USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Foxfyre]

It was surreal watching the hurricane coverage last night--deserted streets, all the fronds on the palm trees blowing stiffly forward, boarded up buildings, but the lights were still on. Some traffic lights were coming down but they were still cycling green, yellow, and red.

And I thought about the images of a couple of days ago such as hundreds of utility trucks parked in tight rows in a large field, ready to roll when the storm passed. We have learned a lot in how to prepare for these things.

Since Tampa made it through with not all that much damage, residents are returning and wanting to know what's open. As of this afternoon not much. A couple Chinese restaurants did open and immediately had people lined up way out the door trying to get in. Will still breathe a sigh of relief when all the friends and family in Florida chime in though. In Tampa and elsewhere there are still lots of power outages, downed power lines, bridges are still closed, etc. so it isn't safe for all to come back yet.

 

[Ringel05]

It was surreal watching the hurricane coverage last night--deserted streets, all the fronds on the palm trees blowing stiffly forward, boarded up buildings, but the lights were still on. Some traffic lights were coming down but they were still cycling green, yellow, and red.

And I thought about the images of a couple of days ago such as hundreds of utility trucks parked in tight rows in a large field, ready to roll when the storm passed. We have learned a lot in how to prepare for these things.

Since Tampa made it through with not all that much damage, residents are returning and wanting to know what's open. As of this afternoon not much. A couple Chinese restaurants did open and immediately had people lined up way out the door trying to get in. Will still breathe a sigh of relief when all the friends and family in Florida chime in though. In Tampa and elsewhere there are still lots of power outages, downed power lines, bridges are still closed, etc. so it isn't safe for all to come back yet.

Maybe they should get some horses, old lanterns, stamped steel pans like the pioneers in Florida used to have. Build a few rafts, etc, eat salt pork and corn mush. Make it a family affair.......... It'll be fun!
Or not.......

 

[Ernie S.]

So Irma is weakening and may not be as devastating as was feared but we won't know until morning light. So keep those prayers and positive vibes headed that way.

Good night darlinks, I really do love you guys.

And we continue to pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Nosmo's mom,
Rod, GW's partner,
Kat's sister,
Boedicca, her dad, brother, and family,
Sherry's Mom for treatment to be successful,
The Ringels in difficult transition
Dana, Foxfyre's friend recovering from heart transplant
Mr. and Mrs. Gracie in difficult transition
Ringel's injured shoulder and general wellness,
Hossfly's knee rehab,
007's brother-in-law for a full recovery,
Saveliberty in difficult transition, his daughter, and for his brother-in-law and family,
Mr. and Mrs. Peach174 for full recovery from setback,
And for our students, job hunters, others in transition.

And the light is left on for Noomi, Freedombecki, , SFC Ollie, and all others we hope are okay and will return to us.

My people in the Fort Lauderdale area have all made it through the storm with little or no damage. Only one lost power! Have not heard from people just north of Tampa, but, from what I can find in the news, the storm passed to their east. Other friends in the Orlando area are among the few people who still have power in the area.

 

[peach174]

Hey peach174 , how is Mr. P doing?

Thank you for asking.
He is doing better than he was.
He got really bad blood blisters from his air walker cast last week and it was all around his ankle.
Been busy getting him to Doc. Specialist in skin wounds at the Hospital in Benson.
Saw him last Fri., then this Mon. then this coming thursday again.
His ankle looked much better this morning when his bandages were changed.

 

[Foxfyre]

Hey peach174 , how is Mr. P doing?

Thank you for asking.
He is doing better than he was.
He got really bad blood blisters from his air walker cast last week and it was all around his ankle.
Been busy getting him to Doc. Specialist in skin wounds at the Hospital in Benson.
Saw him last Fri., then this Mon. then this coming thursday again.
His ankle looked much better this morning when his bandages were changed.

The trauma didn't trigger a MS flare up I hope. I just hate that you guys have to deal with this just when things were getting so much better. But improvement is always good.

 

[007]

Well, Montana isn't the place you wanna be right now, I had to cut my visit short. It's hot, dry, not a cloud in the sky to be seen, everything is brown and there's thick smoke covering the entire state, even the Dakotas and into MN. But I watched the local news in MT and the air quality report was "HAZARDOUS" just about everywhere, especially in the SW where I was at. Tuesday morning when I left my motel room there was ASH on my truck. Well, a couple more days of that and I had to leave early. I feel sorry for my family stuck out there in that, and even though this year is the worst they've ever seen, I think this is the new pattern now because they've had smoke for months during the summer now for the past 4 years, and hot and dry. They could move but they won't. I would. I was never so glad to get back to GREEN Wisconsin with nice crisp, clean autumn air. I'm darn glad I live here. We don't have wild fires, we don't have earth quakes, we don't have hurricanes, etc, etc... but we can have some pretty brutal winters. Well, I'll take the winter. Wisconsin makes me feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz... "there's no place like home."

 

[Foxfyre]

Well, Montana isn't the place you wanna be right now, I had to cut my visit short. It's hot, dry, not a cloud in the sky to be seen, everything is brown and there's thick smoke covering the entire state, even the Dakotas and into MN. But I watched the local news in MT and the air quality report was "HAZARDOUS" just about everywhere, especially in the SW where I was at. Tuesday morning when I left my motel room there was ASH on my truck. Well, a couple more days of that and I had to leave early. I feel sorry for my family stuck out there in that, and even though this year is the worst they've ever seen, I think this is the new pattern now because they've had smoke for months during the summer now for the past 4 years, and hot and dry. They could move but they won't. I would. I was never so glad to get back to GREEN Wisconsin with nice crisp, clean autumn air. I'm darn glad I live here. We don't have wild fires, we don't have earth quakes, we don't have hurricanes, etc, etc... but we can have some pretty brutal winters. Well, I'll take the winter. Wisconsin makes me feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz... "there's no place like home."

Hope you had a good visit anyway 007. And your ailing family member is doing better now I hope?

I don't have any respiratory problems other than I used to get occasional exercise induced mild asthma attacks. But I don't like breathing the smoke. We don't have any wildfires close to us, but are getting smoke from other states from as far away as Montana, Idaho, and probably California. They are doing some controlled burns in southern New Mexico. And there is a consistent haze on the mountains. Especially late in the evening when the winds become almost dead calm and the temperature drops, the smoke settles down close to the ground and becomes very noticeable.

 

[Montrovant]

 

[Ernie S.]

So Irma is weakening and may not be as devastating as was feared but we won't know until morning light. So keep those prayers and positive vibes headed that way.

Good night darlinks, I really do love you guys.

And we continue to pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Nosmo's mom,
Rod, GW's partner,
Kat's sister,
Boedicca, her dad, brother, and family,
Sherry's Mom for treatment to be successful,
The Ringels in difficult transition
Dana, Foxfyre's friend recovering from heart transplant
Mr. and Mrs. Gracie in difficult transition
Ringel's injured shoulder and general wellness,
Hossfly's knee rehab,
007's brother-in-law for a full recovery,
Saveliberty in difficult transition, his daughter, and for his brother-in-law and family,
Mr. and Mrs. Peach174 for full recovery from setback,
And for our students, job hunters, others in transition.

And the light is left on for Noomi, Freedombecki, , SFC Ollie, and all others we hope are okay and will return to us.

My people in the Fort Lauderdale area have all made it through the storm with little or no damage. Only one lost power! Have not heard from people just north of Tampa, but, from what I can find in the news, the storm passed to their east. Other friends in the Orlando area are among the few people who still have power in the area.

Heard from one more couples in Lakeland FL. They have been without power for 28 hours at this point. The generator they had ordered 2 weeks before the storm was never delivered and they are about at the point where they will be tossing the food from their fridge and 2 chest freezers. Their house made it through the storm with just one shingle loosened. They have a lot of damage to their landscaping, but it should all survive in an abbreviated form.
On another note, you may remember that about 6 months ago, I had a young lady staying here on the couch who left for Detroit to stay with her mom when I got hurt.
Her 4 year old niece found her father (my friend's older brother) dead from suicide by hanging Sunday morning. I have spent much of the last 2 days offering comfort and insight to Heather and her mother

 

[007]

Well, Montana isn't the place you wanna be right now, I had to cut my visit short. It's hot, dry, not a cloud in the sky to be seen, everything is brown and there's thick smoke covering the entire state, even the Dakotas and into MN. But I watched the local news in MT and the air quality report was "HAZARDOUS" just about everywhere, especially in the SW where I was at. Tuesday morning when I left my motel room there was ASH on my truck. Well, a couple more days of that and I had to leave early. I feel sorry for my family stuck out there in that, and even though this year is the worst they've ever seen, I think this is the new pattern now because they've had smoke for months during the summer now for the past 4 years, and hot and dry. They could move but they won't. I would. I was never so glad to get back to GREEN Wisconsin with nice crisp, clean autumn air. I'm darn glad I live here. We don't have wild fires, we don't have earth quakes, we don't have hurricanes, etc, etc... but we can have some pretty brutal winters. Well, I'll take the winter. Wisconsin makes me feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz... "there's no place like home."

Hope you had a good visit anyway 007. And your ailing family member is doing better now I hope?

I don't have any respiratory problems other than I used to get occasional exercise induced mild asthma attacks. But I don't like breathing the smoke. We don't have any wildfires close to us, but are getting smoke from other states from as far away as Montana, Idaho, and probably California. They are doing some controlled burns in southern New Mexico. And there is a consistent haze on the mountains. Especially late in the evening when the winds become almost dead calm and the temperature drops, the smoke settles down close to the ground and becomes very noticeable.

Yeah I spent 5 days out there. Got to see my niece and her husband I hadn't met yet, and we got in our fun. Got to go over to Ennis and south of there to the ranch my nephew runs too, but just heavy smoke everywhere, couldn't even see the mountains. My BIL mined talc for over 40 years and his lungs are shot, and my older sister had Scarlet Fever with pneumonia when she was just a little girl, so neither of them should really be breathing that smoke. My nephew says when he retires from ranching he's gone, he's leaving Montana, he's sick of the heat and smoke every year. I told him it would be great to see him in Wisconsin. We'd find him a real nice home to buy. My BIL is better though, he wasn't having any problems while I was there so, if he's on the watch list I guess he could come off.

Not really surprising there's smoke down there in N.M. also. I think the entire western half of the US is on FIRE... or so it would seem.

Here's an example of the smoke at the ranch my nephew runs. I took this pic while he was showing me some abandoned houses near his place on some of the land they lease...

That mountain in the back you can barely see is Sphinx mountain. That's looking right in the direction of the NW corner of WY and Yellowstone Park.

 

[007]

My nephew standing by one of the old abandoned houses on the ranch...

 

[007]

My nephew's latest toy... you need a friggin' step ladder to get in it...

 

[Gracie]

What part of Wisconsin are you in? It sounds lovely.

 

[WelfareQueen]

We just got back home. Power was only out two days. No major damage to our home or Sherry's Mom's place. We got off very lucky. We'll tell you more later. Doing the clean up now.

 

[peach174]

My nephew's latest toy... you need a friggin' step ladder to get in it...

Now you know how I feel with Ford 150 trucks.
I need one, to get into it, if it hasn't got a runner.

 

[peach174]

Last Tue. Mr. P walked too much, which caused 2 to 3 inch wide blood blisters all around his ankle and heel. He can't feel his legs very well due to the M.S.
When he took his morning shower on Wed. we found them.
I drained it and bandaged it up temporarily, because he was seeing our reg. Dr. at 9:00 a.m.
He sent him to a skin wound specialist which he saw last Fri. and again this Mon.
We see him again on Thur. He is using this honey cream medical treatment that's healing him up pretty quickly. The honey helps to drain it.
Mr. P will be getting the dead skin cut away and a foot bath on Thursday.
It's looking much better and today he started walking without his walker and is using his cane.
He went to visit a neighbor this morning for a short time, he was getting cabin fervor.

 

[peach174]

We just got back home. Power was only out two days. No major damage to our home or Sherry's Mom's place. We got off very lucky. We'll tell you more later. Doing the clean up now.

So happy to hear that you're all ok.

 

[Gracie]

My van has a runner. It comes in handy for old dogs. Including old human dogs.

 

[saveliberty]

Well, Montana isn't the place you wanna be right now, I had to cut my visit short. It's hot, dry, not a cloud in the sky to be seen, everything is brown and there's thick smoke covering the entire state, even the Dakotas and into MN. But I watched the local news in MT and the air quality report was "HAZARDOUS" just about everywhere, especially in the SW where I was at. Tuesday morning when I left my motel room there was ASH on my truck. Well, a couple more days of that and I had to leave early. I feel sorry for my family stuck out there in that, and even though this year is the worst they've ever seen, I think this is the new pattern now because they've had smoke for months during the summer now for the past 4 years, and hot and dry. They could move but they won't. I would. I was never so glad to get back to GREEN Wisconsin with nice crisp, clean autumn air. I'm darn glad I live here. We don't have wild fires, we don't have earth quakes, we don't have hurricanes, etc, etc... but we can have some pretty brutal winters. Well, I'll take the winter. Wisconsin makes me feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz... "there's no place like home."

Careful, some witch will be after your dog....

 

[saveliberty]

Ahem...