everything's better with blue bonnet on it

 ms troy and i will be on holiday in the texas hill country for the next few days (her treat, courtesy of a billion frequent flyer miles or something) --- we be checking out the alamo and the san antonio missions national historical park --- and the hill country and the bluebonnets and lbj ranch and what not, the waco mammoth national monument, the wonders of greater austin, maybe a cave or two, and god knows what else

my worthless HR contact at NPS finally got me scheduled for photo and fingerprinting this afternoon --- at the wrong agency --- sigh --- but i got it done in spite of her --- should they see fit to do so in DC, they will print and return my own PIV (personal identity verification) card shortly, and won't life be grand --- this time next week i will be officially werking again, for a hot minute or two, and then i'm out of there again

also too, i have almost exhausted the mad money i set aside and did not invest in 2013, and right on schedule, since this year i have to start drawing down my retirement accounts ---- the sweet baby jesus has been good to me