From Rebecca: Snow day

As Joe wrote in yesterday’s blog post, we are having a work at home day because of the forecasted storm over all of Pennsylvania. Snow day! State College is forecast to have about a foot of snow today, which is a lot for a first real snow of the season. This morning it looked clear and I was beginning to think that we wouldn’t get much after all, then just before 11:00 it began to flurry. By noon, we had steady snow and the beginnings of a lot of accumulation. Here it comes.

I am so glad that I can be home today – thanks Joe! – and look at my balcony get slowly buried. I feel so cozy in my warm apartment without having to go out in this. The newscast says it is slick out on the roads, and I send a prayer up for the safety of all the people who have to drive in this storm, especially the bus drivers. I take the bus to and from work, and no matter what the conditions I always feel safe with them at the wheel. We are lucky it isn’t freezing rain, like the western part of Pennsylvania is getting. Snow is tough enough for traveling.

My husband Darren is making Hamburger Helper for dinner right now, and it smells great. I have many blessings, including a spouse who cooks so well. I will be doing the dishes after we eat, of course. We also intend to clean the apartment later, which I guess is a good use of a day off work.

Where ever you are, dear readers, and whatever weather you are experiencing, I hope you are safe. May you end your day warm and comfortable.

Oh, what a storm we had

Greetings, readers. In central Pennsylvania this past Monday evening we had a one of the worst thunderstorms I’ve experienced in a long time. The clouds grew dark, the wind whipped up to past 50 miles an hour, and there was a torrential downpour. At its worst, the rain was coming down sideways. I was certainly glad that I was inside.

We had known about the coming storm all day and I caught many people throughout the morning checking out the weather apps on their smartphones to keep track of the impending storm. These folks wanted to get all their chores done and get home. I was with Traci at a doctor’s appointment and luckily, though it was windy, the rain waited until we got home.

Around 6pm the rains came. The power in my building flickered, went off for 30 seconds, and came back on. People in my building were lucky. Others around the area, such as Rebecca and Darren, not so much; they lost power for almost 3 hours. Some folks in the outlying areas had to wait until the next morning for their power to be restored, and in other areas, according to the Centre Daily Times, it might still be off until later today. Rebersburg, PA. got a F1 tornado.  Many trees and power lines blew down. A friend of mine who is a CATA bus driver told me that her daughter lost all the big trees in her back yard. I remember as a child how much I loved our big old trees at my house. I would have been devastated if a storm blew them all down. The bus driver also told me about her eerie ride home after work where all the businesses and street lights were dark where she lived. Years ago in a different power outage, I drove in the same conditions and it was strange. I had arrived at Denny’s just after the lights went out and I had to go back home without the aid of street and traffic lights; the intersections had been extremely dangerous.

After the rain the cooler temperatures rolled in and it is going to remain cool all week. Now I’m not complaining, but it is May. We should be in the 60s and 70, not in the upper 40 and mid 50s. This blogger is not very happy. But as I told the bus driver last evening, Mother Nature is fickle and can do anything she wants, we have no control over it.

Briefly, I saw a diagram on the Weather Channel depicting that the cool temperatures will be with us all week. There will a stalled low pressure system over our area because a high pressure system in the Atlantic ocean is not letting the weather system move off the East coast. Cool and rainy, not good unless you are a flower. Lol.

Switching gears, I’m taking a personal day tomorrow and Rebecca has agreed to post a From Rebecca entry for me, which I am sure will be a good one. Please look forward to that tomorrow. Take care, and until next week, happy reading.

From Rebecca: Very long day

It is almost midnight and I am finally able to get to the blog entry for today, Wednesday. I had a couple of ideas for blog topics, but they aren’t ready and it has been too long a day for me to do either of them now anyway. In many ways, things worked out so smoothly today that I thanked my guardian angels for the help. In others ways – like a two-hour thunderstorm that made it necessary to have our internet router unplugged – things had to wait for better timing. Looking back, it was a very good day, but this post is way later than usual.

Joe’s cat Keekee was doing fine when I visited with her this afternoon. She was not as clingy or needy today as I expected her to be, though she did want my attention and head rubs. She was also shedding a lot, though a little less than in the past. All in all she does not like when Joe is away, but she is doing better this year.

I haven’t talked to Joe in a few days, but I heard from someone who did talk to him this week that he is fine and enjoying himself at camp. The weather was so hot and stifling in State College today, that I enjoy the idea of being by a lake in Maine. I am glad that Joe was and I hope it was a great day for him.

If it works out, I might write Friday’s blog entry tomorrow and schedule it to post on Friday afternoon. If you see it pop up during the afternoon on Friday, you will know that my plan succeeded. As Joe would write: Until next time have a great day, take care, and happy reading.

My condolences for another airplane disaster

Greetings, readers. My condolences to the families of those lost on AirAsia flight QZ8501.

I haven’t read up on this much, as I have been busy in the last week with the holidays. However, I am very interested in what happened, especially what went wrong, and I will do research soon.

That area of the world has seen a lot of tragedy this last year, and not only do my prayers go out to them, but I am sending prayers that no more airplane losses take place in this region of the world.

Until Friday, take care, stay safe, and have a happy New Year.

Singing in the rain … inside

Greetings, readers. I got to bed unusually late last night. Around midnight or so, I looked out my window and saw rain coming down in sheets. I figured, this torrential storm will last 15 to 20 minutes tops. LOL. Boy, was I wrong. It kept coming and coming and coming. For a second I thought about building an ark.

I love a good rain storm. Thunder, lightening, a little wind. It adds to the spice of life. However, around 2:00 a.m., I felt a rain drop on my ankle. I looked up and my ceiling was leaking. Out loud I said, “Oh, crap.”

As the rain just got harder outside, another small area of ceiling began to drip with water and a few white flakes of ceiling panel came down on the floor. I quickly ran to get a towel and a bowl. I didn’t want the water to ruin my carpet, or worse, seep down to someone else’s ceiling. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, a chunk of tile let go and four separate droplet leaks were happening simultaneously. If it had not been so late at night, I would have called emergency maintenance. I did not want to go to bed until I was certain that the rain was at least letting up. I decided to deal with the damage in the morning.

When I awoke, I looked out the window and saw clouds but no rain. I was quite relieved. I was shocked to see how many white flakes of ceiling tile lay on my towel. I gathered it up and checked the carpet. Luckily, the carpet wasn’t very wet. For once, I thought ahead, and by putting that towel down, damage to the carpet was avoided.

Our office manager, Kim, is away on vacation, but maintenance is on site today. When I see Brian, I will mention to him what happened, but I’ll also let him know that the roof will have to be fixed first, before any work is done on my ceiling, or else it will just happen again.

On a quick side note, Rebecca and I are back in action today after an unusual week. I worked with Darren yesterday on the Kimberly novel project. On Wednesday, Rebecca went to the dentist and I had a doctor’s appointment, so we didn’t work that day. Next week will be a normal week for us with three days of writing and two blog entries.

Until then, enjoy your weekend, take care, and happy reading.

P.S. If you are having allergies like I am having, Gesundheit.

It’s a hodgepodge day #2

Greetings, readers. Another work week has begun. It will be a slightly shorter one, because I’ve given Rebecca Valentine’s Day off to spend with her husband, Darren. Speaking of Valentine’s Day – not my favorite holiday – I think I will drown my sorrows in a tall, cold glass of beer from the bar across the street. That is what I did last year.

On to a topic related to my new writing project. The extra time which I have spent at my computer, while looking through my bifocals, has caused extremely tense neck muscles. It’s my body’s way of saying, “Hey, we aren’t used to this. Go back to playing your video games.” I have to fight that temptation. I am finally on a roll and I do not want to let my momentum stop. Although I did not type any new pages in the last couple of days, I did figure out where I’m going to be taking the story next. So, tonight or in the morning, I’ll be ready to go once again.

The weather is still brutally cold here in Central PA, and we are bracing for a winter storm now clobbering the south. It could dump as much as four inches of snow along with freezing rain by the end of tomorrow. Not good. We got that much snow this past Sunday and the roads were treacherous in some places. If ice is coming, the road crews will have to do better. I think I will be getting a few items from the corner store this afternoon and pretty much staying inside tomorrow except for an appointment. That will suit me just fine. I’ve two appointments in the next couple of days, and hopefully the weather will not interfere with either of them, especially my haircut appointment. I am beginning to look like one of the Beatles from the late 60s; too much hair and beard.

As I approach my 300th post, Rebecca and I will soon be discussing the possibility next year of a second blog book. I’ve not decided for certain, but if we do put one out, there will be more added material than I put in the first blog book.

That is all my news for today, so as always, have a good day, stay warm and healthy, take care and happy reading.

Bad weather coming

Greetings, readers. The State College area is expecting freezing rain and then snow in the next twelve hours. Rebecca and I have some things to do before the storm hits. I am letting her go early. So this blog post will be short.

I have trouble in the winter, because of my bad balance from cerebral palsy. Ice on sidewalks and crosswalks is the worst. I am stuck inside during sleet and freezing rain and have to wait until it stops and the walkways get treated. We are expecting both this evening. Snow is okay if the sidewalks aren’t slippery. And I get along just fine after a snowstorm and the walkways are shoveled, though I go slowly as I watch my footing. I have fallen on icy sidewalks a few times in the past, and it was horrible. I am very careful to avoid that happening again.

I know there has been a lot of bad weather across the nation (and in other countries) recently. I wish all of you safety if you are going anywhere, comfort when you get back home, and that you stay warm and dry.

Before I close, I also want to say R.I.P. to Nelson Mandela, who passed away yesterday. Sometime next week, Rebecca and I will do an official R.I.P. piece about him.

So until next week, have a good weekend, take care, and happy reading.