The year is creeping to its inevitable end as it always does. What is the saying, “Time and tide wait for no man”. How true is that? 

We woke late and I crawled out of bed. It was cloudy and overcast and we walked around for a bit not seeing any other dogs or people on the journey except for Daniel who was busy filling Propane containers, and he was on the other side of the park.  

I had a quick breakfast and then settled down to read the news before turning my attention to the blog which I worked on for a couple of hours. Daniel stopped by to say he was getting lunch and would be back later to work on my water problem. 

He showed up around an hour later accompanied by Malinda who also brought along her little terrier. Try as I might, I could not get the little guy to make friends with me. Daniel worked for more than an hour and had most of the system repaired but discovered another broken part in the storage tank system requiring ordering the part online through Amazon. It should be here tomorrow. Hopefully, this is the last piece of the puzzle, and we should be good from here on out. 

Until the next frost, that is as this last one came early and was very severe. There is a lot of winter left. I have a whole different set of procedures I will need to follow to prepare for the next one to prevent a recurrence of this problem. 

Daniel left after I thanked them both very profusely, refusing any sort of payment for their services, saying it was all a part of the job. I tidied up outside and then contemplated on going into town until I looked at my phone and discovered that it was already 3:00 pm. As I want to also pick up my mail, which means going into Austin, I put off the trip for today. No sense in driving in the rush hour traffic especially as I would also be driving home in the dark 

We went out for just a short walk to ease the dogs’ frustrations, especially Mikey as he had spent a great deal of time and energy defending his house by barking at Melinda’s dog. We did not go very far, just wandering around before returning to the RV where I wrote some more in the blog and then, we went out for the last walk of the day around the campground before returning to Quatro for the evening. 

Written December 29, 2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com 

The Diary of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Dripping Springs, TX Day 30, Friday 12/30/2022

Up at a reasonable hour and then out and about walking both the outside roads and the campground. The big furry dog was outside and was so relaxed that he did not even bother to get up when we greeted him, just lay on his back and wagged his tail. I made a big fuss of him as did Sandy. Mikey did not even bark so he must have accepted that the old guy is not a threat. 

Back in Quatro, following breakfast, I worked on a grocery list as I planned on going into Austin to pick up my mail and on the way home, stopping at Walmart’s for supplies. I finished up with the few things that I was working on and then jumped into the Jeep to drive into Austin. I decided to take the back way to avoid the traffic congestion on Hwy 290 and eventually arrived at the Mail Store on Far West Blvd. 

The mail did not have anything of major interest and the one item from my bank that I hoped were the new checks turned out to be just the monthly statement. Still, as it was a very positive one, so who is complaining? 

From Far West, I drove to Walmart’s, the one by Brodie Lane. The traffic was horrendous on Mopac just as it usually is any time of the day. I cannot imagine travelling that on a daily basis anymore although I did for almost 20 years as a working man. Thank goodness those days are over. There are a few positive things that come with old age and retirement is top of the list. 

Before I got out of the car, I searched high and low for the grocery list I had carefully compiled and discovered, much to my annoyance, that I had left it in the RV. Stupid man, what good is a list if I do not have it with me especially with my memory being as bad as it is. As it turns out, when I got back to the RV and unloaded the groceries, the only thing missing from the list was the Doggy Meat Roll and I can get those in the local HEB. Pretty good after all. Incidentally, I was able to find the right cable to hook the desk lamp back up, as the old cable had come apart. 

I stopped at Starbucks on the way home for my usual Latte and a piece of Walnut Spice cake which I enjoyed on the drive. When we arrived back at Quatro after an uneventful drive home, I harnessed up the dogs and we wandered around going in whatever direction Miss Sandy had her heart set on. Daniel stopped to talk to me but received a phone call from a prospective camper and took back off. Obviously, talking to me is not so important that it cannot wait until tomorrow, as I did not see him again. 

We retired to the RV for the evening’s entertainment and food. 

Written December 30, 2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com