Every Monday at 9 AM is for the weekly meeting. After 30 years in the Military and all the B.S. meetings I attended has made me shy away from meeting that do not make me money. However, Carroll attends these meeting which usually last 1 hour and all the "section heads" give a short dissertation on what is happening during the week. The people in charge of entertainment , suppers, and games provide their info/updates and sometime there is a rebuttal or what I call a complaint.
Every Monday evening a meal is severed , from 4:30 to 5:30 for 5.00 a plate and tonight was Stew or Chili. Carroll and I arrived at the Rec Hall at 5:10 and the Stew was gone so it was Chili or go home. We took the Chili, which was OK but we sat with a couple from Sask who have 3 children in Okotoks and Calgary so we had a good chat with them.
Monday night is also games night as they host a Bingo, Texas Holdem , Crib and Euchre. I have been playing Euchre but I am surprised that we only have 12 people attending. I would have thought that it was an old folks game. One lady either can't shuffle the deck or is too dam slow so when she is at my table I shuffle for her as I don't want to be there all night. Then she sits there and says ; oh I don't know what to do and I always say play Trump. One guy says , don't tell her that. Hey , it's a game; not the world Series. Cheers
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Sunday...29 Jan 17
Sunday is usual a slow day but we managed to "while "it away. Of course the first item was breakfast with our friends at the Keno restaurant and it is always packed on Sundays with church goers. I think the churches have a schedule so that they don't all have there Sermons at the same time as this would overload this restaurant.
Carroll and I arrived at 10 AM and there was one table available. At 10 minutes later when our friends arrived there was 6 or 7 tables empty. By 10:30 it was packed with a dozen people waiting. It seems amazing.
This business is owned and operated by people of Hispanic heritage but they are all Americans including all the waitresses. In fact I don't think we have been in a restaurant since we have been here that has a Gringo worker. However, you have to remember that this area of TX is of mainly Hispanic heritage probably because it belong to MX many years ago.
After breakfast we headed to McAllen to a store called "Harbor Freight" as we had a Flyer which had a sale on a couple of items that I could not live without. I call this store " Princess Auto Light " because the quality of "some " of there products are of lesser quality but the price is right. As an example they had a 40 piece 3/8 socket set for 9.99 and a Multi-meter for 3.99. If you buy anything at all , the flyer has a 20 % coupon and they throw in a mini flashlite that sells for a dollar. When Carroll was cashing out with her 15.00 worth of essential items she noticed that the guy ahead of her had a couple of hundred dollars worth but no 20 % coupon so she gave the coupon to him .
Our next move to kill the afternoon was to go to a Flea market in a small town 10 minutes away. Again it was what I call a "Mexican " flea market because all the food Booths sell MX food and many items are of lesser quality. But our reason for going was to buy a few DVD's that would be of interest to us, one of which was " The Big Short" as it has been in the local theaters and will not be back.
They did not have that DVD but it does not take a genesis to see that is is a contraband business. You pick out the DVD cover of the movie that you want, pay the 2.00 charge and the clerk passes the cover thru a small window in the wall and 5 minutes later you get your DVD. I'm sure there is a bunch of computer operators behind the wall running off DVD and I'm sure the Authorities know this is going on.
They use to sell contraband DVDs in MX but the Customs stopped they coming into the US so now they do it right here.
We returned home to watch curling; aw damit; Jennifer Jones did not make it to the Scotties. Oh well, I'll get over it... eh eh eh. cheers
Monday, 30 January 2017
Love a Rainy Day...28 Jan 17
The weather man said that Saturday and Sunday would be overcast and rainy because we have a cold front coming in from the north causing the overcast and his forecast was correct. The temp dropped considerably as it was 6 C at 7 AM on Saturday and was
damp and cool all day.
Since we couldn't do much outdoors , Carroll scanned the computer for a Cineplex theater that had a show. She found one with the show "Fences " which was on her list of must see. So we called our friends the " Nahas " and they were no busier than us, so the 4 of us went to the Show. However, as usual, Carroll got the wrong theater. As we were standing in the theater wondering were another was located a young lady heard us talking and ask if she could help. We said we were looking for the show "Fences" so she looked it up on her cell ( Neither of us had our cell with us ) and said it was 5 minutes away. Larry and Holly knew where it was so off we go and since everyone knows that the first 15 minutes of any show is only commercials so we got there in lots of time.
That help to kill most of the day and the rest of the time was spent at home watching Curling on TSN since there was no "real " hockey on TV. Cheers
damp and cool all day.
Since we couldn't do much outdoors , Carroll scanned the computer for a Cineplex theater that had a show. She found one with the show "Fences " which was on her list of must see. So we called our friends the " Nahas " and they were no busier than us, so the 4 of us went to the Show. However, as usual, Carroll got the wrong theater. As we were standing in the theater wondering were another was located a young lady heard us talking and ask if she could help. We said we were looking for the show "Fences" so she looked it up on her cell ( Neither of us had our cell with us ) and said it was 5 minutes away. Larry and Holly knew where it was so off we go and since everyone knows that the first 15 minutes of any show is only commercials so we got there in lots of time.
That help to kill most of the day and the rest of the time was spent at home watching Curling on TSN since there was no "real " hockey on TV. Cheers
Saturday, 28 January 2017
Shopping/Dinner...27 Jan 17
Today is an overcast day ( 10 C at 7 AM ) and we have been advised that a cold (cool ) front is coming in for the weekend which will include some rain but Tuesday will bring the return of sunny weather.
Today being Friday means the Veggie Wagon ( actually 2 wagons ) arrived on schedule at 9 AM and people , including us, flock around the wagons as if they will run out of the "good stuff". I tried to include a picture but apparently I'm not smart enough to figure it out. Carroll needed a couple of items, which is a term she uses loosely and the cost was 13.00. Since most items are a dollar, we ended up with 2 bags full.
We have an outlet Maul about 5 miles away so we thought we could kill a few hours by checking out the stores. We needed something from the " Kitchen Connection " but as it turns out it closed 3 weeks ago. Things must be slow in the RGV because every store we canvassed had sales on up to 70 % and an extra 10 % on Tuesday. We found some nice golf shirts and sweaters so we will return on Tuesday to get our "Seniors " discount.
One Canadian couple of East Indian origin had several items such as a suite jacket, pants, shorts and a sweater or two and found out that there was an extra 10% off on Tuesday so "wife" ask the clerk to hold the items until Tuesday and he agreed. That tells me that he really wanted to make a sale. There wasn't many people shopping because we went into a dozen stores and I could count the customers on one hand.
Our friends called to say that they were going to dinner at a nice restaurant that had a shrimp dinner for 10.00 with a coupon in the local paper and ask if we cared to join them which gladly accepted. The dinner came with an Brochette appetizer and a salad, so how could we turn it down. The most expensive item was my 5.00 beer. After dinner we returned to our friends home to play cards. By that time, the promised rain started to come down and I'm sure it will last all weekend. cheers
Today being Friday means the Veggie Wagon ( actually 2 wagons ) arrived on schedule at 9 AM and people , including us, flock around the wagons as if they will run out of the "good stuff". I tried to include a picture but apparently I'm not smart enough to figure it out. Carroll needed a couple of items, which is a term she uses loosely and the cost was 13.00. Since most items are a dollar, we ended up with 2 bags full.
We have an outlet Maul about 5 miles away so we thought we could kill a few hours by checking out the stores. We needed something from the " Kitchen Connection " but as it turns out it closed 3 weeks ago. Things must be slow in the RGV because every store we canvassed had sales on up to 70 % and an extra 10 % on Tuesday. We found some nice golf shirts and sweaters so we will return on Tuesday to get our "Seniors " discount.
One Canadian couple of East Indian origin had several items such as a suite jacket, pants, shorts and a sweater or two and found out that there was an extra 10% off on Tuesday so "wife" ask the clerk to hold the items until Tuesday and he agreed. That tells me that he really wanted to make a sale. There wasn't many people shopping because we went into a dozen stores and I could count the customers on one hand.
Our friends called to say that they were going to dinner at a nice restaurant that had a shrimp dinner for 10.00 with a coupon in the local paper and ask if we cared to join them which gladly accepted. The dinner came with an Brochette appetizer and a salad, so how could we turn it down. The most expensive item was my 5.00 beer. After dinner we returned to our friends home to play cards. By that time, the promised rain started to come down and I'm sure it will last all weekend. cheers
Friday, 27 January 2017
Motown Magic....26 Jan 17
Motown Magic is a band from Las Vegas that is travelling thru Az and TX treating us Senior to Music from the 60's, 70's and 80's. They have a drummer, a man on keyboard and 4 singers with great voices, and the word Motown can tell you their color.
The sang song from Commodores, Platers and other like troupes. Several songs were written by Smoky Robinson who apparently was the creme de creme of the song writer for the Motown singers. With my musical background I barely recalled any songs but the music was great and the ticket price was only 14.00 which was cheap for a group that sings in Vegas.
We also went to MX yesterday as I was looking for Drambuie at the Duty Free as Feldman's in McAllen wanted 40.00. However the price at the Duty Free was 33.00 and with a TX tax of 3.75 it wasn't much of a bargain. We also wanted other items such as Honey, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Peaunuts and Carroll want to check out a clothing store.
After an hour of pushing our way around MX bumping into other winter Texans we stopped for lunch and a beer for me. Beer is 2.00 so why drink water when beer is that cheap. We will probably have one more trip to MX in March so Carroll can get a pedicure and I will get a 5.00 hair cut and a shoe shine. cherrs
The sang song from Commodores, Platers and other like troupes. Several songs were written by Smoky Robinson who apparently was the creme de creme of the song writer for the Motown singers. With my musical background I barely recalled any songs but the music was great and the ticket price was only 14.00 which was cheap for a group that sings in Vegas.
We also went to MX yesterday as I was looking for Drambuie at the Duty Free as Feldman's in McAllen wanted 40.00. However the price at the Duty Free was 33.00 and with a TX tax of 3.75 it wasn't much of a bargain. We also wanted other items such as Honey, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Peaunuts and Carroll want to check out a clothing store.
After an hour of pushing our way around MX bumping into other winter Texans we stopped for lunch and a beer for me. Beer is 2.00 so why drink water when beer is that cheap. We will probably have one more trip to MX in March so Carroll can get a pedicure and I will get a 5.00 hair cut and a shoe shine. cherrs
Thursday, 26 January 2017
Running more Errands... 25 Jan 17
The temperature reached 31 C by high noon but luckily we have a breeze and we have A/C in the house.
We had to run some errands today but we had to go to McAllen ( pop. 100, 000) and it is about 15 minute drive on the Weslaco "500 " better known as the Expressway. The speed limit is 70 MPH and I coast around 65 to 70 but I am mostly in the way of the "Indy drivers". I think most young Hispanic are apprenticing for the Indy 500.
We had 5 places to go to run the errands. Our camera is not working and we wanted that solved ,also I want to check the price of "booze " at Feldman's ( a super store for booze). If they don't stock, they don't make it. Then I was having a problem with the iPhone accepting a charge and then we needed a couple of items ( Carroll's definition ) at Costco. Finally a quick stop at the veggie market for a couple of items and then to the H.E.B. store ( Wal-Mart competitor ) for Riblets on sale for 1.27.
First things first was a camera repair shop. I explained to the lady that it would not read my 8 GB SD card and with one look at our camera she said it was too old to read the 8 GB but she tried it anyway. Then she tried a 5 GB, no luck so she went into the shop and "resurrected" a 2 GB and it worked. I said I'll buy the 2 Gb how much and she said 15.00. I replied that you have got to be Kidding me, I can but an 8 Gb at Walgreens drug store for 12.00. So she says I'll trade you straight up for your 8 Gb for my 2 Gb and I said that;s a deal. Problem solved.
Now , to the Feldman's and believe me this a shopping experience because they sell food items that go with booze and they have a coffee shop / lunch counter. I just like to walk around looking at all the different products and they usually have sales but never on Drambuie (36.00 USD for 1 litre ) which I was looking for. I will go to MX to morrow and check out the duty free store.
Next we had to find an iPhone store which Carroll had spotted earlier. I ask the tech to check my iPhone because the charging cable would not go in far enough. He plugged into the wall then the other end into the phone and as soon as I heard it "snap " I realized I was not pushing the cable in far enough. The tech just laughed and said that it is working. "Operator Error... Lesson Learned ".
Next we are off to Costco and when I queried Carroll what we needed at Costco she said , bread, butter and possibly eggs. By time we got to the checkout those items cost 85.00 and to think that the eggs were only 1.17 for 1 1/2 dozen of large.
Now we are heading home and I need a beer. But since we are passing the veggie market we shoul pickup onions and some tomatoes. Then one more stop at H.E.B. to pick up the Riblets and believe it or not that is all we bought. We left home at 11 AM and got home at 4 PM. So that is how to kill a day in TX. cheers
We had to run some errands today but we had to go to McAllen ( pop. 100, 000) and it is about 15 minute drive on the Weslaco "500 " better known as the Expressway. The speed limit is 70 MPH and I coast around 65 to 70 but I am mostly in the way of the "Indy drivers". I think most young Hispanic are apprenticing for the Indy 500.
We had 5 places to go to run the errands. Our camera is not working and we wanted that solved ,also I want to check the price of "booze " at Feldman's ( a super store for booze). If they don't stock, they don't make it. Then I was having a problem with the iPhone accepting a charge and then we needed a couple of items ( Carroll's definition ) at Costco. Finally a quick stop at the veggie market for a couple of items and then to the H.E.B. store ( Wal-Mart competitor ) for Riblets on sale for 1.27.
First things first was a camera repair shop. I explained to the lady that it would not read my 8 GB SD card and with one look at our camera she said it was too old to read the 8 GB but she tried it anyway. Then she tried a 5 GB, no luck so she went into the shop and "resurrected" a 2 GB and it worked. I said I'll buy the 2 Gb how much and she said 15.00. I replied that you have got to be Kidding me, I can but an 8 Gb at Walgreens drug store for 12.00. So she says I'll trade you straight up for your 8 Gb for my 2 Gb and I said that;s a deal. Problem solved.
Now , to the Feldman's and believe me this a shopping experience because they sell food items that go with booze and they have a coffee shop / lunch counter. I just like to walk around looking at all the different products and they usually have sales but never on Drambuie (36.00 USD for 1 litre ) which I was looking for. I will go to MX to morrow and check out the duty free store.
Next we had to find an iPhone store which Carroll had spotted earlier. I ask the tech to check my iPhone because the charging cable would not go in far enough. He plugged into the wall then the other end into the phone and as soon as I heard it "snap " I realized I was not pushing the cable in far enough. The tech just laughed and said that it is working. "Operator Error... Lesson Learned ".
Next we are off to Costco and when I queried Carroll what we needed at Costco she said , bread, butter and possibly eggs. By time we got to the checkout those items cost 85.00 and to think that the eggs were only 1.17 for 1 1/2 dozen of large.
Now we are heading home and I need a beer. But since we are passing the veggie market we shoul pickup onions and some tomatoes. Then one more stop at H.E.B. to pick up the Riblets and believe it or not that is all we bought. We left home at 11 AM and got home at 4 PM. So that is how to kill a day in TX. cheers
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
A Slow Day... 23 Jan 17
I couldn't find much to do today so in the afternoon I went to the pool, did a couple of laps and then swapped non-essential stories with a guy from Sask. Then I soaked up some Sun while reading my book " The Battle of Alberta " which depicts the Blood and Guts battle in the mid 80's between the Flames and the Oilers.
Once I had enough Sun I jumped into the Hot Tub ( I know: why a Hot Tub on a hot day ??? ( I don't know the answer ) where 5 Canadians were solving all the political problems in Canada mostly bad mouthing Trudeau about his " mis-step " about getting rid of fossil fuel , meaning the Oil Sands. One can only stand so much BS so I went home.
Every Monday evening the Park has a supper for 5.00 and tonight was all you can eat Soup and a Bun. We were not that hunger since we spent most of the day holding down a chair so we meandered over and had soup. They had 3 different kinds on the menu but one bowl was enough for me.
Monday night is also Euchre night and I also noted that they also had 2 tables of Texas Holdem. I didn't plan on playing every Sunday evening but some of the guys basically insisted that I was needed to ensure they have enough players.
There is a quarter entry fee and 10 cents if you get euchred and the high score gets the quarters. After the game was over I started to walk out since my total score was low when someone said "pick up you 30 cents". I said I had a low score and he said all the dimes are divided up between all the players so my share was 30 cents.
Since this is Gambling I ask if I would be getting a T-4 but nobody knew for sure. cheers
Once I had enough Sun I jumped into the Hot Tub ( I know: why a Hot Tub on a hot day ??? ( I don't know the answer ) where 5 Canadians were solving all the political problems in Canada mostly bad mouthing Trudeau about his " mis-step " about getting rid of fossil fuel , meaning the Oil Sands. One can only stand so much BS so I went home.
Every Monday evening the Park has a supper for 5.00 and tonight was all you can eat Soup and a Bun. We were not that hunger since we spent most of the day holding down a chair so we meandered over and had soup. They had 3 different kinds on the menu but one bowl was enough for me.
Monday night is also Euchre night and I also noted that they also had 2 tables of Texas Holdem. I didn't plan on playing every Sunday evening but some of the guys basically insisted that I was needed to ensure they have enough players.
There is a quarter entry fee and 10 cents if you get euchred and the high score gets the quarters. After the game was over I started to walk out since my total score was low when someone said "pick up you 30 cents". I said I had a low score and he said all the dimes are divided up between all the players so my share was 30 cents.
Since this is Gambling I ask if I would be getting a T-4 but nobody knew for sure. cheers
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