Volume 12 - Day 258/108, 2020 - Monday

I am still resisting change. My blog URL insists that I change to their new format, I will give it another try one day this week, but not today. The only thing about it that did not work last week when I gave it a go, was the photo piece...I could not get the photo to be where I wanted it in the post. I will eventually have to do it, but not today. As Monday's go, this one was not terrible. I had a relatively casual morning, and I got in to the office about 10 o'clock. There were plenty of things for me to do, and I did most of it. I will go in to the office at least a couple more days this week, but I know for sure I will be home on Thursday, because that will be a day FULL of meetings! I am going to have to stop at the grocery tomorrow on my way home from the office. I have run out of milk, and that is a disaster for me. I also need a couple other things, but I could go a while longer if it were not for the milk depletion. Since I wear the same clothes all the time, I had very few clothes to wash last night, but I did get the wash done and even got the clothes dried and hung up those that needed hanging. There are still a few things in the dryer (I think), that need to be folded. It'll wait. I would really like to be motivated enough to dust the furniture and vacuum, but I will take it slowly. I have not dusted or vacuumed since March, so I guess it is true; dust only gets so thick... The photo in the blog tonight is just a view from the front yard. The trees are dropping their leaves, and I don't think it is because fall is in the air, I think it is because of the heat and really dry conditions we experienced earlier. We are hoping for more rain this week, and hoping the latest hurricane in the Gulf does not hurt life or property.

Volume 12 - Day 257/109, 2020 - Sunday

The registration for the farm truck is due next month, and you have to have the vehicle inspected within 90 of renewing the registration, so I decided that TODAY was the day I was going to get the truck inspected. AND, it took me ALL DAY to get it done. The truck has not been started (therefore it has not been moved) in several months, so the first task was to get it started. That did not take long because of my handy-dandy jump starter/cell phone charging device that I got a year ago from Costco. It is surprising how many times I have used that thing, but it is worth every penny (and it cost several pennies) that I paid for it. Okay, I got the truck started and I headed in to Georgetown to get the inspection done. Three different places (it is now about 11:30 AM) and a couple phone calls, and nobody can do the inspection today. They blame it all on the Covids, that it has backed up the license renewals for the people that do the inspections, so they have no one to do it on Sunday. I finally found a place that said I could make an appointment to have the truck inspected at 5 o'clock this afternoon, so I took it. I always worry that the truck won't pass inspection, even though it is thirteen years old and has less than 40K miles on it. SO...I passed by a 'brushless car wash' place, and decided I would get the truck washed. I have had the truck for 12 years, and I have NEVER had it washed. The car wash place was like one of the old quarter-car washes, except it is now $13. BUT, the truck has not looked this good since I drove it off the used truck lot 12 years ago. When I got home, I even vacuumed it out too! Fabulous. I headed back in to Georgetown, stopped at the auto parts place and got some Turtle Wax Headlight Lens Restorer (my friend Humberto in McAllen swears by it), and then I got to the inspection place, and it was easy-schmeezy! All done, registration done on-line, and that is it for another year.

Volume 12 - Day 256/110, 2020 - Saturday

I was not keen on the new blog format that I tried (ruefully) last night, so tonight I am declining to use the new format. I will give it a go another time. A nice day in central Texas, I did very little of anything that could be considered productive today, I did get in the car and drove to Liberty Hill, just for the hell of it. I did not see a thing that I needed to stop for, so I basically just took a two hour drive to nowhere. I meant to stop and get some lotto tickets, but I forgot, and I expect I will NOT win, since I don't have a ticket. Tomorrow I think I may drive towards Elgin, just to see what there is to see there, maybe not. I do need to do a few chores tomorrow, but nothing of any consequence. I did water pot plants this afternoon, since we have been a couple days with no rain. I think the ground plants are still quite comfortable, and there is a chance of rain again next week. Something with dirty feet has been walking across the pool deck, getting drinks of water from the bird bath. I think it looks like raccoon tracks, but I can't be sure, I am really not THAT rural. Anybody know?

Volume 12 - Day 255/111, 2020 - Friday

I am not at all comfortable with this, but I am going ahead with it any way. The site I use to post my daily journals has adopted a new format. They tried to get me to change over a few months ago, and I refused, and chose to stay with the old format. They tried to get me to move the the new format last night, and I chose not to do it. They are beckoning to me to change to the new format again tonight, so I am giving it a try. I am not particularly good with change. Not all change, but usually not comfortable with change to technology that I have grown comfortable with. BUT...I am not yet kicking and screaming, and I will just see how this works before I start. It is the weekend eve, and I am happy about that. The past work week crammed five days into four, and it is over now, so next week I can pretty much relax. Lots of zooms, but again, next week will be kind of slow, comparatively speaking. The recent rains (there was none today) have donewell by most of the in-ground plants, and these lilies are blooming very nicely. Now I need to put my head down and think of something to do this weekend.

Volume 12 - Day 254/112, 2020 - Thursday

I am not really sure how this happened, but at one point today, I got logged on to the wrong zoom meeting. I am sure I am not the first person to be misdirected (misguided?), but I was pretty surprised when I logged on, and this was what I saw. I am pretty sure they were surprised to see me as well. It was like I travelled back in time or something, truly odd. But, having spent most of the day on my butt in from of a couple computer terminals, I made it through the day none the worse for wear. I expect tomorrow will be a relatively calm day, it will start out slowly, and I will make my way in to the office, get some work done, maybe hit up an estate sale (if we can find one), and then head home and shelter in place for the weekend. The couch I ordered MONTHS ago was in fact delivered today, and it is beautiful, but it is also hard as a rock. I am going to find a place next week that can change the cushion filling with something that my ass will actually leave a dent in when I sit down. Other than that, I am totally happy with that on-line purchase, even if it did take months to happen.

Volume 12 - Day 253/113, 2020 - Wednesday

I was totally panicked because there was this stuff that kept falling out of the sky, and I had to go feed the chickens, and had to collect eggs and stuff like that, and I was just unsure about how to dress for the event. It all worked out oaky, though, and both the chickens and I survived the event. After tomorrow, things will calm down, but there will be a little bit of stress tomorrow. I don't exactly remember when the house flooded, but I think it was late March or April. Anyway, once all the furniture was packed up and put in containers in the driveway, I decided I would not bring a lot of that furniture back in to the house, it was a time to pare down and be a little bit selective. AND, during that time, I also stressed out over a new couch for the den. I finally succumbed to peer pressure across several states, and ordered a couch on line. Since that time, the delivery date has been extended twice, but this morning, I got an e-mail letting me know that the couch would be delivered TOMORROW! I will be presenting a class via zoom tomorrow between 10AM and 2PM, so I have no reason to believe that the couch will be delivered outside that time. I expect five or ten minutes after I start the class, they will show up. That is always the way it works out.

Volume 12 - Day 252/114, 2020 - Tuesday

For as little as I did today, I feel like I was roughed-up, rode hard, and put up unkempt! I am not used to these long days anymore, and there was a lot of stuff to do. There was a lot of stuff to NOT do, and just go ahead and reschedule that. Last minute stuff makes me a little bit crazy, and feeling that I am not in charge of stuff (like my schedules and appointments) makes me a little bit crazy. I am usually not a control freak, and I am really not a micro-manager (although I have been accused of MUCH worse), but I just felt like I could not connect all the dots today. Tomorrow and Thursday should be better (I will not be in the office at all), and Friday will be lovely. I will get to the office on Friday, and I hope there will be an estate sale to attend as well, that always brightens up the days! We had a little bit more rain this afternoon, and it is supposed to rain more tonight and all through tomorrow. Every day for the next seven days shows a chance of rain, so that is great, and the temperature today not not get above 85, I don't think. More rain equals more rain (blood) lilies! Better than a car wreck!