February 16, 2026

                I would like to wish you a good morning on this holiday, it is Presidents' Day and I do not have to take Alex to school as he is out of school today. I assume that means I have a day off too.

                Today I need to go to the store and start buying some things like grocery items, but I also need some fertilizer for the yard and some fire ant killer and things like that. The yard is ready to be worked so my yard man Alex is going to have to come over and work for me or else I'll have to do the work myself.

                I have again completed my income tax forms, this is the second set of forms, and come up with the same situation, "I owe money". What I find odd is I normally would get a few $100 back each year and this year since we received a little more from social security and a few dollars more in interest, I need to pay. Ole people on a fixed income should not need to pay taxes.

                Yesterday morning at about 11:00 I decided to go to the cracker store and get some lunch. I placed my order to go and I asked, "Do I get a free cup of coffee". The young man said yes and brought me a free cup of coffee. Unfortunately, it was very hot and the first sip I took burnt the roof of my mouth and now my mouth hurts.

Back at home lunch was good and there's enough leftovers that we will have it same thing for supper. My favorite wife and I did sit outside yesterday enjoying the afternoon warmth, it was a little breezy but a very nice afternoon.

                We have no big plans for today although if everything goes right, I might go to a different Chevrolet dealer and see what they've got. I would like it if the dealer I was at the last time would call and give me the money that I'd asked for the van, and I would buy the vehicle from them. I guess we'll figure it out sooner or later.

                Our bible study will be via computer this evening. They say they are working on some electrical situations at the church. The last time they were on the computer my computer did not want to work.

                Well, I can't think of much else to say or do so I think I'll stop and say to you, I hope you have a good day, be safe and all you do and be nice to others.

                Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.

NARBNL

February 15, 2026

                As we start this good morning the rain has stopped, and we do not know how much rain we received due to the rain gage being cracked. I assume the ole rain gage may have had some water in it during the freeze and that caused the cracks in the gage.

                Yesterday I washed some clothes, and I worked on the income tax again. We still owe the government money this year. This morning during my morning prayer it came to me that I have made a mistake on the tax form. It has to do with my favorite wife's' part D payment, I used the amount she pays this year, not last year. I will go back and make the change sometime today. It is nice to have guidance from above.

                No big plans for today, we will just see what happens. We hope you have a good day and that we all stay safe in all we do.

Don the Ford

May tday be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.

February 14, 2026

                Good morning form me to you all, we don't have rain, but we do have drizzle, and know, they are not the same thing. Rain Defined; you could go out to the back yard and take a shower in rain, Drizzle defined; drizzle just makes your windshield wet.

Yesterday's events: I called the car dealer, and I explained that they had said the old van was worth $5,995.00 (why didn't they say $6000.00 I don't know) and they had deducted $995.00 from the van's value due to the air conditioner not working. I showed them it worked but they did not add the $995.00 back to the value of the van.

I wanted them to add it back, but they would not. If they had added it back I would have purchased the vehicle. I did call a different dealer to see if they had the same vehicles available.  

Later in the day I called Alex and brought him over. We did wash the dog, and we attempted to remove some leaves from the jasmine beds. We did get a bunch of leaves out of the beds but not all. Alex drove the Fords Ole pickup on the way home, he is a good driver.  

My favorite wife did sit outside while Alex and I were working in the yard. Later a friend came over and brought my favorite wife a flower and some Valentine candy, photo to follow.

                 They stayed a while and after they left another friend came over and brought a pizza. We were sitting outside eating pizza. Nice weather and nice friends.

                I did get a photo of some easter lilies that are growing in the back 40.

                 Today's events: my big plan is to wash some clothes, and work on the income tax. I do need a few things from the store but I'm not sure if I will go or not.  

                Stopping now, we hope you have very good day and that we all stay safe in all we do.

Don the Ford

            NARBNL

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.

February 13, 2026

                This good morning is on Friday the 13^th and we hope you have a good morning and a good day, or maybe you should stay at home and do nothing.

                The Don had a normal day yesterday, he was able to take Alex to school, and he did get a cup of coffee without paying. Yep, he had enough points to get a free cup of coffee. He was able to do his daily bible study.

                I believe I have commented on this in the past so if you have heard it before you can ignore it. On Wednesday I tried to print the unfinished income tax forms. As usual the printer had an error and would not print. I was disappointed and I was thinking I should purchase a new printer, but where will I get the funding.

                Yesterday I started the computer and I started the printer. After about one minute without any other action from me, the printer started printing what I had wanted to print the day before. Yep, the printer saves the info and after a restart, it printed.

                Yesterday afternoon I decided to go into Waco and look at the chevy SUVs again. I found the same salesman, and we went to the vehicle and looked it over again. We went through all the safety items that I wanted, and they were in this vehicle. I told him I wanted to get a price, and I had a van to trade in. They looked at the van and said it was worth $5,895.00 but the air conditioner did not work so they reduced the amount they would pay by $995.00. I said the air works and we walked out to the vehicle. The sales manager went with me. I started the vehicle and turned the air on. It started to cool down the van. The sales manager did not know how to turn it on as you must push a button. He noted he was use to vehicles with the computer screen, and not the manual units.

                The salesman said he would drive the vehicle and follow me to my house so my wife can look at it. At the house my wife looked at the vehicle, and she was able to get into the vehicle without any help. We both like the vehicle but I need a little more concession in the price. I will get the price dropped or the amount increased for the trade in, or no deal.

                This morning while laying in bed I became concerned that the vehicle might be too technical for this ole person. Example, to put it in park you push a button, I am use to a lever to go to park. Our ole chevy pickup truck has a touch screen but it is only about 8 X 10 inches in size. The new vehicle has an enormous touch screen; can I learn how to use it?

                If I call then today, I will do a couple things. I tell them what I want or need. I will ask for a $500 to $1,000 decrease in the price, and if they do, I will bring the check from the bank today and the deal will be done.

If not then we will consider their offer over the three-day weekend, Monday is Presidents' Day. The three-day weekend will give me time to check back with the other dealers that I have already visited.

                If they meet my requests and I purchase the vehicle, I will show you a photo, if not I will not show you a photo.

                School is out today so I don't need to take Alex to school. Will that mean I don't get a cup of real coffee? Nope I have already gone to the coffee store and the burrito store, and we have eaten our breakfast.

I would like to get Alex over here to the house so we could wash the Dog if the weather is warm enough. There is some yard work we could do if he comes over.

                Well, I will stop for now, we hope you have a good day and that we all stay safe in all we do. We would appreciate a prayer for us to make the correct decision on the vehicle.

Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.

February 11, 2026

                I assume it is a good morning as I have not yet been outside to check on the weather. The temp is in the low 50s, and we did not get any rain yesterday, which means I will need to run the lawn sprinklers today and that means I will cost me money.

                Speaking of costing me money I worked in the income tax yesterday and I usually end up getting a couple hundred dollars back, this time it is different. I now assume I have made a mistake and entered something wrong somewhere as it seems as if I will be paying a couple of thousand dollars to the IRS. Our income is fixed and we have the same amount of income as in the last couple years. I will need to go back to the program and review all I have done. Ole people make mistakes.

                I do not have a plan for today; we will just see what happens. We hope you have a good day and stay safe in all you do.

Don the Ford

May to day be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.

February 10, 2026

                We wish you a late good morning from the Ford homestead. What do I mean by a late good morning, it is a little after 10 AM before I start this soon to be blog journal.

                The morning started out well, I woke up early let the dog out, I went and got me a cup of homemade coffee, sat around on the chair watching the so-called local news which really doesn't have any news in it. After about 15 or 20 minutes doing nothing, I got up and started my morning work.

                Morning work starts out by getting my clothes on and I try to do that in a quiet mode as my favorite wife is still in bed sleeping. When I finished getting dressed, I then went over to the bed and helped my wife wake up. Yes, she was able to use a Walker and walk into the front room and get into her old chair. We did not do the rehab exercises this morning as the lady from rehab is coming to work with her later this morning. I was able to do some vacuuming, you know getting the dog hair up off the floor, then I headed out to get Alex and take him to school.

I learned on the way to school that Alex is going to have a date with his girlfriend on Saturday. I had asked him if he could come over to the house and do some work for me and he noted that he would have a date with his girlfriend on Saturday and that his mom's birthday was on Sunday. Now Alex is off from school this Friday and next Monday so I've said if either one of those days is really warm I want him to come over and help me wash the dog and then we will get some leaves out of the flower beds. He agreed to the possibility of some work.

Returning from dropping Alex off at school, when I arrived here at the house I was tired and sleepy. For some reason when you get up a little before 5:00 AM in the morning, at 8:00 AM I am actually sleepy so I took a nap. Nap completed my favorite wife wanted to take a shower.

And now you know how my day has started I have come in here to the office and I'm now sitting at my desk talking to my computer.

Yesterday's events: yesterday I was going to purchase a vehicle I went to the bank and was able to obtain the money needed. It was still early morning so I headed into Waco where I purchased a few sandwiches and some French fries for my favorite wife and I then I came home and we enjoyed a quick lunch.

The cleaning lady showed up and started her cleaning. About 12:30 I got into Ford's old van and headed over to the car dealer. We got there and I told him that I wanted to drive the vehicle since I had not yet driven it, so he went and brought the car up to the front and when I looked at it I said no that's not the one I wanted. The one I wanted had an adjustable seat on the passenger side which could be raised and lowered, and I thought that would be good for my spouse. He said OK and he went and got the vehicle that had the adjustable seat. We went for a short drive, and it drove really well I liked the vehicle we got back to the dealer went inside and the price they had given me was on the other vehicle not the one I really wanted. I was there about an hour finally I got tired of waiting and they said Well it would cost you another $5000 for this car than the one you want, and I told him no thank you and left.

I guess I will continue looking when I have time as I do want to get an easy to get in and out of vehicle for my favorite wife.

It was warm yesterday as a matter of fact it was hot and we sat outside on the driveway for a couple hours yesterday afternoon before I went to Bible study class.

Now you know what my day was like. You know everything except when I got home from Bible study my favorite wife and I did have some ice cream to eat.

The end

I'm stopping for now we hope you have a good day be safe and all you do and try to be nice to somebody.

Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.

February 8, 2026

                Good Sunday Morning to all. We hope everyone has a good and safe day, and that you can watch a football game. In years past we would get together with friends and family to watch a football game, nowadays we only care about the commercials. I usually turn the sound off when commercials come on, but during this football game I keep the sound on.

                Some of yesterday's events: my favorite wife got up early yesterday and by early, I mean she got up when I got up and that would be about 5:00am. Normally I have from 30 minutes to an hour to sit in the TV room with a cup of coffee before my favorite wife gets up. Yesterday morning she got out of bed and walked into the front room using a walker. Yes, I have a photo of my favorite wife and our favorite dog Tres.

                I was allowed to leave the homestead at about 6:00am to get a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito, we shared the burrito.

                I was allowed to vacuum the floors as the dog tends to leave hair on the carpets. I vacuumed a couple areas twice.

                I decided I would go to the bank and see if I could get some money if I decided to purchase a new vehicle. When I arrived at the bank, I learned the drive through was open but not the building. Wow, I guess I can't buy anything if I can't get any money.

                I tried to call our car insurance company to discuss the possibility of a new vehicle, and I got no answer. I was sent to an answer machine that was full and could not take a message. I have decided to change insurance companies when our police becomes due again.

                After not having access to the inner parts of the bank, I decided I would go into town and get a couple of sandwiches for lunch and they were good.

                After eating I decided to get the van out and take all our personal items out of the van. The van can play CDs and DVDs. If you sit in the back of the van, you can watch a DVD on the screen that comes down from overhead. I had forgotten that we had that option. The book that came with the van is still in the glover box.

                I need to get into the safe and see if I can find the title of the van as I will need it if I purchase a new vehicle.

                I observed a neighbor running his lawn sprinklers yesterday, I assume he was making sure they were not damaged due to the freeze, I decided to do the same for our system. Our system seems to be working.  

                My favorite wife and I sat outside on the driveway yesterday afternoon. A neighbor came over and sat with us for a while and there were many conversations about family and walking for exercise.

                When we returned to the inner parts of the homestead, it was decided that I should go and get some chicken salad for supper, which I did. We also watched some of the three stooges' videos while we were eating.

                Today is Sunday: no big plans, I hope to get into the fords ole safe and attempt to fine the title to the van. I have no other plans for today so I might take a well-deserved nap.

                I am stopping for now so I will wish you a good and safe day along with hoping that you get to watch the game of the day.  

 Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.

February 7, 2026

                We wish you a good morning and we hope you have a good day.  It is Saturday and we hope you have a pleasant day, especially if you are not working.

                I went to a car dealer yesterday with the Fords ole Grand Caravan and they told me what they would give me as a trade in. Now I need to decide if I will make the deal or not. I would need to find the title for the van and come up with the money for the deal. I should check with the insurance company too. There are still things in the van that I need to get out like a blanket, grocery bags, who knows what is in the glove box, but I know it isn't gloves. There is a device under the seat to jump start a vehicle.  See there is too much work for an ole person.

                I should just take a nap and let things wait on this ole person.

                We hope you have a good day and that we all have a safe day.

Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow.