2011 - Day Seventy Three; Monday...

It was dark when I went to work this morning, and it was dark when I came home tonight. What's all this talk about daylight savings time? How about (according to Jody) we just split the difference, move ahead a half-hour in the spring and call it quits. Everybody wins!

A full day in the office today, and I pretty much got my desk cleared off. Then it was onto elective work. Things that I am doing for this group or that group. I also had an appointment to show a home this evening late, which resulted in my getting home after dark.

On the way home, I took the tollway from around the airport, and it was interesting that, as I would sink into a low spot or crest a high spot in the road, I would see vapor trails highlighted against the sun setting in the west. At one point, I counted a dozen different vapor trails, it was really interesting to watch; some of them lower on the horizon that could only be seen from a higher vantage point. Very pretty.

Tomorrow will be another day in the office, and the NARPM Luncheon as well. Always fun, and good to see those folks.

This is a picture I took for Konrad the other day, he is a collector of (especially) old VW Buses. I am not sure what is going on with this one, but it looks to be in pretty good shape. Konrad is the guy that owns Round R0ck Honey, the guy I took beekeeping classes from. I need to ask his opinion of why I got stung twice yesterday while I was doing yard work. Hmmm...

We got five eggs from the girls today, so they are back to putting out!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, VEE-DUBS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy Two; Sunday...

Okay, well it could have been a lot worse. I was only stung twice, and I was not even messing with the bees. All I was doing was picking up limbs and branches that have fallen from the trees during the high winds. Some of the bees are are just a little bit more aggressive than others. Not really sure which of the hives they were from, but after the second sting, I just decided to move on.

ANYWAY, so today was the day that we were supposed to 'spring forward', and so of course that is exactly what we did. It will take a few days for us to all get used to getting up in the dark and, in my case, going to work in the dark. We will all survive, but I also read in the paper this morning that it has been documented that traffic accidents increase about 8% during the week following the time change. AND, when we 'fall back' traffic accidents decrease by the same amount. We obviously are all sleep deprived, and this just adds fuel to our plight. Interesting study. The newspaper called it a huge national experiment with no one really studying the consequences.

Whatever...

So, Miguel came out to help me get some stuff done today, and we started by planting the plum tree and the two grape vines we bought yesterday. Having gotten that done, we took the tractor, Mule and riding lawn mower out to the road and worked the fence row until we had that all cleaned up. It really looks nice, and it is another part of my trying to keep all this stuff under control and not letting it get totally out of hand. If you have ever seen or heard of the 'Grey Gardens' that is kind of what we think of the place around here. Lots of stuff to do, and you just have to keep after it. There are lots of things beginning to bloom, but so far none of the Iris are blooming, and the cannas are still looking pretty dormant. This is a bloom from an imported (and relatively invasive) tree that we think is called (something like) a Hawaiian Princess tree. It is really pretty, but it is not at all suited for this climate. It smells lovely but it is not for this climate.

After a while, Jody and headed off to Georgetown for a spoiler, and when we got back, Miguel and I decided to hook the Mule up to the portable water tank so we could go out and water the trees out by the road. This will be the year that we actually pay attention to those trees, and try to give them a boost. We had some lovely peaches from one of them last year, and are hoping for more this year and the years to come.

We trimmed around the pool and hauled more stuff off to the pasture where we will EVENTUALLY burn the stuff. I have been saying that for the last two years, but this may be the year. I need to go back to work to get some rest.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HARD WORK, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy One; Saturday...

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I stayed IN BED (not necessarily sleeping) until after 7 o'clock this morning. By 8 o'clock, I was making egg loaf and reading the paper (not necessarily at the same time), and by 9 o'clock, I had taken a fresh bale of hay out to the cattle and hooked the shredder up to the tractor and was shredding grass up by the road. That was pretty much finished by 11 o'clock, and Jody and I headed into Georgetown to hit the Dairy Queen. After that, I stopped at Wal-Mart to put gas in the truck ($75 gave me three quarters of a tank) and I filled up one of the cans with diesel for the tractor. Then we headed off to Home Depot where we got some decomposed granite (a couple bags) and a plum tree and two grape vines. We will plant those things tomorrow with the help of Miguel.

This is a picture of some of the cattle, and you can see Mr. Speckles is paying special attention to Orchid (who is obviously back in season). All you can see of Orchid is her brown butt, but believe me, Speckles is being very romantic (he is thinking there is some 'fonorky-toodling' in his future), and Orchid is really not seeming to be that interested in any of it right now. We shall see...

Once we got home from Georgetown I headed back out to the tractor and headed for the far back grazing pasture. I shredded the entire pasture so the sun can get to the ground and let some of the new grass get going. Interestingly, while I was out there, all the cattle decided to take a siesta (Orchid was trying, but Speckles would really not leave her alone), so I shredded around them until they finally moved and I got finished. It took about 2 or 3 hours to shred the pasture, and I figure that pasture is somewhere between 7 and 10 acres. BUT, it is done now, so that will be marked off the to-do list. There are a couple mesquites back there that I am going to have to poison later this spring once they bud out. I DO NOT want to get any mesquite started back there. I prefer to remain mesquite free.

We got six eggs out of the chickens today, so it was obviously a good day to be a chicken out here today. The owl is still up in the nest as well, and she is not nearly as skittish about us wandering back and forth as she used to be. I have not checked on the doves nest lately, but I will do that tomorrow. I took the pool cover off last weekend, and it has been CRAZY windy ever since then, and the pool filter has been working overtime. No big deal, but I am now back to skimming the pool on a daily basis.

One good thing about the wind is that the turbines are going crazy too, generating lots of electricity to send back to the grid. Perfect!

Lots of chores on tap for tomorrow.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HORNY CATTLE, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy; Friday...

Here is another blast from the past. This one is dated 1974. I had long hair and the beard, and a New York City Subway token around my neck. Again, this one was done in New Orleans on another trip. I had some fun when I was a kid, and I have interesting stories. Just ask.

Today was the last day of the GRI class I was instructing. A really good group of people in the class, 33 of them that, it they could all get together and form a company, they would be a dynamic group. It was really an enjoyable two days, and I learned a lot from them.

Jody and I went back into Georgetown tonight to have dinner at Montana Mike's. I was feeling the need for dead meat, and that certainly satisfied the craving. We both brought home enough food for at least one more dinner, maybe two!

Four eggs from the girls today, they are all tucked comfortably in their coop. I am looking forward to sleeping a little longer in the morning.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, DEAD MEAT, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty Nine; Thursday...

Can you say OMG? OMG! Today is the 800th post to this journal. 800! I can really not comprehend that I have not missed a day in 800 day posting to this journal. I have posted in the middle of the Caribbean on a boat, in several cities across these wonderful United States, and never missed a day. Even though the blog name is 365daysofbill.com I have kept it going for a good while. I wonder if I have another 800 days in me? Only time will tell.

This is a photo of the class I was instructing today at the Board of REALTORS. Thirty-three really interesting folks; it was a great class, I enjoyed my time with them, and I think they enjoyed being there. I will be back tomorrow for the last day of their four day class. I hope they have learned some good stuff today, and that they will learn more tomorrow that will allow them to go off and make some money right now!

When I got home, Jody and I walked around our various 'gardens'. In the front, we have two different kinds of chard coming up, beets, and some lettuce. So far there is nothing coming up where we planted the okra. In the back, we have yellow squash coming up and CORN, but no signs of the zucchini yet. AND, there is no sign of the watermelon or cantaloupe, but we only planted those last Sunday. It will happen. We are (okay I am) very excited about the corn coming up. I think Jody is excited as well, maybe not as excited as I am. Now we just have to try and make sure that the chickens do not come along and eat the tender chutes.

Speaking of chickens, we got four eggs today, nice job!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CORN, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty Eight; Wednesday...

Well, this will get some chatter started. We are going to kind of bypass the day (it was really routine, filled with meetings, preparation for teaching class the next two days, getting prepared for MORE meetings, and relatively mundane stuff. BUT, when I got home from work, I went out to the yard to feed the chickens (they were quite ready to be fed) and came back to the house to help Jody move our tomato plants into the garage. It seems the temperature in Austin is going to be near the freezing mark overnight, and since we are 50 miles northeast of there, it means we may well get a light freeze. Generally speaking, not a really problem except these tomatoes are 'tender vegetation', so they needed to be brought in.

ANYWAY, actually moving the plants made me forget to check for eggs (we got six today), and so I went back out to the barn in front and when I was in there, I actually stopped and took a quick glance at a bunch of pictures and things that are being stored out there. These happen to be three things from my DISTANT past. The picture in front is from the late 70's when I was living in Memphis (not really my glory days, but fun). I had this dog (Borzoi) whose name was Justin and I schlepped this dog to the UP Bank Building at 100 North Main and convinced him that the escalator would not kill him and we arrived at a photographers shop on the mezzanine. Something else! And how do you like the suit? It was green and yellow plaid! No, really! The other chalk-drawing behind that was done in 1973 in New Orleans. I used to go to New Orleans (anything to get out of Memphis) every couple months and I had this made in Jackson Square. I remember that I had taken the train from Memphis to New Orleans and back that trip, LOTS OF FUN. No driving involved, but I do seem to remember a challenge or two making it TO the train. All was good once I was on. Lots of interesting stories I can tell, how much time do you have?

Okay, now we get to the Car & Driver part that I teased you with yesterday. As the days get warmer, the batteries on the Volt hold a better charge, and yesterday was a really good day. I made it 96.4% of the way to the office yesterday morning on electric power. That is over 46 of my 48 mile commute to the office. When I got there my average was over 126 MPG on this particular tank of gas. Well, I am really proud of that, but things have gone substantially downhill from there. I had meetings yesterday, and this and that and could not get a good charge. THEN, when I got home yesterday I FORGOT to plug the car in, and I did not realize it until this morning when I got up. SO, I plugged it in and got about 20 miles worth of charge, but my average for this tank of gas has gone way down. BUT, for the lifetime of the car, I am still around 83 MPG, so that does not suck. You have to keep in mind too, that I probably spend (not sure, more than a dollar, less than two dollars) about $1.50 per day for electricity. Overall though, it still comes out better than the Prius I was driving, and the technology will only get better. AND CHEAPER...

So, that is it for today, how did you like the pictures of me when I was a little man?

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SEX - DRUGS - ROCK & ROLL, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty Seven; Tuesday...

A much better day today than yesterday. I feel MUCH BETTER, so I think that made my perspective much happier. Either that or I am manic/depressive and I am peaking. It could be, there is a history there...WHATEVER...

We (the company) acted as break-sponsors this morning at the Board for one of the GRI classes. I will actually be instructing the same final two days of the class on Thursday and Friday, so it was interesting to see the attendees ahead of time to see if there were any trouble makers in the class. Not so far...but the classes get a bit more challenging as the week goes on, not the class content but the restlessness of the attendees. ANYWAY, this is a picture of Pat and Sytha and Carrie from our office at the break sponsorship, and since it was Mardi Gras Day (did I wish you a Happy Mardi Gras yet?) Pat brought some Mardi Gras Beads in as give-aways. Pretty fun!

Back to the office it was pretty much put your head down and do some power real estate, which was a good thing. I had an appointment in Georgetown this afternoon at 3:30 (nice how that worked out to be on my way home) but also just had time to 'clear' (?) my desk a little bit.

We only got three eggs from the girls today, and that does not count the 'breech' from today. Every now and then they miss the next and the egg does not make it. Again, I guess when the urge strikes, you gotta lay!

Tune in tomorrow for 'CAR' (mine) and 'DRIVER' (me) report. It should have actually been today, but I left my notes at the office.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HAPPY MARDI GRAS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!