Friday with Rain Coming

[Colliemom]

Good Morning. End of another week almost overwhelming . Like the past 7 months, August is moving right along. Three and a half more weeks and we cross the into Meteorological fall. I see the signs already starting. Days are gettng shorter, mornings getting cooler, it’s 48° here as I type this. My bog and the lake across the road are steaming, creating a bit of fog. High today is predicted around 74. Been in the 80’s past couple days. About norm for this time of year, but gradually working down to mid 70’s as month goes on. Sorry you gals out west are heading in the opposite direction. BJ, you mentioned smelling your fireplace yesterday. What was your dewpoints level. Your humidity level was a bit high at 63%. Those two combined can cause the issue. Watching the news about the fires on Maui. Terrible.

Anita, sorry about your brother. Hope he gets an appt. soon. Karen, sounds like a great time was had by all and your friend Majorie is one happy lady.

Had a scam email yesterday that gave me a chuckle. Was from one of my utility companies. . Said they couldn’t get ahold of me to alert me to a power outage and I needed to go into my account to update my contact information. Only two things wrong with that. One, there was no power outage and two, that utility is my Gas company, not my Electric company My answer was the trash button

As for me, I”m trying to wrap up the loose ends outside between expected rain showers. Did a few more sidewalk cracks on Wednesday till I emptied the tube of cement caulk. Neighbor gave me one he had that he no longer needs, so will use that one next. Molly has an eye pressure check at he vet later this afternoon. I think I will run up to town later as our Walmart has a Grand are opening after their extensive remodeling. I don’t shop there much, but I need a paint marker for my woodcraft project and they have food trucks and a bunch of other things going on. I don’t know why they want a grand reopening, as they have been open all along and we’ve seen the changes as they’ve been happening. putting in n new flooring and changed the aisles around except for he grocery area, adding more items. Just getting it in line with he others I have been in. It is an improvement though, I have to admit. Meijer is done with their remodel and people including myself really like it. Lowes has been changing everything around too over the past winter. There is a term for this, but can’t remember what it’s called. But it brigs your attention to items you may not have noticed before, which is true and introduces new stuff. But three stores in 8 months is quite a change. Get done navigating one, only to get lost in the next one Hobby Lobby’s walls have the rebar all set in them now and are awaiting the cement. Menards, our latest new store has the steel frame work up, so busy busy up here.

[Cudedog]

Good Morning. End of another week almost overwhelming . Like the past 7 months, August is moving right along. Three and a half more weeks and we cross the into Meteorological fall. I see the signs already starting. Days are gettng shorter, mornings getting cooler, it’s 48° here as I type this. My bog and the lake across the road are steaming, creating a bit of fog. High today is predicted around 74. Been in the 80’s past couple days. About norm for this time of year, but gradually working down to mid 70’s as month goes on. Sorry you gals out west are heading in the opposite direction.

Good morning, Sue, and all who follow.

[Sigh]. I was thinking about rain yesterday, how rain cleans the air, cools the temps, and makes everything smell new and fresh.

I was wondering when it might come, and was hoping for. . . right now. LOL. Of course, I know that isn't going to happen.

Low 90's have been predicted here every day this past week. Guess they got it wrong. There has been no day in the last week that has been under 100 degrees here at my house, and one day got up to 108. Possible thunderstorms predicted over the foothills maybe by the weekend. Sounds nice, but thunderstorms this time of year here can be a very mixed blessing.

Out here it is not at all uncommon to get thunderstorms and lightning without a drop of rain. And, of course, a lightning strike in bone-dry brush after months of high heat and no rain often leads to you-know-what. It has been, thankfully, a smoke-free summer this year, after several summers filled with wildfire smoke. I hope that the summer remains smoke-free until the soaking rains come, maybe by late October.

Yes, Sue, it is positively terrible and heartbreaking what has happened, and is happening, in Maui. It seems that terrible wildfires can happen most anywhere these strange new days.

I have often spoken of my wish to move to the beautiful small town of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Although I still wish it, I doubt now that it will ever happen. And Klamath Falls, nearly as hot and dry as it is here in the summer, is located in a narrow valley surrounded by dense tree and brush-covered dry hills on all sides.

Gives one food for thought. . .

Anne

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning. Good to be back home as always. As much as I love to go places it is always so nice to come home. Doing some housekeeping chores and laundry this morning. Henry will do his thing so guess I will dust. Not sure where all the dang dust comes from, as I dont live on a busy street with lots of cars stirring stuff up....oh well. I do know that the AC/Heat puts out lots of dust too LOL Will change my filter again when I get back from the coast next week. During heavy use, smoke etc I try to change it every month. Need to go out later and feed the tomatoes and water some flowers in pots. Otherwise I have everything else on the drip system timer. I am going to up the amount of time it waters tho due to the excessive heat. They need a bigger drink LOL

Anita your brother sounds in fairly good spirits, I sure hope everything goes well for him. I love the arguments over the Sling, gave me a chuckle. Kinda like maybe 2 peas in a pod.
Sue hope things are improving for Molly's eye. Glad to read tho that you like the closer vet. Always a plus. I really like the vet I found here too. Sue, they change things around so you go up one aisle and down another to find stuff, and buy way more than you would have ha haI am starting to gather things to take to the coast next week. I am sure the 3 of us will have a good time in the COOL air at the beach. Laura is coming with her trailer, Lisa and I are staying at a motel really close and then we will be "Day camping" at Laura's trailer during the day. Hoping to have a nice fish dinner after their fishing trip ha ha if not there are lots of restaurants to visit.

Off to get my day started now. I wont be grocery shopping online as I am leaving on Tuesday so will make do with what I have. Need fresh veggies and fruit but that will wait until I get back.

[BarbaraRose]

Got woken up a short time ago with noises outside. I looked out to see a firetruck AND an ambulance!! I saw the paramedics putting the gurney into the back of the ambulance so I hightailed it out of bed and ran out there (Pj's and bare feet!). Turns out the gurney was empty and the guys said she was inside her house and OK. So I went in to check on her. Turns out she fell in her bathroom at 4am and it took her over 4 hours to drag herself back into the bedroom to get to her phone to call 911. I told her she HAS to get a Life Alert now!! She said she is going to tell her daughter to get her one. I think this time really scared her, but we will see... Her daughter has poo-pooed getting her one, as I and my other neighbor have talked to her about it before.

"Lowes has been changing everything around too over the past winter. There is a term for this, but can’t remember what it’s called"

It is called how to make your shopping trip take 3 times longer than normal, since you can't find anything you used to know exactly where it was! I hate when they do that!

Well, I finally got desperate enough to contact the GM at Great Clips and ask for my old job back. Turns out the manager at the WM shop got fired last week (finally!) and they are in need of more help there until they find a new manager (not gonna be me!) and are more than happy to have me back! I will just work 3 six hour days again which will give me enough money to get back on track and caught up some financially. I am not jumping up and down excited about going back but it is a big relief financially. Physically, I will have to be careful about not straining my sciatica. I am checking YouTube for videos on how to relieve pain while standing up. My PT only showed me exercises while laying down which obviously can't be done at work. It is a compromise I have to make for now.

It got super windy last evening and the house was shaking at times! Still pretty windy out but cooler (just over 100*).

Good day to do laundry. Need to get caught up on reading too. Have a good day!

[cnq50b]

Good morning all,

Anita, I'll keep your brother in my prayers. Hope he gets an appointment soon & they provide the support he needs. Saw your note about the mail. Think it might be KS? I sent a letter to my sister & it took over a week to get there. It only takes about 10 days for a card to get to France!
Sue, I've been getting scam emails into my older email account about my Netflix account expiring. HA! It is paid via t-mobile. Now we're getting scam texts too. Gotta be careful!
Karen, your friend Majorie sounds amazing. Any 91-year old who is willing to navigate new tools/technology is incredible.

I've been enjoying my 'time-off' lately - even sleeping in until 6:30 or so in the morning on occasion. I'm loving our cooler weather this week - haven't turned on the A/C for the last few days.

I have 1 more week until I get the baby back full-time & start a couple classes. Hope I'm able to keep up with both. The 'baby' is now 9 months old & taking his first steps. He is all over the place so I'm figuring out how to safely contain him in a play area. I had him yesterday & oh, my, I don't recall the others being this active. We keep hoping for an opening at Jordi's preschool, but it's not likely until January.

The French classes I've signed up for will be challenging but I want to finish them up before visiting my daughter in Bordeaux early next year. One class is online, the other, a conversation class, is on campus one day a week. The kids are going to try to shuffle their schedules so I can attend it. We'll see how it goes. I'm not crazy about trying to 'converse' in French yet, but guess, there's no time like the present to see if I can or not.

Well, time to get some things done around here.
Take care,
Catherine

[JudyJB]

Took some frosted cookies over to the grandkids yesterday afternoon. My son did not get home until 6 pm, but I had him look at my awning. I was certain at one point that it had a broken latch on one side, and had had the RV service guy tie it closed with a zip tie when i was in Traverse City. So son took tie off and got a closer look at it. Nothing was broken, but the problem was that somehow it had been rolled up slightly off-kilter, so opening and closing it several times got it back on track. I will need to be more careful in the future.

Funny thing is when I got my motorhome, and we first figured out how to work the manual awning, son said I would never be able to do it on my own. And this time, when he slid the arm out, which does take a bit of strength, he said at my age I would not be able to do it. I told him I had been doing it for the past 11 years, and he made no comment on that, so maybe he does not believe me. He is obviously not a very encouraging person, but I have gotten in the habit of just ignoring him and doing things on my own. He is the same son, by the way, who originally told me I would die in a fiery crash 200 miles down the freeway. My odometer just turned over 192,000 miles!

I did not stay for dinner with them and made it back to campground before dark. Monday, I am going to go with my grandson and the exchange student to downtown Cleveland. My grandson really wants to take the exchange student and wander around the city, but cannot drive that far without an adult accompanying him, and both parents are busy tomorrow. So, I agreed to go with him on Monday. I don't know all the rules about young drivers in Ohio, but need to look them up. He will not be 17 for a couple of weeks. Mostly, he has only been driving to and from school with his sisters in the car and to things very close to his home.

[JudyJB]

Just spent 5 minutes yelling at Verizon over the phone. Have not done that in several months, but I got really frustrated with the automated response to my call and the idiot computer that did not understand my request. I was asking what my cell plan covered in Canada, and got an automated response congratulating me because my plan covered me in Canada! Like how much?? And did that include data on my hotspots??? So I yelled at that supposed attendant for a while. (Note: an attendant is someone who "attends" and helps people. This assumes they are present, which these automated things certainly are not.)

Then they sent me a text that suggested I leave one automated attendant "manager" and talk to another automated one who no doubt better understands my English. When I refused to follow their instructions to change "attendants," I got a real person whose accent was so heavy I had trouble understanding him. Of course, first he tried to sell me an international calling plan. I told him I just wanted to know about my current plan's coverage in Canada. Could i call within, into or out of Canada?? And he could not give me an an answer as to the details of my coverage without leaving the conversation and checking on something. Finally, he came back and said my current plan allowed all those things for voice and data.

At this point, he tried to give me the thanks for using Verizon, so I just hung up!!! Grrrrr.

[OregonLuvr]

LOL Judy. Ya should of just asked on here. I knew Verizon covered Canada and Mexico for several years now. It did not used to cover that tho. I went to both countries frequently, and had coverage at least the last 8 years. Glad you found out tho, even if it was stressful.

[Bethers]

Aww, Judy, I feel your pain.

Anita, I think maybe the Sling is giving your brother some joy and right now he needs all of that he can get. So if he wants to pay for some things, maybe tell him not necessary, but it's wonderful he's doing this.

Barbie, if you Google sciatica exercises while standing there are several YouTube videos. I know the one I've done in the past has you standing with ties onward, one leg slightly behind the other and doing certain twists. I might have to try to find it because I have occasionally twinges again. But I'm sure there's others.

I have to admit working the day shift has some advantages. But don't tell them I said that lol

[chalet05]

I have spent the day on the phone with friends catching up! Thank you for brother comments - Karen, you hit the nail on the head. He hasn't called but I looked at his chart and he has an appointment with cancer doctor on Thursday. Beth, I'm hoping he does get to enjoy the Sling, but his back is really bothering him. The money thing is a thing between us now that he has some - there was a time....

I just remembered to make a motel reservation for Tuesday night! Whew!

Barbie, I don't know that I actually have sciatica, but when I'm sore in that area, I have had success with some exercises.

Guess I should find some dinner!

[snowball]

Barbie that sounds like a good thing to do although I'm sure that it feels like a step backwards.. have you heard more from your realtor? you mentioned some one was interested that can actually work around the 9 month thing.
Anita hoping all works out with your brother it's scary when they mention the "C" word... what is wrong with the SlingShot? you put a lot of miles on it..
How long will you be on the day time shift Beth? Have you seen Linda yet? looks like she got a nice ride once she finds away up to get it...
trying to make a slouchy beanie with a regular type of yarn where as the other was way to chunky and was too big I'm not sure if this is working out either... even though I made it bigger it doesn't look that big so think it's also the yarn just not sure what I will do about it perhaps take it to the yarn shop and get some ideas... maybe a couple of skeins of the right weight and the right size of hook and work on that and see what to do to adjust for the not right yarn... I bought this yarn cause I loved the color still do am hoping that some of the kids will like it and want it in an afghan unless I make too many beanies with it... went to pull out of a bin one with the wrapper on it so I could tell my dd what the color was of course I didn't want to take the box off of the bin so pulled up a corner of the bin and squeezed my hand in and out and created some of those bruises that "old" people get plus it's swollen but a weird type of swelling its under the skin and can feel it but not really see it and it hurts a bit if I touch it.... teaches me for being lazy
I think I could like those new sleep number beds the one that the head comes up a bit???
you all have a great day
sheila

[Acadianmom]

Just another hot day in Louisiana. Sue, I sure hope we have some cooler days by September 1. We might have a small chance of rain on Tuesday.

Yesterday, one of the toilets started running again. I had to rearrange things in the bathroom and unload the shelves over the toilet so I could move them. I spent several hours messing with the toilet off and on. I could get it to stop leaking but when I would go back it would be leaking again. Called the plumbers but they can't come until next week. Hopefully they will come on Monday. Good thing I have 2 bathrooms.

Anita, sounds like you have a good relationship with your brother. Hope he can get an appointment soon and they can help him.

I get scam emails all the time. Most are about my Amazon Prime account that I don't have. Or about a package delivery. I don't know if it does any good but I report them.

Yesterday and today I have gotten several calls on the house phone where no number comes up on the caller ID. I don't answer them so don't know who the calls are from. I'm sure it's just more scams.

Karen, glad you had a good trip. I like to go somewhere but I'm alway happy to turn onto the road to my house. I don't think I could full-time because I like to have a place to go home to.

Barbie, glad you have Great Clips to fall back on. Hopefully they will treat you better this time. It's a shame they won't let you have one of the cushioned mats to stand on.

Catherine, you would have a lot of chances to practice your French conversations here. My husband spoke cajun french but he could talk to people from France. There was a horse trainer from here that would go to France a few months every year to teach people how to ride cutting horses and help them with their horses. There would be people from France coming here often.

Judy, I have had my current motorhome for 5 years and have never opened the awning. I don't know how to open it. If I really wanted to learn how to open it I could have gotten help at the owner's club rally. I figure that's just another thing I could have problems with.

I would like to know if I could call Canada on my ATT cell phone but not bad enough to call them. I hate to have to call ATT or Directv and now they are owned by the company. You get the same lack of service from both of them.

The convenience store about 3 miles from my house has been selling lunches for a few months and today I picked one up for the first time. They had shrimp and egg stew, corn and a piece of fried catfish. I think it was a little expensive at $12 but I got 2 meals out of it. They have BBQ on Sunday so will have to try that sometime.

I talked to Eddie about finding someone to rebuild the walk way down to the back yard. I was going to just tear it down but I'm having problems with my knees and it's hard to walk down the grass sometimes. He brought the utility trailer to the shop for me before I have a wheel fall off. The rims were in such bad shape I don't think we could have changed a tire if I had a flat.

Don't know what I'll do tomorrow. I get tired of staying home everyday but don't really need anything. If it wasn't a major traffic jam I could go to the farmers market they have every Saturday in Lafayette. They put up parking meters at the park where it's held and parking is $10. I refuse to pay $10 to go to a farmers market and you probably have to use a debit or credit card to pay. There is probably more junk than produce.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

Didn't do much today other than some reading. And made brownies tonight. Now I have a tummy ache .

I start back at GCs a week from tomorrow. Will have to get my equipment together to make sure I have everything I need. I got rid of a lot of stuff a few weeks ago when I consolidated all my hair cutting stuff.

Martha, the manager who got in a fight with the other stylist is the one who got fired last week. I think the gals that work there are all new since I left other than the one who is filling in as a manager for now from another shop. I know her from before and she is nice. And they had just put in floor mats under the chairs before I left, so that will help some. I figured out today that I can't work more than 20 hours per week, or I will make more than the amount I am allowed to make while collecting Social Security. I should be at around 18 hours so that will work.

I never used the awning on my travel trailer either. It was complicated. When I was in Keystone SD, me and Linda tried to open it but it wouldn't come down all the way. When we put it back up, it went up crooked and we couldn't get it straightened out so we just left it rolled up that way and I never tried it again. I told the gal who bought it that it didn't work right. I don't think the little travel trailer I had after that, even had an awning. If it did, I didn't think to try it. It would be nice to have an electric one.

No news from my agent. He was checking into a house tour for brokers but I guess they don't do those anymore since Covid. Haven't heard about the lady who was interested in my place. I will ask him tomorrow.

I caught myself shopping online for things to decorate the RV, and then reminded myself I don't have an RV yet. I did get a great idea from a YouTube video where the guy used a folding drink holder (made for boats and RV's) that attaches to a wall, for holding a plant in a small container. (I know...I have too much time on my hands! ).

Cats are both giving me the stink-eye because their dishes are empty. I have a new bag of food to open for their dinner tonight but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I was watching a video of the terrible fires in Maui today and then remembered I have a friend who lives there! She is the lady I rented a room from when I lived in Chandler, AZ. She moved to Maui about 6 months ago. I saw a message on her FB page tonight from her daughter, that she is safe and staying with a friend away from that area, so that is a relief. So many have already died and many more are missing. Such a terrible tragedy and so unexpected for that area!

It is midnight, so time to get to bed!