A Good Haircut

Back when I was in my 20s, all I needed to look good was clean hair and a smile. That doesn't work anymore. (Not for a long time.) I need a good haircut.

A good haircut looks good when you first come home from the salon. It may look a bit different when you wash it and style it yourself, but it still looks good. A good haircut looks good until it is time for another haircut. This should be longer than three weeks. On average it should be six weeks. But the way to judge it is that your hair is in your face, the color needs a touch up, or it's getting shaggy. If it gets shaggy after three weeks, you didn't have a good haircut.

I don't think I have a good haircut. The individual who cut my hair for a number of years is no longer available. I wanted to find someone else in my home town. (It was one thing to go to a hairdresser in Plano or Dallas when I worked in Plano or Dallas, which I haven't done in years.) I've tried a few of the others now and I still haven't had a good haircut.

So yesterday while we sat having lunch at Market Square in San Antonio, I looked at other women's hair. I can see that I am not alone. Nobody I wanted to trade hair with. No one I wanted to run up to and ask "Who does your hair?"

Pretty much the same thing when we were on the Riverwalk, although I did see two women with good haircuts there. But I didn't run up and ask because the odds of them being in the Dallas area are pretty slim.

It's a dilemma. I bought some hats last week because they look better than my hair does. It's a good short-term solution. But I don't want to fool around with hats for the long term. The one I had on yesterday did not feel that secure on my head. I felt my hair constantly trying to get out from under the hat. Maybe I could start wearing a hijab. Or maybe a turban .

Or, maybe I can find a hairdresser who's really knows how to cut hair.

Tell Us When it Happens

The inefficiencies of the United States Postal Service (USPS) are legendary. All things considered, you couldn't get a private company to take your card or letter across country for less than a dollar. But we still like to gripe about it when it goes wrong. And sometimes, all you can do is shake your head.

For instance, last month I had a party invitation go astray. I already knew about the party so it was pretty much a formality, but I was hoping to get it because I needed the address. It finally turned up the day of the party with a note written on the envelope informing the USPS that the name and address on the envelope were both incorrect. No. The name and address were NOT incorrect. The delivery was just wrong.

I also had a credit card bill go astray. I was very surprised when they called me to tell me the payment was past due. I checked my bank's bill pay site and my file drawer. They were correct. I hadn't made a payment, but I also had no outstanding bills on my desk. Fortunately since I always pay on time and in full, they credited me for the interest and late fees.

Then Mark ordered some software through Amazon. When it didn't arrive on time, Mark contacted Amazon to track the shipment. Oh my! They showed it had been delivered. Someone at the USPS had signed for it. Mark went to the post office and filled out the form to track the shipment. They too showed that it had been signed for but they would have to find out where it had been delivered. They would have to ask the mail carrier what happened to it. His answer? "I delivered it somewhere. I can't remember where." Well, that's useful. Amazon, in the interests of customer service, shipped another one. This one arrived via United Parcel Service with no problems.

Then last week I found out that another bill hadn't been paid in December. Fortunately, it wasn't the same bill that hadn't been delivered in November. And again, because my account history shows that I pay on time and in full, they agreed to waive the interest charges and late fees. I thought I would probably have to have a word with the folks at the post office. I can't have them screwing up my credit rating.

As I was getting ready to go out shopping, I heard the doorbell. I opened the door and a man handed me an open package. From Amazon. With Mark's software in it. He explained that it had been delivered with a number of other parcels and he'd just got around to opening them, and didn't realize that this one wasn't his until he'd already opened it. But because I didn't fancy standing around in my bathrobe letting cold air into the house, I thanked him for bringing it by but failed to find out who he was or where he lives.

At least now I can let the folks at the USPS know that they can stop racking their brains over the missing package. But I also wanted them to know that my mail wasn't being delivered properly and that the carrier needed to take a bit more care.

The young lady listened to me and then she said the most amazing thing - "Unless you tell us on the day it happens, there's nothing we can do about it."

That sounds reasonable. But it isn't. It's like the question they used to ask you at the airport - "Has anyone given you something you don't know about?" How on earth can I tell them that my mail was not delivered to the right address on the day they delivered it to someone else? How am I to know when they deliver it to someone else? I just left. I can't explain this to her.

Ice Age

I think it all went wrong when the only Fredericksburg our GPS could find was in Norway. I think Dallas and the surrounding environs were scuttled into Norway in the middle of the night. That is the only explanation I can think of for why it's been so cold for so long.

We have ice storms all the time - usually one or two a year. A layer of ice and within two days we're all back on the golf course as though it didn't happen. Not this time. We are now in Day 6, or maybe Day 7 of what KRLD radio is referring to as, not an ice storm but an ice event. (I really think the word "event" should be used in conjunction with sales and sports. But that's just me.)

It started last Thursday. I knew it was coming so I went to the grocery store to get the required bread and milk and enough stuff to get us through a few days. Little did I know...

We ended up cancelling Mark's Friday appointments and just stayed in and watched it come down. All day. All night. We usually go out for dinner on Friday nights. Not that night. We stayed in and were grateful we didn't have to be out in it. Then on Saturday we slept in. Slept in until almost noon. It's good to do that from time to time.

By Sunday we were getting a bit stir crazy. We wanted to go out, but the driveway and each vehicle was covered in a good 4-inch layer of solid ice. (That was pretty much the condition of everything outside.) So we put on our woolies and our hiking boots and we walked to church. (Mark even put on his Santa hat.) I felt a bit like a pioneer. The road was slick and we had to get off the road every time we encountered a car. (The sidewalk was not even visible under the ice at this point. - Street was the only option.) There weren't many people there, including the wonderful musician who plays piano and keyboard. So we sang a capella - mostly Christmas carols. But it was cozy and we felt better for having been there. But the walk (about three blocks) made us realize that driving out for an afternoon movie was a bad idea.

Monday was another day of staying in. Once again, we cancelled Mark's appointments. I did venture out to the grocery store to get stuff to put in my crock pot. (Good thing I didn't want bread - they were pretty much out of that.) It seemed a bit better, but you still didn't want to go very far because everything was still frozen. Tuesday saw the weather get above freezing - in the middle of the afternoon. We ventured out to the mall and did a bit of Christmas shopping but felt the need to be back home before the sun went down and the temperatures dropped back down into the 20s.

I had a doctor's appointment today. The drive was okay, although there's still a bit of slush and ice on overpasses and bridges. Again, very important to get home before it refreezes. It's going to dip down into the 20s again tonight but at least the high got up to 38 or 40 today, which is enough to melt some of it.

We're still waiting for it to fall off our roof. We've moved the cars back so that they're not damaged when those big sheets come sliding off. I'm hoping it will just melt away with no drama - like the 4-inch ice cover we had on the hot tub.

In truth, I don't care how it goes, as long as it just goes. This ice was never welcome in the first place and it has seriously overstayed any welcome it might have had. I want my life back!

More Than We Need

I cooked so much food on Thanksgiving Day that I didn't even notice that I forgot to cook the green beans. There was so much food on the table that I didn't miss the Yorkshire puddings, either. But the turkey, ham and vegetables made for a great meal on Thursday, and again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will probably be turkey pot pie tonight. And then I'll freeze the rest of the meat and stuffing. Thankfully, the vegetables and the pies are gone.

It seemed more a day of excess than a day of giving thanks. But it was indeed more than we needed, which seems to be the case with everything in my life. We have more food than we need every day, not just on Thanksgiving. Our house could be bigger, but it is enough. We have enough money to pay our bills. We have three vehicles for two people. We have more than enough "stuff". We have opportunities to travel. We have beautiful families, charming cats and good friends. And for these things I am thankful. Everyday.

What I've learned over the years is to count my blessings. Name them one by one. It's when I started counting other people's blessings instead of my own that I lost sight of the blessings I had.

Inclement Weather

Having been born in northern Ohio and spending nearly half my life there, as well as spending a fair amount of time in England, I think I am well qualified to judge inclement weather. In my expert opinion, mid 40 temperatures with zero precipitation does not qualify. 

But apparently in San Antonio it does. Last weekend when we were there the river tours and the water taxis were closed due to inclement weather. Just not justified on Saturday at all. I will admit that on Sunday the temperature dropped from the mid forties down to the mid thirties. It was cold. Probably too cold for most people to want to sit on a boat. Not only that, it rained. A bit closer to inclement. Actually, freezing and rain combined definitely qualifies as inclement. But that didn't actually happen in San Antonio.

November 2013

I believe it had more to do with economics than with the weather. We were there last year at New Year's Eve and it was cold and drizzly. Not that much different from last weekend except that it was packed. Last weekend there were very few people in town. The Riverwalk was virtually empty. You'll notice the photo to the right has no boats in it and very few people. Quite rare in my experience.

2012 Christmas Lights

The Riverwalk is usually lit up beautifully for the holidays, but I don't think they turned the lights on last weekend. I know the lights were up because you could see that they were there as you were walking, but I don't think they were turned on. One night we ate at Morton's and another night at the Menger, so we might have missed the lights because neither of those places is on the Riverwalk. However, the night we ate at Boudro's we should have seen the lights if they were on. I don't remember seeing them and neither does Mark. What cheapskates!! Those of us who were brave enough to show up in the "inclement" weather should have been rewarded with something pretty to look at.

All in all, San Antonio was not warm and welcoming last weekend. Another reason not to go back when it's cold is that the heaters are just not up to it. We stayed at the historic Crockett Hotel. The heater struggled to heat the room and it was noisy. It didn't actually extend into the bathroom which relied on one of those heat lamps for warmth. While we were at Boudro's, there was a vibration and noise coming from the ceiling that sounded like there was a railroad track overhead. We asked our waiter what the noise was and he told us it was the heater. Very distracting.

But we did walk the Riverwalk. On Saturday we walked from the Crockett to the King William area and back and then to Market Square and back. On Sunday we walked the Museum Reach, and again, since no taxis were running, we walked back.

But if it's cold the next time we go, San Antonio is going to be in danger of losing it's spot on my favorite cities list. Just sayin'.