Good-Bye to Mom & other news

Hey, Gang! This update gets to start off with the news that Mom left this earthly plane to go be with her husband in heaven on August 9th at 10:29 PM CST. Mom was 85 at the time of her passing which was quite peaceful. Between staff at the home and hospice she was being checked every 10 minutes to make sure she was comfortable. She simply went to sleep forever between those checks. 

My brother, his daughter and husband and their son, made it up here that Saturday morning and had a chance to visit with her for a good hour before she got too tired and fell asleep. When they were out here visiting later Jerry commented that they had all gotten to say good-bye. Since I had told her on the previous Tuesday that they were coming I honestly think she waited to depart until she got the chance to see them all one final time. 

Mom was preceded in death by her only husband, Joe (aged 57), in 1981. She will be interred beside him at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Forney, Texas. This will be a family only event. Exact location is Section #1, Lot #54, spaces # 1 & 2.  She is survived by two sons, two granddaughters, six great-granddaughters and one great-grandson. 

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Here on the home front we have had a couple of weeks of fairly hot weather but in general it's been a pretty mild summer overall. Here it is August 13th at almost noon and it's only 82 outside right now! It was in the very low 70's when we woke up today.... so really nice out. Everyone in this household is of the opinion that this winter is going to be a real booger! I have bought extra Kerosene lanterns plus we have a good stock of candles too. I have, I think, 4 big 20lb propane tanks that I need to get filled yet and I need to stock more lamp oil and get a few 5 gallon cans of kerosene for my big space heaters.

As the weather starts to transition to colder the rule of thumb for the vehicles will be that 1/2 tank of gas is your new empty! As soon as it gets close to 1/2 tank.... fill up!! I top my big diesel truck off at 3/4 tank..... mostly to keep my wallet from imploding. You do the math.... 44 gallons at almost $3.90 a gallon........ YEP! It's a large number. 15 to 18 gallons is a lot easier to manage. I've taken other steps to be prepared too but there is always more to do and refinements to make to whatever plans one has in place. 

Prices and availability of ammo is pretty good right now so more is always a good idea. (Beatles...... Happiness is a warm gun) Some method for either storing or filtering water is good too as is a good stock of dehydrated food. Remember the old biblical adage..... The Lord helps those who help themselves. God gives us the tools and resources we need to make it through most difficulties..... it's up to US to put those tools and resources to good use for the benefit of ourselves and those we love and are responsible for. Do not do so is a fail in our obligations as parents and Christians. 

I still need to motivate myself to get out back and get the Town Car ready to sell on Craig's list.  Every bird in north Texas has used it for target practice and I still have items in the trunk I need to clear out too. I have the current registration sticker to put in the window and following that I need to have it inspected as proof that it is road worthy. It has interior problems with the leather seating and the heater core leaks but it starts and runs great and gets over 24 mpg out on the highway.  I have the Genesis, my big Excursion and the bike...... I don't need a 4th vehicle.

I also need to get serious about finding a combination shop/storage building for this lot too. I spend nearly $100 a month for rent so how much more would it really cost me to be making payments on something I'd own? Probably not that much. $200 a month would be reasonable in my books. Much of the reason to have everything HERE is #1 access to my tools and shop equipment and #2 the ability to go out there and sort through all the stuff so we can eliminate everything we absolutely do not need. (which is probably most of that stuff in reality) 

Final item before I hit the post button. I have been calling the VA up in Oklahoma City since January trying to get to speak to a real human so I could transfer my records and get an appointment up there. Still no luck on that front. However...... I got into the local outreach clinic yesterday and DO have an appointment there on September the 10th @ 1pm. Of course once I get seen there.... THEY have a direct line to the VA in OKC and can schedule whatever follow-up appointments I might need. I suspect a full cardio workup will be needed so they can figure out why I suddenly have all these angina issues. Since that has really only been a problem for the past 6 months or so I attributed it to stress..... which it might be. But the effects of stress don't vanish overnight so I'm pretty sure some sort of remediation measures will have to be put into place and some additional protocols followed so I can look back on my 100th birthday from farther down the road. ;-) 

As always.... be good and y'all take care of each other!