That business was open for over a hundred years. Tragedy. After that, I went back to the hotel. I took a cab, because the Uber driver could not find me, and I got charged $5 for that. I hung out with some colleagues at the hotel, then went to a reception for a while, then back to the lobby bar. Back in the room, I ordered room service, and got the cheapest meal ever from room service. So, all in all a good day. The taxi was cheaper than Uber, the room service was cheaper than going to a restaurant, and the retail place was closed, so I save a shit load of money because of that. Tomorrow, I am going with Holly to watch a friend swim in the Gay Olympics being held here. I expect I will take a few photos during that event, and if you are nice, I might share.

Volume 17 - Day 153/212, 2025 - Monday

It seems like I've been here a lto longer than a little over 24 hours. Today was a pretty quiet day, Opening Session, a couple other interesting sessions, and saying hello to friends from across the country that I don't see often enough. At about 5:30, I attended the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and it was fun. There was a piece of tape on the carpet with my name on it, my 'mark.' That may be the first time I had my name in tape stuck to the floor of anywhere. After that, I was invited to a nice dinner, there are nothing but nice dinners in DC. There was a fire at the Westin across the street this afternoon, on the fifth and sixth floors, and the place was evacuated. I know a couple people who were staying on the fourth floor, but don't know if they are still there or not. Tomorrow, I am planning to go to the NAR Building, then lunch, and then maybe a little shopping at Fahrney's. You never know. No telling what might be on the schedule tomorrow night. 

Volume 17 - Day 162/213, 2025 - Sunday

Okay, it is officially the first day of June, and we are almost half-way through this year already. THe train got in to DC a few minutes early, just before 1PM. I had a good breakfast on the way, and got an Uber to the hotel. I got checked in, and met Melinda and Nancy, and it was pretty much a family reunion. I got back to my room and took a little bit of a nap, before I went to a reception at 5:30, and I did not stay long, just long enough to say hi to a bunch of friends, and then I wlaked back to the hotel. From the hotel to the reception was not far, supposedly just a 12 minute walk. Well, on the way there, I got a little confused, but finally found it, I just went a couple blocks out of the way. The same thing thing happened on the way back to the hotel, nothing terrible. I met Melinda, Nancy, Tobetha and Ben for dinner, and we all had a great time. My first meeting in the morning is at 8:30, and it is definitely time for me to get some sleep. The weather is great here, low 70s during the day and cooler at night. Not sure what it will be like the rest of the week. 

Volume 17 - Day 151/214, 2025 - Saturday

Well, I have done my best to replicate the John Candy role in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but not necessarily in that order. Mine was Automobiles, Planes and Trains. I was up this morning at about my usual time, gort some stuff packed and headed to the airport at about 9 o'clock. I had a flight to Chicago at 11:40, and everything went according to plan. I got to Chicago, and got an Uber to take me to Union Station, where my train left at 6:40. I had intended to take the train from Austin to Washington, DC, but there are track repairs being made between Chicago and Austin, so I am doing this the hard way. This is my annual visit to DC for Legislative meetings, and meeting with our elected officials. I will be back in Austin on Thursday. So far, we have made stops in South Bend, Elkhart, and the next one is Waterloo, Indiana. Did you know that Austin was originally called Waterloo? Well, now you do. Dinner was at 7, I sat with three other people, had a nice conversation, and the first glass of wine I have had in several years. Not sure how many. I get to DC tomorrow at 1PM EDT, and so far, so good. Not being in a hurry is not a bad thing.

Volume 17 - Day 150/215, 2025 - Friday

It was a good morning for a walk, so I did. The storm hit the Curious House about 4 o'clock this morning, and we had just over an inch of rain. We will take it, no questions asked. The rain had stopped by the time we walked, so that was no problem. If you are wondering what the results were from my three appointments yesterday, here it is...'Great news your stress test is normal.' I interpret that to mean that the results from my test was normal, not that it was a normal test. Whatever. After the walk was over, I did a couple loads of laundry, and the third load is in the washer as I write this. The girls also got their monthly pill today, and I went to refill their monthly pill at the new vet, but they won't fill the prescription until they have actually seen the girls, so that is on the calendar for June 9th. I did a couple this-and-that kinds of things around the Curious House, and I got to my 2 o'clock eye doctor appointment at about 1 o'clock. I always think that if I get there early, they may take me early. And they did, I was walking out shortly after 2PM. They dilated my eyes, and this photo was taken four hours after, and they are still dilated. Those pupils remind me of my life in the '70s. 

Volume 17 - Day 149/216, 2025 - Thursday

There was no real storm here at the Curious House last night, we did get about a quarter-inch of rain, and no damage. Austin was not that lucky; there was lots of flooding (central Texas is flash-flood prone), one person died, and there are still thousands of people with no electricity. We should have some more rain overnight, possibility of strong storms, so I will just wait and see. If it happens, it will be after midnight. Local radar says the Curious House will be in the storms about 1AM until about 3AM or 4AM. I am not going to complain about rain, so long as there is no devastating damage. I did not walk this morning, since I had three doctors appointments beginning at 8AM. More IVs, this time with radioactive tracers used to evaluate heart function and blood flow. I don't just know that, I looked it up on Google. I am making the assumption that there is no immediate cause for concern, or the would have kept me. Basically, they said someone would call me, but they didn't say who or when. I actually think I will see the results on my 'patient portal.' UGH! Tonight was the neighborhood dinner, and there were sixteen of us, so that was a good crowd. This month, it was Italian, and mine was yummy. Not sure what it was, because I did not get what I ordered, but I did not want to wait for them to make what I ordered. I am just considering it to be the 'pasta surprise,' and that is okay with me. I'll let you know tomorrow if we get any rain!

Volume 17 - Day 148/217, 2025 - Wednesday

I'm not sure if it is going to rain more tonight or not. The radar on my phone says yes, but the sun is shining right bow, and we did get a little rain. South of the Curious House, there were some bad storms and some generously proportioned hail. We seem to be lucky to have missed it. There was no walk this morning, it was raining a little bit and lightning, two of our conditions for not walking. I did not go anywhere today, just stayed in the house with the girls. I did take a few phone calls and do a few volunteer things, but stayed in mostly. Tomorrow I have three doctors appointments, all in a row, starting at 8AM, so there will be no walking for me tomorrow. I am hoping to be home by about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, we shall see. I moved all the plants in the front and the back so they would not be harmed if we did get a storm, so I think that is why we missed to worst of it. We were prepared! I'll let you know tomorrow how the appointments went.

Volume 17 - Day 147/218, 2025 - Monday

Just to bring you up to speed on the storms last night, nothing terrible happened here at the Curious House, but we did get almost an inch (0.99") of rain, and there might be some more overnight tonight. Fingers crossed! Just before the rains hit (and they hit pretty hard), my neighbor Billy brought over a couple slices of home made pizza and some fresh baked cookies. Gina cook, maybe every night, and I am the occasional recipient of her finished products. Yummy! We walked this morning, and it was cooler than usual, and the humidity was not as bad. I think it was actually in the 60s this morning. The Austin high temperature today was 93 degrees, and the highest I noted at the Curious House was 86 degrees. That is a nice change. On our morning walks, we have passed this pile of crap (see photo), on a dead-end part of a street, for the last five or six days. After brunch on Sunday, I checked it out, and there was some good stuff there, and I had my eye on some bricks. This morning, while we were walking, I asked one of the neighbors if he knew who had put it there, and he didn't know. After our ROMEO breakfast, I stopped at another neighbors, next to the pile of crap, and she said they were in the middle of a project, that she didn't know what the vendor left that stuff there, and she didn't know when the work would be done or when the stuff would be moved. Dang it! No bricks for me. Oh, and the Total Stranger Tuesday postings are done, I just think it is more trouble than it is worth, and today it was not fun trying to do it. Rest in Peace! I also took the Buzz to the local VW dealer with no appointment, because the tire air pressure light would not reset, even after I had the tire pressures checked. I nice service lady named Sam showed me how to reset it, and everything is fine right now. There are two recalls on the Buzz, but I will be notified when it is my turn to take it in to be fixed.

Volume 17 - Day 146/219, 2025 - Monday...Memorial Day, 2025

I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day, and took at least a minute or two to acknowledge why we are celebrating. We started the day with a walk, and it was HOT and HUMID. It was cloudy, no sun for most of the day, but it was HOT and it was HUMID. After the walk and after feeding the girls, I did a little rearranging on the front patio. I am now on a quest for a new water feature for the front patio, but not sure where I am going to find something I like. I considered going to Home Depot and/or At Home to look, but I decided against it. I also decided against going to Old Navy, but there is always tomorrow. Tomorrow I will actually go somewhere, first to the ROMEO breakfast, then a doctors appointment in the early afternoon. That will be the first of FIVE doctors appointments this week. Crazy! It looks like we will have some storms this evening, we were supposed to get rain most of the day, but everything fizzled out. It looks like this will actually happen, and our main concerns are hail, winds and flooding. West of us there are tornado warnings, but so far we are not included in that. We shall see. Right now, we are enjoying rain cooled temperatures, it is only 82 degrees, and breezy. So far, so good. 

Volume 17 - Day 145/220, 2025 - Sunday

It was a good walk this morning, and after that I went to brunch with Alisha. I had considered going to Old Navy, but there is always tomorrow. I did do some touch-up painting on the fence...the guys that built the stone wall around the back flower bed got some concrete and grout on the fence, but you can't tell where that was now. I have been meaning to do that for the past couple weeks, and it is done now. I also got all the algae off the two water bowls in the back yard, so they look like someone (besides the birds and the other thirsty fauna) is paying attention. I guess doing that once or twice a season is not too bad. There is nothing on the schedule for tomorrow, but I may actually get out of the Curious House at some point, other than to take my morning walk. I may not actually do a walk in the morning, there is a pretty good chance that it will be raining in the mornings for the next couple days. I will gladly sacrifice the walking if we can get some rain. I was two days ago old when I realized that hostas bloomed. I don't know why I was not aware of it, but I never thought about it until one of the hostas on the front porch started blooming. Kind of pretty, too, in a hosta kind of way. I am also in the market for a water feature for the front porch. I would need to do a little bit of rearranging, but that should not be too big of a deal. Please feel free to cross your fingers that we get some rain at the Curious House in the next couple days!

Volume 17 - Day 144/221, 2025 - Saturday

Of course the day started off with a nice walk. James walked with us, and there is a portion of the walk that I walk backwards (up a hill) and it works a whole different set of leg muscles. That was a James idea, but it is kind of an interesting thing to do, and I do think it works different muscles. Whatever. After the walk, the girls and I had breakfast, and then we (me, Judy, Marge Paulina, Val and Krisa), went to estate sales. There were only two sales, and today was the last day for both sales, which meant everything was half-price. I bought one small little painting for $9, and that was it. After the estate sales, I did little of anything until ti was time to get ready for the first house concert of the 2025 season. It is interesting that this is the fifth year of house concerts, and I enjoy doing them. I'm pretty sure, too, that everyone has a good time when they are here. It was really hot, but there was a nice little breeze, and there was nice shade, so it could have been worse. Brunch tomorrow will be at 9:30 at the Original Pancake house, one of my favorite brunch spots. After brunch, I have nothing else on my list, so it seems like it will be a pretty calm day. I do (kind of) want to go to Old Navy and see if they have some stretchy pants. Don't ask.