I’m a bit emotional this week. I wish I could pinpoint why to help with coping. Mostly I pray. All the memories of growing up in the church come flooding back. From rote memory, the comforting hum of repeating soothing words calms me. But the feeling is temporary before the twisting gut churning pains are back. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!
March 8th is the day. My appointment of February 15 pushed out three weeks. Hoping for some relief. I think I can make it that long. In the meantime, I’ll keep praying. In the good times too. Trying to cultivate a grateful heart.
Have you ever âbutt dialedâ someone? (âbutt dialedâ means have you ever made a phone call that you werenât aware of making, because the buttons on the phone got pushed by your sitting on them (in your pocket) OR having something in your handbag press against them?) Nope but my drunk đ” sister-in-law did and that story went around the family faster than lightning. I wonât repeat it here in polite company.
If you were given 1000 acres of land, what would you do with it? Leave it as is.
Whatâs the funniest thing youâve seen on-line recently? Since Iâm easily amused, everything đ
Have you ever eaten something off the floor? â5 secondâ rule applies or not (the â5 second ruleâ is that if you pick up the dropped food within a set time frame, itâs still âcleanâ and you can safely eat it)? Yes.
GRATITUDE SECTION(always optional)
Feel free to share your gratitude with everyone in the form of a quote, a thought or an image.
Jim gives us Long/Short/Small/Tall for our prompts. I had the most fun surfing around You Tube. More songs than I ever imagined and that was starting with long. I never even moved on to short/small/tall. Well one of the songs that almost caught me did have Long, Tall & Texan but I back burned that one. Opting instead for 70s gold. “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” was released in April of 1972, hitting #2 on Billboard Hot 100 in September that year. Writer(s): Roger Cook, Roger John Reginald Greenaway, Alan Clarke – performed by The Hollies.
Someone wrote this song is one of best CCR songs not done by CCR. There was a bit of a tussle with John Fogerty settling out of court for half the proceeds. More on this at the wiki.
Saturday night I was downtown Working for the FBI Sittin’ in a nest of bad men Whiskey bottles piling high
Bootlegging boozer on the west side Full of people who are doing wrong Just about to call up the DA man When I heard this woman sing a song
A pair of 45’s made me open my eyes My temperature started to rise She was a long cool woman in a black dress Just-a 5’9, beautiful, tall With just one look I was a bad mess ‘Cause that long cool woman had it all
[Instrumental Interlude]
I saw her heading to the table Like a tall walking big black cat When Charlie said I hope that you’re able boy ‘Cause I’m telling you she knows where it’s at Then suddenly we heard the sirens And everybody started to run A-jumping out of doors and tables When I heard somebody shootin’ a gun Well the DA was pumping my left hand
And a-she was a-holding my right Well I told her don’t get scared ‘Cause you’re gonna be spared I’ve gotta be forgivin’ if I wanna spend my living With a long cool woman in a black dress Just a 5’9 beautiful tall Yeah, with just one look I was a bad mess ‘Cause that long cool woman had it all Had it all Had it all
Now for part two because I simply couldn’t choose, here is more 70s gold with AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)”. Released in December 1975. Writer(s): Angus McKinnon Young, Malcolm Young, and Ronald Belford (Bon) Scott. Those bagpipes!! I’m telling ya what! More at the wiki.
Ridin’ down the highway Goin’ to a show Stop in all the byways Playin’ rock ‘n’ roll Gettin’ robbed Gettin’ stoned Gettin’ beat up Broken boned Gettin’ had Gettin’ took I tell you folks It’s harder than it looks
It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll If you think it’s easy doin’ one night stands Try playin’ in a rock roll band It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll
Hotel motel Make you wanna cry Lady do the hard sell Know the reason why Gettin’ old Gettin’ grey Gettin’ ripped off Under-paid Gettin’ sold Second hand That’s how it goes Playin’ in a band
It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll If you wanna be a star of stage and screen Look out it’s rough and mean
It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll
Well it’s a long way It’s a long way, you should’ve told me It’s a long way, such a long way
The feature image has never been more fitting I tell ya what!!!! The crazy started on Valentines Day 2021 or Valentines night. I stayed up late because I had the next day off. Pony walked in and tells me to look outside, it is snowing. I said eff this shit and went to bed. We woke up to 4 inches of snow, blanketing our almost 5 acres, setting the most picturesque winter wonderland. Pony had to work, virtual since March 2020 and covering for co-workers with ice skating rink living rooms and other assorted issues. B and Lulu took out the Polaris and had a day playing in the snow. I took a few pictures from indoors but mainly I read my book. What a nice way to spend my day!!
The weatherman was not exactly right. There was no immediate warm up. Sunday night/Monday snow stayed around as we hit single digit temps and stayed in the 20s before warming up some on Wednesday. Then again on Thursday, it snowed almost the entire day. Less coverage than that first snow, the grass continued to peek through. Friday with the exception of the north side right up on the porch everything was melted. Saturday got up to 64 degrees. Yay buddy!!
We didn’t experience the rolling blackouts that roamed the city and we had water that first day. By Tuesday, the water was out. Calling San Antonio Water System (SAWS) trying to get answers and being told “It’s a homeowners issue to have frozen pipes” (our pipes never froze) and/or being hung up on. Eventually learning through neighborhood sneakernet that the pump station servicing our area was offline.
SAWS pointed fingers at City Public Service (CPS) who pointed at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). But I won’t get into the political nature of how what happened could happen. Two sides to every story (or three+ sides to every story). Or maybe I will … a tad bit. Give my two cents … now that the worst is over and I can be somewhat rational.
I don’t blame anyone. If pushed to name someone, then I blame Mother Nature. Who as an inanimate cannot truly be blamed. Back to no one. CPS for us anyway was a hero. Not once did we lose power. Not even a blip. I am sad and do not make light for all who did. Heartbreaking devastation!!! But damn those CPS workers soldiered on working to get everyone back to full power. Spectrum our ISP also never failed us. Such a shock considering all our issues pre-storm. AT&T kept the cell phones going. ERCOT who I had never even heard of before this storm are greedy fucking bastards in my opinion. Yet I have to ask what big businesses aren’t? We are a capitalist society. America, she has been very very good to me. Am I part of the problem? Now that’s a story for another day.
Not investing in infrastructure for an uncertain 1 in 100 year storm is somewhat understandable. Dare I say prudent? Nope? Too far. Yep! Too far. “They” whoever “they” are saying we’d be paying more for those infrastructure improvements over the 99 years of no need passing cost down to future generations. Supposedly in the long run the cost of this event is less than the improvements would have been. Why shell out all that cash for a one time use? If you can “believe” them.
Bottom line is they gambled and WE lost while some greedy mo-fos (two) who are not even residents of this great state made out like bandits. Now the shit hit the fan and at least 47 people are dead. We may not know the total death toll for a while as bodies are eventually found. That is horrific and unimaginable to me.
Through this all I am grateful. I will never take flushing a toilet or taking a shower for granted ever again. We were spared from the worst. Yes we didn’t have running water for 3 1/2 days but we had melted snow bucket water, gifted hose water, and bottled water. We continued to have our dinner time meal. We had heat (thanks to our freshly filled propane tank, they came to fill last Sunday afternoon) which we kept at 62 degrees, layering up in solidarity for those faring much much worse. B was in constant survival mode making sure we (and his parents) had everything we needed.
Now after all my blustering, here is the roll call.
Time once again for #SoCS where Linda, our host with the most writes and I re-write:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ânerve.â Use it any way youâd like. Have fun!
To join in the shenanigans or to read the creative works of all the participants, here are the rules and ping back.
“Whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies”. I’ve got nerves that jingle, jangle, jingle. Look at me mixing up my traditional western folk songs. Before my time but when these songs were in your daddy’s era, you remember them fondly. Yippy yay I know I replaced spurs with nerves. I did that many years ago when I was trying to creatively write about some feelings I was having. Get it? Nerves that jingle, jangle, jingle. Caged butterflies flying that want to be free. I just realized I added ‘s’ to turn nerve into nerves. Why the nerve! How dare I?
Since I tend to be a whiner complainer Eeyore type, I may have told you already my woes of undiagnosed pain. Since 2010, I have searched for answers. Going to every doctor under the sun. To rule out. They know what I don’t have but no one has quite cracked the code on what I do have. Lulu-Belle says “Mom, you should try out to be on Mystery Diagnosis“.
Tests are inconclusive. I have a little of this and a little of that. But nothing that should cause the pain I sometimes feel. The closest to actual resolve had to do with my nerves. Lovely. She said dripping with sarcasm. Not much else they can do except send me to pain management. I have resisted that because I don’t want to be thrown on drugs to treat a “maybe”. I seek an affirmative diagnosis first. Then drug me up. Yeah buddy. I am not adverse to meds when necessary. I mean I have been on cholesterol meds since 2003 to successfully lower my hereditarily high cholesterol that did not respond to any other treatment.
Okie dokie. My stream is running slow and drying up. Much like our water did this week. Thank goodness the snow is gone and temps are rising. There is recovery going on all around this great state. What a historic moment. And with that I wish you all a wonderful #free48!
I enjoyed this book written in chapters alternating between the two main characters Jori and Teagan. My Goodtread review follows and is a little light on details.
Two cases intertwined in this mystery on the bayou. No spoilers here just a recommendation to read if youâre so inclined.
I was surprised by some of the less than lackluster reviews. To me, the story was solid. Good character development that made me feel something. Familial themes and the ties that bind or otherwise break us.
B got it right. Weâre all cooped up. Cabin fever was bound to get us sooner or later. For almost a year now with this pandemic we’ve altered our interactions. But this even more intense winter lockdown was the ignition point to fuel the fever. Damn it’s hot in here … inside my brain.
I’m hanging on by a thread. Grateful for all we have which is quite a bit actually. We had water at the worst of it, then the pressure dropped, then the trickle dried up. Now we have heat but no water. Several have been without heat for days. Worse yet people without both also for days. They predict more snow but with temps in the 40s we might escape the love fest that happened on Valentines night.
I remember being cold at home growing up because we did not have central heat. We did have a precursor to central heat which was an electric wall heater that warned only the hallway it was in. This was in addition to a gas heater which was pulled out only during winter and kept in the corner of our den. That kept us warm during the day but we’d have to turn it off at night for safety sake. I mean it was actual flames keeping us all cozy. I have memories of taking my pillow and blanket off my bed to go sleep on the floor right in front of the wall heater. Back then I could sleep anywhere and I did. I tried to make a nest all comfy but really it was a hard linoleum floor.
Not sure why that is a fond memory and this … what we’re going through now is nothing but a nightmare. Wake me when this is over. Right now I’m going to try to get a little more sleep.
