Toot Your Horn Thursday

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Checking in without cuop.

Arrived just before 6 at the hotel. Checked in to both rooms and started to search for signs from ds. We knew he was changing phone numbers so emailed.

He was about 45 minutes behind us so we went to dinner at Bob Evans and he joined us. I asked how the drive went for him and he said, "you haven't checked Facebook!" On I90, in a construction area, a digger dug into the concrete and piece flew up, over the barrier and hit his car. Scared him badly but he retained control. He pulled off at the next rest area. His hood is dented, there are scratches on his windshield and his Pelican case (indestructible and up on the roof) has damaged as well. Thankfully it hit that and not the kayak, also on the roof. He asked at the information desk and they gave him the state trooper number and they came fast (5 minutes) and took a full report. So he was only delayed about 30 minutes. He'll have to file his insurance claim when he gets home.

I'm off to bed now. We'll be up at 6 and hopefully on the road by 8 but have to stop to dip our feet in the water of Lake Erie. It was lovely when we did that in Lake Ontario but it started to rain as we came along the into Erie and was pouring so hard at dinner the parking lot flooded. We came out and ds paused because it looked like he had two flats. Nope, the water was deeper there than we had waded in for our lake shot! So we gave up on the lake tonight (we were cold from the rain) and will try in the morning.

[Harriet]

So grateful that only damage was to things, Kathryn!!!! Also that trooper arrived quickly to take down info and check things out - in a similar situation, there could have been someone calling, unable to assess themselves well and needing attention! As it is, the adventure trip does have stories already. :shock:

[LadyMaverick]

I just saw footage on FB showing a 31 mile traffic jam of poeple going to ellipse. So many people that cell service is overloaded and not working. So many people that gas stations are out of fuel.

I had a very enjoyable evening watching DGD6 try over and over and over to ride an electric scooter. That gal doesn't give up until she achieves her goal. She wiped out a dozen times but kept getting back up and trying again.

[Nancy]

dgd#1 had a bday today. She started colloage this week, I did not get her quilt do s bc I hurt my knee and was healing up from that this summer & started working more.

That footage was on our news but only 15 mi. long.

[lucylee]

Yes! So glad your ds wasn't injured personally, Kathryn! That's so scary. Things can be replaced, people cannot.
I certainly hope the rest of your trip is a little calmer!

DH, DS, and DDIL all arrived back home by around 8:30, so it was a pretty quick trip and dh is worn out, but no more so than he would have been a year ago, I'd guess. Except I bet ds did all the driving, and a year ago, dh would probably have done all the driving.
And ds has to be in Nashville -- to meet a friend -- at 4:00 a.m. So he was going straight to bed and planning to leave around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., I guess.
I just have to pray and trust the Lord to keep His arms around ds when he's on the road.

Happy birthday to your dgd, Nancy! Hope she has a great year at college!

Traffic jams -- our church senior citizens were planning to go Tuesday to see the eclipse, and some scenic areas just south of Nashville. They have cancelled that trip and I suspect fear of traffic jams and all that goes with it was behind their reasoning.

Sending lots of good wishes for speedy computer repairs, Cathy!

School days... I have no real regrets re: my own or ds's, except
(1) I wish I had taught him to clean (his room) better, by cleaning WITH him instead of fussing at him and letting his room get to the point that it overwhelmed him (and me.) And
(2) I wish I had been more patient, and less prone to raising my voice.
I was just looking back and saw that in high school, I missed a LOT of days from grades 7-10. Then magically, I had perfect attendance in 11th & 12th grades. Y'all can come to your own conclusions about that...

DGS apparently does not plan to take the excused absence on Monday to watch the eclipse at home, but says he will stay in the classroom and play on the computer. He is "not going to go blind." Apparently, ddil has scared him good about wearing the provided glasses correctly (which we THINK the school will provide) and NOT looking at the sun without them. I asked if they had windows in the classroom, and he said, "But we can pull the blinds?" I said, "NO... so you can see how dark it is getting outside! You are NOT going to go blind by seeing the darkness! You just can't look directly at the sun!" Oh well... better safe than sorry, I guess. I told him I thought if they stayed indoors, they would be able to watch it on tv.

I plan to watch as Lynlee described. Paper with pinprick. I've done that before.
I did take a picture with my old 35mm camera back then ('82? '83?) but from what I've read, one should not try this with a regular digital camera or phone camera. I certainly don't want to tear up my phone. Replacing a phone is such an ordeal even not counting the financial part of it.

So glad you finally got that couch moved out, Dee!

WTG, Twins, on all your good deeds getting people to and from where they needed to be.

And you, blessed, with your dmom. So glad things went more smoothly this time!

Also LOL at Harriet and dog who is so attentive to his master, and so indifferent to Harriet.

Waving to all!

I don't know if I already tooted this horn or not, but dgd and I
* vacuumed the hard floors in the main area of the house
* washed and hung to dry one load of clothes
* called dmom on the phone

* helped dfriend 82 going through bankruptcy
(She called, wanted me to write her a letter to help explain that she was NOT Jane Mary Doe, ABC Drive, Our City, but that she is Jane Sue Doe, 31 DEF Street, Our City... which is quite a complicated can of worms since Jane Mary has a lien against her property, and Jane Sue does not. And Jane Mary is now deceased.
And I am a little bit seeing red b/c I sent her to d?bil to have HIM write this letter last week, thinking it would carry much more weight coming on his legal letterhead, and he apparently shrugs her off on her own again.
As dmom says, qualifying her opinion with the fact that it is really none of her business, but her opinion IS that dbil should have long ago taken on the mortgage issue and began writing letters and helping this lady at no cost.
Instead, he has let this issue ride for at least 4 years, and finally referred her to a bankruptcy lawyer in Next Town -- while this elderly lady continues paying over $600 a month house payment, which still shows her to owe just as much as she did 50 years ago when the house was new.
Apparently all she has paid has gone towards interest, and she freely admits she has been late with her payment repeatedly -- they demand their money on the first and she isn't paid till the third, which has created untold misery for her.
Dmom, with her banking experience, truly wanted to help her out when we first became aware of it all, a couple years ago, and dmom actually got some financial info from dfriend -- dmom wanted to call the finance company she is dealing with and get to the bottom of this, but at the time, dmom was struggling so with depression and her own drug dependency (there's no other way to put it) and she just couldn't pull herself together enough to help anyone else.
So now it has dragged on another year or so, dfriend is filing bankruptcy at age 82, and just cannot comprehend all the lawyer is asking her to do. Grrrrr... I just want to SHAKE dbil and ask him WHAT IS HE THINKING.
Dh and I will spend as much time as it takes with dfriend, b/c we will forever be indebted to her for her kindness and compassion to dmil.
As dmom (and dh) have said many times, she was DBIL's mother, too!

and before I took them home we went to eat at Subway, colored, read books, and picked up a TON of toys.

[Harriet]

So sorry for your friend's troubles, lucylee - that must have been weighing on her mind terribly for so long. It's not just the trouble of the moment but a long time of knowing things were going very wrong.

Pharmacy trips were done. I chatted with long-time local pharmacist about my blood work in case he had a thought. Dd and I passed in town, likes ships in the night, but we were on different errands. Couldn't be helped. She was up folding laundry until now.

Well, the visitation for my friend from church begins at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow with funeral following, and we've learned that dd19 must pick up her "key" card at 10:00 a.m. and has only the next 2 hours of move-in time for her floor until the next crowd comes to take up the elevators and parking and hallway space, etc. I see no way we can do any more than to arrive early at funeral home and write our names, say "hello" to the staff and leave. Sigh. Dstepson bought over a hand-truck and put it in the truck bed, but he can do no more - work schedule won't allow it. I hadn't even thought of needing to take the truck because of the small refrigerator. Parking will be a bear. Double sigh.

So make that, arrive early at funeral home in the truck with a refrigerator in the bed ... .. Not the best, not the best.

[lucylee]

Well, at least your dfriends will know you tried, Harriet.
I let dcousins' grandmother's service come and go with no acknowledgement other than a FB post. I don't think I have ever met the lady -- she was their paternal gm and their dad and my late cousin were divorced (but rumors were that they were "talking" again.)
Anyway -- I'm feeling sorta bad about this.
This is also the cousin who is getting married while I will be at a football game.

And the ones who have invited me to yet another "purchase something" party but forget me when they do something fun. :p