Where the West Begins

Got up early and drove over to a friends house for breakfast.  Now she is a cook (a hobby) and a Yankee.  My point being that cream gravy is disgusting to her...now I know that is downright silly to us folks here in the south.  Best darn stuff there ever was.  Or why would there be 'best gravy' categories in the south (because there aren't any in the north because, well, because their taste buds are all worn out from the smog, they can't help it because they don't know better). I do feel kinda sorry for them.

Anyway, my biscuits and gravy (courtesy of Babe's Chicken House) were pretty darn good and the bacon was nice and crispy like it is supposed to be.  Yes, I did contribute - I brought iced coffee from 7-Eleven (pretty darn good stuff too).

So off we went for another weekend day of fun and games.
A funny little car that looked like an airplane without the wings.  The seats were one behind the other.  Funny.


Back to the cemetery where my great-grandparents are buried.  We found them again and I took better pictures of the location and also took notes.  The house I used as a reference has been torn down - that's why we couldn't find it the last time we were there so I could show her Oswald's grave (hey, we do a little touristy stuff too.... remember, she is from up north somewhere, and if nothing else, a Southern lady is polite and a nice hostess).   LOL

We headed off next to the Laurel Land Cemetery where my great uncle, aunt and cousin are buried.  Uncle Jr was a mean old coot but he was our blood relative.  He and Aunt RD had 1 child, a girl named Pat.  Now Pat was not adopted but I sure never knew where those tall genes came from.  Must be a fluke.   As a kid, I remember Pat and her tall, dark handsome husband used to come over in their convertible.  They didn't stay married long and at some point, she and her mom lived in the same house.  Uncle Jr had died a long time before that.  Jr and RD actually got a divorce back in the day when that was rare and after they retired too.  RD and Pat were murdered and for some reason, I didn't go to the funeral.  Anyway, I found their graves. So it was good to finally see their graves.  I'm documenting graves for our family history.  

It was blistering hot.  Hot, I tell you.  And this was at 10am!

Now as a polite, quiet Southern lady, I was pointing out the purple stuff for the football team.  What football team you ask?  Well, it isn't the horny toads but the TCU Horned Frogs; but I didn't tell her that for a while as I was giggling too much.

Beer- Helping White Men Dance since 1821

After that, it was getting close to high noon in the west Texas town of Fort Worth so we headed over to Fred's Texas Cafe.  All I can say is mmmmmmmmmmmm good.  There were some military guys and gals that came in after us so we bought their lunch and stopped to say Thank You on the way out.  Fred's is remodeling their covered outdoor area so there were tables on the sidewalk.  Sure hope they don't mess with the original stuff where we ate!

Don't you wish you had smell-o-vision?

 Then onward home!  Nope.  I decided that we could go by the Naval Air Station that used to be known as Carswell Air Force Base?  Why?  Because it was only 4.7 miles away and that is where I was born.  So it's an historical place.   Yes, for you too because you need to know where I was born in this great state of Texas.  Well, the iPhone directions took us to the entrance where there is no turning around before you get to the gate.  So the guy let us do a u-turn after the guy.  Nice kid.  Glad he was there (and yes, I warned my friend not to mention any guns because my gun was at home where it belongs!).  

 I love my iPhone but it's map app sucks.

After not paying attention again, another wrong turn took us through a really nice area with beautiful old huge trees.  After meandering around and having to pull over every time someone drove up behind me (hey, I can't gawk and drive at the same time safely), we stopped at Charming Charlies and McDonalds.  Both important stops.

I must tell you a funny story now.  I've said many many times, Fort Worth is where the West begins.  Little did I know my friend actually listened and absorbed.  So out pops the words 'So Fort Worth is where the West begins so we need to head East to go home'.  Well, besides not trying to run over everyone else because I was so startled and laughing, I missed the East exit and took the West one.

Now we head home only to find traffic, road construction, traffic and more road construction that caused us to take the long way home.  I mean the long way.  But we finally made it. 

Hot Water ahhhhhh

The part was waiting for me Tuesday night when I got home. I read the instructions twice and it didn't seem too bad until I got to the part about causing an explosion. I was so busy at work on Wed I almost didn't have time to call a plumber. But around 3:30 I called the plumber that came out a week or so ago to fix the tub faucet leak. He finally agreed to come that evening This was the owner, not the other guy that was much more sociable but then I'm paying to just to get the new hardware installed ( after he let Sam escape out the front door). Anyway. H o t water has arrived!!!! Ahhhh the first thing I did was take a shower, wash some towels and then run the dishwasher I am human again.

Even MORE Fun!

I realized this morning that the water heater has a 9 year warranty.  And I've only had this one 8 years (by the way, that's a record, the 1st two only lasted about 2 years each). 

I call up Whirlpool and guess what?  The thermocouple is bad.  It's covered under warranty too.    They don't make that type of thermocouple (it's a left handed one?) so it needs a conversion kit. And they can ship it out for $30 but I have to install it.

Sooooo.  Should I wait a few days until it arrives and then wait until Saturday to get someone to install it;  or pay another couple of hundred bucks for a plumber to come after hours assuming it does come during the week?  How many more cold showers can I take?  Or just go buy a brand new one?

Maybe I should open a Facebook page asking for donations!

Fun and Games

Let's tally the fun and games:  1 broken toilet (darn good thing there are 2 in the house) + 1 broken sprinkler system (thank heavens for rotory water sprinklers) + 1 non-heating water heater (umm, nothing good about cold showers even in the summer time!) + busted car wiper blades (now, just why does that only happens when it is raining?  and it's not like we get a lot of rain in the summer) and 1 sick kitty that has already cost $1200.  Yes, you read that correctly $850 for the emergency stay and $400 for the day at the vet.  sigh.  It's still a happy day.

4th of July

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays.  I love red, white and blue.  

Brother, Plumber and a sprinkler

I woke up this morning with the kitties nibbling on my arms (gee, I only sleep an extra half hour) and the sound of water hitting the mail box post.  I ran to the window with 2 howling kitties following my footsteps only to be horrified to see the sprinkler system was still on in the front!

First and foremost, the kitties were fed and Sam got his insulin shot.  Then I dashed outside where there is a river running down the street and it starts in my yard. Yikes!  I dashed through the house to the garage and turned off the sprinkler controller.  And removed the battery.  Alas, that did not work (yes, I dashed to the front again).  It's 6:20 am and I check Lowe's and Home Depot but they don't open until 8am on Sundays.

So I took a deep breath and called my brother.  He didn't answer his cell phone.  He always claims he gets up at 5:30 every morning ... every single day. So is he ignoring me?   So I call the house phone, and he's sound asleep.  Oh well, he has the tool to open the city water meter so I go over to get it.  He's still groggy and claiming 'I don't know why I was asleep!'  Ha! Caught him!!!  He was so sleepy he didn't notice I was in my pj's and soaking wet.

Why is it the front yard sprinklers do this?  This is the 2nd time - dang, the city encourages neighbors to tattle and the fine is not a small fine for watering when you aren't supposed to.  And the city emergency water contact puts sprinkler systems at the bottom of their list - last time it took them over 3 hours to come out (that was about 7-8 years ago).

I park in front of the house and jump out of the car only to be even more horrified as my iPhone falls out of my pocket and into the river by the curb.  EKKKK.  It's only 2 months old.  I grab it and then drag the tools out and get the meter lid off.  It's full of water and I put my hand in there (praying that there aren't any moving critters) and I can't find the cut-off valve.  The city added the new electronic meters and it's covering the valve.  So I try the sprinkler meter next.  I can't see anything.  At all.

So now I wake up my sister-in-law.  My brother is out roaming his 2 acres so she says he'll come over.  So I wait some more and watch the water roll down the street.  And now I worry about the tree getting too much water and a wind coming along and it falls (like it's doing in the east).   A friend sees my FB cries for help (hey, I was waiting at the time) and calls, only I can't hear anything so I'm thinking my iPhone is dead and what else can go wrong - the plumber was here yesterday to repair the guest bathroom tub leak.

So Alan appears, and we try to turn off the water but no luck.  So next we try the sprinkler valve.  We're using cups to get the water out and I'm trying to use the top to keep the water off Alan (why I'm not sure because he was soaked by then too).  He finally gets the water turned off and that means I have water in the house!!!!  

So off he goes (to take a nap I bet) and I go dripping into the house.  And the kitties are just watching and staring and I'm sure I heard a snicker or two.  And I'm still in my pj's.

My friend calls again but I can't hear her.  She calls back on the land line and says she could hear me.  She suggests putting the iPhone in rice to dry it out.  Wow - I even have rice so in a bowl of rice it goes.  I mean, well, at this point, it can't hurt it.   So about a half-hour later, I try it and it works fine.  Gee, sometimes, it is nice to have a friend even if she's a Yankee with a Texas twang slowly working it's way into her speech.

I forgot to mention, yesterday the plumber was her to fix the leak in the tub in the guest bathroom.  It had been leaking for a week.  I was collecting water and taking it outside to water the pots.

I hope the rest of the day is boring.