LIVING IN PLACE WINDY CHALLENGES

Interesting times living in place as we age .....  as if the pandemic isn't enough .....

My house at long last welcomed receiving electric power again a short time ago this Sunday night as I write this following a sudden outage Friday night.    We had some pretty strong winds sweep through Friday all night long.  They had such a strong force for only the second time in our area of town that I've experienced in the almost fifty years I've lived here.   

I opened my door early Friday evening once to check for delivery of an expected package which I learned later had been delayed but finally came today, Sunday.   The wind was so strong I could hardly push the door shut again.   As the night wore on I realized the power was not coming back on so I headed into bed.

As the winds howled and whistled I could hear my small empty trash container, half the size of a full size bin, banging and thumping around from the sheltered corner area of my covered front entry where I had placed it in anticipation of easily filling it the next day.  I'm so glad I hadn't yet put anything in the bin as light content weight would likely not have prevented it being upset. 

The next day I found the bin, open, laying on it's side up against my car.  Any contents would have been spread all over -- what a mess it would have been to clean up.   I'm not sure if a few small hard pieces of material I found in my drive are from my house as I will have my gardener coming later this week double-check to see if any others in the yard, though I haven't seen any shingles as I surveyed through my windows, but then I can determine if there is any roof concern.  

We knew there would be winds as there often can be every year with other communities generally receiving the worst and only minor issues in other parts of our town but not on our street.  In fact, this is only the second time in the almost fifty years I've lived here our street has been even remotely close to having such a destructive wind.   

Saturday when I drove out to get some hot food as I drove only a block into an adjoining small town, then others, they all seem to have some power.   I didn't see any trees down on our street, but elsewhere traffic lights were out, major boulevards closed to traffic blocked by fallen trees.   

We received varied reports of when we would have power again.  First it wasn't known yet, then we would have power 3:30 a.m. Saturday, then back to not determined again, later some misinformation, and finally to be 9 p.m. Sunday, but the power didn't come on so they weren't predicting again.   Happily an hour or so later we had electric.  Certainly as winds go these were not comparable to what those having gone through tornados and hurricanes experience, but everything is relative and what anyone experiences brings its own challenges.

I kept warm but it was SoCal cold here, meaning 40 to 60 degree temperatures and I'm glad to have an interior warm house again.   My body has long since acclimated to our climate so I reminded myself that where I once lived we would have thought of temperatures like these as nice winter days -- but this ol' bod just isn't impressed with my effort to influence mind over matter so I was aware of cold air.

Ironically, earlier Friday I had allowed my new iPhone to run very low before plugging in, thought it had fully charged but hadn't actually yet checked it had charged when I unplugged it.    I'll always check immediately now as I discovered the phone hadn't charged, perhaps the plug had been loose.   Such was also the case with my computer.  So, here I was poorly prepared technologically to effectively cope with any long power outage emergency.  

Once again having my landline telephone kept me connected to the rest of the world  with the ability to track my electric company's progress, contact my family, and have the capability to summon emergency help should I need to do so.  

Another learning experience for me in this grand experiment of living in place as I age.   I have decided to finally purchase a solar charger which I first considered doing a few years ago but had not done so.   I must do better emergency preparedness.  

Without the ability to access the internet, publish a blog post early Sunday,  see and hear the news, I did a lot more reading, completing one book and starting a second.  I hadn't been in the mood for reading books for a while as periodically occurs for me, so maybe that spell is broken.

I've learned a family member who has been so very careful has somehow been caught by covid but with only mild symptoms, lots of fatigue.  

Hope all of you continue to be well,  Also, that your emergency plans and preparedness kits are in good order.

 

THRIVING IN PLACE LESSONS LEARNED

“Life gets more exciting with each passing day” she said sarcastically.  So many lines like that one come to my mind from song lyrics, though the song subject from which they come has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what I’m writing about here.

So many lessons I’m learning in this adventure of “living and thriving in place.”  Most recently I was simply minding my own business preparing to perch myself on the throne in my bathroom when all the lights went out.  They didn’t seem to be coming back on any time soon so having completed my business I arose in the deep dark blackness of night to carefully exit the room, slowly walking down the hallway to my bedroom, then feeling my way over to my bed where I keep a light within easy reach for just such emergencies. 

Having managed to not trip or fall, I then comfortably lit my way back to the living room.  I learned from this excursion I need to strategically place some little flashlights around the house to augment what I thought were sufficient placements.  Existing flashlights for my bedroom,  one handily placed in my living room and kitchen (where I once experienced a similar sudden light loss) are insufficient.  

Definitely, I want a flashlight of some sort in each of my other rooms, including my bathrooms.  So, I’m acquiring several of those inexpensive little LED lights to use for just that purpose.  In addition to always keeping my cell phone in my pocket wherever I go around the house, should I now carry one of those little flashlights, too?  Lights can unpredictably go out at any time.   During the worst of our fire season there can be more such incidents.  Though this is an infrequent event, when the lights go out it can be dangerous, especially if walking has become a bit less secure than it once was. 

Life has continued to be a bit complex with issues surrounding this Covid-19 virus only complicating matters.   A specialist I was to see for a second visit suddenly retired.  Efforts to obtain information or even reach a person with whom to talk, since my repeated messages left, go unanswered, have elicited no response for a couple weeks.  This matter is yet to be resolved.

Recognizing I can benefit from some assistance at home, even if just temporary, I finally concluded after considering the virus spreading situation, to allow a person known to me to begin regular visits.   After my helper’s first visit she phoned to advise recent L.A. County Health Department news reports of increasing virus infections leading to recommendations residents ratchet back their outside activities and to stay at home had given her concern.  She had decided to stay home, so I was back at square one in obtaining the assistance I sought.   

There has been an increase in the number of infected people in our city, two people have died.   Our closest local area hospital is reported to be at 80% capacity with beds for Covid-19 patients but say they are well positioned to accommodate more, if need be, and to safely accept the general public with ordinary needs. 

The only other person to spend time in my house since February was an AC/Furnace person to provide general service preparatory for our summer heat.  I had my unit go down once during a heat wave and had to wait several days before service could be provided.  Weather extremes don’t agree with me as well as they once did when I was younger, so I judged this visit a welcomed risk since he was masked and the area indoors he needed to see was limited.   

There are more incidental issues with which I am dealing, all of which are time consuming, none the least of which is needing to complete my income tax forms, which infringe on time I might otherwise focus on blog visits, so please know I’ve not forgotten readers here.

Are those of you living and thriving in place learning any adaptation lessons, or have you encountered any unique complications aggravating your life because of this virus?

NET NEUTRALITY --- HEAT WAVE

FCC RECONSIDERS NET NEUTRALITY

Issues swirling around our government distract us from Internet concerns. 

On July 12^th dozens of major websites and organizations are joining in an internet-wide day of action to prevent a possible FCC wrong decision in undoing the previous ruling to insure net neutrality.  Your comment to the FCC is a first step needed with this link at Demand Progress as one way to express your view.

If net neutrality protections are removed the previous rules of access will be violated to the detriment of smaller business users and ordinary people is the concern of many and one I have shared.     

SlateMagazine explains this complicated issue including:

"Most would generally agree that net neutrality is about preserving the internet as an open platform where newcomers play by the same basic rules of access as giants like Google and Netflix.  The internet is more than just a content channel.  It's also a platform for innovation that creates new jobs, new economic demands and benefits, new opportunities for democratic participation, and new applications.  The challenge here is to protect users from censorship, while also maintaining the internet as a vibrant and open platform for innovation."

Can we trust that net neutrality will be preserved if the rules insuring it are removed?

HEAT WAVE -- SO CAL CLIMATE CHANGE UP DATE 

Heat temperatures are breaking records in three digit figures here in Southern California, more typical of later in the summer than now in early July.  

Many residents are feeling a bit more miserable because our usual dry heat has high humidity with monsoon flow.  

Heading east from Los Angeles County to Palm Springs the temperatures have been even hotter into the teens. 

Firefighters are being kept busy putting out brush fires before they get out of hand threatening homes.

Power outages occurring in some of our valleys due to a variety of reasons serve as a reminder of how vulnerable we're told our power grid is putting us at risk when our power system is disrupted. 

Keeping cool, I move between my air conditioned house to similarly cooled auto and grocery stores or other businesses, so don't linger long in the heat.  Carrying a water bottle  in my car is routine for me year 'round but especially now.  We're susceptible to dehydration at any age, but I think more so as we get older.   

Here are a couple of grumpy old men noting a heat wave in their environment.

Grumpy Old Men Having a Heat Wave - YouTube by burnettjr-2