Wednesday, Jan. 8th

[Colliemom]

Good Morning from the chilly 45th. Cloudy, 9° with a real feel of 2°. High for today predicted to 13°. Looks like some sunshine coming. That’s a rare sight these days. Did have partly sunny yesterday. Nothing in way of snow except isolated snow shower. Looks like it’s cold all over the place. Another storm across the middle of the country. Those of you who do not usually get that kind of weather, get yourselves some battery operated lamps and lanterns. There are a lot of different kinds out there. I have a nice LED one in my basement emergency room. I plan to get a work light that runs off my big 8 volt batteries and that can be a backup light as well. I also have a set of Hurricane lamps and lamp oil. Have had those lamps for years. . We used to use them when we had power outages. Now I have a generator of course, but those things can break down too. Mine is serviced and inspected every fall and exercises itself every Thursday. Have some pillar candles as well. Best to be prepared than not.

Terrible fire out in CA for this time of year. Seems like they used to be a summer thing, but now are getting to be year around.

Tina, enjoying the puppy tales. I can just picture them wobbling around and falling over while they try to get their land legs. Glad all and mama are doing well. Keep yourself warm too. Don’t want to get sick from being in a cold house.

After 3 days of running to town church, errands and a appts., am staying home today. Got some things accomplished like grocery shopping, replacement bulb for oven light, new lamp shades for living room, new tape measure etc. Getting the little nitty gritty stuff done. Looking at lights for over my kitchen table, new faucet for kitchen sink and stuff like that. Time for out with old and wearing out and in with some new. Would also like to replace some wainscoting in my entrance hallway. The fur kids got a trip to the vet yesterday for shots and pedicures, $$$ of course.

Bit of housecleaning on agenda this morning. Then maybe some DPing this afternoon. I have some little paperwork stuff to do as well as go through my files and toss no longer needed stuff. So we shall what I get into. Some spring cleaning on the list too. Good way to spend the wibter days.

[Redetotry]

Good Morning all, Sue your advise is very good unfortunately we were pretty much unprepared. I hadn't checked the batteries in my flashlights and the big ones were rather dim but we did have food. We should have bought a Buddy heater but the stores are empty now. I am going to call for generator estimates that I put off doing since last spring. It is supposed to get down to 7 tonight and snow tomorrow. I'm carrying my little flashlight in my pocket now at night. Not sure what we will do if it goes out again. We do have huge down comforters and we can get the car out but then the question is where do we go with the dogs. My brother lives about 25 miles away and said we could come there and bring them but hate to do that. Emma will go back to Nancy today so would only be the little ones. This all makes me think of the saying "if it's and nuts were candy and nuts oh what a wonderful day that would be! Beth I hope you feel better soon!!

[OregonLuvr]

Morning Sue. Was chilly here this morning at 5am when I took the dog out 36° not as chilly as you LOL Saw clear skies and the next time I went out we were socked in with fog, as per the usual. We wont have any rain until Friday and just for the one day.....they say. Had a hint of sunshine yesterday but mostly cloudy. Will see what today brings. I dont really care. It is Bunco day again. We didnt do it in December because of the holidays. So we are starting back up. I like that it is only twice a month. The lady across the street from me is hosting this month so dont have to go far. Took down my HO HO lights outside yesterday and they are tucked away until next year. Now my chores are mainly organizing and doing some deep cleaning. Getting a headstart on Spring cleaning. Might as well as when spring gets here I want to be outside in the yard.

BJ hope your power doesnt go off anymore. See that is the thing about "insurance, generators, flashlights" lol You might not need them but at least you have them if necessary LOL I have a couple small lantern lights that I charge up every so often just in case. I dont always start the generator when the power goes out because sometimes it comes back on quickly. Just long enough to screw up all the lights and clocks. Batteries are what my Costco run is about. I need some D and C cell batteries and will check my stock of AA and AAA batteries. I have a few 9volt for the smoke detectors and a small pack of the small flat ones C3032 I think they are called. I am pretty much "Ms Prepared" ha ha

Having fish for dinner tonight with some leftover fresh green beans. I never did get to Costco yet so maybe tomorrow. Also will go to the grocery store and get my eggs and a few fresh veggies. I am making terriyaki shrimp skewers in the air fryer tomorrow. I will take the shrimp out of the freezer this afternoon and put it in the fridge overnight. Going to have shrimp, onion, mushrooms on it. I haven't made these before so we shall see.

[Cudedog]

Spent the morning doing some computer things, my doorbell rang and it was my sweet neighbors checking up on me.

Holy toledo, it was stinkin' HOT outside, at least for this time of year. The warm air about walloped me in the face, when I got finished visiting with my neighbors I came back in and checked my thermometer - 78*!! That is way too hot to do much heavy lifting outside (at least for me!) - I may go out and toss the ball for Joe for a bit, but I think a long walk today is off my list.

Turned off my furnace, opened all my windows, put my big box fan in my front window to blow out the winter stink!!

. . . Then back to Zillow. If it is nearly 80* here on January 8th, I shudder to think what it will be when July rolls around.

Yes, Sue, it seems that a year-round fire season here in California - particularly in the Southern Part of the state - is now a definite "thing".

I am reading that the Palisades Fire is the worst fire on record for the Los Angeles area. . . and, again: it's only January.

Holy smokes.

I hope I can sell my house when the time comes - insurance companies have been bailing from California already, after claims for current fire are filed, there might be few insurance companies left that will write a Homeowner's policy. Not good!

Anne

[JudyJB]

California with fires is soon going to be like Florida with hurricanes--you will have trouble buying insurance and if you can find it, it will be really expensive. A few weeks ago, I looked at some areas west and north of my son's house in Napa. There were some very nice places located in scrubby woodsy areas with views of a lake and mountains. Sounds great, except the properties were all listed as extreme fire danger, which explains the reasonable prices. Insurance rates are no doubt horrible! And with more fires, even in S Cal, prices of insurance will get worse.

I was up for two hours at 5 am to make reservations in Florida for next November. Even with residents getting in a month before outsiders, it has not been bad. Reason for changing my mind about staying in Calif next winter is my sons. Younger son warned me that if I moved to Ohio I had to buy something within 10 miles of his house "because he knows I will be calling him to do things for me every day." Seriously reconsidering living THERE!!!! Older son is the caring one, but if you are sick or disabled in some very small way, he will drive you nuts. As it is, he holds onto me as I am going down stairs, even though I am holding onto railings and can perfectly well go down stairs by myself! I am 81, NOT 91, and even if I were 91, I might be able to handle stairs by myself.

I am in very good health for my age, am still driving a 32' vehicle and was complimented by one of my good friends lately on how well I drove through curvy mountainous roads, am handling almost all my own cleaning and minor repairs, etc. Only real handicap is that my left shoulder makes it very hard to reach very far above my head, so I need help screwing things to the ceiling for example.

Anyway, I am putting off buying or renting anything for a while!!!

[BirdbyBird]

Judy, maybe you could talk to Liz. She searched for a senior community because she made the decision that she didn’t want either of her daughters to have to take care of her when the time came. She purchased a modular home to live independently. Well that worked until Bob noticed that new neighbor across the street. But you get the idea. The community has the continuing levels of care when and if she ever needs them. Liz’s community truly is a community. I mean she and friends can kayak right there off the property. But it isn’t in a large town or city. There’s got to be a variety of communities with one that would fit your independence. And have lists of handy persons available to call when needed. He thinks you are going to call Everyday. Really?

[Acadianmom]

It only got up to 46 today. At least it is only getting down to 31 at night. It was cloudy and windy so Luna and I didn't get our walk in. Anne, I would like to walk in 78 degree weather. It felt like the wind was blowing through my jacket. I could have found a heaver coat but didn't feel like it. It's suppose to start raining tomorrow and last through Friday. I wasn't paying attention when the weather was on so don't know when the rain is suppose to start. I had to take some papers to town so went by the post office and came home.

I didn't think that the mushroom soup from Walmart had enough mushrooms in it so I bought a small box of sliced mushrooms. I cooked the mushrooms in a little butter and added the soup. I let it simmer for about 30 minutes and it is much better. I had bought a small container of Walmart brand macaroni and cheese that you just have to microwave. It's ok but don't think I'll buy that again.

Sue, you reminded me that the light in my oven is out too. I don't know if oven lights are one size fits all so probably need to take the old one out and take it with me. If I lose power it's usually in the summer. Having an all electric house in the winter is not great. I can go in the motorhome if I can get the generator to start. I try to always fill up the gas tank on the way home from a trip. Losing power in a bad freeze would not be good.

Judy, I know what you mean about dealing with your sons. I would give anything to have my older son living with me again but I would pay my younger son's rent to keep him from moving back. Insurance is going to be the deciding factor in a lot of places. If my house insurance goes up again this year I may not pay it. It went up $3,000 in one year.

I have noticed that a lot of commercials have a noise to get your attention. A lot of times Luna will bark and act confused like she doesn't know where the noise came from. A door bell will drive her crazy.

I don't want the three outside kittens to be afraid of Luna so I let them in the house this morning. Talk about a wrecking crew. I had to put them outside when they started swinging from the curtains. The house was a new playground.

I like where Liz lives. If I didn't have family here and the farm to see about I would consider a place like that.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

OK, quick question...

We are under a freeze warning tonight and tomorrow night. I turned off the spigot outside and removed the hose from it and let the water drain out of it from the RV inlet. I have water in my fresh water tank if needed (altho I am not sure how long it has been in there or how good it is, so will only be using it for flushing for now).

Do I need to do anything else? It is supposed to get to 25* tonight and 21* tomorrow night.

Thanks!

[Bethers]

You're probably good with what you've done if the freeze is short duration. But to be safe, you could open cabinet doors and use your furnace to make sure no water lines freeze.

[BarbaraRose]

I officially moved into the trailer yesterday with the cats, altho I still have a few things I need to get from Heather's house yet.

I kept the cats in their screen room on the bottom bunk last night and then let them out this morning to explore. They are still checking things out. Surprisingly, Romeow is being a lot more curious and brave than Sophie is. She is usually the brave one and first one to start exploring a new place.

I have boxes and bins everywhere in here! It is like a maze to get from one end to the other right now. Still working on finding a home for everything. I will have to downsized some things as I go along. I have a box started already of things I can re-home.

Last night I went to turn on the heat and it didn't get warm. Then I realized I didn't have the propane turned on. It was already dark out when I went out to check on that. There is a plastic cover on the tanks and I couldn't lift it off and didn't want to mess with it in the dark. I found a neighbor who came over to check it out. He took the cover off and then we could both smell propane. One of the tank hoses was leaking, so we switched over to the other tank. I will get a new hose and he said he will put it on for me. Meanwhile, I have no clue how much propane is in either tank. I guess I need to add a couple gauges to my Amazon cart.

I slept almost 12 hours last night. My bed is pretty comfy and it was plenty warm in here.

Then today the XFinity guy came to hook up my wifi and TV cable. He had to do a lot of work to get the cables all done outside and then get things hooked up inside. Once he got done, he showed me how to use the remotes and how to navigate the channels and apps on it. But we realized that there was no sound. He brought in a small TV from his truck and hooked that up and he got sound with that, so my TV needs to be replaced. The problem is it is the kind that you can rotate towards the living room or the bedroom from a swivel pole inside the opening in the wall. The TV is a 24" and I want to bring in my 40 inch which obviously won't fit in the smaller opening. So I am thinking I could put a wall mount with an extension, in the side of the opening and be able to attach my TV and have it extended and turned so it will fit on the outside of the opening. OK, that sounds really confusing. I am not sure if that would work. I will probably have to find someone who can look at it and see what can be done to get my TV in here.

I was feeling better the past 2 days but am not feeling too good tonight now. I have to get to Heather's tomorrow for the rest of my stuff since her new roommate is moving in on Friday. I am also suppose to meet a friend from camp for dinner tomorrow night since she is moving to Phoenix in a couple weeks. Will see how I feel tomorrow.

I am signing up for a diamond painting class here on Saturday. Should be fun!

I just realized tonight that there are no electrical outlets anywhere on the slide-out. That makes it hard to plug anything in without running an extension cord.

I can't believe how bad those fires around L.A. are right now! It is so sad! The winds have been horrendous the past day or so and the fires spread faster than people can evacuate. It was even really windy here today but no issues other than some power outages in some areas around Tucson and some dust blowing around.

This morning I got up and went down the street to a little cafe for breakfast. It was good. Will have to check out there lunches. I am still not eating often enough. I get so busy that I forget to eat since I don't feel hungry much. Luckily, they have a lot of potlucks here so I can get some good meals that way.

I better get ready for bed so I can get good night's sleep.

[BarbaraRose]

Thanks Beth for the suggestion. Just need to make sure the cats don't go exploring in areas they shouldn't be in.

[Acadianmom]

Barbie, you should probably get someone that could tell you if what you want to attach the TV to is strong enough to hold it.

I put the pink RV antifreeze in the black and gray tanks when we are having a freeze.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

Thanks Martha. I will probably stop at an RV store tomorrow for the propane tube and will pick up some RV antifreeze there.

I will get my TV idea checked out before I do anything with it. For now, it may end up sitting on the floor if the cable reaches down that far. At least I will have the ROKU to use on it to watch using my wifi. Actually, I could set it on a bench I have, to raise it up a couple feet off the floor for now until I figure out what to do for a more permanent placement.

I just checked the weather app and for the next 6 days the highs will be in the 50's and lows in the 20's and 30's. Then back up into the 70's again. Today with a high of 51* and the high winds, it was really nippy outside! I only have a light jacket with me here (my "winter" stuff is at my storage unit).

Judy, did you get the high winds where you are staying now by the Colorado River? They were talking yesterday about the high wind warning along the river there.

[JudyJB]

One thing you need to check is whether your pipes underneath are enclosed or open to the outside air. Also, you might want to find out if that possibly enclosed space is vented to your furnace. I am assuming you will eventually be adding some skirting and maybe some underneath insulation, but I agree that you are probably fine for now. When you do get skirting, you can stick one of these remote thermometers in that area. You put the monitor inside and the sensor outside. https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00424CA-Digital-Thermometer-Temperature/dp/B00WXIR94M/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2NY59S2CF44RO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UdRsb_apTqEyS_W-Y0Uet3PRWKhJbQALOispG_0RP5Rhxc921h27RUBy38h7_T7kg6X45n2BR1oSi9ZJsp9WydVZY308yyzU0iestBWGvQNvNjY3yd_dJdoctiHQ3PMl8WScjIvc5mdOYQOFP6PZzVbneIZxLxVxMHXoKUfcik737RH7A1lDNaf61y7N7fw7Hcy15SrCZIxxDVq0xUQ09zWN91Ek6sK-0fdnn1fnLs4okvKBxFHtqUCrpdM95Ky0eGTvVunIr3RjFd2JI1mVLUeYOvkt8ySKQu5QO-dDfcvjdU-_mvEY4I5xPF28fUv2an5Ju7Lb5_avpROhWZyRW4Sm_On5XphwJbsH_I4DB0kiQMaquQkN5jI7ZX1mEnhKiGqQYKQv1oLLr_2neVhG2axj1ad4Z8vleUHC5sx2tWgxyZLEpHG6O2rBjGPZ_cXX.09wZEbEveQUrBdDjrHYMXSsnSHtgNDQYJBB7MTSeAUQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=remote%2Bthermometer%2Bwireless%2Boutdoor&qid=1736402241&sprefix=remote%2Bther%2Caps%2C415&sr=8-8&th=1

No winds here. I drove here on Monday, and winds were not bad until Tuesday morning up there. Whew!!

Good suggestions about senior communities. Unfortunately, those tend to be in places like Arizona and Florida, and my kids really want me closer, or at least one does. (My ex was an only child and his mother was a pain, so I had two kids to make sure one would not get the full responsibility for me, but I really don't want someone to control me right now.)

Did I ever tell my story about my students giving oral presentations and my listening to their recordings online? About once every couple of semesters, I would be listening to a presentation (done at a student's home) and hear a smoke alarm beeping. Thinking it was mine, I would pause the video and listen--no beeping. Turned on the video and "beep" again. Paused and no beep. Finally, realized the beep was in the student presentation, not in my RV!!!! Comments on my grading sheet suggested they replace batteries.