The New Water Cooler

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  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    Tornadoes. Holy *kitten*. Tornadoes everywhere
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    Oh man. We are ok. Tornadoes hit Lincoln, and parts of Omaha. It’s bad. Might be worse than the tornado of 1974. I thought I had a bad day, never mind. Work sucked, but my home is safe and everyone I love is safe (for today)
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    More than 100 tornadoes hit parts of Nebraska and Iowa yesterday. So many homes destroyed. What a sad day for so many and calling for more tornadoes today. Hang on.
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    I was wondering about you and your home. I'm glad you are all safe. Was C in Lincoln? How bad is the damage at UNL? Stay safe with the next round. Do you know if your parents and sister and her family are ok?

    Very windy here and blowing my deck furniture around. I put it up against the house to see if that would help. We leave Monday so I hope nothing happens here while we are gone.

    I vacuumed out the car, wiped down the inside, and washed the inside mats. Russ will take it to the car wash tomorrow. I used Goo Gone to get off some old park passes on the windshield that gave us access in MN. The car is 8 years old but doing well. When I go on Medicare that will be 10 years with this car and I want to get a newer one.

    I visited Sarah this morning. I converse with her but know that most of what she says to me isn't reality. Just spending time with her means a lot. John showed up after me. He has gone back to work during the week and doesn't arrive until 4:30 and eats dinner with her. He is a contractor and hasn't worked since she had her stroke. I'm glad he has gone back so he has time with his work partner and keeps busy. I'm sure money will be helpful too.

    I'm taking a break and then I need to start sorting clothes to pack. I hate packing!!!!!
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    Lincoln and UNL avoided major damage. It was very close to downtown. Caleb is safe but said it was crazy. A Northeast Lincoln business to a direct hit that trapped workers. All were recovered safely. Then the storms headed toward Omaha spawning so many twisters. Suburbs of Omaha took the brunt. (Waterloo Elkhorn and Bennington (my hometown) and Blair). The airport took a direct hit and then it bounced into Iowa and leveled a few small towns. All my family seem to have been spared. Amazingly no deaths reported yet. Great work to all the weather crew.

    Almost trip time!
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    I'm glad your family members are all ok. How scary!

    Finishing packing, clean up around here and go to Traverse for an early dinner, car wash, and errands.

    A bear came into our yard in the night (caught on outside cameras). He made the rounds of all of Russ' bird feeders. Knocked them down and ate the seed. He wandered into one of my perennials areas and then left. Good sized bear! Of course, I told Russ this winter that those feeders would attract bears. He denied we would have bears here even though others report and post pictures on FB every spring. The neighbor told him one was sighted nearby so then it must be true. What do I know? Anyway, we had a visitor and now all the feeders are put away until we return from our trip.

    I will check in from our first hotel tomorrow evening. Packing up my computer now.

    Have a great Sunday.

  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    Woah a bear!

    Have a safe first leg of trip
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    We had an easy drive today. Russ did all the driving so I will drive first tomorrow until we get close to Atlanta then he can take over until Macon. I don't like the traffic going through Atlanta. We arrived in KY around 3pm and checked in to our hotel. We decided we would only drive 8 hour days to offset my knee stiffness. We stopped at rest areas every 2 hours and I took a walk and did squats by the car to bend my knee and loosen up the leg. We went to dinner and are relaxing in our room. We will watch the KBC final competition at 8pm.

    My brother's burial is scheduled for June 13th. My remaining brother will arrive at my house on the 11th and stay until the 15th.

    Any more tornadoes come your way?
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    No more storms, yet. Maybe later this week. 😞

    Glad your trip is off to a good start. I am not great in the car.

    Have a good dinner and night!
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    I’m glad you were able to get things figured out with your brother for a date to come home for the burial. Maybe you’ll be able to reconnect a bit too
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    We are at hotel in Macon GA. Arrive in St. Augustine mid day tomorrow. We will take dinner to Jeff's and spend evening helping him with the kids. Karah goes to Atlanta tomorrow for work and doesn't return until Friday Eve.

    My leg is stiff after day 2 of sitting in the car. Today was rainy so I didn't get to stretch and walk as much as yesterday. My digestion is slow with all the sitting. I feel like a fat cow.

    Your weather calm now?
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    Big wheels keep on turning, Proud Mary keep on burning. Rolling. Rolling.

    Hopefully once you arrive you can work/walk out your stiffness
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    We are here. At Jeff's now. Karah will return from Atlanta on Friday. The kids have grown and are way more social. Layney let me read books to her and she was copying my words.

    Our rental is old but clean. Neighborhood has pretty homes and seedy homes. It will do for 2 weeks but I wouldn't rent it again.

    Hope all is well with you in NE. Weather calmed down?
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    So glad you have arrived! Awww, book time with Laney. I bet you love that.

    More severe weather tomorrow! Yikes. Seriously.
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    I hope your town is spared. Stay safe.

    Russ and I went to the Anastasia State Park yesterday, walked the beach and took a nature hike in an ancient dune area. We also went out to lunch and then to Jeff and Karah's for dinner last night. We had tacos/taco bowls from a neighborhood place and ate at their house. It was hot and humid so the kids played with the hose in the front yard to stay cool.

    Today we all met at the beach and spent a few hours playing in the water, getting sun, walking...The kids love it when Jeff takes them in the ocean to ride the waves.

    We are giving them a night off from having us around and relaxing at the rental. We will have a Cinco De Mayo dinner at their house tomorrow Eve. Not sure what daytime plans are for Russ and I. I would enjoy a day at their pool but we will see.

    My ankles have been swelling in this heat and humidity if I am active. I have put more steps in since getting here than I was able to do prior to knee surgery. The incision looks good and I am keeping lots of sun screen on it. Still icing and using the cane if I will be in precarious situations or walking on difficult surfaces. I walked on the beach just fine these past two days. It actually feels good like I am working some dormant muscles and they are waking up. My knee doesn't hurt at all it is just the swelling when I haven't given it a break in a while.

    I hope you are having a good week and weekend. What's new?
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    Glad your visit is going well and that you are feeling good with the increased activity

    Have fun!
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    We did a 1/2 mile hike today on a boardwalk to some dunes and the Matanza River. We didn't see anything interesting but the shade and boardwalk path were nice to get exercise. My knee felt good. I used my walking sticks for balance so I can make it far enough. I could have gone further if the trail had been longer.

    We relaxed this afternoon after doing some errands. I needed stronger sun screen and a gift bag for Layney's birthday present. We went to Jeff and Karah's for Cinco de Mayo dinner and had fajitas, pico, chips, beans and rice. We took the ingredients for Margeritas. I haven't had a cocktail since before surgery other than one glass of wine last week.

    I put my feet in Jeff's pool and the water is pretty warm. I hope to spend more time there this week.

    Happy Monday tomorrow. How is work going? Are you in your new position?
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,269 Member
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    I went to the Y this morning and rode the bike and walked on the treadmill. Then we went to Walmart and Barnes and Noble. I wanted to buy a couple of cute books for the kids and we wanted a lightweight small cooler for the beach/pool. The one we brought in the car for drinks, snacks, lunch is too heavy and too big to lug across the sand.

    We went out to lunch at a place we saw. Nothing to write home about but we are going to try their breakfasts which look very good.

    Every day is sunny and 80's. Are you expecting any more horrible storms/tornadoes?
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    Storms moving in this evening. We are hopefully on the edge of the worst part. But hail is still likely. Ick. Oh and I just found out this weekend that Caleb’s car took a tree branch during the last round and his windshield was blown. Not sure why he waited to let it be known. Bernie was figuring out a place to get it fixed. Then Caleb decided he would do it. I asked Bernie if he had an appointment, he said y, and I said get your place booked. If he wanted to do it he had over a week.
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,722 Member
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    I’m glad your knee is doing so well!

    Our new boss started today. I suspect it will still be awhile before things change too much. All the work we do still has to be done.