Last Thursday of September

[Colliemom]

Good Morning. 46° here at the 45th. 70’s forecasted for next few days, before a big cool down later next week. Fall is definitely here, but peak color a ways off yet. Pine needles coming down good now and some trees dropping leaves. Will be out cleaning up around the yard a bit this morning and tomorrow. Taking to dogs over to holistic vet for some chiropractic adjustments this afternoon. Molly has been limping on one paw, so time for checkup. So won’t get into much this morning other than cleaning leaves/pine needles off deck and walks. Maybe a little in yard with tractor. Takes things a while to dry out in the mornings now from overnight dews.

Watching the track of the hurricane and it looks like a big hook westward after it get inland. Wonder if it will turn back toward the gulf again. Crazy.

Karen, May as well enjoy your down time watching the electrical progress. From the sounds of it, you will be plenty busy afterwards Barbie, hopefully it will just be battery issue. Judy, glad you got some things fixed. Sorry about HW tank. Like houses, they only last so long.

Gutter guy came out yesterday, took some pictures and measurements, will let me know what day they can come next week to finish that part of the project. Also waiting for call back from mobile service guy to come service my lawn tractor. Time for its yearly oil/filter/air filter etc. change, grease etc. Usually do it myself, but decided to have it done this year. Always something to wait on. No big deal though.

[OregonLuvr]

Morning Sue I am up early enjoying my peace and quiet. It has been a busy week of doing not much on my end. Can't really do any cleaning but will definitely have lots to clean up. I did dust in the living room as we are done in there. Already vacuumed but now tracking insulation and dust from the family room, so might give it a good vacuum and then shampoo the rugs in the living room and family room when we are all done. They have been real good about covering everything but somehow the dust still gets on everything. Oh well spring cleaning will just come a tad early this year I think ha ha

I too have been watching the hurricane news. Sounds like it is going to give a wallup to the Big Bend area tho. My friend lived in Pensacola several years ago and she always wanted me to come visit...........oh heck NO. Now she lives in NM and informed me that there are no hurricanes there ha ha hint hint.

Our weather is definitely fallish and I do love it especially after our HOT day Tuesday. Dropped almost 25° in a day WOW Big news is we got 0.01 inch of rain yesterday ha ha Big Whoop

will definitely be sending good thoughts to our eastern friends

[Irmi]

Good morning Sue, Karen and all!

Sue, it's okay to give yourself a break and let someone service your lawn tractor. Karen, I remember the dust when we were having our home remodeled. But it'll be so worth it once the work is done.

Although the hurricane hasn't hit here yet, the gulf coast near Tampa and Crystal River are already flooding, but that's from the storm surge and it's only going to get much worse. The rain and winds just started here and we're watching/listening to the news which will be on until noontime. The hurricane will be passing by our area today sometime between 3:00 PM - 10:00 tonight. Now the rain is pouring. I'll check in tomorrow to let you know how things went.
;

[Redetotry]

Good Morning All, We have been having a little much needed rain but definitely not enough. Last nights weather though said rain from the storm in FL was supposed to come into this area. Wish we could divide it equally along the way. At least temps are in the 70's and pleasant. I slept well last night after finally getting to bed...I knocked over my thermos of water that I always place beside my bed an it went everywhere! What a mess, took me a long time to clean it up as there was a basket under the table it was sitting on full of a collection of old tools and photos. Pippa has a grooming appointment today but outside of that nothing planned. Karen I feel the same about Florida, I visited a friend there once and that was enough for me. I love the coast of Northern CA and WA but for some reason the Fl coast seemed very different.
I was just thinking after reading Sue and Karen's post that if I could beam them here for a couple of days they could totally complete my to do list!

Irmi I just read your post I hope you will be safe! I have friends in Ft Myers and Sarasota so thinking of them. The one in Sarasota is unconcerned because they don't live in a flood plane but I would think the wind would be of concern.

[JudyJB]

BJ, when I used to stay at my son's house in Ohio, I always used to keep a glass of ice water next to my bed, but somehow it would get knocked over in the middle of the night. I thought it was me until I found out that the cat was drinking from it during the night because she liked really cold water, and SHE was tipping it over. After that, I kept water beside the bed in a bottle or plastic glass with a cover!! No more tip overs!

Got to get vacuum out today. I started to move stuff and clean a couple of things I keep by my bed, and could not believe how dusty it was back there. Also need to vacuum the sliding cover on my over-front-bunk sun roof because it is horribly dusty. I almost never use it, but I figure the TV installer will need to the light up there tomorrow. (Barbie, my 40" TV cost only $149 at Best Buy.)

Got to leave tomorrow to stay two nights in Connell, WA, to do some laundry, and then on my way to two weeks at LePage park along the Columbia River near the Dalles. Also have to stop at a Chase Bank and deposit a check into my account. Hope it is not too hot down on the Columbia!!

[Bethers]

I'm hoping everyone in Florida stays safe.

I spent the morning doing laundry from my trip and putting lots away, saving some things out I'll be taking to Texas.

I started the car first thing this morning and the ac worked! Same this afternoon. I ran a few errands ending with a stop at the shop to ask what they think. He has a first idea, but says there are two or three other possible causes and he doesn't want to fix the wrong thing then I'm back again. So he wants me to take a drive tomorrow. He wants me back when it happens again. So I'm deciding whether to drive to Tucson or Sierra Vista tomorrow. Now I'll be hoping it happens again. If early, I just turn around. I hate that I'm hoping to have it happen. Lol

Judy, I just laughed out loud about the cat drinking and spilling your water. And we always talk about the prices going up, but lots of things are way less expensive, like tv's. And I think my first microwave was around $400.

[cnq50b]

Hi all,
Hope everyone in the path of Helene is safe.
Beth, totally understand how you want the a/c to act up while you've got someone available to look at it. Hope it's inexpensive if they can isolate the problem.
Judy, two weeks along the Columbia river sounds lovely - even if I only drove across it once a few years ago.
Interesting about PayPal - I've used it for years without problems but will keep a closer eye on it. I do believe if they recognize the computer you log in on, they don't require 2-factor authentication each time. More & more sites are doing that now.

I'm finally getting to experience retirement without frequent kid-duty. I miss my little people but enjoy the freedom. This week I get to again help out with overlapping soccer practices & games while my son is at an out-of-town conference.. Told him that I may need to file for visitation rights if I don't see my grands regularly. It's tough going cold-turkey. I definitely need to get a hobby!

Well, guess I'll take Sadie for yet, another walk.

Stay safe out there.
Catherine

[Acadianmom]

It only got up to 88 today with a breeze so very nice. It looks like the hurricane is making landfall now. If it doesn't go over where Liz lives it will be very close. Hope her house doesn't get damaged again.

Yesterday I was digging in the freezer and found a package of Italian Chicken Sausage. Today I decided to use it to make spaghetti sauce. I was messing with that most of the day and put it in single containers and in the freezer. I had some for lunch and it was good. I cooked a pound of hot breakfast sausage to put in the freezer. I use it to put on pizza and other things. Then I made butter with a cup of whipping cream before it goes bad.

I got a text on my phone at 1:19 this afternoon that the Waggle pet monitor in the motorhome lost power. I don't carry my phone around so didn't notice it until late this afternoon. When I went to check on it it was gone. Someone stole it out of the motorhome. The motorhome is parked behind the old house next door. There is a driveway on the other side that goes to the barn so someone could drive up there and I wouldn't see them. I haven't reported it stolen yet, I want to see if someone tries to turn it on. They can't use it because it uses a Verizon cell signal and is tied to my phone. Most of the time the motorhome isn't locked and I didn't see anything else missing. I took the key out of the lawn mower and moved the golf cart up on the carport in front of the house. This is the first time I have had any problems here.

Beth hope you can get your air conditioner figured out before you head to Texas.

Martha

[JudyJB]

Related to PayPal is something I learned this summer about bank accounts. Since 1934, our bank accounts are insured for $250,000, but this means the total of accounts in a specific bank. In other words, if you are lucky to have $200,000 in Bank A in a savings account and at that same bank have a CD for $100,000 and a checking account containing $10,000, you are NOT insured for the total!!! If the bank were to fail, you would only get $250,000 back, not $360,000 back.

Very few of us regularly have such large amounts, but if you have sold a house or are the executor of an estate as I am, and are temporarily putting a large amount of funds in a single bank, know that only $250,000 of it is insured by the FDIC. So, you probably would want to break the money up and put it into two or three different banks!!

Also, the bank people who helped me set up a special estate account for my aunt's money, only a small amount of which I will end up with, told me that it is a LOT safer to put money into a savings account than a checking account because it is harder to steal, partly because a lot of people might know your checking account number, but few would know your savings account number.

When the FDIC insurance was set up in 1934, very very few people had $250,000 in the bank, but with things like houses costing so much, this is not an unusual thing anymore. It's also unlikely a major bank will fail, but it is a consideration, and a bit scary to handle a lot of other people's money when you are an executor, as I am.

I'll be really glad when I can disburse that money and be done with the responsibility!!

[JudyJB]

Been wondering about Carol and Bill because they had not posted on their blog for a while, but I just checked it, and she has posted again!!

[BarbaraRose]

Hurricane Helene is a Cat 4 today with dangerous winds and a record high storm surge along the gulf coast of FL. My friend Cathy who just moved inland from Crystal River a few months ago, said that the storm surge in Crystal River could be up to 18 ft! That would cover the whole town up into the second story of homes and businesses there! I hope LIz and Nan have headed for safety and don't have too much damage to come back to.

My car ended up just needing a new battery. That is the 3rd battery I have had to buy in the past month! The two others were for the RV. I will pick up the car in the morning. I hope that is the end of the repairs for a long while!!

I got everything packed up in the house now, except for the very last few things I still need until I leave on Tuesday. Still have a few things from the shed to go thru and then that will be done. Then will spend the weekend cleaning inside and out. I wish it wasn't gonna be so dang hot tho! Would be nice to be able to open the windows and get some fresh air in here.

Then tonight I was eating dinner and something in my mouth didn't feel right. Turns out I broke off a piece of tooth around a large filling. There are two sharp points on the filling that need to be filed down if possible so they don't cut my tongue. Will see if I can get in to see a dentist tomorrow to do that, until I can find a new dentist in Tucson. Luckily, that tooth doesn't hurt at all.

I called a lady this morning I had talked to several months ago about getting ACA health insurance in Arizona. She got me on a good plan there that, because of my income, will be free. That fits into my budget nicely! That will start October 1st. Just need to find a doctor as soon as I get out there and get an appointment as soon as possible, which I know could be a month or more .

The cats are confused about all the activity around here lately. Romeow has gotten so sweet and affectionate since I came back from my last trip to Tucson.He even lays in my lap now. I think he really missed me and was probably afraid I wasn't coming back. It is nice to feel loved by my cats!

Speaking of PayPal, I got an email this morning about a large amount that they wanted me to verify. Something didn't look right, so I went to my PayPal account to check it and didn't see anything on there. I called the customer service number from the website and they also said there was nothing like that coming thru and that it was a phishing scam. Glad I checked! It really looked legit except for a couple little things that didn't seem right.

I need to get to sleep here. Another busy day tomorrow.