jazzgirl

Count me in for a virtual slice and Happy, Happy Anniversary, aikim! I think the best possible way to celebrate it is with a weekend wedding of your firstborn! :00003653: ldyjocelyn! Birthdays are a lot of fun! Still digging out from my basement. Had to replace the water heater, the furnace, and now need to go shopping for a washer/dryer. Does anyone have a stackable unit? If so, how do you like it? Next, need to get estimates for a crumbling basement wall, but need to get the washer/dryer in place first. I like oatmeal just fine too, but my everyday breakfast food is ......Chocolate Malt-O-Meal. ETA: I wanted to comment on something annabear said upthread about her mom still being without power, but fortunately having a gas hot water heater, so she still has hot water. I was thinking about getting a tankless hot water heater (mucho bucks!), but read in Consumer Reports online that when the power goes out, so do they, as they have an electrical component. I decided to just get the conventional water heater as a replacement as our power goes out frequently. So glad to have hot water now! Boiling water for dishes is too pioneer for me.

:nana: Stopped digging out from my muddy basement to say "woo hoo" to annabear. A little bit of hope in the midst of your no power situation. The water receded on its own! At least, I didn't have to hire an extraction company. I'm surprised by that as so much stuff was floating around that I thought the two drains were blocked, but gravity must have worked. Tomorrow, I will find out how the furnace and water heater fared underwater. The next day, the washer/dryer/freezer. I don't have much hope for the later trio. I would love to have my washer so I could clean all the flood soaked laundry. I "had" (don't know if past tense is appropriate yet) a 15 year old Maytag washer. Never needed a single repair. I'm going to hate to lose it. Hope I can get hot water tomorrow, I miss the dishwasher and showers. Thanks for the sump pump advice. That's on my "to do" list too.

Thanks, play :F_05BL17blowkiss: I'm been feeling like my mind is underwater too.

Can't get to the breaker box, hence the problem. It's about a 20 foot distance of three foot deep water from the staircase. Never thought about rats coming up the floor drain, yikes! My basement just reminded me of that old movie, The Poseidon Adventure. I'm on a waiting list for a water extraction company. I'm wondering just how long the list is.

Thanks, great idea on the masks! I think I need to buy a lot of jumbo trash bags too. Good point, play. I was lucky that when the water receded the first time, I was able to unload the freezer and pull the plug, that is before it started floating. I also had a radio that was in danger of falling in the water and was able to yank the cord and grab the radio, but yes, very scary stuff. The basement filled up again overnight in a virtual flash flood. I had some things propped up, but the props floated, even wooden platforms floated!

I remember that in 1972, Kim! Woo hoo, indeed. Thanks to all for the basement advice. I'm buying a lot of bleach tomorrow, making some calls, and hoping the water recedes. I think it's likely I'll be doing some appliance shopping too. Really surprised me when the chest freezer started floating, darn, that must have had some good insulation, but that will be the cheapest thing to replace. ETA: audson, basements are certainly the norm in my vicinity, some houses, however are on slabs. Basements are useful for a tornado storm shelter.

We are having our own "hurricane" in Chicagoland with a one hundred year rain. I have at least three feet of water in the basement. I am worried that the furnace/AC unit, the water heater, washer/dryer and freezer may all be lost, and no flood insurance or sump pump, because nothing was ever needed before now The chest freezer is actually floating! I had two feet of water yesterday, but it went down, until last night, when it all came back. Anyone had any flood experience with damaged appliances? Were they salvageable or not? From what I am reading, about three feet of water is when it is recommended they be junked. We thought about trying to bail water, but the basement is a virtual lake. ETA: Talked with annabear. She is without power in Ohio, due to storms.

I woke up to a flooded basement here in the Midwest, about two feet of water, and just had a guy come over for an estimate on pumping it out. Interesting. It does seem to be receding and I'm debating what to do. Either way, I've got a mess on my hands. MSNBC just said that Houstonians have been advised to boil water as a precaution (or drink bottled water). Glad to read that everyone seems to be OK!

From March 19, 2008: Huffington Post

Very interesting. Wonder what connection Clay has to Matt that we may not know about, if any.

Play, thanks for sharing your story too. Sometimes, looking back, we can see how fate smiled on us in its own way. Other times, when everything goes wrong, we are left to ruminate on why bad things happen to good people (*useful book, BTW*). . Hope those in Ike's path keep posting throughout the storm.

You and your mother were indeed blessed, annabear. :F_05BL17blowkiss: I was near downtown Houston back then too. I remember people taking showers at the downtown Y. Smelly co-workers and no A/C and hoping that my skylight would survive the storm. Sending safe thoughts to all in the path of Ike. Hope you stocked up on non-perishables, protein bars, peanut butter crackers, etc. Fill the washer and the tub. Hunker down is the word (*starts humming "Grease"*).

Jemock, welcome to FCA. I liked your post's giddy stream-of-consciousness style. This was my favorite part:

I've had too much real life lately and have been posting too rarely, but wanted to bring over something I linked at CV late last night. I simply found it interesting, given all the hoopla that Clay's TV themes interlude got at last year's SRHPT: It will be interesting to see what Groban does with this task. I can't quite see him doing "The Jeffersons" dance! *g* Scarlett, that was indeed a thoughtful reminder about how everyone can help to make a difference. I hope you and our other Texans stay safe from Ike.

Scarlett, hee indeed! Someone did leave the cake out in the rain. muskifamily :F_05BL17blowkiss: Hoping for the best with your MIL.

Often at the same time... annabear!. FCA is indeed a very special place with very special people. Did you exchange contact info? *hums "Love is a Many Splendored Thing", as this is the appropriate continent for it* Tom Friedman made this interesting point in the New York Times: As for angst on other boards, it's Clay's life, to run as he pleases. I just decide if I want to observe.

Me too! KAndre and Scarlett, you do AWESOME recaps! I'm very much a non-verbose writer (except when for some reason I am verbose), but I love how conversational you all are.

Yay for couchie! You already have your own fitting emoticon

aikim, sorry to read about the fridge saga. If all else fails, buy ice! We were without power for three days a few weeks ago. I lost hundreds of dollars of food, but surprising, was able to save some in a giant cooler with a lot of ice. It is always a calculated risk when to risk opening the fridge/freezer doors to add ice or leave it closed and preserve the temperature.

Just wanted to post that this homebody loves getting a vicarious trip to Hong Kong. KAndre and Scarlett are delightfully entertaining writers! As for Clay's not being on tour right now and comparative market position, I just think it is harder to determine where you want to channel opportunities if your talents allow you to go in different directions. For instance, Gavin DeGraw doesn't have a triumphant debut on Broadway in his career repertoire. Big Daddy Clay has other priorities now, but I believe he will emerge and follow his heart regarding his career on whatever timetable is right for him.

Oh, but they do. Click on Coach Official Site and then "Classic Favorites"; a modest selection is available.

From the Coach website: I'm going to find out soon what "natural" life of the product means, as I need to send an "oldie but goodie" in for work. That is, if I ever get to that item on my bottomless "to do" list. I've never had a problem in the past, but it's been a long time since I've used the service. Couchie, I'm missing some girlie gene components too, for instance, I have never paid anyone to do my nails for me. I've just never understood not slapping on some clear nail polish myself if I wanted to do anything about my nails.

Annabear, very nice pics of "Big Daddy"! I commend you for being able to combine the board and online courses without missing a conversation or a percentage point on test results. Scarlett, it is wonderful to read that your aunt is doing so well that she is coming home *makes me think there is a mystical connection between her homecoming and your arrival*. aikim, despite how your day has gone today, I wanted to say how inspirational I found your culinary recap from upthread. Almost makes me want to dig out a cookbook *almost* As for expensive purses, I generally agree that they are an indulgence, except that I am a Coach groupie, but of the "classics", not the newer fabric stuff. I love the leather styles from the 1990s and fortunately bought a lot back then and am blissfully happy in my leather Coach bag time warp. The stuff wears well and I may actually have a lifetime supply given that I wear the bags until they fall apart!

{{{{iseeme}}}} and family on the loss of your MIL. How wonderful that you have such good memories of her that she is mourned so. I love that movie and I'm not much of a movie watcher. Another one of my obscure favorites is "Betsy's Wedding" from 1990. Anthony LaPaglia as the mafia hit man is hysterical to me. As someone who spends a small fortune in allergy medicines for grass and pollen, hanging clothes outdoors is not an option, although I do try to hang things in our unfinished basement when I can. So good to hear from Scarlett and KAndre. That hotel view sounds spectacular! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

:thbighug-1: :garfieldodie-grouphug: So glad to read that you have arrived! This needs some explaining: