Fritz the lizard is back. At least it is a Fritz, maybe a new fellow. He has grown a bit since we have noticed him. I saw him on the wood pile the other day. Judie says he lives under the big green wooden storage box on the patio.
And he has an avowed enemy, the neighbors cat. Judie ran the cat off this morning, it was trying to get at something under the Green Box (Fritz maybe). At least Fritz knows a safe spot.
But the damned cat prowls all night so I am sure it will return to haunt Fritz. Maybe the toad (yes, we have a toad too that lives in and around the patio) will distract the cat. I do not mind missing the toad but do mind losing a Fritz. We prize them, they are superior cricket eaters.
We know we had a clutch of them in the back yard. We found the eggs in edge of the compost pile in a neat hole. I counted 8 eggs, so maybe we had a flock of them. I saw the eggs and hole, Judie discovered them and distracted mama (Fritzina) for a while. I cam out and looked at the "nest." She, Fritzina, later came back and covered over the hole. And a new Fritz showed up about a month later, think it was one of hers?
Who knows, but we seem to have the wildlife in our yard. And that's a good thing, right?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What A Show . . . .
Yesterday, I had to go to the VA Hospital in Dallas for a couple of review appointments. I knew it would be a different thing for Judie to see and she decided to come because I was having an eye examination in one of the appointments. That meant I would get my eyes dilated and make driving home a hassle (The dilation was about 11:00 o'clock and we did not get out of there until past 3:00 o'clock, so much of that had worn off and I had ample sun glasses to take care of the glare).
I knew things would be sporting when we arrived at 9:00 o'clock and we had to park out in the South 40 lot. All the parking lots were over following. I opined it might be "appointment day." Somebody said that the Dallas VA hospital services 500,000 patients. That number does not include the everpresent person to accompany the patient, i.e Judie.
As we walked down the hall to the information desk, she commented the following, "It looks like an ant hill erupting with people all over the place." There were long lines at the pharmacy, lines at the waiting areas at the various clinics (mine was Clinic 16 but I was quickly shunted to Clinic 1 - the Eye Clinic). We waited in the lobby, then my name was called along with two dozen other names and we were led into the eye clinic and sat in yet another waiting room. They gradually processed us through the clinic.
After the eye clinic, it was back to Clinic 16. My next appointment was at 12:30, so we went down in the basement and ate lunch. That was zoo number 2. Crowded, lines everywhere, all tables taken, so we shared a table with guy. Naturally, we got his story too. All the food was fast food, I mean they shoved out the hash in record time. Judie had a hamburger and that was assembled before our eyes in less than 20 seconds; I chose a hot dog. We got our drinks and sat down and ate - like everybody else we ate as fast as we could to get out of there.
The next two doctors were an Orthopedic Surgeon (neck and knees) and GP at 2:00 PM. Those two appointments came off okay.
But it was fun to watch the people in action. One came and said he was late, the woman at the desk checked and said, "Yes, you are two weeks late." Another just came up and said, "I need more money in my compensation." Those patients got short shift real quick, there were just to many bodies to handle to take care of the idiots. Yes, there were plenty of disabled people, some missing parts and so on.
But it was fun watch some guy in his electric scooter zip down the hall way, shop at the VA store (it is much like a Base Exchange - a lot of the same kinds of things and no taxes!), drink Starbucks coffee, etc..
And of course they pay you mileage for coming in so the last step was to pull a ticket for your number and wait to get your travel voucher filled out. Sure enough, we got that done in about 20 minutes. Then you had to go to the cashier. A short line, they were very efficient. We were done at 3:30 or so, out the door and wait for the shuttle bus.
The shuttle bus gave us the same tour back to the "Back 40." The driver had a continuing conversation via his cellphone to "central." He reported a vacant wheel chair, and his general progress around the area (perhaps 10 - 12 acres) of child care, rehab, overnight facilities, etc.. We finally made it to the back lot; some other guy in the bus forgot where his truck was - he was in trouble - perhaps two or three thousand vehicles parked in that place. And yes, the ever present construction is going on too.
I noted that since this was my second time to this facility that there seemed to be twice as many people there. One person said he was there last Wednesday and the rain was so bad that the lobby was leaking like a sieve. He opined that a lot of appointments were rescheduled or missed and rescheduled, ergo a double load of "patients" there.
Guns are strictly forbidden - to many possible "Postal Patients" around that place. There were shell shocked guys, cripples, disgruntled people in general and so on. Since I had been though it once before, I knew that one had to be patient and have a good attitude, or go nuts. So it does not matter that if you have a conceal carry permit or not, no one is gonna take a chance in that place. The potential for harm is unbelieveable.
Also there was the ever present funeral home adjacent to the hospital. I guess they can just transship the bodies over to them for final processing.
To boot, the hospital is located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. So you don't want to be there after dark. Oak Cliff is the Scottlandville of Dallas.
We got the hell out of Dodge as fast as we could. Stopped at a McDonalds, got a coke and hit I-20 for home. Traffic both ways was not bad. We stopped at Lubby's for dinner and were home by 6:00 PM.
And Judie had the adventure of a life time!
I knew things would be sporting when we arrived at 9:00 o'clock and we had to park out in the South 40 lot. All the parking lots were over following. I opined it might be "appointment day." Somebody said that the Dallas VA hospital services 500,000 patients. That number does not include the everpresent person to accompany the patient, i.e Judie.
As we walked down the hall to the information desk, she commented the following, "It looks like an ant hill erupting with people all over the place." There were long lines at the pharmacy, lines at the waiting areas at the various clinics (mine was Clinic 16 but I was quickly shunted to Clinic 1 - the Eye Clinic). We waited in the lobby, then my name was called along with two dozen other names and we were led into the eye clinic and sat in yet another waiting room. They gradually processed us through the clinic.
After the eye clinic, it was back to Clinic 16. My next appointment was at 12:30, so we went down in the basement and ate lunch. That was zoo number 2. Crowded, lines everywhere, all tables taken, so we shared a table with guy. Naturally, we got his story too. All the food was fast food, I mean they shoved out the hash in record time. Judie had a hamburger and that was assembled before our eyes in less than 20 seconds; I chose a hot dog. We got our drinks and sat down and ate - like everybody else we ate as fast as we could to get out of there.
The next two doctors were an Orthopedic Surgeon (neck and knees) and GP at 2:00 PM. Those two appointments came off okay.
But it was fun to watch the people in action. One came and said he was late, the woman at the desk checked and said, "Yes, you are two weeks late." Another just came up and said, "I need more money in my compensation." Those patients got short shift real quick, there were just to many bodies to handle to take care of the idiots. Yes, there were plenty of disabled people, some missing parts and so on.
But it was fun watch some guy in his electric scooter zip down the hall way, shop at the VA store (it is much like a Base Exchange - a lot of the same kinds of things and no taxes!), drink Starbucks coffee, etc..
And of course they pay you mileage for coming in so the last step was to pull a ticket for your number and wait to get your travel voucher filled out. Sure enough, we got that done in about 20 minutes. Then you had to go to the cashier. A short line, they were very efficient. We were done at 3:30 or so, out the door and wait for the shuttle bus.
The shuttle bus gave us the same tour back to the "Back 40." The driver had a continuing conversation via his cellphone to "central." He reported a vacant wheel chair, and his general progress around the area (perhaps 10 - 12 acres) of child care, rehab, overnight facilities, etc.. We finally made it to the back lot; some other guy in the bus forgot where his truck was - he was in trouble - perhaps two or three thousand vehicles parked in that place. And yes, the ever present construction is going on too.
I noted that since this was my second time to this facility that there seemed to be twice as many people there. One person said he was there last Wednesday and the rain was so bad that the lobby was leaking like a sieve. He opined that a lot of appointments were rescheduled or missed and rescheduled, ergo a double load of "patients" there.
Guns are strictly forbidden - to many possible "Postal Patients" around that place. There were shell shocked guys, cripples, disgruntled people in general and so on. Since I had been though it once before, I knew that one had to be patient and have a good attitude, or go nuts. So it does not matter that if you have a conceal carry permit or not, no one is gonna take a chance in that place. The potential for harm is unbelieveable.
Also there was the ever present funeral home adjacent to the hospital. I guess they can just transship the bodies over to them for final processing.
To boot, the hospital is located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. So you don't want to be there after dark. Oak Cliff is the Scottlandville of Dallas.
We got the hell out of Dodge as fast as we could. Stopped at a McDonalds, got a coke and hit I-20 for home. Traffic both ways was not bad. We stopped at Lubby's for dinner and were home by 6:00 PM.
And Judie had the adventure of a life time!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Football Season is Underway . . .
Son James, wife Joan and Grandson Jammie motored over to Nashville to visit with Alf, Joan's father. And they went to the Vandy - LSU ball game. Alf got the tickets on the Vandy side of the field. Oh, I forgot to mention that Joan has a Master Degree from Vanderbilt University.
Of course, there was large contingent from New Roads present at the game. James was saying that they had premier parking place to do their tail gating. He mentioned some DA from New Roads knew the LSU Chief of Police (we called that in our day, the Campus Security) who got the Chief of Police for Vanderbilt to carve out a parking spot for them. I said you mean Don Cazayoux who is the US District Attorney, just recently appointed by the Obama Administration. Don's mother, Ann (Hess) Cazayoux is a childhood friend of mine, class mate etc.
Another guest was some old guy name John Wayne Jewell. Of course, we know John Wayne, his older brother Kenneth and his wife, Martha, who is Ann Cazayoux's little sister. Ann's mother was my God Mother. Ann's grandmother, affectionately known as Auntie was a sister to "Retts" or Florette (LeBlanc) Morrison, a legendary member of my family. So we share cousins but are not related to each other, other than being "kissing cousins" meaning close but no cigar. John Wayne and Martha live not very far from where I grew up.
Of couse, nephews Charlie and Byron are prime mothers in the LSU contingent and were there in full force. James said that they were really rocking and rolling in their private tailgating location. Pays to have connections, doesn't it? Especially since there was special columm in the Nashville Tennesean saying tail gating would not be allowed around the stadium. Hmmm.
And LSU won, woke up late in the third quarter. QB Jefferson was not doing so well. Second stringer, Jarret Lee, came in and threw one pass (completion) and running back ripped off a 65 yard touch down. That woke everybody up. Methinks, Jarret Lee ought to get more snaps.
Next week is upon us, and with it is Mississippi State, a team that has shown a lot of improvement. They are dangerous. Going to be interesting.
Geaux Tigers!
Of course, there was large contingent from New Roads present at the game. James was saying that they had premier parking place to do their tail gating. He mentioned some DA from New Roads knew the LSU Chief of Police (we called that in our day, the Campus Security) who got the Chief of Police for Vanderbilt to carve out a parking spot for them. I said you mean Don Cazayoux who is the US District Attorney, just recently appointed by the Obama Administration. Don's mother, Ann (Hess) Cazayoux is a childhood friend of mine, class mate etc.
Another guest was some old guy name John Wayne Jewell. Of course, we know John Wayne, his older brother Kenneth and his wife, Martha, who is Ann Cazayoux's little sister. Ann's mother was my God Mother. Ann's grandmother, affectionately known as Auntie was a sister to "Retts" or Florette (LeBlanc) Morrison, a legendary member of my family. So we share cousins but are not related to each other, other than being "kissing cousins" meaning close but no cigar. John Wayne and Martha live not very far from where I grew up.
Of couse, nephews Charlie and Byron are prime mothers in the LSU contingent and were there in full force. James said that they were really rocking and rolling in their private tailgating location. Pays to have connections, doesn't it? Especially since there was special columm in the Nashville Tennesean saying tail gating would not be allowed around the stadium. Hmmm.
And LSU won, woke up late in the third quarter. QB Jefferson was not doing so well. Second stringer, Jarret Lee, came in and threw one pass (completion) and running back ripped off a 65 yard touch down. That woke everybody up. Methinks, Jarret Lee ought to get more snaps.
Next week is upon us, and with it is Mississippi State, a team that has shown a lot of improvement. They are dangerous. Going to be interesting.
Geaux Tigers!
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