The Song Remains the Same, Sometimes

Blooming Algerita

This year, as the cyclical events of nature have ocurred, I've been remiss in mentioning them, because, you know, the same thing happens over and over again. Most of you are able to look out a window and see if the buzzards are here or gone, whether or not the Bermuda grass is growing, and you certainly know when to plant onions.

Except last year. February 2011, I blithely commented in an e-mail to my friend, Joe, that I didn't care if it EVER rained again because spring storms are so frightening. And then it didn't. Rain.

Yes, I have that power. If you have a wish, simply send me an email telling me what it is, then I will email it back to you in comment form. I will be sending it from my cellar office, because I will not be wishing for no rain this year.

Things To Do

There have been times when it seems like there's too much to do, every minute of the day taken up with working, errands, driving, cooking, then falling into bed whipped. That's not how it's been, lately. I miss it.

I have a job, but it only takes up about thirty days a year, and I've put my housekeeping business (You didn't know? Well.) to the side with the intention of trying to make writing my primary interest. I've been spending time at another location that requires no more than payment of rent and bills to maintain. No wood-cutting, chicken-feeding or cellar-cleaning. I have only to push a button and heating or cooling fills the house. I have hours and hours for introspection and modeling literary ideas. And I am bored to the ever-lovin' bone.

I like the rituals of life, the doing and figuring, struggling and piddling. The self-crafted schedule that I used to impose on myself may have seemed laughable under scrutiny, but it was important to keep balance in my world.

Then, again, I always be-cry anything that I've lost. Even my first marriage, and that was really bad. I wept because I missed him taking out the trash. Little things really do mean a lot.

Oh, I'm still in the country as much as the other place, and the changes that seem new now will become part of my routine, to be missed when changes come again. I think the important thing is to be willing to mix it up on a constant basis, lest the waters become stagnant. Also, it would be nice to break through with a fab story idea. Yes, I want it all.

Ridin' Around

The Turnrow

The Mr. and I made a little trip out to Rowena this week and found quite a surprise. We did not see the ghost of Bonnie Parker, but we did stumble upon The Turnrow Bar & Grill.

We were driving around Runnels County seeing the sights when we realized we were very hungry and in the middle of nowhere. Driving a little farther down the road brought us into Rowena, where there was a fancy church, a closed hardware store and what looked to be another Texas countryside steak house. There is nothing wrong with these steak houses, but sometimes they can be overpriced and they basically all have the same spurs and cowboy hats ambiance. Which is also okay, but nothing special or different or inspiring, ya know?

I stiffened and straightened up, preparing myself for the $7.50 hamburgers and highly skeptical looks from hardcore cowmen. We walked up, pushed open the door, and found ourselves in an appealing warehouse-style, rustic-yet-modern building with so many different directions to look that I'm surprised we didn't stumble over our own feet and fall down. I have to say, because sometimes it's very confusing, I was pleased when a waitress came and led us to a table immediately. I hate to go into a restaurant and not know what to do while the staff looks at you like "Who's this jack-ass that just walked in?". There was also a sign that read "Wait to be Seated" in case the waitress was not immediately available.

There was a fantastic vintage blinking arrow sign with regular light bulbs in it that pointed to the bar area in the corner. Flat screen tvs were interspersed in the main dining and pool-table (yes!) area, with a quieter back dining room where the waitresses picked up their orders. A separate room with doors (the others are all in open space) is used for events such a Lion's Club meetings, retirement parties and small conferences.

Our waitress was attentive and cute. We got to talking a little bit and she said she had just moved there from Dallas and was wondering how she would make a living in this small town when someone told her about this bar & grill. I think it was a windfall for both sides.

The food was good (burgers) and the tea glass was kept full. The jeans pocket coasters were clever and useful. Good, low-volume music played in the background while soaps played on the televisions. There was a steady stream of customers, and this was on a Monday afternoon. We're gonna have to go check it out on a Friday or Saturday night, sometime when I bet it's hoppin'. You stop by and check it out for yourself, you won't be sorry.

Taxes and Tech Stuff

Arghh!

I did the preliminary run through our taxes today and have that same stomach churning feeling that I get every year before starting in on itemized deductions. All our kids have done their taxes and here I am dragging my feet. There's not much motivation to get them done before the deadline when you don't get anything back.

I had two tech problems this week, one solved, one not. The first was the remote for the new Dish receiver wouldn't work at night. You heard me right, at night. I called  customer support and ended up with a new remote, but same problem. I Googled it for a couple of days and finally found other people who had the same problem. I read suggestions that included brightening or darkening the picture, taping a piece of paper over the end of the remote, and holding the remote point blank to the receiver. The latter worked, but we found that leaving the ceiling light on at night while we watch tv cured the problem.

The second is that I can't get Outlook Express to send emails since I started using Verizon DSL. I'm not sure if one has affected the other, or if it's just coincidental that Outlook stopped working for outgoing mail at that time. I removed Verizon Download Manager, cleared Prefetch, played with various settings in Outlook, but I still cannot get anything to send. I even added the Verizon email to the Outlook account, and it has the same outgoing mail problem. I guess I'll keep messing with it and Googling until I can get it to work. Unless you, dear reader, just happen to know how to solve this and will share the fix with me. Hmmmm?