[Annalog]

Good morning from southern Arizona.

Mlewis, I understand about writing here what I would never write on Facebook! (Corrected darn Autocorrect.)

We got up early as we will spend today driving a loop around 2/3 of the eastern half of Arizona picking up and delivering stuff for family because we have a pickup truck.

We wanted to leave extra early but were delayed by over 45 minutes because I couldn't find my glasses. DH was busy tearing the bedroom apart when I stopped looking to feed the cats. I decided to check the my desk in the library.  That is where I found them! I am very nearsighted and apparently took them off to crop a photo before sending it. Since it was nighttime and I was tired, I then just went to bed.  Silly Anna!

Hope your day is wonderful. Have fun safely and be excellent to each other.

UPDATE: We walk out the door and I glance at the garden wondering if I should turn on the water as we had a storm last night. I guess lots of wind and not much rain as the PVC box frame we made came apart and collapsed. Fortunately the wall of luffa plants fell toward the walkway and not on top of the two tomato plants. We removed framework pieces over the tomatoes, staked tomatoes,  and left it at that. The luffa plants are fine and we can reassemble when we get back. The bees were happily pollinating the flowers. 

 

[NapCat (retired)]

Good Morning

We only reached a brisk 114 yesterday...should be about the same today. It was delightful on the deck predawn in the 70s. I am still attempting to clean/reorganize my office, but it is slow going (no need for rush, I suppose). I have been fortunate to have had some fascinating careers with adventures around the world, so that room is full of so many memories.

Hope everyone is having a restful Sunday.

mlewis: Thanks for sharing your apartment safari and wildlife tour !!

 

[mlewis78]

Hi and good morning.

I did not pull the sofa out. Got up so late and used the exercise bike and soon after went to the market (Morton Williams on 9th) to get some necessities. I seem to run out of bottled lemon juice a lot these days. I watched Perry Mason. I'm in the homestretch of a book about my father's WWII fighter group (359th in Europe). Going to go read now.

In our area we are anticipating the arrival of tropical storm Isaia (how did they pick that name and the pronunciation on the TV had me stunned). Expecting it early Tuesday, just before the bedbug man comes (from my previous post and I don't see or feel any!) It was quite humid and hot Sunday evening but below 90.

Have a good day

 

[loonlover]

Good morning.

It appears another pleasant day is in store with sunny skies and a high in the 80s. Almost unheard of in Arkansas in August.

I was awake around 3 and couldn't get back to sleep so came out to the couch and read awhile. Was up for about an hour and a half, went back to bed and went right back to sleep until my normal rising time. I was hungry so ate some protein and drank a little water. Don't know if that was the problem causing the wakefulness or not, but I'm suspicious it was.

I need birdseed so I think we're headed to TSC today. II mentioned he really wanted to go someplace and just look around a bit so decided that might be the easiest/safest place to go. Now all I have to do is hope the seed is in stock.

They dug out for the sidewalk across the street yesterday. We're figuring they'll be here this morning to put forms in and will be pouring concrete today or tomorrow. Hopefully they get some of it done today as II will be sleeping in tomorrow morning.

Hope your week gets off to a good start. Stay safe.

 

[NapCat (retired)]

Good Morning and Happy Monday

Temperatures are slowly dropping (from 121) and we should only be 104. I have so much to do outside, but just cannot take the heat the way I used to when I was younger. Sigh

Hope everyone has a great week.

Have Fun and be Safe.

 

[Andra]

Everybody on the east coast - stay safer than usual!

 

[loonlover]

Good morning.

Another day in the 80s in store for us. I noticed there is a tornado watch in effect where our son is on Long Island. Usually it is him checking on us after the possibility of that kind of weather.

II working 11-7 tonight. My car is due for an oil change so I plan on dropping it off early in the morning so II can pick me up on his way home. I used to sit and wait during service, but figure it is safer to drop off these days.

Mowing in my plans today, along with making sure we are fed. They framed the sidewalk across the street yesterday so figure the cement trucks will arrive shortly. I am, however, hoping for late rather than early this morning so II isn't awakened too early.

Stay safe. Thinking of those in the path of Isaias.

 

[Andra]

Good morning.
We had a "cold" front yesterday that brought a thunderstorm and temps in the low 70s by 5pm.  Today we are still slated to go up to the 90s...  not really my definition of a cold front, but the cooler weather yesterday evening was nice.
Hope everyone in the path of Isaias is staying safe.

 

[Annalog]

Good morning from southern Arizona. The forecast for the next two weeks shows lows around 70°F and highs around 100°F with varying amount of cloud cover and no rain. We need rain.

Hope people are staying safe in the path of Isaias.

Driving around Arizona on one of the hottest weekends of the year was not a good idea. The Transmission Hot Idle Engine light came on while we were driving a long uphill climb over one of the mountain ranges. We pulled off the road at the next pullout and idled the engine as requested. The light went off. The manual also mentioned a chime for very high temperatures but that chime did not occur. The truck no longer could go into high gear (4th). DH focused on watching the road, keeping the RPMs and engine temperature in normal ranges, and turning on the emergency flashers when appropriate. I watched the accumulation of cars behind us and identified safe locations ahead to pull over to let the cars pass. (A fairly high percentage of turnouts, compared to normal, also contained stopped vehicles on this trip.) We stopped in the next town big enough to have a place to buy transmission fluid. DH checked the level and it was definitely low. He bought two quarts and added half a quart at first and later added the other half. The second quart wasn't needed. The shifting was smoother but we still didn't have 4th gear. We made it to where we needed to pick up stuff but only took the necessary items and left the unnecessary heavy items. We changed our return route to one with fewer changes in elevation. As we approached Payson, there was a long line of stopped cars on the road due to an earlier accident being cleared, as well as the normal high volume of people heading back to Phoenix on Sunday after spending a cooler weekend in the mountains. We reached our daughter's house after 8 pm due to crossing Phoenix on surface streets and avoiding the highways since the truck couldn't go faster than 45 mph unless going downhill. We put the stuff we had picked up in our daughter's garage to get it out of the truck.

While eating, we discussed our options. The truck has over 100,000 miles on it. We had intended to sell it after our move to live near our daughter anyway, although COVID-19 has delayed that move. The next morning we completely emptied the truck of all of our personal stuff as we had agreed on a limit that we would spend to fix it. Depending on what needed to be done, we might just sell it to the dealer. We took the truck to the Chevrolet dealer closest to our daughter's house. Our daughter drove her car there as well.  We arrived soon after the service center opened to a line of vehicles. Since we didn't have an appointment, the estimate was that it might be two days before they could look at it and maybe another two days to fix the problems found We left the truck and our daughter took us back to her house. She started her work day from home and we waited until 9 am to wake up the youngest granddaughter who had offered to drive us home in her car.

We had a nice drive home, stopping to get lunch and groceries for dinner and breakfast. We had a wonderful visit and she spent the night. Sylvester enjoyed the extra petting and spent most of the time with our granddaughter. She will be going home later this morning. When we hear what needs to be done concerning the truck, I will drive us back to Phoenix. It is possible that we will be doing periodic hourly or daily truck rentals between now and when we move.

Hopefully our next few days will be uneventful and we will hear good news about the truck.

Hope your day is wonderful. Have fun safely and be excellent to each other.

 

[NapCat (retired)]

Good Morning

We are headed to a nippy 104....brrr Hazy, with a few small clouds, Like a lot of guys during lockdown, I have experimented with facial fur....Many of us are looking really sharp.....unfortunately, 'da NapCat looks like Chewbacca and it is coming off today. Giggle.

Hope everyone is having a good and safe week.

 

[telracs]

well, it's noon, but i managed to take care of the two things i needed to today.

had to call the credit card company, another fraud alert on the NEW credit card, so now they have to send me ANOTHER one. 

and i made an appointment to see the endocrinologist next week.  this will be my 4th one in 6 years. my last one moved his office and so i delayed my appointment with him, and then got an e-mail that he is on "extended leave"  he is elderly and i think he is gearing up to retire.  fortunately, the new one is slightly more accessible then the office my old one moved to, but it will still require getting on the NYC subway for the first time in months.

 

[mlewis78]

Good morning.

Loonlover, is TSC Tractor Supply Company? (I did a google search and that looked like it might fit).

Andra, thanks about staying safe on east coast. We survived. It's hard to tell how bad it was from here and I did not go out all day. I heard it start raining at 11:30am and then poured for just a while. I looked out back at the trees that were blowing but not as hard as it was out in the open. These trees are between our building the taller one behind us (about 12 stories).

I think I mentioned that my super had told me Saturday that a next door couple had bedbugs, had the apartment treated and an inspector was coming to check it on Tuesday and that they were going to check my place as well. I was nervous about it but it worked out fine. I'd had little sleep when the woman came with a black bedbug detector dog! She was wearing a mask and I put one on too. The dog sniffed around myi apartment and did not find any. He only looks for bedbugs, not anything else (I told the inspector that I'd had a water bug a few days ago but it walked on a sticky trap, so that was the end of him.) Then she said. you're find, no bedbugs. I asked her what he would have done if there were any and she said "he sits down." They left, I was relieved but could not go back to sleep.

At noon I watched a little TV. The Mayor was having a press conference about the resignation of the health director, Oxiris Barbot. Watched some updates about the storm Isaias. Went back to bed at 1 and that was it for the day. Got up the latest ever:  7:45PM. Used the bike.  Stayed in for 2nd day in a row.

I wish you all a safe, good Wednesday. (Tuesday seemed like Saturday to me. Some of our recent big storms have been on Saturdays.)

 

[loonlover]

Good morning.

Anna, good luck with your truck. It seems like there is something that always alters our plans.

Yes, mlewis, it is Tractor Supply Company.

Very pleasant out at 66 this morning. Still to only get in to the 80s today.

Mowing could have waited a couple of more days but it was a whole lot nicer mowing yesterday than it will be once it climbs into the 90s. And, since the fire ant incident, I don't spend much time outside if II isn't home and he is working some of the weekend.

Car at dealership for oil change and a software update. II trying to get a couple of hours sleep, and I have some laundry today.

They finished pouring the concrete directly across the street yesterday. Sounds like they are moving on down the street digging out in front of the next few houses. Not sure what the plans are for crossing the little creek a couple of houses down. Several years ago they redid the culverts under the street for it, but they certainly didn't leave any extra room for connecting to the sidewalk for walking. They built a walking bridge across the creek when they put sidewalks in another location in our community. It'll be interesting. I am pretty much glad, though, that they are putting it across the street instead of going through our yard.

Our son let us know about 6:30 our time that the storm was past him, but he didn't have any power. Food loss is his worst fear. He does keep his freezer well stocked.

Hope your day goes well. Stay safe.

 

[Annalog]

Good morning from southern Arizona.

LL, glad that the storm is past your son and hope his power is back on soon.

Thanks for the good luck wishes for the truck. We are hoping that it is just a fluid issue because that would certainly fall within our budget. Keeping the truck until after we move is certainly what we prefer. DH received a phone call from the dealer yesterday saying that they had not yet been able to look at the truck. The heat wave apparently resulted in a crazy amount of vehicle issues and the service center was very busy. When we dropped off the truck, we made sure that the service center knew that we had another transportation option so that they could prioritize vehicles for people who didn't.

I modified the mask pattern that DH prefers so that it doesn't need me to use seam binding. The result fits me fine but rides up too  high below DH's eyes. I will modify the pattern and try again. Meanwhile, my collection of masks grows. Fortunately DH does does not need to go out as often.

Hope your day is wonderful. Have fun safely and be excellent to each other.

 

[Andra]

Good morning.  It's 83 and muggy here today.
Apparently I have been at my desk for too long and Ginger says we need to go outside.
Glad to hear from mlewis and telracs - reports of wind were pretty bad there for a while.
Anna, hope the truck repair is a small thing.
I have to go now.  Hi from Ginger.

 

[Jane917]

Good morning from the PNW. Another beautiful morning here. It is in the 60s, anticipated to get up to low 80s, then back to 70s tomorrow. I can have no complaints about the weather, except it sure makes everything in the yard grow too fast. Hoping that those on the east coast are making it through the storm and power surges.

Yesterday I completed a 30" quilt top which is part of a Bernina Quilt Along. The piecing was quite easy and not complicated. Coming up is the ruler work, which is always quite challenging for me. I am doing this along with a neighbor, but of course, though we text and talk over the fence we don't get to see each other face to face. I have several projects that need finishing but have had lots of motivation issues the last few months. I am happy to be in my groove again.

Stay safe and healthy!  Jane

 

[telracs]

i have to admit to turning into a off line hermit/slug and not really paying attention to things. i have no view of the street or much of a view of the surrounding area, so it's easy to just coast.

i didn't know NYC was in the path of a storm until crebel told me.  i slept in yesterday since i knew we had thunderstorms in the forecast and when they hit they didn't really sound too bad to me (the storm a few days ago sounded worse).  we did get some high winds and i know from some text alerts that there were transit issues.  oh, and i found out about power outages because a friend in Phoenix asked if i'd lost power.

 

[NapCat (retired)]

Good Morning (Afternoon, actually)

My streak of rotten luck continues as my Air Conditioning went out yesterday. Fortunately I know someone who is very competent and able to come the 100+ miles. He is working on it now and things should be up and running within the hour.

Sounds like the rest of you are keeping up on daily challenges.

Be Happy and Be Safe

 

[mlewis78]

I just finished an audio book. I haven't listened to many of those but started an Audible account in February. I prefer reading on kindle though.

Telracs, it would have been hard for me not to know we were in Isaias' path with the Echo speaker having the yellow ring light notifications too many times. I have to ask what my notifications are in order to turn off the yellow light. It kept moving the tropical storm watch 30 minutes further on for the start and finish of the storm. I ended up unplugging the two Echoes. I didn't want to turn off notifications, because they tell me if something is being delivered that day (from Amazon, of course) or if it has been delivered (then I know it is downstairs and I can pick up). I also watch some local TV on NY1 (all news and weather) and listen to the radio.

Got up very late again on Wednesday because I'd gone to bed at 9am. I was so glad to get outside this evening while it was still light, because I'd been in since Sunday. I went to the wine store, Amish Market and Westerly (Westerly for wipes, which I never needed but found them to be convenient for quick cleaning). I saw a white deli cat on 9th Avenue between 51st and 52nd. Are you familiar with the sidewalk openings to a store's cellar? This white cat likes to sit either on the top stair or just outside of it. Hadn't seen her for months. There was an article in a local W42St.com, which is a magazine for Hell's Kitchen, that was about the sidewalk repair policy in the city. There was a photo in it with the same 9th Ave. white deli cat. I took a couple of pictures of the cat when I saw it tonight, posted to facebook. The article stated that the city had been responsible for doing sidewalk repairs and replacements until Bloomberg changed it so that private establishments had to do the work, so it's not getting done as often. It was more about it creating a worse situation for commuters who walk or use public transportation as opposed to having cars or car service. I never would have thought of that. I opened the article for the picture of the cat. In case anyone is interested, I'm posting links. I just noticed the white cat has some gray on his head. Hope this link will open the photo from the magazine:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10223829645835077&set=a.1070980780747&type=3&theater

and this one opens one of the photos I took of the same cat:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10223837081580966&set=a.1070980780747&type=3&theater

This is the article in W42ST.com:
https://www.w42st.com/post/maintaining-the-sidewalks-a-plea-for-equity-dot-hells-kitchen?fbclid=IwAR1X8sVZJmMMuie4L_vnTvtrRC0SZBVP-civln072_6ssQoHlNOHQcnmts0

I will check to see if the links work after I post.

It is nice and comfortable now at 75 degrees, with windows open, fan on and no AC. I hope Napcat's AC is working well now! Have a great, safe day.

 

[Annalog]

Good morning from southern Arizona.

The dealer phoned yesterday and notified DH that the truck transmission needed to be replaced. DH replied that he needed to think about it. The cost is 4 times the limit we had decided ahead of time. I suspect that DH was just too tired to think. We need to ask what the dealer will offer for the truck and then decide if we want to try to sell it on our own. Our daughter knows someone who buys, repairs, and sells vehicles. We could do 100 daily truck rentals for the cost of the new transmission. I am ready to let go of the truck but DH might need a day or two to reach that decision.

Today I will be driving to Tucson for shopping that cannot be done in Benson. I will be shopping with my sister so that we can visit at the same time. She has some shopping that may require help with lifting or carrying.

Hope your day is wonderful. Have fun safely and be excellent to each other.