Frisco Public Library

Here I sit in my new home--the library. My computer is DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. Yesterday I gathered as much information as I could find on Google with my little Palm PDA. I did not find much that helped me make a decision on which pc with Vista to buy. I kept reading the specs on the Sony Vaio AR320E computer. It does not support as high a screen resolution as my recently deceased system. I have read about the new feature in Vista called Aero which makes the screen look like glass with 3D effects and transparent windows that layer on top of each other. It takes very hefty hardware to run it. I could not find Aero mentioned in any of the Sony specifications.

 

This morning I talked myself into ordering the AR320E from Amazon.com. I placed the order with my little Palm. Within five minutes I got cold feet and called and canceled the order. I then called Sony tech. support and spent 30 minutes on hold. I told him I had to buy a pc. The AR390 has Blu-ray which I do not want and costs too much. I asked if the AR320 would run Aero. He put me on hold while he searched his database. He came back and said the AR320 as it is shipping now will not run Aero. He said Nvidia, the graphics card manufacturer, is supposed to ship a new driver for the card that will enable the AR320 to run Aero. I told him I want no part of downloading and installing a graphics driver on a brand new notebook. I have been around that block too many times, and it can be very painful.

 

I was very glad I canceled the order. Tomorrow I will make the rounds of the computer stores to see if there is a pc with Vista that suits me. I am fairly certain I will be stuck until March when I can order a Sony AR that is just right. I will be making frequent trips to the Frisco Library until the Frisco Lake community center opens, and I can use a pc there. My neighbor is going to let me use her pc when I have to access my online financial accounts. I am signed up for some ebills and don't get paper bills mailed to me. I have to have computer access.

Major Dilemma

My computer is terminal. It crashes with blue screens, refuses to boot, will boot and run for a couple of hours and then starts the cycle again. I have definitely decided I want a Sony Vaio AR series notebook. The problem is right now Sony has two configurations available, for pre-order with Vista installed, models 320 and 390. I am playing Goldilocks. The 320 is too weak and the 390 is more than I want. I want something in the middle. I called Sony and was told that they will not have models that you can customize until March 1. I cannot see how I will survive for more than a month without a computer. On the other hand this is a major expenditure, and I do not want to buy something that I will dislike and be stuck with for four or five years.

Very Sick Computer

My 4 year, 8 month old Sony Vaio is on its very last legs. This morning everything was normal. I did my weekly backup to the external hard disk. Shortly after that was completed the computer got the blue screen of death and said something about the usb bus. All day I have fought with it and got various error messages.I had wanted to wait six months after Windows Vista shipped to buy a new pc, but I am not going to be able to do that. Vista ships on Tuesday. My plan is to order a new Vaio AR directly from Sony. I found one model of the AR series online today that is supposed to be loaded with Vista. I am sure on Tuesday Sony will have the complete line on their website.

Routine

I didn't think my life would ever settle down to what I could call routine, but I think it has finally happened. On Monday I went to the cardiovascular specialist in Plano. Monday evening the doctor called to tell me the tests were all within the normal range. Yesterday I went down to the podiatrist in Carrollton. He said the problem with the numb big toes was caused by the way my feet are shaped. He said it was nothing serious. He suggested I buy some insoles for my shoes. His assistant showed me the insoles and said they cost $50. I went home and looked at Dr. Scholl's website and printed out a $2 coupon for the massaging gel insoles. On my next trip to Wal-Mart I will buy a pair for considerably less than $50. There was a note on the website that said the gel insoles could not be worn on a plane or carried on your person. They can be put in checked luggage. That shoe bomber sure did complicate everyone's lives.

 

I have been busy ordering clothes from LL Bean. This morning I received a jacket that I saw on their website. I am really pleased with it. If you insist on buying American goods, you will not like LL Bean. It is a world geography lesson to read the labels in their clothes, but the clothes are cheap and extremely well made.

 

I should go for a walk today. The sun is out and the temperature is over 50. It has not been this warm in a couple of weeks. I am getting lazy and probably will not go out.

 

Del Webb is accelerating the pace of the construction. Yesterday the lot behind me was graded. The slab was poured about two weeks ago. I think the wood that is put down first on the slab is called sills. The studs for the walls will be fastened to it. The sills were put in yesterday. It is going to be quite noisy for a while.

 

On Sunday I went to the breakfast in the new community center. We were under the impression the center would be ready for use on Monday, but we were told the City of Frisco was requiring additional work behind the building before they would issue the occupancy permit. We were told to watch the website for the opening date.

Botanical Gardens

Yesterday I met the man who is going to chair the Frisco Lakes photography club. He and his wife moved from Corpus Christi. We have something in common, we both moved to get away from hurricanes. I told him I hoped we could make a trip to the Dallas botanical gardens in the spring. It made me think back to how I enjoyed going to Beaumont's botanical gardens. This is a link to photos I took in Beaumont: Flowers. Hurricane Rita destroyed the Warren Loose Conservatory. It makes me really sad to think about it

Resupply Day

Yesterday the temperature finally rose above freezing. I had not been out of the house since last Friday. More bad weather was predicted for the weekend so I decided I better go out and run all of my errands. Right before I was ready to go my neighbor from across the street rang the doorbell. She had a couple of letters that were addressed to me. One of the letters contained the refund check for the Texas Windstorm insurance for which I had been waiting. Thank goodness I have a good neighbor. I wish that  I could say the same for the mailman.

 

At least I got the check before I left home so the first stop was to deposit the check at the bank. I then went to the Frisco post office and mailed some letters and bought stamps. Then I filled the car with gasoline. The next stops were at Sam's and Wal-Mart. I bought lots of soup. I got a couple of boxes of Campbell's Select Gold Label. I have never tried it before. I am wondering how liquid soup that comes in a box will taste.. A trip to Sam's is always a physical workout for me when I load and unload the car with the heavy super-sized packages.

 

This weekend the Frisco Lakes community center will have its grand opening. I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Back in November the facility was opened for a tour so I know what the general layout is, but I do not know how it has been decorated. On Sunday morning there is going to be a community breakfast. The clubs will now begin to function because there will finally be a meeting facility. I am looking forward to the photography club becoming active.

Snow in Frisco

Not much snow, but there is a little ice glaze on the street under the snow.

Enough

This is getting old, but the wireless weather station says it is 25.7 degrees outside. I lived in Southeast Texas for thirty-eight years, and I never saw the temperature stay below freezing for so long. The TV says it is snowing outside. It is still dark, and I am not able to tell if snow is falling here. I am going to cancel my doctor's appointment for this morning. It is not urgent, and I feel that going out would be an unnecessary risk. The weather report predicts at high of 44 degrees tomorrow. I will be out buying groceries.

More of the Same

It is another cold day. The wireless weather station now says 24.2. I went out in the garage and turned the lawn sprinkler controller to the system off position. Tomorrow is watering day, and I do not want the sprinklers to operate if the temperature is below freezing. Back in Beaumont I was told the sprinklers should operate in the winter for very short times in order to keep the sprinkler heads operable. I assume the same holds true with the sprinklers at the new house.

 

The Frisco Lakes website has a little blurb this morning on how to bypass the worst of the traffic on FM 423. It said to go left on Stonebrook and then make a couple of right turns to come out at FM 423 and Main. I have not traveled west on Stonebrook. I have been wanting a safe way to go north to Main St. There is a traffic light at FM 423 and Main. This will help a lot. The closest branch of my bank is at FM 423 and Main. I have been driving to Lebanon and Legacy to do my banking just because it is so difficult to go north on FM 423.

 

I have a doctor's appointment in the morning at the Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton. I had no idea where Carrollton was located, but I have checked Mapquest and my Mapso book and find it is just seven miles from Frisco Lakes. It is located on FM 423 which is straight south. Little by little I will learn my way around. I have really been lost the last few days while I watch the ice storm coverage on TV. Dallas has so many suburbs that I do not think I will ever be familiar where they are located. Houston is bigger than Dallas, but it does nor have nearly as many suburban towns. It was easier for me to get a mental picture of Houston than it is for Dallas.

 

 

A Very Cold Day

My wireless weather station says the outside temperature is 23.5 degrees. It was 27 when I got up at 5 AM this morning. It looks like the precipitation has ended. The sun is coming out. There is a thin layer of sleet or snow on the front porch. The power has stayed on and the fireplace is still working. The TV stations have reported numerous traffic problem this morning. Mornings like this one remind me of how nice it is to be retired and not to have to worry about commuting to work.

 

Another day of reading and watching TV is ahead of me. I will be glad when the ice is off the streets, and I can go out again.

Cabin Fever

I have been watching TV this morning and seeing all the church service cancellation notices stream by at the bottom of the screen. My wireless weather station says it is 30.3 degrees outside. The worst of the freezing rain is supposed to arrive this afternoon. I thought the gas-fired fireplace would be a good thing to have if the power ever failed. My thoughts did not take into account that the fireplace has an electronic ignition and electronic control valve. It will probably be inoperable if the power fails. I guess my only alternative will be to stack blankets on my bed and crawl in. Frisco Lakes has all underground utilities and the trees are relatively small. I do not know how many of the transmission lines coming into Frisco Lakes are above ground and the extent of their likelihood of failure due to ice.

 

Anyway it is a very dark dreary day. I have started reading John Lescroart's The Hunt Club. So far I am enjoying it. I am well supplied with food, paper plates, batteries, etc. if the power fails. By mid week I will need to go out to the grocery store. On Wednesday I have a doctor's appointment at the Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton. My neighbor told me it is not very far from us. I have not looked it up on any maps yet. The streets should be free of ice by then.

 

 

Peeling An Onion

That is how my life has felt the past few days. Just when I think I am gaining control something else pops up. I went to the doctor on Wednesday. He went over the results of my blood work and tests from my previous visit. He told me I am boring. By that he meant that all my tests were so normal they were not of interest. I made the mistake of telling him about a minor complaint with my big toes feeling numb. He has referred me to a podiatrist and a cardiovascular specialist. I spent all Thursday morning on the phone trying to schedule appointments. One of the doctors has a new patient form online to be filled out and printed out. There were six pages of forms. The eye doctor in Plano sent me another set of forms to fill out and also a form to request my records from my previous doctor. I wrote a letter to the doctor and sent the forms to him. Those forms even had to have the signature of a witness. What is the world coming to?

 

The Ulti-Mate garage cabinet people answered my email and gave me the name of an authorized dealer/installer in Dallas. I went back to Sears to find out if they had an installer. The kid I talked to really did not know much. He gave me the phone number of the company that installs their garage door openers. It was a wasted trip. I found Sears' price for the cabinets is much lower than several of the online dealers. When I called the Dallas dealer. I asked him if his pricing was comparable to Sears. He told me that Sears gives the cabinets away. I then asked him if he would assemble and install the cabinets if I purchased them from Sears. I told him what I intended to buy. He was very familiar with the product line and knew what I was describing. He said he would do some calculations and call me back. He did call back and gave me a price which I consider to be reasonable. I told him I was going to watch for a sale at Sears and would call him back when I purchase the cabinets. It occurred me to me that I might call Sears at the number I use to obtain service on my appliances. I think it has options for other Sears services. I will do that today.

 

Dallas may get hit by an ice storm today. The warning has been extended to Monday morning. According to my wireless weather station the temperature is still above freezing. I stocked up on groceries and do not have to go out. I looked at the Beaumont weather report and a high of 74 is predicted for today. Being 300 miles to the north makes a big difference.

Update

Things are finally settling down with the house. I have found no new problems for several days. On Saturday I received the certificates for the homestead exemption from Jefferson County. On Sunday I filled out the forms for the Denton and Collin appraisal district homestead exemptions. Yesterday I took them down to post office in The Colony. The Frisco Lakes community center will have its grand opening on January 19. I am going to wait until Saturday to go see the finished facility. On Sunday there is going to be breakfast. I have decided to go to that since they changed from a continental to a full breakfast.

 

The UltiMate garage cabinet people have not responded to my email which is not a good sign. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the doctor. After the appointment, I intend to go to Sears again and see if they are able to recommend someone who can assemble their cabinets. I calculated the cost of the cabinets from Sears. They often have sales where everything is at least ten percent off. That would be a nice savings. I have no idea how much labor to assemble them would cost, but I have a feeling the total would be much less than the garage cabinet companies that I have talked to have estimated. The man who owns the framing company left his card. I noticed the word "cabinet" is included in his company's name. I think I will call him and find out if he can recommend someone to assemble cabinets.

 

I still have not received the final papers on the closing of the Beaumont house. The woman who handled the closing called on December 27 and said she had ordered copies of the papers to be sent to me. On Thursday I talked to her assistant, and she assured me the papers would be sent the next day. Yesterday I emailed the first woman who is a vice president of the company and told her I need the papers for my records and income tax preparation. She promptly responded. She was very apologetic and said she had been out due to family problems. She said she would have them overnighted to me via UPS. I do hope they arrive today. 

Garage Cabinets

Finding suitable storage cabinets for my garage has evolved into a much more complicated task than I had anticipated. A week ago I was ready to have the first company I talked to install cabinets. Then I decided I should get additional bids. On Friday morning a second company came out and gave me an estimate. The second company was considerably more expensive, but their quality was obviously superior. On Friday afternoon I went to a home and garden show in Frisco. Both companies that I talked to had booths at the show. A third company had an exhibit, and I gave them my name and address. They will also be giving me an estimate.

 

Yesterday morning I went to Lowes, Home Depot and Sears to see if they had any cabinets that would suit my needs. Some time ago I saw an ad on TV for a line of cabinets made by Stanley which are carried exclusively by Home Depot. I had looked for them at the Beaumont Home Depot, but none of their employees that I asked knew what I was talking about. Yesterday I found a few of the cabinets at the store on Ohio Dr. Their stock was very limited and the person I talked to could not tell me very much about them. Lowes had nothing that interested me. I then went to Sears. There I found the best looking cabinets that I had seen. I thought they were a Sears product. They call them Ulti-Mate. The drawback of the cabinets is they require a great deal of assembly. I looked at the manual for the big storage cabinet, and it recommended that two people do the assembly.

 

This morning I did a Google search on Ulti-Mate. I was surprised to find that even Amazon.com carries them. Their prices are at least fifty percent higher than Sears. I then found the manufacturer's website: UltiMATE GARAGE. The cabinets that I saw at Sears were a graphite gray color. Down at the bottom of the page on the manufacturer's website I saw that they are planning on introducing the cabinets in white. That is what I would really like to have. I sent the manufacturer an email and asked if they could recommend someone to assemble the cabinets in Frisco. The company is located in California.

Plodding Along

I accomplished a few things yesterday. First event of the day was to get my hair cut. When I went to turn out on FM 423 from Stonebrook Parkway, there was a Frisco policeman directing traffic. I saw that a very bad wreck had taken place. A north bound trailer truck was turned over. A little red car was loaded on a flatbed truck. The little car's front end was demolished. Fortunately I did not see any ambulances, but they may have already left the scene. I saw a couple with gray hair who looked like they might be Frisco Lakes residents talking to one of the policemen. The lady was talking on her cell phone. I am driving several miles out of my way because I absolutely will not attempt to make a left turn out of Frisco Lakes, It is too dangerous. Del Webb/Pulte is willing to pay for traffic signals at Stonebrook and at Del Webb Blvd. but the State of Texas will not approve the traffic signals until the traffic out of Frisco Lakes reaches a certain level. I wonder how many Frisco Lakes residents will sacrifice their lives before we get traffic signals.

 

I tried to tactfully convey the message to my hair stylist that I was not happy with my last haircut. She got the message and did a much better job than last time. I went ahead and made my next appointment.

 

Space Saver Cabinets gave me the phone number of one of their customers who lives near Frisco Lakes. I called her and am going to go see her cabinets this morning. She said she is very pleased with their work. She said she used another company in a previous house and likes the Space Saver Cabinets much better. I have another company coming out on Friday morning to give me an estimate. I found a third one in Richardson with a showroom. I decided I should go ahead and get more bids just to make sure that the price from Space Saver Cabinets is similar to their competition.

 

The owner of Pulte's framing company came by yesterday afternoon. He went up in the attic and looked around. He told me everything is just fine. He said he pulled the file on my house. He said during the city inspection two items on my house were "red flagged"; but of course, those items were corrected. It rained during the night. I heard a rattle again. I got up and listened around the fireplace, but the rattle was not coming from that area. I finally decided it was the rain going through one of the downspouts.

 

Yesterday afternoon I kept checking for the mail. I made my last trip out to the mailbox at 7 PM. I gave up and enabled the alarm. This morning I went out to the mailbox, and it was full of mail. There are numerous complaints about the Frisco mail delivery on the Frisco Online forum. One person said the problem is that Frisco is still classified as a rural area. My mail is delivered in private vehicles which is usually done in rural areas. Beaumont had a population of 113,000. Beaumont had four or five post offices. The main post office and the Tobe Hahn station which served my area were both much bigger than the Frisco Post Office. Frisco's population is supposed to reach 100,000 this year. It is time for the post office to catch up.

 

The final closing papers from the title company were not in my mail. I got a letter from the Texas Windstorm Insurance group acknowledging cancellation of the policy, but I was disappointed because the refund check was not included. The letter said that would be sent separately. I received the homestead exemption application form from the Collin Appraisal District. It said 2007 on it. The one I had printed from their website still said 2006. I called the Jefferson County Appraisal District office and requested they send me the certificates I need to transfer my over 65 exemption. The lady I talked to was very nice. She said she would send the certificates out right away, and she was taking my name off of the Jefferson County tax records.

Quiet Start

So far so good. All has remained quiet in the attic. Meagan called yesterday to say the Pulte framing expert would be here this afternoon to inspect the attic. I told her I did not think there was any point in having the fireplace company come out again since there have been no more noises. I told her I wanted to wait and see what happens the next time there is strong wind.

 

The representative from Space Saver Cabinets gave me the name and phone number of someone who lives close by so I can see their cabinets. I will call this person today. I contacted one more company that installs garage cabinets. I decided I should at least get a second bid. I found a third company down in Richardson. They have a showroom. If there is a big difference in the price between the two companies I have contacted, I will seek a third bid.

 

I printed out the forms for the homestead exemptions. Since government offices were closed yesterday I will call Jefferson County today to request they send me the form I need to transfer my over 65 tax exemption. I have not received copies of the closing papers on the Beaumont house. The woman who handled the closing called me last Wednesday and said she was having the copies made for me. If she kept her word. I should receive them today.

 

I did my grocery shopping yesterday. I could not believe how light the traffic was yesterday morning on FM 423 around 9:30. I guess everyone has gone back to work. Speaking of work I had a ring side seat yesterday to the work going on the new house behind my house. Last week the pipes were put in the ground. Yesterday there were eight men who worked on the site all day. They filled in dirt over the pipes. Then they spread plastic sheeting. By the end of the day they were putting rebar in place. I expect the slab will be poured very soon. I have never been able to see so much of the construction process on any of my houses. I was working while the first three were being built. I would go to the site at the end of the work day or on weekends. While this house was being built I was in Beaumont. I did not realize how much is involved in getting ready to pour the slab.

 

This morning is haircut day again. I was not very happy with my last haircut. I may be looking for some place else if I get another bad haircut.