Monday August 21

[Redetotry]

Good Morning or I maybe should say hopefully it is a good morning. So much going on with the weather. We are under a severe heat warning until Friday. It is hard to breathe the humidity is so high. Emma is home today so it should be crazy. Her energy is tiring! I did get Pippa out this morning and she walked a bit on her leash. There was a hickory nut still in the shell and it rolled like a ball so got her to chase it down the driveway. She was a bit surprised when she realized we had got out to the street. That was it though she was ready to go back, still its a start. She is always on a leash when we go out.

Barbie good to hear your home is high enough so far. I know you must be tired from all the worry. Take care and try to get some rest.

[Colliemom]

Morning BJ and all. Cloudy, 60°. Think we are supposed to have partly cloudy and high in 70’s. Our hot, bit humid day was short lived yesterday. We were at 87 when the cold front started coming in around 3 p.m. and dropped the temps. Was down to 78 and still falling by 6 p.m. Felt good.

Barbie, glad you came through the storm unscathed. Not so good for other areas though. I’m sure as daylight comes, it will reveal more. Anita, glad you had such a good time with your brother. Keeping you both in my prayers as I am Lyn too.

I got a message yesterday from my deceased cousin’s wife, that my one other cousin’s son is making arrangements for a family gathering next month. The Michigan State Firemen’s Association has a Firemen’s Memorial up here about 30 miles from me. It’s dedicated to all firefighters, fallen, retired, active, deceased etc. My cousin who passed away last October will have his name added to the wall at the annual Memorial Ceremony next month. . So we are all going to go in his honor. My one cousin is coming from PA. He’s booked a block of motel rooms and his mother (cousin is divorced) lives about 10 miles from there and is having everybody over for a picnic afterwards. I don’t plan to stay overnight as it’s within a 45 minute drive of home. One cousin and her family may just drive up for the day anyway. Will know more as plans finalize. The Memorial is part of a two dsy festival, so there are other things going on.

Guess I had better get moving here. Am waiting to hear from a builder who is coming to meet with me regarding the replacement of the sign posts at the sub e pntrance, need to go put my trash and two other neighbors cans out as well, change my bed etc. Have a nice day everybody. Those still in the path of the storm, say safe out there.
Sue and the Furry Crew

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning, 55/83 today and smoky. I love the cooler weather for a couple of days. I do think we are now past our "hot" spell of last week. And so happy we got to escape it at the coast. Planning is everything AND we did not even know it when we made reservations. We should be sliding down into the 70's and 80's now. Moving into my favorite season FALL.
My generator should arrive tomorrow YIPPEE of course we will probably not have another power outage but you never know. At least I will be prepared and have peace of mind. It isnt a big one as I dont expect to run much. It is a 2350 watt which will run the freezer and the fridge and a couple of other items. A fellow posted a video of him and his trailer running his 15000 BTU air conditioner. then turned on his tv, then his fridge. I was impressed. I wont be doing that of course. I looked at a bigger wattage one but realized I wouldnt need a big one AND it weighed 100lbs....ha ha This one weighs 39lbs it should suit my purposes nicely.

Anita so glad you could go see your brother for yourself. Nothing like "eyes on the situation" to set your mind at ease. And sounds like a very enjoyable visit for you and your brother.
Barbie dodged a bullet for sure. That made me happy. There will be lots of cleanup in the wake of Hilary for quite some time. Sue your memorial event/reunion of sorts sounds like an awesome way to honor our firefighters. Such a dangerous job for sure. Between the police and the firefighters I think they are amazing. BJ I am surprised Pippa doesnt like to go for a walk ha ha maybe she is scared being away from her secure place. I dont walk my Emma too much but when I do she is raring to go.
Slept in today until 6:30 so I am a bit behind. In what I dont know LOL I just dont like to sleep in that late. By the time I take the dog out, feed her, make my coffee it is 7am I have nothing specific on my agenda today except watering and feeding the inside plants. All 3 of them LOL I have an Anthurium that is still blooming, and 2 Thanksgiving cacti that are looking very well this year. Last year they were sorely neglected and they bloomed anyway. So there is hope for them this year!!!

[asirimarco]

Good morning to all. The sun is shining over our area of the Vegas Valley, but I can see dark mean looking clouds up over the mountains on the west side of the valley. For us here on the far east side of Vegas it was kind of a non event. Had rain steady but not hard for most of night. Just before night we got a couple of micro bursts, very heavy for a few minutes.Probably our area got less than an inch of rain. The wind, again on our side of valley, was not as bad as predicted. Have lots of trash, palm stuff and pine needles around. But trash cans didn't get blown over. This morning about 5 o'clock we lost power. I was sleeping and Bill woke me up to let me know we had no power ???!!! Funny thing is half the homes in the community had power, but our half and some of the homes across the main street in a housing development didn't. Came back on in about 2 hours. There was some flooding on the Strip where it has flooded for as long as I can remember. By the big ferris wheel. Guess there is damage up on the mountain, but news can't get up there yet. Nice thing is it is only in the 70's out. I should go out and take a walk, but still very humid. Going to be rain off and on and cooler weather for a couple more days, then back up over 100, but dry.
Barbie glad the water didn't get any higher by your home. Been watching the news and saw one community by Palm Springs had knee high water. Scary.
Bill is having a couple of bad days in a row. Wish that covid crap would go away. Been five months already. Hard to plan anything when we don't know when he will get an "episode."
For some reason I seem to be in a nesting mode. Been cleaning everything in sight. Just need to do knick knacks on top of kitchen cupboards then will have mostly every thing done for a while.
Every one take care with what ever weather streak you are having. Hopefully it settles down soon.

[SoCalGalcas]

No big problems for me. The airport (official weather station) got one inch of rain. I wasn’t aware of any wind. When I went out this morning, lots of debris on the sidewalk. No trees down around here.
Barbie, glad you had no serious damage.
Lyn

[Acadianmom]

I'm not sure where Barbie lives so don't know if the storm has passed her yet. My air conditioner has decided to stop working for the hottest week so far. Someone came out Saturday and said the compressor was shot. It's suppose to be 106 Wednesday and 107 on Thursday. It was 104 yesterday and is already 100 today. I'm waiting to hear if they can come today to fix the ac. I put a small window unit in my office window for the cats and Sugar and I went to Lafayette where there is air conditioning. I would liked to have put in a larger unit but I had to get one I could pick up. Annie has taken over the chair in front of the air conditioner and every time I move she gets the chair. She's no dummy. lol

I still haven't heard from the Dodge place about my truck. The trailer place would probably like for me to go get my trailer.

Anita, glad your brother is feeling a little better. I'm sure he would like to go home.

There is an area in the Gulf they are watching that is suppose to go into Texas. If it's just going to be rain I would like for it to come just far enough North to give us some rain.

Martha

[Redetotry]

Martha I hope you can get your A/C fixed soon!! I am a wreck just hoping ours doesn't quit and that the power stays on. I get more anxious about heat than storms. Lyn and Carol good to hear you are ok. Has anyone heard from Evie?
I had an appointment with a financial adviser this morning and my mind was too scattered to follow all she said. Told her I needed longer to decide so we scheduled another appointment on Friday the day it is supposed to cool down. Like I mentioned earlier Emma's energy is crazy I think she gets bored without all the activity at her 'other' home. They all went to Evansville IN to train for another show plus here were a couple of extras that went with so that made 4 dogs and 2 adults. I would think she would be tired but nope. I'm going to try for a nap.

[Bethers]

I'm about to head to work. Just walked Ty. Maybe it looks ok at 90 degrees but the heat index is 107 and even Ty was breathing hard. Difference of the same temp in Arizona is we could breath, but he couldn't walk the pavement. I hope I can stay inside most of my shift. But who knows.

I worry about my RV AC. And fridge. Both are still troopers but this weather can't be helping them.

Evie, check in please about you and your son.

[BarbaraRose]

Good afternoon gals!

The I-10 that goes from LA to Phoenix and past the valley here, was closed last night due to flooding and a mud flow across the freeway. Just now they have opened the west bound lanes. What a mess!

I got up fairly early to check out the aftermath from the storm and last nights high winds. Tons of palm fronds laying all over! Some small trees and limbs down here and there. Minor damage to some places here. Everyone is out and inspecting their places and the places of the snowbirds who are not here. The golf course is really flooded but they are pumping water out now. Lots of work going on around here. Everyone chips in to help everyone else. A real community effort. The only thing I am really disappointed about is that not one person from my family has contacted me to see how I am doing. They are not on FB so they have no idea what was going on with me. I figured at least an e-mail, or text, or something.

My shed door got bent up on one corner from the wind. I think I can fix it. The outer metal got pulled off the wooden frame. I also found a maintenance guy who will stop by this afternoon to caulk my bedroom window.
Otherwise I am doing good. The lake out back is pretty much drained now.

Others in the valley and southern CA are not so lucky. Lots of damage from flooding, mud slides, rock slides, high winds, roads washed out, trees down, etc. Many roads around town here are still closed. A lot of businesses are closed. Schools were supposed to start today but now won't start until Thursday.

It is a gorgeous day for clean-up tho! Sunny and 80*. Still humid tho.

Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with a pain management specialist. Hoping I can get some relief. I was in a lot of pain at work on Saturday.
Next appointment I need to make is with my dentist. Have a tooth that is bothering me lately. Need to get that checked out.

No word back from the potential buyers. My agent is trying to get ahold of them. I hope they didn't get spooked by the storm here and change their minds.

Here are some latest pics...

flag out front of our park got shredded!


Sophie checking out the wet back yard...


My shed door. The screws holding the metal piece to the wood frame came out. I will replace those.


Flooded golf course


a limb fell on this park model.

[JudyJB]

Made it to Brighton, Ontario, which is about 80 miles east of Toronto, not too far from Lake Ontario. I was able to find the graves of my two GG-grandparents on my mother's mother's mother side, and one GG-grandparents on her mother's mother's father side. The latter was laying down and mostly buried by 6"of dirt and grass. All I could see was part of his name, but I know it was him. Also found property. Tomorrow, I head into Belleville, a nearby town and go to the county library to find the property location of my German GG-grandparents on my father's mother's side of the family. All my German relatives are buried in the same cemetery and lived close to one another, but the info on census forms needs translating to actual addresses from old property maps, which the library should have.

My recommendation of the day is that as much as I remember Toronto fondly from the several trips we took there about 35 years ago, it seems to have tripled or quadrupled in size. Horrible traffic driving the 50 miles it takes to get past the city!! Sort of like driving through LA with my motorhome--once is enough!! Luckily, I will be headed back west on a route much farther north, so more rural and fewer 8-lane freeways. Gas prices here are about what they are in California--about $4.70 per gallon USD. I was amazed that a 9.5 gallon fill of propane was only about $21 USD. Groceries are a bit more expensive, but the dollar conversion helps.

Glad everyone seems to have survived the hurricane with not too much damage. Amazing that even a few inches higher helped Barbie so much.

[snowball]

I posted last night but forgot to look and see if it successfully posted... it didn't when I saw that it didn't I didn't try to reconstruct what I posted...
before I forget I saw a hack Anne that you might be able to use... with the tomatoes that aren't any good IE sun rot being eaten by whatever according to this guy you just split them in half and put them on the ground cut size down... this will feed bugs ect and as it decomposes it goes into the soil helping the soil.. there was something else that I shared yesterday for who I don't remember and what I don't remember and it poofed
I'm glad Anita that you had a good visit hopefully your brother will be able to go home soon... one always feels better at home...
I had thought about taking mom out to the ranch today to see what all they were doing but decided to reach out to my friend who is out there on Mondays about the ground (we had had a lot of rain over the weekend and I was afraid that it would be too wet ) I had actually decided that it wasn't going to work today over caste threat of rain chilly windy at times when I got a text back suggesting that perhaps next Monday would be better... We can only hope... it rained some today not bad but off and on... so it turned into a do nothing day I wasn't even interested in getting dressed but finally did ... I did finish my book and finally I hope got the scarf for my great granddaughter's cousin a good width... I kept making it to large hopefully it is ok now
tomorrow I really MUST go to the post office
glad Barbie that you didn't have too much damage and hopefully it won't affect your salability I would think that seeing that it was up high enough not to flood in all that water would be a good point in it's favor...
you all have a good day
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

I have that pain management appointment at 9am tomorrow so I am looking on Google Maps to find a way to get there. It is all the way across the valley on the north end of Palm Springs. If I took the freeway, I could be there in 20 minutes but the freeway is still closed and the roads going from the freeway to north Palm Springs are all washed out anyways, even if I could take the freeway. Other roads that are more of a direct route are also closed yet, so I am left with only one road over there, and there are a million stop lights, and being the only main road left across the valley that is open, the traffic will be bad. So I will have to leave here about 7:30 and hope I get to my appt in time.

My agent got ahold of the potential buyers today. They are still interested but are being very demanding. They want a new dishwasher installed. They also wanted a stackable washer/dryer in the kitchen where there are hookups for that (I used to have one), but that will cost a lot so now they want a side by side washer and dryer in the shed (stackable won't fit in there). The shed is not set up for that and I told my agent there is no way in hell I am going to do all that for them. I told him they better not ask for a golf cart too! Geeze! Can't they do that after they buy move in? They haven't even put in an offer yet and are asking for all this stuff.

[OregonLuvr]

Barbie I know you are anxious but dont let them do that. Be prepared to just walk away. I wont sell to anyone that has unreasonable demands as it will only get worse when they tie you up and prevent other buyers from being interested. Nope, just sell it as is. You have a nice home it will sell, right now things are just taking time due to the economy. Dont let anyone bully you in to selling for asking for the moon...nope!!!!

[Bethers]

Barbie, what Karen said. They sound like a nightmare. I had a similar situation selling a house and backed out of a sale because of it. Turns out the couple bought new and a year later the contractor was still having trouble with their demands.

[Cudedog]

Barbie I know you are anxious but dont let them do that. Be prepared to just walk away. I wont sell to anyone that has unreasonable demands as it will only get worse when they tie you up and prevent other buyers from being interested. Nope, just sell it as is. You have a nice home it will sell, right now things are just taking time due to the economy. Dont let anyone bully you in to selling for asking for the moon...nope!!!!

What Karen said!!

I had a piece of property for sale a few years back that I had various potential buyers asking for the moon. One I remember wanted, as a requirement of sale, for me to fence the entire place with a good quality pasture fencing (the place was a few acres). When the realtor told me that they had a "good potential buyer" with only "one small requirement" (the fencing thing) I just laughed.

I already knew that the price of the kind of fencing they required would have been about half of the price of the property!! Of course, I said no.

One thing you could do (your realtor should know this) is to state in escrow that the cost of the dishwasher could be "reimbursed" back to the seller out of escrow, at the close of escrow.

Be sure to specify - up front - the precise dollar amount that will be reimbursed - a dishwasher can range from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars.

But only do this if you want to.

And be sure that your contract states the length of time the escrow will run - two days, two weeks, two months - whatever, it's your call. If you don't do this, things can drag on forever. Specify that if the potential buyer does not close on the date and time specified in the contract, the contract becomes null and void and you are then free to find another buyer.

Of course, if the buyer requests more time, if you are in the mood you can grant it - but any change to the original contract granting this extra time, with a new closing date, needs to be added to the original contract (signed and agreed to by both buyer and seller).

Real estate contracts are a major pain to read, and tend to make my brain turn numb and my eyes roll back in my head. But I read each and every word anyway.

Anne