WEATHER OR NOT YOU ARE READY - WEATHER HAPPENS - PLAN AHEAD -BIG STORM HERE

 Well, at least I made it back here in when I am suppose to do so.

Our area got hit with a huge rain storm the end of last week.  We do live on an island – though it is so large we sort of tend to forget that it is an island from day to day.  (How big?  There are 4 counties on the Island – two of them are part of New York City – which is almost half the counties in same as there are 5 counties which make up NYC.)  We live in a county which is not part of NYC.

We live on a fairly main road.  We knew a large rain storm was coming and we made plans to stay in the house for the day.  During the day we looked outside a number of times and all we saw was a good sized rain storm.  At dinner time we put on the local news while we ate.  We were surprised to see/hear about how much flooding there had been on the Island from the storm.  Where I grew up was close to the south shore of the Island and we did get a flooded basement there from time to time (two worst cases were Hurricane Ida in the early 1960s a couple of years after we moved in and Superstorm Sandy recently shortly before mom moved out).  But our house here is about halfway between the north and south shores and in the all decades we have lived here – we have not had water in the basement and the only time we saw flooding in the street was Sandy.  Husband grew up nearby and we had an apartment nearby before our house so we are talking about somehere over 60 memories of storms in this area.  

I still have memories of when I was maybe 7 years old and the basement in my parents was flooded from Donna – I remember looking down the stairs (too deep water for me to be allowed down in the flood) and watching my toys float past.  When we took mom to see the house after Sandy we opened the door to the basement and seeing the items floating in the basement – major memories from Donna came “floating” past.  

Since we don't get flooding in our house it did not occur that us to even check for same.  On the TV, we were seeing flooding in the streets and houses near where I used to live and other places along the north and south shores of the Island.  Late in the evening I went down to take up the laundry I had washed and dried the night before and forgotten to take up and fold and I saw a rivulet of water from the wall of the basement to almost husband's work table along the wall of that room in the basement.  I quickly checked the spots in both rooms which might have flooded or be wet and all was okay.  I was trying to figure out where the water came from – AHA!  We have a small (about 4”x 4”) door in the wall of the basement behind the chimney which is used to clean out and check the chimney behind it.  The water had come in around the bottom of the door and dripped down.  We dropped pieces of paper towels over the wet spots to soak up the water and left the basement.  

On TV news the next day we found out that there had been flooding in our area.  Pictures of streets filled with water deeper then the curb – people showing their flooded basements – with more water coming in.  The next main road of the size of our street was flooded – we are often on that street and we saw the property around the library there (recently expanded and redone over several year) and at the gas station we go to, as well as the areas around these places – we were shocked that such a short distance had made such a bid difference in the amount of water on the street. We have wondered if the sewer drains there were backed up for some reason.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One never knows when Mother Nature will reek havoc somewhere.  After the first hurricane had hit my family's home nothing of value was kept low to the basement floor – in case of flooding again.  My parents also found out that there was connection to the sewer in the basement which should have opened before the storm to help get rid of any water that came in.  

Always know where you are suppose to go if there is an emergency such as this.  Around here it tends to be the school buildings.  If you do have to leave your house in a flood or other emergency – bring what you might need for a few days – food, medications, clothing – well charged cell phones, etc. Something to read or for children to play with (that special toy especially) to keep busy.  Hopefully you will get the all clear and be able to return to an intact home – but as is said – better safe than sorry.  When you leave your house for an emergency such as this make sure that your lights and gas are off also.  

Hopefully you will never have this problem, but better to be prepared than not.  (How the heck can I get a few hundred stuffed and other teddy bears into our vehicles to take with us in an emergency?)

MOWING, SNOWING AND KNOWING WHEN TO HIRE HELP

 Well we finally did what we needed to do.  We hired a gardener.  

We used to have a gardener whose employees came weekly and mowed the grass – mostly in the backyard as the front of our house is mostly paved driveway – and cleaned up the leaves and such.  We actually had several of them over a time.  The last one disappeared – we were waiting for his people to come and clear the snow one winter a decade or so ago and he never came.  He did not answer his telephone.  We called our former gardener who had “sold us off” to this one and he checked.  Our gardener had moved back home to another country.  

Husband decided he (we) could deal with the mowing and seasonal cleanups and we started doing same.  We hired a company to clear the snow in winter as that can be a bit much for us – depending on the amount of snow we get.  This worked a couple of years and then the snow clearing company said it was only doing snow removal for commercial properties – as did and has every other snow removal company we have found.  

So we have gone along for some years dealing with it all ourselves – and husband is not what he used to be in terms of what he can do (which is why I have been helping/doing much of the work) and spends the fall and winter in terror of being snowed in and not being able to get out of our house if we need to.  

We managed to get through doing the mowing, cleaning up, and snow removal as well as we could.  But then the pandemic came along.  In 2020 we were staying in the house almost continually.  In late summer we had to go to our garage (which serves as husband's wood shop so it was needed before during the year).  The garage sits behind our house on one side and the regular door to it is on the side.  We needed something from the garage in late summer and when we went to go into the garage we saw our backyard – there was waist high grass and weeds!  We realized we could not handle it and decided to ignore it, let it all die over the winter and start anew in 2021.  

But 2021 was not much a better year and we again forgot about the backyard.  I knew that we would not be able to deal with what had grown in the yard – “weed trees” - plus poison ivy was probably running loose also.  So we discussed it and decided that in 2022 we would hire the same gardener as our next door neighbor used.   I even made notes in my cell phone and computer calendars to remind me to start the process in March 2022.

Of course I missed March and did not get in touch with the gardener until May.  He is very nice.  How nice?  Turns out he has helped us before.  During the winter we had a large snow storm – the snow was light and fluffy and we easily cleared it away.  Unfortunately the county snow plow crew did not come through until the day after the storm and the sidewalks/driveways had been cleared and the light snow was thrown back onto them as HEAVY PACKED snow.  We set out again to try to clear the snow chopping off bits of the packed snow and shoveling it.  A pickup truck with a snow plow on the front stopped and told us to move away from the snow – he then drove up the driveway partway and broke apart the packed snow.  He would have done same with our other driveway cut but a snow plow came through again (so glad they came twice two days after the snow and not at all during the snow) and said something to him and he had to leave.  When the gardener came after I called him to talk about what we needed – turned out he was the good soul who had helped us?  

His crew has come twice (it started raining heavily the first day) and cleared out our backyard.  It is now rather bare.  He suggested he would bring new dirt and fill in so backyard was even and reseed – but, he warned us, we would have to make sure to water it regular until the grass was growing.  I agreed.  I then remembered  - the back water faucet is shut off as it had frozen and water was dripping.  So before he comes and does the reseeding work we have to get a plumber to come and fix the faucet!  

Husband had been very nervous and tends to oversee a bit too much – I try to keep him in the house and not out bothering anyone.  

Today we went out and bought a new window well cover and put it in place.  We are hoping that the basement flooding that we had during Hurricane Ida last year and after wards whenever we had heavy rain will no longer happen.  The water seemed to come in through/around this window and the cover was gone from it.  We did not have the same problem by the other window whose cover remained intact and in place.b

And we can actually walk in our backyard – even go to the shed back there.  Which reminded us – we need to fix one of the hinges on the shed door!   And he lists residential snow clearing on his website!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Sometimes one has to give in and admit that they cannot do something.  When it is something which even children can do (mow grass) it can be even harder to admit that one can no longer do it.  But one has to learn their limitations and give in and hire someone to do what they can no longer do.

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!

FOLLOWUP TO ORDERS ARE LATE - OR NOT AND NEW POST - NO MATTER WHAT ONE PREPARES FOR - SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENS

 First an update – last weeks jeans post – So they were suppose to come on Wednesday, then late Wednesday we got an email that they were delayed and would be coming Friday – so, of course they came on Thursday!  Now most people would think it great to get a day earlier than the amended date of arrival – But what if we had not been home?  What it was raining all day?  What we if we gone away as it was not coming until Friday?  The package would have had a good chance of disappearing!  This is one of the main reasons we don't order things – delivery is so iffy.  (We had sort of resolved this problem, at least items were not sitting out in front of our house, by using a service from the Post Office called “Street Addressing” for our Post Office Box – which allows the Post Office to sign for the items and deliver them to our box (technically the item is being delivered to the Post Office itself, not us, which is how they get around the idea that other carriers cannot deliver to a box intended to receive Postal mail (which includes that box you put up next to your door at home for your mail delivery – which is why the other delivery companies do not put anything in that box).  But since we are not going out, we have to have things delivered to our house – and then keep looking out the door all day to see if the item was received.  It would have been nice if when they left the package, they did not leave it against the door which meant we had to go out the side door to the front door to get the package as we could not open the or walk out the front door.

Now this week's subject -

Our area was just missed by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri last weekend.  First it was to hit the east of our Island, then it was going to hit the east end of the Island, then it was going to hit further west along the Island – it finally passed the Island on the east side by a good bit, so we had rain but no wind.  

Wind is what concerns us the most.  Our local electric utility has not done well dealing with major storms to the point that the utility company which was managing and running it was fired and a new company hired a short few years ago.  That company failed in a major way last year with Hurricane Isaias – some people had no electricity for weeks afterward.  Their system to let them know about outages and later get information about restoration time frames did not work.  (A friend of a neighbor worked at the utility and neighbor let us know we would be out for 3 days minimum.  Information was wrong – we were lucky and we were back on that night.)

When a storm is coming we prepare.  Every cell phone and laptop computer, no matter how old (or if the cell phone has service) is plugged in to charge and left to do so until we until we know we are not having an outage.  Why every one?  Well, cell phones can dial 911 if one has no service, so the older phones can be used in an emergency if our current ones' batteries are used up.  Our cable company has wifi running in the street outside our house and we can always use laptops – whether Windows 10 or XP (the assortment of laptops we have) with the wifi to access the Internet to contact someone in an emergency.  Our flashlights are checked to make sure their batteries are good.    We have a camping lantern which runs on batteries or a charge pack – we make sure the charge pack is fully charged is also charged and left charged until we know we are okay.  

I also clear areas where we will be walking.  I got this idea from how rooms were set up in the 1700s.  The furniture was placed against the walls (other than items such as beds) when the furniture was not in used.  When an item of furniture was needed it would be carried to the center of the room (and beds were too heavy to carry easily) and used – time to eat?  Table and chairs carried to center of room and family eats.  Done eating?  Table and chairs put back against the wall.  Main reason was that it allowed one room to be used for many purposes.  A secondary reason (which applies here) is that one could walk through the room without walking into anything even in low light.  I first tried this idea during Hurricane Sandy and it worked well.  We could easily walk around the living room, front hall, and dining room without a flashlight until it was dark at night.  I move items we keep on the upstairs landing of our house into the spare bedroom so we don't trip on them.  (Two low, small tables with bear figurines on it.)  

So we did all our preparations in anticipation of losing our electricity.  We thought how lucky we were that the storm hit further east and our electricity was safe – the main rain from the storm was far west of us in New Jersey and further upstate New York – though we did get a LOT of heavy rain.  It rained from just before we stepped out the door Saturday night to pickup Chinese food (was not raining at all when we ordered it and rain was not suppose to come until late – concert run by NYC got caught in the rain also had to be canceled mid-concert – though I think them foolish for having it once the storm was coming).  The rain continued all day Sunday and well into Monday morning.  

Monday we went out and checked around  - everything thing seemed to be okay.  There was a dove who seemingly was sitting on our side steps as when we opened the door she (our assumption for no particular reason) was flustered or pushed off the steps and was walking around confused.   We then went out for fast food lunch.  On our return the dove was still walking around dazed and confused and we were concerned it had been injured as it did not fly.  (There are usually two of these doves around and we don't know what happened to the other and if this one was waiting for the other or confused as to where it was.)  I tried calling wild animal agencies with no luck and husband went to move her to see what was going on – she then flew off – thank goodness she was okay – just dazed – and we did not have to worry about her not eating.

So all seemed fine and we relaxed.  Monday night we walked into the basement to empty the dehumidifier before going to bed.  Husband said “Why are my slippers wet?”  Since we have never (to our knowledge) had a flood in the basement – we had not thought about same.  From what we can determine rain came in the basement side window.  We were vacuuming up water until almost 5 in the morning with a wet vacuum.  I have been going down often to empty the dehumidifier for the past two days.  The carpet (indoor/outdoor) is seemingly approaching dry – we moved the dehumidifier to a different stop which seemed damper and may have to do so in a couple of other spots.  Also have a fan running downstairs during the day.  We have had to toss a large sheet of card board and when it is dry down there will have to check for which other items need to be tossed – most items are in plastic boxes or bags so hopefully nothing important or expensive is lost.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
No matter how or what emergency one prepares for, something will happen that one did not expect.  Do the best you can to deal with emergency possibilities ahead of time.

TWO WEEKS OF CLEARING SNOW

 Somehow this week got away from me, so this is just a short post a bit late - my apologies.

We have been dealing with shoveling snow for 2 weeks have the possibility of more.  Over the past 2 weeks there have only been 2 days we did not go out shoveling snow.  

Today we went out to work on the snow around our small RV.  (It is what is called a class B - a van, in this case a Chevy Express, made into a rather small RV.)  It sits at the top of our driveway and is not driven except on trips and when needed to drive it to keep it in good shape so we have not bothered to get rid of the snow around it.  (We have driven it on 2 hour round trips three times since the start of the pandemic to keep it doing and it really needs more driving.)  

Why clear it now after it has sat for about 2 weeks since the biggest storm?  Problem is that the storms which are coming are to be ice and mixed precipitation.  If the electric lines come down – we need somewhere to warm up and to cook.  We have used the RV in the past for cooking and watching a bit of TV after hurricanes took out our electricity.  It has a 2 burner propane stove and a propane furnace  - one of the places we ALWAYS clear of snow right away is the center of its back bumper as that is where the propane is turned on and off, perfect to use in an emergency.  

But while we could get to the propane to turn it on – the snow still covered a good part of the RV's doors.  Husband was very nervous about the coming storms, so we went out and shoveled enough snow from the sides of the RV to be able to open all of the doors – just in case we need to go in it to keep warm or to cook.  

We carried part of the snow being moved to our backyard to get rid of it.  Since we had cleared a path to back yard to do this, I also cleared the snow in front of the garage entry door in case we need to go in the garage.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Prepare in advance for bad weather you know is coming.  We even had our Saturday night “dinner out” substitute – Chinese takeout these days instead of our normal Saturday night dates – tonight, Friday as we are pretty sure we won't be able to go out tomorrow night – and if we can, well, a second date night is never a bad idea.

DEAD COMPUTER PROBLEMS LIVE ON

 We had telephoned about my dead computer Tuesday afternoon, eastern US time.  The box to send the computer to them was to come 2 day UPS.  The company is located in California, so it was even earlier in the day there when I was told it would be sent so I expected it to be here on Thursday - 2 days later.  The weather here was a rather nasty on Thursday - raining and windy due to Hurricane Zeta down south.   I have mentioned (ad nauseam) that we have problems with delivery of items by every carrier ever used.  We kept looking out of the front door and windows for the box - hopefully it would left on our steps, but often packages are left at the foot of our (short) driveway next to the sidewalk -nothing there.  As the day grew later we became more concerned that perhaps it had been left and had blown away so I telephoned the warranty company and got the tracking number (which I had expected them to email to us when the package went out).  The box was enroute through the worst of the area Delta was coming through and would be here on Friday - it was still rather close to where it had started its trip.  Taking a chance that the box would be left on our front steps rather at then at the foot of the driveway and knowing the remnants of Delta would be coming through our area all day Friday we left a large note on the inside of the glass storm door asking that it be left inside our side door (on a small porch) with arrows showing where we meant.  I checked when we woke and dressed on Friday -nothing in front of door, in porch or on driveway (as far as we could see) - if the box was left outside it would drenched and unusable.  When we went to cook dinner we found the box in the side porch (I had the curtain on the window next to my desk open the entire we were in the office and had not seen it delivered).  At least it was finally here and dry. 

We had hoped to turn it around and send it back by Friday - first as we wanted it back as soon as possible and also because the return shipping label had time limit - but that was not to be.   When I had set up the claim I was told I could not call for pickup and had to bring it into UPS - I had asked as we REALLY did not want to go out for this (or basically anything) and I explained that to the employee.  Since these days we don’t normally open “mail” until 4 days later we did not rush to open the box as it would not be going out until Monday anyway, the first time it could be sent.  When we opened it Sunday night to pack the laptop it said we could call for pickup - oh, well, that would delay it another day.  We packed it up - we made 2 plastic tape labels for the computer and two for the cord - one label on each had our names and the other had the case number we were given - if the computer and/or cord was separated from the paperwork we wanted to make sure it would be obvious whose they were.  We were extremely concerned about going to UPS - last time we had to deal with something there the place was wall to wall to people waiting and took hours - not a situation we want to be in right now.  Luckily it was empty when we went there.  We checked today (Wednesday) and the computer is still enroute.  Hopefully they will actually have it tomorrow.

I still cannot sign into the newspaper to read it on my laptop.  I can sign in my desktop and husband can sign in on his cell phone (latter done as a test as he does not read the newspaper and gets annoyed when I read him “tidbits” from it - he is a TV news person.  We figured perhaps the problem is that this laptop is Windows XP, so husband brought down and tried to sign into his Win 10 laptop and could not sign into the newspaper either.  Makes no sense to us.  I am reading the newspaper on my desktop when I have a chance during the day. 

My embroidery club has been holding its meetings online - show what one has made (yes, show and tell) discuss business - such as needing a larger room to meet in next time we meet in person so we can space out, etc.  I had forgotten that the meeting was today until I heard from the group president.  After I heard from her I was going to use husband’s desktop computer (mine has no microphone, speakers or camera - it was custom built for me by husband and other than Zoom meetings, which were unheard of by us until Covid-19 stay at home started, have no use for them.  But as I was using my little, old laptop I noticed it had a camera and a symbol for microphone, so making sure that they both turned on I planned to use my laptop for the meeting this morning.  Husband showed me where to plug in his microphone and camera on his desktop - just in case.

I woke up this morning, dressed and turned on my little laptop.  It worked!  I signed into the Zoom site and got into the meeting and saw everyone - m o v i n g  v e r y   s l o w l y - okay, I can deal with that.  I said hello.  I then realized that I could not hear them - something was wrong with the speakers.  (Husband later reminded me when I told him of my adventure that I keep my speakers in my laptops on mute - oops, my fault.)  So I plugged in his camera and his microphone and turned on his desktop computer.  I then had to sign into my email address to get the invitation to the meeting - an email address which is not in his computer (I checked in case it was).  I put in my email address on the appropriate page and entered my password as I remembered it.  Nope.  Tried again.  Nope.  I then turned on my desktop (so at this point I now have 3 computers turned on trying to sign into Zoom and join the meeting) to get the password as it shows there - I had the correct password.  Time kept passing. We get a 40 minute free session from Zoom, sometimes extra minutes are given - I looked at the clock and the 40 minutes had run out.  So I shut everything down and went back to bed.  I later sent an email to the group explaining what had happened.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK-

Make sure you have good lists of current usernames and passwords.  If you are going to use a device or a feature of your computer (or any other electronic device) when time will be of the essence to use it - and you don’t want to look like an idiot that doesn’t know what you are doing (especially since they consider me the computer “expert”) make sure you do a trial run before you actually need to use that feature or device to make sure it is working , turned on and that you know what you are doing.   As we go along with the Covid-19 situation we are using computers and other devices differently than normal and may need a bit of practice doing so.  Yeah, I had thought of doing a quick Zoom session with husband to make sure the laptop would work and run fast enough - but never did get around to it.

I hope that all who have been in the path of Hurricane Zeta and their families and friends are safe and well and the same to those in the paths of the various fires and other weather problems. 

LIFE IS TOO OVERWHELMING THIS WEEK TO TALK JUST ABOUT CLUTTER AND ORGANIZER

 As I sit here tonight writing this post I am having a problem getting my brain around what is going on simultaneously here in the United States.  I grew up in post World War II United States of America. Never in my life have so many major problems being affecting our country at one time.  We have the 11pm news on and the news rolls on and on.

Our problems that accumulated from centuries of not treating all people in our country (and in the colonies before them) have come to a head.  Our population is separating in one of the most divided and angry elections we have had in recent memory to the point where I fear the violence if the candidate I don't support coming to office as well its result, while also fearing what will happen if the candidate I do support comes to office and the violence that may result from that also, with whichever side loses the election not accepting same and rousing up their supporters.  

We have an illness that is overwhelming to our population, medical systems and further splitting the people of the country apart between those who appreciate the danger of the illness and try to keep from catching it or passing it along to others and those who think it is “just the flu” and not serious and do nothing to prevent it being passed along. (And by the way, the flu is not “just the flu” either and can be lethal.)  

Our weather has also been a problem this a year.  As mentioned in prior posts, our area of the U.S. went through what should not have been a bad tropical storm passing through.  Due to our local utilities it took over 2 weeks to get almost all of those who lost electricity back on line – electric utility claims all back, but some people apparently still do not have their electricity back.  There are a substantial number of people still do not have telephone, Internet service and cable TV service back – some weeks after the storm.  Our electric utility has figured out how to deal with the fact that most people with outages could not reach them during and after the storm for future storms – they will not take any calls, emails, texts, etc. in future storms as they “will know” where the outages are due to their “smart meters”.  This despite the fact that less than half of their customers have smart meters and they did not know during this storm and in its aftermath who did not have electricity.  

And now what has pushed me to write this post.  There is a hurricane bearing down on the south-east portion of the U.S. - with Louisiana and Texas to bear the brunt of it.   Luckily the second hurricane that was traveling more or less the same path as this one, has fallen apart or those in these areas would be facing a one, two punch of horrendous storms.  I am hearing that some areas will have sustained winds of over 120 miles per hour for over 3 hours – can anything stand up to that?  Hopefully the populace will listen to what they are being told and get out of there for other states to their north and west as the storm will heading turning in a large curve to the east after wards.  (Expected here on Saturday and I am concerned for friends in the Carolinas, Virginia and Delaware as it passes through their areas.)  Of course the need to social distance is adding to the problems of this storm as fewer people can ride on each of the buses intended to move them to safer areas, fear of riding for an extensive time with other on buses will lead to more people driving their own vehicles – which make more traffic and slow the process of moving people away from the danger, down even more.  Plus the shelters which are set up for those who have no place else to go when they evacuate the area can hold many fewer people than they normally would due to the need to space the beds, etc. further apart from normal.  

Life is starting to seem more and more like a biblical tale, in this, wrought by nature.  

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

My prayers, fears and thoughts are with those about to hit by Laura.  I can think of little at this time.  I hope that the storm breaks apart somehow or travels through must faster so it causes less damage.  If you are in the affected areas – please make sure that you leave and stay as far away from the path of Laura as you can.  Your life and those of those around you are much important than anything else.

THE CRAZINESS CONTINUES ON

Another week already? For those of you who have been/will be in Dorian's path - I hope that you and yours come through safely.  To say that it is a horrible storm is to greatly understate the situation.

Things are still hinky here - I called the insurance company for our reenactment unit again to try to resolve the problem of the paperwork not being right.  What the employee and I did manage to figure out is that it is not a paperwork problem - the changes to the policy do not seem to be right when we discussed them.  She was to check with their underwriters and the files to see what happened and then call me back.  I waited a week and then called her again - last Friday.  The agency was closed for a four day Labor Day weekend.  I called her again today, Wednesday.  She was not in - working from home (I got the impression she was not well).  She called back while we were out - which is why I said I would call back instead of her calling me, and left a message to talk to someone else at the agency - I will call them tomorrow.  I have been trying to resolve this since June - policy renewed in late May.  At this point we only have 3 events left before the insurance will renew again next year. I have now requested a printout of our payments to our medical insurance company in 2018 three times - hope this time they send the correct papers and not a summary of what we owed - what we owed and what we paid could be totally different amounts (although not in this case) and the county will not accept what we owed - they want a list from the insurance company of what we actually paid.  That and one other set of papers is the last of what we need to file for our senior real estate tax exemption.  Then I can assemble the "tome" of papers that have to go to them for this exemption.  We learned our lesson last year.  This year we will not mail the paperwork to them (and we had mailed it by certified mail and had a record of when they received it).  We will drive to the real estate tax assessor's office and I will walk it in and get a receipt from them that they have everything.  Husband will sit in the car as parking is just about non-existent.  Newspaper article recently said that our new County Executive is going to make this department actually answer their phones and help people.  When one calls the message on their end is basically - "We don't have time to take calls."  and sometimes also "And we don't have any parking for you to come here."  Public servants.

I have managed to do a bit of house cleaning this past week - I admit it, I am sooo off schedule as I just have not had a chance to get to anything.

I have been tasked by my sister to find sources to sell items from our family home - a library of books, a collection of records (LPs, 45s and CDs), china and glass - useful and decorative, dad had a number of clients who were artists and they have pieces from some of the clients and other pieces that purchased - only a maybe ten to twenty, but some of them may be valuable.  We need to get as much as we can for items which can be sold as we need it to keep mom in the assisted living program she is in and likes.  Time is also of the essence as mom has a reverse mortgage on her house and every month more interes accrues. The sooner we get rid of the stuff in the house the sooner we can sell it - the less money that goes to interest and the more that goes to mom. I emailed a client that I have still have whose husband is one of the artists and asked if either of them knows of a gallery or auction house to contact.  I know the husband's work still sells from time to time and figured that they must still know who to contact.  Problem, of course, is that we need to not just find someone to buy (or take on consignment) the stuff we need to get rid of, but need someone honest who will not buy stuff for considerably less than it is worth.  I just found a site that was recommended by a seniors organization for pricing items.  I will have to look at it.  Quite frankly it was this part of clearing out the house that intimidated me.  My sister had talked as if she had an idea of who to call about all this and I had felt better about it, now I am overwhelmed again - and quite honestly, my sister is handling most of everything. Anyone with ideas about getting rid of all this stuff without getting "taken" - please let me know, it will be gratefully appreciated.

I had the first meeting of my embroidery chapter today.  I was not sure that I would that I would get to the meeting as husband is desperate to go away for a few days - both for sanity and because we have spent a lot on the RV to keep it in good shape, we do not use it, and it needs to be used - especially driven - to keep in it in good condition.  Due to rain storms today where we were to go, we dropped the plans - bad for husband as he is upset, but good for me as I had my first non-work day without him since June.  I did come home after running a couple of quick errands after the meeting and did not take the entire afternoon for myself as I normally do, as husband is sure that the Dorian will turn and hit Long Island and we will lose our electricity, so I did not want to leave him moping and in a panic all day by himself.  We are learning a new stitch that I had wanted to learn and it was such a pleasant time at the meeting.  I really need to find another group to join also - I have tried to get husband to join a group without me, but he is not interested and finds an excuse not to join any group that is related to his interests when I find them.

I normally write my post using a word processing program that I like and then copy it to the site.  Tonight for some reason it would not work - it opens, but does not work, so I used good, old Notepad to write - any spelling errors or oddities in appearance of the post are due to that.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Well, one has to go on and do what one can.  Having my embroidery chapter keeps me sane - what keeps you sane when it is all piling up?

CLEARING OUT MY OLD CLOSET AT THE FAMILY HOME

Last Thursday husband and I went to my family home to deal with “my stuff”.  I knew that there should be certain things there that I wanted - not many - and I sort of figured that there would not be much more in the closet I had to go through.

A digression - yeah, I always do same, without labeling it - I am the oldest of 3 girls and there are big age jumps between us - 5 years to #2 and another 7 years to #3.  When my family bought the house I was 4 or 5 years old  - it was then built to order in a 1950s subdevelopment - and my sister #2 was born several months before we moved in.  The house as shown in the model house had 5 bedrooms - 2 regular and a master bedroom on one floor and another 2 bedrooms (and a 4th bathroom) on the floor above it.  The house is a split level so floors not on top of each other they alternate back and forth.  My parents did not need the extra 2 bedrooms or the 4th bathroom and wanted to save money, so that floor was not finished into rooms when we moved in.  I had one bedroom of the 2 regular ones and my sister #2 - baby in a crib - was put in the other one.  The house stayed with this layout and each of us in our bedrooms for about 7 or 8 years.  At that time sister #3 was born.  My parents idea was that they would now finish the upstairs and have a bedroom for me, an office for my dad, and the fourth bathroom up there.  Being only about 12 and not knowing that in the future I would love the idea of a bedroom so private, I refused to move up there and sleep alone.  So instead my parents made it into a second (larger) master bedroom.  Sister #2 moved into my bedroom.  Dad got an office in her old bedroom.  Sister #3 and I moved into the original master bedroom.  This worked great.  When sister #2 got married a year before I did over 10 years later, I left sister #3 with the original master bedroom and moved back to my original room - which by then had sister #2's furniture in it, except her desk, and I left my furniture with sister #3 = except for my desk.  The house arrangement remained the same after that until I married a year later and moved out and then sister #3 moved out some 10 years later when she was married.  So, the room I had to clear out was not filled with items from when I was a child, but rather items I had after college.  I took almost all of my stuff either when we were first married or 9 years later when we bought a house.  Just a cute story - I had picked this bedroom originally as the room in the model had a little rocking chair - no one told me that the house did not come with what was on display in it and I thought I would get the rocking chair - boy was I disappointed. 

So, back to clearing out the room.  I had expected to walk in and see my old bed and a room as I left it.  Hah!  Either my mom had turned it into a mess of a storage room or my sisters had been throwing stuff in there to decide what to do with as they have been there several times to work on clearing out the house. 

My desk was not there as I have it here and use it as my desk - and still hit my knee on the leg of it as I did when I was a child.  I looked at the dresser in the room and started opening drawers.  As I thought they were empty but with 2 exceptions.  When I was baby I had a dresser set (not a child’s set, a grown up person’s set).  It had 2 small china dishes and a china box with lid.  I have one of the dishes still on my dresser and thought the rest gone - I knew the box’s lid and the other dish were broken and presumed that I had forgotten about breaking the box - but there it was!!  And in it was my girl scout knife and a couple of other small items.  Took it and the contents to go through - the box will go back on my dresser.    In another drawer I found a small tack hammer and two small boxes of tacks - not mine and I left them. 

It was rather hot when we were there.  I had asked sister #2 - who is coordinating all of this as she seems to know what to do - in advance if the air conditioners were working - she said yes, but not well.  Husband put on same in the original master bedroom and the one in the dining room (covers same, living room and kitchen).  Not much cool.  So as I am working he is starting to get overhot.  I sent him to the dining room then to outside several times to cool off.

I should say at this point - this entire process would have been harder for me if not for Hurricane Sandy.  Most of our toys were in the basement.  If I had to decide which toys to take and which to donate or toss it would have been close to impossible.  Since mom’s basement was flooded in the Hurricane, everything down there had been tossed out - including her washer, dryer, furnace etc. (furnace was replaced, but she decided to go to a laundry for her clothes).  No more Barbies (I have one trunk of them I had brought here).  No more doll house that I got when I was 3 or 4.  No more games.  No more Bobbsey Twins, Honey Bunch, Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, etc books. 

I opened the closet door expecting a mostly empty closet - OH BOY.  I started taking stuff out.  I found a red looseleaf book that I had copied folk songs into while in high school - took as I hoped to find it.  I found love letters from husband - definite take.  I found 2 art projects from college - painting - took (I am not a good artist and it actually came out good), cut out initials - toss.  I had expected/hoped to find my dad’s army shirt - he had given it to me back in the late 1960s when “hippies” wore same - it had reproduced and I took both of them.  While I know that the rank and badges on them are not right, I figure one of the military museums might like and his name would go down in posterity (and my nephew had previously said the did not want same) so they were a definite take.  Some “awards” drawn by a friend who was editor in chief of our college yearbook (before I was) had been taped on the inside of the door - took the one I found - hope to find at least one more.

For a closet it was lacking in clothes.  As mentioned, my dad’s army shirts were in there.  There was a pink gown.  I took it out.  We looked at it and then at each other.  I was maid of honor at sister # 2's wedding  - I wore brown (the others wore orange - fat girls don’t wear orange).  I was not in my other sister’s wedding party - and did not buy a gown for same.  I had not worn a gown to the afternoon wedding of the sister of my old high school boyfriend.  What the heck was it for? It looked to be in good condition - I hung it over the top of the bedroom door and went on.  I found a sweater I bought in Mexico  - tossed it.  If husband was not there I would have put it in a donate bag - but he insisted it was not wearable.  I found a “genuine” 1960's/early 1970's peasant blouse - hung it over the bedroom door.  (Sister #2 has come across so much clothing from that period in the house that she plans to contact theatrical costume houses to see if they want them - she can add the blouse and gown.) My college house plan (similar to a sorority) windbreaker - took that.   I also hung a green jacket over the door - I have no idea whose it is, but it would not have fit me at 12 years old, let alone when I was grown. 

I found an assortment of papers I had written (brought them home to shred as my personal info on them).  I found needlework  - kits and almost finished.  Husband had me leave the 2 latch hook rugs - hooking finished, rug edges not finished there.  (If we go back and they are still there I will take them home - I decided I really want them.)  Two embroidery kits - not finished, I took.   One unstarted latch hook kit - left for donation or sale.

I also found a complete, unopened set of “spurtles”.  These were cooking utensils that a TV chef named Graham Kerr used.  We had apparently bought 2 sets - either to give the second set as gift or for when the others broke - they are still in great condition.  We opened the box and took the spurtles out and tossed the box. 

Then I hit the problem.  Apparently when we lived in our apartment we used this closet for storage of - yes - empty boxes.  Cabbage Patch Dolls, fancy teddy bears, etc - empty boxes - you know, because they will be worth a fortune one day.  I did not take the boxes - but since I had not thought that there would be this much stuff - I did not have enough garbage bags so the boxes had to stay for next time. 

I filled 3 large bags of garbage.  I could not put it out as there would be no pickup until the following Monday and the house is near an animal preserve and the animals come and go through the bags.  I left them in the living room - sisters would be there on the weekend to put it out.

There was a section of stuff still on the top shelf that was not boxes - but neither of us could reach them safely and husband was soaked through his shirt and we needed to leave.

Problem - I had not figured out how to pack the stuff we were taking in plastic bags and seal them without them coming into the house (that bed bug fear).  So I carried the stuff I was taking down to the front door and husband held a bag outside and little by little I filled 2 bags of stuff to take.  They are now in our garage - I will take it out a bit at time and heat it in our Packtite bedbug heater - just in case. 

I am missing an item I would like to have.  I embroidered a tablecloth while in high school.  When I got married I went looking for it - I could not find it.  I have looked a couple of times since.  I told both my sisters about it and asked that if they find it they save it for me.

As we were driving home husband commented on the lack of air conditioning in the house.  He had seen the one in the office (bedroom next to mine - remember?) but could not get to it as that room is completely filled.  I then remembered - there was one in my bedroom!  He insisted that there was none - unless it was removed and the wall fixed it should be there - not sure it works, but we will look next time we are there.

Sister #2 insists that we are almost done - I am not sure how - there is soooooo much there of mom’s..
                   
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

One can go home again - but mostly to clear out home.  Why not post about your experience in something like this?

WEATHER AND ORGANIZING

Another week already? 

We had a cold and messy start to this week and spent the end of last week and the weekend getting ready.  I mentioned last week that we were expecting two storms.  I had cleared the walking areas of the house so we could walk in dim light if we had a loss of electricity. 

The first storm dropped an extremely small amount of snow overnight from Thursday to Friday.  At 6 am when I looked out the window the street was clear, but the driveway and sidewalks were white - but a minor amount.  By the time we went out around 2 pm, the snow had melted and was gone and it was above freezing.

The second storm was much more problematic. It was to be Saturday night into Sunday morning - and worst of all, extremely cold weather was expected to follow it.  Starting on Friday the information jumped back and forth - one weather report from the reporter my husband trusts was that the storm would come in to the north of us and we would not have more than a trace of snow.  His next report was that the storm was headed further south and we would be getting 6-8 inches of snow.  The next - he the storm was north of us again and we would get a trace to 3 inches.  All versions included freezing rain, sleet and then finally after hours of same - rain.  When the temperatures then dropped after the storm (we made it down to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) the mess would freeze so it would dangerous to go out on Monday and there would be (the dreaded, especially by husband) downed electrical lines and loss of electricity.

I have mentioned in past posts that over the years husband has become more “weather phobic” due to changes in the weather in our area and is terrified of big snow storms, ice storms, and hurricanes.  This is the result of having multiple huge snow storms for this area (sometimes 24 inch or more and then 2 days later another one) and repeated humongous hurricanes.  So I go along with his fears and his ideas of what to do to make him feel better.

In the case of winter storms we make sure that we have extra food in the house, some of which is things we would not normally spend money on.  In this case, for example, we had a bought a large (expensive) chicken pot pie the end of the week before.  Husband during the week asked me to make it for dinner.  I looked at him and said “I am saving it for the weekend”.  He thought a second and said “Good idea!”.  We bought deli turkey on Friday - we could have for lunch or dinner while in the house. 

Then we started on the fear of electricity loss.  One of his fears is that the water pipes, especially in the basement will freeze.  This was not something that was mentioned much - if at all - in this area until we started having weather much colder than normal a few years ago.  We put foam insulation on the basement pipes - but the pipes to our clothes washer and the basement sink are attached to the wall and we cannot fit anything behind them.  Husband sets up a space heater in the basement near these pipes when it gets bitter cold.  Last week I cleared away the assorted laundry and cleaning chemicals that are kept the platform which holds our basement sink so that they would not be near the heat.  We also took an indoor/outdoor thermometer I use in the basement for a Packtite (trademark) heater which kills bedbugs and set it up so the “outdoor” part was on the pipes so we could see how cold the pipes were.  At night we opened the cabinet doors under the bathroom/kitchen sinks and left the water dripping in same and the basement sink.   Biggest problem with his fears this year was that the news reporters were constantly talking about wires will be coming down.

We were lucky and the storm did pass to the north so we had no snow, just the freezing mess.  We stayed in through the worst of the cold through Monday - finally going out for lunch and a bit of shopping on Tuesday.  Today it made it into the 40s Fahrenheit. 

Luckily for once in recent years during these storms he was (relatively) happily on the Internet instead of pacing, biting his nails and staring out the window.  I managed to catch up on a variety of small things to get done on the computer and in our office - you know that all that relatively unimportant stuff that really needs to get done.  I even put together the mailing to our reenactment unit with their renewal paperwork. 

I still have not received the W2,etc. forms I requested from IRS - not that under the closure of the government I thought I would actually receive them.  I had planned to file them online if I did not receive them - but since I have not been able to file the annual return for our reenactment unit online (the only way that form can be filed) - I am concerned that I will not be able to file them online.  So today while we were out we stopped in at an office supply store and I bought packages of the forms - I have 50 W2s so that I can prepare ONE of them!  The other forms involved buying 10-25 forms.  Hopefully I will be returning them if I can file online or receive the other forms by the end of this week.  I plan to go to the client next week (I had planned on going this week until we had this weather - it will raining most of the rest of the week - hit and if the forms are being filed by mail, I need to have them with me when I go to her so she can sign the cover forms.

I now have to start taking down the Christmas tree decorations and the tree.  We need them down so that husband can warp his loom for his next weaving project.  Also, if we take the tree down and move the storage for the weaving (yarn and finished pieces) back to the living room I will have my area of our studio in the back room back.  I will leave the decorations up until the tree is finished - and maybe a bit longer- they look so nice.  (I think I mentioned that before all this weather we did take down the outside lights - the battery candles in the windows and the battery lit wreath at the door are still in place and still lit.)

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

When one faces one’s fears - whether husband’s fear of what the weather will do or starting to work on clearing a specific space in our house - one generally finds that what happens is not as bad as one fears.  While I always say that every day starts a new year - a new year has started, pick something that needs work and start on it.  Whatever you get done - it is that much less left to get done.  Whether it is a drawer or a box or a room it is one thing that is done.

I also wanted to stay I would love to hear from some of you to hear what you are doing or what your problem in organizing and decluttering is. 

HALLOWEEN HERE - HOLIDAYS COMING

Well it is Halloween.  For the first time in many years (at least a couple of decades) we are home and not in Pennsylvania.  We normally go away for my birthday as I don’t like all the Halloween stuff being associated it with it - including not being able to go out for a nice dinner other than at an Asian restaurant - and while it is everywhere, there is a lot less in the area we go to and we can walk into local restaurants and not be served by a science experiment gone wrong covered in blood - ick.  Since husband’s shoulder still has not healed he could not drive anywhere near that far and he cannot ride when someone else drives, so here we are.

What surprised me the most was the total lack of trick or treaters.  Even when we were home for Halloween we had no trick or treaters until the woman next door to us had her son and his family - including his young daughter - move in and then she came by for a couple of years until they moved.  Then the house beyond that one had a new family move in - they had 3 children and we had the children and maybe a couple of their friends come by for maybe 3 years.  The street is 4 lanes, so the family that lived across the street never came here - too dangerous to cross the street.  We live on a main street with only these children on it in the past and since we did not know the families on the streets near us I figured that we did not have trick or treaters as they did not know us. 

But now there is a new family in the house on either side of us and I figured that they would come by.  They did not.  What surprised us even more is that when we driving home from running errands and lunch - around 3:30 pm (which is when I would have been out making the rounds as a child) and later when we went out to pick up Chinese takeout for dinner - we did not see one child (or adult) in costumes walking around. 

Later, after dinner, I read the regional newspaper (yes, I still read the “dead tree” newspaper) there was an article on how most of the neighborhoods no longer have trick or treaters going around.  Parents and schools have apparently decided (and rightly so) for safety in today’s world to have parties at the schools or what is called “trunk and treat” at the schools or other location rather than the children going around house to house.  This eliminates the danger of children out alone - and possibly in the dark - as well as what strangers might give the children.  In thinking about it I realized that I had not seen any of the usual - “Bring your candy to the hospital and we will X-ray it for you.” 

For those of you who might not know about trunk and treat - groups of families get together in parking lot  at a school, park, or shopping center.  The cars are decorated for the holiday and the trunk (or hatch) is open and the children go from car to car for their trick or treating and possibly other activities.  Parents know who the other participants are and the children have fun and are safe.  The first time I saw this was the Halloween 2 days after Superstorm Sandy.  There were few people out and about and we had gasoline shortages and major electric outages.  Sidewalks were not safe to walk on due to trees and limbs - and wires which had fallen down.  I thought this a great idea for the children. I did not know at the time that it was something being done otherwise than the storm. 

Have you noticed a lack of trick or treaters in your area in recent years - or is this area an anomaly?

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

If it is Halloween than the start of the end of the year holiday season is starting - if not already started.  As we head into the end of year holiday season, think.   Don’t overdo.   Think “less is more”.  Buy less items (oh, the retail industry will hate me) but think more about what you do buy.  I tend to be very conservative in gift giving and have pushed husband in that direction. 

His sister goes the opposite way and buys each of her two daughters, umm, I mean Santa brings each of her two daughters 64 gifts.  Huh?  Yes 64 gifts - and I don’t mean small ones.  Sister in law has some idea stuck in her head that she received same each year as a child - I knew her then, she did not - and feels she must do this for her daughters.  I have even seen her give duplicate gifts to them as she forgot she already bought the same or very similar gift the same year.  Their grandmother (on their dad’s side) goes into debt that she cannot afford to buy them even more.

As a result the girls do not value what they have received - or even remember what they have received.  The two girls are adopted from China.  When the older one was younger (she is a teenager now) we bought her an Asian faced Cabbage Patch Kid.  Her grandmother also did so.  A couple of years later she was at our house and I was playing with my Cabbage Patch Dolls with her. (No children, so dolls and bears are my substitute - when I play with the dolls with our nieces I am the nice aunt, if I play with them alone, I am “the crazy lady”.) Niece said to me “I wish I had a doll like these.”  I told her that she two of them - and she was shocked. They were “on the pile” at home and she did not remember them.

So as you start the season keep in mind that less can really be more.  Stay on your budget.  Buy items with meaning or is something that the person wants.  Don’t go overboard because other family members do. 

Watch what you spend on what I calling “buying garbage” - huh?  When you buy wrapping paper and ribbon it is basically buying something that will quickly be garbage and thrown out.  My rule for Christmas wrapping was $1 for 50 square feet for decades.  I will now spend $1 for 40 square feet as price adjustment over time.  I buy inexpensive curling ribbon and make long tendrils that I put on gifts - in expensive, one does not feel the need to “save the bows” and they don’t get crushed when traveling.  I have a ribbon shredder to use on the ribbon, which makes it look even nicer. Christmas cards are the same.  They are opened, maybe displayed and then thrown out. Shop wisely and one can get very nice cards inexpensively - and don’t forget the end of the season sales which seem these days to start right as the season starts.  Think about this - my sister had a friend whose father owned a small chain of upscale card and gift stores.  The girl’s gifts for my sister were always wrapped in Sunday color comics - never wrapping paper.

THE NOR'EASTERS CONTINUE - SO MORE ON ORGANIZING IN ADVANCE OF DISASTERS

Well, we have now had 3 nor’easters in 10 days.  Another is now due in early next week.  That’s a lot of nor’easters.  Additional today we had extremely light snow in the late afternoon.  Tomorrow I am going to Manhattan for work - it was suppose to be a completely clear day - no, now during the evening rush hour there is to be snow or rain - at just about freezing temperature and I will be driving home.  There was a time when I would not even blink at the idea of driving home in snow - now even rain if it might freeze on the road worries me.

As of last Saturday afternoon (a week after the first storm and 3 days after the second storm) there were 300,000 electric outages in the tri state area - most still out from the first storm.  And outage is not necessarily one family’s outage - a single outage can be for an apartment building (or businesses) and may actually be lots of families with no electricity.  There are still outages.

We were lucky though.  The exact spot we live in was treated very gently by all 3 storms.  The first storm had almost no snow - here.  The second two we had maybe 3 inches of snow each overnight and by the time we went out the next afternoon - it was 95% or more melted and gone. The first storm passed to the west of us - the second one to west and east of us (at the same time) and the third one passed to the east of us.  According to the news broadcasts the second two storms dropped 6+ inches of snow in our county - how all missed us we do not know and feel lucky. 

So, a bit more about suggestions to organize in advance of possible weather or other emergencies.  I know it recommended to have a gallon of water per person for 3 days minimum.  I don’t know about you, but when we tried to do this we had no place to keep the water.  We finally settled for 2- 1 gallon bottles of water stored in the basement on the top shelf of a metal shelving unit.  I would use the water for a reenactment event when time was getting close for the water to expire and then use the new water bought for the event to replace it so it would stay fresh.  So - if you do buy water - make sure you keep the water fresh. 

We also had a plastic box that we put a jar of applesauce in and some other food items - no canned meat as we know we would not eat it.  Again, make sure to use your supplies and replace them so they are fresh if needed.  We also bought a sterno stove with cans of sterno which were in the box.  It has never been used - we presume it is all still good.

As I mentioned in last week’s post - if you have babies or small children, make sure to have the food they use which does not need refrigeration as well as diapers and related items if they are still being used.  Also make sure you have spare medications for any ailments or conditions and any sanitary items you or other women in the household might need. 

We had thought much of this was overkill as we had never needed it despite nor’easters and hurricanes over the decades we have both been alive.  If one community in the area was without electricity, then others would still have electricity and one could eat out and buy supplies as needed elsewhere.  We have always been told to fill bathtubs with water which can be used for flushing toilets if there is no water or the water is not good.  We have municipal water - this has never happened so we did not bother.  Then came Hurricane Sandy.

Just about the entire Island (4 counties) was without electricity - there were a few spots here and there.  Some villages have their own electric plants - off the grid - and always have electricity - well, some of them were the places the flooding hit the worst and even they did not have electricity.  One village near my mom’s house did have electricity - she would go there once during the day to a casual type restaurant that was open and she would call us on her mobile phone, recharge it, and eat. 

Mobile phones might or might not work, by the way.  The antennas had been damaged and the remaining available was overwhelmed.  One trick was that text messages go through easier than phone calls - something my niece had figured out in an earlier problem when she was a young teenager.  She and some friends were at a mall some distance from home and she wanted her mom to not worry as they were okay (mall security had actually gotten all the kids together to be able to keep them safe) and to know where to pick them up - her mobile calls would not go through and she thought to text her mom.  So remember, texts go through sometimes even if calls do not. 

One of the county water plants had a sewage plant near it go bad - we are on one side of a major road - we had water.  If we lived on the other side of the road we would have been on the that water system - we would not have had water. 

Now, we had a certain advantage during Sandy and mostly used since then.  We were about to go away on a trip in our RV when Sandy was coming - two days after it actually.  So, we did not know what to do.  There is a lot of work setting up the RV for a trip.  I suggested to husband that we fill the water tank of the RV - if we could go, it was a major thing done to prepare, if we did not go and there was a problem with the drinking water (remember this is before it actually happened to the next area) we would have 25 gallons of clean water in the RV tanks - and if we did not go and did not need the water, it is relatively easy to let it back out.  We have continued to fill the water tanks when a storm is coming if it is coming when the tanks are not winterized.  Winterizing keeps the pipes and valves from freezing so we would not want to take the chance on same and add water to the tanks - also the water, while safe, it would smell and taste awful.

In addition after the first day and night with no electricity I figured out that we could go in the RV and watch TV - there is an antenna that lifts up and the batteries are kept charged.  Husband calculated and figured out that we could run the TV and lights - and recharge cell phones, laptops, etc. - for 2 hours on the batteries (they would last much longer but would need to be recharged) and then run the generator in the RV for an hour which would also recharge the batteries from the 2 hours of use.  Most importantly in the aftermath of Sandy when gasoline was extremely hard to get - it would only take 1/3 of a gallon of gas.  We also used the propane stove in the RV to cook.  We could not use the refrigerator as we would have had to have the batteries on all time.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Okay, I have run on and bored you enough what does all this mean?

One has to plan in advance “just in case”.  Even if there has never been a problem in large storms, one never knows what will happen.  Think of who is in your household - or might seek shelter with you if you have parents, siblings or children or good friends who might need help in an emergency.  Think of what you and the others might need and try to figure out innovative ways to deal with same, in addition to the standard ways.  Have alternate ideas of what to do. 

Plan alternatives.  You never know what might happen out of the ordinary for emergencies in your area.  After Sandy all the bridges and tunnels to our Island were shut down - no way in or out except for official vehicles.  Tunnels remained flooded for some time - damage in them is still be repaired now - 6 years later. 

Hopefully you will never need what you have planned and stored - but that is much, much better than needing it and not having it.

PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES

As I write this we are on the tail end of nor’easter - our area is the only area still getting snow and rain, but then again we have had a lot less snow than most other areas.  For those of you who do not know what a nor’easter is, think of it as nontropical hurricane.  There is wind.  The storm is rotating so that the winds come from the north east (hence, its name).  There can be heavy rain or heavy snow - or a mix.  This is our second nor’easter this week and there is a possibility of a third one on this coming Monday (which would make 3 in 10 days).  The first one was just rain, but had wind gusts up to 70 mph in some places.  This one had wind that was not as bad, but had the snow and there is a problem as the ground is so saturated in some areas that the wind can easily take over trees whose roots were flooded by the first one.  Tens of thousands of people who lost their electricity in the first storm, still do not have their same back from then - plus the those now without electricity.  They hope to have those who are still waiting from the first storm back on electricity by Friday - a week since they lost their electricity.

Husband got through last week’s storm relatively well.  In case you don’t remember he has become “weatherphobic”.  He is terrified of our losing our electricity - and therefore heat - and of digging out from snow - due to several years of repeated huge snow storms (20 inches, two days later 20 inches, repeat) and 3 extended blackouts after hurricanes within 2 years of each other - and in one case the electricity came back on finally and the next day we had one of these nor’easters and lost it again. 

Our biggest problem with last week’s storm was that late that night he noticed a strange light on our 3 in 1 in the office that the fax has no phone line.  So I telephoned the phone company and made an appointment with their computer to have our phone line fixed.  I was lacking information from the computer call and called back the next day (all this calling being done on my mobile phone of course) to get additional information - some of which matched and some of which did not match what the computer told me - no one has to be home/someone over 18 must be home, repair will be done by 8 pm (what start time is one of the reasons I called)/the repair will be done between 8 am and 5pm and so on.  I had specifically answered NO to being texted so of course the phone company kept texting me - glad I don’t have the plan that charged me 25c a text as there have been a lot of them.  I called my mom and told her.  I emailed my sisters and the president of my embroidery chapter and told them - all told to call on my mobile.  The appointment was for - Wednesday, today.  My embroidery chapter was to meet for the month - Wednesday, today. 

We do a variety of things to prepare ahead of a big storm.  If it was summer we would have filled our RV’s water tanks, but this time of year we can not do so as pipes and valves might freeze.  It was to be warm enough both times so we did not have to worry about the pipes in our basement freezing though - or we would have plugged in an electric heater to keep them warm. 

In the old days when husband went out to work and I did the preparation (and he was not terrified as mentioned above) I would fill the gas tank in my car.  I actually did this whenever something happened or was going to happen.  After hearing of the 9-11 attacks, I filled my car tank.  Gas prices announced to go up, I filled my car tank.  Storm coming, I filled my car tank.  Husband used to laugh at me until the gas (petrol) stations either did not have gas or could not pump as they had no electricity after Hurricane Sandy - now he makes sure all 3 vehicles have enough gas in them when a storm is coming.

In the summer I tend to keep refrigerated food at close to minimal amounts so that if we lose electricity we do not lose much - we had to dump out what was in our fridge and freezer 3 times in just over a year due to hurricanes.  In the winter I tend to keep more in the house as I am concerned about snow coming and not being able to go out for food - and if it is cold enough we can put the refrigerated food in plastic boxes outside in the cold.  But, whatever we have, he goes shopping.  This time I got him to go 2 days before the storm, instead of the day before when all the rest of the panickers are shopping -lines are long and food short.  We went in and bought cans of soup - we can always use them - and a bit of “snack” as well as milk (we needed it anyway) and hot cereal (ditto).  No lines.  When we walked out he looked a bit relieved - we could probably live a month on what was in the house anyway, but if it helps him feel better...

When something like this is going to happen we plug in everything to charge it.  The lantern from our RV is brought into the house and its batteries charged (it also takes regular batteries).  Our laptops are left plugged in to charge. Our mobile phones (including my old one that I use as a PDA) are left plugged in to charge.  This time it was even more important to have the mobile phones charging as the house phone is down. 

So, we finished making ready - much of it to reassure him. 

Now, remember, the storm was coming today - today is, believe or not, the same Wednesday that the my embroidery chapter meets and the phone company was coming to fix our telephone!

Yesterday afternoon I telephoned the chapter president (I am also an officer) to ask about canceling the meeting - as schools were already canceling for today.  She was surprised to hear how a big storm was coming (as she was last month) and had planned to wait until evening to decide about the meeting.  She agreed we should cancel it and I sent out an email to the members.  I thought we should call them also (8 calls for each of us would taken care of it) but she said no - they would have the email and/or would call her or me - I reminded her that they could not call me and I hoped they would call her if they had a question.

I have mentioned that I do my laundry on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  I washed and dried all waiting laundry last night - Tuesday.  If we lose electricity we would at least have clean clothes and towels for 2 weeks.  It has not been folded, but, hey, one can fold without electricity.

This morning I woke early and dressed and went back to bed - as we were not sure when - or if (since there was to be the storm) the phone repairman would come or if he would be ringing our doorbell.  I am not a morning person and this is how I deal with anyone who is coming early or makes an “be there sometime during the day” appointment.  Later in the morning while still in bed I got still another text from the phone company asking if the problem was resolved (I got about 3 of these since the request for repair).  Husband picked up the house phone to see and there was a dial tone - a buzz on the line, but that could be do to the storm.  A short while later I got a phone call - hung up after 2 rings - also from the phone company and I called back and spoke with a nice fellow who called the house and made sure our phone was working.  One problem down - I hope.

When we got up for the day husband started to panic about what we would eat this evening if we lost the electricity.  I opened the refrigerator and took out the bread, peanut butter, “American cheese”, and jelly and put the piece of mozzarella cheese and package of cream cheese that we have on the top shelf next to where the refrigerator door opens so they could be grabbed quickly if there was no electricity.  I showed this all to him and reassured him.  I also reminded him that we have sterno and I could cook soup in the porch.  He then remembered we could cook in the RV if we needed to and felt better.  The food is still sitting next to the fridge and I will put it away before we go to bed tonight and will unplug everything sitting and charging.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Make sure you are prepared for emergencies. 

If you won’t eat canned meat - don’t buy it.  Think ahead of what you might need. 

I made sure Saturday night when I refilled our pill boxes for the week that we had enough medications.    

If you have a baby make sure you have whatever you need for the baby - the same for a person who needs care in your household -even sanitary items if it might be “that time of the month”.               
I paid all bills due out before the middle of next week and transferred enough money to pay them and have some cash in the checking account and made sure we had some cash at home (not much - what we have for the week plus and extra hundred dollars) just in case.

I had finished a business tax return for a client which has to go out by next Thursday.  I go in to do her books, write the tax checks and help her sign the forms and put them in addressed envelopes to be mailed out right away when I am there.  I had not copied and assembled the returns.  It dawned on me that if there is another storm on Monday - and who knows what is coming after that - I might not get to her in time to send out the returns.  So, Monday night I copied and assembled the returns and wrote instructions - including that I plan to be there to send them out and would call her if I was not able to be there and to help her deal with them.  They went out in yesterday’s mail to her.  I will call tomorrow to check with her about it. 

Think about what you and your family needs if you can’t go out or have no electricity for a few days ahead of time so you know what to do and you don’t panic if something is coming.





                   

MAJOR OOPS - MANAGED TO STAY ON SCHEDULE - AND A TIME TO CONTEMPLATE

I wrote this post for last week on Tuesday night and set it up to post itself on Wednesday night when I would normally post it, as Wednesday night was a major Jewish holiday - as you will see in the post itself.  Sorry.  It is now a week later and I am about to write this week's post a night late.  My apologies.

I was going to call this post “Treading Water” but in light of the continuation of hurricanes I decided that was in bad taste.  I cannot believe that there is another hurricane, Maria, hitting in the Caribbean again.  I hope that anyone you might know there is safe and well and stays so.  I feel so bad for those in that area. 

My thoughts and prayers also go to those in Mexico who have been hit by the earthquake.  Back in 1973 I was in Mexico with a college friend.  We had spent a few days in Mexico City and then took a 2 day tour bus ride down to Acapulco, with a stop in Taxco for the night.  We had two nights in Acapulco (one day).  The first morning there we woke to the telephone ringing.  My friend’s mom was calling from home - “Are you both okay?  Is there a lot of damage there?”  Apparently there had been an earthquake then also in Mexico City - and we did not know about it.  Others on our tour who flew down to Acapulco instead of the taking the bus arrived with stories of the outside wall of the hotel they were in (and we had been in) splitting between the beds in the room they were in!  It was terrifying to have been that close to an earthquake and I feel terribly for those who are there.
                               
I have to say - not as a joke, but a statement of fact - we think we have terrible organizing, decluttering and cleaning to do - but those who are losing their “stuff”, including their homes, possibly their jobs, and worst of all family, friends or even pets, have it much worse.  When my mom’s house was hit by Hurricane Sandy, her basement filled 4 feet with sea water and all in her basement had to be tossed out.  A crew came in and did it for her - it included her washer and dryer and furnace and water heater - in addition to my dad’s tools and our toys and a lot of books that were down there.  Instant forced getting rid of stuff.  5 years later I will still be somewhere at a flea market or such and see something and remember that I had it and it is gone.  Perhaps this can be a incentive to go through what you have and get rid of what is unneeded and less precious to you, so that you have room to safely store that which is precious to you.

The hurricane that was headed here, Jose, is no longer a hurricane and is still south of us, but is to pass to the east of where we live and has been affecting here all day today.  We had rain today on and off - much heavier to the east of us as they are closer to Jose, but not terrible.  Wind has not been bad.  But there is still tonight and Jose is suppose to circle around a bit out in the ocean - which apparently is good as it will keep Maria from hitting us.

We did get to the quilt show last Saturday - barely as we were not sure about the, yes, the weather.  He really is weather phobic.  While it is a quilt show there are many different fiber/textile vendors mixed in as there are no other similar sales venues.  The first booth in the show is a woman with a farm who sells wool yarns, fiber, etc.  We spent some time there on entering as husband does do weaving.  Her wool is lovely, but beyond our budget.  We were at the show for about 4 and a half hours.  I had a small tote bag with me as husband had brought a fabric tool he bought a few years ago which had broken and the vendor is usually at this show and he hoped they could tell him how to fix it.  (“That’s the old model - if you buy a new one we will give it to you for half price.”  Same being about twice what he paid originally - he will try again to fix it himself.)  So it was not obvious that we had bought - nothing as what we bought might have been in the tote bag.  The first vendor stopped us and asked what we had bought - she was shocked to hear “nothing”.  We saw many lovely things.  The shop my husband bought his loom from (we first saw them at this show a few years ago) was there - interesting add ons for his loom.  I got an idea for a Christmas ornament to make and sell - the thread at one booth caught my eye to make it - but they did not have the variegated color as it appeared on their sample and I was not going to spend $10 to get both colors separately.  Lovely quilts were entered in their competition and also were displayed in various exhibitions of quilts.  We had a wonderful day, bought nothing as we have so much of similar stuff at home that cries out to be used, and had a chance to see wonderful quilts (oh, and in one exhibition - clothing, accessories and house items - all handmade by people who had entered them into a competition).  Dinner in the Lancaster are and home. 

Despite the impending possible hurricane, we went this morning to the dentist.  I have new (and more) teeth.  Despite having worn an upper partial for decades, this one is much larger as it replaces more teeth which have “left me”.  I am having trouble adjusting - I keep needing to swallow to avoid gagging.  Oddly I am biting the inside of my mouth with one of my real teeth which is in the same place it has always been.  On the other side of my mouth I have two teeth hitting - but, again, the problem seems to be one of my teeth not the plate.  Next Monday we will start on making a spare - using part of my old one.  He wanted me to have my old one just in case.  I know I will adjust - when I got my first one it took a week before I could talk or eat.  Of course between an upper partial and a repair for him and ditto for me, the budget will not adjust for some time.

We came home and then went to the doctor.  All was well.  He is as nice as his dad was - husband gets upset easily and now feels much better about going to this doctor.  And we had a great health report for all of our various “conditions”.  (And all covered by our medical insurance - his and mine.) 

I am writing this a day early as tomorrow night - Wednesday - when I normally write and post is the start of one of the major Jewish holidays of the year and traditionally one does not and I choose to not do secular things - work or such on these holidays.  I set the holiday apart by watching no television other than religious services.  I pick out a book that is contemplative and read it - in the living room - in my chair - alone - with no other distractions.  Yes, I pray. 

I have our Friday afternoon banking and all the bills due this week ready to go tomorrow before the holiday starts.  I have tomorrow night’s laundry being washed and dried as I write.  So that none of these will need to be done during the holiday.

I use the time to contemplate the year that has passed, what I did that was good, what I did that was not so good and what I can do better in the year to come.
           
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

I am not looking to proselytize (Jews do not do so), but a few customs we have for our “New Year”, which is what this holiday is,  are good ideas.  As I said, this is our New Year and we take time to contemplate the year that has passed.  What have you done right?  Done wrong?  What could you do a bit better?  We take the period following this holiday (we have another one next week to end this period) to apologize to those we have injured - whether or not the person accepts our apology - it is as if they had and the weight of slights or wrongs against others are lifted from us - those who follow the religion more as it was originally will go to running water on a certain day and cast their “sins” into the water (with certain prayers).  Apologizing to others, and let negatice thoughts of the past and thoughts of slights against you go - clears one’s mind and lets one focus on what is good and what is to come instead of stewing about the past. Start a new year now cleared of the past and going forward with what you need and want to do. If now then pick any day to do this.  I have pointed out in the past that any day is actually the start of a new year.