Batten Down the Hatches

The good news is that it looks like we will be spared the supreme wrath [and eye] of Isaac.  

The bad news is the next 48 hours are basically lots of rain and strong winds.   Hermit-like behaviors are certainly in the cards.  In order to prepare, we have done the following:

Moved the patio furniture into the garage

Moved the cars into the driveway 

(and not under the mediocre construction of the pergola, blocked by the tree in the photo)  

The irony is not lost on me that:
a) cars are more valuable than patio furniture and are out in the elements to be hit by debris and
b) my car went from parked under the pergola to PARKED UNDER A TREE.   Yeah Jules because that is safe.

Assembled hurricane food

• Jumbo bag of trail mix that features protein and dried fruit [raisins] and chocolate for fun
• Cans of Chef Boyardee pasta
• Bottles of water
• Baked a batch of brownies  (Why do I always bake when a storm approaches?)

Plugged in the 'old fashioned' wired phone

I am saying a prayer that our power stays on.... have I forgotten anything?

Cool It: The Saga of our Air Conditioning

Disclaimer: This started out as a quick blog post about a blip in our mundane lives over the weekend.  It has turned into a saga, and all is documented below for our entertainment in the future.   But it is not entertaining right now.

Friday evening 

11:30 pm
Just about to fall asleep, Michael comments that it feels warm in our room.   I dismiss the comment, and fall asleep.  

Saturday

8:00 am
Michael can say "I told you so" but we are too warm to argue.   Upstairs temperature check: 81 degrees.  It is August in Florida, y'all.   Daytime highs are usually about 90 degrees.   Without a heat index.    So we keep all the blackout curtains closed and turn the 3 bedroom ceiling fans on high.   It is all we can do, because it will keep getting hotter.   Contemplate going to Costco to buy wine and food for dinner later.

Later that morning
Call our trusty a/c folks and they can send out a technician to look at our upstairs a/c unit today.  Costco run is put on hold.  (Our house has 2 thermostats and 2 a/c units.   This can be helpful if one of them stops working; at least half the house is livable.)

2:30 pm
Carlos arrives and lets us know that our fan motor is broken, but it is an easy fix.  Excellent.  The thing is, Carlos has installed the last of the fan motors in his truck at his previous house.   Boo.    So he charges us for the service call and will be back later in the week to install the damn motor.   The curtains are still drawn, and the fans are still whirring.

3:40 pm
It starts to feel warm downstairs.   The thermostat reads 80 degrees.  Carlos has been gone less than an hour.  What the heck.   Our upstairs is still hot, and now the downstairs is about to match.    Michael checks the breakers.   All is well on that front.

Once again, he calls our trusty a/c folks to report an issue with the downstairs unit.  The rep on the phone has him check the breaker (done!) and then check the float switch.   Turns out there is water in the pipe which triggers the unit to shut off.  As per the phone assistant, water can be drained from the pipe so the switch is back on track.  Michael gets the turkey baster [which has been used one time for turkeys and now one time for a/c repair] and gets some water out.   Checks the wall unit.  The a/c kicks back on and we are set.   The unit needs maintenance, but at least we have a stop gap.  Walk out the door for Costco before 4 pm

6:00 pm
Home from Costco.   Thermostat reads 80 degrees again.   Michael gets the turkey baster again so he can remove excess water.   Evidently the first round was [very] temporary.   For those keeping track baster count = turkey: 1 a/c fixes: 2.  It works again so we seem to be set.

Evening
Settle in to the beautifully air conditioned downstairs.   Watch some Olympics and Alien, recorded off HBO.   Can't believe we haven't seen this movie!

11:15 pm
Go upstairs for bed.   Upstairs Temperature Check: 85 degrees.   We kick off all covers and lay on top of the fitted sheet.  We are sweating without moving a muscle.  We try to think of cold things like penguins and ice cream and snow storms.   That must not be an effective way of cooling down; we are still sweating.

Midnight
It is too sticky to sleep, so we get the air mattress and extra sheets and head downstairs.   We inflate the air mattress in the middle of the living room, where it is - thankfully- still cool.

Sunday

8:00 am
We wake up downstairs on the air mattress, which is still fully inflated!  Small victory there.   The temperature is still comfortable downstairs, despite Michael not fiddling around with the float switch overnight.  Upstairs temperature check: 86 degrees

Needless to say, we stay downstairs the entire morning and early afternoon, except to shower.   And even then the water stays on cold.   Do I have to tell you it does not feel the least bit cold?

2:15 pm
Torrential downpour outside.   This is good news!   Rain = clouds.   Clouds = NO SUN BEATING ON THE HOUSE.    Hallelujah.   Torrential downpours also come with a breeze.
Upstairs temperature check: 88 degrees (EIGHTY-EIGHT?!)

2:30 pm
We decide that breeze outside and no sun is a good time to open the windows.   Moving the air around will help, and the outside temperature is less than 88.  The breeze feels a-ma-zing.  We set towels on the window sills just in case the water comes in a little bit.

3:10 pm
The wind has shifted.   We run upstairs and close the eastern-facing windows to a crack so the carpets don't get soaked.
Upstairs check: 87 degrees

4:00 pm
Michael decides to check things out.  The eastern-facing bedrooms are coolish and the rain and breeze has died down.  So Michael decides to open the windows back up and have those fans blowing air down so 'cool' air gets to the hallway and hopefully down to our bedroom.
Upstairs temperature: 86 degrees

7:00pm
It is still roasting hot upstairs and looking like it won't get much better.  At this rate, I cannot work upstairs Monday morning.   Michael and I haul my computer and phone down to the dining room so I can work in a climate controlled area until the a/c guy comes Monday- hopefully in the earlier portion of the morning.
Upstairs temperature: 85 degrees

10:30 pm
Go to bed in the living room on the air mattress.  Again.  Luckily the float switch remains happy, so the downstairs is comfortable.   As comfortable as it can get, sleeping on a bouncy air mattress next to the couch and TV.

Monday

6:00 am
Wake up to go running.   Decide that running 4.5 miles is much more comfortable than one more second on the airbed.  Have I discovered a new trick for always wanting to jump out of bed and workout first thing?!

7:00 am
Back from running, head upstairs.
Upstairs temperature: 81 degrees
Shout downstairs to Michael "It's 81!  It is down to 81!"

7:30 am
Begin working in my dining room office

9:00 am
Michael calls the a/c folks to check on the status of our situation.   Turns out not only was Carlos out of fans in his truck, the company is out of stock too!   They are 'working with their vendor' to determine when they can obtain more.  They will call us back
Upstairs temperature: 84 degrees

Late that morning:
Float switch trips off again.   Michael drains the pipe with the trusty turkey baster.  Back on track.

11:00 am
Michael calls the a/c folks to check on the status of our situation- again.   Nothing new to report.  They will be in touch
Upstairs temperature: 85 degrees

12:50 pm
Michael calls again and uses the phrase "That is not helpful to me" on the phone.   It has been established that we can now order our part and they will "see" when a technician can come install it.

Approximately every 45 minutes during the afternoon
Downstairs a/c shuts off due to extra water in the pipe affecting the float switch.  You'll recall this started happening on Saturday.   It is getting more and more frequent.  Sigh.

5:00 pm
Michael calls the a/c folks once more to confirm that a tech will not be on the way today.  He asks for a time frame and is told they 'hope' the part arrives Tuesday.  Depending on the time it arrives, a tech can install it Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.
Upstairs temperature: 88 degrees

5:01 pm
Michael decides to go to Target to buy fans.  His theory being he can push cool air from downstairs up into the stairwell and then out into our bedroom.  Had we known the saga would continue this long, we obviously would have bought fans much sooner.   Now we know, and having fans in Florida just seems smart.

6:00 pm
Downpour of rain.  Clouds and breeze = no sun beating on the house.   YES!   Michael gets home and sets up fans.   I remind myself not to trip over any cords in the dining room or up the stairs.
Upstairs temperature: 87 degrees

 

7:00 pm
Michael goes up to check on the fan project
Upstairs temperature: 86 degrees

8:00 pm
Michael goes up to check on the fan project
Upstairs temperature: 85 degrees

8:30 pm
Downstairs float switch trips off again.  Michael is done with turkey baster.  Gets shop vac.  Decibel level in the house reaches that of a runway, what with the shop vac and the 2 fans blowing at high speed.   I continue to be a teensy bit warm.

source

9:00 pm
Michael goes up to check on the fan project. 
Upstairs temperature: 84 degrees

9:30 pm
Downstairs float switch trips off again.  Cue shop vac.


10:00 pm
I am tired and want to go to bed.   It's cool enough to try the real bed and not the air mattress.   I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes.
Upstairs temperature: 83 degrees

Tuesday

6:00 am
Wake up to go running.   Remind myself to be careful on the stairs because there are cords and fans blowing, etc.  Do not check thermostat

7:00 am
Get back.  Michael reports that the a/c downstairs shut off overnight (it was 79)  and he has used the shop vac on the pipe.  Downstairs still feels warm.  Upstairs temperature: 82 degrees

7:30 am
Time to start work.   I wear a bathing suit top while working in my makeshift dining room office.  Michael suggests that, based on my sartorial choices, I resemble someone living in a double wide trailer.   I shoot him a dirty look.

10:30 am
Put on a tank top- I have a video conference call with colleagues and do not think they want to see me in a bikini top.

Mid-day
Michael calls the a/c folks to check on our progress.   The part has been ordered and is scheduled to arrive 'either tonight or tomorow morning' and they will call us when the part comes in so it can be installed.

Wednesday

6:00 am
Wake up to go running.   Remind myself to be careful on the stairs because there are cords and fans blowing, etc.  Do not check thermostat upstairs but realize downstairs is still cool.  YES!  Made it through the night.

7:30 am
Time to start work.   With the downstairs a/c in full operation mode, I wear normal clothes again.

9:30 am
Still no word from a/c so Michael calls them.   A lovely representative informs us that yes the part has arrived and will be installed the next day.   Company policy is that parts are installed the day after they arrive.   Then, the rep notices that we have been out for quite some time.  Her next words are music to our ears: "I am going to send a runner out with your part so he can meet up with a technician in the field.   Then the technician will be out today.   It might be after 5, but he will be there"
Did you hear the Hallelujah Chorus?  Because I did.

12:20 pm
Michael receives a call from the a/c office letting us know a tech will be out between 12:30 and 1:00 pm.  I do a happy dance in the dining room.   I am still working downstairs, after all.

12:40 pm
Doorbell rings.  It is Carlos again!   YAY!  Carlos installs our new part for the upstairs a/c and performs maintenance on the pesky float switch downstairs.

1:45 pm
Through some kind of magical Carlos math, he charges us less for both jobs that we were quoted to buy the original part and install it.   Not questioning it.   The a/c is working both upstairs and downstairs.   Hallelujah, indeed.

2:00 pm
Michael removes the fans from the stairwell and hallway

5:31 pm
I move my office from the dining room back upstairs where it belongs.

Debby Downer

Tropical Storm Debby arrived this weekend.  It resulted in muggy temperatures and tons of rain.  I knew last night that the rain would continue this morning and my usual morning golf course run would be washed out.  I set the alarm for my usual 6 am wakeup call and figured I would head to the gym.

This morning I went over to our neightborhood gym, arriving a few minutes after 6, only to find the doors were locked.   The gym doesn't open until 7 am in the summer.

Excuse me?!

What gym opens at 7 am?   And in Florida it is so darn hot all the time that you'd think a climate controlled space would be available more frequently in the summer than the winter.

So I got back in the car and arrived home at 6:15 wide awake.   I did what any rational person would do:  I put the kettle on to make tea, and started to work.    (You thought I was going to go back to bed?   Ha!)   So today, instead of working til 5:30 I will work til 4:30.

Maybe by then the gym will be available

Momsie was here!

My mother was here all week and boy were we busy!  In addition to two comprehensive theme park tours that included nearly every ride and no lines at all (YAY), Mom also finally 'met' Alice from Alice in Wonderland, which made her day.  The rest of us, of course, realize that Alice is actually a young woman wearing a blonde wig and a blue dress, but don't tell her that...  Mom and I also did some damage at the outlet mall here in Orlando, the highlight of the trip being Mom's trendy designer dress that cost less than most pairs of shoes.  It's super cute, too.  The week ended on a high note; the three of us saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3D before dropping Mom at the airport.  Sadly, the weather was less than cooperative-- but still better than anything you could hope for in Ohio.  It's been cold and windy all week, creating bad hair days and cold hands.  It's a good thing fun times and merriment trump blustery days.

If you like pina coladas, and gettin' caught in the rain....

...you would have loved the past 36 hours of my life. Not because of the pina colada bit. No, that would be too easy. I have gotten caught in the rain TWICE since yesterday morning.

Incident #1, Monday 10:30 am

I tend to do grocery runs on Monday, and yesterday was no different. After I ran and did my OCD strength training, I thought it best to shower before subjecting myself to the cashiers at Publix. I showered, dried and styled my hair. [Now would be a good time to note that I was wearing a gray tank under a white shirt, yoga pants, and flip flops] Grabbed the car keys, noticed the dark clouds above the house, grabbed umbrella just in case (also thought umbrella in car would delay rain). Thought "I hope the rain holds off until I'm back" and CUE DOWNPOUR! No joke. Walking in rain is not a big deal, so I went into the store with my trusty umbrella and did my shopping. I dawdled just slightly, hoping the rain would end. Yeah, not so much. Walked outside, downpour continued. Have you ever tried to load groceries into a car holding an umbrella? It doesn't work. I was saturated. My white shirt stuck to me like glue, my feet were soaked, and so was the bottom inch of my pants. And my thighs too, since the rain was coming down SIDEWAYS!

Oh but the fun did not end in the parking lot. You see, we do not have an attached garage in our lovely home. I park in the driveway, which is behind the pool. To enter the house, I must exit the car (duh), open the pool fence, walk along the deck, and unlock the back door. This is not usually a big deal. Add an umbrella, it's kind of amusing. Add groceries, and you can't do it. Two hands cannot hold an umbrella, groceries, and open a gate and unlock a door. The umbrella was the only non-essential. (My mother would argue this point, saying I could leave the food in the car and come back later. But I had frozen stuff and this is Florida and it was kind of warm. ) I grabbed my groceries and made a run for it. My goodness. When I got inside, I was soaked to the bone. My clothes were dripping. I had to change into a dry outfit before I could even unpack the groceries. And my newly dried and styled hair? Looked like TRASH! It was hilarious.

Incident #2, Tuesday 8:20 am

The horrific downpour of yesterday had ceased overnight, but more showers were forecast. Since the skies didn't look too bad at 7:30 I headed out for my run. I did a short loop so as to not tempt fate. I stopped in the club house for my usual water and brief chat. Noticed the skies getting dark, then darker, then purpley gray. "Marla, I should probably go... it's going to rain on me" Marla, forever the optimist, said the weather report said we had 15 minutes. Excellent! I walked out the door, and was less than 2 minutes down the sidewalk when CUE DOWNPOUR! Again. Dammit. Did I have an umbrella? No! Was I holding my not waterproof iPod? YES! I started to sprint, but then realized I was still a mile from home and it would make no difference. So I laughed out loud and continued to get soaked. Wouldn't you know, less than 5 minutes later, it slowed to a weak drizzle. (Note to self: wait it out in clubhouse next time) By the time I got home, the rain had stopped. But once again, I was saturated. All clothing was wet, my shoes had water in them that gushed out every time I took a step, and my ponytail was dripping. For the 2nd time in less than 24 hours, I had to go upstairs and change my clothes before I could do any other activities. (in this case, my OCD strength training)

What is UP with this nonsense? I keep hearing about el Nino creating excessive moisture all across the country right now. You know what? El Nino can suck it as far as I'm concerned.

The Never Ending Flight and other travel thoughts

So I said I was going to talk about my terrible, horrible flight experience . But that was Monday and this is Friday and the excitement and irritation has since subsided. And I tried to write about it and it was actually kind of boring. Maybe I'm not in the mood, but maybe it just wasn't that horrible 4 days later.

Also, I just heard about a GINORMOUS storm hitting the mid-atlantic this weekend and thought Well, yeah. My small fiasco is NOTHING compared to the delays and cancellations and other travel hell that folks traveling this weekend will experience. Flying, driving, snow shoeing, whatever your mode of transportation, it will likely be delayed. And I normally wouldn't care about such a storm, since I don't live in the mid-atlantic, and am not traveling this weekend. However.... Pannie is going to be driving to Tennessee tomorrow and the biggest snowfall is literally falling all along her path home. NOT GOOD. I must admit, I am looking forward to her blogging about the adventure. But, seriously, I'd rather she simply get there without incident.

O Christmas Tree, how lovely are your flip flops

So despite my previously mentioned seasonal issues, I do realize that in approximately 5 weeks Christmas day will be upon us. Which means decorating is right around the corner. Don't tell this to the Targets and Wal-Marts and malls of the world. They have been decorated since before Halloween. I, for one, refuse to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving.

When we were small, my family took the Friday after Thanksgiving to decorate the house. We were recovering from our turkey comas (who are we kidding, for me it was pie) and did not want to set foot outside, lest we freeze to death and/or get trampled at a nearby Black Friday Sale. So Al went up into the attic (she's the smallest and can fit into the opening the best) and Dad stood on the ladder and I took the boxes and lined them up in the garage. Mom supervised from inside. And then, as a family, we assembled the tree, unwrapped all the ornaments, and spent far too much time figuring out where they should go on the tree. In fact, this superb attention to detail usually resulted in eating leftovers in whatever spot you could find to sit, as the entire kitchen and family room were covered with decorations. And the project often carried on into Saturday. My poor parents. It was great fun (for us kiddos), and a tradition we continued until I graduated from college and moved out.

This year marks a changing of the guard, so to speak. It's the first Christmas Michael and I are married (but we've had 4 Christmases living together, so not a huge deal in that regard) but, most importantly, it is the first year we have a house! WITH A FRONT PORCH! THAT I CAN DECORATE WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS OHMYGOSH! This week I suddenly had an irrational fear that the stores, with their pre-Thanksgiving super marked-down decoration sales, would sell out of all the stuff I wanted for my porch. So what did I do? I went and bought all the accouterments today. I am now the proud owner of many feet of pre-lit garland, a light-up wreath complete with pinecones, a non-light up wreath with gold accents, window candles, and luminaries for the front walk. And of course, nothing says holiday spirit like driving to the store in flip flops and with the windows down... Definitely not an Ohio experience.

Sadly, my stash must remain in hiding for ten more days, until we are back from our Thanksgiving travels. But if you need to find me on November 30, you'll know where to look. I'll be on my front porch decorating it to the 9s. Wearing flip flops.

Baby it's cold outside

I live in CENTRAL FLORIDA, aka "The Sunshine State". This morning it was darn sunny, but the thermometer on the car read... 36! That's Fahrenheit, folks. I heated my seat and drove to work with gloves on. I felt like I was in Ohio this morning!!! Although, if I were in Ohio, there would not have been a man cleaning my pool in the morning, which there definitely was today. I told him to be sure not to go in today or he'd freeze to death. If FL is this cold, I don't want to think about everywhere else. Stay warm, everyone!

Hurricane Fay

I am currently experiencing my first Florida hurricane. It is not, in fact, my first hurricane, as I was in DC for Hurricane Isabel back in fall 2003. In the midst of the storm, I had the bright idea to go to the dining hall and get some food. Pannie thought I was crazy but must have been hungry, so we went and got drenched (see photo). Michael and Iain were adventurous enough to join us and we had a lovely evening playing Trivial Pursuit afterward. I also believe this was the first time I had an actual conversation with the hilarious Ed O'Keefe. But I digress.

Fay is in Florida and I am not impressed. It's windy and rainy outside, but I am from Ohio and that's often called "spring" or "a tornado". We have sequestered ourselves inside watching Superman Returns and the Olympics. Our emergency hurricane kit currently consists of a hand-crank flashlight and a freshly baked peach custard pie. We have yet to use the flashlight. When we turned on the news this morning we heard that all Disney parks opened an hour early today (I assume so vacationers could go in for a few hours and enjoy the parks before the storm). Michael turned to me and said "I would totally go into Disney World during the hurricane!" And I think if it had been earlier in the morning, he and I would have actually gone in.