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.