Volume 18 - Day 14/351, 2026 - Wednesday

Today was a good day, not quite as cool as the last day or so, and it all started with a good walk. I had a couple zoom meetings today, and one of the things that I accomplished was that I got some tickets to the Savannah Bananas World Tour game that will be in Round Rock in March. If you never heard of the Savannah Bananas, check with Mrs. Google. It should be fun, and if it isn't, I expect I can make it fun. I did a little bit of real estate stuff too, so that was fun. Tonight was also the neighbors dinner night, and there were 13 of us in attendance. Richard was in charge, and it was great and lots of laughs and good times with our neighbors. Of course, I forgot to get a photo, so instead, I am including a photo of cattle at the Estate on the Edge of Nowhere. I guess this was taken about 15 years ago, not sure. 

Volume 18 - Day 13/352, 2026 - Tuesday

Well, Paul walked out of his house this morning and was greeted by three drops of rain, so we didn't walk. None of us really objected, and we did all meet (including Rick) for the ROMEO breakfast. I did get some office work done for a couple transactions I an working on, and then late afternoon, I went to dinner with Jimmie and Linda. The sun did break through the clouds this afternoon, and that is a happy thing. I did put the plants from the back patio back outside, but I left the ones in the garage inside. I think we may have some threats of freezing temperatures in the next several days, but it does not take too long to move the plants around...I have it down to an art. I have three appointments tomorrow, two of them are zoom meetings, so that will take up some time. The feeder that Jimmie gave me seems to be a big hit with the Lesser Finches, and they are really pretty little birds. I like seeing them, and I think they appreciate the feeder.

Volume 18 - Day 12/353, 2026 - Monday

I did have a little time for myself today, but not a lot. It was chilly (cold) again this morning, but it was all okay, we all have warm clothes that don't see much action here in central Texas. At least we know we have it in case we need it. I do, however, prefer the heat of central Texas to the cold of central Texas. After the walk, I got ready for a lunch meeting, and then I had an appointment in Walburg. I went back roads to Walburg, and there is plenty of development going on out there, it seems to be a busy place! On the way home, I stopped at HEB for just a few things, and then after that, the critter people came to check the traps, and apparently there was one critter in a trap in the attic. They will come back again on Wednesday to check traps, and if all is good, they will remove all the insulation in the attic, clean the attic, apply some kind of something (the girls and I will need to leave for an hour), and then replace all the insulation. I hope that will take care of that challenge. Gina, the mean woman that she is, brought me a cookies and cream milk shake late this afternoon, and that is what I had for dinner! Other than the ROMEO breakfast, there is nothing else on the calendar for tomorrow, but I expect I will fill the time.

Volume 18 - Day 11/354, 2026 - Sunday

This is something I bought at one of the estate sales yesterday. $5. It reminds me of a similar piece that Jody had, and it is in my bathroom now. This one will join it soon! It was probably the coldest morning of the season, and I am positive it was the coldest day of the year when we started our walk this morning. 34 degrees this morning and we expect it to be a little bit warmer tomorrow morning. I met Val and Paulina and Oliver for brunch this morning, and a little while after that I went and helped (not really) Maggie with an Open House. Actually, all I did was sit and talk to Maggie, and then I left and showed another house in Georgetown. Val and Paulina came over for a little while this afternoon, and we just did a little of this and that, nothing of any consequence. Tomorrow I am having lunch with a friend, and then I have an appointment in Walburg. SO...let none of us forget, I am a very lucky man!

Volume 18 - Day 10/355, 2026 - Saturday

It is cooling off in central Texas. I think it was in the 40s when we walked this morning, and I think it got up to the middle 50s. That is a little bit different the the last couple weeks, and I also think that it will warm up better in the next week or so. This is our version of winter. The next ten days will have temperatures in the lower 30s, and highs in the upper sixties. One day in the next ten shows a 14% chance of rain, which is Texas-Speak for 'it's not going to rain!' I have taken the precaution of bring plants in and sheltering them, and I have a sheet covering the big planter of impatiens, and a heat lamp under it. It will be okay. We made it to four estate sales this morning, and I spent about $30, and I think everyone bought something. Later in the afternoon, I showed properties in Bastrop, and had a blast, and there was also pizza involved. What could be better than showing houses and having some pizza? I have brunch on the schedule tomorrow with Paulina, Val, and Oliver, and then not sure what I will do the rest of the day. Maybe a movie or maybe just a series of naps. It will be a good day! I did make it home in time to document the really pretty sunset. I like it!

Volume 18 - Day 9/356, 2026 - Friday

This was a pretty busy day, and of course, it started with a walk; me, Paul and Richard. I told them I was only going to do a half-walk, but I did the whole thing, no issues. After the walk, I was able to get a little bit of work done, before I headed out to pick up Paulina and we headed in to Austin to donate platelets. As it turned out, Paulina's iron level was 0.01 point below acceptable levels, so she was rejected. I was rejected once, and that is absolutely a killer! I know they have their standards, but if you give blood or platelets or plasma, you know it is something you want to do, and it is tough to be told you don't qualify. Now I take an iron supplement, eat more red meat, spinach, kiwi and stuff like that, just to help my levels. Paulina was probably low because of her recent travels, and she flew over ten hours yesterday, so that could have effected it. After I got home, I showed a couple properties for lease, and I will be showing more tomorrow. This evening, the Water Oak Cruisers (WOC) met at Gina and Billy's house, just to talk about our cruise in February, and to basically laugh a lot and joke around. It is going to be a great cruise, and it is really nice to have great neighbors here, close to the Curious House.

Volume 18 - Day 8/357, 2026 - Thursday

Today seemed to be a really long day, even though we did not walk this morning. The critter person got here at about 8 o'clock, and the process of sealing entry points and getting rid of the vermin in the attic has begun. Mice and rats prefer to be referred to as 'vermin,' so I can respect that. I had an appointment in Austin at 9:30, and I got home from that at about noon. I was off at about 1 to retrieve Oliver and Paulina from the airport, they were on separate flights, and I got home just a little bit after 7. At my advanced age, that qualifies as a busy day! I just checked my calendar, and the only thing I have on the schedule tomorrow is to donate some platelets. I always enjoy doing that! Now, the good news is, everybody is home and getting back in to the swing of things! YAY!

Volume 18 - Day 7/358, 2025 - Wednesday

I did most of the walk this morning, but not all of it. I had a couple zoom meetings this morning, the ten o'clock meeting did not take as long as I was expecting, and the 11 o'clock zoom meeting was about as I expected. Good stuff done in both meetings. It was another beautiful day in central Texas, and I hardly went outside the Curious House all day long. I did go and check the mail, and took the girls outside a few times, but that was about it. Tomorrow, I have an early appointment at the Curious House, then I have a meeting at the Board, and then I will be going to retrieve Oliver and Paulina from the airport. They are arriving on different flights, but within a couple hours of each other. Depending on how long the meeting at the Board lasts, I may go back to the Curious House between errands. It was another record setting warm day here, and overnight it is expected to be a record setting high low temperature. Does that make sense to you? I can mansplain it for you, give me a call! The last peach tree I planted in the backyard is full of blossoms, and I hope freezing weather that we are certain to have before this season is over, does not kill it off. 

Volume 18 - Day 6/359, 2026 - Tuesday

It was a beautiful day in central Texas, and it was kind of busy for me. We walked, and then Rick, Richard, Paul and I met at Monument Cafe for our first ROMEO breakfast of the year. I had a couple 10 o'clock appointments at the Curious House, so I cut my visit with the other ROMEO's a little bit short. I reported a few days ago that there were vermin in the attic, and the remediation for that may start on Monday, I approved the work. I am doing a little extra, which is removing all the insulation in the attic, cleaning and treating with a chemical (I don't remember the name), and then replacing all the insulation with new insulation. It is not surprising, and you all probably realize it if you think about it, but the vermin like to 'burrow' into the insulation, so I think replacing all that, AFTER all the entry points are closed, is the right thing to do. For me, anyway. The other person I met is a painter that will give me a bid for painting the back fence, all the underpinning, and going around the house to make sure all the caulking is in good shape. I know there is caulking here and there that is failing, so I will get that fixed. I like to do stuff right one time, instead of doing things wrong two or three times. Maybe that is just me. One thing I learned today about peeling kiwi fruit, you have to let the kiwi know who is boss. Take no hostages. Peel 'em like you mean it! 

Volume 18 - Day 5/360, 2025 - Monday

Not a bad day if I do say so myself. We had a nice walk this morning, it was a bit warmer, and it is supposed to be warmer yet tomorrow, and then another 'cold' front over the weekend. I spent a good bit of the day making appointments for tomorrow; one with the critter people to give me a bid for ridding the attic of 'critters,' and one with a painter to come out and give me a bid for painting the fence and the underpinning. Tomorrow, after the walk, we will have the first ROMEO dinner of this year, and that is always fun. I am doing my best to eat some kiwi every day to help build up platelets. I bought some kiwi, and was not happy with the way I was getting the fruit out of it. Gina brought me some kiwi that she peeled, and they were lovely. Apparently, the trick to peeling them is to use a potato peeler. Okay, I think that is a good idea, but...after looking everywhere I could think to look, I could not find a potato peeler. I know there has to have been two or three potato peelers, but I could not find one. HEB to the rescue, and now I have the peeler, I will let you know if it works in the next day or two.

Volume 18 - Day 4/361, 2026 - Sunday

As I expected, the temperature for our walk this morning was much cooler than the temperature yesterday morning. I think it was 49 degrees, and for sure it was sweat pants and jacket weather. I just looked at the forecast, and it is expected to be cooler tomorrow, and by Wednesday, the high temperature will be close to 80 degrees again. After breakfast, I took a quick nap, and my plan was to go to Costco to get Val a welcome home apple pie. No apple pies at Costco. How can that be? I asked when they expected to get more in, and they said July. July 4th to be exact. That does not make any sense to me at all. Are apple pies some kind of seasonal thing? HEB has apple pies all the time, they are just more obscene at Costco than they are at HEB. Whatever. I did stop at HEB and got an apple pie from them Gina was with me, so when we got home, I separated the muffins I like (they come 8 in a package, and I give half of them to Gina and Billy), and took them over to them. I came home with ribs, barbecue sauce, black eyed peas and chocolate cake with strawberry frosting. I am set for a while. I was about four minutes late retrieving Val from the airport, but after his (over) eleven hour flight, I don't think he really noticed. Apparently, I am becoming known for having a 'fetish' for Frida. There are lots of other fetishes I would not be particularly ashamed of, but I guess Frida is an okay place to start. I do admire works by and/or about Frida, and I have a few. That is likely a 'few' more than most people have, so there! Anyway, when I got Val home, he gave me a box of Lindt chocolates that he brought back from Europe, and it is decorated with a drawing of Frida. I love it!

Volume 18 - Day 3/362, 2025 - Saturday

I did little of anything today, but at the same time, I did get a few things accomplished. I had a nice walk this morning with Paul and Richard. It was (as I recall) about 59 degrees, maybe cooler, but it was warm enough for just shorts and a t-shirt. I don't think that will hold until tomorrow though, I expect it will be sweatshirt weather in the morning. Next was breakfast and news and naps, and then I got up and made a trip to the office supply store, the bank and HEB. I did not give the girls their monthly pill on the first, because I was not here, so I did it today. I was out of the little red cheeses that I wrap their pills in, so that was the reason for the stop at HEB. I watered plants, front and back, and my chore list is cleared for the foreseeable future. Tomorrow I intend to go up in the attic and see if I can find a dead something up there. I brought some incense and a couple incense burners back from Playa, and I burned one stick this afternoon. It is really strong stuff and the whole house now reeks of myrrh. Reeks is probably not the correct describer, but believe me, it was a strong stick of incense. I am going to pick up Val at the airport tomorrow afternoon at the airport. He is flying in from Berlin, a direct eleven-and-a-half-hour flight. I hope he gets some sleep. I will pick Oliver up on Thursday, same flight. 

Volume 18 - Day 2/363, 2025 - Friday

I made it home from Playa this morning, and I went down for several naps. I was up early, about 3AM, to make sure I got on my transport at 5AM. I didn't need to be up at 3AM, but I could not sleep, so I just got up. I was through security and customs and got to my gate at about 6AM for the 8:30 flight, so I certainly had plenty of time. It was kind of shocking to walk in the front door of the Curious House, because the condo is really very minimalist, and the Curious House is exactly the opposite of that. But it is all good. I got all the plants back outside, not mention of freezing weather for the foreseeable future, did a few other chores, made a trip to the Post Office, and HEB, and I am ready to settle in with the girls and some grapes. THe photo accompanying this journal entry is twelve grapes. As I mentioned yesterday, the Mexican tradition to see in the New Year is to eat grapes. Kyung picked me up at the airport, and the tradition is to actually eat 12 grapes under the table, all at once. Crawl under the table, put twelve grapes in your mouth at exactly midnight on the first day of the year, and you will have good luck. I missed that opportunity, but I am going to do it anyway, I figure it can't hurt. If I go missing, look under the table and see if I choked on grapes.

Volume 18 - Day 1/364, 2026 - Thursday

Did you see what I did there? Did you catch it? Volume 18. Starting the 18th year of this journal, which started out as 365DaysOfBill, and I am still doing it. Mike and I remained conscious last night until midnight, and we walked out on the balcony to just listen to all the revelry. It was great. Today, Simona told us the firework show at Mamita Beach was great, but we missed it. Oh well, there's always next year. We went to the grocery and got some pork for the black eyed peas, and some other stuff for dinner. My friends Steve and Sylvia got back to Playa a couple days ago, they live here part time and part time in Austin, so we invited them for dinner, and it was great. Black eyed peas, collard greens and some pork stuff. Also grapes. In Mexico, they welcome the new year with grapes, so we gave extra time to the grapes. As they were leaving, we walked out into the courtyard to take the ussie that is accompanying this entry, and we saw a couple Capybaras. Maybe we saw only one...not sure, but it (they?) were small. I also saw the raccoon at the waterfall the other evening, too. SO...everything is basically on auto-pilot for me to get back to Texas tomorrow. The transport will be here to pick me up at 5AM, and it will be good to be home, but I am still fond of Playa, and looking forward to being back two or three more times in 2026. I have thanksgiving and New Year's blocked, and maybe a couple more times. I am a lucky man!