25 Dec 17
Well!! Christmas day has arrived and our Christmas Meal will be in the Rec Hall, 200 other folks at 5:30 PM , which is called supper to us. The tables are decorated and since Senior are just older Kids they all try to do out each other with the decorations.
The schedule said that Cocktails (BYOB) was from 4 to 5 PM and then there will a game which is always a list of test question related to Christmas. This year we had a list of 15 questions and I got 3 correct so you know how interested I was. The winner got 9 correct which my math is 60 % which earned her a bottle wine.
One such question was: Who is Rudolph's Dad? I didn't even know he had one.
Since we were last to the Party we were place at one end of the table. However, the couple we sat beside were really nice except the gentleman was deaf in his left ear and I was on his left side so I got to eat Christmas dinner mainly in silence. I did ascertain that he was once in the Army, had small dairy farm in Minnesota and owned a hardware store. The other 2 hours was spent with me hoping the night would end.
After a function like this all the chairs and tables must be folded and put away so that the Rec Hall would be ready of the next day. Unfortunately, all the sick , lame and lazy beat it for the exit so that leaves about 10 % of us left to do the work. I was close to the rack that held the chairs so I grabbed my chair and Carroll's and put them in the rack thinking that my work was done. However as I turned to walk away there was a lineup of 10 people ready to hand me the chairs to put in the chair rack, So for the next 15 minutes I was the Chief chair "racker" if that is the correct word.
After all the chairs and tables were properly stored we went home the evening. Christmas is done for another year. Cheers
Accept who you are : Unless you are a serial Killer
Sunday, 31 December 2017
Saturday, 30 December 2017
Breakfast at Tiffany,s
24 Dec 17
We went for breakfast with friends at restaurants and since I can't recall the name of it , Tiffany's will do.
Our friend Terry and another couple we met thru Terry last year always do breakfast every Sunday and usually try a different place if possible. This time they selected a restaurant at a hotel in Mercedes, a town 5 miles from our park. I was a little suspect since it had a Hispanic name but I shouldn't have been because as we walked in about 50 Winter Texan must have skipped Church because they were already eating. Gladly, this little known place had seating for 100 so there still was a table for us.
I also noticed a sign giving the menu for Christmas Dinner so obvious they were open. We are going there for breakfast tomorrow so we will check to see if they are open for New Years day; if so we will be there.
Since the weather was still "Shitty", 10 C, windy , cool and misty we decided to check our the Theatre schedule and we seen that "Wonder" was showing, so off we going to kill 2 hours.
The show was about a boy who had a disfigured face and as a result he was Home School until grade 5. His mother insisted that he should go to school and face the world as he had to do it sometime in his life. Of course he was picked on for a while but perceived after which he met some friends who protected him from Bullies. We strongly recommend this show.
All is well that ends well. Cheers
"If at first you don't succeed; then skying diving is not for you"
We went for breakfast with friends at restaurants and since I can't recall the name of it , Tiffany's will do.
Our friend Terry and another couple we met thru Terry last year always do breakfast every Sunday and usually try a different place if possible. This time they selected a restaurant at a hotel in Mercedes, a town 5 miles from our park. I was a little suspect since it had a Hispanic name but I shouldn't have been because as we walked in about 50 Winter Texan must have skipped Church because they were already eating. Gladly, this little known place had seating for 100 so there still was a table for us.
I also noticed a sign giving the menu for Christmas Dinner so obvious they were open. We are going there for breakfast tomorrow so we will check to see if they are open for New Years day; if so we will be there.
Since the weather was still "Shitty", 10 C, windy , cool and misty we decided to check our the Theatre schedule and we seen that "Wonder" was showing, so off we going to kill 2 hours.
The show was about a boy who had a disfigured face and as a result he was Home School until grade 5. His mother insisted that he should go to school and face the world as he had to do it sometime in his life. Of course he was picked on for a while but perceived after which he met some friends who protected him from Bullies. We strongly recommend this show.
All is well that ends well. Cheers
"If at first you don't succeed; then skying diving is not for you"
A TV Day
23 Dec 17
The weather is the "Shits " for the RGV but considering what is offered in the rest of North America, we will take our for a short time. TX voted Republic so you would think the Trump " The Messiah" could do something about it.
Anyway we have Shaw Direct ; we have Hockey and we have Fox news wherever we are bored so all is well. I even found time to read a book called " Liar's Poker " since I go here. It was about the Bond market and how Salomon Brothers were run into the ground by a bunch of overpaid idiots but very rich Bond Traders.
The weather is hazy all day, the temp is around 10 C or 50 F with a 30 MPH wind which qualifies as being cold not cool.
Gas is as low as 2.05 at most stations but I did see one station at 1.99. Since the price of Oil is on the rise our price with probably increase soon . Cheers
The weather is the "Shits " for the RGV but considering what is offered in the rest of North America, we will take our for a short time. TX voted Republic so you would think the Trump " The Messiah" could do something about it.
Anyway we have Shaw Direct ; we have Hockey and we have Fox news wherever we are bored so all is well. I even found time to read a book called " Liar's Poker " since I go here. It was about the Bond market and how Salomon Brothers were run into the ground by a bunch of overpaid idiots but very rich Bond Traders.
The weather is hazy all day, the temp is around 10 C or 50 F with a 30 MPH wind which qualifies as being cold not cool.
Gas is as low as 2.05 at most stations but I did see one station at 1.99. Since the price of Oil is on the rise our price with probably increase soon . Cheers
Willie B'S
22 Dec 17
Tonight we decided to have a Loaded Potato with Brisket and all the trimmings at a cost of 8.50 at Willie B's. The actual name is Willie's Bar-B-Q but it is known to all Winter Texans as Willie B'S. All the meat is Bar-B -Q" with Genuine Pecan ( wood) Smoked" and believe me it is good.
Willie's has been in business since we first arrived in this area of TX since 1999 and probably before that. We have never seen Willie and I have never heard of anyone else mention that they have seen him but the name and restaurant is well known in the Rio Grande Valley.
The restaurant houses about 120 people and the ambiance is somewhat muted, which is to say it as basic as it can be. The tables and chairs are made of wood , done by a Non- finished carpenter. There are chairs and or benches at each table and all tables are 3 ft square so you can join them together to host a large group.
The main menu's selling feature is the Large ( I mean large ) "Stuffed" ( we call it loaded ) potato with Brisket meat. Most seniors , including us, have to share the potato because a normal person could not eat it all.
However the menu has at least a 100 ( probably more ) combinations which includes rice , corn, salads, ribs ,chicken etc etc. They do a lot of takeout and we have never been there that there wasn't a lineup but they are fast and every day has a special which means a dollar off.
Nothing grabs the attention of a Senior like a discount even if it means using 2.00 of gas to drive somewhere to save a dollar.
We have friends who have been coming to the RGV for over 20 years but they have never heard of Willie B's so we will try to get them to "experience" the experience. They are creatures of habit and they mostly frequent the regulars like Olive Garden, Applebee's and the like. Life is too short too miss out on Willie's B's Cheers.
You don't by a Drill because you need a Drill; You buy a Drill because you need Holes
Tonight we decided to have a Loaded Potato with Brisket and all the trimmings at a cost of 8.50 at Willie B's. The actual name is Willie's Bar-B-Q but it is known to all Winter Texans as Willie B'S. All the meat is Bar-B -Q" with Genuine Pecan ( wood) Smoked" and believe me it is good.
Willie's has been in business since we first arrived in this area of TX since 1999 and probably before that. We have never seen Willie and I have never heard of anyone else mention that they have seen him but the name and restaurant is well known in the Rio Grande Valley.
The restaurant houses about 120 people and the ambiance is somewhat muted, which is to say it as basic as it can be. The tables and chairs are made of wood , done by a Non- finished carpenter. There are chairs and or benches at each table and all tables are 3 ft square so you can join them together to host a large group.
The main menu's selling feature is the Large ( I mean large ) "Stuffed" ( we call it loaded ) potato with Brisket meat. Most seniors , including us, have to share the potato because a normal person could not eat it all.
However the menu has at least a 100 ( probably more ) combinations which includes rice , corn, salads, ribs ,chicken etc etc. They do a lot of takeout and we have never been there that there wasn't a lineup but they are fast and every day has a special which means a dollar off.
Nothing grabs the attention of a Senior like a discount even if it means using 2.00 of gas to drive somewhere to save a dollar.
We have friends who have been coming to the RGV for over 20 years but they have never heard of Willie B's so we will try to get them to "experience" the experience. They are creatures of habit and they mostly frequent the regulars like Olive Garden, Applebee's and the like. Life is too short too miss out on Willie's B's Cheers.
You don't by a Drill because you need a Drill; You buy a Drill because you need Holes
Monday, 25 December 2017
Festival of Lights
21 Dec 17
Our friend Terry told us that her and some friends went to Hidago. a small city about 30 mile away to see the fantastic Christmas Light display.
Hidago is a city of 15,000 bordering on the Rio Grande and close enough to MX that could spit across. Hidago was first settled in 1749 and had several named. John Young settled in the town in 1852 and renamed the town Edinburgh after his birth place in Scotland. The town was incorporated in 1876 and it was renamed Hidago 1885. The population is 97.75 % of Hispanic descent so he has all the feature and language of a Mexican city.
Now for the light display. Unfortunately, I can not put pictures on my blog so my description will not do in Justice. However, you can best see the Festival of lights, which collectively has 3 million lights, by taking a trolley around the city parks and building which includes the City Hall. They have every display imaginable and a few are NASA, Cinderella, Star wars, the Nativity Scene and all of the Emergency Services of the city. The trip takes 40 Minutes so it is well worth the 5.00 charge. It boast of the biggest and best display in southern TX .
It is the best Christmas Light that we have every seen and that includes the one in Nashville that cost us 10.00. Cheers
Our friend Terry told us that her and some friends went to Hidago. a small city about 30 mile away to see the fantastic Christmas Light display.
Hidago is a city of 15,000 bordering on the Rio Grande and close enough to MX that could spit across. Hidago was first settled in 1749 and had several named. John Young settled in the town in 1852 and renamed the town Edinburgh after his birth place in Scotland. The town was incorporated in 1876 and it was renamed Hidago 1885. The population is 97.75 % of Hispanic descent so he has all the feature and language of a Mexican city.
Now for the light display. Unfortunately, I can not put pictures on my blog so my description will not do in Justice. However, you can best see the Festival of lights, which collectively has 3 million lights, by taking a trolley around the city parks and building which includes the City Hall. They have every display imaginable and a few are NASA, Cinderella, Star wars, the Nativity Scene and all of the Emergency Services of the city. The trip takes 40 Minutes so it is well worth the 5.00 charge. It boast of the biggest and best display in southern TX .
It is the best Christmas Light that we have every seen and that includes the one in Nashville that cost us 10.00. Cheers
Car Wash
19 th Dec 17
By the time we a got to Weslaco our Van was about 2 weeks past being in need of a wash job.In fact if you brushed against it you would get dirty.
Luckily, there is a Car Wash business about 2 blocks away, run by 4 ambition guys whom washed my car last year. I went over around 10 AM but I was 5 or 6 th in line which means about 3 hours. No appointments at this place, so I inquired about a good time to return. After holding a committee meeting they decided between 3 and 4 PM would be great.
Some people leave their car in morning and pick it up in the evening. That allows these busy guys the flexibility to squeeze us folks " who are to busy to wait in line " to get ours done fairly quickly.
I returned at 4 PM and there was no waiting so I ask about timings. Since there were 4 , 1 st class "Car Washers" they said it would take 1 hour. Bear in mind this is a cleaning of both the outside and inside. They have a power washer , a Shop Vac and plenty of " Elbow Grease". I said I was going to a near by Burger King to read my book and I would return in one hour.
While reading my book Burger King I kind of lost track of time and this guy walks up to me and says " Sir, your car is ready." Now, how is that for service.
When i returned to my car it glistened like a Baby's ass ( I couldn't think of another phase) so I ask the price and they said 25.00. This was the same price as last year so I guess there is no inflation here. I gave them 30.00 as it was well worth it.
These guys would put the Shine Shop in Med Hat out of business. Cheers.
Saturday, 23 December 2017
First Job.... Grocery Shopping
17/18 th Dec 17
Where do you do a big grocery shopping : no not WalMart for sure but the choices in our area are WalMart and HEB. HEB ( we call it Hebby Geeby) is the competition to WalMart and is it much like a Safeway or Sobey's. But we headed for Costco to do the big shopping and apparently everyone else did too.
This area of TX is mainly populated with Hispanic people and when they shop the whole dam family comes and of course they ( along with us ) line up for the Demo Taste Test food. They also drive their food carts like they drive on the roads so there seems to be more banging and crashing then at home. " In Rome do as the Romans do ".
Carroll had a shopping list but as you know, that is merely a starting point so we filled our cart to the overflow level. When I got to the checkout a family of "ten" decided to get a Costco card as there was a discount if you bought one this week and they do the paper work right at the cashier; Go Figure!!!! So there I sit and fume , telling myself to Never, Never take the shortest line again. When I got to the cashier I told him my credit card limit was $15,000 so please don't exceed it. As it turns out our bill was 232.00 USD.
Later in the afternoon we needed some "Dollar Store stuff" and there is a Dollar General ( better known as DG ) about a KM away so we spent another 40.00 there. One thing we needed was a shoe horn and since I couldn't find one I ask the young cashier and she never heard of the word so she asked her supervise who was just as confused. So I explained what is was and then she said OK as if she understood but I knew she did not. So I said; if you don't call it a shoe horn, what do you call it and her answer was, I don't know. Incidentally , they don't stock shoehorns.
That was enough for one day but I do know from the advertisement that there are 3600 DG stores in the US and they are build more. I believe there intention is to build one every mile. cheers
18 Dec 17
As you know, Costco shopping has too many items in a bundle so we did have to got to Walmart , after all for some single item ie . small bottle of mustard and Ketchup and after we bought this and that our few items became 45.00. That did not include the beer I will need later. The Landlord left a dozen beer and a 1/2 a cask of wine and if I don't consume them it will go bad.
We also went to the Rec Hall to sign up for the Christmas Dinner, however there was one table of 16 place left but there were no name on the list so I signed up anyway as the deadline was 21 Dec. Then I contacted a couple from Med Hat who are in this park and she gave us the name ( Gabby ) of the organizer. So we went to see Gabby and she added us to her table and invited Carroll to a "table meeting" tomorrow to sort out the menu. The park supplies a turkey for each table of 16 but someone has to prepare it.
So Christmas dinner is all set... Not so fast; wait for tomorrows notes.
We went to the Hot tub at 8:30 PM where we met the same Hot Tub people from last year. Most Hot tub people are Cdns. Cheers
Where do you do a big grocery shopping : no not WalMart for sure but the choices in our area are WalMart and HEB. HEB ( we call it Hebby Geeby) is the competition to WalMart and is it much like a Safeway or Sobey's. But we headed for Costco to do the big shopping and apparently everyone else did too.
This area of TX is mainly populated with Hispanic people and when they shop the whole dam family comes and of course they ( along with us ) line up for the Demo Taste Test food. They also drive their food carts like they drive on the roads so there seems to be more banging and crashing then at home. " In Rome do as the Romans do ".
Carroll had a shopping list but as you know, that is merely a starting point so we filled our cart to the overflow level. When I got to the checkout a family of "ten" decided to get a Costco card as there was a discount if you bought one this week and they do the paper work right at the cashier; Go Figure!!!! So there I sit and fume , telling myself to Never, Never take the shortest line again. When I got to the cashier I told him my credit card limit was $15,000 so please don't exceed it. As it turns out our bill was 232.00 USD.
Later in the afternoon we needed some "Dollar Store stuff" and there is a Dollar General ( better known as DG ) about a KM away so we spent another 40.00 there. One thing we needed was a shoe horn and since I couldn't find one I ask the young cashier and she never heard of the word so she asked her supervise who was just as confused. So I explained what is was and then she said OK as if she understood but I knew she did not. So I said; if you don't call it a shoe horn, what do you call it and her answer was, I don't know. Incidentally , they don't stock shoehorns.
That was enough for one day but I do know from the advertisement that there are 3600 DG stores in the US and they are build more. I believe there intention is to build one every mile. cheers
18 Dec 17
As you know, Costco shopping has too many items in a bundle so we did have to got to Walmart , after all for some single item ie . small bottle of mustard and Ketchup and after we bought this and that our few items became 45.00. That did not include the beer I will need later. The Landlord left a dozen beer and a 1/2 a cask of wine and if I don't consume them it will go bad.
We also went to the Rec Hall to sign up for the Christmas Dinner, however there was one table of 16 place left but there were no name on the list so I signed up anyway as the deadline was 21 Dec. Then I contacted a couple from Med Hat who are in this park and she gave us the name ( Gabby ) of the organizer. So we went to see Gabby and she added us to her table and invited Carroll to a "table meeting" tomorrow to sort out the menu. The park supplies a turkey for each table of 16 but someone has to prepare it.
So Christmas dinner is all set... Not so fast; wait for tomorrows notes.
We went to the Hot tub at 8:30 PM where we met the same Hot Tub people from last year. Most Hot tub people are Cdns. Cheers
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