THE EVENING IDA STOPPED NEW YORK - PLANNING AHEAD OF TIME WHAT TO DO IN EMERGENCIES

 Late again in posting – then again, this week was sort of a repeat of last week.

Well, remember last week that problem we had in the basement from Henri passing by?  We were lucky  - within 3 days the carpet on the floor that had been wet was dry.  We kept the dehumidifier set to a very low level all week making sure that the basement stayed dry.

This week “the remnants” of Hurricane Ida were to “pass by”.  This is not unusual around here for the leftover rain from a hurricane down south to pass through – normally a bit of rain, no big deal.

Early on in showing the route of these remnants it was obvious it was coming here and that it was going to be a large storm coming through.  As we got closer and closer to the storm being here we were warned and warned about this would be a major storm.  

I did our laundry on Tuesday night instead of on Wednesday and Thursday - just in case, I wanted to make sure we had  as much clean clothing as possible.

As we had the news on the TV on Wednesday we saw major flooding in Pennsylvania – 2 states away.  I heard that the area there, Lancaster County, that we often travel was being hit terribly bad – showing flooded roads and hearing of flooding in areas we know.  The campground we stay in Lancaster is adjacent to a creek – we hate to think what it must look like and how damage may have been done as the creek probably ran over its banks – for the second time since we started staying there 20 years ago. 

The storm came closer.  As I heard about what might be happened here I started looking up online – What does one do if a flash flood comes – go upstairs in the house  - yeah, that was I figured.  A lot of rain here (though not this much) is not that uncommon here, but flash floods not common.  Tornadoes, on the other hand – DO NOT HAPPEN HERE!  We were put on notice that there might tornadoes with this storm as it passed through.  Looked up online what does one do if a tornado is passing through – go in the basement – hmm, sort of figured that, so I was right.  BUT – what if a tornado and a flash flood pass through at the same time??????  Stay in the middle of the house and pray?  We have a small half bathroom on the lower floor of the house which has no windows and is surrounded on all 4 sides by other rooms and I have always figured it to be the safest place if a hurricane was coming (hurricanes not the most common thing, but do pass through here as you can probably tell) – would that do?  High enough to avoid the first 8 feet or so of flood and fairly low down?  No idea and thank goodness we did not have to figure it out.  

For the first time since the system was started – we received text alert messages that flash floods were in the area – looked out the front windows – looked okay to us, looked out the back windows – ditto, stayed where we were on the first floor.  We received 5 text messages about flash floods in the area over a 3 hour period.  

Luckily we did not receive any text alert message about a tornado in the immediate area – but there were several in the greater NYC/Long Island area.  

I had cooked dinner a bit earlier than usual – always best to face a disaster with a full stomach.  I am the sane, sensible one of the two of us – my husband is the one who panics.  My brain says “What are the chances this will happen?” and “What do we need to do to deal with it if does happen – taking into account the chances that it will?  

I was not going to start packing clothing and such to take with us.  What we would actually NEED if we had to run? Hmm, cash, prescription medications, keys, cell phones, our wallets with identification and credit cards and -  these days -  our Covid-19 vaccination cards and masks.  

Husband keeps his wallet in his pocket all the time.  I have mine down here in the kitchen on magnetic pocket on the refrigerator with the rest of the items I need when I walk out of the house.  

I have a smaller zippered purse that we have items we take when we go on trips that we don't normally need at home – including a third wallet with a credit card that I don't normally carry and a different one which husband does not normally carry (if one of our wallets was stolen, we could cancel all of the other credit cards and still have one to use).   Debit cards from banks we don't normally use – but do have money in accounts there.  Important to have – I went upstairs and got it.  I added into it the 2 credit cards (on one account) we keep upstairs and only use when have to order something and pay with a credit card.   

We have a plastic shopping bag we have been keeping in the kitchen – hangs on the door to our basement – which has items we need to take out with us these days due to Covid – masks, plastic zip bags to put the worn masks in, a handle husband made to open doors which one has to turn the handle to open while out so we don't have to actually touch the handle, his eyeglasses (these are unrelated to Covid – he happened to find out just before the pandemic started that he needs to wear his eyeglasses while driving and by keeping it in this bag we take when we go in the car, he has his eyeglasses and since it is in the kitchen, if he needs them while watching TV, etc he can easily get them, and small plastic bags (sandwich sized) to use to push doors open and similar without touching them.  The bag is from a different store than our other stored plastic shopping bags so it is obvious  to us what it is.  I added to this bag the zippered purse from upstairs and also added our main checkbook.  (I thought about grabbing our passports – but they both expired in the middle of the pandemic and no one would accept  them for any purpose due to same.)

I then took all the backup medications we have – we get 90 days at a time so these bottles currently hold 30-60 days worth of our meds – put them in a plastic zip loc bag and added them to the bag in the kitchen – which was now a bit too heavy so I put it in a large more sturdy shopping bag and back on the basement door knob.  

Hmmm, we don't keep a lot of cash in our wallets – cash is always something good to have in an emergency – credit card machine might not work, might need to buy something from someone who does not take credit cards, etc.  We keep cash for change for when we do an event with our craft business – grabbed the bag of cash ($100) and added that.  

I had decided to keep all of this in the kitchen with me.  Husband would soon be down here also and I could meet up with him outside if something did happen and he had to go out the front door and I had to go out the kitchen door.  I also grabbed our two rain jackets and hung them on the hooks in the kitchen.  

Not perfect as nothing else in the house is set up to be cared for, no spare clothing, but we could get by in an emergency.  

We ate dinner and were watching TV in the kitchen (where we normally do so in the evening) when the emergency warnings started – and mostly we were local news.  

Thank goodness as far as our area is concerned we were fine!  The rain came pouring down – we could hear it, but no flash flood in our area and no tornado.  

In NYC (at least) 15 people died – several of them due to the fact that they lived in a basement apartment (some legal, some not) and it flooded and they could not get out.  Roads were overrun with rain elsewhere in the NYC area to the point that vehicles had to be abandoned and people saved from them.  The commuter rail lines were stopped for hours.  The subway – well, there is footage of one subway station with a gigantic wave of water coming down the stairs – the subway also had to be stopped overnight and people who not get home spent the night in the stations.  Municipal buses could not run – in at least one case the bus driver who could not go anywhere was letting people into the bus just to stand on the seats (bus was filling up with water also) as it was safer than being out in the street.  There were at least 2 tornadoes in the general area.

Then the clean up began – vehicles which were abandoned on the road had to be moved to reopen the roads – and I am talking 3 lane, limited access roads in addition to more local roads.  People cleaning up around their homes and businesses. In one case a couple in their 80s actually slept though a tornado and a tree coming down through their roof to next to their bed – their poor son who lived in the house had trouble both getting in their room due to the tree and waking them up and thought that they were dead – luckily they were unharmed!

It will take some time for all to be cleared up.  We went out for lunch today – things seem to be okay.  Most areas managed to keep their electricity somehow and much of what was out has been (surprisingly based on other events in the past) restored by the local utility already.  We did not lose our electricity.  

We did get water in our basement for the second time in the 31 years we have been here (Henri being the first time).  We again vacuumed up the water with a wet dry vac and ran the dehumidifier, which is always on in hot weather any way, but we set it to a dryer setting so it is pulling more water out of the air and by this morning the carpet was dry.  

The area had more rain from the remnants of Ida than New Orleans had from the actual hurricane and worse wind than same.  

What I pulled out in case we had to run out of the house for safety is all put back where it belongs.  We are hoping we will not need to do any of this again – or at least not soon.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One does not know what will happen.  Do YOU have a plan of what to do if something like this happened in your area?  Do you know what you need to take and where to go?

By the way – what I think is terrible thinking – The New York Tennis Open has been on this week.  They did not call off the scheduled games the day this happened.  The storm hit here as people were leaving.  At least one of the areas of play was outside.  People left the Open by car and subway as the storm was starting so many people who had been there were caught in the mess on the subways, trains and roads.  With what was known to be coming, they should have canceled playing that day!

PREPARING TO DEAL WITH THE CORONA VIRUS IN AN ORGANIZED MANNER

I am not a medically trained person, but I have to talk about the corona virus as it related to being organized. So, do not take anything I say as medical advise, I am just talking doing things sensibly and what I have learned from life over the decades.

I tend not to panic quickly. My husband leans the other way. So I have been working very hard at not saying anything to get him started. But there are realities to the situation that must be dealt with.

I was suppose to go to NYC to a client this week to deliver her corporation taxes and help her mail them out, do her books, and calculate the amount of of sales and sales taxes owed on them for the year ending February 29 so I could go home and file her sales taxes online – as they have to be. I was not happy at the thought of going to Manhattan even before some cases of the corona virus came to the NYC metropolitan area – including in my home county, but I needed to go. My husband was in a panic of my going. I told him that I had figured I would wear a pair of disposable plastic gloves from my car, on the subway and walking until I was at the client and inside. I would then turn the gloves inside out as I took them off and throw them out. I would then put on a second pair – carried in my briefcase – to come back to my car and toss them out the same way when I got back to my car. He was still upset. I finally gave in and mailed the tax returns to the client after calling her and telling her I would do so. I also asked her for her February sales so I could prepare and file her sales tax return. I completed the corporation return and it was mailed to her this past Monday – due the end of the week on Friday. I then prepared and filed her sales tax return and told the state to debit her bank account (the only way to pay the sales taxes) on this coming Monday, so that on the off chance she did not have enough money in her bank account she would have time to get some money into the account. Today I telephoned her and she had just received the tax forms so I was able to help with the returns and I also told her how much to subtract from her checking account for the sales taxes. Breath a deep sign of relief. I was sure that the tax forms would go astray or she would have would have problems dealing with them alone. While I wanted to ignore the threat of the Corona Virus and go to work – I was realistic about it and made my husband feel better.

Last Sunday when we went to Costco and Bjs as we do for something to do on Sundays, they were no longer handing out samples at Costco for fear of the corona virus and large sections of the store – mostly paper goods - were empty. He had planned on buying more toilet paper despite our having at least half a huge package we bought a couple of months ago there and was starting to panic that they did not have same. The store was also limiting how much of certain items one could buy. We drove up the road to Bjs (a similar type of store) and were able to buy his package of toilet paper. They were not as sold out as Costco was. Apparently there have been major runs on toilet paper. When husband brought up buying more I mentioned that we had most of the package yet – but he insisted. Per a segment on a news show, apparently it is considered a comfort item that makes people feel better to have an excess of.

He has also been looking for hand sanitizer (We have two large, unopened bottles, plus a started one, the smaller bottles that we transfer it to for use, two very small bottles that we carry in our pockets (which normally do not have to constantly be refilled – but right now are refilled nightly), and, as I pointed out to him, whatever we have in the house of items like this – is also in our little RV.

Over the recent years we have become rather bad at food shopping. While I used to keep a list on our refrigerator of what I needed to buy, would check for sales & try to buy food items on sale, and would do regular shopping (Mondays for the week, Fridays to fill in any extra for the weekend) that has all slowly disappeared since husband is home with me all the time. We have gotten to the point that other than stocking up before storms, we basically eat lunch (at Wendys) and then go out to buy “something for dinner”. We have gotten to the point where we basically have 3 or 4 dinners we make, buy deli turkey once a week for dinner and eat out (or take in Chinese food) Friday through Sunday. So deciding what to buy and shopping for it without getting him into a panic was not easy.

I brought up the idea after dinner the night before - rather off hand “I guess we should have some extra food in the house just in case.” At lunch I brought up the subject again. As we left from lunch he asked where I wanted to go for the food – we food shop at Walmart Neighborhood Market, at different supermarkets, and at a regular Walmart (same are smaller here than elsewhere) which is next to a supermarket which by default is the one we normally shop at. At the same time that the corona virus is starting to spread – our state's law on stores not using the standard lightweight plastic bags went into effect on March 1. So people are panic shopping and learning to deal with bringing bags (or buying them at the store – although our county was not one of the ones requiring a fee per bag, stores are allowed to charge for the bags – and they do – better we should have a fee as it would be cheaper than stores are charging for the bags) at the same time.

I suggested we go to the Neighborhood Market first as we tend to buy items that do not need to be refrigerated there. It was like it had been announced that a 2 week long snow storm was coming. Shelves and refrigerated cases were empty. (Then again, this store over the past several months has not had full shelves – and cans are often dented and boxes look like they had been stepped on.) We bought what we could find. We were looking for the soups that husband has before dinner (½ can of either Campbells Chicken Noodle or Vegetable soups) or the heavier soups that he likes if we eat lunch home (Campbells Split Pea, or Progresso Lentil) We bought cereal (we have for late night snack) and some items as we could find them – the soup shelves were almost empty so we bought what we could and moved on. I did have enough bags in the store with us for the purchases. (I have been keeping the bags when we get them - and using them for other things - so we have years worth of plastic bags and before that I saved the paper bags. I am combining the contents bags that we use in the bathrooms and bedroom for garbage pails liners so 1- 2 bags are tossed out with the garbage of all 4 pails.) He has started panicking over having hand soup also and this Walmart did not have – any.

We drove to the supermarket and stopped in at the small Walmart next to it first to see if it had the common items – soup and hand soup – that the Neighborhood Market did not – neither did this store.

In the supermarket the “what should we buy to eat” started. I bought at least 2 weeks worth of the foods we actually eat. I had actually come up with 4 meals to be repeated and that would still leave us 6 meals short. We bought eggs – not something we ordinarily eat, but could be used for lunch or dinner or in one of the cake mixes we bought – if we end up stuck in, something to eat that we should not eat, if not – they will keep for holiday dinners. Made sure to buy enough diet soda to last. We bought a loaf of bread = I was actually surprised that they were not out. I knew I was low on some frozen vegetables and we bought some to fill in. (Good thing basement freezer is running again.) Bought some potatoes as I had stews on the list of things to cook.

So we have a good start – but going to the stores and seeing the shelves empty put him into panic mode. He is trying to over come same, but it not easy. We wrote up a new list and will go out tomorrow to buy some more items.

We renewed the only medications we take that were not recently renewed.

We don't plan on being stuck in the house - but if we are, we can go for at least two weeks now. We need to keep up filling what we use to keep the 2 weeks of food in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK – Prepare but don't panic. Government divisions in the most countries seem to be acting properly and making decisions as needed and telling people what to do without overdoing it and causing panic.

While instructions and information seem to vary, good common sense is your best friend.

In articles I have read about the world wide flu epidemic  in 1917 there were considerably less deaths in the US and other countries which shut down places that large numbers of people would be than those, such as England, which did not. So avoid crowded places as much as you can.

You know the rest – you have been hearing it on the TV and radio – wash your hands frequently and/or use hand sanitizer frequently. Apparently even just rubbing your hands together vigorously if nothing else is available will help.

We will get through this as people have gotten through epidemics back to the start of history. I hope that you and yours will get this as easily and with as few problems as possible.

GOOD GOD ANOTHER WEEK GONE ALREADY!

So, we took mom to the doctor again.  I called and made an appointment.  When asked what the appointment was for I told them Dr B told us mom had to have another scan of her leg and we needed for the scan to be done.  Dr B again not available for a month and I accepted an appointment with a nurse practitioner “W”.  I asked if Dr B would read the test and was told that W would do so.  Well, it has to be done so, okay.  The morning of the appointment I called the “wellness office” at the facility that mom is living at to see if what info they would need from or have for the doctor and got their direct line/fax number.  The woman was surprised that we were taking mom for the scan – they can do at it the facility.  I explained that we did not know that. 

Picked up mom to go to the doctor.  Drove there – we allowed an hour to pick her up and have a 15 minute drive.  I was prepared with a touch screen stylus this time so I could check mom in (I don't show up well on tablets or cell phones) – still had to do it all twice.  The place was quiet and not a madhouse as it had been last time and I started thinking that maybe we just picked up a bad impression based on the one visit.  We were called about 15 minutes after mom's appointment time – I consider that normal and much better than the hours late last time.  W (a nurse practitioner) came in.  She had mom's file on the computer in front of her – she asked the same questions as last time – back to the start of mom's life.  She tried to weigh mom – ummm, woman in wheelchair who can barely stand with walker – and she wanted mom to stand on scale which had nothing to hold onto.  Did not work.  Then she asked why we were there!!!  Huh, this was set up on the phone call and the purpose of our driving 45 minutes to get mom and bring her there…  I explained again about the scan.  “There is no request for a scan on her record.”  I told the entire story a second time.  “No, no scan requested and I don't do scans only X does and she is only in on Wednesdays and sometimes Saturday.”  My BP was rapidly rising.  Apparently Dr B had not many notes on our appointment – then again he had take a call and left us to leave on our own so maybe he never got back to same.  She entered into the computer that mom needs a scan and told us to make an appointment at the desk before we left.  Well, that was an improvement, last time no one told us to do that and made a mess of trying to make an appointment for her.  I stopped at the desk.  We explained and also explained that we needed a different type of cardiologist (yes, cardiologist for her legs) as her pacemaker was checked at her facility and needs to be replaced within 2 months.  They made an appointment for us with a different doctor whose office is at a local hospital.  (And with the craziness in this office I have called the office to make sure that they do the procedure needed and to confirm the appointment.)  We also made an appointment for mom to come back and have her legs scanned and then a separate appointment to have the doctor go over the test with us.  My sister and I agree that mom's scan should be done at the facility she lives at and sister will discuss with mom and set it up as Dr B is BIL's doctor and mom has decided that he is god and she has to have test with him.  At the end of the visit we got a print out with what had been done (nothing, but it does not say that), a list of her meds – that we gave them – and the upcoming appointments.  After we walked out I realized that we had not received any papers like this last time – probably because the doctor never did the paperwork so no scan, and no request for us to make an appointment.  Oh and the appointment with Dr B that would be a month wait when I called for same  - 2 weeks.  When I asked why the appointment was made with Wendy if she could not do the needed test and why same was not scheduled I was told that when one calls one gets a central booking office in Florida (about 8 or 9 states away from here) and they have no idea what they doing – great setup!  We are not sure if this setup is a Medicare scam or just the worst organized doctor's office we have seen.  Another day wasted.

We are to go tomorrow (Thursday) to take the RV to our dealer two states away about the battery problem – but more about this later.

Yesterday we had our car at the mechanic for an oil change and husband mentioned a funny feel when he brakes.  Car needs transmission work.  Husband was suppose to drive the car while I drive our RV so that after we dropped the RV off we could get home.  Now it cannot be driven that far.  Panic set in trying to figure out what to do.  Then I remembered – we have the van also.  The van has not been driven out of state at least since we have the RV if not before.  I asked the mechanics and they say that should be fine to drive the van that far. 

Today is the last day of the Jewish New Years holiday and the most significant/solemn holiday of the Jewish calendar.  We need the car Monday to take mom to the other doctor – she could not climb into the van.  What to do?  We had planned on husband calling today (as I am not suppose to be doing everyday things today) and making an appointment for the transmission work.   Our heads have been swimming and we have been going crazy for a week.  If we don't have the car Monday either someone else has to take mom or we have to change the appointment.  While we tried decide about making the appointment for the transmission work – husband had an idea that relaxed it all a bit.  We would call Friday for the transmission appointment on Friday, take mom to her doctor on Monday and then have the appointment after same so all would get done – hopefully. 

So this week – Monday was doctor for mom, Tuesday car was at mechanic, Wednesday was my holiday, and Thursday we are going out of state to drop off the RV.  Another week gone. 

When I got home after religious services tonight set up everything up in the van and the RV for the trip.  Two sets of directions (I REALLY don't need same, but he insisted), spare shoes – it is suppose to rain tomorrow and we hope we get ahead of the rain and miss it, but in case,  spare eyeglasses for me, walkie talkies (hopefully we will stay close enough together to talk back and forth – when we bought the RV and drove it home separately we were able to do so), emergency snacks for husband in case his blood sugar drops low, and so on and emergency stuff for him - like the snacks – have to be where he can grab them easily while driving.

Friday I will get to do everything I have not done all week (I hope). 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

It is the start of a new year.  It may not be a new year for you, but as I have mentioned in the past, every day is the start of a new year.  Please feel free to use this ancient start of year to start working on your organizing and decluttering – even cleaning. 

The craziness we have been going through started last year shortly after the Jewish New Year with husband's shoulder and arm going into terrible pain, luckily not the heart attack we feared – for what happened then -  http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2018/10/i-was-finally-catching-up-bit-and.html

We are hoping for a good new year and a change in how life is going for us.  I hope others have a good year ahead.

I'M LATE, I'M LATE - SORRY

Sorry I am late in posting.  Third time since I started posting this blog.  We have had a full couple of weeks - while still seemingly getting little done. 

My mom was ill a week ago Tuesday at 4 am and we had to run to the hospital with her.  Since we go to bed around 4 am - the call came just as we had gotten into bed - we were terribly tired while at the hospital.  My sister and her husband came and saved us and let us go home.  Husband had tried to sleep out in our car - lack of sleep always hits him harder than it does me - and as result of not being able to sleep reached the point where not only was sooooo exhausted, he was also in pain from trying to sleep in the car.  Basically that Tuesday was a gone day.  Wednesday was still off as we were so off physical schedule - but as you know, I did manage to get my post out on time.

On that Thursday, day before Good Friday and the start of Passover, we went to my mom’s house as she was worried about her mail - most of the afternoon gone.  We finished shopping for 2 holiday dinners and that evening I started cooking soup for us for Passover. 

Friday we ran some errands and then I made dinner for me; husband picked up a Chinese main dish - shrimp - as it was Good Friday.  I made vegetable soup for him and chicken for me - and added what I cooked on Thursday - matzoh balls to both soups.  After Passover dinner, I cooked a chicken for Easter dinner - Brunswick stew and put it in the fridge to keep.

Saturday and Sunday between all the normal things we do I worked on the newsletter for my embroidery chapter which had to be out on Wednesday. (Normally I write that Wednesday afternoon and then Wednesday night I write my post.) We also went to church Easter morning and I cooked the Brunswick stew with the previously cooked chicken. 

In the middle of all of this husband decided that we had to dewinterize one of our two fresh water tanks in the RV.  This consists of letting the water out of the tank, refilling it and adding bleach to the new water and letting it sit.  We then emptied and refilled the tank twice over the several days we worked on it. 

I was looking ahead to what I had to do in the coming week - impossible!!  Mostly I had 4 days - what is now yesterday (Thursday), today (Friday) and next Monday and Tuesday to: go to client in Manhattan, do her books & payroll taxes, take my mom to the doctor (on whichever day of the four doctor could see us), meet up with a member of our reenactment unit to get some government paperwork done at the agency involved, and prepare to give a talk at my embroidery meeting this coming Wednesday.  On Sunday I did the payroll tax form for my client (she took no salary this past quarter) and mailed it to her for her to sign and mail out when she comes back to work after being on a vacation so that it will be out timely even if I don’t get there timely.  I mailed it out to her on Monday.

Tuesday we drove to Pennsylvania.  The system in our RV which lets us pump out the “used” water was not working right last time we went away (end of August) and did not work at all at the start of November when we tried to winterize.  Husband made an appointment and the first date available was this past Wednesday.  But we had to be there at 8 am!  Two states away.  This should be a two to two and a half hour drive, but we never know what the traffic will do  - and we would be traveling (half asleep due to the very early hour and no or minimum sleep) during rush hour.  Husband started to panic.  The RV dealer said to us that we could drive down overnight and hook up electricity outside their building - which we have done in the past - but an entire night without a bathroom?!  I let it roll around in my head.  I came up with the idea of staying at a nearby RV park the night before - if we could find one.  Husband did find one and that is why we drove down on Tuesday for a Wednesday appointment.  We had to check in at 4 pm and left at 10:30 am to get there.  We got stuck on the same two roads in our state that we normally get stuck on.  Why do we go that way?  If we go the alternative ways either we are driving north a good distance to go south or we are driving through midtown Manhattan - something we avoid with a car, let alone an RV (and which would soon be a very expensive idea do to a new toll coming to drive in Manhattan).  So we have to go the way we go. 

We were finally past the delays here in New York and about to get onto the New Jersey Turnpike.   Easy to do - we have done it more than countless times.  We got off the road at the exit to the Turnpike and when we approached the toll booths - we were directed away from them to a side road - there was an 18 wheeler truck - cab and trailer - lying on its side blocking the booths.  Now we have to figure all this out.  I looked and we had been directed into an industrial park - and one we have been in several times as there is a venue for conventions and we have gone to quilt, woodworking, and toy train shows there. (Heck, I won a judges prize for a doll there.)  Relieved that I knew where we were - and there were lots of free parking lots with space to pull into - I suggested husband do the same.  He kept driving around as he could not figure out where to pull in and his two (yes, two) GPS devices were arguing over what we should do.  Now they are both trying to get us back to the entrance to the Turnpike, but husband has the idea in his head that one or the other will save us.  One of them is preprogrammed by him and if we miss a point on the map he entered will keep sending us back to that point until we drive through it.  Husband is going on and on about never getting “there” as we don’t know how to go to.  I point out to him that we know that one way to where we want to go is to get back on the road we were on and head west - just the longer way.  After about 15 minutes of him driving around I managed to get out a map - yes, a paper map - of the state and figure out how to get to the next entrance to the Turnpike on the streets.  I find a parallel major road - US1 - which will take us South to where we need to be and then we take a state road - Rte 18 across to the Turnpike and get back on.  Husband does not completely trust me on this.  I tell him to get back on the main road in the same direction we were going.  We end up getting back on it going back where we came from.  Between me and the two GPS devices he manages to turn around.  I get him off the road onto US1.  The GPS that needs to go through specific points continues to try to get us to turn around - he finally managed to get that one shut off.  The other one figures out that we are heading towards the next entrance and starts giving us directions to it.  He is now happy that he knows where we are going - even though the GPS is giving him the exact same route as I told him - and he did not trust!

I should explain that we have traveled to Pennsylvania or elsewhere beyond it at least 10 trips a year - for almost 45 years.  This is not driving in a totally strange area.  Even as we headed down US 1 towards Rte 18 as we got close I pointed out to him - “Look, that is the Wendys where we had lunch last year when we went to that quilt show.”  As we got closer -  “Look this is where we used to drive to get to that nice Japanese restaurant for dinner.” (After all the quilt, etc shows in the area.)  So I am comfortable with all this and know we will get to where we are headed.  He is still not so sure.  We find and get on the New Jersey Turnpike.  Strangely I cannot find any information about what happened to the truck and why it turned over.  There is nothing in the news for a turned over truck on that day - lots of others, but not even any in same month.

We continue on our trip.  While the area near the RV dealer is a relatively new one for us, we have been going there since 2011 and early on in owning the RV there were a lot of problems with it and we might have made a couple of dozen stops there to have it worked on, often while going to Lancaster as this is on the way.  We have also been going to a local cultural fair annually for about 20 years which I had figured out was relatively near to this one - same exit from the Pennsylvania Turnpike going opposite ways after exiting it.  We find the RV park.  Space is good  - about 4 rows from the “bathhouse”.  We then left and drove for dinner in another area of Pennsylvania.  (Husband was getting the most of things he has missed from this trip.)  Then back to the RV park and set up for the night as it is suppose to rain.  Luckily it is not bad rain. 

We are up early (for us) the next morning.  I had not fully made the bed the night before as I knew I had to get it apart quickly the next morning.  I took all of my bed linens and put them in one large plastic bag and ditto his.  I then took apart the bed (two banquette type benches are the base of the bed).  We dropped the RV off for repair and asked them to change the oil in the generator as it is about the time to do so and then to change the “dump hose” as long as it will be taken apart anyway for one we think we like better.

We spend the next several hours in their parts department shop, looking at the new Rvs, walking to a nearby shopping center - Home Depot, Staples, a dollar plus store and lunch at (yes) Wendys.  While eating lunch I see the RV being driven back to the office from their shop and we head over.  It was done.  Twice the cost husband had anticipated, but it is working again. 

We then set off to the Lancaster area for dinner - stopping at a local store as it is too early for same.  After dinner we stop at a Walmart there - their Walmarts are larger than ours and carry different items.  We then start home.  It is basically the same time we would normally leave for home on one of our trips.  Normally we would home around midnight - 12:30 am.  The plan was for me to send out the prewritten newsletter for my embroidery chapter when I got home and I had planned to write and post to all of you here on my blog.  Somehow it took us to 2:30 am to get home and we don’t know why - no traffic, no extra stops?  We took out only the items that had to come out as we needed them in the house and the “snacks” we had brought with us.

Well, so why didn’t write and post on Thursday?  Thursday we unpacked the rest of the stuff in the RV - and I cannot find my Diabetes meter, but it has to be there or her and we have a spare, so I am not going to go crazy over it.  I sent out all 3 versions of the embroidery chapter newsletter.  I had planned to write the post and send it out that evening.  But when evening came - I forgot all about it!  So here I am writing to you two days late!  Forgive me. 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Whether one gets diverted from the road on a physical journey or from their journey to getting better organized it happens.  No need to get upset with yourself.  Just pick up where you left off and continue. 

TRAPPED IN A WHIRLWIND

Okay - I am now so disorganized that I have no idea of what to write for you.  So this will be a bit off the cuff and probably ramble even more than usual.  I had my time planned out a bit better, but you know what happens.

This week I had planned to go to a client on Tuesday or Wednesday - the one in Manhattan.  Due to the severe thunderstorms predicted for Tuesday, I asked her to come there on Wednesday and she could not make the appointment for that day.  Which freed up the middle of this week a bit.

Monday night we had our reenactment unit meeting - this is when we get together in modern clothes and discuss recent past events and how they went and what can be done to make them better in the future, upcoming events - the logistics of when and where to be, what we will be doing, who is doing to come to the event, who will cook, what the unit needs to bring - what members need to bring, etc.  We also have a presentation by one of the members about something related to the period, the event coming up, or how to improve our presentations.  Our next event is a new one, two days long, and in need of more planning than usual as we are the lead group of several groups with the event spread out over a good sized period village and such logistics as what we will do and where we will be if it rains, arrangements for people who are camping overnight at the site (many of the units will be doing so, our unit most will go home overnight), set up, break down, etc.  Husband did the program for the meeting on how to do first person (being a person of the past who knows nothing past the specific day in the past) as many of our members are new to this and it is integral to the event.  So, most of Monday night was gone - we were not home to eat dinner until after 11 pm.

Monday afternoon husband had tried to start our RV’s generator - it has to be run once a month if it has not been used.  It would not start.  Not the usual it almost started, but different - maybe it will start tomorrow, but dead silence.  The generator is under the back of the RV.  Husband gets sick if he is a variety of positions, so I climbed under - all the switches were set correctly. He finally did climb under as we tried to find and see the fuse for it - which we could not do.  He telephoned the generator shop we have used in the past  - we have to have the oil changed annually and needed to do it for this year (we had run the generator for a whopping 24 hours total over the year) - so that will done also.  We are hoping it will not be a huge bill - people talk about generator repair bills being more than a new one would cost.  We had figured it would be awhile before they can take us, but they can take us this coming Monday - at 9 am.

Yesterday we went to the bank for the week as we needed to cover some checks and figured if this was out of the way, it would be easier to get ready later in the week for the reenactment event mentioned.  I also managed to finish cleaning the inside of the bucket to the dehumidifier in the basement.  It has dividers that don’t come out and even my tiny hands could not reach everywhere.  Husband came up with the idea of using a stiff, thin artist’s paint brush which worked.

Today we went and cleared out the RV as they will need to go inside and the mattresses, and other items will be in their way.  We don’t want anyone near the mattresses any way, and we also took out the wood support pieces for the mattresses.  We put them in plastic mattress bags in our living room - on a table husband uses for his weaving - every time I walk past it looks like there is a body laid out in there - ugh.  I also caught up on paying bills - with the money we put in yesterday.  I then recalculated how much we need to pay bills next week - before we, hopefully, go on a trip the week after.  We could pay the bills, but not have any cash for the trip - or pay another bill I anticipate.  So tomorrow, the only free day left for a while, we will go and get money from my IRA account - no available money in husband’s until August.

Friday will be the setup day for the event so we will be there a good deal of the day.  Saturday and Sunday will be the event - and it now looks like rain, possibly both days.  Monday we will be taking the RV to the generator shop.  Either Tuesday or Wednesday I have to get to that client.  Then Thursday the board of my embroidery chapter is having its annual meeting to plan next year’s meeting programs.  The Monday after we are going away for a week - no, really this time, we made the reservations last year and have to pay even if we don’t go, so weather be darned, we will be going.
  
I am pretty sure I have mentioned that we are not morning people - me in particular.  One advantage to being self employed is that I don’t have to get up early.  Each of my clients figures that I am at a different one in the morning when I go there in the afternoon.  I used to get up at 9-10 am - yes, you can call me a slug-a-bed, but since husband has retired we - again, especially me- have gotten worse.  We go to bed at 3 am.  It usually takes me until 5 am to fall asleep and we start getting up - very slowly - at 11 am.  When we need to, we get up earlier.

But in the coming weeks we will be getting up early (for us) almost every day.

We have to get up early Friday to be out and ready for the setup, Saturday and  Sunday we have to be there by 9 am - and getting dressed in the period clothing takes longer than throwing on our regular clothes, plus the drive there.           

But I wasn’t worried as I knew I could sleep to normal time on Monday - but no longer can as we have to get up and out even earlier on Monday to be at the generator place by 9 am - it is further away.

Then if I am lucky I will be able to sleep to normal time on Tuesday - but either Tuesday or Wednesday I will need to get up just as early to get to the client in the city - even though I am going there for noon, the trip lately has been taking almost 2 hours.  So I will have one of the two days to sleep in to normal time.

Then Thursday I have to get up and out to the board meeting.

Thank goodness for next Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a chance to sleep a bit.  But we will have to be setting up the RV for the trip - even more work to be done than normal, as we have to put back everything we took out, plus the stuff we normally put in it for a trip - and make that darn bed - that takes 45 minutes if I am lucky, over an hour if I do something out of order and have to redo it.  (Remember, this is the bed that can only be accessed from a 2 foot wide opening at the foot of the bed, so it mostly has to be made while in the bed.)

Then we will be off for a “relaxing” trip.  Up early every morning. Pack the inside of the RV so nothing will shift during the day. Unplug the electric and cable.  Run around all day and then at night - find the right spot in the RV space that the RV is level and plug in the electric and cable - did it once in a heavy rain storm that was so bad that there were “get inside” for safety purposes.  Set up the inside of the RV - invariably we forget to shut the rear curtain while outside and have to go back out to do it.  And the last morning we have to make sure to get up early enough to “dump tanks” and be out by 11 am.

So, it has and will be a rather hectic and tiring 2 weeks, especially since all the normal things still have to be done - right now - in less than 7 minutes - I have to run downstairs and switch laundry loads.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

It seems that we go through periods where time is easy - no appointments, just get things done as we can.  Then we hit a period of craziness where almost every day is planned and there is little or no time to think.  Somehow we always get through it.


So, if I don’t post next week - or the one after - although I certainly plan to, you will know why.


Do other people go through crazy periods like this too?