Category Archives: Barbara Ellen

Howdy Checkers!

Posted on June 28, 2018 | 1 comment

Introducing Barbara Ellen’s cat Checkers, our new house-cat in a pic from her Facebook page. Short for Chubby Checkers, as he has a tiger-like swinging belly on him.

Our new Senor Gato is a Tuxedo in case you’re wondering, which is arguably a description and not a breed. But there are dissenters. He is super friendly and likes to cuddle. His cloudy right eye has since been fixed with antibiotics.

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Posted in Barbara Ellen, Rancho Roly Poly, Senor Gato

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Metal detectors for schools

Posted on May 20, 2018 | 2 comments

Since more gun control is a non-starter after the Santa Fe, Texas, high school massacre, mainly because the shooter wasn’t old enough to possess a gun yet had one anyway, Barbara Ellen’s suggestion is to install metal detectors.

Makes sense to me. Federal funding for metal detectors at schools would be the ticket. It would let the pols put their votes where their mouths are, and do something tangible at the same time. Probably too much, but maybe not.

Arming teachers would be smart but probably too smart for the majority of teachers. More gun restrictions for the law-abiding makes no sense, not that nonsense ever stopped a pol. It’s too late to change the culture. Few movies get made, after all, without a gun as a plot point.

Metal detectors are neutral and workable, if expensive, but federal funding could ease the pain. They’d stop all big knives as well as most guns. Just do it!

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Posted in Barbara Ellen, Guns, Texana, The Culture

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Reprise

Posted on May 16, 2018 | 2 comments

Barbara Ellen’s one of the few who’s never seen Game of Thrones. So I’m getting to reprise all 70-plus episodes with her. Fun stuff, and useful before the return of the final season in July.

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Posted in Barbara Ellen, Flickers

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Hero service

Posted on May 14, 2018 | Comments Off on Hero service

Got to like the state’s new Hero service on state highways. Your car breaks down, you call Texas road assistance (the number is on the back of your driver’s license) and the Hero shows up to replace oil, gas or fix a damaged tire. Or, in the case of Barbara Ellen on Mopac North this evening, put out safety cones and wait for your tow to arrive.

Eric was her Hero who made me a little redundant as I showed up (alerted by her on smart phone) to help her stay calm, cool and collected until the tow arrived. Unfortunately she has a for-shit insurance company which had to negotiate the tow first so it took more than a hour to arrive. Eric calmly waited the whole time with friendly chat as well.

“That’s my job,” he said. “We wait until the fix is made or the tow arrives.”

Nice deal. Especially because it’s free. Thank you State of Texas. And Eric too.

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Posted in Barbara Ellen, Texana

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Recovering from triple bacterial pneumonia

Posted on May 11, 2018 | 4 comments

Actually, after double they call it multi-factual.bronchial pneumonia. But there are three places it dwells in my lungs: upper left and right and lower right. All found with a cat scan at the Seton ER early Thursday morning. After Barbara Ellen said I was delirious and, with my permission, called 911.

A young med tech said my temp was 103.7. Rode to the ER in the yellow truck-ambulance, spent the rest of the day and that night in Seton main. Lovely nurses Jennifer and Andrea. Helped me feel better along with Barbara Ellen and the antibiotics

Only got out this afternoon. Antibiotic knocking it back real good. It’s a jungle out there. Be safe.

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Posted in Barbara Ellen, Rancho Roly Poly

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Cinco de Mayo

Posted on May 5, 2018 | 2 comments

A Mexican mayonnaise festival.

Me and Barbara Ellen skipped the tacos today in favor of Chinese.

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Posted in Barbara Ellen, Rancho Roly Poly, South of the Border

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Checkers’ surgery

Posted on April 23, 2018 | 4 comments

Barbara Ellen’s beloved cat Checkers is “eating” again, through a tube through his esophagus, put there by a vet who pulled five of his teeth, one of which was broken at the gum line and another that was so decayed the root was showing.

The pain must have been intense and had apparently shut down his desire to eat. Such that he had lost almost ten pounds in two months.

Now he’s lively again, his tummy filled with food via the tube and his post-op pain soothed by morphine every twelve hours. The tube will be removed by the end of the week and he can get back to eating normally. Hopefully Checkers will not miss the morphine too much.

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Posted in Barbara Ellen, Senor Gato

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