Two or Three

 Last year, and for several years prior to that, we were in Harris County Precinct 2 - about where the 02 appears on the map below.

We haven't moved an inch, but now find ourselves in Precinct Three.

It's all part of a move by politicians to assure their reelection and happens after every census.  I doubt if it will affect us at all.

Speaking of Precincts, several years ago, I got a speeding ticket on FM 2100 a couple of miles from my house.  The ticket was issued by a deputy constable from Precinct Four.  I never understood why, but Precinct Two was farming out road patrol to Precinct Four.  That meant that I had to drive 40 miles to the west end of the county to appear in court  for a ticket that was issued within walking distance of my house.

It was a major inconvenience, but it worked out.  The deputy didn't show up and the ticket was dismissed.

Trailer Update

 

We put our 5th wheel up for sale about a month ago and last week, we thought we had a buyer.  They had seen the listing on EBay and realized they only lived about a dozen miles away.  Their house had burned down and they wanted the trailer to live in while their home was rebuilt.

Couldn't have been better.  

Then the wife called me on Thursday morning very upset- she really wanted it, but their bank wouldn't loan on an RV over ten years old.  I explained that was common, but the people who had listed it would finance.  I gave her a name and a couple phone numbers, but so far, I haven't heard back.

Jackrabbits

I first posted this in 2015, but I like it.  Thought I'd post it again...

In the fall of 1961, I attended Austin College in Sherman, Texas as a sophomore transfer student. 

Attended may be a bit of an exaggeration - I did show up for most of my classes, but formal education was not even near the top of my priority list.  The majority of my time and effort went to learning to play contract bridge, singing in a folk-music quartet called the Converts, and hunting rabbits at night from my pickup truck.

We had a five-man cadre of rabbit hunters, and three of them – all mediocre shots – used shotguns.  John Stuckey and I used 22 rifles. Mine was an old open-sight single-shot Savage that was older than I was.  We usually used my truck, and I usually drove, but one night Johnny was driving.

That was when I made what had to be the shot of a lifetime. 

Johnny had seen a jackrabbit out in a pasture, and stopped the truck at the end of a dirt road.  The rabbit was no longer visible - just past the edge of the high beams – all we could see was the glow of his eye about a hundred yards beyond the barbed wire fence.

Standing in the truck bed, I propped my elbow on the top of the cab and squeezed off a shot.  The glowing dot disappeared.

“You missed” yelled the guys in the back of the truck.  I’ll admit I didn’t know if I hit it or not – I wasn’t even sure that there was a rabbit out there.

Johnny got out, ducked through the fence and walked out into the pasture.  A few minutes later, he returned with a dead rabbit, shot through the eye.  “He got it.” he said, “He never misses.  That’s why he always drives - to give you other guys a chance.”

Maria, Maria

 

We did an interesting experiment this weekend - watched both the original 1961 version and the 2021 version of West Side Story.  

Actually, we didn't watch the entire Stephen Spielberg production, just enough to say with confidence that, while it wasn't any better, he didn't screw it up. 

If there was one plus, it was that the new Maria, Rachel Zigler, sang for herself - Marni Nixon did the vocals for Natalie Wood in the original. 

So Small That.....

 The town where I grew up was so small that the village idiot had to do double duty as the town drunk.  And that was only on Tuesday and Thursday - the rest of the week we shared him with the next town down the road.

Never Learn

 I used to think I was pretty cynical and not easily fooled.  

Not any more! - I fell victim to another scam.

Facebook has been running ads for SAS Shoes at huge discounts.  SAS Shoes are just about the only shoes Honey wears, so when the website offered the model she wears most often at 80% off, I ordered a couple pair.

 When the shoes didn't come, I contacted SAS (oddly enough, the number on the website was correct) and they told me they have never advertised their shoes on Facebook.  

Atttaboy

 

Our last gas grill was mostly stainless, and still looked pretty good but the non-stainless portion rusted out.  I looked around, and Thursday I bought a replacement at Lowes in Atascosita.

They loaded it in the back of my pickup, and I headed for home.  I got less than halfway across Lake Houston when the darn thing blew out of the back.  It was still connected to one piece of the twine they had used to tie it down, but it was bouncing behind my truck for a hundred yards or so until I could pull over.  

It was a total loss.

Once I got home, I crossed my fingers and called Lowes.  I explained to the manager that since they had loaded it and tied it down, I thought they might be willing to replace it.  He asked me to give him a few minutes to review security tape, then he called back and made arrangements to have a replacement delivered to our house.

We got it yesterday and had steaks grilled on it last night.

Thanks, Lowes!