It's Good, Post-Bug-Out Experience

I didn't mean to leave you hanging since my last update. Thank you all for all the good wishes! It's been a sort of weird period here, with a palpable drop-off in energy both physically and mentally since hurricane Milton blew through last week and upset all my plans (I know, I know: you plan, god laughs). 

Friday night I was in bed before 8:30--I was so far past exhausted that I couldn't even see it in the rear view mirror--and I was not awake very much in the night before getting up around 11 hours later. It hasn't been as bad since then, but I have felt rather foggy since then. More so than usual, I mean!

Although my trip up north didn't end up working (sad trombone), I still took my vacation this week, which has been very pleasant. Yesterday I went to the yarn store to meet some of my friends for knitting, and then went to lunch! I wish I could join them for that every week. Retirement is going to be so excellent, when I can afford to do it.

I feel like there are wisps of thoughts in my head about evacuating that I would like to be in one place for future reference (hopefully far, far in the future), though I haven't organized my thoughts on it. Let me see what comes to mind:

• Bringing my own pillow to the hotel was an excellent idea. Hotel beds are always far too firm for me, but having my own pillow made it much easier. I also have a smaller pillow that goes under my neck, and a small blanket to put over my head, as well as the eye mask, and they all helped me sleep better than usual in a hotel.
• Similarly, bringing a few throw blankets, although the initial idea was that they would comfort the cat, made me feel more comfortable too.
• I brought a jar of my cold-brew coffee, and my favorite creamer flavor, with me, and having that little touch of normalcy in the mornings was very comforting. I am not someone who NEEDS coffee in the morning, but I like it, and was glad to have it. 10/10, would do again.
• I also brought a few small bags of ice, which stayed pretty well frozen even in the mini-fridge, and it was handy to have without having to track down the ice maker in the hotel.
• Snacks. So many snacks. Snacks are good if, like me, you eat your feelings in times of stress.
• I should note that I hardly did any knitting. It was like my brain didn't want to focus on it. I read a little, but concentration was just in short supply.
• I don't know if this is true of every Hampton Inn, but they had a really good breakfast, including hot food every day. Cheese omelet and sausage one day, scrambled eggs and bacon another, oatmeal, waffles, cold cereal, bagels and toast and little muffins, fruit and yogurt and juice...highly recommend.
• I bring paper towels and cleaning spray mostly in case there are cat accidents, but the paper towels got used anyway. I also bring a whole box of real Kleenex, as anyone with allergies does not want to spend days using hotel tissues. I brought some ziploc bags and chip clips that we didn't end up needing, but I would still bring them next time.
• What is up with hotels not having towel racks in the bathroom? Is it a holdover from the days when you got all new towels every day? There were two hooks, so kind of useless for letting towels actually dry, and two small racks for hanging up a hand towel, except one of them was in front of the toilet paper dispenser...why? 
• They also need to have more grab bars in the shower. Next time I think I should try to get an accessible room, so that it would be easier for Mom.

All right, that's all the random I can come up with right now. Here, have a cute Maggie photo:

She paused in her bath to listen for something.

Home. Safe. Exhausted.

We drove home from the east coast on Friday. Our neighbor, who stayed through the storm, had told us on Thursday night that the power was back on (so it was out for about 20 hours in total), and added Friday morning that it was flickering now and then, but staying on.

The drive was fine, two and a half hours instead of more than four going over. There was some bad rain at the start, which I could have done without on the crazy east coast highways (I don't think there are any interchanges near me where the GPS has to tell you which of the eight lanes you should be in, but if there are, I never drive on them), but soon enough we were heading west and it was just busy, not crazy, from there. 

We got home before 2 pm, and thankfully, the elevator worked to 1) get Mom and Maggie upstairs and inside, and 2) let me load up the big hotel-size luggage cart with most of the stuff from the car and get it upstairs. Then I took the cart back down and the elevator wouldn't go back up. Sigh. I texted the building manager, and he had the elevator repair person there in just a few minutes. 

Side note, I wouldn't want his job.

(He sent the elevator up and then got in the shaft, yikes.)

He stopped working on it long enough to let me take it up, bless him, and we didn't try to use it again yesterday. This morning, our neighbor let me know that it wasn't working when she went to walk the dog; we've been having lots of power fluctuations, and our elevator is so sensitive, sigh. I'm hoping it will work today, but who knows.

More to come, but that's the basics for now. Hope you all are well, from the hurricane or just in general!

Still Waiting

We are still in the hotel, and doing fine when all things are considered. When I made the reservation on Monday, the forecast had effing Milton crossing over land on Wednesday, so I was hoping we would be able to head home on Thursday. But it slowed down, and now is supposed to hit overnight tonight (Wed late/Thurs early), so it looks like we may not be able to get home until Friday. Or, of course, later, depending on how hard-hit home is.

Sigh. Stress and uncertainty.

Anyway! We are here, safe, and that counts for a lot. Have some photos, mostly of Maggie exploring:

Starving.

We got to watch the Bruins game! (Unfortunately they lost; I expect they'll win Thursday night, since I don't think we'll be able to see it from here.)

I ran out today to do a load of laundry (Maggie peed in the carrier on the way here, poor thing).

I was not excited that it was open-air, considering the temperature at the time. I feel very lucky that I don't usually have to do laundry this way. 

Cat? What cat?

What cat?

No cat here. Obviously.

Hotel Living

We made it to the east coast, which will hopefully be just bad weather, not full hurricane force.

Someone is not a fan.

But we’re safe.

Bugging Out

Yeah, that's a big hurricane heading this way, isn't it? Damn you, Milton. 

Mom and I head for the east coast tomorrow: after much (much, much) searching, I found a room there to take us and our furry friend. We're supposed to get 4 to 7 feet of storm surge, and I'm just not confident the power won't go out. No, thank you!

I haven't given up all hope of my trip this weekend; I changed my flights from Thursday to Friday, and my fingers remain crossed.

If you are the praying kind, we would appreciate prayers that it passes quickly and doesn't do too much damage. And that we don't get any more this hurricane season!

Not Much Walking Here

As I reported last week, I did go for a walk on the first day of the Cool Bloggers Walking Club, even though it was far from cool weather for it here. On Wednesday, therefore, I decided to walk around inside. I got a book and set a timer and started walking.

And about five minutes in, my right hip started hurting. Hmm. I tried stretching it out and gave it another minute, but it was pretty annoying, so I stopped. I just can't be hurt right now, either everything that's going on.

And while I though about walking the next days, thinking about it is all I did. The next few days aren't necessarily looking great, either.

Today, the weather is not conducive to going out. And it's not even the hurricane yet.

Now, I did leave the condo this morning:

But honestly, it was just when I was working in the garage for a bit, trying to tidy things up in case, god forbid, the storm gets as bad as Ian did in there.

I also brought my suitcases upstairs, hoping that I will be using them to pack for NY, not evacuate from here. We'll know more later today and tomorrow about where the center is going to hit; we'll be getting bad weather no matter what, but how bad is the question. 

Milton is supposed to go over Florida on Wednesday. Best case, we won't have to bug out before it, but even then, will it mess up my flights on Thursday? There's no knowing yet. The uncertainty is making me crazy.

Oh, and by the way, Wednesday? Is my birthday. I don't believe it should be allowed, having something like this happen on your birthday.

Trip Planning Gets ... Derailed

I started drafting a post on Friday: 

On the one hand, I can't wait to stop working and be on vacation, and it's taking forever to get there.

On the other, wait, I need to be packed and ready to go by when?

Right where I always am, in other words.

I have started to stalk the weather in upstate NY. I know that more then a few days out, it's not completely reliable, but it will give me an idea. As of midday Friday, this is what it says:

And right now, that idea is yes, pack your winter coat, Florida girl. Brrr!

~~~~~

And now it's Saturday, and I'm looking at this:

Milton, currently a tropical storm but forecast to quickly become a hurricane, is looking very likely to hit us here in Florida on Wednesday. It's starting to look like I won't be flying to NY on Thursday, isn't it?

Happy birthday to me.

Shit, man. Just, shit.

Walking, Day 1

Elisabeth of the blog Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist is doing a walking club in October, and I agreed that I will try to walk at least 10 minutes a day every day this month (preferably outside, but that may not happen every day).

So, when I got home from going to the chiropractor this morning, I went for a 10-minute walk. Literally no more than that, since this is what the weather was at the time, aka 10 AM:

I don't plan to try and upset my early-morning routine* to go, since it isn't that much cooler; I looked at the weather around 7 AM and it said it was 81, feels like 91. 

*I am very reliant on my routine to get going in the morning, as I am not at all a morning person.

At least it was pretty.

Since going around the block takes longer than 10 minutes, and (again), it was super hot, plus I needed to get back to work, I set the timer for five minutes and turned around when it was time. Just as I was ready to turn, I noticed this little fellow on the sidewalk ahead of me. Hello, handsome! (The lizard, not the leaf behind him, obviously.)

I did pause on the way back to get some pictures of the burrowing owls. I can't resist them.

Their expressions range from "what are you looking at?"....

To "go to hell." I love them and their little grumpy faces.

I was actually dripping by the time I got inside the blessed air conditioning. It will be interesting to compare today's walk to the last day of the month.

Hilarious and Scathing Movie Review

Rather than wait for the next round-up of movie ratings, I had to share this one today, along with some quotes from the review that made me glad I don't have the job of reviewing movies. Can you imagine?

Okay, we start with one and a half stars. We've seen worse.

Cruelty to moviegoers? Well, that's new! The reviewer is not holding back.

Now, here is the question: Would you ever go see this movie? What would it take to get you there? For me, even a free ticket and free popcorn wouldn't do it.

Did you want to see it before (or not want to), and did the review change your mind?

Watching but Not Worrying; Unrelatedly, Hockey and Vaccine (separately)

As you may have heard, Tropical Storm Helene has formed and is headed toward Florida. The good news for me is that Florida is very large, and so far, the path is not aiming directly at where I am. Not that I wish a hurricane on anyone, but it has to go somewhere, and since two years ago it changed direction and Ian came here, I am (provisionally, not counting any chickens) relieved that it isn't us this time. I can deal with heavy wind and rain and flooding, if it doesn't mean power going and staying out, making hotel reservations, and packing up Mom, Maggie, and everything we need for an open-ended trip to the east coast.

Please let this all remain true.

Worst-case scenario, we'll have to bug out, and if we have to, we will. Best-case scenario, Helene will pull the humidity with her as she goes by, and we'll get at least a short break from the feels-like 100+ temps we've been having. Because much as I like hot weather, I am well ready for a break.

~~~~~

Completely unrelated, but as hockey season comes around again, finally, I have to say that one thing is making me sad. Well, two things.

1. The Bruins have not signed presumptive number one goalie Jeremy Swayman to a new contract, so he is not at training camp and can't join the team until he's signed. This actually makes me more angry than sad, but sad is part of it. I could go on and on, but I will spare you the rant. Just pay the man!
2. I am more and more happy with the social media experience on BlueSky (finding new-to-me authors! slowly finding more knitters! lots of cute cat photos!), but so far, few hockey people are there. However, as part of the recent influx of Brazilians who joined BlueSky when Twitter was taken down in Brazil, I was surprised to learn that there are Brazilian Bruins fans. I mean, why not, I guess. But what it means is that the account on BlueSky that seems to most closely follow the Bruins...is in Portuguese.

Come on, English-speaking Bruins fans and media people, step it up now! I'm happy to see black and gold on my feed, but it would be nice if I could read it. That one semester of Portuguese in college isn't helping me out much.

Also also, I got the latest covid shot over the weekend, and if you can, I would encourage you to get it. I made sure to do it on a weekend when I didn't have other plans, so I could rest if need be, or be lazy with a good excuse, depending, and had very few side effects. A little injection-site soreness, not bad enough to keep me from sleeping on that side, and as I have had with every covid shot, some swelling of the lymph nodes under that arm, making it tender but not actually painful. I believe in the vaccines, and in their power to make it less likely that I catch covid, and less serious if I do, and I hope you feel the same.

The Power of Procrastination

It certainly doesn't always work out this way, but sometimes putting off a decision ends up working out.

As I planned for my trip to Syracuse next month, I looked into renting a car, and was surprised at how many airport fees were stacked on top of the base cost. Probably the same thing was true when I last rented a car five years ago, when my grandmother died, and honestly I was not worrying about the cost then. This time, I put off making the reservation, and contemplated the idea of taking a cab to and from the airport, and getting the rental at a location in the city instead, which was a lot cheaper.

However, I get in late on a Thursday, and decided that I wasn't sure I would be able to get a cab to go out to my aunt's house at that time, nor how much it would cost. Today, I just went ahead and rented it to get at the airport, going by the idea that if you have a problem that can be solved with money that you have, and it will make things easier, just do that.

And lo and behold, for some reason it was a lot cheaper than it had been when I looked into it last month. Like, from $575 to under $450. I'll take it!

~~~~~

In other news, I took an online vocabulary test, because that's just the sort of word nerd I am, and woohoo, I am full of words! If you can't brag on your own blog, where can you?

I got avulse wrong, which is unsurprising as I never heard of the word before.

Still, one wrong out of 50? I will pat myself on the back all night.