Weather. Always an interesting topic. We’ve had a very mild winter so far. Usually if there’s an ice storm we’ll have tree limbs fall onto power lines. That always means no power for hours and hours. Yesterday, for no apparent reason, we lost power. We could see lights on the block behind us and if you got a peek through the trees you could see lights downtown. Our neighborhood was totally blacked out. No rain, wind, storm damage or anything else. Yesterday was one of those cloudless, perfect sky days. We were without power for 12 hours.  Temps inside the house dropped to 56F by morning. The dogs were snug enough. Husband thought he’d freeze to death. As for myself, I enjoyed 56F. No problem sleeping at all.

That’s about all going on right now.

Today’s photo entry was taken in Hill City, South Dakota. We were on vacation in that area and these little guys were just hanging around on the side of a mountain just across the road from our cabin. I know some argue the Black Hills aren’t mountains but trust me, they’re mountains.

How did I spend my day? Good question. Paid a few medical bills, cleaned my desk, shredded junk mail. Not only do I get spam/junk in email, I seem to receive junk mail at my home mailbox at an alarming rate. I have a system. We stack it up in a box and once a month I send it into the shredder. (I have mentioned before that I live an exciting life.) Tomorrow will be laundry day then maybe out to lunch. My reward for work well done.

Did you know there’s a plug-in for Word Press that allows you to insert Flash? Never knew that. Honestly I never gave it a single thought until a client required a Flash slide show on her site. And, there’s a plug-in for creating tables for those of you who want a table but don’t have coding skills to create one. When I’m really bored, I search for stuff like that just to see if it’s available. (I need to get out more.)

Chat room news:  Some of the regulars are wandering back in. It’s always fun to visit with old friends.

Today’s photo was taken on another of our trips to Kearney, Nebraska. A good friend of ours lives in the area and we really enjoy trips to visit.

Tomorrow I’ll chat with a client about Flash or whatever on her site. She wants a Flash slide show to be accessible by cell phone but not all smart phones use Flash. We’ll have to work something out. My suggestion is the Flash slide show plus just plain text under that for everyone else.

Can’t you tell what an exciting life I lead?

Today’s photo was taken in Kearney, Nebraska a few years ago. It’s a sculpture of sand cranes outside the Great Platt River Road Museum. A really nice place to visit.

Today I had the pleasure of trying to explain to a client why Power Point isn’t her best option for an online presentation. That isn’t what everyone has installed. Flash is a much better option even if I personally do detest Flash. I have the Power Point presentation but so far haven’t been able to convert it to Flash. Back to the drawing board on Monday.

Other stuff? I was just catching up on my Yahoo news. Seems Twitter will start censoring content. So if I mention something that isn’t allowed in France, they won’t see it but everyone else will? Censorship is still censorship. That’s why I blog here and not at Twitter. It’s not as though I ever type anything worthy of censorship. For me it’s more the principle of the thing. I pay for my hosting and will use it as I see fit. Yeah, I’m on a rant. I hate censorship. Oh, wait. Twitter is free. Ok. Their toy’s, their rules.

We’ve been keeping up with the GOP race. I really don’t care which candidate wins. Husband and I plan to vote for anyone who isn’t Obama. Enough of his ‘hope and change’.

There has to be more in my life. Oh. Local police department news. The former police force of 5 full time officers in a good month would issue about 14 traffic citations. Our town in at the crossroad of two very heavily traveled highways. Anyway, that’s one reason they’re ‘former’. We now have 2 full time officers. (soon to be 3) In their first month 137 traffic citations were issued. I don’t have the count for other things but I’m sure they’re doing a much better job that the ‘formers’.

Today’s photo was taken about 12 years ago at the Inner Space Caverns near Austin.

Yay for Texas! We had 2 inches of much needed rain yesterday. Today was cloudy and cool but no rain. Keep your fingers crossed tomorrow. We really do need rain.

Other stuff in my world? Nothing. Husband and I are pretty much settled in for winter. We have plans for summer. Maybe a trip? We have plans, just not carved in stone plans.

Today’s photo was taken one day last week. Texas gumbo. A bit different from the usual Cajun gumbo but still one of our favorite dishes.

Yesterday we made the mistake of grocery shopping. Would someone please remind me to NEVER try that again. Saturday is the day of choice for parents with screaming kids. Multiple kids all screaming at once. I have a very low tolerance for all that unnecessary noise inside a building. Any building. Yes, I was once a child myself. Different time, different parenting. Back in the dark ages of my youth, a child knew how to act in public and that did not include screaming just for the sake of hearing yourself. It also did not include running over people with a shopping cart. And before you ask, yes. A little urchin aimed a cart at me yesterday, took aim and rammed me in the leg. My left leg. The leg that constantly gives me pain. CONSTANTLY. My response was to scream loudly and tell his mother to please control the brat. My exact words? “Damn, you. Get that buggy off me. That hurt!” “Would you PLEASE control that kid before someone gets sued?” I have arthritis in my left knee and hip. There is constant pain, some days worse than others. I was doing fairly well yesterday, not using my cane for a change.

Let’s see. What else is going on? News. I’ve been keeping up with the Jessica Ahlquist: Rhode Island  news mess. I found it funny that someone criticized the florists who refused to deliver flowers to her from the FFRF. There was mention of them not having the right to refuse service. Discrimination or some such. Nope. They are privately owned businesses and can do that. I’ve also refused to sell my services to people. The latest was a woman wanting a web site for her business. Her business, you ask. Dance studio for ‘adults’. In other words her dancing studio was for erotic, strip, pole dancing lessons. I just didn’t want to be involved in that. Nope, go find someone else. I also once refused to work with a site for a swingers club. At this point I’ll mention one of my first professional works was for a swingers club site. In that I only make logos and gave advise to the owner who was designing and coding the site. My name/business link were not involved on the finished product. The logo was G rated and added to t-shirts as well as the site.

Today’s photo is from an antique car show a few years ago. One of these days I need to take some new photos.

Yesterday wes fun. Husband and I headed to Hell City South for the day. Lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. A little shopping at Bath and Body Works. A few other stops just because we felt like it. Our Texas weather was perfect for a change. I know it’s mid-winter but someone forgot to tell the weatherman. Our temps are mid 70′s.  Light breeze and really great. We’re heading out for lunch tomorrow then grocery shopping. And, if they aren’t to busy, I’m having my nails done. Just noticed they’re almost to long for typing.

If anyone is keeping up with the Republican race, (praise heaven) Rick Perry dropped out. I swear, that man is an embarrassment to the state of Texas. Some people should be seen and not heard.

See, I DO have a boring life. I keep up with politics, go out for lunch and worry about my hair and nails.

Oh, I forgot to mention why we were out and about yesterday. We were celebrating our 39th anniversary. Don’t even ask what gift he gave me. The Christmas ring more than took care of whatever he would have spent. I could sell the thing and probably feed a third world country for a few weeks. Yeah, I’m shameless.

Today’s photo was taken awhile back. It’s from a town festival. Son’s of Confederate Veterans. At one time I could have named each of these men but I’ve long forgotten. Old people have short memories.

Today was grocery day. This usually occurs on Wednesday but our week got a little off  kilter. There really isn’t much going on around here. (now you may understand why there are no daily updates)

For those who have known me for any length of time, you’ll know I enjoy visiting a Yahoo chat room. For the past few months I’ve been absent, more or less. I’m slowly wandering back in. Not much going on there.  Regular chatters are usually gone. New people are sometimes just bots. Sometimes idiots.

Today’s photo was taken off the realtor.com site. I enjoy visiting there from time to time. Just checking to see what’s out there. This house isn’t one I’d want personally. Not all that much wrong that couldn’t be corrected. Just not my style. What I did find interesting is the sky. Pink. There were several photos in that town with pink sky. Not all by the same realty company. Maybe they all use the same photographer? No idea but I may call and ask.

This week was a bit topsy turvy. Instead of the usual hair stuff on Wednesday, that was delayed until today.  Husband and I went to what I call Hell City South for the day. Just a bit of shopping and eating out. Olive Garden. One of our favorite places. Of course it would be nice to have enjoyed a glass of wine but due to medication neither of us drink. Today was hair day because my stylist was gone yesterday. Not because we decided to eat at Olive Garden.

And, speaking of visiting the hair salon, it appears I’m the only person there who doesn’t deal with Twitter and/or Facebook. I also may be the only one who can use a phone that isn’t an iPhone.  Actually my phone is left in my car when I go there. Anyone calling between 11am and noon can just leave a message.

Today’s photo is how my husband is spending his winter. During the fall he snipped a few cuttings from our fig tree and he’s spending our winter making sure they grow. So far they’re doing great.

Since we’re officially in winter, I declared today as home made soup day. Chicken noodle. Not from a can. From scratch. If done properly this little dish takes about 30 minutes to make. If you go by a recipe, it looks complicated. The trick is to start tossing whatever you want into a pot of water. Cook until done. yummy.

I took time today and visited my former secretary. Yeah, for the uninformed, I once had a secretary. Anyway, we caught up on all the latest news/gossip. Visited with a few others where were on my staff. All in all, it was a really nice visit. (for the uninformed, I’m a former City Council member and a former City Mayor) Former because I really no longer have time for the daily mess that goes on in a city office. It’s very time consuming and for the most part it’s irritating and brain numbing. I’m much happier just dealing with graphics and web sites. Especially now that most clients seem to prefer handling their own updates and I set them up on Word Press. Great little invention. Thanks to whoever thought that up.

Today’s photo is from Christmas Day. After effects of a large lunch. Husband and Sissy Sue sleeping off a large meal. There’s one very similar of his brother but I promised not to post that one.