August chitchat

[Jeanie Z]

:) Virginia I PM'd you my number. Call anytime. If I can't talk I will tell you. Jeanie :)

[Virginia]

Thanks Jeanie!!!

[Jeanie Z]

:) I have lived in this house since 1964. We had a lot of hurricanes over the years but no real damage due to shutters, prep, etc. I have plenty of food, etc. Andy lives close and I have 6 five gallon cans of gas if the power goes out. If it doesn't we will put it in the cars. He has stairs and the bedrooms are upstairs too. Jim's hose would be okay but his wife's parents stay there because they live in a trailer and I do not want to be with them for any extended period. Jeanie :)

[Virginia]

Certainly understandable to me Jeanie, just get somewhere in the house where you feel you are the safest you can be.

[Howie]

I always wanted to go through a hurricane. Hugo was the closest one ever to come to my area, but by then it had moved over the land far enough to weaken to just be very rainy and windy. They all start off headed this way, but turn the wrong way.

I found an antenna amplifier today at Walmart online, but it will be payday before I can get it. I've lost half the stations I used to get, including Comet which is my most watched channel. The old amplifier is to blame. Oh well, I've been watching Comet online, and only a shows, but it's not the same.

[Virginia]

Howie bite your tongue - move further away from me if you’re going to wish for a hurricane. Maybe you should move closer since we have gotten hit with several. If they turn away from you that would be good for me.

[Howie]

I live so far away from the ocean, I am relatively safe.....for now.

[agate]

I always wanted to go through a hurricane. Hugo was the closest one ever to come to my area, but by then it had moved over the land far enough to weaken to just be very rainy and windy. They all start off headed this way, but turn the wrong way.

He's still staying this! Hard to believe that he hasn't been talked out of it.

My SIL is on the west coast of FL and even they might get hit. She's definitely NOT looking forward to it. Maybe you and she could trade places for a while, Howie.

[Howie]

That thing is SO far from the US right now, they are just taking wild guesses about what path it will follow.

[agate]

Looks kinda close to me. Right there, practically. I don't mean to be an alarmist but they mentioned that it might take a northward course. But you and Sam can just keep on lapping up ice cream there until it hits you, and then you'll have first-hand experience of a hurricane.

[Lazarus]

I always wanted to go through a hurricane. Hugo was the closest one ever to come to my area, but by then it had moved over the land far enough to weaken to just be very rainy and windy. They all start off headed this way, but turn the wrong way.

I found an antenna amplifier today at Walmart online, but it will be payday before I can get it. I've lost half the stations I used to get, including Comet which is my most watched channel. The old amplifier is to blame. Oh well, I've been watching Comet online, and only a shows, but it's not the same.

I also use only an antenna to get television. A couple of years ago we replaced a barn roof and so they took down the antenna. We pounded a steel pole in the ground and placed the antenna on it. That was supposed to be temporary but we got a lot of stations so we left it there. When it was windy I could walk 30’ from the house and raise up my cane to push the antenna slightly.

But it had not been as perfect a situation lately. I knew we needed to raise it a couple of feet. So, a friend got a taller pole. He drilled several holes in the pipe with pins that held it in place. so the antenna could not turn in the wind. Perfect! We get 40 stations but most important to me is that I can get 7 public television stations all the time...all playing different programming.

It is great. I pay nothing and get all I could possibly want.

[stillstANNding]

I am also in the antenna only club. I get 6 PBS flavors. I have never had cable.

ANN

[Lazarus]

I am also in the antenna only club. I get 6 PBS flavors. I have never had cable.

ANN

What is interesting around here is that my friends who do have cable only get one Pbs channel. They are unaware of the 3 other channels that even the local public television station runs.

[agate]

I've had very little use for cable and got it only a few years ago when it seemed to be the only way to get decent reception after the "converter box" came along. I was paying quite a bit every month just for basic TV reception.

I went without it again for years here and got along with a rabbit ears antenna, then a leaf antenna, then another rabbit ears, but all I could get, sometimes, was PBS. It would come and go while I danced around the room repositioning the antenna. Sometimes it did well on the windowsill, other times there was no place where it worked.

I now have cable again and have discovered one channel I do turn on often--a news channel with a lot of commercials but at least I can find out what's going on in the world. I was very much in the habit of the daily newspaper but that had to go 10 years ago when I moved here.

So for now I'm still paying for cable--mainly so I can get this one news channel. I looked at "Jeopardy" a couple of times too. One of these days I might try to find out what all of those other channels are like. There seem to be about 900 of them, even though what I have is the cheapest version of cable that Comcast offers.

With my rent going up soon, my addiction to news may have to end. It will be difficult, with an election coming up, and I probably won't be able to part with the luxury of cable.

Income goes up--rent goes up. It's fair. I'm not complaining. I'm taking part in a study that pays me, and the Safeway paid me a huge windfall recently. A class action case that has been dragging on for years was finally settled. Safeway was found to have been overcharging its online shopping customers for several years (2011 to 2014), and during those years I used its online shopping almost every week. Safeway was ordered to pay us back, and so I got a substantial check recently, which I used to pay down a credit card.

I wouldn't have had so much credit card debt if the Safeway hadn't overcharged. So the housing people ruled that that money came my way because of an injustice that had been done to me and it didn't count as extra income, apparently. My rent went up as it turned out but not nearly as much as I thought it might. If they had figured in that money, the rent would have gone up by about $60/month and Comcast would have to have been cancelled. But it went up only $14, and I'm giving a huge sigh of relief. I can keep Comcast for now at least.

I'm sorry if my posts are long and rambling. I'm trying to occupy space with words here, maybe to make up in a small way for the people who are missing here.

[Jeanie Z]

:) When I went to put the cloud on it erased my entire message. Annoying. I am glad I have email addresses for some of the missing.

Andy and I went to the store.

He is coming Sunday to put up the shutters, take down the flag, and stow the garbage can, etc. I have several flashlights in case he cannot get here during the storm but I will be fine. I have several crossword books.

Sunshine I hope you stay safe and have no damage. Jeanie :)