Saturday, February 25 - What’s been happening (Mercedes, TX)

 

We have not been writing much lately mostly because after 3 1/2 years of the blog it has become somewhat of a chore. I guess I will have to pitch in and give Ginger a hand with the blog a bit more than I have.

The weather for most of the month has been cloudy and wet. I think we only had 1 sunny day the first 2 weeks. It got a little better after that but still quite a few wet or dreary days.

We went to Mexico on Friday the 10th. Nothing new there just not as many Americanos as there used to be.

Bob’s birthday along with our grandson Gage was on Valentines Day. The six of us went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Bob had the most fun, take a look.

We were having a pot luck brunch on the 15th for Bob’s b-day. 2 of his daughters and grandchildren were coming in for a visit as a surprise. And surprised they were to both Janet and Bob!!

The next day the Marilyn, Ed, Ginger, and I went to the Rec Hall for lunch and a few games of pool afterwards. I think the team of Ginger and Ed took Marilyn and me 3 to 1. Then Ed and I played a couple of games ourselves and he was gracious enough to scratch on the 8 ball both games.

On Sat the 18th Ginger and I picked up a couple of pizzas and met Marilyn and Ed at the library for pizza and Mexican Train. Marilyn showed no mercy and beat the pants off of us.

Sunday morning Heinz stopped by to see if we would like to go for a bike ride at Resaca de la Palma State Park. It looked to be a nice day so we accepted. We all brought some snacks and cold drinks and Heinz picked us up in his truck. We enjoyed the leisurely ride and the nice mild day.

Monday we all went to the Gladys Porter Zoon in Brownsville. Ginger and I rode with Heinz and Irene and Bob and Janet rode with Ed and Marilyn. Having never been there before Ginger and I were quite impressed with how nice the zoo was. We all had a good time and went to Fat Daddy’s for a late lunch after Ed again took us to a restaurant that was closed. We took many more pictures way too many to post here.

This past Wednesday the 8 of us met Roger and Joyce at their RV spot in Bentsen Palms so we could all ride over to Rio Bentsen State Park. This time we all packed a lunch. It was a warm and muggy morning but we chose to eat our lunch at the hawk observation tower and there was a nice breeze to keep us cool and the gnats and mosquitos away.

Thursday evening Bob, Janet, Ed, Marilyn, Ginger, and I went to a dinner play at the Rec Hall. The actors and stage hands were all members of the drama club here at the Resort. I liked the dinner but Ginger does not eat red meat and the entre was brisket. Oh well more meat for me. The play was ok. I only fell asleep a couple of times. The best parts were when they flubbed their lines.

Since then Ginger has come down with a nasty head cold so we have just been hanging round the house . Hopefully she will get well soon as we leave here next Saturday.

Wednesday, February 8 - Only Gringos (Mercedes, TX)

 

Thought I would let you know what has happened since Sunday. NOTHING! The weather has been cold, cloudy and very wet.

 

We did nothing on Monday but hang out at home. The only time we went out was to walk the boys, who also dislike this weather.

On Tuesday Bob and Janet picked Ed and Marilyn up at the airport and we met them at Lins buffet. We enjoyed getting caught up and had lots of laughs. The food was good but Jesse and I both commented that we thought it was better when we were here 2 years ago.

Yesterday Jesse and I had an appointment to have our eye exam, it was attached to Walmart. We walked in the there was about 18-20 people sitting. We walked to the counter and I asked if the doctor was running late and he told us about 30 minutes. We were given paperwork to fill out and we had to stand at the counter and fill them out because there were no seats.

Looking around we were the only Gringos in the place. Even the aids and doctor was Hispanic.

We got called in to see the doctor one hour past our scheduled time.

We both feel like we got a good exam certainly much better then the one we got 2 years ago in Mexico.

Afterward we did a little shopping in Walmart then went home for the evening.

The weather continues to be wet and it is suppose to be that way through this week.

Sunday, February 5 - Super Bowl Sunday (Mercedes, TX)

 

Today is a cold, windy and wet day. The temperatures dropped 30 degrees since lunch yesterday, its only 49 degrees outside. We are sitting here with the fireplace going to help take the chill off.

I am going to bake a cake for later and making white chicken chili for dinner. I am sure we will spend most of the day just snacking.

Bob, Janet, Jesse and myself made a trip to South Padre Island on Friday. Ed and Marilyn are in Missouri spending time with their children and grandchildren.

Our 1st stop was Dirty Al's for lunch. Bob ordered oyster shooters as an appetizer.

We all ordered our lunch having baskets of fried seafood with French fries. It was yummy!

We walked around the Marina looking at the boats and birds.

Then we rode through Isla Blanca Park Campground that is located in Cameron County Park System. We paid out $4 entrance fee and enjoyed driving through the streets. we wondered how much the sites were so we stopped and talked with a man that was sitting out in the sun. He told us where the office was which is out side of the park and we headed there to get info. We were all surprised that the monthly rate was very reasonable.

Afterward we drove down Padre Blvd to the area that had kites flying. This weekend was the annual Kite Flying Festival. The small kite in the middle is actually flying the big round kite on the right. It was such a surprise that it was able to do that.

All 4 of us seemed to enjoy watching the kites fly in the wind.

We were invited by one of the flyers to give it a try and were given a quick lesson.

We then proceeded on to beach access #5 and parked, set up our chairs and enjoyed the ocean with drinks. The tide was in so there wasn’t very much beach.

On the way back to the Resort we stopped at Dairy Queen for a treat. We also stopped at the Bobz World to look around and make a few purchases.

Saturday Jesse made us cheese omelets for breakfast with toast and OJ. After we got showers we took a ride over to Lowes and Office Depot. We also stopped at the liquor store for a few purchases.

We had made plans with Bob, Janet, Heinz and Irene to meet over at the library card room to play games. It was raining out when we picked up H&I at 6:30 and didn’t get home until a little after 11:00pm. We played cards, had snacks and drinks and lots of laughs. Jesse and I enjoyed the evening very much.

Jesse is looking forward to watching the Super Bowl and I look forward to commercials and 1/2 time.

Everyone have a GREAT day!

Saturday, February 4 - Amazon (Mercedes, TX)

 

Lots of people have asked us about our work experience at Amazon, so I thought I would write a little about my experience.

We worked there for 12 weeks – Starting October 2 – Ending December 22.

The 1st day was orientation. We sat in a room with about 40 other people and listened to all the rules and regulations, watched video on sexual harassment, and signed employment paperwork. One document was a confidentially agreement. I did not read this agreement, so hopefully I am not breaking any rules with this entry.

They put out pastries and coffee in the morning. A light lunch of mini sandwiches and veggie – Most people brought there own lunch and cookies in the afternoon.

We were escorted to have our photo taken for our badges, as you couldn’t go anywhere without a badge.

Late in the day after our badges were made we were taken on a tour of the plant. This warehouse is 1.275 million square feet. With my directional skills I was lost before we left the HR department.

Our 1st day lasted 9 1/2 hours…. It was a long day.

Our schedule was Sun-Thurs 6:00-4:30off on Fri, Sat and Sun.

Our department was UNBOUND and we “stowed” products into bins.

Our 2nd day was training. We had to be punched in and ready to work at 6:00am in the “Stand-up” area. It was an area with numbers on the floor. You stood on a number so they could easily count the number of people present. Announcements were made and they told you the number of products expected in that day. You were also made to do stretching exercises. It all was a rah-rah prep talk.

We were trained by a wonderful young lady. She was very friendly, patient and informative. Most of the employees that I came in contact with were very nice and happy to have us there.

The training was long and standing in one place on your feet all day was really hard on me. There were four other people in my training class besides Jesse and I. Gary, Bob, and Loretta and Norm. They were really great people and we stayed friends during the whole 12 weeks. We would have lunch together and when possible breaks.

Our 1st break was at 9:15 am and you were to get 15 minutes, but by the time you walked to the break room-went through security you maybe got 7 to 10 minutes.

Lunch was at 12:30-1:00 and again you walked to the lunch room - went through security and needed to be back at stand-up punched in and ready to work at 1:00 pm so you only got about 23-25 minutes.

Last break in the day was wonderful. It was at 3:00 so but the time you got back to work there was only 1 1/4 hour left until the day ended.

Stowing sounds simple. You took the items off the cart or out of the tote and placed it in a bin.

But there are rules… Only 4 different items were allowed in a bin. You could put as many items of each of the 4 different items as would fit in a bin. That was fairly easy in the beginning, but as we got closer to Christmas the bins had become very full. You couldn’t put like items within 3 feet of each other in bins.

After the first week of this I knew this was not for me. The biggest problem was it was HOT in the warehouse. I do not like being HOT!

To be continued

Thursday, February 2 - Ground Hog Day (Mercedes, TX)

 

I am going to attempt to give you a brief idea what we have been up to.

Today I went to get a manicure and then Ed and Marilyn and Jesse and I went to the Rec Hall for lunch. Problem: they weren’t serving lunch today because they were having a bridge tournament. We came home and I made lunch.

We celebrated Marilyn’s birthday at the Japanese Hibachi Grill in McAllen. There was a bunch of us - 14 in total.

                             Henry & Pam     Janet & Bob       Bob             Heinz & Irene        Ed, Marilyn, Sue, Ted, Linda & Jim

                                                            Ed and Marilyn                           Chocolate Martinis

We had a fun evening and the food was delicious.

One afternoon Jesse and I drove to Mission to have and unscheduled visit to see Joyce and Roger. Joyce was out having a day of pampering so we visited with Roger and the newest addition to their family Lily, she is such a sweetie.

Roger made these birds and they are really nice.

We have spent a lot of time just relaxing at home. Some days doing usual chores, dumping tanks, laundry, and cleaning, other days doing nothing. We have had a few cooler grey days and today it’s raining.

We went to the movies one day.

We spent a couple of days in and out of the hospital because Ed had a kidney stone they had to remove. He is much better now.

We (Irene, Janet, Sue, Jan and I) went to ladies night out at the Rec Hall. (Marilyn was under the weather). It was a good time as you can see from the pictures. I even had my 1st ever Jell-O shooters!!

 

This updates you until I get the urge to write again. Travel safe and Hugs to all!