Volume 18 - Day 226/139, 2026 - Friday

Inside this blue bundle awaits the miracle injection(s) I have been waiting for for a while. GenVisc (Sodium Hyaluronate 25 mg) 850. Five injection regimen. I was expecting one shot and done, and I was surprised when the doctor told me 'the insurance company said you need five injections.' I am surprised that the insurance company knows anything about what I need, but who am I to question the medical/insurance professions. Not like I have been trying to get these injections for a while now, so I am not going to protest anything. So, right now I have a bit of pain in my knee, but it is a different pain than what I ws experiencing this morning. That might go away tomorrow, fingers crossed. SO...my appointment for the shot was at 10:20 this morning, and it is/was forty miles from the Curious House. I made it with no real issues, and I left that office at about 10:45. I had a one o'clock appointment by Mansfield Dam (Lake Travis), so I stalled, and drove up and down 620 for about an hour-and-a-half. I got to the appointment at about 12:35, and the client was up at the road, so there was no way for me to hide. It all worked out, and that appointment lasted a couple house, and I got back to the Curious House  little after four o'clock this afternoon. I went to dinner with Jimmie and Linda, and when I got home, Paulina came over to chat for just a few minutes. I will be heading to the bedroom to pile up in the big chair with two small dogs in just about ten minutes. I am ready to call this day finished. 

Volume 18 - Day 225/140, 2026 - Thursday

The photo accompanying this entry is (possibly) what it looks like to be kind of bored at a neighborhood HOA meeting. There are 441 (some say 440) homes in our subdivision, and owners of twelve homes were represented at the meeting, not including the two Board members in attendance. Whatever. I said what I said, and did not insult anyone in the process. I must be losing my touch. Whatever (again). Today was a platelet day, and Marian and I went to donate, and walked out of the blood bank with a pint of Blue Bell ice cream. I chose Black Raspberry Fudge flavor, and I had never seen that flavor before, but I am told it is really good. I will let you know. Donating platelets is something I really like to do, so I get to visit with all those folks every two weeks or so. I get to trade interesting book reviews with Kristen at the front desk, and she and I like the same kinds of books. I have two appointments tomorrow, the first one at 10:20 in the morning, to hopefully get a shot in my knee, and the other one around Mansfield Dam at 1PM. I am going to need something to do between appointments, but I will figure something out. 

Volume 18 - Day 224/141, 2026 - Wednesday

Oh well, I tried to put these photos next to each other, but apparently I am not smart enough to do that. Thirteen years ago today, Joel W Rudd and I were officially married by a Republican Justice of the Peace in Glastonbury, Connecticut. I think these photos were taken the evening before, but I am not sure. We were at the Bed & Breakfast where we stayed, and we were all having a wonderful time. This is not all the friends we were surrounded by, but it is a good representation. Melody worked very hard to put this on for us, especially since it was just a few days after her birthday. I am a very lucky man! I had a quick zoom meeting this morning, and then I went to the VW collision place to have the badge replaced on the back hatch of the Buzz. It was touch-and-go as to whether they were going to break this one, but they were careful, and there is no longer a hole in the back of the Buzz. Tomorrow will be a platelet day, Marian and I will be going, and of course we will be making a stop at Upper Crust, just to make sure we are not deprived of anything we might find there. And tomorrow evening, there is a Board of Directors meeting of the HOA, and that will be interesting. I am looking very forward to attending that meeting. YIPPEE!

Volume 18 - Day 223/142, 2026 - Tuesday

OMG, I am a tired old man right now. Well, I forgot to self-medicate last night, and I didn't realize that until it was too late. I slept very poorly, although I know I slept a little bit. I got out of bed at five, and I already knew I was not walking this morning or going to the ROMEO breakfast. I had an appointment in Austin at 8:15 this morning, and I got home from that appointment at about 2 o'clock this afternoon. The good part is, we got our work done in the meeting, and I believe we did some really good work. I have a zoom meeting tomorrow at 11AM, and that is very civilized! The girls were a little bit confused this morning, because my schedule changes affected them as well. But, it is all done now, and life as we know it at the Curious House will get back to normal in the next several hours. Paulina and Oliver are back from Las Cruces, and they came over and visited for a little while. I think they too are tired, it's a long drive back to Georgetown. All is good. I left the Curious House this morning at 7AM, since you never know what traffic will be like at any time of the day. The clouds were really interesting, so I thought I would share it with you.

Volume 18 - Day 222/143, 2026 - Monday

In the very early evenings of the last several days, I have had notifications on my phone: Lightning has been detected in your area. No. It hasn't. Not in my area, although I am not sure how they define 'my area.' But also, if there is lightning, you would think there would be a drop or two of rain. Nope. Just really warm (hot) days and really high humidity. Ugh. I will continue to complain about this for another seven or eight weeks, so just sit down and be quiet. Today is Melody's birthday and it was fun to talk briefly with her and Bruce. I think they are all heading out for dinner later tonight. Melody is who planned Jody's and my wedding back in 2013. I went in to Austin this afternoon and had a late lunch with Jetta and Julie, always a lot of fun, we talked and trashed people, and laughed and had a good time. There was not much else that needed to be done after lunch, but I did break down and made a stop at HEB. I filled the little white car up with gas, and bought a few things inside the grocery. I expect I will make another stop at HEB later this week, since I am kind of close to running out of ice cream, and if you know me, you know I cannot let that happen! No walk or ROMEO breakfast for me tomorrow, I have an early appointment in Austin tomorrow, so I will be leaving the Curious House at about 7 or 7:15 in the morning.

Volume 18 - Day 221/144, 2026 - Sunday

My friend Deb is visiting from Vancouver, WA...okay, she WAS visiting...she got here on Friday evening and right now she is on a plane heading home...but that is just a detail. I'll start over...my friend Deb was visiting from Vancouver, WA, and she had lunch with another couple friends in the neighborhood, Mike and Judy. I was asked to attend and I did, and it was a LOT of fun. We laughed and talked and caught up with lots of stuff, and the lunch was delicious. After lunch, I had planned to go to Target and HEB. On the way to Target, I talked myself in and out of going to either one of them at least four times, and Target is not that far from the Curious House. I did make it to Target, but I decided I could go to HEB tomorrow or the next day. We shall see. Otherwise, it was a very nice Sunday that was unhurried and untroubled. During my visit with Deb, Mike and Judy, I discovered my next book (before I start the September book club book); The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett that also wrote The Help. Deb said she laughed out loud a lot while reading the book, and that is what I am looking forward to. However...it is a 29 hour listen on Audible, so I expect I need to start listening pretty quickly. Tomorrow I am having lunch with Jetta and Julie, and on Tuesday, I have an early morning meeting in Austin. That is as far as I have looked on my calendar, and...there is always tomorrow. Or Tuesday! The photo is me, Deb, Judy and Mike.

Volume 18 - Day 220/145, 2026 - Saturday

Well, there was no need for me to chop and pull the morning glory vines out of the trees behind the rock wall today. Oliver, 19 year old monkey person that he is, climbed up the wall (no ladder needed) and cut the vines and pulled them out of the tree. This is an annual chore, and I appreciate Oliver doing it. He said he was helping, but he did it all, I did nothing but watch. There were five estate sales for me, Judy, Marian and Diane to visit this morning. I spent about $35 on stuff that I really needed, and I think Val and I will go to a couple tomorrow. Paulina and Oliver are in Las Cruces right now, so Val and I went to Taylor and had catfish for dinner at Lucky Duck's. I have been having a craving, and that is taken care of for a month or two now. The most recent lawn folks cut the grass today, and so far, so good. It is not easy to find good grass cutters these days; first world problems. I am getting itchy to get on a train, so I think, if all goes well with the knee injection next week, I may plan something. I am thinking a seven day trip, maybe. I will have to see what I can come up with.

Volume 18 - Day 219/146, 2026 - Friday

Well, that was disappointing. I made an appointment with a pain relief doctor, hoping to get a viscosupplementation injection in my knee, but NO! They have to submit it to my insurance companies (Medicare is one) to approve the fee. The office for this pain group is $) miles from the Curious House, one way. I feel like I have been driving for most of the day. I am not in constant pain, I just want to have the gel injection to SEE if it will lessen the bone-on-bone challenge I am experiencing. The steroid shots worked the first time, but after that, nothing. I was prescribed a pain drug, which I do not expect to use, I don't want to use, but I guess they know better than me. Whatever. The pills are in my medicine cabinet if you want them. Other than that...Oliver brought me a burrito (I think) that was really good, he is quite accomplished at burrito making! I did a few things around the Curious House, and there are five estate sales tomorrow, that will be fun! Me and the girls (real girls!). I also expect that I will go chop down some morning glory vines that are growing up in one of the trees on the other side of the rock wall. I do that every year, nothing terrible. I have no idea what the police, fire and ambulance was doing on 38th Street this afternoon, but that is not unusual, either. Always something going on that I can't figure out.

Volume 18 - Day 218/147, 2026 - Thursday

The photo accompanying this entry showed up on my phone the other day, and it reminds me of just another day at the farm. Every now and then, a snake, I think this is just a rat snake, would show up in the chicken coop, and I would need to relocate it. Relocation meant either taking it across the road or putting it in a drainage ditch across and down the road. Only one time did I kill a snake, because it ate one of the nest eggs. The fact that it had swallowed the nest egg meant it was going to die anyway, and I wanted my nest egg back. Enough of that. I took the girls to the beautiful parlor this morning, and they were ready to be picked up about three hours later. In the mean time, I did a few things around the Curious House, nothing of any real consequence. In late morning, Oliver asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him, and so we did. We went to Gold's Burger in Georgetown, and I had liver and onions. As I recall, that is about the only place I go that offers liver and onions, so I was happy with that. My doctor appointment tomorrow is 40 miles away from the Curious House, so I am planning on it taking me at least an hour-and-fifteen-minutes to get there. The appointment is at 12:45, maybe 1, and the pre-appointment paperwork took me 30 minutes to complete this morning. Unbelievable. We shall see if I get a gel injection in my knee that will take the discomfort away. Fingers crossed. 

Volume 18 - Day 217/148, 2026 - Wednesday

The fact that the 'normal' traffic lanes are moving more quickly than the toll lanes is not an uncommon happening in central Texas. I took a photo of the stopped traffic in the toll lane this morning on my way in to Austin, and a guy in a black truck (I have a photo of his license if you want it) went through the barriers and into the regular lanes. I displayed my displeasure with him by blowing the horn on the Buzz, and he displayed his displeasure with my by showing me his teeth. Not really, but we played tag for a couple miles, and then he exited. Idiot. One of us, not completely sure which one. BUT, the reason for the back-up was this car (see photo) in the toll lane that apparently caught fire and burned. Not sure how that happened, but it did. I made it to my meeting with time to spare, then I picked up prescriptions and made a stop at Upper Crust. While I was out, I stopped at the VW collision place, where yesterday they told me the replacement of the VW badge (the one they broke when they repaired the earlier damage) would only take 15 minutes. They were correct, it only took them 12 minutes to break the replacement badge, and now the back end of the Buzz is 'badgeless,' and I guess they will let me know when they have another one that they can break. Whatever. Since I put the chandeliers throughout the Curious House, I have been unhappy with the can spots in the kitchen. They WERE daylight colored, and I wanted a warmer light, something to go with the warmer color of the chandelier lights. SO, this morning, before I left for Austin, I climbed up on the kitchen counter and removed one of the spots to take to Home Depot to see if I could find a warmer white bulb to replace them. What I found out is, the light I took with me has about five different color settings, and all I needed to do was change the toggle on the bulb, and they all match the warm color of the chandeliers. Several trips up and down the ladder to change the setting on the four spots, and now i am happy.  

Volume 18 - Day 216/149, 2026 - Tuesday

After the walk this morning, I chilled out for a little while before I got cleaned up and made it to our ROMEO breakfast. On the way, I stopped and picked up Bob, who we all hope will join us regularly. So, it was me, Paul, Rick and Bob. A good group, but I ordered way too big of a breakfast, so I brought biscuits home with me. After we left breakfast, we stopped at Galaxy Bakery and I brought two scones home with me, so I am covered for the next couple of breakfasts. Once we were getting ready to turn on to the Parkway, we saw that the traffic signal was flashing, so we are getting closer to having a signal to make left turns much easier. They are scheduled to be operating as signals a week from today. That is progress for sure, and the whole neighborhood is buzzing about it. That was about all I did for the day, until this evening; it was book club night, and we all had a great time. This months book was The Other Bennett Sister, and I think everyone enjoyed the book. It was an 18 hour listen, so it was a lengthy book. Next months book is Beyond the Wild River, a historical novel set in the 1890's. I just had to look that information up, because I had no idea what the book was about. It sounds interesting! Tomorrow, I will go in to Austin, and I have two things to get done while I am there, and I will make a stop at the VW place on the way home, they called today and they have received the VW replacement badge for the one they broke while it was in their shop. It is supposed to be only a 15 minute deal, so I will report that tomorrow. In the photo of the book club peeps, Marian is holding Richard and Marge, who joined remotely! Much fun!

Volume 18 - Day 215/150, 2026 - Monday

After the walk this morning, the only times I left the Curious House was to take the girls outside and to check the mail. I walked to the mail boxes at 4:20, and the mail had not yet been delivered. I will go back to check again tonight after 8 o'clock. Ugh. Since I am feeling pretty accomplished about the back-up battery, let me tell you about that task. To remove the old battery, I had to unscrew one screw and remove one little panel. The old battery came right out, so not a big deal. To REPLACE a new battery, I had to unscrew four more screws and take the entire face thing off the opener, and by doing that, I could put the new battery in. It was not the actual unscrewing that I am so proud of, but the fact that I found a different way of skinning that garage door opener cat. Good for the old guy! Tomorrow will be the ROMEO breakfast, and Wednesday I will be going in to Austin. Marian helped me figure out how to order quilts made out of all the t-shirts I have, so I will be going through t-shirts and cutting them apart for (probably) the next week or so. After that, I should have lots of room in the closets for NEW t-shirts. I will be sending 92 t-shirts to be made into two quilts, so that should fre up a little bit of space!

Volume 18 - Day 214/151, 2026 - Sunday

Today was a most excellent day, even though I did very little of anything productive or anything that will be remembered five or six days from now. James and Oliver walked with me and Paul this morning, and that was nice. After the walk, I fed the girls and washed my face and hair and went off to brunch with Alisha and Reuben. Very nice, fun, great to see them, and our brunching on Sundays has seemingly gone by the wayside. Sad. After brunch, I went to two more places to try and find a back-up battery for the garage door opener. No luck. I studied the situation and found a way to make the batteries I had work, and I will share more of that in my post tomorrow. Here is something interesting or unsettling, depending on your personal ideas. For me, it is a really happy note. I took a nap this afternoon, and the nap lasted less than an hour. In the dream, one of the dogs I had when I was a kid, ran away, and I was searching for Brandy. Brandy never came back, but I found another dog with really big ears, and named him (or her) Bullwinkle. Jody was also in the dream, and he and I both welcomed Bullwinkle into the family. It has been a while since I dreamed about Jody, and this was a good dream. It is not really that often that I remember dreams as clearly as this, but I thought I would share it with you. After I rousted myself up from the nap, I took off to Domino's Pizza, since today was the last day of their 50% off sale. When I got in the car, Dvorak's New World Symphony was playing, and I cranked it up pretty loudly. I have always liked this symphony, and I can remember very clearly playing this symphony when I was in High School Band. My High School did not have an orchestra (no strings) but we did have a band, and I played trombone. The trombones were an important part of this symphony, and I can remember very clearly where I sat in the band room, and really enjoying playing that music. OMG, I think this was a most excellent day, I hope I don't mess it up, there are still several hours to go.

Volume 18 - Day 213/152, 2026 - Saturday

The two estate sales this morning were not that exciting, but I got one thing for me (a framed print) and three Starbucks Cups (the older ones) for Paulina. After the sales, I went to Costco and HEB and so I have checked those things off my list. I am almost finished with the book for this month, The Other Bennett Sister, and on Audible that listen was 18 hours. I liked the book, but I think it could have been abbreviated. I have about an hour-and-a-half left, so I will finish that off tomorrow and be ready for book club on Tuesday. The saga of the garage door back-up battery is on-going. Tomorrow I will go to Home Depot to see if I can find the correct battery. According to everything Google and Interweb, I have bought the correct batteries THREE times, but they will not fit where the old battery came out of. It is really frustrating. We all went to dinner tonight at Dahlia's, in the photo accompanying this entry, clockwise from bottom left it is Val, Oliver, Paulina, Mandy, Clark, Clark's daughter (sorry about the name) and me. Most excellent, as always, and most of us brought dessert home. Yummy! 

Volume 18 - Day 212/153, 2026 - Friday

I think it is interesting how I can NOT do things that I had intended to do, with very little encouragement. I had intended to go to HEB today, but on my way back to the Curious House from Austin, I decided I did not feel like going to HEB. I could put it off for another couple days, but now my intention is to do some grocery shopping tomorrow. I picked up prescriptions this morning at the pharmacy, and stopped at a battery store after that. One of the back-up batteries for one of the garage doors needed to be replaced, so I got the proper battery, and I decided I did not feel like putting it in the opener, and that MIGHT be another thing I will do tomorrow. I have two other sets of batteries that I purchased that ended up being the WRONG batteries, so I need to return those. Maybe tomorrow. I have ONE lemon on my tree (bush), and I think I had three last year. I think one lemon is a perfectly acceptable harvest from this tree (bush), and I will not complain. I am hoping for some peaches and plums next year, time will tell.

Volume 18 - Day 211/154, 2026 - Thursday

After walking this morning (I didn't want to walk but I did), I did a few things around the Curious House, and then I headed in to Austin to spend a good bit of the morning just hanging out and appreciating this view. I could have done worse! After that, I went to the Police Department in Georgetown to present my Citizens Police Academy Application. This could be fun! The lady at the reception window seemed to think I would be a shoe-in, so apparently she is not that good of a screener. After that, I went to visit a pain management office to see if they could provide the 'viscosupplementation' that I am looking for. Basically, that is just the technical term for shooting my knee full of a gel that takes the place of the cartilage that is missing, causing me to be a gimp. I hate gimping. And, no, the office I was at does not offer that service. Still on the lookout! Then, I had a cheeseburger and a small coke, and made it to the chiropractor with five minutes to spare. The girls thought I had abandoned them, and they were A). Happy to see me, or B). Hungry. Maybe a little bit of both. Tomorrow will basically be spent in the Curious House, finishing up some volunteer stuff that I have been putting off, and doing a little bit of this-and-that paperwork. 

Volume 18 - Day 210/155, 2026 - Wednesday

Today was a really good day for eating! I had lunch with my friend John at Bartlett's in Austin, and it was a truly delicious Club Salad. I kept thinking I should bring some of it home, but I ended up eating the whole thing. I cannot describe how good it was. Then for dinner tonight, I went with Linda and Jimmie to El Mariachi in Liberty Hill and had chicken enchiladas. I think. It was chicken something. Very good. Also today, I took a two hour virtual CE class, and did laundry. Washed, dried, folded (not really) and put away. Or maybe just wadded up and put in drawers. Whatever. It is truly hot, and you cannot stay outside more than 15 minutes before you become dehydrated. Or covered in sweat. Or begin to glisten, which is what I prefer. I have a few things on my list for tomorrow, a shake and howdy with a potential new client, an appointment at the chiropractor, and a virtual meeting later in the afternoon. Friday is an open day, and I expect there will be a few estate sales on Saturday. Estate sales are always fun, and there are a few places in the Curious House that are void of interesting items. I must fix that! 

Volume 18 - Day 209/156, 2026 - Tuesday

I had a choice of photos that could have been included with this journal entry; it came down to the spider mites that have attached my impatiens at the front door, or the weather forecast for the next several days, showing 100 degree temperatures for the next several days. I will be spraying the impatiens tonight and cutting them back to try and rid them of the mites. Fingers crossed. Rick and Bob and I had a nice ROMEO breakfast this morning, and after that, I had an appointment with the surgeon about my knee. The bottom line is, nothing is going to happen in the near term. He had the x-ray from last year, agreed that the knee is a mess, but since I have learned how to compensate for the pain, he does not recommend a knee replacement. That's okay with me, but it sounds like I need to be experiencing chronic intolerable pain before anything will be done. I guess pro-activity is not on the table. We shall see. The Buzz is back home and in the garage. It is weird because, they apparently disconnected the battery for some reason, and all my settings are gone. I am (sort of) having to re-learn how to drive it, but I am sure it will be fine this weekend when we hit estate sales. I contemplated doing laundry today, but I decided to put it off until tomorrow. I am taking a virtual class beginning at 10AM, and I cannot think of a better time to do laundry than that!

Volume 18 - Day 208/157, 2026 - Monday

Well, the third orange was much easier to peel, but it was dry, so I think I am done with oranges for this year. I am very sad about that. I sat around the Curious House all day today with the phone attached to my hip, waiting on the body shop to tell me the Buzz was ready. At 4:45 this afternoon, they called and said I could pick it up tomorrow morning. It will be tomorrow afternoon, but I will have the Buzz back in the garage tomorrow. I expect tomorrow will be a busy day; walk, ROMEO breakfast, doctors appointment, Buzz pickup, phone call meeting. That will pretty much take care of the day. We are expecting six days, beginning on Wednesday, of temperatures at 100 degrees or higher. Feels like temperatures around 112. Although it is damn hot, it is also damn typical for this time of year in central Texas. That's why air conditioning was invented. The photo accompanying this journal entry needs no more comment, but I can think of no news items more attention getting that that. UGH!

Volume 18 - Day 207/158, 2026 - Sunday

My two most recent encounters with oranges have been totally unacceptable. First, I was almost incapable of peeling the orange, and then the orange was not good. So not good, that I could not eat it. The last time I was at HEB, I bought three, large naval oranges. Those are the kind of oranges I always buy. When peeling the first one, I thought it was just my arthritic hands that could no longer peel the oranges without considerable discomfort. Okay. But then, the fact that the orange was not palatable was a second troubling concern. Tonight I tried another one of the three that I bought. Again, very difficult to peel. Take the giant knife to the orange, and there was little orange, but a lot of skin, and again, it was not very tasty. I am very sad. Otherwise, it was not a bad Sunday. Of course there was a walk, then I went over and visited with Kenny and Suzanne for a little while, and then Val and I went to a couple estate sales. Today was the third day for both the sales, I ended up buying one thing (60% off), and Val bought nothing. A little while later, I took off for the airport to pick up our neighbor James, who had been visiting his parents, and I think he is happy to be home. I am not sure, but I am hoping the Buzz will be ready to pick up tomorrow, maybe not, the body shop is certainly not in any hurry to get it finished. This bun-rabbit hangs out in the back yard, helping to keep the grass properly manicured. Happy to see him now and then.

Volume 18 - Day 206/159, 2026 - Saturday

Seriously, I am really tired! Yesterday was a busy day, and today was as well. After the walk this morning, I really did not leave myself enough time to chill for a few minutes, before I was heading to the Amenity Center for our blood drive. Paulina volunteered to help, which was not necessary but really welcome! We ended up with 19 donors showing up, 3 of which were declined for one reason or another. Two donors that had made an appointment did not show up, and if you take the 4 peeps that donated yesterday, we ended up with 23 donors for the blood drive. The blood bank goal is 20, my goal was 30, but I will call it a success because we ended up with a positive net donation of life-saving blood and platelets for central Texas. Please, don't try to check my math on this, just let it be. The next drive will be in November, I expect, so there is plenty of time to plan for that. I got a letter from the IRS today, saying they could not process my refund because my bank information was not included with the return. Probably because I did not want a return, I asked that the overpayment be credited to my 2026 taxes. I expect this will take some time to explain it to them. SO...that is pretty much it for me for the day, I am going to go and pile up with the girls and see what, if anything, will catch our attention on the television. 

Volume 18 - Day 205/160, 2026 - Friday

Today turned out to be a busy day. After walking this morning, I filled the bird feeders with seed, watched hummers play, and got a few things done around the Curious House. I had a nice phone call with potential clients, and we are making plans to meet next week. Since the Buzz is still in the shop, Oliver drove me, Paulina and Marian to the blood bank; the three of us (the usuals) donated platelets, and Oliver donated whole blood. The more people that donate platelets of whole blood, the better I like it. I am coordinating a blood drive in the subdivision tomorrow, and so far we have 17 people signed up to donate, and the four of us today count for tomorrow, so we are at 21 donors. Not sure if I can get nine more volunteers for tomorrow, may yes, maybe no, but my goal is 30 donors, the blood bank goal is 20, so we have already surpassed that. I will be totally stressing until tomorrow afternoon at 1 o'clock, just to see how many donors I can get. We stopped at Sandy's for milk shakes on the way home, and we did not get back home until around 6 o'clock. I think we (the four of us) are all tired, but now there is nothing to do but chill out for a while. I forgot to mention that we stopped at Upper Crust on the way to the blood bank, and I got two slices of cranberry nut bread. I think I am the only one that bought anything. Too bad for them!

Volume 18 - Day 204/161, 2026 - Thursday

It was not as hot today as it has been the last couple of days. I think the high temperature today was only 98 degrees, which is just about average. When I got up this morning and let the girls out, it was 81 degrees, way too hot for 5:30 in the morning. Paulina came over this morning and had coffee, and later in the day, Oliver and I went to the Post Office and then to my doctors office so I could tweak my appointment in January. I guess I will know if that worked out in about six months from now. I had two calls scheduled for today, one at 1PM and the other at 2PM. The one o'clock call went very nicely, and there will be a follow-up tomorrow. The two o'clock call was postponed until next week, and the notice of that was received at 1:46PM. There is nothing good I can say about that, stuff happens, but if the call was being postponed, I am pretty sure it was apparent before 1:46PM. Whatever. I have been (kind of) trying to consume real food for the last couple of days, because tomorrow is a platelet day. Ronny and Marian were heading for Cancun on their way back to Austin, last I heard. Marian, Paulina and I will all be donating platelets tomorrow, and we will have a blood drive in the neighborhood on Saturday. Once I publish this entry, I will check estate sales for the weekend. The next couple days will be interesting, for sure!

Volume 18 - Day 203/162, 2026 - Wednesday

Late this morning, there was a Past President's luncheon at the Austin Board of REALTORS®. I am not certain if the photo accompanying this entry was the year I was President (2014) or not, but it is within a year one way or the other. It was fun seeing old friends and new friends, and I made a short visit of it. I had a doctors appointment later this afternoon, and everything went fine, I am apparently a healthy old person, and my next appointment is in six months. I do have another appointment with a surgeon, just trying to determine if I do or do not need a knee replacement. I am not advocating for the replacement, but if that is the determination, I guess that will be in my near future. I have always thought of myself as a lucky man, and I guess that trend will continue for a while. I am only walking about half as much in the mornings, and I would like to get back to the 2.5 mile morning walk. That will be my goal and the determination about what to do with the knee. Tomorrow I have two calls to place and so it should be a pretty easy day. With any luck, I will get the Buzz back tomorrow afternoon, and then Friday will be a platelet day. It was 103 degrees at the Curious House yesterday, and today was forecast to be the same, but I have not paid attention to where we ended up. Bertha in the Gulf is about finished, and she has dropped a lot of rain in Louisiana and is expected to come ashore in Galveston in a day or two, weakened greatly. 

Volume 18 - Day 202/163, 2026 - Tuesday

Paul and I had a ROMEO breakfast this morning, and I ate about 2/3's of the largest pancake I have ever seen. One pancake, two eggs over easy, a side of bacon and a side of spinach, please. I get the spinach just to fool my platelets and iron levels that I am eating healthier than usual. I'm pretty sure it is working!After breakfast, I got ready for my 1 o'clock zoom meeting, and then that was it for the day. For dinner, I had the second half of the turkey & avocado sandwich I brought home from Dahlia's the other night. Maybe, just maybe, it was a little gamey, but so far I am still breathing. I have a luncheon meeting tomorrow, and then after that, I will come home, change clothes and go to my doctors appointment. That should be interesting. Even though I have not been a particularly vocal proponent for the traffic signal at the Parkway and the highway, I think it will be a good thing once it is finished. It is getting closer (I think), and I expect the lights should start flashing just any minute now. Even though I continued to make left turns onto the highway, the traffic signal will make that much easier, and it should tone down the volume of concern from other neighbors. Fingers crossed!

Volume 18 - Day 201/164, 2026 - Monday

I have found recently that, when trying to peel oranges, I can hardly do it. I assume that is one of the consequences of old age, generally I have no issues with things (opening bottles and tying my shoes), but peeling an orange has become a challenge. To add insult to injury, the orange was not even good. That was another first for me. My walk with Paul this morning was my activity for the day. The rest of the day was spent doing little of anything, but I do have a couple things on the calendar for the rest of the week. Tomorrow will be the ROMEO breakfast and a zoom meeting tomorrow afternoon. I am working to make our neighborhood blood drive a success on Saturday, so I am trying to make sure all the neighbors know about that. So far, we only have six sign-ups, but folks generally wait til the last couple days before signing up. The goal for the drive is either 20 or 30; 20 if you are with the blood bank, 30 if you are me. This will be the fourth drive for the neighborhood, and we have always made the goals. I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday, the first official appointment with my new GP. I expect nothing extraordinary will come of it, but I have lots of questions for him, and lots of things to clear up about protocol. Of course I do. We are expecting high temperatures to be 100 degrees or more this week, and we have been pretty lucky so far this year. There is the possibility that a storm could develop in the Gulf this week (Bertha), and if so, I hope it will bring us some more rain. No damage, just rain. Fingers crossed.

Volume 18 - Day 200/165, 2026 - Sunday

I bought the table on the right (in this photo) yesterday at one of the estate sales. What I didn't realize was, I had another of the exact same tables at the Curious House, that I bought at a DIFFERENT estate sale, at least a couple years ago. Whatever, now I have a pair of them, and I like the little drawers in each of them, perfect places to hide little things. Sunday was a day of doing not very much of anything. This morning, I went with Paulina and Oliver to the storage building, and I just went along for the ride. I did not take anything to storage, and I did not bring anything back from storage to the Curious House. I just went for the ride. We had a new man cut and trim grass today, since the previous guy fired us for being too picky. We are being picky with this guy as well, and we are searching, once again, for another lawn guy. First world problems! Paulina called later in the afternoon, and I went over there and had some goulash for dinner. Very good! She had my plate piled high, and I could not eat all she had on my plate, but Val took care of that. The coming week should be relatively calm, nothing tomorrow, breakfast and a virtual meeting on Tuesday, a luncheon and a doctor appointment on Wednesday, a virtual meeting on Thursday, and donating platelets on Friday. That is about as far in the future as I can remember. Tomorrow morning, I expect I will water trees before walking, since the rain forecasts show nothing for the next ten days. 

Volume 18 - Day 199/166, 2026 - Saturday

The rains have stopped and we are back in summertime. Lake Travis is full, and it is the first time Lake Travis has been full since 2019. Nothing beats a drought like a flood, and it has been a mess for the people that have really been affected. Lots of property damage, a couple lives lost, and some of the rivers, particularly the Llano, are still rising. There were two estate sales today, and it was just me and Paulina, Paulina drove because the Buzz is still in the shop. I spent a total of (about) $32, and everything was half-price. Since the man that has been cutting our grass fired us last week, we have a new man starting tomorrow. It is more, but hopefully the new man will be paying better attention to details, and we will not have to continually point out things that the crew did not seem to care about. Maybe. I think the man is a Texas Tech student or graduate, because his company has the work 'Raider' in it, which is kind of a dead give-away. I think there is going to be a trip to the storage place tomorrow, for me to take some stuff there, and for VPO to get some stuff and bring it to the house. I am getting in to the habit of cleaning and filling the hummingbird feeders two at a time. The hummers are much more in evidence this year than I have seen them in the past, and I truly enjoy watching them. They are VERY busy! 

Volume 18 - Day 198/167, 2026 - Friday

Well, the rain is over, and in three days this week, we received 3.09" of rain at the Curious House. Some places in Texas received almost 20 inches of rain, and rivers west of us (the Llano River in particular) are still rising. There is no rain in the forecast for at least the next ten days, which will put us right back in to a normal Texas summer. Hopefully, we will not just dry up totally between now and the next rain, fingers crossed. I had an appointment in Austin this afternoon, and Oliver went in with me, and on the way home, we just kind of took a tour through Austin, showing him this and that that he may not have been aware of. We also made a stop at Upper Crust, and I have sweet things in the refrigerator that will last me a week or ten days. Tonight, VPO and I went to Dahlia's for dinner, starting off with onion rings, and I brought half of my turkey and avocado sandwich home with me. We had meant to take a photo while we were at dinner, but we are forgetting that detail more and more. On the ride home, the photo accompanying this entry popped up on my feed, so I thought I would share it. About three or four years ago, in Playa, my first or second scuba lesson. HOODATHUNKIT?

Volume 18 - Day 197/168, 2026 - Thursday

Since the rain started on Tuesday, we have recorded just a little over 3 inches of rain at the Curious House. I expect many of you have heard of the flooding to the west of us, and they are getting more rain as we speak. We are expecting a little bit more rain overnight, but, while we are happy with the rain, there has been a lot of property damage to our west, and I believe two people have lost teir lives. We will all start drying out tomorrow, and hopefully it won't be too long before we have more rain, but a little rain at a time is the best here. I was up very early (4AM) this morning and took my neighbor James to the airport for his 7:30 flight. The drive was not bad at all, and when I got home, I piled up in the big chair with the dogs and took a nap. Later in the morning, I put on some pants and went to HEB. I was in the '15 Items of Fewer' line, and the woman in front of me spent $324 on groceries, and I believe she was over the limit. I said nothing, but I'm telling you. That was about all I did today, and I can't think of anything I didn't do, so that is just fine. I may drive in to Austin tomorrow, it is still too early to make decisions like that, and I will know more tomorrow.

Volume 18 - Day 196/169, 2026 - Wednesday

I has not rained all day today, but it has rained off and on for a good part of the day. There was no walk this morning, and I will not walk tomorrow morning, either. I am taking my neighbor James to the airport tomorrow, his flight leaves at 7:30, which means we will be hitting the road at about 4:30. I will be awake anyway, probably, so it is not a big deal, happy to be able to help. I had a zoom meeting at 11 this morning, and then I had an appointment in Austin at 2, and that put me back home at about 4:15. All is good, the girls slept through my absence, and they had no strong opinions of my adventures. It was somewhat discomforting to be driving in the rain to Austin, but I made it there and back with no challenges, if you don't take the crazy drivers on each side of me, acting like it was sunny and dry on MoPac. More rain is expected overnight and tomorrow, but we should start drying out over the weekend. I hope we don't get too dry!

Volume 18 - Day 195/170, 2026 - Tuesday

We (the Curious House) finally had some rain, but not nearly as much as many other areas of central Texas. Since I emptied the rain gauge this morning, we have received another 1.06", making the total for this month, so far, just short of an inch-and-a-quarter. Not complaining, and I have fingers and toes crossed that we get more in the next couple days. If you know of anything else I need to cross, let me know. Today was also a day of small accomplishments, most of which have no impact on anything at all. I had an appointment in Austin at 11 o'clock this morning, and after that, I stopped along the way back to the Curious House for a variety of small tasks. Because of the temperature change, I stopped at Discount Tire and got the tire pressure corrected (in the rain), then I went to Galaxy Bakery, Little Caesar's Pizza and HEB to put gas in the little white car. The news continues to report about the dangers of some kind of stomach bug going around, but I am in little risk since I very seldom eat fresh vegetables of any kind. Fingers crossed for that, too. Once again, we are being teased that Daylight Saving Time might become permanent, and I am all for it. I recommend we all contact our elected officials and lobby for that change, I expect they will be happy to speak with you about that, and not all the other travesties going on. 

Volume 18 - Day 194/171, 2026 - Monday

I took the Buzz in to the collision center this morning, and Oliver picked me up and gave me a ride home. Just before we turned in to the subdivision, we could hear the ambulance coming up behind us. We were in the turn lane, so there was nowhere for us to go, and the ambulance waited until it was right next to my door to blow its' horn for the oncoming traffic to yield. That horn is really loud, and it was really a surprise, and you will be happy to know that I am sporting a fresh pair of boxers as I compose this entry. I did not go anywhere else today, except to check the mail, and I have waited patiently all day for it to start raining. At some point, it started drizzling a little bit, probably around 5:30, and I did not even know it until I took the girls outside. I may regret that I am hoping we get a really good rain, because we are under a flash flood warning until Friday at 7PM. We shall see. The piglet got her face washed this afternoon, which is one of the things she cares for least of all. Honestly, it is not one of my favorite things, either, but she looks much cuter and I expect much more comfortable now than she did. I expect it will be a challenge getting them outside later this evening before we retire for the evening, again, we shall see.

Volume 18 - Day 193/172, 2026 - Sunday

Well, ARGH! Still no rain, and it had better rain soon because I did not water anything today. They (the prognosticators) are saying we (the Curious House) can expect about 2 inches of rain in the next few days, and they (the prognosticators) need to either shut up or put up. Or something like that. Otherwise, it has been a relatively okay day, I went and hung out at an open house with Maggie this afternoon, and it was fun to visit with her again. The neighborhood news is that Val broke one of his toes this morning, and I know what that is like, I have broken several toes in my lifetime. This too shall pass, but it is amazing how much pain can radiate from such a small appendage. A toe qualifies as an appendage, right? On the way home from the open house, I stopped at a roadside stand and bought some peaches. I have been craving peaches, and now I have some. On another note, and I think I mention this on this date every year, 58 years ago today, my dad died. Fifty-eight. I was 16. Interesting how quickly things can change in a life. I have  a few things going on this week, and it should be a good week, as weeks go.

Volume 18 - Day 192/173, 2026 - Saturday

NO RAIN! NO RAIN! Ugh. There were chances of rain today, and we actually did get a trace of rain at the Curious House. I missed it, the only way I knew it was because the back deck was a little bit wet, and it was not from me watering the plants. Because I did not water the plants in the back today, because it was supposed to RAIN! Even though there are still rain chances in the forecast, I will water some stuff in the back later this evening. There were six of us doing estate sales this morning, and we made it to five estate sales. There was a Buzz full of buzzing, and I had a blast, it is a good group doing this every Saturday. Someone else will need to drive next weekend, I am expecting the Buzz to still be in the body shop, and Marian and Judy will be out of town. I am sure we will figure something out. Cumulatively, at the five sales today, I spent $8 and change for the cast iron Elmer Fudd bank shown along with this journal entry. No markings, but I love this find, and it was 66% off. 66%? Whatever. Tomorrow, I am helping Maggie with an open house, and that will be fun.

Volume 18 - Day 191/174, 2026 - Friday

All Friday's are pretty good days, aren't they? Today was no exception, it was a pretty good day. After my walk, I took the previous estimate from the VW dealer in Georgetown, along with the estimate from the crappy insurance company (whose name shall not be spoken, but it rhymes with State Farm), to the VW dealer to have them compare estimates. The bottom line is, I will take the Buzz in on Monday for the repairs to begin. Hopefully, they will not have to order any parts, but I expect to be without the Buzz for ten days to two weeks. That's the part I don't like, and I especially don't like that this process is no longer 'all about me,' but that's the way it is. To be clear, the VW dealer is being great, and they are making the process easy for me. SO...I got home from that, and messed around the Curious House for a while, and then did nothing else for the rest of the day. I am getting pretty good at that! Watching the humming birds takes up a little bit of my time, and it is especially interesting when they fight for territory. There seems to be fewer of the Lesser Finches (less finches?), but I think it is WAY too early for them to be migrating. We shall see.

Volume 18 - Day 190/175, 2026 - Thursday

Hot, hot, hot. Don't get me started on the heat in central Texas, I have lived here for 41 years, and I know what the weather will bring from one season to the next. Not that we have four seasons here, we have summer, fake fall, fake winter, fake spring, and then we go back to summer. We have about three-and-a-half months to go before we get some cooler weather, and that will be lovely. It has been almost three weeks since we had any rain, and we had about 5.5" of rain in June, and about 65% of that was in one day. Even I am bored by this post so far. Paulina and Oliver and I went to Dairy Queen for lunch today, and I mentioned to one of the employees that one of their digital signs was grammatically incorrect. I don't think she was particularly motivated to correct it, and I doubt I will go back any time soon to check. I also made a quick trip to the post office to mail a couple checks; whenever I actually mail something, I like to go to the Post Office instead of putting them in the neighborhood cluster box. Just one of my things. I will likely go out later this evening and water some plants. I water in the morning, but with the heat, I check a few things in the evenings. We have better than average rain chances next week, and I will cross whatever needs to be crossed to make sure it really happens. The piglet needs to have her face washed, and we BOTH hate it when that happens!

Volume 18 - Day 189/176, 2026 - Wednesday

Well, that's done. Maybe it will be less of a deal next year, we shall see. There are lots of pieces of paper with this return, and that has been the norm for thelast several years. I am hoping that my working to simplify things will carry over to my tax filings going forward. Today was a relatively quiet day, not much accomplished (if you don't count the tax return). It is really just too hot to do much of anything. I did get in the car to buy lottery tickets, and make a visit to the bank. No rain lately, but there is a chance over the weekend and especially next week. I had ribs, leftover from the Fourth, for dinner tonight, and I must admit they were really good. My skills at heating stuff up is getting better and better, and I am proud of that! Ugh!

Volume 18 - Day 188/177, 2026 - Tuesday

I met Paul and Rick at Monument Cafe for our regular ROMEO Breakfast, and it was nice to be doing that again. For one reason or another, it feels like we had been absent for a month, but it was probably a couple weeks. When I left, I decided to go to Galaxy Bakery to get some scones, but I changed my mind. I still have cranberry muffins from Costco that I bought a few weeks ago, and cinnamon rolls from Upper Crust that I bought yesterday, so I am fixed for baked stuff for a while. I was up really early this morning, 4:45AM, because I heard the piglet get off the bed, which meant she was heading for the closet...but I got her outside instead, and I was not about to get back to sleep. I did get a few things done in the office that had been hanging out for a while, so that was good. It was a good feeling of accomplishment. I went to dinner tonight with Jimmie and Linda, and they are leaving for England tomorrow. They will fly to New York and meet friends and get on the Queen Mary. Sounds really fun! The rest of this week is pretty open, so maybe I will do laundry one of these days, maybe not.

Volume 18 - Day 187/178, 2026 - Monday

Callie is feeling better, I really am at a loss about what could have caused her the discomfort. She puked one more time after my post yesterday, and not since then. She is perkier and playing with Oliver, so I think she has gotten over whatever it was. I tried to blame it on the cottage cheese, not really sure that could have been it, but I will lay off that for a while. Paulina made some rice this afternoon, so I put some of that on their food tonight, and so far, so good. I picked Marian up about 11:30 this morning, and we drove in to Austin, with a stop at Upper Crust. I have cinnamon rolls for a couple days, and carrot cake for about a week. Life is good. Then we headed off to the blood bank, and donated platelets. Paulina joined us, but she was declined, not sure why. I know for a fact, Paulina eats a lot better than I do, so I am not sure why she was declined. It is terrible, to me anyway, when you are declined, because you are trying to do something good. I have been declined once since I started donating, and it was because my iron level was too low. I found out today that red wine will help your iron level, so... Whatever. I have nothing planned for tomorrow except the ROMEO breakfast. I will argue more with the insurance company whose name shall not be said, but it rhymes with State Farm. They sent me an estimate for the damage to my Buzz (caused by a gentleman rear-ending me), that is $1K less that the estimate I got from the VW dealer. I am not through with that! UGH! 

Volume 18 - Day 186/179, 2026 - Sunday

Well, I hope you had a pretty good day today, the day after the fourth! Warning: the next sentence may contain graphic verbiage that you may find offensive, so this is your last chance to log-off and go on about your business. I have spent the good part of the day cleaning up dog vomit. Callie have vomited seven times so far, and it is still daylight outside. I usually blame stuff like this on Lexie, but nope, this time it is Callie. It has not affected her appetite, not at breakfast (after the first three times) or at dinner (after and before the last four times). Whatever. Of course, as many times as I have taken her outside, she is not at all interested in doing anything but sitting or laying down in the grass. So, I can now qualify as having a PhD in dog vomit, and not voluntarily. When I was not cleaning up after Callie, the rest of the day was relatively uneventful, and I guess I am fortunate for that. I read the papers, both the Statesman and the NYTimes, printed a couple things and made some notes about stuff I need to do later in the week, and I had salmon for dinner, which should be helpful for my platelet donation tomorrow. I will pick Marian up at about 11:30 and, most likely there will be a stop at Upper Crust for cinnamon rolls and carrot cake. Life is good, and hopefully Callie will improve over the next day or two. I found three or four sets of morning glories that have bloomed three at a time, and they are really pretty. They are doing really well so far this year, and they are very low maintenance. Lucky for them!

Volume 18 - Day 185/180, 2026 - Saturday, The Fourth of July

Happy Birthday U.S.A.! I enjoyed this calm and peaceful Fourth of July. There was a nice walk this morning, and the plants, front and back, are needing watering on almost a daily basis. We have not had any rain for a couple weeks. And I don't think there is any in the next ten days, either. I hope I am wrong. I took off to pick up three racks of ribs and some cobblers this morning, and this afternoon I had dinner with VPO. The girls have a few rib bones to enjoy at some point, and I am pretty sure they will enjoy those. The rest of the day was spent napping and watching some television with the girls. I do not have any challenges sitting with the girls, and I think they are happy to have me around. I expect there will be some fireworks to watch from the back deck this evening, there have been every year that I have been in the Curious House. There is not a lot on the calendar for next week, Paulina, Marian and I are scheduled to donate platelets on Monday, and I really like doing that. The flags in the photo are from the farm, Jody gave me the flag pole as an anniversary gift years ago, and I still have a fondness for flags.

Volume 18 - Day 184/181, 2026 - Friday

After walking with Paul and James this morning, I sat on the front patio for a while and read the newspaper and had a cup of coffee. P&O (no V) came and visited for a little while, and then they took off for breakfast. And yes, I still get a physical newspaper. I came very close to getting my haircut later this morning, and on the way there, I looked in the mirror and decided I really did not need a haircut. As long as I was in the car, I decided to make a stop at Target, and while I was at Target, I decided that if I bought a few more pairs of boxers, I could delay doing laundry for a while longer. I call that thinking outside the washer and dryer. VP (no O) and I headed off to Belton at 4PM, with the purpose of going to the Belton Rodeo. We stopped at Schoepf's BBQ for dinner, and then headed to the Cadence Bank Center, where the rodeo was held. We stood in line in the sun for about 30 minutes, I guess they did not open the doors until 6PM. The rodeo started at 7, and there was a lot of patriotic chat by the emcee, and then they got down to business. It has taken me this long to attend my first (and last) rodeo. I felt sorry for all the animals; the sheep, the calves, the horses, and even the cowboys themselves. But, being the snob that I am, I am really not one to judge, and I will leave it at I simply will not be quick to attend another rodeo. One of the better parts, was a 'skit' with a bad man and a heroine named Cow Patty. By the photo accompanying this journal entry, you can get the general drift of the action.

Volume 18 - Day 183/182, 2026 - Thursday

If you are wondering about mail delivery tomorrow, don't ask the Googles. In the same search, the Googles say NO mail tomorrow, and scroll down and the Googles say YES, there will be normal mail delivery tomorrow. I am pretty sure I will know the true answer by this time tomorrow. Gina and I made a pilgrimage to Trader Joe's this morning, we go about every three or four weeks. I spend a LOT less money when we go to Trader Joe's, mainly because they don't sell dog food. At least, I don't recall seeing any dog food there. When I go to HEB, I easily spend about $60 on dog food, while covers about two weeks, maybe a little bit longer. SO, I do have some treasures from Trader Joe's; grapes, blue corn chips, water melon and cantaloupe slices. That will likely hold me over the weekend. I expect I will visit Target tomorrow, because Target is where I get the dog treats for my morning walks. That is about it for today. I had no photos from today, so I looked back a year ago, and it was raining. Really raining. The rain a year ago caused a lot of damage, serious injuries and some loss of life. Just looking at the photo makes me feel a little bit cooler. No rain in our forecast, just more hot. I cannot even walk to the mail box without glistening. Don't forget, tomorrow is Rodeo night!

Volume 18 - Day 182/183, 2025 - Wednesday

I did a solo walk this morning, and I took a different (and shorter) route than usual. I thought it would be about the same walking distance, but nope. After the walk, I did a few things around the Curious House, and then I headed in to Austin. It was kind of like the old days...all lanes, north and south bound on the Interstate were stopped. I never did see what the problem was, which is typical, but I got to my meeting on time. On the way, I picked up a prescription, too. I got home about noon:30, and I had an appointment with ADT between 1 and 5. The guy got here, fixed the doorbell camera, and installed two more cameras. I am pretty well covered now. My new hoses were delivered, and the old hoses are in the rubbish can, just in time for tomorrows pickup. I did manage to break the hose reel, which is something I do every time I get new hoses. I will get a new hose reel tomorrow. I am spending more time in the big chair in the bedroom with the girls, and I like looking out all the windows. The hummers have been pretty entertaining, and every now and then, they have a mini-war over the feeders, proving that not everything I watch is on television.

Volume 18 - Day 181/184, 2026 - Tuesday

Oh, Lort! I was having a perfectly okay day until I tried to login to my account at the Credit Union. When I did that, a note popped up that said (something like) we have f***ed with all our accounts, so you will need to login with your password. Well, my password had been saved IN the computers and the iPhone, and I was doing something wrong, but NOW I have a NEW password at the credit union. Maybe I wasn't having a perfectly okay day, because I just now remembered the 45 minutes I spent on the phone with ADT, trying to add a couple upgrades to my service. BUT, having taken all my aggressions out on ADT, I was a perfectly friendly person the rest of the day, so that was kind of a win/win in my opinion. I met Maggie at a property this afternoon, and that was fun. On the way home, I decided to go take a look at the swim beach in Georgetown. Who knew there was a swim beach in Georgetown? I didn't, but I found it, it is about 14 miles from the Curious House, and the beach is pea gravel, but with sandals and a blanket, you can pretend you are somewhere in Europe. I (think) I did see some beaches in Europe that were pea gravel and not sand, but I could be wrong. But, whatever, you can go to a beach in Georgetown, and you won't track sand into your car or the house. Another win/win!

Volume 18 - Day 180/185, 2026 - Monday

Just in case you want to know, tonight is the full moon. I should probably start spending more time on the front patio, that is why I expanded it five years ago. It has always been comfortable, and I think it is more so now. I rearranged the furniture with help from Val, Paulina and Oliver, and the bronze sculpture (formerly the top part of a fountain) I bought yesterday, is now ensconced in the corner, and I think it is ABFAB! I need to check, but I don't think you can see it from the street unless you are really looking, and that is perfectly fine with me. It is heavy, very heavy. It took three men and a two-wheeler to get it onto the patio, and I plan for it to remain there for quite some time. You might be able to zoom in on the photo, but if you can't and you want to see the details of the piece, let me know and I will send you a photo. Otherwise, today was a good day, I went nowhere, and tomorrow I will be planning a visit to HEB. On Wednesday I will go in to Austin for a meeting and to pick up a prescription, and on Thursday, Gina and I are going to Trader Joe's. Friday, believe it or not, I am going with PVO (I'm tired of typing their full names, so they are now collectively known as PVO) to the rodeo in Belton. I have never been to a rodeo before, so this will be a totally new experience. Always go for the new experience!