Days 55, 56 & 57 - Saturday, Sunday & Monday, January 27, 28 & 29 - Mostly Slow Days, but Enjoyable

Weather has been great the past several days.

Saturday morning there was a car show at the campground, 30-35 cars and trucks.

This was the smallest car in the show. It was actually an entry.

There were lots of trucks.

The truck on the left is the one I saw at Johnny's Hardware a week ago

I don't know if you will be able to read the sign, it says: 535HP, LT, GEN 5, 6.2 Liter L86, C8 LT2 INTAKE MANIFOLD, BTR 220 STAGE 2 CAM, 8L90E 8 SPEED AUTO TRANSMISSION, DYNACOAT MIST GREEN BASECOAT, SNOWDEN INTERIOR, CPP PERFORMANCE SUSPENSION, RACELINE 20 INCH WHEELS. OWNERS ARNOLD & CATHY RODRIGUEZ, HARLINGEN, TX

In the afternoon I regened the softener and dumped and flushed tanks, as well as spent time sitting outside enjoying the weather.

Sunday it was off to Cowboy Church. Kathy wasn't feeling well so she stayed home. Chris & Tracy were gone. Mike Leichner provided most of the music and delivered a good message. https://mikeleichner.com/  

I've mentioned previously how the used bike I bought has provided me with hours of "entertainment", working on it. One of our neighbor ladies saw me working on it and asked if I would consider putting new tires on another neighbor lady's (a widow) three wheeler. The back tires were shot and would no longer hold air. I put them on in the afternoon, while keeping track of both KC's & the Lions football games. The tubes she bought were "pre-treated" with Slime. She said the two tires and "pre-Slimed" tubes cost her almost $100, FOR BICYCLE TIRES. Once I got them together and put a little air in them the stems were really crooked in the rims. I couldn't find my tool to remove the cores so that I could let the air out and straighten up the stems.

Monday - We went to the 9:30 information meeting at the clubhouse. A couple of guys said they would check to see if they had valve core removal tools with them, everybody had one at home. One guy brought one of the nice Tee shaped ones over but the skewed valve stems were so close to the spokes that I couldn't get the cores out. A trip to Johnny's Hardware to get a straight core removal tool solved the problem. I had to actually take the tire partially off the rim before I could rotate it enough to straighten the stem. Anyway, done now, delivered and the lady is happy. She has had to start working part time because of financial issues after her husband's death. She asked me for suggestions about removing some rust from the bike since it has to last her. I lubed the chain and cables while I had it. I'm going to look at it tomorrow and see what I can do about the rust.

Kathy spent a couple of hours this morning and afternoon over at the clubhouse, working on the current puzzle.

I came to the conclusion that the derailleur support on the frame of my bike had somehow been bent and that was why I was having so much trouble adjusting the shifting. I bent the support back to where I thought if should be and rode it 7 miles this afternoon. It still isn't perfect but its better. I have hope that I can finally get it adjusted so that it shifts even better.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has certainly blessed me.

Days 53 & 54 - Thursday & Friday, January 25 & 26 - Strawberries

 We didn't leave the campground either of these two days. Kathy's back was still bothering her yesterday and today it was nice to just enjoy the beautiful day.

The last time we went grocery shopping Kathy bought some steaks to give Texas beef a try. The past several times she bought steaks in Missouri they were so tough, or had so much gristle in them, that they were hardly worth eating. I cooked these on our little charcoal grill and they were good.

At the potluck dinner earlier this week one of the ladies was giving away strawberries. She must volunteer at a local food pantry. They had more than they  could give away and she brought a bunch back to the campground and handed them out. This is the container of them we brought home, minus several we already ate.

During the fall I bought a bike from a guy from a guy in Missouri. I can't remember if I paid $35 or $50 for it. It has given me hours and hours of entertainment, working on it to get it to shift correctly. I've even ridden it a little.😀

I suspect that the reason the guy got rid of it was because he couldn't get the shift mechanism to work either. As annoying as it has been I have been riding laps around the campground. Monday 5.4 miles, Tuesday 2.6 miles, Thursday 3.2 miles and today 5.1 miles. 

Kathy did some cooking yesterday and today, making some stuff for tomorrows bake sale at the car show. The proceeds go to a local kids organization.

We did find time to enjoy sitting out in the glorious weather this afternoon.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He had certainly blessed me.

Days 51 & 52, Tuesday & Wednesday, January 23 & 24 - Slow Days

 There hasn't been a lot going on in the Dirschell south Texas household the past several days. The weather has been cool and rainy. Any rain is good news for local farmers. Below is the drought map of the US, updated January 23.

Big reservoirs on the Lower Rio Grande fell from 33% to 23% full over the last 12 months. 

Wednesday we planned on going to the morning Cowboy Church Bible Study at Victoria Palms in Donna, about 20 miles west of us. Kathy's back was bothering her so I went alone. We have not attended one of the Wednesday AM studies this year and I had in my head that it started at 11 AM, I arrived just as they were finishing up, maybe I will make it on time next week.

The trip wasn't wasted, I went to the Donna flea market and bought another $4 bag of grapefruit. While there I browsed a couple of the stands for a belt. As a kid I can remember people coming back from trips to Mexico with  all types of leather goods. One stand had belts made in India and another one had belts made in China. I didn't buy one. I still make a day excursion across the border. Maybe I can find a belt made in North America.

Wednesday afternoon we attended a campground wide potluck dinner, with maybe 30 other folks. The food was good, as was the fellowship. In the evening I watched a couple of disappointing episodes of Reacher. I've read all the Jack Reacher books, I think there are 28 of them. The Jack Reacher character  is 6'5" and weighs 250#. In the movie that came out a couple of years ago they cast 5'7", 150# Tom Cruise as Reacher. If you were a Tom Cruise junkie who had never read any of the books I suppose it was OK. I just couldn't get my head around Tom Cruise being Jack Reacher. Alan Richson, who play Reacher in the TV series, is 6'2" and a muscled 235#. He does as good a job of being Reacher as the script allows. I enjoyed the first season, not so much the second season. It seems like the level of profanity increased a lot between seasons 1 & 2 (are Hollywood writers so immersed in a culture of profanity that they think the entire US can't say 20 words without cursing?), the level of sex increased (although nothing drastic, yet) and the plot was so changed from the book it was supposed to be based on that it was almost comical. If there is a Season 3 I hope that author Lee Child yanks back hard on the reins of the producer and director to get back closer to the book.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 49 & 50 - Sunday & Monday, January 21 & 22 - Cowboy Church

 Sunday we went to the Cowboy Church again. The music was led by Naomi Bristow, a Canadian who comes to south Texas to be a "winter" entertainer for all the snow birds. https://naomibristow.com/ She performed several gospel songs. The word performed is to cold but I can't think of a better one. When she sang Hallejuah (her spelling) the I felt the Spirit so strongly that I though my feet might leave the ground. She didn't yodel for us 😀 but I listened to several of her songs online, that girl can yodel. For an added bonus God delivered another good message to us through Pastor Chris. 

Monday we went over to the clubhouse for the 9:30 weekly informational meeting. A guy representing a local tour company gave a talk about some of the available tours. Several of them include flying into Mexico. I'm NOT flying into Mexico for any reason, but the tour where you see hundreds of thousands of Monarch butterflies would be interesting. They also offer a tour of the Brownsville area that includes minor access to SpaceX's facility at Boca Chica beach. I will probably check into that.

It has been a little rainy here, for which the locals are glad. It cleared up after lunch for a mostly sunny, but breezy, high of 76 today, much better than yesterday's high of only 49.

I am getting in some bike riding, laps around the campground. I got in 4.5 miles Friday (plus 30 min on the treadmill) and 5.1 miles today. (Riding on the level asphalt streets in the campground is SO much easier than riding in hilly Missouri.) I've still got a long ways to go to get back to where I was before I stopped exercising for over a month while I was having the radiation treatments. (No real reason to have stopped, I was just being lazy. The radiation for prostate cancer is not a big deal.)

Sometimes I question my commitment to Christ, I'm often (usually) not a very good servant. I love it when He gives me words of encouragement. This week, part of my daily devotional reading was the Apostle Paul's words of encouragement to the Philippians 2:12 (New Living Translation) Dearest friends, you were always so careful to follow my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to put into action God's saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. [13] For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. (highlight by me). Rather than thinking I must work to change myself my "job" is to focus on Him and He will increase my desire to obey and give the power to please Him. WOW! PTL! 

Got is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He sure has blessed me.

Day 48 - Saturday, January 20 - Cold for Here

The overnight low was 41 and today's high was a windy, cloudy, misty 48.

This person walked was out walking laps around the campground this morning. They were wearing a mask so I don't know if it was a guy or a gal. I do know they were tough to be out walking.

I saw this truck while I was at the big hardware store in Harlingen, love that store. The guy had just gotten into it and started it as I was walking into the store. It sounded GOOD. The shine isn't because it was wet. I think it must have been clear coated.

You might wonder what occurred that gave me an opportunity to go to the hardware store... We have a 4 door Norcold refrigerator. The past couple of days it has become more difficult to get the left refrigerator door to latch when closing it. There is a vertical pin at the bottom of the door that acts as a hinge. Apparently there used to be some type of spacer/washer on the pin, under the door. Without the spacer the door dropped a little and the latch no longer lines up. I bought some nylon washers/bushings at the hardware store. When I got home Kathy and I took the door off, a very simple task, I stacked two of the washers on the bottom pin, we put the door back on and it seems just like new PTL.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has certainly blessed me.

Days 46 & 47 - Thursday & Friday, January 18 & 19 - Two Slow Days

 Not much going on. Yesterday we enjoyed the return of warm weather, with a high of 77. Folks, including us, who had been holed up for a few days got out and got some exercise. I managed a 4 mile bike ride.

Today the high was only 62, and it was windy. Today was the campgrounds appreciation day. They provided a catered lunch for all who wanted to attend, and gave away some door prizes. The meal was good. We had a nice visit with the folks at our table. 

One NW Iowa couple told about their son's family dealing with all the snow. They have a hog confinement operation that is about 15 miles from their home. The snow was deep enough that the roads were impassible. Their son had to drive a tractor to get from their home to the confinement operation. Once there he was staying there until the roads were clear.

Kathy worked on puzzles both days and I read a lot. Our son Drew got me hooked on Martha Wells' Murderbot series. Most of the books are available for "free" with a Kindle Unlimited membership.

Kathy's nephew put some photos of TN on Facebook. Their 7 acre lake is frozen over. There are dozens of ducks and geese walking around on the ice.

My brother, in Coldwater, MI, sent me a video of him catching a fish while ice fishing.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 45 - Wednesday, January 17 - Warmer

 Temperatures improved today after a couple of cold days. Last nights low was only 27 but it warmed up to a high of 54.

This morning we made a grocery shopping trip to Walmart, yes Kathy has actually gone to Walmart several times since we have been down here. We then stopped at Golden Corral for lunch and headed home.

In the afternoon she went over and worked on a puzzle while I took a nice nap.

At 6 we headed up to the Cowboy Church for another Evangelism video that is being shown and discussed during the adult bible study sessions. Last year we attended Cowboy Church Bible Study at Victoria Palms Resort, where we were staying. We assumed that Pastor Chris was using the same material at both places. Tonight we learned that he is teaching on James during the 10 AM Victoria Palms bible study. We think next week we will attend both the Wednesday sessions. Chris is a good teacher and so is Rev David Arrol Macfarlane, the man on the Evangelism videos we have been watching.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has certainly blessed me.