Again with the angry skies

This is the look of the angry sky yesterday, which deposited rain and showed some lightning. This one taken with my big camera.

...and then it gets angier still!!! After what happened in OK, we need to pay special attention to these type of clouds! This photo taken with my cell phone and submitted to the local radio station's Facebook page. 

Foggy headed today

Justin was here overnight last night, making great strides in reclaiming the two bedrooms. He had a giant box, a moving box, filled almost to the top with cardboard from boxes he'd broken down. I called Connie at home to see where he should put it and her instructions were for him to park it in front of the big dumpster enclosure, as that would be emptied in the a.m. Perfect! She called me earlier to have me thank Justin for being so orderly about his placement of the box. That's my boy!

Because he stayed overnight, sleeping in the room across the hall from his, I feared he would oversleep and be late for work. When I asked him what time he had to leave for work, he said, "...at the butt crack of dawn..." Show me those numbers on the clock, please. At 6:05 a.m. I scurried down the hall to announce the time to him, and he said he had a couple minutes yet before he needed to be up. I still got it!!

                                     

You will love this story---the reason he stayed in the other bedroom was so he could use the bathroom. The rushing water toilet (due for repairs Wednesday a.m.) did not bother him. BUTT (no typo), he removed the toilet seat and we put it in the dishwasher to get it clean. All together now---EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! When he suggested this to me, I said, "That sounds like something Kim would do!" I emptied the clean dishes from the machine and we manipulated the seat, which he was soaking in the kitchen sink (again---EWWWWWWW!) into the rack for a more thorough cleaning. I had sprayed it that morning to get the cleaning process started so it wasn't too gross. But, bad enough to require dishwasher cleansing! Boys are so gross!

Since I was awake before 5:00 today, when it was close to noon, I was so very ready for a nap. My eyes were burning and needed to close. However, the housekeepers were due to arrive 'after lunch' so I wanted to be vigilant when they came to the door. Badly I wanted to put my head on my desk for a few minutes but did not. Since the single housekeeper did not arrive until 2:30, I could have had a very nice snooze and been raring to go!

My GroupOn purchase was for a two-hour cleaning and I assumed that two ladies would come, as is customary. As I write, one young lady is here and thinks it will take her all of the alotted two hours to do the floors I asked her to clean. That was the primary need I wanted addressed, vacuum the floors and wash the hard floors, so that is what she is doing. I hope she has time to tackle Justin's bathroom, but my hopes are dimming....

The plumber is coming Wed. morning and in the meanwhile, the water detector is in place and three doors are between that bathroom and me. My downstairs neighbors are in Italy and would not be available to rush back in case of an emergency. The works inside this toilet, installed by the same plumber just over a year ago, might simply need an adjustment, and I pray it is an easy fix.

Tattered nerves

I am incredibly thankful to have the water detectors Justin gave me for Mother's Day, and have, in fact, pressed one into service in his former bathroom. It seems that periodically I hear water running in his toilet, though nothing in the bowl nor in the tank appears to be moving. Oh, now what??? The works were replaced just over a year ago around the same time we had the leaks from the broken water softener pipes on the 5th floor (the first time it happened!) so it's not worn out yet. I wouldn't think they wear so quickly, right? I wonder how long this has been going on....

                                              

Thankfully Justin will be here tonight, right after work, to finish cleaning out his rooms so I won't be too hesitant to attend my church meeting. My tummy is in a knot from this, as is expected under circumstances such as this for me. Besides that, now my dryer is making a strange noise as it attempts to dry my clothes. Perhaps a coin or something is caught in the drum thing but I cannot see it nor make it stop. 

We have a building committee meeting tonight and it wouldn't be life or death if I did not go, but since I take the notes for it, should be sure to go. Also, I might be a distraction to Justin who needs to be entirely focused on his project of emptying the room. Oh my! When I expressed to him that I would not be here to "help him", Justin said, "That's okay...." I am sure it is! By the way, the dryer has now stopped making the racket so whatever it was scraping has worked itself free! (Just dug everything out of the dryer and found a quarter...mine!)

The same weekend as the big storm, I noticed a problem with my light switch in the kitchen. One is next to the fridge and one by the door, a three-way switch. I sometimes have to wiggle the switch to get the light to turn on. Oh, great! In order for an electrician to access the electrical box, he has to move the fridge out. Problem? There is a water hose connected to the ice maker, which I do not use for fear of a problem. Yikes! As I told Mike Kelley yesterday at church, "I don't really need a light in the kitchen....." We shall see what I do about that.

Closer to the pole is the alligator, and further out by the sandbar are the manatees

On Facebook the other day I noted that our resident alligator has become a regular visitor to the basin, keeping company, or not, with the manatees. They sort of keep themselves apart, which is probably a good idea. I looked out a bit ago and saw the gator had moved to the area usually occupied by the manatees and they have moved off to the center of the basin. By agreement, I am sure.

In other water news, I don't think I ever mentioned the damage experienced on this property during the huge storms the early part of May. My place and those above me were not the only problem areas, as others in the building experienced intrusion. The force of the wind-driven rain caused the problems to become evident in several other units in my building. This does not please me but does bring to light future problems we might have during the official hurricane season.

In the building next door, the condo garage and storage cubbies were flooded. There is a four inch curb the water had to breech to the storage area, and it did so that Saturday night. Over at the hotel, guests on the first floor had to evacuate as a waterfall of rain water gushed down the driveway to the hotel, over the edge of the flower bed and into the rooms. Karrie reported as much as 10" inches of water in the rooms at one time. 

The guests were NOT happy to have this happen, but hey, what can be done? Karrie was lamenting to me a couple Fridays ago about the tangling with the insurance company. The night security man told me that some people were VERY upset about having to move out, being relocated to an area hotel (above water level!). Harry told me that one lady was terribly upset, calling him "everything but white!", an expression I never heard before, but made me laugh. I feel badly for everyone involved, in particular those who have to try to put things back to right again. 

Karrie has to find invoices for the purchase of the carpet, bedding, and other items used to furnish the rooms. No wonder her staff is pulling out their hair, trying to scare up the receipts. I think the insurance company is a bit nit-picky as they will likely only reimburse the pro-rated amount anyway. I would like to ask her how it's going but hate to open that can of worms. What a storm system that was!!

Angry skies today

We had some very angry skies here for a while today. They did not produce rain on this side of the river, as far as I know, but the thunder was sufficient to rattle the lanterns which over my head. It moved down the river, chased by blue skies..

                  

Summer has arrived

Actually it is still spring but the temperatures have at last broken the barrier and warmed us up. I am in the minority when it comes to liking the hotter air but I don't mind that one little bit. 

Last evening and again tonight several of us enjoyed time around the pool. The poor cabana attendant tonight was wanting to go home just when some were coming out to sit. I think he didn't mind terribly, especially when they put tips in his jar. First, on the way out and then back in again, I had to stop at my downstairs neighbor's house to turn the A/C off and then back on again. Someone was having problems with their unit which required the water to be shut off to the A/C pump. Good thing I have keys for the place!

                                       

Some brave souls, yes, kids, were in the pool on that end of the area but no one dared dive into the adult's pool. Still a bit too cold. Much to my delight, my former neighbor, Jessica, was sitting poolside with her iPad, enjoying some quiet time without her two sons. Travis and she had originally planned an evening out, but then had a plumbing problem on the exterior of their house. Nothing changes but the address, it seems!! Instead they were getting some take-out food and having date night at home.

Kathy H. and I had a nice visit poolside catching up on the news of the week, which we had not discussed last night due to the mixed group we had there. She and I like to hash over the goings on in Washington and our nation, and did that this late afternoon. Loved it! Her mom came out and joined the conversation as well. It turned cool, in my opinion, so I came back upstairs.

This afternoon I made some pretzel rolls which I found at Winn Dixie in the frozen bread dept. They are simply delicious, tasted great when I added my leftover roast beef on them. Made for a good dinner. Linda had told me about how good the Rhodes brand of rolls are but I could not find them at WD. Since Publix has Diet Coke on sale, I will stop tomorrow and see if they carry the brand Linda recommended. 

I hear fireworks going off up and down the river, I wonder what the occasion is...Oh, I bet it's for graduations!  How fun is that?!

Even more news!

How do the political folks in the arena keep all the balls in the air? I watched a good deal of the hearings today where the acting head of the IRS is facing the music. Apparently all that these guys can say is "I don't know..." The rest of that sentence is "...how we got caught!" or "...how this came to light." Funny that PresBO is acting all incensed over this even though this activity has been happening and been reported for several years already. And, he demanded the acting head step down, even though Mr. Miller was leaving his role in June. Emptiness...

Hollywood is strangely quiet these days, other than reports of who is getting braces and who had a double mastectomy. One would expect the liberals would rally to the defense of their leader but all one hears right now is crickets chirping. The emperor has lost his clothes, it seems. Now that the press has been violated, those who had been in his pocket all this while, it's every man for himself. 

My younger sister has read all the released pages in regard to the Benghazi debacle, those which came out on Wednesday late afternoon. According to the pundits, some of the e-mails are telling, some just confirm what the witnesses testified, and others indicated the Press Secretary is a stranger to the truth. There are thousands more somewhere which will likely be released in dribs and drabs, as the gov't. really wants this story to go away. It won't and hopefully wishing won't make it so.

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Thursday I had lunch with my friend, Lee, at The Club, on meatloaf day. They have a mini-buffet on Thursdays and sometimes the menu really appeals to me. The fried chicken is supposedly the best but the only time I had it there, the chicken came from Publix! There was a gas line problem in the neighborhood so The Club could not make their own chicken. 

                                               

Anyway, Jacquie could not join us for lunch as originally planned as she was house-bound with repairman, fixing things which leaked during the huge storms a couple weekends ago. The more they did, the more damage was discovered. Evidently the leak had been at work for a while, causing wood rot inside and out. She is soon done, as she is keeping me updated. Hates the mess worst of all!

Lee's son left her home last week, having been there a few months, gone to work with his cousins and uncle as a deck builder. He is Justin's age and had been in college in South Florida for a few years, studying accounting. I hope he finds something in his field eventually but for the time being, he is a deck builder! She likes having her space back, just as I do.

When Karrie, the owner, stopped at our table, she laughed when she saw my plate. She said, "You really are a meat and potatoes girl, aren't you?", as I made a face at Lee's calamari salad. Yup, meat and potatoes girl here! By the way, Lee told me she got in the pool last Friday and heard herself shriek--totally involuntary. The air might be warm but the water is not! 

                                   

This morning I had breakfast with Tina and little Gracie at The Club. Pat had let me know the night before that she was not going to make it this week but I made sure Tina would be there. This is their last time until school starts again in the fall, as she will redirect her funds to the cabana for the summer. l will see Pat for water exercises but am not sure we will still do breakfast. I will leave that up to her. We still have Happy Hour and the occasional Thursday buffet of meatloaf or fried chicken! 

Not as bad as we expected

We Palace dwellers were cautioned about the pungent aroma this water proofing material would bring, but so far, it's not that bad! This fellow had a tiny roller he used for cutting in, but I hoped they had a more substantial method of spreading the material. They did---actually pouring it out and pushing it into place with a giant squeegy. Made quick work of the open areas.

 No wonder they did so much grinding---it looks perfectly smooth now!

This is the north end of the sundeck. Under those stairs is the doorway to Hugh and Maureen's condo. Who needs a door when you have a ladder, right?