Countrymouse Posted November 2018
On My Mind
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Replacing the much lamented 'On My Mind' profile option, this thread is for musings, jottings, whimsies, preoccupations and the rest of the thesaurus for anyone to jot down anything they please.
I can't remember what the maximum character count was before, can anyone else? But anyway it wasn't very many so let's keep to that.
New Orleans relies heavily on tourism. Yes, things are expensive for the most part and especially in tourist areas.
I hope that you had a good time while visiting.
We are staggered to see internet pictures of houses surrounded by trees, access tracks with trees on both sides, built at the top of slopes - fires go faster up slopes, you won’t get a fire truck up a track burning on both sides, and a house surrounded by trees is undefendable. No wonder people are told to evacuate! We have instructions on how to survive if you don’t evacuate, and houses that are well prepared and actively defended are first priority for the firies to help. We saved our farmhouse, when the second house on the property burned down flat – we had decided in advance which one to save, and we knew exactly what to do. I was ‘showered’ by the water bomber that came to help at the end. Afterwards, every boundary and paddock fence was totalled – stock everywhere!
I can’t help but wonder about the planning rules for new west coast developments, and about the information that is freely available about fire risks. ‘Surrounded by nature’ sounds nice, until nature is on fire. It’s awful, but even more awful than it ought to be. The more places at serious risk, the thinner the resources are stretched. I sincerely hope that you cope as well as possible, and that everyone else involved also copes successfully. Very best wishes, Margaret
They are delicious! 😋
So sorry about the fires in your area. It is devastating to endure these kinds of natural disasters.
No-one asked about the stock!! That’s in spite of many site comments about me being a bit cold-blooded about dealing with ferals. It’s all relative, isn’t it? All our sheep ‘saved themselves’ and none had to be shot. We had also opened all the right gates in advance so that they had options to choose from – stony ground, bare tracks etc. But that was a bit of a miracle. A neighbor a couple of miles away had no feed but a fenced area, and we moved them down the road and fed out there for a few weeks, until we got some of the fences repaired. The roving police turned a blind eye to us, the sheep and the non-road-registered quad bikes we were using to move them, the morning after the fire.
Lots of issues to remember. Best wishes again, Margaret
Glad your stock did well. That’s an amazing story.
But it’s rare that they are so severe . I don’t like the occasional tornadoes . The occasional earthquakes here are mild so far .
Geeeeez, what next?
I have been getting repeated texts saying that I have a package that couldn’t be delivered and that they are holding it. A link is attached.
My husband gets these texts messages on his phone also. We aren’t waiting for any deliveries. It’s yet another scam.
I have had my gmail account hacked before and a loan was made in my name. I don’t click on anything! The scammers do the online overnight loans.
These overnight loan companies don’t verify information and they approve the loan. I have since blocked my credit with all three credit bureaus.
The detective that handled my case said that he had a room full of cops working on fraudulent cases.
It’s hard to keep up with all of these scams!
After going through hurricane Katrina, I am not as willing as you are to take hurricanes that easily! 😝
Mom lost her home in Katrina. Nine feet of water in it after the levee broke.
I was almost 10 years old when hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans. We had water in the streets but not in our house. The power was out for a few weeks. My parents were the only ones that had a gas refrigerator and neighbors brought food to our house for us to store.
Betsy was a fierce storm but it was nothing compared to the destruction of hurricane Katrina.
usually the hurricanes are weaker by the time they reach up north . But we have had some bad ones too . But we don’t live below sea level like your city , flooding isn’t usually as bad as it is by you . Winds bring down big trees and power lines . The closest I ever lived to the beach on Long Island was about 3 miles and my house was on a hill ,we never flooded .
I now live in a large valley in PA. Lots of creeks do flood often . I bought a house on a street that is up high on a hill about a half mile from frequent flooding , so I’m good .
However when it floods we do have to take other routes to get places .
Also water doesn’t burn you . Fire is the worst IMO .
Things are different after Katrina. Before Katrina many people did what we refer to as vertical evacuation. Going to relatives or friends who have an upstairs and riding out the storm. Katrina wasn’t a storm to ride out.
I was swimming at a friend’s house when my godson called me on my cell phone and said. “Hey, they just did a special alert on television. Are you going to get your mom to evacuate? The storm is heading directly for us.”
I thanked him for calling me and I immediately went to Mom’s house to pick her up. We didn’t have a lot of time to pack up much.
Rooms were booking up quickly, but we were able to get a hotel suite in Texas. Since we were in Texas, I called a friend of mine that lived near me in New Orleans before she moved to Houston to have lunch.
She insisted that she wanted us to go and stay with her. She lives in a huge Texas mansion. She is a sweetheart. She had people before us staying with her and people after we left staying with her.
When we were watching the footage of the storm on television, we could see that Mom’s house was in a hard hit area. Mom was devastated but we were all glad to be alive. So many people died in Katrina.
It was strange when we were able to return to the city. New Orleans looked like a war zone. Nothing was in operation.
Seeing my childhood home completely destroyed was quite emotional for me.
The bizarre thing was that my graduation photograph was the only thing that was remaining on the wall! It was crooked but it was still on the wall.
My godson laughed and said that I was a survivor for sure when he saw my picture on the wall.
Yeah, your area is different than here, Alabama and Florida.
We are below sea level but if our levees hadn’t broken the damage would have been far less.
Yeah, tough times for New Orleans residents.
Firefighters have been taken off the fire lines as it is too dangerous there, so now they relying on whatever can be done by air. The northbound lanes on the highway are closed and the southbound open for evacuees. The fire has grown to over 20,000 ha since this morning (doubled). The wind is shifting to push the fire away from the city. That's the good news.
My dd and her hub are south of the fire now. Middle son and wife are still there and will wait until an evac order is given for their area, if it happens.
For sure tornados, floods, earthquakes and all can be terrifying and cause a lot of damage.
Thanks to all for prayers. I would hate to see a repeat of 2016.
I was on my own driving north to I didn't know what. No water, no toilets no nothing except trees, the road and a line of cars. Finally after many hours on the road we all found different camps in the bush and were accommodated for a couple of days then flown out to Edmonton. I couldn't find a hotel with rooms in Edmonton so I tried in the surrounding small towns and got the last hotel room in the town I live in now. It was pretty crazy.
That was early May. We weren't allowed back home until early July as all the gas lines etc. had to be checked. My house had water damage from the water bombers and needed work for months. The others were ok. Thank goodness for insurance covering the costs!!!!
I heard the most bizarre thing about these fires today.
My partner, N., was asking why so many and after the last awful season as well, and on researching he found that many of the fires are called ZOMBIE fires because they actually lived deep in stumps through the winter rain and snow and now are rekindling themselves?
Can this be TRUE? My god, if she, seems we are doomed in the woodlands. They say the winters weren't cold and wet and snow-heavy enough to ill the fire completely.
You would know if you have heard such a thing for your fires?
nacy - thank you. The evac caused a lot of trauma for those who experienced it. Many had PTSD. I prob had a little as I have never been comfortable in fire season there since. I am so glad to be out of it and will be relieved when my dd is as I know she feels it. My middle son is very logical and handles things differently. I know he will act sensibly. He's one that falls on his feet. They called it the "Beast" with good reason. Any large fire out of control is a beast.
The fire is inching closer to the road - the only egress to the south. Hopefully the winds today will drive it back. They have finally brought out heavy equipment to build fire guards between the fire and the city.
Zombie fires also occur in landfills. Decomposition + pressure + methane.
Hopefully drones equipped for thermal imaging will help spots zombies early. But these fires - size and frequency - are absolutely terrifying.
It's not over yet but looking better right now.
Thanks for the encouraging update . Hopefully it continues to improve for our neighbors in Canada.
They have been talking on our news about smoke coming to the northern US .
Thanks to all for prayers. It continues to rain in Ft Mc. DD and hub have returned home and the general consensus is that the worst is over, The fire has not grown. It is still out of control but many fire guards and protections (large sprinklers) have been set up in the parts of the city closest to the fire. I sincerely hope and pray they get it under control soon.
I remember in 2016 someone set their sprinkler system going and it prevented damage to their house from flying sparks. Our neighbour had some roof damage to their house though we were closer to the fire (about 1/2 a block away).
On another topic, I finally got my new hearing aids and they are great. They are even hooked up to my iPhone so I can answer it through my h aids if it is within a 15' range - very handy!!!
However there is a downside. I listened to music for hours when I first got them and that triggered a fibromyalgia flare up. Too much brain stimulation. So I have to scale back and be careful.
It's a trade off. Listening to music is good for my hearing, but too much (what ever that is) sets off fibro pain. But, no doubt, overall they are an improvement and I am thankful for them.
Sun shining here today and very welcome it is.🌞🌞🌞
Send - I know you have an interest in fibromyalgia stuff. A respected researcher claims that the core issue is over active immune cells in the brain causing brain inflammation. Hence the need to avoid overstimulation of any kind - light, noise, stress... That and taking supplements which reduce inflammation in the brain really help me. Feeling human again.
So interesting huh? The research on fibromyalgia. I have a good friend who suffered with it for quite a while before she got a correct diagnosis.
I also find seizures studies interesting. My friend has a son who has bad seizures and she limits television and computer time due to light stimulation.
It’s fascinating. I certainly don’t understand it. I know that there are different types of seizures.
Mom had seizures and didn’t know when they would occur. She would just black out.
I know a woman who has seizures and she knows when they are happening because she sees auras. Interesting, huh?
One day I went into my hair salon and the wall was crushed in. A woman had a seizure while driving and ran into the salon!
My cousin was in line at a store when a car came crashing through the store window. An older man had a seizure when driving. The customers had to run fast to avoid being hit.
In Brighton we got an order of pasties and the sweet young man said to us:
"A-ow o 8-nnn".
He said it about 10 times, poor thing, before we knew he was asking us whether we wanted to take it out, or were we eating in the restaurant.
Accents were amazing across the country and in Wales, Ireland.
I learned a bit of the language for every country we went to and I can still ask how much it costs in Czech!
My son’s was in Las Vegas. Lots of fun .
Only 30 of us.
My mother in law threatened to refuse to come to our wedding because we wouldn’t let her invite 100 of her “ closest friends “. Plus she wanted a say in picking out the venue , the date , colors , flowers, my dress , tuxes , food , cake etc. She acted like it was her day , not ours .
We canceled and eloped . Best thing ever.
I don’t understand why people think they can dictate their children’s weddings . It should be what the couple wants . I give my kids a flat rate monetary donation towards the wedding. If they go over that budget they pay the rest .
I tell my kids , I just hope to be invited .
Just tell me where and when to show up and I’ll happily come without any criticisms, meddling , or requests.
My other child is not married yet . She wants something smallish somewhere on the East coast on the beach . That won’t be a problem for me since I live on the East Coast. I’m glad she doesn’t want it in some country I would not be comfortable going to .
Your son should move somewhere that his future in laws wouldn’t want to go to .