2014 - Day 324/41 - Friday...

The devil has been busy beating his wife all day today.  Pouring down rain and the sun is shining to beat the band! 

I am pretty darned happy that today is Friday, even though that also means a dearth of television programming.  I think I will be able to keep myself busy.  Speaking of rain (see above), it is supposed to rain overnight and for most of the day and night tomorrow.  BUT, Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day.  That will work out because that is the day of the annual Austin Empty Bowl Project.  Every year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, folks line up around the building to get a hand made bowl, some bread and soup, and listen to some local music.  This year will be no exception, and it is always a great event.  We have been long-term sponsors of the event, and continue to do so.  If you want to know more, go to http://www.austinemptybowl.org/ and find out all about it.  On Sunday I will be volunteering as the TRASH MAN, and I have to tell you, I do a pretty darned good job!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, TRASH MAN, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2014 - Day 324/41 - Thursday...

Umm...okay...Tis the season to be...INTERESTING.  Yeah, that's it.  INTERETING!  That's my story and I'm sticking with it!  So, once again, there I was, minding my own business, and I come up against this guy.  Fern.  That's his story and he's sticking with it.  I did share with him that "Fern" is my porn name, and if you want to know more about that, just ask.  It is (aren't they all) an interesting story.  But I digress.  Fern (no me the porn star, this guy in the photo) works in customer service, and he was very helpful.  I don't think too many people argue with him.  He was a very nice guy, and it just goes to show you that you should not judge a book by its' cover.

I made it home this afternoon, and shortly after I happily in the house, it started to rain.  That is not supposed to happen until Saturday, but there it was.  Last I looked, there was 0.06" in the gauge, and it has rained a little bit since then.

And finally, just in case you are having a hard time finding that perfect gift for that man or woman in you life who has everything, this is for you!  I am stealing this word-for-word from the Bartlett Tribune-Progress (Serving Central Texas Since 1886):  Public Notice - Historic Bridge Available.  The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announces the availability of a historic eight box concrete culvert for relocation and preservation in compliance with the U.S. Secretary of Interior's Standards for Treatment of Historic Properties.  The bridge is located on County Road (CR) 115 (signed Colorado Street) at Willis Creek located in Granger, in Williamson County.

The bridge was built in 1925.  It consists of eight concrete boxes measuring eight feet by six feet.  It has an overall width of 32 feet and a clear roadway width of 20 feet.  THe total length of the bridge is 70 feet.  Technical difficulties and substantial costs associated with relocating and reconstructing the bridge should be anticipated.

Limited financial assistance is available to help with relocation costs.  The Austin District of TxDot will be accepting reuse proposals until August 1, 2014.  For more information, please contact Monica Swensen at (512) 832-7181.

Marketing this bridge to a responsible party is required under Title 23, U.S. Code, Section 144.

There you have it, even if it is too late to get it (according to the deadline published in the paper yesterday).

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

2014 - Day 323/42 - Wednesday...

Who knew Sandy Clause does not have a favorite charity.  I would have expected that if anyone was on the knowing end of who would be in need of a little bit of assistance, it would be good old Sandy Clause hisself!  There I was, minding my own business, when Sandy walked past.  I acknowledged his northern presence on a lovely balmy day in northwest Austin, and he responded with the obligatory hohoho's and the this-n-that's, and kept on walking.  Always thinking and with a certain presence of mind, I hollered back to him and asked him if he would grant me a selfie opportunity.  It seems the old guy is not a bit bashful nor camera shy and is up for any and all self-promotion (even though it is not even Thanksgiving yet).  I queried as to a favorite charity as a trade for this pictorial documentation of the event (perhaps thinking temporarily that I was back in the southern hemisphere where every llama and colorfully clad coca leaf peddler is photographable for a fee), but he declined.  I did mention that I was heating up the road to make a charitable donation to the Coats for Kids drive, and he thought that was just fine.  This particular photograph does not capture his full sartorial glory, red jacket and green velvet (perhaps velour) pants and pointy shoes.  You just had to be there.

Reports of Austin losing its' weird are highly exaggerated.

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

2014 - Day 322/43 - Tuesday...

Oh Siri, you silly, SILLY girl you.  It's kind of like you are a genie in the phone, but you are a cantankerous little devil deep down inside, aren't you.  You do give me good driving directions, I have to admit, but you are not worth crap when it comes to finding a phone number for the place across the street.  Admit it.  Whenever you are asked to locate the closest so-and-so, you seem totally incapable of giving me you full attention.  And just today, you erased all my calendars from my phone.  POOF!  You freakin' little...  Oh, sorry, this is a family oriented journal.  But it took me until just now to figure this whole charade out, and it was right in the palm of my hand the whole time.  I have been accused time and again for "obviously pushing the wrong button" or even "I guess we'll just have to do a factory restore" or "I don't know how you manage to f up your phone all the time".  But it is really you, isn't it.  It never occurred to me.  I think you are actually the opposite of artificial intelligence.  Are you in cahoots with a dude named HAL?  I used to think it was the GOOGLES that I loathed and despised, but I now find that it is you , little Miss Siri.  Why I oughtta...

MEDIC!

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

2014 - Day 321/44 - Monday...

The coyotes are across the road doing an a cappella version of "Baby It's Cold Outside".  Not sure, but it sounds like 6 or 8 of them.  And the sound carries much better on these cold dry nights.  The girls are relieved that I have tucked them into their coop for the night, too.

Today was a really good day for a Monday, even though it was a Monday.  And there were lots of meetings to attend, back to back.  10 til 4:30. But there were lots of significant advances made and for all those accomplishments, I am proud.  On the way to work there was this beautiful sunrise.  It was a lovely sight, since we have been days with clouds and drizzle.  We are all glad we don't live in Seattle, because we (here on or near the edge of nowhere) cannot tolerate too many days without sunshine.  I guess the folks in Seattle feel the same way about drizzle.  They can only go so long without it.  What do you think Melody?

Tomorrow is another full day, as is Wednesday.  Thursday and Friday will welcome a little bit of some scheduling opportunities, and next week looks pretty wide open, even if there are only three days in the work week!

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

2014 - Day 320/45 - Sunday...

Sad news is almost worse than bad news.  There is plenty of bad news, but add a bunch of sad news in with it, and it is almost intolerable.  Bad news is about crap that adults perpetrate upon themselves (or others) and sad news is about babies and puppies. 

It was one of those days, nothing bad happened (see above) and nothing sad happened (see above), but it was cold, drizzly, grey and windy.  Just the perfect day for working outside an doing stuff that would be better done on a day when the temperature was closer to 70 degrees, with a light breeze out of the north and an occasional cloud just to block enough sun so that you don't begin to glisten.  But no, it was as I previously said, but I did (along with Miguel) what needed to be done, and was pretty much finished by noon.  I have also been able to keep the fire in the stove and that is nice.  I thought you might like seeing this wet spider web that I photographed before it was (regrettably) destroyed when we had to take hay to the cattle.  Spiders are not known for their good sense in choosing a locale for their homes.  I often wonder if tragic endings like this one are reported on the spider-new channels as a really big storm that came through and destroyed the dwelling.  Do spiders need big-wind insurance, and if so, what are the premiums like.  I think it might be really bad for fire-ants, because I wreak havoc on those at the drop of a hat.

Hmmm.

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

2014 - Day 319/46 - Saturday...

Let us begin with this query:  Who in the HELL would ever need to visit the web site www.doiwantarootcanal.com?  I do not need to visit that site to get the answer.  I ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER to that question, and I expect there are a bunch more stupid questions that I already know the answer to.  I heard an advertisement for this place on the radio today, and I was just kind of struck dumb.  Okay, dumber than usual.  Just to make sure that I was not hallucinating, I visited the site, and they even know he answer.  The answer is NO! 

But I digress...

It was a quiet day on the edge of nowhere, I made it into Bartlett this morning and bought two hay rings for the cattle, two bags of bird seed (I am going to try and grow my own birds, Jody is not in favor of it, but I am going to give it a shot) and two bales of cedar shavings for the girls.  We had a guy come out and replace the garage door opener, and I tried following the directions that were provided to me by the manufacturers help desk for the NEW weather station, and that did not work, either.  Perhaps we are not destined for a new, advanced weather station.  It has been dribbling from the sky for about the last five or six hours, just a fine mist, I would not expect there to be any recordable accumulation, but you never know.  Another two or three cold nights, and back up into the 70's by next weekend.

Yippee!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, THE ANSWER IS NO
, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!