Final Friday of Sept.

[Colliemom]

Good Morning on this beautiful sunny Friday morning here. Going to be a nice day to work outside. Yard to clean up out there. Back is covered in pine needles and leaves. Will tackle that later after it has had tine to dry from the morning dew. Cleaned up one area yesterday morning. Planning to install my vinyl storm windows on back of house this weekend as well. Only 2.

And of course all eyes are on Helene this morning. Damage reports and pictures coming through on the Weather Channel. Strongest hurricane to hit FL Big Bend area in history. For those who might not know, it made landfall at high tide with 140 mph Winds. Pictures from Cedar Key are devastating. . The power of wind and water unbelievable. Liz and Bob evacuated to an S&B and Nan went someplace south and a bit east. Watching TWC till late last night, I fear they don’r have any damage again. Guess time will tell. Also waiting to hear from Irmi. Spent the last two nights talking with Soos on Chat. Winds were really howling in Orlando last night she said. Still had power when we signed off around 10:30.

Barbie, glad it was only battery issue. Sounds like you are ready to roll out to new adventures. Beth, hope the car acts up so they can pinpoint the issue. Getting messages from neighbor who’s husband was in hospital, so going to sign off and see what’s up. Catch you all later.

[Irmi]

Good afternoon Sue and all!

It's noontime so a little late for morning coffee. Where we are in central FL, the storm didn't amount to much. We were thinking we'd have lots of strong winds and lots of rain, but that didn't happen here. The gulf coast got somewhat battered, but the pictures I've seen were not what I expected, since the weather people were talking about a 10 - 15 foot storm surge. The news was on all day yesterday and reminded of the "snow shows" we had in MD when snow was predicted. But it's good that we have those folks around to remind of things that need to be done and in a certain time frame to prepare for snows and hurricanes. The winds were noisy around midnight but all in all, we made out just great. We need to un-bungee the furniture in the pergola and put my potted plants back where they belong. Now it's time to go outside and get things done there.

[Colliemom]

Irmi, you are so right about having weather folks to remind us of what might come and to be prepared. Sometimes they do over hype, but it’s better to be prepared. I think the fear of high storm surge was due to fact it was hit OK ting right at high tide. I did see pictures last night where the storm surge was pushing up to 6 feet and a bit above in Cedar key. But glad all’s well.

I did have a quick chat with Liz on Messenger this morning and she said that all is OK, no damage, just some stuff that needs to be cleaned up in the yard.But then she sent another message ad said lots of damage in the neighborhood.

[BarbaraRose]

Good morning gals.

Irmi, glad you didn't get any damage or big storm there.

I just saw on FB that Soos just has some branches down and a window screen came loose but that is all. Also Liz and Nan's houses are OK but lots of trees down all over there. So that is good news that their homes survived.

Been making more phone calls this morning to get things taken care of with insurance things, etc. Haven't found a dentist yet that can see me today so I will probably have to wait until I get to AZ to get that tooth taken care of. I will just have to keep my tongue away from that tooth (which is hard to do!). I need a lot of dental work and might end up going down to Mexico to get the more expensive stuff done if I can find a really good recommendation for someone down there.

After doing a lot of thinking, I decided to have all 4 tires replaced today. They are 4 years old and my mechanic can't find any other reason for the swaying of the car when I am on the freeway (it feels like I am being pushed around by the wind, but it hasn't been windy), other than possibly the tires. I read that tires wear out faster in hot climates due to the excessive heat on the pavement. It will give me a little more peace of mind on my trip. The tires would need to be replaced within the next year anyways, so may as well bite the bullet and get them done now. Hopefully, this Jeep will last me a few more years, now that most of the big stuff has been replaced on it.

Today will be taping up all the bins with packing tape, and repacking the shed stuff into better bins. Once I get my car back, I will get it washed and then I need to go to WM to exchange the wrong lids I got for the large bins, for the right ones. Then I need to do laundry! I have 6 outfits to pack in my suitcase and they are all dirty. Everything else is already packed up for the U-Haul. And also need to wash the bedspread that I will leave here on the bed. It is full of cat hair!

Sophie loves to smell my "scent" on my dirty clothes, so I will leave out one dirty shirt to put in her carrier to make her feel more secure.

The weekend will just be cleaning in here and outside. That won't take too long and I will have some down time to relax before loading the UHaul on Monday morning, and then just get the last minute stuff together for leaving on Tuesday. So glad I was able to extend the moving date! Gave me some breathing room so I wouldn't get too stressed out again! I am feeling less anxious now.

Have a good day!

[BarbaraRose]

Irmi, you are so right about having weather all right oh I say how do you tell me a time in about you set me a tell me even laying around all day now wow are you mean she Chi walking all that God are you folks...

Sue, can you translate this for me?

[Acadianmom]

Glad our friends survived the storm. There was at least a 6 foot storm surge here for Hurricane Rita because I could see how high it was in the house. We had never had anything like that so had left two cats in the house. One was on a shelf in the top of a closet and one was on a bed that had floated up and stuff went under it. It never fazed Nunie but Pepper was always afraid of the weather after that.

Barbie, for future reference, if you think you have battery problems Auto Zone will check your battery and put one in if you need one. If you have your name on an account they can look up the information about your battery at any Auto Zone. I had a problem on the road in the motorhome and they replaced my battery for free.

Martha

[Bethers]

I don't think this storm was underestimated at all. It just didn't go quite the direction expected. But I know there are at least 20 deaths from it and lots of problems north of Florida. And it's not finished.

Well I drove over 100 miles today after we were already at 99 degrees and the ac worked like a charm. I won't be doing anything unless it acts up again. But I'll be praying if it's going to do that, do so while I'm still here, not on my drive to Texas.

I'm doing my best to eat anything and everything in my freezer. I emailed the person supposed to get me the new fridge in Texas last night. I haven't heard back yet. Fingers crossed that can happen within a day or two of my arrival and that they are still willing to do it.

[Cudedog]

Barbie, for future reference, if you think you have battery problems Auto Zone will check your battery and put one in if you need one. If you have your name on an account they can look up the information about your battery at any Auto Zone. I had a problem on the road in the motorhome and they replaced my battery for free.

Martha

Martha is correct. Auto Zone does guarantee their batteries. I, also, have had a bad car battery replaced for free by Auto Zone.

Anne

[Cudedog]

Barbie, for future reference, if you think you have battery problems Auto Zone will check your battery and put one in if you need one. If you have your name on an account they can look up the information about your battery at any Auto Zone. I had a problem on the road in the motorhome and they replaced my battery for free.

Martha

Martha is correct. Auto Zone does guarantee their batteries. I, also, have had a bad car battery replaced for free by Auto Zone - and this was a battery that I had originally paid $150.00 for.

I will definitely be going back to Auto Zone in future.

Anne

[Bethers]

Auto Zone replaced, free two coach batteries on my first RV. And it's my fault each one died as I had no clue I was overworking them. They also were always diagnosing my check engine lights.

On another note my trip in the car was a learning curve, but just what I saved in gas paid for all my stays both ways and money left over. And I learned a lot.

[Colliemom]

Barbie, I corrected that post. I was using voice activation and it apparently picked up the conversation from the TV Sorry about that. I didn’t catch it before I hit submit

[Irmi]

Beth, you are correct that the storm was not under estimated, but I was petrified knowing the strength of the storm. I'm thrilled we were spared. And I feel terrible about the families that lost so much.

[Redetotry]

We have been getting a lot of rain all day and this evening quite a bit of wind with the rain. It's hard to imagine the devastation the storm caused not only in FL but into other states. Irmi I'm so glad you are safe. I have a friend in Sarasota who I contacted Wednesday to ask if they had to evacuate. She said no that they didn't live in a flood plane and their apartment was made out of cinder blocks so they would be safe. I haven't heard from her since. I just had a very strange thing happen on Facebook. Someone changed a post I shared from the photographer David Attenborough Fans of birds and animals to a photo and an advertisement of shoes for sale! I sent a message to his site telling them what happened. I am totally baffled but at least it wasn't a rude or political photo.

[Bethers]

Irmi, I'm also thrilled that you and many others I know we're spared. Some of the people in Georgia and further north that were offering spaces for people fleeing Florida, have been hit hard. There's pretty much only one way to flee. I renember fleeing from a hurricane when in Port Aransas, TX and waiting only 30 miles north off the island for a better forecast on whether to go east or west. West won.

[snowball]

I read on Yahoo that 44 people have died from Helene I really hope all is well with those of our group and hopefully even if some don't often or rarely post will come in and say if they are ok or not...
had to go to the store no chocolate milk and very little white.. and no idea for supper ... got some buns and fixed the chicken patties for sandwiches with tater tots... cole slaw not a bad meal..
went to the post office it is such a joke getting into it... road construction was in front of the main parking area so you couldn't drive into it which made the side parking impossible to get into now the intersection is broken up and still the road going in front of the post office is sectioned off came in the alley but followed another car out of the lot on to the new road...
so went as little as possible the last time I went a week or so ago nothing... today was mom's booklet on medicare... so happen to see someone putting packages in the locker's so mentioned to her that I had fully expected a big envelope from SD several magazines and possibly two packages... she told me that for some reason they haven't been getting mail to speak of ... told me that on Monday they only had 2000 envelopes for the whole building way below what they normally have... she did go look and found my books but my mail from Dakota Post wasn't there they mail it on the 15 really should be there...
did get gas and groceries was going to have pork chops on Sunday (try out the new slow cooker) but no chops so thought salmon would taste good no salmon at least the one one can afford so ended up with chicken think we will have butter chicken that is if I have everything if not perhaps chicken Alfredo shoot didn't think to get some Naan bread oh but going to wally world tomorrow before a birthday party for the youngest great grandson but some clothes for mom last time I went will be taking them back she told the aid she didn't like the one she showed her have a feeling it's the material so will take all of them back ... need to get the boy something anyway just hopefully we will get out there early enough... going to get some greens and strawberries and made spinach/strawberry salad (I like the mixture with the greens)
Barbie glad it was just a battery although expensive an easy fix... sounds like you have things all under control
hmm just realized that I am posting on Thurs decided to copy and paste so did that but don't think I am going to go and re do anything ... so glad that we have heard from or about those in FL and that they didn't have any damage
it seems it's always the case you want it to do what it's doing... and it won't ...hoping it was just a issue that is all over
you all have a great day
sheila