Tag Archives: Life

The Two Budas

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When I started this blog, I added the weather widget for Buda, Texas, as that’s where I hang out a lot, usually at B&B Quilting and Gifts. When I checked the weather on my iPhone, I noticed it brought up Buda, Texas and Buda, Illinois. What a coincidence! Another town called Buda.

Around these here parts (Texas), we pronounce it “BEEYOU-duh.” You can tease the tourists and your out-of-town family members if you tell them it’s “Boo-DAY” or even “BOO-duh” (as in Buddha). There’s a couple of theories as to how Buda, Texas got its name but I’m not sure if any one theory is accepted as definitive.

Then I wondered about Buda, Illinois. How is it pronounced there? How did it get its name? Looking it up on the Internet, I found that both Budas have a Wikipedia page. The Buda, Texas page mentions the regionally famous Wiener Dog Races. The Wikipedia page for Buda, Illinois doesn’t mention any such sport.

I briefly considered randomly phoning people in Buda, Illinois and asking if they knew how the town got their name and it is pronounced. I decided against it, probably for the better. Instead, I added that weather widget to my blog as a nod to our northern sister city (lower right side of the blog).

Hello, Buda, Illinois!

It’s a lot colder there. And I won’t be surprised that in the summer, it’s a lot hotter here.

Bow Biters

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My shoes regularly come untied. Twelve books on knotting in my bookcase and I can’t tie my shoes such that they stay tied all morning, much less all day.

I can’t figure it out. I’ve used the “under” maneuver as well as the “over” maneuver (and I can’t explain either one). One doesn’t seem to be better than the other for me, as the results are the same: untied shoes by noon. About the only thing that works is double-tying the laces.

That works okay for running shoes that have long laces. Some of the shoes I wear to work are lace-ups, but their laces are much shorter and waxier. I often find myself walking down the hall, noticing that little tap of a sound that lets me know my laces are undone and flicking onto the floor with each step.

Work shoes with bow biters

All dressed up!

Bow biter close-up

Yummy laces!

I found one solution: Bow Biters. I think they are for kids, but they are the only thing that has worked for me. They say you are supposed to dress for the professional position you desire. That must mean that I want to be a professional happy . . . (I’ll get back to you when I decide what I want to be when I grow up).

Closing Time

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I can’t remember ever going out and then “closing down the house” even in my former life, when I could stay up late.

But that all changed. On Monday I was out and about meeting some friends and we were the last patrons to leave an establishment at closing time.

I could say it was late Monday night, but that’s not true. To imply it was Monday evening would be wrong, as well. Alas, it was Monday afternoon. It was at The Omelettry, a restaurant in Austin. I was meeting my two friends there for an early supper.

As I parked, I noticed that there were no cars in the parking lot. None. Maybe they are between rushes, I thought. It’s early for the dinner crowd, anyway.

Chairs on top of tables, ready to close the restaurant

Almost time to mop

I walked in. I noticed there were no customers and all the chairs were stacked on top of the tables. The cook peeked out of the kitchen. I asked if they were open and he said yes. Then I noticed their hours. They close at 5:00 p.m.

Our meeting time was 4:30 p.m. I had arrived a little early (as usual), about 4:15. I was hoping that my friends would arrive early and really hoping they would not be late. They were on time. We took advantage of the time we had available to us, sat in a booth, ate and paid our bill without dilly-dallying. They locked the door right behind us.

I finally managed to close down the house somewhere! All it took was (accidentally) finding a place that closed early. And I was home before sunset. Brilliant!!