Apologies for the dearth of posting

I have been ill for near two weeks with what I assumed was a nasty summer cold that was refusing to let go of me. It is only with great difficulty that I have been able to attend to my essential responsibilities. This morning I woke with difficulty breathing and so exhausted I had a hard time rising from my bed. 

I skipped liturgy and went to the local walk in clinic where the doctor fairly quickly diagnosed me with pneumonia. Now on antibiotics, I am taking the next several days as sick time and confining myself to rest and what in the Navy we termed "light duty." Hopefully things will be back to normal soon. 

Memory Eternal!

Mom died tonight. It was unexpected though I was able to say goodbye. She was the last member of the family from that generation. Those who have been through this will know the awful grief. Prayers are deeply appreciated.

In a blessed falling asleep, grant, O Lord, eternal rest unto Thy departed servant Geraldine and make her memory to be eternal!

Memory eternal! Memory eternal! Memory eternal!

RIP Pretty Girl

How I wish I could complain one more time about tripping over your toys or your habit of sprawling on top of the AC vent on hot days. To have you sit down next to me and poke me with your nose at the dinner table, begging for a bite of my supper. In all our years together, today was the first time you hurt me.

Traveling

I will be traveling throughout this week. Absent something significant, there will be few or no blog posts during this time frame. Also comment moderation and responses to emails may be a bit slow. Bear with me.

Memory Eternal

My aunt Catherine (Cathy), reposed last night following a battle with cancer. Excepting my mother who still lives, she was the last member of the family from that generation. May her memory be eternal.

A quick update on Milton

I survived the hurricane unscathed as did the house. Lots of debris and power was out for most of the last 24 hrs, but is now restored. A minor tornado passed through the south end of the street and tore up some fences and a few small trees, but happily caused no more serious damage here. Unfortunately, it went into a neighboring community just up the road, mostly composed of retirees in mobile homes. Sadly, around twenty were badly damaged. No injuries though, thank God. I'm afraid many of the communities just north of us did not fair quite so well. Prayers... 

Back (sort of)

The most unpleasant road trip I can remember is over. What should have lasted three days turned into almost a week as I was stricken by a nasty case of what turned out to be Norovirus. For three full days I was flat on my back (when not dashing for the bathroom) in a Red Roof Inn off I 95 in a small town in Georgia. Thank God for the sympathetic staff at the hotel and the local urgent care clinic who, when I finally broke down and went, swiftly diagnosed the illness and hooked me up to an IV to help rehydrate me and mitigate the nausea. The illness has now passed but I am still extremely run down. I hope to catch up with the backlogged emails etc. over the next couple of days.

Prayers please

I am currently experiencing some potentially serious health issues. In your charity, any prayers are deeply appreciated.

Final Update

Neighbors reported that power came back on late this afternoon. Lots of debris and long lines. But the clean-up is progressing. I am visiting family for a few weeks and won't be returning to Florida before November, circumstances depending. 

IAN: Update #3 or 4

I am still in Pensacola but am planning to leave tomorrow. I have gotten word that, miraculously, the house is still there with only very limited damage. The yard and roof are covered in debris and tree branches. The back of the house has a pine tree on it, but the roof held and there is no evidence of water damage or leakage. Part of the handrail by the front door is missing. Unfortunately, the surrounding area did not fare so well. I am sure everyone reading this has seen the devastation on the news. My community is tucked just north of Ft Myers and east of Cape Coral. And the entirety of the county looks like a war zone. The barrier islands look like Hiroshima after the bomb. I am told that huge numbers of people refused to evacuate. I expect that as they begin clearing the piles of debris that were once multi-story beach houses and businesses that they are going to start finding bodies. In some cases, the bodies will not be found as they were likely swept into the Gulf of Mexico. There is almost no power in Lee County not being supplied by emergency generators. Many roads are impassable due to debris and or flood waters. Gas is scarce to non-existent in the area and along much of the I 75 corridor. Given the current situation my plan is to head north and stay with family until it is safe to head back, which could be weeks. That said, I and all of my relatives are safe and nobody is homeless. Deo Gratias. I wish I could say the same for everybody else. 

Direct Hit

The eye of the hurricane just passed over where my house is (was?). Won't know the extent of the damage for a few days at the least. 

Ian update 2

I am holed up in a hotel in Pensacola awaiting developments. My home is near Ft Myers, so yeah. Hoping for the best but bracing for bad news. Maybe very bad news. 

IAN (Updated)

As of posting, I am well within the dreaded cone. The two gas stations closest to me were sold out when I stopped. I was able to gas up at a station a couple miles down the road after waiting about 15-20 minutes. All three of the ATMs I went to were empty. Will see where things are tomorrow morning, but if it doesn't look good by noon, I will be bugging out. I have no interest in waiting until Monday when I 75 will be a parking lot with no gas along the route.

UPDATE: Sunday 23:46 Eastern

It's looking pretty bad. I am bugging out tomorrow (Monday).

Entities that apparently don't need my money (and one that does)

I subscribe to a number of news outlets and had planned on adding the Wall Street Journal to that list today. Unfortunately they don't appear to need my money. When I tried to subscribe I was told I needed to create an account. No problem. That's pretty standard and I filled out the name- email- chosen password and clicked "continue." It then went to a screen informing me that my email did not match any known accounts. It had a link to create an account which I clicked on and went through the entire process again... with the same result. I played around on their website for a while trying repeatedly to create the required account without any success. After about twenty minutes of this my patience was exhausted and I clicked on their customer service link with the intent of messaging them that their website was denying them a paying subscriber. But, as I am sure you have already guessed... you have to have an account to message their customer service department.

In the unlikely event that anybody from the WSJ reads this post, I would like you to know that I just donated the $130 I was going to spend on your twelve month basic digital subscription to the Salvation Army. And honestly, I feel pretty good about that.

Thank you.

Off Again

I am traveling for the next two weeks or so. There will be little or no blogging during this time.

The Stock Market Bounces (and a personal note)

So the stock market just had it's best three day run since 1931. Yep, that's impressive. And I honestly hope that this is the first sign of confidence in a general economic recovery. But something worth remembering is that the early 30's on Wall Street became infamous for bear market rallies. These wild upward ticks, also known as suckers rallies or a dead cat bounce, never fully recouped the earlier losses and always preceded another sharp sell off. 

With a veritable wave of ugly news still waiting in the wings, I have no confidence in this stock market. And now that the government is printing money like it is water and monetizing the bond market, the only asset I'm nibbling in right now, is gold.

To be clear, I'm not making any predictions here. All I'm saying is that these are dangerous times economically and it does not feel like we are near the end. My gut says things may be just warming up. So if you have a well diversified portfolio (stocks indexed, bonds, a solid cash reserve and maybe some gold) I'd just sit tight and wait things out. Nine times out of ten, selling into a financial panic just locks in losses. But I'd definitely not be making speculative investments right now unless it was with money I could afford to lose.

[On a personal note; thank you to those who have inquired about my health. My symptoms have, thank God, been very mild. A persistent dry cough that turned into the achy blahs with on again off again low grade fevers. A little shortness of breath and the urge to lie down every time I did anything even remotely active. This has lasted for around three weeks now and I am sorry to say when it first started I didn't even realize my cough could be more than a reaction to my dogs shedding. Happily the symptoms have been fading lately to the point where I mostly feel fine now. I hope to be able to begin the seven day countdown either tomorrow or Saturday where if no symptoms return I can bust out of this joint. Options of places to go are pretty limited right now but even just a trip to the gas station would be a relief. Stay safe everybody.]

For the record

Yes, I probably have the bug. Nothing serious. Dry cough and a few bouts of the achy blahs. I get tired easily. Time for a nap and then some reading. Stay safe everybody.

For only the second time in her life...

The elder of my two sisters has bought a car, a 2019 Honda Civic. The last time was 1990. Yes, she paid cash both times.

Thank you

I deeply appreciate the messages of condolence posted on the blog and sent privately. As the period of mourning winds down I will be resuming blogging.

Memory Eternal!

My step sister Jan died this afternoon following a brief illness. There will be no blogging before the second half of July.