Good evening, it is raining again.

Joy,when you ate in that restaurant, could you soo Long Island.  On a clear day, when we eat in the Sound View rest. we can see Conn.  It is an hour and forty min. ferry ride from Orient to New London.  My DIL lives on the Cape. I guess I told you.

MaryAnn, my other DIL and grandson live in Niceville She still lives there after she retired from the USA.  The big base is there.

No, Lindancer,  it was kind of hazy.   Some of the ones with us said they could just barely make out  a lighthouse, but I couldn't see it.  And, we were going to walk around the outside of the restaurant where there was a little walkway, but it was just a little too chilly.  Not so sure if some trees on the horizon would have been Long Island.   

Joy

Gloria, I hope your DIL and grandson make out OK from the hurricane.  It seems I've been watching a lot of hurricane lately.  I may want rain here, but not part of a hurricane.

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. We are expecting a beautiful day with sun all day and only getting to around 80 degrees.  I had a good day yesterday and finished up Pat's laptop and showed her the few things that are different for her than the previous setup.  We did enjoy a great meal at the Church last night and then some nice visiting with Scott and Jennifer.  Scott returned our PT Cruiser as he had his car repaired.  Today will be a more restful day.  I will go to coffee and then after returning my friend to his home I plan on going back to the Church for our Wisdom group. 

I am just now watching the Weather Channel and it looks like South Carolina is now in the path for Hurricane Irma.  They are showing that the entire State is covered in the area that may be impacted by the high winds.  I will be keeping an eye on the situation.  It is still early and I know the path can change daily.

ShirleyN, I join the others in the hope that Irma doesn't do any damage to your property or that of our other Florida friends.  The Weather Channel is saying this morning that we may encounter impacts from the Hurricane with winds up to 75 MPH and I sure that will come with rain.  We can fill the two bathtubs we have in this house and will pick up a little more water for drinking.  We keep some bottled water as Pat keeps a bottle beside her bed every night. Glad to see your family is evacuating and not taking any chances. 

Sue, I can't imagine what the traffic will be on I-75 if people start going North.  Unfortunately, it looks like the conditions in Georgia are not going to be good either.  There are still many uncertainties.  Traffic on I-75 is bad on a normal day. 

deAngel, it seems strange to start talking about fall weather but we were actually rather cool here last night. 

Marilyne, I hope your smoke situation was a lot better yesterday and again today. 

Mary Ann, my eyesight still is fine as far as seeing what is around and ahead of me.  It is just reading the street and other signs that are giving me a problem and if I am going somewhere I don't visit very often I just turn on my GPS on my phone and follow instructions.  I am sure Dot is happy not to be in Florida right now.  She was very wise to insist they sell out there and stay in Michigan. Sorry you didn't get seen by the dermatologist.  There have been times I will go to the reception desk to ask if they have forgotten me.  I am patient but there are limits.  As I said above I am going to make some preparations in case we lose power this next week with the storm.  We have light sources and recently got a battery powered lantern that has a USB charging capacity. 

Joy, nice to see you had a great weekend. Now is time to rest up.  I have never had a cold lobster roll.   

Larry, I did not mind not being seen by the dermatologist because this was surgery that was done last December, just before Christmas.  All he wanted to do was check the work of his surgeon; he was not the surgeon. 

I am watching the Weather Channel.  It seems the islands in the Atlantic were really hit by Irma with a lot of damage.  I wondered as far as the islands are concerned - where do you go to evacuate? 

It's Thursday and the lawn guys are here.  We have had almost no rain lately and I am sure the grass hasn't grown much.  On the other hand, we sprinkler regularly, using water from the pond.  They'll take care of the lawn until early November, or the first snow - whichever comes first!

Mary Ann

Larry - My husband went to his eye doctor last week, expecting to be told that he needed to have the cataracts removed.  He has a hard time reading street signs and freeway turn-offs, and his vision gets blurry when watching TV for very long.  He also suffers from a condition called Dry Eye, and has to put a sequence of drops in his eyes every day.  The doc told him he doesn't need cataract surgery, and that it's probably the Dry Eye, that's causing his blurry/unclear vision. We don't have a GPS in either car, and no smart phones, so he will have to do the best he can. 

Mary Ann - I've been watching the Weather Channel off and on today too.  Irma, sounds like it's getting worse, as the days and hours move along.  The devastation on those Caribbean islands is just horrific!  I'm hoping that all of our S&F Florida members are safe, and far from the coast.

Marilyne, I too have dry eye. Because I am either reading or playing on the computer much of the time, I see through blurry eyes most days. Then there are the cataracts. I had mine out back when I was 45. The doc told me then that my eyes would take about 20 to adjust between distances. I think it is  taking a lot longer now. Gee, I wish I had those new lens that self-adjust.

Comcast has been a problem the last week. First I lost some of my channels. Once they fixed that, it took only two days before  the channel I watch most (and only that one as best I can tell) became unwatchable because of pixelation. Coincidentally, Verizon is doing more work in the area, so a rep was around to explain Fios and answer my questions about it. The outcome is that Comcast lost out to Fios. Fios channel selection is much more in line with what I like to watch, I get higher internet speeds without any slowdown and now I am back with them for the phone. It is a move I had been considering for a while now. All in all, and surprisingly, it is going to cost less than what I am paying Comcast and AT&T now.

Hi everyone. We are to have another beautiful day in the low 80's and sunny.  I have an 11 am 6 month routine appointment to have my pacemaker/defibrillator checked.  Then I have an appointment to have the Hyundai checked for a possible leak of some type and will wait while they check it.  The housekeeper will be here this morning and I expect Pat and I will eat our big meal out this evening as we usually do on housecleaning day. 

I have been keeping my eye on the hurricane reports as it appears our area will be affected by it at the first of the week with wind and rain.  This weekend I will get all of the emergency lighting and the radio gathered together as we likely will lose power.  We have plenty of food and water so we should be fine.  It is comforting to live at the top of the ridge so have little concern about flooding.  I should be able to keep my iPhone charged as the battery powered lantern I got a few months ago has a usb port.  The Augusta area is preparing for an influx of people who are evacuating. 

Mary Ann, I wouldn't think people on the islands would have anyplace to evauate unless they could fly out early enough.  I have also wondered what people who live paycheck to paycheck can do in having to bear the expenses of evacuating with buying fuel, meals and lodging.  I have mentioned before not having to water the lawn very much this summer and with the rain headed our way I shouldn't need to water next week either. 

Marilyne, glad your husband won't need cataract surgery.  At my last eye exam I was told it was time to get mine removed but wasn't experiencing any problem seeing so told him I would try to wait another year.  However, they are now affecting my vision.  I had a good evidence of that yesterday morning when I came upon  a one-way controlled traffic with a flagman.  I had to get fairly close to the sign to be able to see whether it was a slow or stop sign. Pat has suffered with Dry Eyes for a very long time.  She uses a lot of eye gel and at night tapes her eyes shut so any leakage from the CPAP noise piece don't dry her eyes out further.

MarsGal, sorry that you also suffer from the Dry Eyes.  I have not heard about the self-adjusting lenses.  Nice to see you now have an alternative to Comcast.  We use the Dish satellite for TV and have had little problem with Comcast for the Internet other than failing equipment a couple of times.  Always nice to save a few dollars as well.   
   

Good morning, nice Fall day, and all week looks good so far.

Larry, I will be watching to weather, that is heading your way, also praying for are other cyber friends in harms way.  My DIL and GS live in Niceville,Fla. also Floridajean lives there.

Good Morning everyone from the
sunny,  dry and coolish rocky coast of Maine.

Yesterday I also went to the eye doctor.    My eyes are
doing well  except I do have cataracts ...   We are putting
off as long as possible for me to have the cataract  surgery,
as I only can see out of my right eye.   And I do suffer
from AFib so stopping blood my thinners could be a
problem.....      So  I will wait until it is absolutely
necessary before tackling that surgery.      Fortunatelty
I can still see enough to wait a while.   (hooray!)   

Well another BIG One is about to hit the Florida and it
doesn't look good for anyone now in the South East.   
I sure hope that you all are prepared.

Take Care and Bless you all!

Sandy

Sandy, I was born with no vision other than seeing light and dark in my right eye.  I had cataracts develop in both eyes and was also hesitant to have the one on my good eye removed.  About five years ago I bit the bullet and had it removed (didn't bother removing the right one).  It was the best thing I could have done. I had no problems whatsoever and drove myself to the eye doctor the next morning not wearing any glasses.  First time since I was about 4 years old not having to wear glasses for distance.  I do have to wear dime store readers to read, but that is a small inconvenience.

Mary

Hi everyone. Another beautiful, sunny and cooler day here in South Carolina.  According to the Weather Channel projections this morning our State appears to be out of the cone of the anticipated hurricane path as it has moved to the West. On Monday we still will be getting some heavy rain and fairly strong winds.  So I really don't know what to expect.

Yesterday I did keep my appointment regarding my pacemaker and all was well.  I still have 2 1/2 years before it will need to be replaced when the battery runs out of power.  I decided to cancel my appointment at the garage as the burning type smell has greatly lessened so think it must have been something I picked up rather than a problem with the car.  I will just keep an eye (or nose) on the situation and take it in later if needed.  Pat and I did go to Ruby Tuesday's yesterday at noon for our main meal of the day.  I think I will probably stay home today unless I decide to go to a meeting later this morning.   

deAngel, I see they have indicated that Western Florida also will be impacted by the Hurricane.  It sure is a dangerous time in the SE.  We have friends from our Church here that moved to Niceville last year to be near family. 

Sandy,  if you use Chrome as your browser you might want to try an extension called High Contrast that lets you toggle between regular and high contrast as well as several other choices including using a black background and white letters.  I am using it to help me read the postings in the discussions.  I do have to toggle it off to see graphics as the increased contrast distorts the graphics.  Glad your report on your eyes was otherwise OK.

MaryTX, your cataract surgery success is encouraging.  I think my time is near to have mine removed as they are definitely impacting my vision.   

Candy finally made it to Santa Cruz.  Have not talked to her yet but am sure she will call today and let me know all the details.    One long trip.

Wjoan, I know you are relieved that your daughter has finally reached her destination.  My daughter lived in Santa Cruz for a number of years and we visited there several times.  In fact, she was living there when our youngest grandson was born.  I really like that area of Calif.

joan - I'm glad that Candy made it to Santa Cruz!  The fog rolled in over night, and it's nice and cool in Santa Cruz this morning, as well as here in Los Gatos.  It feels good, after such a long siege of 90's and 100's.  I hope the weather has cooled in the Tri-Cities?

I haven't turned the TV on this morning, so not sure where, or if, hurricane Irma has arrived on the East Coast? My Google News page is repeating the same information as last night, so apparently it hasn't hit land yet?  I see that Larry posted that it has bypassed his area, so guess I'd better turn on the Weather Channel, and see what's happening?

Flajean, Candy used to live there also.  Her and her sister both like being near the water.  Plus she gets to spend time with her dog Lady who she has missed terribly.

Marilyne, not much.  We will have 90's instead of 100 plus.  Should be cooling down tho in the next couple of weeks.  <I hope>  LOL

Joan, I know you're relieved that Candy is finally in Santa Cruz.

Marilyn, I do have my TV on, but it is on MUTE because so much is repetition.

We look like we are to have great weather for the next several days, with temps being in the 70s. 

Tom took a friend to the airport today and is going to stop at Subway to bring me a sub.  I wonder whose car he is driving because his is in the garage with no one in it.  His friend was visiting at Fremont which is about 50 miles north of here so I wonder if the friend and/or his wife brought his parents' car and Tom drove in that.  I'll soon find out.

Mary Ann

Thanks MaryTX ...   My doctor is
leaving it up to me when I can't really see as
much as I much as I need to,  to decide when I must also
bit the bullet and go for surgery .. 

All things in good time,  I guess!

Sandy

Sandy, my doctor told me that I would know when it was time. 

I think I've mentioned this before but Norm had cataracts removed also.  His first was a couple of weeks before my first one which was done the same day as his second one.  Dot had to drive us home and she took a picture of Norm and me with the patches over our eyes.

Mary Ann

I've been wondering about shirleyn?  I think she lives somewhere along the Florida coast, but I don't know if it's the Gulf or ocean side?  Also, Beverly?  Seems to me she was going on a trip to Vermont, so I hope she's still there, and not back in Florida?

Marilyn, Shirleyn lives in Winter  Haven or near there.  Beverly lives in The Villages in the northern part of Florida.  I just saw where almost the entire state of Florida is under a Hurricane Warning and JeanFla is under a Hurricane Watch.  Now they also have to be aware of tornadoes. 

When I would visit Norm and Dot in March, we would go to the Strawberry Farm near where they were at Sun City Center and Shirley and Danny would drive there to meet us. 

Mother Nature isn't being very kind to Florida after having dealt a blow to Texas. 

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. While we are fine here this morning by tomorrow morning it is going to be another situation.  We will be getting wind and heavy rain and a high chance of tornadoes from the outer bands. 

This afternoon we will get our emergency lights, radio medicine and some important papers together. I will also take the chairs and table from our front porch, fill the bathtub with water and turn the freezer down  to its lowest setting.  We are going to put two chairs in our laundry room as this is probably the strongest point in our house for protection.  Undoubtedly we will experience power outages and have no idea of how long these could last.  If I don't post it probably means we don't have power although should be able to make a short post with my phone if the cell towers stay up.  We certainly don't expect anything like what the coast cities and Florida and perhaps up through Georgia and Tennessee will experience. There are a lot of evacuees here from the coast area and Florida with many in shelters that have been opened. 

I plan on going to Church this morning but have no idea whether Pat will go as she didn't have such a good day yesterday.  She was on her feet too much.

Joan, glad that Candy's adventures in relocating are now over and she is safely where we wants to be. 

FlaJean, I am sure you are on pins and needles today as Florida is attacked by this horrible hurricane.  I hope you are in a nice safe place.

Marilyne, we are also having much cooler weather and it will only get into the low 70's today and then stay in the 60's tomorrow as we deal with the hurricane.  I was a little premature to say we would be bypassed by the hurricane.  I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part.

Mary Ann, we just checked the Weather Channel every few hours to see if there were any changes, which there was as the hurricane moved to the West. 

I think we are far enough west that we will only get some rain and a little wind, but there is going to be a lot of damage for most of Florida.  The storm is so big.  Some of the telecom companies providing hotspots for some areas of Florida so people can get information.  Hopefully we won't be impacted.  Some areas in south Florida have already lost power.  We hope everything goes well with you, Larry, and your family.

shirleyn, Beverly and FlaJean - I'll be thinking about you, and hoping that you all stay safe.
I looked at the Hurricane Irma map on my computer this morning, and it looks like Winter Haven, is right in the pathway!  I didn't see The Villages, on my map, but I did see Niceville.  Looks like it will have run out of energy by the time it gets way up there? 

Larry - I'm glad that you and Pat are prepared, just in case.  I guess you never know if or when a hurricane will suddenly change direction.  I hope you don't lose power, and that your cell towers remain standing.

Good morning, it is beautiful sunny day, but a little on the cool side. I did hear the heat come on this morning.

FlaJean, I am still worried about you and my family, the way the storm seems to swing around. I talk to Jo yesterday and of course she told me not to worry.  I do as the front of her house and back are almost all glass.

Larry, I am also worried about you, then I have to worry about my GD in Tenn.  No wonder I have gray hair

I am very tired to day, as my neighbor had a covered dish party for the neighbor.  Someone got a wheel chair, and insisted I come over.  I staid for a while and enjoyed visited with all my friends, did get tired so came home early.

Dot and I did part of our "usual" Sunday; we did not go to church since we are having Home Again Sunday, the start of the fall season.  Everything is outdoors and we did not care to do that.  We did go to the Cholesterol Pit where we shared a Tuna Melt and Coconut Cream Pie.  Of course, we also had coffee and chatted for over an hour.  I now am watching hurricane coverage. 

Tom left at 4:30 am and expects to be back at 1 pm.  I have no idea what he did but I think it did not involve driving for UBER.

The cat usually (almost always) helps me make my bed and this morning was no exception.  He pawed around as if he wanted to get under something so I had the section to go over the pillows and raised that to let him under and he went under it and laid down.  When I left for eating, he was still there but is not now.

I have nothing on my agenda except computing and TV watching.

Mary Ann

Waiting for the hurricane to reach us and hoping and praying for the best. It's supposed to reach our area by 5 a.m.  Lots of tornado warnings are all over the state. It's been raining here for hours.

We arrived home Wednesday night.  Could have (should have?) stayed in Vermont till it was over but there were some important things to take care of here. On the way down,  I-95 had cars going north as far as the eye could see. All our neighbors are staying here as well. We should be fine according to the predictions.

I now have a toad in the house!  He must have come in while we had the door to the garage open. I tried to catch him but he got away and now I can't find him.

I'm hoping Shirley and Danny went to a shelter.  The storm changed direction and their area could get hit hard.

I know FlaJean lives near the water so praying she'll be okay.

If we lose power I'll try to check in with Chape's smartphone.

Beverly, I hope you and Shirley and your husbands have no trouble from the hurricane.  From what I hear, Irma has slowed down but that doesn't mean she can do no damage.  I think Jose will miss Florida.  Enough hurricanes!!!

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. It is a rainy morning and the winds are increasing in intensity.  So far the rain is not really heavy yet.  Our forecast this morning is talking about wind gusts of 35 to 40 MPH but hopefully those won't be sustained gusts.  However, just now heard the man on the Weather Channel say the Augusta area may have winds up to 60 MPH this afternoon.  So today will be just keeping an eye on the weather and hoping for the best.  This is such a huge storm but we are as prepared as I know how to be. 

FlaJean, since you wrote yesterday the Hurricane seems to have shifted Westerly so hope you are still safe.  I will be watching for your next post to know you are all right and the same for our other Florida friends.

Marilyne, while the hurricane cone has moved well West of us we are experiencing impact from the outer bands of the storm.  I am just hoping we don't lose power.   

deAngel, we have a lot of windows in our house but as long as we don't have a tornado I am confident we are safe inside the house.  So please don't worry about Pat and I as we will be fine.  It is interesting how visiting with others can be so exhausting.  Hope you can get extra rest today. 

Mary Ann, glad you were able to have your weekly outing with Dot.  Nice that you both enjoy the same food items since the serving are often too big for one person. 

Beverly, sure glad to see your posting and know that you are safely home.  Do you have those metal covers for your windows of your home?  Sure hope you, Chape and all of your friends around you stay safe though out this terrible storm. I am glad you were going South and not North on your trip home.  It sounds like the toad was looking for a safe place to ride out the storm? 

Larry, Dot and I both like the tuna melts.  When Norm would go with us, Dot often got oatmeal and I got a tuna melt and ate the whole thing.  But now Dot and I split a sweet roll besides whatever else we get.  Our alternatives are an olive burger for Dot and a regular hamburger for me.  Dot pays one week and I pay the next. 

We are to get up into the low 70s today.  Wednesday we want to do our "family" thing and the forecast puts rain in one time and cloudy the next.  We'll just wait until we get to Wednesday but rain won't keep us from getting together.  We probably will be at Jan's because she can't leave her parents alone.

Today we are to get a new dishwasher.  I'm calling it Tom's dishwasher because he wanted it so bad and he also picked it out.  I only paid for it. 

I'm watching the Weather Channel and I haven't seen much of Larry's area, nor that of Jean in Niceville FL.  I hope you have light rain, compared to some areas that were hard hit.  Paul Goodloe of the Weather Channel is in Naples and the sun is shining!!!

Mary Ann