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On this page I will be putting those pictures that I want to include in the photo album even though they don't have anything to do with a specific trip or event, although you may also find pictures from the occasional trip or event where very few pictures were taken. Some of the pictures here are meaningful only to me, so skip what seems uninteresting to you.
April 5: Meeting Prudence in Fort Worth
In early April, Prudence, Ron, Nancy, Karl, and Jax came up to Fort Worth to stay at the Crescent Hotel across Camp Bowie Boulevard from the Kimbell Art Museum. There was an exhibit that Prudence wanted to see and she was visiting with one of her artists there in Fort Worth. Prudence invited us to come over for dinner on Saturday the 5th, as we had just returned from Florida.
The only pictures from this trip over to Fort Worth were taken by Fred after we'd returned from dinner at Eddie V's. Prudence and I are talking about the website for her gallery.
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April 12-May 1: Spring Flowers at My House
Thanks to Fred urgings, I have had a trellis for a couple of years behind my garage, intending to mimic that of my friend David, who has a unit like mine at the other end of my building. He erected his about five years ago, and for the last three years or so his 'Jane Austen' climbing rose has covered his trellis completely, and thus in the spring his garage is framed by beautiful pinkish-red blooms. The rest of the year, the greenery is almost a nice to look at.
Sadly, my roses (the same variety as David's) haven't covered the trellis as well as his. The reason seems to be that because of the crepe myrtle behind my garage, and the fact that just west of me, over our fence, there are tall, leafy trees, my roses don't get nearly the amount of sun his do.
There are beautiful yellow roses in the island adjacent to the garage, and there is also a flowering hydrangea in the front of the house, and so in this section are pictures of all these plants in bloom:
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July 21-22: Repairing a Water Line Under Inwood Road
On the evening of July 20th, I got both a text and an email from Dallas Water Utilities telling me that there was a leak in the main water line that comes up Inwood and services a few blocks on either side of the street. Repairs were to start the very next day, but residents were advised not to drink the water, although it could be used for other purposes. The water would be entirely cut off at 8AM on the 21st until the repair is completed in the early afternoon.
I went over to Walmart immediately and bought a big package of bottled water- overkill as it turned out, but at least I would have some to keep on hand.
The next day, when I heard the crews outside on Inwood, I went out to see what repairing the pipe entailed. As it turned out, the break was only a couple hundred feet south under the northbound lanes of Inwood. The crew had block off the left two northbound lanes, and already had a big hole dug down to where the pipes are. They were actually about done replacing the broken section of pipe, and this is where I began taking some pictures and movies. These are pretty self-explanatory, and I have put them below in time sequence:
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They were done by mid-afternoon, and the guys that were working there advised me to let my water run for a while before drinking it directly. An email from Dallas Water Utilities later in the day confirmed this. By the next day, all was back to normal.
July 27: I Become a Skinhead
I am undergoing my High-Intensity Ultrasound treatment tomorrow to alleviate the tremor in my right hand. One requirement for the "surgery" is that I have to get my head shaved, as hair interferes with the sound waves that are used. This is not the place to describe that surgery, but I did take before and after pictures when I visited Great Clips to have the deed done:
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Note:
The procedure, which was done the day after my visit to the barber seems to have been at least 90% effective at reducing the tremor in my right hand. This makes a lot of things easier. Assuming my neurologist gives me the go ahead after six months, I will schedule the same treatment for the left side of my body.
August 6: Fred's Birthday
We had a small birthday celebration for Fred at my house on his actual birthday. We asked Justin, Gary, and Lynne to join us. After a meal at Flying Fish, we adjourned to my house for cake. Here are the two candid pictures we took this evening:
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August 8: A Visit to Iconic Wealth Management/Avantax
Today, our investment advisor team has invited us out to their new offices. They have moved from the Galleria out to Coppell.
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As it turned out, Northlake is out near where I used to go to Fry's for all my electronic needs. From the house, we take Lemmon to Northwest Highway, and then take Northwest Highway to I-35 north. We head west on I-635, and get off on Olympic Boulevard- the same exit that I used to use for Fry's.
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We took a couple of pictures in the lobby as we were waiting:
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We had a good presentation from George and Joe, and we also got to meet representatives from Avantax Wealth Management, the umbrella company that George and Joe, operating as Iconic Wealth Management, as well as other boutique wealth management firms and individual wealth managers use for numerous services that small, individual firms would not be able to duplicate. We had a tour of the offices as well, and got a chance to take a couple of pictures from the fifth-floor balcony:
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It was a good visit and a nice lunch, and we came away confident that George and Joe will have all the support they need.
August 23: Lynne Has a Heart Incident
On Thursday evening, August 21, Lynne was having her good friend Trish staying with her, after the two of them had attended an Arts function earlier in the day. Trish lives down near Gun Barrel City, and had driven up to Dallas for a few days with Lynne. That evening, Lynne suffered a heart attack in her bathroom, and had fallen against the closed door. If Trish had not been there to call EMS and also force the door open, it is entirely possible Lynne might not have been found for quite some time. But she was, thankfully, and Lynne was taken to nearby Parkland Hospital, and Trish began notifying people.
We got a call from her early on Friday, and visited with her and Lynne in the hospital. Lynne had been examined, and heart attack was not a major one, and she is now on medications similar to those Fred takes. We visited again on Saturday, and then on Sunday were able to get Lynne home. In her room on Saturday, I took a couple of pictures outside her 11th-floor window:
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Here are two more pictures looking east towards downtown:
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Lynne's incident has given her a sort of wake-up call. Her current condo has three flights of stairs (two of them outside). These are going to be a problem sooner rather than later. Her condo is also very compact, and should she ever need a walker, it will be tough to negotiate it even beyond the stairs. So she agrees that the time has come for her to consider finding a new place that is all on one floor, more spacious than her current place, but which will still be close enough to downtown for her to continue all the various Arts events that give her so much joy.
For us, we must look forward to the time that Lynne will no longer want to deal with cats. Letting dogs in and out, or even walking with them, is one thing, but the chore of cleaning litter boxes every other day is quite another. For now, she says she can continue, and we are happy to let her, but only at the times there are only two cats at home (while we are in Florida). When there are four of them, requiring every-other-day visits, we think it best to use Lazarus- a friend of Lynne's who lives where she does and who also does pet sitting. We will see how things go, and I have begun helping Lynne look around for a better living situation- one that suits her current health status.
December 12: David's House Behind Me
As you saw in last year's miscellaneous pictures, the vacant house that used to sit on Robin Road behind part of my townhouse and all of Floyd's and Sheri's was finally knocked down and a huge new house built. Just south of that new house on Robin Road is the house belonging to my friend David Smith. When the new house north of him was going up, I happened to talk to him, and his plan was to eventually sell his house and move to East Texas. This fall, he and his wife did indeed move, and just recently the 'For Sale' sign in front of his house disappeared.
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That is why I took a picture of his house today. I fully expect that either while we on our next trips to Florida or Ecuador that we will return and the house will be gone. It might even disappear sooner than that; we shall see.
When it does disappear, I'll put a picture of the vacant lot beside this one.
Those were the last miscellaneous pictures for 2024.
You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.
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