Turning on the gas

1. [15-Sep-13] In Colorado. Decided to move the gas dryer and buy a gas stove
2. 16-Oct-13] Arrived in San Benito, Texas
3. [16-Oct-13 to 27-Oct-13] Dealt with some immediate urgent house issues
4. [28-Oct-13] Called gas company (Texas Gas Service)
1. They said I needed to call the City and get the line certified
5. Called the City
1. They said I needed to call a plumber and he would request certification
6. Called around to various plumbers
1. Found one I liked
7. By the way (I asked them) can you convert the dryer back to natural gas (from propane)?
1. no, they said, the gas company will do that.
8. (Back to the gas service) The line had a leak
1. The guy crawled around under the house
1. he asked where I was going to need gas
2. I said just the dryer and stove (laundry room and kitchen)
2. He cut and capped the line going further into the house
1. still had a leak
2. Well, he said, it must be between the alley and the house. The gas company will put the meter at the house.
3. He cut the line from the alley
1. still had a leak
2. he crawled around some more
3. It must be in the kitchen wall, he said
9. [8-Nov-13]At this point I figured I should invoke my Home Warranty Policy
10. I called Old Republic (what a worthless crap pile they are!)
11. They won't cover any expenses incurred. They'll call their own contractor.
12. [12-Nov-13] Their contractor came ($60 Technical Service Call fee)
1. He was nice enough.
2. His solution was to excavate from the alley to under the house and put in a new line altogether.
3. Old Republic said I had to get the excavation done (the plumber figured that would be ~$500) on my own account and then they would pay (minus another $60 TSC fee) for the new line.
13. [18-Nov-13] Back to my original guys
1. OK- go into the wall
2. 5 minutes later, the line going upstairs (for gas lighting?) cut and capped
14. No leak!
15. Called the city
1. [18-Nov-13] They came out and certified the line.
16. Called Texas Gas Service
1. No, they don't do appliance conversions
2. And oh, by the way, the conversion has to be done before they'll turn on the service.
1. Why? It doesn't make any sense. I'll still have an unused gas nozzle.
2. That's the rule
17. Called Sears (it's a Kenmore dryer)
1. They don't/can't/won't do it
18. Finally found an appliance repair shop in Brownsville that would do it
1. They had to order the part 
19. [6-Dec-13] When they showed up (2 weeks later - there was Thanksgiving in there somewhere) they had the wrong part). They got it done later that afternoon.
20. Called the gas company.
21. [10-Dec-13] The guy from Texas Gas Service came out. "Yes" agreed, they would put the meter at the house but it might take some time before they can run the line.

So, just to re-cap. In order to get gas service to the house, I needed to get certified. It took a while for the plumbers to find a leak and fix it. Then, in order to get gas service to the house, I needed to get my dryer re-converted to natural gas. Then, in order to get gas service to the house, the gas company needs to run the service line ( ~10 feet) to my house.

[23-Dec-13] My buddy from TGS came back (I called to remind him I was still gasless) and put in a temporary line. It's a high pressure hose from the alley gas feed to the house's gas line. So now we have gas and they can take their sweet time making the line permanent.

Merry Christmas!

[8-Jan-14] The gas company connected the feed to my house with a permanent underground pipe. Habemos gas!

water levels

I'm new to the valley. I just got here in mid-October and now it's mid-November. When I first moved in, the grass and weeds along the resaca were high and thick and a few weeks ago the city mowed it all down. So, it could just be a matter of visibility, but...

It seems like the water level in the resaca is way down. Like I said, I'm a newcomer. Maybe cycles are normal. Maybe the water level isn't down but the mud is high. Still, it's troubling.

We have a local newspaper in San Benito that comes out twice a week. I think, based on only a 2-week history of having subscribed, that if the resaca water level was alarming, they would sound the alarm. They seem to be pretty hard up for real news. So far, at least, they haven't mentioned the water at all. Still, it's troubling.

I'll keep watching.

[update 8Dec13] Apparently, the water level is, to some extent at least, controlled. According to Water Superintendent for the Cameron County Irrigation District #2 David Gomez, as part of somewhat labored explanation of dead fish sightings, that may or may not have been caused by a recent cold snap, in the San Benito News, "I keep the resaca kind of low because we don't have any demand right now for irrigation."

Moving to San Benito

Well, it's finally happening. We bought a house in San Benito. It looks like we're getting out just in time, too. The snows are already falling just north of here and it won't be long before winter lays it's harsh hand upon us. We'll leave Colorado on 15-Oct with 4 dogs and 1 cat. Hopefully we'll arrive on the resaca the next day with the same count.

Fire season 2013

As I write this, three fires are currently burning in Colorado. One of them, the Black Forest fire, now the most destructive fire in the state's history, is about 30 miles from my house. It is currently about 15,000 acres of active or burnt area and growing. On the day it started, 11-June-2013, the wind was blowing (pretty hard) more or less toward me.

The smoke plume was about 30,000 feet high and maybe 70 miles long.

That afternoon, I found ash from the fire dropped on my property.

I figure they're probably building materials but it's impossible to tell.

One thing I've noticed that I never have before (doesn't mean it wasn't the case -- I just never noticed) is the language that journalists use to talk about the fire seems to be drawn from how they would talk about fighting a dragon. The fire "lays down".  The fire fighters "knock down" the flames. Obviously, the fire "roars". I guess it makes sense: what else incarnates a fire better than a dragon?

This is getting silly

I'm a boomer. I was born in 1950 and all my life, my cohort of age-related Americans has been sought after by advertisers, watched by trend hunters, and generally an economic phenomenon merely due to our out-sized representation in the population.

It was one thing when the music I liked was everywhere. It was pretty cool when all the ads aimed at us were for cool cars and hip threads and boss kicks. But now it's all testosterone creams and adult diapers and erectile dysfunction remedies. Enough already!

An old dog -- no more tricks

Java is close to 15 years old. It kind of happened suddenly. Not really of course, the years accumulated linearly as they always do. It's just that one day he was frisky and mischievous, and the next he was having trouble standing. I had figured he'd live a few more years at least. Not that 15 isn't a ripe old age for a dog but he's not a particularly big dog and he's always been pretty healthy. Maybe it's been the steady diet of ground squirrels and the associated dirt ingested in digging them up. I don't know.

Last Saturday night, he asked to go out some time after midnight. Nothing unusual there. When he asked to come back in about an hour later (as usual), I noticed that he staggered a little coming through the door. I chalked it up to my maybe not opening the door enough and went back to bed. In the morning it was clear that something was wrong. His head was tilted to the side. His balance was shaky. When we went for a walk, he couldn't lift his leg. He tired quickly. His eyes were darting around. When balance is involved, I figure it could be an ear infection. I didn't think it was the case this time but I gave him some ear medicine anyway. What I think happened is he had a stroke. Now, I don't know if dogs get strokes but I suppose they do. Anyway, some sort of neurological event, I think that's likely if not clear.

Sunday afternoon he couldn't really get through a whole walk. He just lay down. I carried him for a while and then put him down. He walked/tottered home, slowly. I thought I was going to have to - you know - take him to the vet (and I don't mean take him to the vet but rather take him to the vet - you know what I mean?). Back in 1995, I had another 15 year old dog and I let her get too sick and too weak and too pathetic and it wasn't right and it was my fault she suffered and I didn't want to do that again. But I didn't want to pull that particular trigger too soon, either. It's a hard call. Every time it's a hard call.

But Monday, he seemed stronger. Not like before the event, whatever the event was, but improved over Sunday for sure. He still wobbled when he lifted his leg but he got the job done. He climbed up the deck stairs. He walked, slowly sometimes to be sure, the whole walk. His head still tilts. His eyes still wander in what seems to be an uncontrolled dysfunction. He still sleeps a lot. But I'm not ready to say his life is pointless, or too painful, or too pitiful. Or over. Not  yet at least. He's old, sure. So am I. But he's still happy to be out in the world, or so it seems to me, and I'm happy to let him be. But I don't think we'll be learning any new tricks.

Spanakornithos

Ever since I learned to make turducken, I've been de-boning whole chickens whenever I cook one. It's just so much easier to serve and eat. Furthermore, the bones are great for making soup. I've documented elsewhere the process and the result and while it's definitely worth the effort, I thought I'd mix it up a bit.

This time, instead of trying to stuff the bird back to it's original shape and size, I decided to roll it up after layering some spinach and Mexican fresh cheese. After taking out the bones, I laid the chicken out flat, skin down. I loosened the skin at the edge so I could roll the meat without getting the skin inside. I salted the chicken "slab" and drizzled a little olive oil on it. Then I spread chopped (thawed but previously frozen) spinach over the slab. Then I sprinkled chopped cheese over it. Then I rolled it up and tied it off in 3 places (about an inch from each end and in the middle). Then a little paprika on the outside and into the oven on a raised roasting pan for 6 hours at 190 degrees Farenheit.

I call it spanakornithos. You know, like spanakopita (spinach and pita), but with a bird (ornithos) instead of dough.
[edit: 8May13] I have been informed by a reliable (i.e., Greek) source that the correct construction is spanakornitha (σπανακόρνιθα).

...One more round

My neighbor killed one of my dogs. That is, I'm pretty sure that's what happened. And when I say neighbor, I mean the guy who lives in the house that's half a mile away (the closest to mine). Anyway, she, the dog in question, was probably doing something he thought was unacceptable or maybe he just wanted to shoot something. It doesn't really matter. I've only talked to this fellow maybe three times since he moved in about 2 years ago. The first time was when he was fixing the fence between our properties and I went over to see if I could help. Naturally, some of my dogs came with me and "violated" the (3-strand barbed wire) fence. I apologized and he said it was okay "as long as they don't run the horses into the fence". I guess he changed his mind.

The morning in question I was walking with my dogs as is my usual routine. Four of them ran over to see something on this neighbor's land. It was foggy and just a few hours before a major blizzard hit us. I couldn't see what the dogs were doing but I could see his horses and they weren't even moving, much less running. Then I heard a shot. Then three of them came running back to my house. Then the wind and the snow came up. I waited but she never came home.

I'm still waiting.

Unemployment

After working continuously for 40 years, the most recent 25 of which with the same company, I find myself without a job. I don't think I'm "retired". That implies several things that are not true in this case. First, "retired" connotes that my new-found unemployment is voluntary; it is not. Moreover "retired from ..." implies that "..." is somehow participating in my post-employment sustenance; they are not.

Now, it's true that I am old enough to qualify for social security benefits. The government, however does everything in its power to dissuade me from enrolling for those benefits for another 4 years. And indeed, it had been my intention to accede to that protocol. Alas, that may not be possible. It's also true that if I were to start expending those resources I have always planned to use for my retirement, I would probably be able to live reasonably comfortably (along with my long-suffering spouse) for as long as living itself is an option. It just irks me that the decision has been taken from me.

There are, as is well known, many people worse off than I am. Millions of people are unemployed with far fewer resources on which to rely. In that sense, removing me from the workforce is a public "good"; I'm not competing with those who need a job more than I do. I suppose it's a bourgeois conceit in the first place that a man is supposed to work at all. I just don't know what else to do. So I'll look for a job while I adjust to not having one. As Arthur Dent said to Mr. Prosser, "we'll see who rusts first."