Last Day of Meteorological Summer

[Colliemom]

Good Morning. 57° here at the 45th as we approach the first day of Meteorological fall tomorrow. Going to feel like it according to NWS. Windyand chilly 60’s at the most. Time to start putting away the summer stuff and get out the fall decorations.

My company had to cancel out as they lost power again yesterday and still wasn’t back when we talked last night. They don’t want to leave home and I don’t blame them. Second tine this week. First was storm related and this one who knows. But there was a lot of power lines damaged in the storms Tuesday down there, so probably all Interrelated. Will try to come up later before cold weather sets in. The whole thing was kind of iffy from the start, when thry had the first power outage. I haven’t started anything here as far as bakinfg or thawing stew meat anyway, so no big deal in this end.

And, as to the saga of the AC, I gave it away. Wasn’t in mood to mess with it and if I had to have somebody come out, would have cost about half the price of a new one just for service call. So advertised it on our local community FB page and a nice gentleman picked it up this morning already. Turns out he’s a master plumber, but said it could be in the evaporator system, so I wouldn’t have been able to do anything anyway. AC season is over anyway. We can still have a hot day here and there, but not long enough to bother with dragging out AC. More likely be turning on the heat.

Judy, here’s latest on Jasper. Looking at all the pictures, the fact the residents aren’t really back and considerable fire damage in the park, I think you should just forget going up there. Some campgrounds are destroyed or damaged as are a lot of businesses. They are suggesting that visitors wait for another time to visit. https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/ab/jasper ... t-wildfire
For those of us who have been there, these pictures are a sad sight to look through. Now looks like at least half the town has either been damaged or destroyed.

Anne, love that house and I really think OR would be a great place for you to relocate. Even if not that place, some other one. Keep in mind, as we get older, big house and yard require more work and how much space does one really need. But yes, go take a look and snoop around a bit. You don’t have anything pressing to do except stay inside cause it’s too hot. Joe would love a change of scenery and a chance to get out where he doesn’t have to deal with hot ground under his paws O’Sharon, I hear ya on dirt wet roads. One of the ones we walk on is dirt and I try to avoid it after heavy rain. Being Sandy though, it soaks in pretty quick, so we can walk it usually, just avoiding the puddles. In the spring it’s a muddy mess till the frost is out of the ground completely. That’s when we stay off.

So, since my weekend is free, guess I will go blow the fallen dried leaves and acorns off the POA walkng/bike path and then thinking I might run up to Menards and get the edging blocks for around my flowerbed at the flagpole. Dug it up the other day, now want to move some of the flowers around a bit and add more for next year. Give them a chance to get their roots down in before their long winters nap. So, with that, I will bid you goodbye and have a great day.

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning Sue. Sorry your company had to cancel but I wouldnt leave either with power outages. I am so glad I bought my little portable generator. Have only had to use it a few times and not for very long but it is comforting to know I have it and can make coffee and cook if needed. I have lots of little electric appliances LOL too many actually.

Threw a load of laundry in this morning, had a BLT for breakfast and getting ready to hop in the shower. Need to tidy up my kitchen and dining area but nothing else pressing on my agenda this morning. Laura will be down this way camping this afternoon for a couple of days so I am sure we can find something to do. Was 61 this morning and will be 93 this afternoon. Tomorrow 54/86 perfect!!!! I am still wondering where August went. Time to pay my rent again sheesh
Hope I remember to say Rabbits (I am hit or miss with it). Also time for Heartworm and Bravecto.

Beth when I was working I also had 2 phones from 2 different carriers as I had to be on call sometimes so service was a necessity. Now I only have one carrier, Spectrum that uses Verizon towers. Verizon is the closest tower to me so wanted one that was close. I actually am pleased with Spectrum I get good signals almost everywhere I go. So far I only pay $29 month and if they jack up the price I will go with someone else as my phone is paid for so it is "unlocked". I can port my number anywhere. I started watching In Plain Sight that you recommended. So far I like it. Easy watching for sure. I watched another series that was easy watching "Silk Stockings" and I liked it too. Some days you just dont want to have to watch a tense involved show. If I watch one of those I have to pay attention as you can easily get lost.

Okay well enough chatter, time for a second cup of coffe then get busy.

[Bethers]

Amazing that we're about to enter September. Thanks for reminding me that I put a load of laundry in. I need to go hang it out to dry! If anything exciting happens, I'll be back lol

[Cudedog]

Anne, love that house and I really think OR would be a great place for you to relocate. Even if not that place, some other one. Keep in mind, as we get older, big house and yard require more work and how much space does one really need. But yes, go take a look and snoop around a bit. You don’t have anything pressing to do except stay inside cause it’s too hot. Joe would love a change of scenery and a chance to get out where he doesn’t have to deal with hot ground under his paws

Hey! Sue! More most excellent advice!! Especially the part about not needing the extra work required by a larger house and yard - too true!

As it turns out, I won't be rushing up to see "The House" anytime soon. Here is a brief excerpt I'll repeat here that I posted on your "Last Friday of August" thread:

Well. . . things - particularly real estate listings - online often aren't as good as they look in the photos! Did a bit more researching about "The House" last night (isn't what a person can find out on the internet grand? LOL!) and found out that right next door to this house (and, apparently, in full view of the house, although the photos don't show it!) is a 47-year-old double-wide mobile home (built in 1977) that looks to be completely and thoroughly trashed, both inside and out.

From the looks of it, and the general condition of the property and outbuildings surrounding it (including tall weeds, dry grass, etc.), I'm guessing that "squatters" probably recently lived there. I'm looking at the photos and thinking rodents and insects, and just Ew.

Both "The House" and the next-door trash pile have been for sale for several months, with no takers. No fool in their right mind would buy a trash pile - or a premium-priced home located right next door to a trash pile.

But. . . I'm gonna keep looking. I have researched this specific area for some years, have visited a few times, and I think it would work for me. So for this summer - since early June - I have only been able to go for a walk less than half a dozen times. Real estate taxes are lower there, no state income tax, Social Security benefits are not taxed, electric rate is .12 cents per kwh, here it is .48 cents per kwh. The list to like goes on!

Photos of the neighbor property are below.

Hey, Sue and everyone - thanks for reading, and thanks for the encouragement!!

Anne

Here are photos of the next door property:

[Acadianmom]

It looks like we will have another cool day since it's overcast again. I looked on the radar for the rain and it looks like it's all in North Louisiana. It did rain a forth of an inch overnight.

Annie, my thoughts about the house you were talking about was that it is high off the ground and near a river. I would wonder if they ever have flooding. I always think about flooding because that's what I have to deal with. Now it's just the farm not my house. There are so many subdivisions going up around Lafayette that I wonder who they are selling the houses to. The ones that have brick houses only have brick on 3 sides and siding on the back. I wonder what else they are cutting corners on. There are a couple of places that the houses look like they would be lower priced because they are all siding. I'll have to remember the name of the development so I can look up the price. I guess at some point I will have to give up living in the country but not looking forward to that.

My lights went off for a second this morning, just long enough to have to reset things.

The local fish plant is ripe this morning. I can't smell it all the time but the wind is coming this way today. I am on a Facebook page for the parish and sometimes people ask what that smell is in town. lol The plant has a boat that hauls the water that comes in with the fish offshore. EPA rules, they can't put it in the river. That's what really smells, when they are loading the water boat.

I put a load of towels in the washer and got distracted so never started the washer. I really do not like my washer. There are only two water levels. One just barely covers the clothes or I can select Max Fill that fills the washer. Nothing in-between.

I thought about going to Walmart to get a new computer mouse but it's working this morning. Last night it would freeze up so don't know if it was the mouse, the computer or the internet causing it.

Martha

[Redetotry]

It finally a cool down here but with the cool down came humidity but it does beat the high nineties. I can't imagine what our gas/electric bill will be as it was $300. last month. Anne when I saw the house you posted I though it looked rather large for one person. Also as you get older you will not want all those steps! But the heat where you are at would make me be searching madly for a cooler place to live. Sue, sorry your weekend didn't work out as planned but I understand why they had to cancel. Karen I hope you and Laura will have a fun weekend. We have no plans but on Sundays our friend brings his 7 year old daughter to visit. They went to the fair one one day this week and her first stop was the tent of the political party of her choice where she had a discussion with the ladies. I would have loved to have heard that! When they got to the rides which was quite a way from where they parked, she asked one of the fairground workers who was spraying water to keep the dust down if he would 'water' her. He complied and when soaked and much cooler she was ready for all the rides.
Martha you got in just ahead of me. I've had computer parts suddenly 'heal' and it always makes me wonder what happen. Mine mouse will sometimes copy and paste perfectly and and other times I have to give it a whack.
The deer were out and about when i came home yesterday afternoon. They live in the backyard of the house across the street. The people just moved there from Southern Ca so I hope they are happy about having guests. I notice they are leaving the gate open so maybe they were told to expect them.

[Cudedog]

Annie, my thoughts about the house you were talking about was that it is high off the ground and near a river. I would wonder if they ever have flooding. I always think about flooding because that's what I have to deal with.

Martha

Good points, Martha. Thanks!

After reading your post, I did go and look up the online FEMA flood maps (thanks for making me think of this!). I don't know if these maps are available in other parts of the country, but they are available for many places here. Most people don't think of the West as having a lot of rivers - but the West Coast has a ton of them.

I am actually pretty cognizant of flooding danger. I actually think about it a lot. My current home is about a mile or so from the Feather River (with levees), about 25 miles or so downstream from Oroville Dam (Oroville Dam is a dam on the Feather River).

In 2017, when it was thought that the dam might let go (the lower part of the dam's spillway had totally washed away) my whole small city - including myself - was under a mandatory evacuation order for about four days, until things settled down a bit.

It was pretty scary.

Anyway, I looked at the FEMA maps for the Oregon area I am interested in, and it is rated at "minimal" flood risk. I did also misspeak here a bit - the water view behind the house is actually of a dammed (LOL - not damned!) river, with the dam a few miles downstream of the property. Technically, that would make the water view a long, narrow, lake. The dam would probably need to be near overtopping in order for the water to back up enough to bring floodwaters at all near to the house - and if the dam was overtopped, the dam would probably not last too long.

NOT saying that it couldn't happen - heck, if it rains hard enough, long enough then all bets are off - but the risk at that property is considered minimal.

Thanks, Martha!

Anne

[Cudedog]

Anne when I saw the house you posted I though it looked rather large for one person. Also as you get older you will not want all those steps! But the heat where you are at would make me be searching madly for a cooler place to live.

Oh, BJ, loved the photo of the deer in your yard! And the story of your young friend getting a "cool down". Years ago I was out walking my dog on a warm summer evening, and there was a young person out watering their yard with a hose. I begged for a hose down - the young person looked at the Old Bag that is me, and gave me a look as though they thought I had lost my mind.

After further pleading, the young person gave me a very reluctant squirt - looking all the while afraid I might start yelling at them. LOL. It was pure heaven to be cooled like that, I laughed and gave them profuse thanks.

And. . . yeah, you are right about the size of the house. It probably really is too large for two people, that is me and my sweet boy Joe.

Yeah on the steps, too, dang it.

And also a very big YEAH on the heat and searching - yes, madly! - for a cooler place to live: it's just now topping out at a toasty 107*, at 5:05 p.m. here at the very tail-end of August. Ugh.

Would absolutely love to go for a nice walk right now - but its just not going to happen. On top of everything, I am heat sensitive (!) - if I tried to do it anyway, good chance I would pass out on the sidewalk somewhere.

And so the search continues!!

Thanks again, BJ.

Anne

[JudyJB]

I did get an email from ParksCanada yesterday telling me that the entire Jasper National Park is closed until March, so I spent quite a bit of time yesterday thinking about reroutes. It will partly depend on whether my friend from the Bronx will be joining me at Lake Louise and Banff because I will have to take her back to the airport in Calgary. If she does not come, I might just drop down to the U.S. Glacier National Park for a few days.

Took a long boat ride today down Waterton Lake to the U.S. bottom of the lake and the ranger station there. We did not need passports because the only way you can get there is via boat or hiking in. Saw two older men who had hiked in with their adult sons--had walked 6 miles so far today and had 3 to go. They had their socks off and you could see the bandages on their feet, so I think I will stick to driving!

Off to "Face Smashed In" buffalo jump tomorrow! Got a lot of photos of boat ride to post on blog tonight.

[BarbaraRose]

Been quite a day! I decided I was going to go the southern route back home thru Yuma, AZ on the I-8, and stay in Yuma over night to break up the long drive. I headed out around 10 this morning, making a few stops along the way. I stopped in Gila Bend to get a snack before heading to Yuma. About a mile down the I-8, I got a "battery" light on my dash. I pulled over and then everything in the car went dead!
I called Good Sam and they said it could be an hour or more before they could get someone there. I told her I could be dead from the heat by then! So I called 911 to see if I could get an officer to bring me back to town to someplace air-conditioned. Well, he got delayed due to an accident in town. After over a half hour of sitting half in and half out of my car (for the slight breeze), he showed up. He had a very small car (not a police car) so I couldn't take much with me. I wasn't feeling very good by that time so he took me to the fire station to get checked out (this is a very small town!). They checked me all over and got me cooled down some. Vitals were pretty good. It was everything I could do to keep an anxiety attack at bay. Then they called around town to see if they could find a motel room for me. Most were full due to the holiday weekend (why would anyone want to go to Gila Bend for a holiday weekend???). They found small motel that had one room left so they took me there. I got checked in and called Good Sam back. They still had not found a tow service yet. I was getting worried about my car being on the highway after dark with no lights working. I called the highway patrol and explained my situation. The lady said she would inform the highway patrol that I am trying to get the car towed ASAP. She then gave me the names and numbers of 5 different towing companies in the area. I called one and they could go pick up the car right away. I called a local auto mechanic shop and they said they will be open tomorrow and could look at it for me. So I had the car towed there. I was very relieved to get that done!

This motel isn't the ritz by any means but seems to be clean. I paid for 2 nights here since it could take awhile to get my car fixed. If they don't have the parts they need to fix it, I could be here until Tuesday before it can get repaired. This is gonna be an expensive trip home! I hope I can get reimbursed by Good Sam for the towing charge since they didn't do their job very well.

So I don't have my suitcase with me but I do have my meds, laptop, phone and purse (and charging cords). There is a truck stop a couple blocks away so I will walk over there in the morning and pick up some water and food. I have a fridge and microwave in the room.

So that is my latest saga! I must be paying back some seriously bad karma lately!

[snowball]

thanks for the reminder about RABBITS!!! I might have forgotten...
Martha I'm pretty sure you did but just in case did you check the battery on your "mouse"
asked mom if she wanted to go for a drive over to dd#2's house I knew that 3 of my dd's would be there and one of my eldest dd's daughter's so got to see 3 of my daughter's and 3 of my grandkids... they were busy got there actually at a good time sil had to run and get more paint so there was a spot of time where we could visit a bit and not feel like we were taking them from their work... turns out granddaughter's husband (she is the one that got married in March I think) used to work as a painter at the university in Ogden Ut... so it was good that he was able to come up had some good ideas and of course could work quicker as well as being tall think over 6ft... height always helps... and that house has some tall ceilings ... figured with being out that mom perhaps could use a bit stronger pain pill so instead of giving her two Tylenol at supper I gave her 1 Tramadol she has pretty much slept the night got up and went to the bathroom and changed into pj bottoms and back in the chair sleeping... last night she seemed to be on edge their is a better word for it but spelling and I don't get along too well...
Hoping Karen that you and Laura will have cool enough weather so you can get out and do something fun... did you hear about the plane that went down into a townhouse...3 are missing so sad think it was in Portland
if it wasn't for the cost of houses in this area I'd suggest here for looking at homes Anne but it's super expensive but it's cooling off at night not sure if it got as hot as it was predicted as we were in the car with the A/C on so didn't really feel the heat...
Judy that is too bad that the Jasper trip is off I've always wanted to see that area I've also wanted to see Glacier National Park .... haven't done so yet but hopefully it will happen.. so if you do drop down into the US it will be a really pretty area to do so.. from what I've heard...
Sue it doesn't seem possible that it's time to put out fall decorations...
Lyn what are you doing for a fridge... perhaps it would be quicker to just buy a new one... is the old one under warranty?
BJ what a cute family did you say they stay in the neighbors yard?? we get deer quite often so fun to see until they eat my plant then they get the evil eye but they still are cute...
Barbie are you back with the kitties??
you all have a great day
sheila

[IrishIroamed]

Hi ladies~~~
Forgot to check in last month but I know I said Rabbits then and again this morning.

Been hanging around Illinois all month. Lots accomplished. Multiple chiropractor appointments, doctor visit, couple of blood tests and EKG which didn't show any history of a heart episode. Couple of CT scans to get done. Guess I need to find a doctor and dentist in Arizona.

Poor Punkin had pretty much all of his teeth pulled also. He's always had bad teeth from when I adopted him, but it got to the point he knocked one out catching a tennis ball and then another fell out in Iowa. Poor guy. But he's OK. At least he had 2 canines, 1 molar and 4 small lower teeth between the canines so his tongue isn't flopping out. He's living the new stuff food tho.

Also finally got rid of the metal steamer trunk that great-gram brought her trousseau in from Italy. None of the family wanted it sadly, but step-brother took it. A bit of family history for him too since is grand father refinished it in the early 70s. Storage locker is closed! woohoo!

And went to family wedding at a venue. Kind of nice not having to travel between a church and restaurant, but never talked to the bride (cousins daughter). They disappeared during cocktail hour and it wasn't for pictures since the rest of the bridal party was there. Plus they were there 2 hours before the ceremony for pictures. Guess I' m just old. Would have been nice for a receiving line or if they walked around the tables.

Hitting the road on Tuesday heading back to Texas for yearly stuff, via IN, AR, MO and then west.

Alice did check the house for me. No leaks during rains after the repairs. Good news! Bad news is one of the saguaros on my lot broke in half. Will have to deal with that when I return.

I have been reading. Sorry I can't remember everything except Barbies saga. Boy girl you've been through alot!

[SoCalGalcas]

Just a short note to say I said “rabbits “ this morning. The refrigerator is not very old Still has thrcwarrenty. It will get us a new refrigerator otherwise we would have bought a new one already. Gads Barbie, what next!?!?
Lyn