What I've learned about my iPhone

I've learned that you can not answer the phone if the hard case is covering the screen. Somehow it doesn't feel the touch!! And you also can't answer the phone if you have the headphone jack on it to play through the radio. Now they can hear you but you can't hear them.

Every day it's a new adventure with the iPhone but I love it.

I've now gotten organized and have all my contacts with their phone numbers, addresses AND birthdays. Maybe I won't forget birthdays now! But I won't hold my breath, I'll turn into a smurf.

Cutest Owl

We saw these owls at San Miguelita Ranch. It's the size of a coke can. They are Ferruguinous Pygmy Owls. They are so cute!! Leticia that owns the ranch gives a wonderful tour. She took this picture.

iPhone

Kimmie put why she likes her iPhone. It's taking me awhile to get used to mine, but it gets easier every day. Of course I went the first week thinking the headphone jack didn't work. Ends up you need to use their headphones, which I hate, for it to work. But I found an attachment to make my headphones work.

The phone is great. I went to the grocery store and had my list on the notes, as I got each item, I was able to erase it!!

Then I can also play Sudoku whenever I want!

And for us older people with aging eyes, the displays are in BIG LETTERS. So I can dial a phone call without having to find my reading glasses.

Yes, the iPhone is all it's cracked up to be!!! I love mine. To quote someone in a column a while back, they'll have to pry it out of my dead cold hands.

Mexican Border Wall

The new wall that the Bush administration has come up with is one of the more stupid (and there are many) ideas that they have had. Anyone that knows anything about the Rio Grande Valley, knows all they are going to do, is cause a lot more problems than they fix. They are also going to adversely affect the economy of the area.

The biggest blunder is that they will cut off several wildlife sancutaries. One of which is the Sabal Palm Grove Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a place many birds are seen. People work there and have jobs, they also feed the birds. This is a very important place for habitat in the lower Rio Grande Valley.

But then they are not going to put a wall in other places such as Bentsen State Park and Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. Which is good, because these are important places too, not only for wildlife but for the retirees that live outside of these areas and use the parks for exercise and enjoyment every day.

We were in Santa Ana and it was very sad. We were on a path that runs alongside the Rio Grande and there were trash bags and discarded clothes everywhere from where the Mexican Nationals swam across the river. It was pretty disgusting. While on the trail, we saw a helicopter overhead. Just when we got off the trail, we saw a border patrol boat pull up. Then we passed 2 border patrol walking. Then we saw jeeps with border patrol.

Then we go to Bentsen which is a state park and never saw a border patrol agent at all. A local retiree there, Red Gamill, told us one day he saw 32 Mexican Nationals just walk through the park.

At Salineo, another place that is good for birding, is a place that is used frequently for crossing. There is a boat ramp there. We saw the border patrol truck come by, then not 1 minute later, the boat pulls up, there was truck and trailer parked there. One guy jumped out and backed the truck up, loaded the boat, and they drove off with the boat full of Mexicans.

Obviously they are not doing a good job, there is no rhyme or reason for where the wall goine in. But will put the wall in places where they will take aways houses and jobs. Another fine example of the Bush Administration. NOT.

Bird trivia: A great blue heron is about 4 feet tall but only weighs 4 pounds.

A moment of insanity

On my way home yesterday I stopped and got my hair chopped off. Here is the new me, red eyes and all.

Bill was not amused. 3 hours after I got home he said "what happened to your hair".

Here is the family picture of Bill's family taken after his mother's funeral. Note the longer hair.

The only ones missing from the picture are Bill's youngest son Scott who had to get back to work, and Lori's youngest son James who had to go back to school.

Now I just need to lose 100 pounds.

Garmy the savior!

The day after Thanksgiving I bought a new Garmin. Bill's comment was that we could buy a lot of maps for the price. However, we used it on our marathon Christmas Bird Counts. It worked wonderfully. We found places at 4 am with no stress!! The only breakdown was when we selected fuel so we could find a bathroom. It delivered us to our favorite - Bucee's - clean bathrooms, or so it thought. We were at a vacant lot!! Fortunately we could see a Valero from where we were.

Yesterday after I bailed on doing the Christmas Bird Counts with Bill for yesterday and today, Bill asked to use Garmy. I was very lost coming to work without Garmy. The Australian accent is the best. Bill likes the English accent, but when it says to turn on FM 2920, which all of us in Texas know as Farm to Market roads, but Garmy in an English accent says "turn right on the Federated States of Micronesia two thousand nine hunderd and twenty". We have had a good laugh over it.

I whimp out on the bird counts. Especially after I tripped over the barbed wire and ripped my boots. I then had an excuse not to go tromping through the mud. I was sitting waiting on Bill, Bryan, Adam and Ron and saw some birds in the tree. So I watched them for a long time. They came back out of the woods and told me I missed the Grooved Billed Ani. I said "you mean the ones that were in that tree right there?". They were mad and said I had to go tromping around if they did. It was not fair that I got to see them. Later I heard Ron say something to Adam and I heard Adam say "she does that to us all the time. She finds birds from the car that we have been looking for".

I'm behind getting everything done. Christmas cards are late, nothing is wrapped. Oh well!!

Christmas time

I've been trying to find a cute Christmas blog template and they don't seem to work. So I give up for now.

I'm ready to decorate for Christmas but what do you do with 13 fur balls that would destroy everything in sight!! I will have to make wreaths this weekend for the doors. I think that will be the best I can do.

We are taking a couple of days off to work on the house. Bill's brother might come in this weekend to help paint. That would be great.

This is short for now. I'll have to get motivated like my niece and make Christmas cookies. Hers are adorable. Check our her blog.