What Are You Doing For Excitement Today?

[greatguns]

Ol Ron better drink some more wine while he waits for my cash donation!

[Diane Amberg]

It's really weird being in a state that's on the receiving end of donations and the donating end too. I'll be making a donation for Delaware to the Salvation Army soon, and of course all kind of relief programs are going on for NY and NJ.
   There are lots of parts that aren't getting much publicity, just the coastal areas are. There is lots of damage inland too.
People here are bringing their relatives down from their houses that still have no water, heat or light and from the shelters they've been stuck in for days...if they can get the roads open and get in and out.     
  My back yard neighbor's mother had just sold her house up there and was going to move into a downtown Manhattan condo near where she had lived years ago. As luck would have it, they were about to go to settlement when the house was damaged in the storm. Now she wonders if the buyers will back out of the sale. At least it wasn't totally flattened like some of the old beach homes were.They were never built to withstand those wind and water forces.
Now we have to watch the weather again because a new nor'easter is setting up to perhaps run up the coast about Wednesday. I'm almost afraid to think what could happen on top of what already did.
   Fortunately nobody in our families own any beach homes any longer, but many friends, do so they've been trying to go check on their places and their boats, as well as take care of any damage here.

[Judy Harder]

Diane, I am so glad I live where the land is flat and the water doesn't worry me. I would rather duck! a tornado than what you all have gone through. Thank God, this is once in a lifetime........that is enough!

I had a pleasant surprise this morning. After church, as usual, we all head to cafe and good food and fellowship with people we just saw last night or this past week and get caught up on what has happened since then.

The door opens and of course, all of us turn to see who is coming in, Just in case one of us needs to run out the back! LOL and I am happy to see Roma walk in. Enjoyed talking to her before I left for home. and hope to do it again.

Oh, had a choice or fried chicken, or meat loaf. I had a bite of each and came home replete. Now I just might grab a nap. Need to catch up with posting first. Have a great week. God bless.

[Diane Amberg]

The weather here sure can have it's moments. Now we have another storm brewing up for Wednesday and Thursday. Not sure of the final track yet, but could be a terrible blow for NY City, Rockaway, Staton Island, Long Island and the Jersey Shore all over again. We'll get hit again too but I think we'll be OK.

[Janet Harrington]

I think anyone who has electricity will be ok. It is those who do not that this storm will make things worse.

I will be praying for those in the NE that things will progress for them.

[Diane Amberg]

A long time friend  met me to go to a friend's father's funeral down state yesterday. She lives in Bucks County PA.They really got hit hard for some reason and some areas still don't have electricity, some schools are still closed ,Halloween was postponed indefinitely and they may get snow with this next storm.
 Now the gentleman who died, and I do mean gentleman, was a wonderful man. Frank had 5 daughters, all of which were good friends to me. He was a  farmer with a big spread with beef cattle, dairy cows, chickens, soy beans  corn and potatoes. He was in the army in WWII and met the dear lady who came to be his wife for 63 years while on leave in NYC. He was a great believer in education,  made sure his girls went to college and helped them get CAP and other scholarships. One grandson went to West Point. Several others are career military.  He always said, "No matter what, get a good education, no excuses. An educated man will always figure out a way to survive."
 He also worked as a fixed wing mechanic at Dover Air Force Base. He would often bring some of the lonely young airmen home to spend time with us girls. He was very much into 4-H and Delaware agriculture and was very well known and admired by the Ag Extension Office . Now, I just mention this wonderful family 'cause some of the people here have me labeled as such a city slicker, yet these are some of the folks I knew and loved. Even at 4-H fairs, if someone brought extra animals, especially bottle calves, ( showmanship,fitting and type) I got to show them and even won some ribbons and prize $ for the owners.  I miss those days.

[larryJ]

In this last week, one of my son's friends, who was the best man at his wedding, and who has been a friend of our family for many years, lost his grandmother.  The Rosary was held yesterday and the funeral will be this morning.  This lady and her husband had been married for 65 years.  

I mention this because my son and his wife attended the Rosary yesterday evening and we got to enjoy some time with #3 granddaughter.  My daughter and her husband celebrated their anniversary over the weekend with a trip to Las Vegas and let the grandparents share in caring for #1 and #2 for four days.  They returned home yesterday and brought the girls over to have some time with their cousin.  So we had the whole family all together for a few hours last night and it was great.  I sometimes like to watch all of them sitting around talking and the kids playing and think to myself..............

I CAUSED ALL THIS! ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE HERE BECAUSE OF ME!    

(I think they should all kneel and say thank you or something every time they walk through my door.)  Just kidding!  

Larryj

[larryJ]

Today, due to a mix-up with my wife's doctor, I had to drive to Lawndale, some 40 miles away, to pick up a script for pain medication.  My wife was not feeling up to the trip and so I went.  Then I had to stop at the Kaiser pharmacy to pick up her other meds before going to a regular pharmacy to have the script.............Wait.............this doesn't sound exciting.  Let me re-phrase.
Before going forward, you might want to read the DISCLAIMER below.

(AHEM)

Today, I was given the glorious opportunity to drive half-way across our wonderful County of Los Angeles to a sleepy little town named Lawndale.  I was asked to go to my beloved's Workman's Comp doctor to pick up a prescription for her pain medication.  Because it is a heavy drug, it cannot be called in or faxed.  It has to be handed in physically.  I happily climbed into my van and headed out into the wonderful world of freeways, five different ones in total, to accomplish the wonderful task to accomodate my beloved wife.  I arrived there after taking a few blocks long "scenic route" and was able to pick up the script without any problems.  I headed back with having no problems with any traffic except for a stalled car in the #2 lane on the 605 Freeway in which I again, after all these years, was able to admire the courtesys extended from one driver to another in order to safely negotiate around this problem.   I arrived back at the Kaiser Hospital where I entered the serene and beautiful area surrounding the lagoon.  I admired all the colorful waterfowl (and the floating plastic alligator head) and picked up two more medications that my better half had ordered.  Then I headed to the other pharmacy in order to have the first script filled, only to be told that they didn't have it in stock and wouldn't have it until Friday.  Unfortunately, my wife only has enough for today.  One of the wonderful benefits of living in SoCal is that there is a pharmacy on every corner much like the famous 7-11 stores or gas stations.  I asked if I could just go on down the block to the next CVS pharmacy and have it filled there.  The young lady was very apologetic and said I was more than welcome to go there to have it filled.  The young man at this pharmacy was very courteous and and entered all the information he needed into the computer and then scanned the script.  With a pleasant smile he informed me that Workman's Comp would not pay for the medicine until tomorrow. I so appreciate these people's attitudes when they say they can't fill your prescription through no fault of their own.   So I will get to go there in the morning to pick up the medicine.  I was so happy with his attitude that I bought some printer paper while I was there so that my three beautiful granddaughters will have enough to draw their awe-inspiring pictures for me.
So after three hours + and a round trip of about 80 miles, a few smiling faces and a few not smiling faces, on a glorious Southern California afternoon with temps in the mid 70's and a little haze from the inversion layer that didn't fully evaporate, I accomplished the task given me.  Then it was a sandwich and chips for lunch followed by a short, but refreshing, nap.  I did all this because of something I promised on a another day 38 years ago........you know, the part about "in sickness and in health......."

DISCLAIMER:

Did that make it exciting?  No?  Then just read the first paragraph.



Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

We lucked out on storm Athena. More damage at the beaches where the dunes are missing, but inland here we had messy sleet and snow and just enough wind to finish bringing down some damaged trees here and there. Now north of us is another matter. But, I'm not allowed to talk about that to you folks because some are apparently unable to keep up and are bored because it happened here and not there. (Tsk,tsk.) and feel NJ and NY should be flushed away anyhow. I hope none of you have family or friends there. It is really sad.

[greatguns]

My heart breaks for those good people!