Illustrations:

Oh Sue, I don't know what to say.

If you lived in the South the tenting would make everyone think you have termites. So, no termites. You have that going for you.

Thoughts and prayers? Will that make you laugh or make you angry about our politics?

Wow, Sue - you are having a week! Hang in there. Our area still has lots of tarps from last Sept.'s hurricane.

We had an extremely severe thunderstorm Monday night with many close lightning strikes one after another. Tuesday and Wednesday we had an army of cable trucks around the neighborhood! We thought we lost the router, but when the cable guys came it turned out we lost the outside cable box, connection to the house, and inside cable box (but the router is fine LOL). Once they got all the cable equipment replaced and working, they found out the TV was a victim, too. So I guess we're TV shopping this weekend.

On the "rave" side, though - Sunday is my birthday and tomorrow we're doing a boat tour in Mount Dora in a little CraigCat boat. I'm excited! DH has already told me, no, we can't buy a CraigCat of our own. :(

Donna

I don't have a real rant except I am so tired of the smoke. We live in WA state, east side of the state, and the air quality has been in the unhealthy range for more than a week.

On the plus side, it's not 104 like it was a week ago while I packed the car to go camping. (that was nuts) And-I finally made my fire list: what to grab if/when we have to evacuate.

I do realize we are very lucky and have dodged the bullet so far this year.

And I still love summer.

Sue, I'm so sorry. I'm glad it was a rock and not a bullet, and I hope your husband and daughter are feeling better soon.

leela, we've had similar smoky conditions in Alberta because of the fires (almost 600) burning in BC. Not only is the air unhealthy, but two mornings ago it was so dark outside, with the sky an eerie glowing gray, that all the lights on sensors turned on. And it was too dark to do any gardening.

If it helps, the one thing I've been holding on to for the past few years, as we were just trying to build and then finish our new house but ended up dealing with my fil's stroke and then death, and my husband's prostate cancer surgery (successful) and heart attack earlier this year is that it could all very easily be worse. For example, the fires. We heard this morning on the radio that Kimberley, BC is under evacuation alert : ( .

sue = I hope everyone has a miraculous recovery and you all get to the theater.

leela4 - I'm above you on the west coast in BC and the smokey air has finally cleared because of the onshore winds on the coast but it's due to get smokey by the end of the weekend. BC is on fire.

We live in a heavily forested area and at 3am we woke to fire engines blaring and it turned out that a house behind us was totally engulfed in fire. I thought it might be the forest but fortunately/unfortunately it wasn't. (I hope everyone is safe)

My rant against myself is that I couldn't think straight enough to decide what to put on (housecoat and slippers were finally the choice) and if I had to decide what to pack up I would have been paralyzed.

It's time to create a list and put together a run-fast box. It will have to be something we can carry because if it was a quick evacuation driving down our one access road will be a nightmare. It will be faster to run.

Becky - I hadn't heard that about Kimberley. This is just getting worse and worse with no end in sight.

In other news - trump is blaming Canada for the wildfires in California

Wow, when it rains it pours. In msmeow’s case, literally. I knocked my side view mirror off on my fence post one time. It was dangling by a cable.

That fire sounds horrible, Bl. All the fires are upsetting, while we are drowning in the Northeast

my main rant is that I stupidly wore dumb shoes to walk around center city yesterday and now I have blisters on the soles of my feet. Ouch. I have officially left the “cute shoes”stage of life and entered the practical stage. Next thing I’ll be wearing granny shoes with gum soles. It was also stinking hot and I was such a sweaty mess.

Then my friend and I rode in the quiet car of the train, whispering to each other, which is allowed. Seriously, we could barely hear each other. The woman in front of us shot us a dirty look and shushed us. Really? My bag has big metal rings on it so I deliberately banged them on the armrest a couple times just to annoy her. Very mature, huh. My feet are aging but my affect is regressing to adolescence. I mean, she could have asked nicely.

Small stuff in the overall gist of things.

Oh Sue, so sorry things are ganging up on you -- but think of all the things you will have out of the way and not need to worry about when the cloud lifts! We have had a couple of periods like that this year, but we are in relative calm now -- waiting for news on lab work for our 122-1/2 yr old labrador and starting to wonder if our younger border collie mix may have something similar starting and getting ready for our son's upcoming move (he's here between college and a place of his own because his job fell under a hiring freeze that pushed it to last minute). But son was in a minor accident yesterday and that added to the things to deal with. No one hurt and only his car was damaged, so things to be grateful for. Lots of thing in the wings --- so I see your situation and hold my breath. Hang in there!

I'm laughing picturing all this....crazy!! Thank god the rock did not go through the window and hit you!!

blfenton, be careful and good luck. We've had years where the drought has been so bad that we've kept a bag by the front door and a tractor with large water tank in the front yard, since our house is literally in the middle of a large field of prairie grass.

Always -- right! I was glad my window was closed, imagine if the rock had come through the window at my face or something. Always something to be thankful about!

Compared to the fires...and all the other, worse things going on in the world...I have no problems at all. But it does make me a little crazy when it all piles up at once. My oldest son called me this morning about some questionable blood test results too, so I'll just add that to my pile of you-know-what...

My heart goes out to all of you in smoke/fire areas.

3 years ago it was so bad around here (we had a fire burning within a few miles of us) that you could barely see across the street. This morning when I got up, right before sunrise, the sky was so weird looking that it was eerie, sort of like that year.

Becky-you are right about having a bag packed. We live in the woods, which is now a tinder box. I have all of our photos albums in a suitcase and a in big backpack, and I have a lot because I'm a grandmom, and my oldest dgs is 15 ½ so not digitized. I did that 3 years ago. Photos would probably be the easiest thing to leave behind I guess, but some of my parents and grandparents are irreplaceable. But they're just things.

We talked to friends of ours who live here but also have a house in Santa Rosa. Their house was safe last year, but it was close to the fire and they know several people who lost their homes. Our friends are the ones who had made lists that they have in the bedroom. And we have a fire safe, which I thought was, you know, safe, but they said that someone's fire safe melted in that Santa Rosa fires. So we would need to get the stuff in there too, if possible.

Somehow it seems like there's always a cluster of things that throw us off track. We can handle one or two, but it's harder to deal with the third, fourth and fifth thing, isn't it? I wish for good fortune for all of us...soonest.

I was so thankful that yesterday's temperatures gave us a break, only 74º F. at the high. Since I've been busy cleaning and re-organizing the garage, that 10 degree drop felt like heaven. Added to that, the cortisone shot I received for my suddenly arthritic knee really helped pull the pain level down so I could continue my activities. The pain had gotten so bad that I was using a cane last week.

Edited to add: After going through fire evacuations and earthquakes in the past, I have two go-bags packed and ready to grab so I can leave the house within five minutes of the order. One bag has clothing, toiletries and important documents. The other bag, which could be left behind if necessary, contains photos and memorabilia.

No rant to speak of, other than my right knee is still, still causing me a lot discomfort and I am so tired of it! We had a major area-wide power failure during a big thunderstorm (I think it was 3 weeks ago tonight). Anyhoo, I tripped in the dark trying to locate a flashlight and fell hard on my right knee. Our floors are brick, and let me tell you, they are unforgiving to anything dropped on them including body parts! Having a husband who’s a physician really comes in handy at times like that (LOL), but despite him, ice packs anti-inflammatory meds, etc. I’m still limping around. I actually had to pre-board both ways on our recent trip to Nashville, as I couldn’t bear anything touching it, and one innocent nudge from the person ahead of me in the security line with his carry-on almost did me in. I limped everywhere the entire trip!

I was feeling very sorry for myself today, Sue . . . until I read your rant. OMG, I really hope that your weekend and next week turns out MUCH better!

Bwahahahahaha....our stove isn‘t working now!! Honest to god I’m not making this stuff up.

Oh my gosh Sue, I hope you have gotten all of your bad luck out of the way for the rest of the year now!

On the bright side, there should be no guilt about early cocktail hour and take out.

Hope everything works out well for you, Sue. Yes, cocktails and takeout, including soup for your daughter : ) .

I was all set to just rant on today....until I read Sue’s post and thought about all the fires and the rains. So it makes my trivial rants seem minor, but I will vent anyway, so bear with me. And I am truly sorry you all are having to deal with fires and floods. And Sue, I hope your DH and DD are better, and that tomorrow is a better day.

First I have a rave. We had a leak in the front bedroom of our lake condo some months back. It was due to a couple of things with the new roof and was relatively minor, but was fixed and finally we have a contractor to repair the damage to the walls and ceiling and repaint. While he was engaged with us, I decided to also do a minor redo of the attached bath. Mostly a new vanity, sink and countertop, light fixture, and mirror and hardware all around. We had already replaced the toilet a while back. Plus paint. He has been wonderful to work with, and of course there are tarps everywhere and there have been a few issues, none his fault, but kudos to him.

Rants:

1. Why do people at the gym pick the oddest places to do their stretching or foam rolling? I work out with a trainer twice a week. There is a large open area for using mats, stretching, exercise balls, etc. Off in a nearby L is an area with circuit machines along 3 walls with a couple of long low benches in the center for balance or step work. There isn’t a lot of room between the machines and one end of the 2 benches. Wouldn’t you know here comes a young woman foam rolling in the 2.5 ft so feet between the circuit machine and the bench! No, she couldn’t go where there was plenty of room on the other side of the bench or in the open area, and it meant no one could use a couple of the machines. My trainer and I and another woman had completed one circuit when she came and plopped down, so he improvised another exercise for me. Sheesh!

2. Drives me nuts when some a-hole pulls up beyond the thick white line at an intersection. Besides sometimes blocking the crosswalk because they don’t know where to stop, it makes it difficult to negotiate a left turn around the jack-arse, especially a two-lane turn, when two cars can barely squeeze around.

Oh, edited to add....Tomorrow is a milestone birthday for me (70)! Gosh, where the heck did the time go! And I am just very thankful I am still healthy and here! DH is taking me to one of our fave restaurants tonight and tomorrow DD and I are driving to see DGD at college. We will have lunch and then attend their final rush day activities where she hopefully will be picked by the sorority that is her favorite. Fingers crossed. Then breakfast on Sunday with their group.

Happy Birthday msmeow!

Happy Birthday, outside playing! It sounds like you have a fun weekend planned.

Sue, I apologize for the half chuckle when I read your updates. It's just that I have felt that way ("I'm not making this stuff up"). Patience and perseverance. You will get through this. Perhaps starting with a cocktail and takeout....

Happy Birthday, Outsideplaying! Have a great weekend!

Sue, how many hits do you have to take before you receive the message: Find thee a nice hotel!

First of all happy birthday tomorrow! Hope you can eke out a good day and maybe eat some cake if you're so inclined and able!

So sorry about your roller coaster week! And to top it off your son's blood work! Hope everything works out. Sending hugs.

Happy birthday, Outside!

RE appliances not working - A couple of years ago one of the elements on the stove stopped working, then the wine fridge wouldn't stay cold, then the fridge light went out and I couldn't get the casing off BUT then the DW stopped working and that's when I called the repair guy.

He told me that he had fixed the dishwasher but he didn't, he broke the clasp off of the fridge light casing when taking it off, he couldn't figure out if it was the element or the switch on the stove that was broken. This guy was recommended by the place where we bought the appliances. I called someone else.

Happy birthday to you as well Outside.

Wow Blfenton that is quite a bit of incompetence! Glad you found somebody who could do the job

Happy birthday, Outside:

Rant: On Nextdoor, people post urgent alerts for loose dogs, but when there actually is an urgent alert such as downed power lines or something crime related (like a high speed chase right by our neighborhood during early evening yesterday), they don't post it.

Rave: I'm feeling much better, but I still am not wearing anything other than sweatpants with elastic because of my incision locations. I was able to drive in to the office for a few hours on Thursday and Friday, and driving/riding did not bother me. I did not attend the University-wide opening faculty meeting because, again, I am in sweatpants.

GScience, there are cute sundresses on sale at Loft. Might be more comfy for you.

My only rant is that I’m tired as hell. We’ve been going to the cottage on weekends and it’s a lot to pack up and go, and baby doesn’t sleep as well here in his pack and play so that means I don’t sleep as well either!

Rave, baby is pulling himself up to stand. Wonder how long until we have a walker?

That face. Both of them. That's a good antidote to all the rants you may have.

What a cute pic! How about having him practice sleeping in the pack n' play at home during the summer months (what's left of summer)?

Rave - Those faces. Robo you are so lucky

I remember those days of packing up the kids for the weekend trips to the cottage. And our trips involved a ferry ride with very loooooong ferry lineups and often having to wait for one or two ferries. The best thing BC ferries ever did was to institute the ferry reservation system.

But you know what - the kids didn't care and they loved going to the cottage. Now that the kids are older we very seldom go so enjoy it because Emmett will remember the times with so much joy.

Robo, I bought a matttress for my pack and play when my grandkids were little. I even had sheets and a mattress pad for it. It was only a couple of inches thick, but it helped a lot to make it sleep better.

When we had our second home upstate, we had a regular crib. Would it make sense to buy a one for Em? Less to pack and he would sleep better.