Good Tuesday morning, Frankie!
Hope I didn't overwhelm you too much with posting "S.O.S. d'un terrien en degrease" to your thread. I think that song speaks to all of us who feel like we were not meant to live in this world the way it is.
Yesterday was a very strange day. It started very early when we were hit by a deluge that hit in the middle of the night, as in, we got as much rain in a half hour as we've had all year so far. I had gotten up very early and was having breakfast, and making some muffins in the oven, when the power suddenly went out at 4 AM. Mind you, it was just raining like crazy, there was no lightning and no wind with this storm. Fortunately there were only a couple of minutes left, the oven was already hot, so the muffins cooked OK. It was strange taking them out of the oven in the dark and buttering them, and pouring my coffee in the dark, which had thankfully already been made.
But the power was out for over 6 hours, and still out when I finally had to leave for my dental appointment. Thankfully the water heater I had installed last summer runs on gas, so I could take my shower. I just had to wait until daylight to see in there. The crews from Florida Power and Light had finally arrived after daylight, and were working in the rain.
So I made my way out for a follow-up visit to the periodontist out in Beef Wellington after a procedure last week. After the appointment I ate at a Chipotle restaurant out there, the first time I had eaten at one since the Covid pandemic. I don't like eating out much these days since it's now so expensive, but I wouldn't have been able to cook the hotdogs I was planning to have if the power was still off.
When I got back home the power was finally back on, and I could finally make phone calls on my landline. That was another issue with losing electricity. About 1 1/2 years ago, the phone company switched me to a fiber optic line, which requires a hookup to my electricity. There is a setup that requires 12 D batteries to maintain power in a blackout. I had planned to buy them for the hurricane season, but I didn't realize I'd need it now. Also, I made a note to buy a couple of flashlights so I can see in the dark the next time this happens.
So I was finally able to call out to Best Buy to set up an appointment to try to set up my cell phone. My wireless carrier said that was the only place that they saw that worked on Samsung phones (the people I'm talking to don't live in this area, so they're no doubt at the mercy of whatever their computers pull up). Remember that I'm having a bitch of a time trying to transfer my service from my old iPhone to the Samsung I just bought. Anyway, I get to Best Buy, they fool around with the phones for a while, and then hand them back to me when they can't figure out how to get around the 2-factor verification. So I came home, defeated again. My next step is to contact Samsung directly, but I've been so frustrated with this, I figured that the stress of fooling with this and the continual failure was too taxing, so I'll call them tomorrow.
Then things got bizarre. A policeman came to my door, asking if I had been alright. He mentioned the name of somebody I didn't recognize, saying something like that guy regularly calls on me, and hadn't been able to reach me in a couple of weeks. Really strange. Sorry, but I'm in good shape physically and mentally, I'm 67 and don't need to have welfare checks. Later I thought about it, and realized that the Venezuelan lady was probably behind it. She always texts me and sends pictures, etc., and sometimes invites me over. No doubt she panicked when I didn't answer her texts, and she probably got somebody to call the police department to check on me. So last night I tried to call her on my landline, she doesn't have that number because I haven't used it to call her before, but I got no answer.
Hi, John
