Damn

I got up to check the water dripping in the tub, and what do I hear but the scrabble of a wild critter on the ceiling; I sure hope he settles down in a cold spot and succumbs to the sub-zero temperatures.  He is really active.  I won't be able to sleep until he is quiet.  I really hope he doesn't find a way to get into the inside of the room, then it will be me doing the scrambling.

He seems to have settled down for now.   It is 0 degrees outside and 63 degrees in the bathroom right now and I can't reach the thermostat to turn the baseboard heater up.  I want to shower in the morning. but it is only 69 in there now.  Brrrr.  I will remember this in the summertime when I am hot and sticky.

I bought and returned a hair comb that is electric, thinking that it would help me smooth the fuzzy part of my hair.  Unfortunately, my hair is too short for it to work, and I returned it.  Today I got another hair comb delivered, but my credit card has not (yet?) been used.  I am at a loss to know what is best for me to do, and I wrote to the seller detailing the previous schedule from purchase to refund. I really don't want the thing.

I bought 18 spice containers, the kind that is metal and magnetic, to live on the freezer door and free up some counter space in the kitchen.  Then I had to have a white marker to label them on the front black sticker, and of course, all new spices to fill them.  I think some of the Tupperware holders still have spices dating from 10 years ago when I first filled them, they have no smell at all now.  Somewhere I saw a service that sends you all new spices every 12 months, but the price!  I bought these from Penzeys and I will date them on the back so I will know when they need to be changed out.  And then I had to buy and glue on stronger magnets, without them they will stay up on the door only if they are empty, which sort of defeats the purpose.  And as it turns out, they need to be thoroughly cleaned with alcohol to remove the black powder which is invisible, but shows up when I wipe them with alcohol, cutting oil I think it is called.  All in all, a lot of effort for what was supposed to be a simple job.

and a one...

A blind man walks into a bar and orders a beer. He starts chatting with the bartender and asks if he would like to hear a blond joke.
The bartender gets real tense. You need to know, he tells the blind customer, that this is a blond bar.
I’m blond, and am a former NFL football player, the blond woman to your right is a kick boxer and the blond to your left is a pro wrestler. And more blonds are at the tables.
Are you sure you really want to tell the blond joke? The blind customer says, “That’s ok, I’ll tell it slow “

Almost

I nearly did a face plant yesterday.  My knee buckled and there was no place to fall safely.  So I snatched a crushing grip on the walker and forced my knee forward to where it belonged, under me.  I think that is the only time I have averted a bad fall.  Maybe I am doing better with my exercises.  Anyway, I count that in the positive list.

I tried to write/choose the bills that need to be done for next month, but my brain refused to work (I had already taken my sleepy-time med) and I had to put it away.  I will do this after breakfast when I can think a little more coherently.  And I can have a Coke at hand too.

I wonder if any of my pageviews are from people I know.  I haven't searched for blogs online for months or more, and most of them have a single subject to write about (like motors, Photoshop, and the foibles of writing code.  No more, or few, of the mommy blogs. ) So they have migrated to another social media and I am not interested in recipes, games, programs on TV.  I even get Blog-to-print, I have three volumes and they are handy, too.  Not for any grand scheme, but because I hate to have them disappear into where old stuff on the web goes.  I have 3 volumes, the first one is the largest, but altogether they are huge.  My therapist says they aren't a blog but a memoir.  I wouldn't go that far.  But three volumes and counting, wooo.

Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday, and the only good wishes come from the financial adviser and the photography forum.  This, even though I mentioned the day several times to R and C, and we are going out to dinner tomorrow (I chose the restaurant and made the reservation) because Friday R gets off early instead of 8 pm.  So, Happy happy happy birthday, to me!

I cleared out the computer room, two days ago, big improvement.  Now there is nothing on the floor, the chrome kitchen cart fits nicely in the spot I picked out, sorted into plastic boxes and labeled.  I also pitched a big kitchen bag of miscellaneous dreck, and now I can get in here to the computer without having to sidle in with my walker.  Tax time is soon to get going, so at least so far I have corralled the important papers, yeah me.  Of course after cleaning everything out/going through every stack and drawer, I could scarcely lift my arms (tall bookcase) and had to take a pain pill, leaving me just 5 more, and I won't see the ortho doctor until March.  I'm not an abuser of pain meds, but damn, sometimes there is more pain than Tylenol can fix. 

I was seen in the orthotic clinic yesterday and they took a cast of my right leg, and showed me the photo of what the brace will look like.  It will take 5 weeks or so to be custom made, and my insurance will pay thank the gods.  I had to stand on my left foot alone for about 20 minutes, and had to have the right leg manipulated and it all hurt, it was only with maximum effort could I get out of the car once we were home.  Then, next therapy session that afternoon.  Pain.

I have two DVDs, one for Photoshop Elements 2018 video training, and one is Cross stitch software, and neither have even been out of their boxes.  I had a video training for CS 2 and I never finished it, it was a workbook on a disc, and very well laid out, but there you go.  More money than sense.

We didn't manage to catch the BIG possum raiding our garage, I think the trap is too small for such a large critter.  It hasn't been seen since that first night, so maybe taking up the cat food will make it move on down the line.  Yesterday was trash day, and there were the home owners picking up garbage on their driveway where a cat (or coon) had torn into the bags.  Garbage cans, folks, garbage cans.  This is what they are made for.

                                           (not to mention using pitch to pitch it within and without with pitch, a little redundant don't you think?)

Who?

That day with the 1500 page views, I looked up the source, and all but a few are from a porn site.  Put on some clothes, it's cold out there!  Mistaken link...

Bye!

Possum number 5

Where are they coming from?!  We have never had more than one or maybe two possums caught in the garage.    The outdoor cats, 2 semi-feral of many years, are freaking out and I don't blame them.  We have had to pick up the dry food late at night and return it in the morning, which is less than ideal.  Maybe there is an entire colony all from the same family.  Well, they can have a happy reunion out in the deep woods, and leave our garage for the cats and their heater.

I lost my rain jacket from L.L.Bean about 2 years ago.  I searched the clothes closet and the coat closet, no joy.  I searched the underneath in both places, in case it had gotten pushed back and no sign showed from the front.  No joy.  So on Jan 3rd I ordered another from L.L.Bean at a pretty hefty price I might add,  and it was on  backorder until Jan 16.  C wanted to know what I was searching for, and he got this strange look, left, and returned with my long-lost jacket.  It had been shuffled to the very back of the hang-up rod in the laundry room, and I never checked there because the jacket is not washable.  But C had been clearing out all the miscellany found in all of them.  (A kite in the pantry?!).  Now I have to contact L.L.Beans and cancel.  Mine is a prettier color anyway.

sometimes

I don't know what happened to this post, which was a photo from "awkward family photos", I think.  Probably a copywrite problem.  I have never bothered about this, I leave the watermark on all the photos that I have not personally taken.  I am not trying to profit from them, just a cute little quip that I saw online, for no purpose except to make my blog post give the reader a little chuckle.  Anyway, I will look for something else to fill in the gaping hole.

This is a photo of me, Nana, and my sister, in front of our house in North Miami, around 1960.  Must have been Easter or some other dress-up occasion.  My Dad took this photo, and no copywrite pertains to it.

Possum Number 4

The only good thing I have to say about possums is that they are easy to catch.  We bait the have-a-heart trap with peanut butter in an empty cat food can, and usually catch one in a couple of hours.  How do we know there is a marauder?  Because when we go into the garage there it sits, eating dry cat food; it hisses but doesn't leave.  The trap is really getting a workout right now.  The funny part is when C releases it into the woods it will cling to the wire of the trap and he has to shake it vigorously to get it to fall out.  Dumb beasts.

I fell last night.  I was getting ready to light a candle, candle in one hand and lighter in the other, when my right knee buckled and down I went, candle, lighter, walker and me all together.  Fortunately I had not lit the candle yet.  I will have to think again about the brace, if I am ever to trust my footing again.  I am bruised up a bit, but no head injury, my main fear.  That, and falling in the bathroom where everything is hard and sharp-cornered, and I surely won't come away unscathed.

C rooted through the coat closet yesterday, and the things I am missing are NOT there.  He did find my raincoat, although I have ordered a new one before he did.  It is backordered so I have a week or so to decide if I need a new one or not.  Meaning, does it still fit?  I am thinking the sewing things are upstairs in N's former room, but I cannot do the stairs until my bruises and bangs heal.  There is a ton of stitchery stuff in a big dresser, but I can't remember what is and what is not there.

My page views here have been climbing by leaps and bounds, probably because it is funny,  part of the time.  For instance:

Which is, at least, a little bit funny.

This is by Scott Adams:

As a vegetarian, I can only handle seeing dead animals up to a certain size before I get a serious case of the heebie jeebies. I'm not too bothered looking at dead bugs and mice, under the theory that "they are little." But this possum was way above my heebie jeebie threshold. Worse yet, possums are notorious for pretending to be dead. I wasn't about to be fooled by the oldest trick in the animal kingdom.

I looked carefully to see if the possum was breathing through a thin reed of some sort. I saw nothing. Nor did I see any air tanks or diving apparatus. The only possibility was that he was holding his breath. I checked the Internet to see how long a possum can hold its breath. Apparently much research needs to be done in that area.

As luck would have it, today was the day the pool cleaning service was scheduled to clean the pool. If I pretended I didn't know there was a possum down there, the pool guy would have to fish it out. That way HE would be the one embarrassed by the possum's trickery. The only problem with that approach is that if the possum was really dead, the pool guy would have to leave it somewhere. He certainly wasn't going to take it with him in the truck. ("Here, little buddy, you ride shotgun.") If I were the pool guy, I'd be mad that I had to take a possum out of a pool. For revenge, I'd try to think up a funny place to put it, like in the hammock.

So I decided to take care of the job myself. I took the pool-cleaning apparatus that has a shallow net on the end of a long pole. That is the preferred tool for possum removal. Not only can it reach the bottom of the pool, but because it's long, it has the leverage you need to fling the possum over the fence and into the neighbor's pool.

This method worked well. The only problem is that every other day the possum is back in my pool. I expect some tension at the next neighborhood block party

A funny post

Sorry about the yellow background, this is from the photography forum that really hit my funny bone.  Enjoy!

A quick word or two

R did help me with the big tubs from the closet.  They were all full of sweaters and out of all of them I kept 4, R took one, and all the rest (23) went to Goodwill.  They will keep someone warm this winter.  One of the ones I kept was cashmere and one all silk and best of all they fit.  Now to figure out how to sort the clothes on hangers, I can't stand and reach up for very long, and there isn't enough space on the rods to separate the good from the unwanted.  I'll figure it out.

Oh, and there are *a few* coming from eBay.  I must control my buying impulse, it is rediculous when I am here in this room all damn day and night.  Who would I impress?

I got my big folding cardboard so I can pin and mark a pattern without being on the floor.  I figure the bed will work, and I can spin it so I can reach the far side to cut, etc.  I finally settled on a tote bag/purse pattern and I unearthed the fabric.  I will post photos when it is done.  I hope that will be in the next year...

And Third Place is...

C caught another possum last night, it was in the garage eating the dry cat food that was left.  C whacked him with a broom, but instead of running away like any normal animal, it tried to hide under a table.  So he wedged the door of the have-a-heart trap open and reached under the table and grabbed the possum around the throat (gloves) and lowered him into the trap, put it in the truck and took it out to the Great Beyond in an undeveloped area and turned it loose.  Hopefully it doesn't have GPS.

That makes 3 possums in as many weeks.  Nasty beasts.

Christmas was great here, there were a whole lot of snacks, and some surprises too.  Both kids liked their sweatshirts, and I liked my $50 gift card to Amazon.  I have already spent it, on a  set of specialized presser feet for my sewing machine.  I think they will come tomorrow, the feet plus a manual, a DVD and a labeled organized storage case.  The steaks and baked  potatoes were yummy, and for dessert we had.... wait....oh yeah, we forgot the dessert.  Don't know how we would have eaten it after that meal anyway.  I couldn't even finish my steak, and C had it for lunch yesterday, the more power for possum wrangling.

R got the holidays off until next wednesday, I must come up with something to gainfully occupy her for some of that time.  Maybe she can help me with my closet clear out.  I have winter stuff in Rubbermaid tubs in the bottom of the closet, but there is nowhere to hang them until I clear out the stuff that is already hanging.  What fun.  I can't do it by myself with the damned walker.

We don't take down the decorations until Jan 1st, and it will only take about 15 minutes and one trip to the storage unit.  If only the closets were so simple.  I could fill a unit with just my clothes.

Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety-one?

Ho Ho H...

Hurray!  My son was in here yesterday when the critter started scampering and munching, and when I pointed  out that it didn't sound the least like a cat, he agreed.  He took a flashlight and looked around in the garage, but didn't find any sign of a way into the garage ceiling.  But I am vindicated!  Now to see if it either dies or we find someway to get a rat poison packet up in there.  As long as we are careful to put it where the garage cats couldn't reach.  After all these years, rodent problems.  I think the difference is that the dogs are no more and so the squirrels are everywhere.

Both R and C were in here cleaning this morning and the difference is amazing.  I typically clean all the time; one day on the sinks, one day on the throne, etc.  They didn't do it the way I would have but I don't care.  A few years ago I had housekeepers that came every two weeks, so the house never did get dirty other than the daily spatters in the kitchen, or a ring in the bowl that needed to be scrubbed out.  When I retired I decided to do it all myself, save some money.  But I hate to clean, and there is no one but the 3 of us to see the cobwebs, etc.  And of course for the last many months I have been unable to do much of anything while supporting myself on the walker.  I can't even carry much of anything, so there is stuff everywhere in here.  I need to do my exercises without fail.  And be triple careful with my knee, so that it has no chance to buckle and make me fall.  And need medical care after the fall.  Fingers crossed.

I am really looking forward to Christmas day, just two more days.  Not for gifts for myself, but to see if R and C are pleased with their gifts from me.  I tried really hard to come up with something they wouldn't think to buy for themselves.  Basically it is because they have the money to get anything for themselves.  So I will see if it goes well.

I am NOT going to write here about the Lump, it only makes me aggravated with the whole dog and pony show going on.  And grinding my teeth is bad for them.

My new sewing machine is working great.  I still need to go through the presser foot "bible" that I got last week, but I used the machine to take in the waist band of two pairs of slacks, and it didn't even pause sewing through all that thickness of material.  My old machine would have had to be guided every stitch of the way, and made a lovely mess on the back side of the seam.  Now I am waiting for my cardboard cutting board so I can cut out a pattern without getting down on the floor like I used to do; or on the dining table, which is on the upper level of this split-level house, no go for now.  I got the material for a tote bag last year (or longer) and it looks do-able without any fancy maneuvers.  It will be (I think) reversible.  Or at least lined.

Bye!  Next post will be on or after Xmas...

Tippy toes

I swear there is an opening outside that squirrels have found.  It goes clickety-click across my ceiling and moves very fast.  But never when there are other people in here.  I worry that it (they?) will chew through wiring and set the house on fire.  But what can I do about it?  Hopefully it will instead trip the circuit breaker.  Something new to worry about.  

I thought for an hour or so the automatic needle threader on my new sewing machine  was broken, but when I checked the manual, it was only that the needle (which was bent) had not been raised all the way.  What a relief.  I stopped right there for the night.  I will go through the manual and the video tomorrow to check my thread position before I venture out of the video.  This machine has so many functions, it will be easier to work on them one by one.   I am so glad I didn't opt for one that does embroidery, I would probably skip that entire section.  And then go nuts when I could not get the feature to work.

The white of the sewing machine and its cover have been liberally decorated with soot from the candle on the mantle.  A lot of soot.  A brisk rub-down with Ethyl alcohol (especially with a magic erasure) takes it down, but I will wait for my wick trimmer.  All the Yankee  Candle advice is to trim-trim-trim.  My ceiling looks the pits too.  Another chore to be done.  Or leave it until we repaint the ceiling and the walls.

I have been doing my exercises every day, except Monday and Wednesday when I have therapy  that leaves me tired and ooshy after a solid  hour of exercises.  I have only used the boots once, but I will incorporate regular times that C can help me with.  I will take Lasik one day a week to get the leg liquid moving.  Hope it works or helps.  It would be so grand to walk unaided again.

I think I have caught a cold, sore throat and drippy nose yeah me.  I'm going back to bed and hopefully sleep too.

Merry so far...

I bought a new sewing machine from Amazon two days ago.  My old machine was 25? or more years old, and when I tried to use it last week, it wouldn't even do a simple zig-zag stitch.  When I tried to do straight sewing, the top looked fine, but the bottom stitching looked like terry cloth.  I changed the needle, swapped the bobbin, oiled the bobbin holder after blowing all of the crud out, nothing worked.  It doesn't owe me anything, and when I got to checking out new machines, I was amazed at all the features available.  So I bought a Singer, yes I know, made in China.  It even threads the needle for you, a big advantage when you can't see the tip of the needle, much less the hole in it.  So far I have mended one pair of pants, and have two pair that will get hemmed.  Mostly I have been experimenting with the various settings, I have missed out on all the innovations through the years.  So I got my own Christmas present two weeks early.

But the really amazing thing is that I climbed 13 steps to get to the upper half of the house, so I could see the kids decorate the Christmas tree.  It is small, the big 7 foot tree is far too big to cram into the corner, and this one has twice as many lights.  If I can get up the stairs now I will be able to get up there on Christmas morning.  Of course, I was shaking like a leaf near the end, but C had hold of my gait belt, and I had hold of his hand in a death grip, so not too risky.  Climbing stairs is a lot harder than you would think, if all your bones aren't tip-top shape.

I got the doctor's OK to use pneumatic compression boots to help with the swelling, but when they faxed the script to the Home Health place, it turns out they don't carry them.  The place they said to try is an orthotic clinic with their own physicians, and when I called and left (of course) a message, no one returned my call.  So I ordered a pair from Amazon, and if they don't fit or whatever I will send them back.  They are pretty cheap, all told.  And I really don't need another doctor to use their oar to paddle my boat anymore.  I have also been doing my exercises every day, and between the two I think I may eventually mend.

Playing Possum

I am as much of a nature lover as anyone, but the one mammal I can't bear is the possum.  It looks like a rat; and if you try to poke it with a broom or whatever, it will  hiss at you.  The tail is hairless (like a rat) and they can get really big.  We have been trapping the possums that visit our garage for the cat food crumbs at night.  Two so far, in the have-a-heart traps, that C took down to the far end of nowhere and turned loose.  I think there is one more.  There was one hanging on the bird feeder on the porch, which is way too close.  There have been 3 confirmed carriers of rabies, coons I think, in this county.  Bad time of year, the weather is cold and wet, and darkness arrives earlier every night (nothing new there).  I hate winter.

this is a short one... bye!

There goes November

We got about 4 inches of snow on Tuesday night, which froze into an ice surface once the sun came up.  I canceled my therapy session, not so much from the snow on the road here, but because I didn't want to risk a fall on the slippery driveway.  The car can get most of the way into the garage, but then you can't open the doors.  Before I sold my Miata, it stayed in the garage every night, but it is tiny, even compared to a compact or sub-compact car, and all I needed to do was stop opposite the door into the house and swing the driver's door wide.  I had 3 Miatas over 16 years, and I truly miss one.  I couldn't even bear to meet the guy who bought it.  Anyway, all the snow is gone gone and we made it to the surgeon's appointment on time.  So we could wait.  And wait...

The surgeon checked out the flexibility of my replaced knee, and he told me two things that could be done to keep it from buckling frontwards and one was surgery ("A big surgery") the other was a brace.  The brace would go top of thigh to shin.  I took his 'script for the brace, but I am not going to get one.  I had all I could take of my knee immobilizer last year for 6 months in a wheelchair, and I know if I did get one it would sit in the corner.  I am staking my cure on physical therapy, I just need to do it daily and not occasionally.  As for surgery, I told him I will never have surgery again unless it is do-or-die.  My last surgery I nearly died when I stopped breathing in the recovery room.

I have one more shirt to get from eBay and then I am done with buying on eBay for a while.  I called PayPal because my balance was a large negative number.  I took that to mean I owed that amount, but the negative number means that is my overpaid balance.  I told them to leave it there for now.  And oddly I don't feel like I need to spend it all up.  All my Christmas shopping is done, such as it was, and what I would really like is new carpeting for the living room.  You can get a lot from Amazon and eBay, but not carpet installation.  And until I can tackle the stairs again, that won't be a very high priority.

Bye!

Ho ho..

Little boy asks his father, a mathematician, "What's two plus two?"
Dad, "Two plus two is four, of course."

He goes to his mom, a shrink, and asks, "Mom, what's two plus two?"
Mom: "Well, that answer would be affected by perception and cultural conditioning, it could be four...or it could be twenty-two."

Dissatisfied, he goes to his uncle, an attorney, and asks, "What's two plus two?"
His uncle asks, "How much do you want it to be?"

WHOO HOOO

I just hit 40,000 pageviews!  Exactly on this counter, but I point out I have had at least 4 other counters over the years that just unexpectedly stopped, and I had to begin again with a new one.  This one belongs to Blogspot, so hopefully, it will continue to work for as long as I continue to have viewers. So if you are one of my followers, thank you!

I am feeling much better than I was on Thanksgiving day, and I hope that trend will continue.  My next PT session is on 11/26 and I hope I will be moving past the fall.  I can't afford to renege for every set back.

The dinner, by the way, was great.  A few things I would have done differently, but not enough to point anything out.  We all forgot the stuffing (can't stuff a wrapped boneless turkey roll anyway) but no real loss (I don't much care for the stuff (Ho ho)).  The wildberry pie was especially scrumptious, even though we had to have it on the 23rd, being too stuffed on Thanksgiving ourselves.  C was rightly proud of the task, the tricky part is to get it all to the table at the same time.  I reflected on past holidays when we hosted as many as 15 relatives, all passed now.  I never thought of that at the time, that we were the youngest of them all, including my sister 4 years older than me and N's brother 4 years younger than him.  And of course, N is gone too, a huge shock.  So goes life.

I skipped Black Friday and thus saved 100%, since I didn't buy anything.  Well, if you count on-line purchases, I bought some socks for me, and some for C.  Not for Christmas, just to have them.  Mine are light compression, I hope they will help with the swelling in my ankles and feet without feeling like a tourniquet.  And C had walked through his.  I kinda like going to the mall at Christmas, but I can't manage the crowds now, with the walker.  And if I fell, it would be ambulance time, boo.
I wish we came with spare leg, jack me up and toss the old one and put on the new.  Maybe someday they will be able to grow a leg or anything else and replace the bad one.  Like a 3D printer.

Time to go back to bed, I think I have dislodged the nightmare by now.  Cheers!

Oh no....

I fell the day before yesterday ... that is, the day before Thanksgiving.  It was a bad fall, knee buckled right in front of the closet, where I was aiming to pick out my clothes for the day.  I hurt my Knee, my butt, and I hit my head on the wicker trunk.  Thank god it was on the wicker; a little to one side and I would have impacted on the metal corner piece.  As it is, there is a head-shaped dent in the wicker and another lump on my head.  I only got up the nerve to shower today, when the pain in my knee has subsided a little.  The only thing I can think to do is hyperextend my knee to the back while leaning on the walker.  I tried to hang onto the walker to catch my balance, but all I succeeded in doing was pulling the walker on top of me.  C heard me screaming "Help!" and came and once again lifted me to the dining room chair so I could sit and wait until I caught my breath, to stand with the walker.  I had an appointment two hours from then with the GP doctor, who wasn't a lot of help; no surprise as the ortho doctor is stymied too.  I see him on Friday.  She suggested a rollator walker, it is heavier and less likely to tip up.  We shall see.

But because of the fall, no stairs were attempted, and we all gathered around the card table down here and had a yummy dinner which C and R prepared.  I won't try the stairs for some days yet.  I feel like I will never get better. June 23rd will be a year from the first surgery, and Feb. 19 will be the 6th and last surgery at one year.  And all I wanted was a simple knee replacement.

I have the bookmark almost finished, the hummingbird is done at last! the one with a zillion thread colors.  Now to finish the flowers.  The chickadees will have to be a birthday present, there is no way to get it done in time for Christmas.  The next project will be for me!  That is the sampler for my 45th wedding anniversary,  and instead of saying "the best is yet to come" it will read "Cherish the memories".  It will look nice, I think, and I am the only person whose opinion will matter.  Maybe I will get it fully finished by June 6th, 2019.  It is large, and the framing will cost a bunch, I think.

I am stiffening up just sitting here, so it is time to lie down for a while.  Hope everyone had a good holiday and I will return here in a few days.

Did you know hummers can't walk?  only hop.

Wildfires

It is a profound loss in California and we feel sorrow for each person driven from their homes and losing everything a home represents.  We lived in San Francisco many years ago and grew to know some wonderful people in the Malibu area.  The news looks almost unreal as the great and small communities all suffer.  In time there will be rebuilding, but for now the loss is very real, not just buildings but lives are lost too. To everyone:  Hang in there.  The only way is UP.