Volume 12 - Day 121/245, 2020 - Thursday

Can you believe it is the last day of April already? Crazy. I was listening to a radio program yesterday, and one of the topics was (I am paraphrasing) that young people think days, weeks and years go by slowly, and the older you get, the quicker you think time goes by. One caller said that, if you are twelve years old, a year accounts for 1/12th of your life and experiences, and if you were (for example) 68 years old, a year represents 1/68th of your life and experiences, so the older you are, the shorter years become, based on the length of your life and your life experiences. It kind of makes sense, but I would not waste a lot of time pondering it. The older you are, the less time you have left, so don't waste it on hypothetical things.

There were no traumatic experiences in the past 24 hours, so that is a new record for me. One nice thing is that this particular flora (I have no idea what the name of these are), are finally blooming. I should have paid attention (or tried to remember) when I bought them years ago. I have always called the rain iris or rain lilies, but according to Mrs. Google, that is not correct. If you know what the are, please share.

Three paragraphs! I have not done more than one paragraph in years. I wonder what that means?

Volume 12 - Day 120/246, 2020 - Wednesday

There were two events overnight, that I find worth discussing in this journal entry. Late last night, I took a bar stool (I got new ones from Wayfair yesterday afternoon) and put it in one of the bedrooms we really never go into. The flooring was 'squishy,' and a few feet further into the bedroom, there was water coming up from under the flooring. I searched everywhere for the source, and could not find anything. I eventually turned off the water, but by then, there was water coming up in several places. In hindsight, I think the leak started on Monday. Several calls to the insurance company/water remediation companies/plumbers and other folks ended up with this plan. We are covered for most of it (not all and there is always the deductible). On Monday (most likely) they will send someone or a group of people to move all the furniture out of about half of the house into storage containers. EVERYTHING. They empty the drawers into boxes and then move the furniture. That will take three days (they said). Then they will come out and pull up all the flooring, bathroom cabinets, moldings, maybe the built in book cases and entertainment center in the den. Then they start the drying out process and the anti-microbial stuff and the other stuff. I have no idea when the rebuilding will start. It is a first world problem, I understand that, but I would be much happier if it had not happened. The other event was the storm that came through overnight. About 4 in the morning, there was quite a light show of lightning and thunder. We got 1.13" of rain. The piglet girl ended up under the covers, I thought that was cute. The storms lasted until about 5:30 or 6. While I was taking the plumbers to the water cutoff up by the road, this mud bug was sashaying down the driveway. Yep, there was a little rain, and that was good for the tanks back in the pastures. I expect to sleep better tonight. Fingers crossed!

Volume 12 - Day 119/247, 2020 - Tuesday

Tuesday? It just turned in to something like Monday. I went in to Austin late this morning, and got some real estate stuff done. I got home in time for a two o'clock zoom meeting, and then I went up to check the mail. Nothing very exciting in the mail, but the bar stools that I had ordered from Wayfair had been delivered. I ordered charcoal upholstered barstools, and the boxes (two) said 'black.' Well, damn. I waited until after I ate and watched the news before I opened up one of the boxes, and they were indeed charcoal, and that was good. I put them both together in less than twenty minutes, and I like them very much. I took the one barstool that we have had for years, and took it to the 'storage room,' also known as Mikey's bedroom. When I went into the bedroom, I heard what I thought was a gurgling noise. Ugh. It wasn't like a noise from an air conditioner, it was just a gurgling noise. I went further into the bedroom, and when I opened the door to the bathroom vanity area, water started coming up from under the laminate flooring. Ugh. I thought I had a water leak somewhere, and I had searched everywhere inside the house and checked all the hose bibs outside. I convinced myself it had to be a leak somewhere in one of the pastures, and I just thought I would find it in a day or two. This puts a whole new spin on the problem, and to be honest, I do not know who to call first. I think the leak is either in the plumbing that goes to the Jack and Jill bath tub/shower, or at the hose bib outside the bedroom in the dog yards. I know I will eventually have to get the insurance company involved, and I guess I will need to call a plumber first thing in the morning. Worst case is that this causes a mold issue, which I cannot even contemplate at this minute. Oh, today's picture...look what I found in the garage the other day. I forgot I had these, I was supposed to be using them when I cut the grass, but they were not really convenient. Now I can repurpose them for something else!

Volume 12 - Day 118/248, 2020 - Monday

In the twelve years we have lived here, it has not been unusual to see vultures riding the thermals all around here. The Edge of Nowhere is kind of a breezy place, there is nothing out here to stop the winds. This afternoon, we were experiencing near gale force winds from the south. Honestly, you could hear the wind howling outside. So, I was kind of surprised to see this vulture walking around up towards the road. It left, then would come back. When I went out to see what the attraction was, there was a dead rabbit up there. The bamboo is a haven for rabbits, but vultures don't kill things (to the best of my knowledge), they just clean up stuff after stuff is dead. So, I have no idea what killed the rabbit, but I relocated the carcass to across the road in the county's right of way. I expect the vulture will sniff it out, and take care of it from there. Otherwise, not a bad day. I took the girls for a ride this evening, mainly because I had not started Jody's car in over a week. I was happy that it started right up with no issues. I will head in to Austin tomorrow, and I may need to go in again later in the week.

Volume 12 - Day 117/249, 2020 - Sunday

It was an absolutely beautiful day here on the Edge of Nowhere. Beautiful blue skies, and just a little smattering of wispy white clouds. It was not as warm today as yesterday, but the humidity is going up from the southerly breezes.I got most of my chores done, at least all the things that absolutely, positively had to be done today. I went into Jarrell to do a little bit of shopping; Tractor Supply for a few things that the did NOT have, and then to the small grocery across the street. I am all set up for the next week at least. I cleaned a few more things our of the (various) freezers this afternoon. The record goes to some frozen salmon that had a 'best by' date of January, 2011. Not even I will try to salvage that. I wanted to clean the pantry shelves, but I just could not get motivated. I get the chicken coop cleaned out, gathered up eggs, and I replaced the flags out in the circle. Later this evening, I will take the giant garbage can out to the road, and that will be it for another week. Not sure about my schedule this week, but I expect I will make at least two trips in to Austin.

Volume 12 - Day 116/250, 2020 - Saturday

Days frequently have their ups and downs. My day had some middles and up, no downs that are really worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things. I think we have more humming birds this year than we have had in the past. Just a minute ago, I saw something that I have never seen before; a hummer was getting a drink of water out of the tall fountain on the front walk. I watched because I wanted to make sure it was not about to drown. It flew off, and as I was typing these last sentences, it came back. I have noticed them much more this year, maybe because I spend more time this year looking out the windows, maybe there really are more this year, I'm not sure. The air conditioner for one side of the house shut down last night, and I was out in the garage and up in the attic after dark last night, nekkid, thinking I would be able to get it going again. I couldn't. So...a weekend service call later, and all is good. There is some benefit to being a property manager, even if the benefits are becoming less and less attractive by the minute. I headed in to Austin about 2 o'clock this afternoon, and got back home about 6 or 6:30. I have a few chores on my list for tomorrow, and I may even go in to the grocery store in Jarrell to see what I can find. The littler store in Jarrell is tremendously easier than the HEB in Georgetown, although I am a devoted fan of HEB. Hope you enjoy this pic of clouds, they were really interesting
this afternoon.

Volume 12 - Day 115/251, 2020 - Friday

Not a bad day for a Friday. Or any day of the week for that matter. Two early morning zoom meetings, then a couple phone calls, got an update e-mail off to Landlords, had two PBJ flips for lunch, took a nap, watered some plants, fed the cat and the chickens, collected eggs, got a call from a friend in Pennsylvania, made a quick iPhone video, helped the office get ready for a Facebook promotion, blew off the patio and pool deck, emptied the skimmer basket, fixed some dinner (pre-cooked chicken leg and thigh), shared my dinner with the girls, took a couple pictures of some lovely clouds, sat out in the dog yard with the girls for a while, now doing the blog before I retire to watch a little bit more television. Then off to lala land for the night. I have an appointment in Austin tomorrow afternoon, and on Sunday I plan to clean the pantry shelves and transplant a lily in the back yard to another spot. JoeMac and Carolyn sent me this DVD of Dumbo, so I will get that on the schedule pretty soon. THANKS JOEMAC AND CAROLYN! This Dumbo is not to be confused with the Brooklyn Dumbo, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. One of my clients lives in Dumbo, and I think that would be a really interesting place to live. Or visit. I think it has a cache to it!