iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Oh well crap. Good chainsaws are expensive. Maybe we can borrow Al’s again. We had it for ages; he must have at least one other one. Gotta go over there; I’ll ask.

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Welllll…except for researching & buying a chainsaw (turns out we were only borrowing one before). B will be annoyed, but I’ll keep the receipt & we can return it if we don’t use it.

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The “if this were a movie, then this storm would be a beast” thought just won’t leave my head soooo I called for more cerenia & Mirataz for Leopold JIC. Otherwise, except for a couple more things I’m intentionally leaving til later, I’ve done what I can.

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(I don’t have an appt; the message went to all patients)

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Just got an email from the drs office saying that on Friday they won’t see any patients in person & to plz contact to convert their appts to online and I have to say that’s very sensible. It should handle the uncertainty of the storm effects much better than trying to power thru or closing entirely

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Oh wait, no, garage jenga is for later. Now to chop broccoli so I can empty the compost pail into the compost pile.

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Alas there was no store popped popcorn. Not even the crappy yellow-powder-coated kind. Nor any of their usual in-house cookies. B (and me some, tho I’m going to try to keep a grip on my sweet tooth) will have to live with chips ahoy & nutty buddies.

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So next up is garage jenga to make sure the grill & charcoal etc stay in reach so _we_ can do some grilling if it comes to it. Thanks folks whose shopping patterns confused me! You sparked a useful chain of thought!

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I was a little confused at how many kinds of perishables were totally cleaned out at the store. But maybe the it’s just the regular restock day for like chicken and Publix is putting it off? Idk. I thought how are ppl going to cook all that chicken. Then I thought well, grilling & hey we could too

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 5h

Successful freezer jenga achieved by taking out all of my cold packs for sore body parts to make room for the two bags of ice to go w/the reusable ice packs already freezing. At least all the ice we have will stay frozen until the power goes. We really should get a chest freezer.

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The grocery store is _hopping_ at 7:38 am.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 5h

Right on schedule, gas is 10 cents higher than it was on Monday. 🙄

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 7h

Oh brain. You’ll regret not using these nights with power to sleep with the cpap machine in a couple of days.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 17h

I liked the first episode of the new Carrie. Summer Howell is great as Carrie and Samantha Sloyan has a gift for playing villains who are genuinely terrifying without ever being over the top.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 17h

A little wild that the NOAA forecast - what I use for data in my weather app - still has Friday w/only 76% chance of rain and Sat for 83%. On the one hand, the NHC is posting fairly apocalyptic maps showing Pensacola right smack in the middle of the hurricane cone & on the other “might rain”.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 18h

To my surprise, the Red Lentil Soup is better with lemon juice than lime. I figured with the cumin, chili powder and cilantro lime would def be better, but nope.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 18h

I’ve seen the Spacek version of Carrie and it was good, but I’m not super attached to it. I’ve enjoyed most Flanagan shows I’ve watched, especially Midnight Mass. So! We’re watching the new Carrie to see what we think.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 21h

Realized that James Spann has been the voice of relevant weather info for me since the mid-1980s. He must have just been starting out then tho I thought he was old bc I was a teen/idiot.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 21h

I think I’m done getting sweaty for the day and can shower w/o it going to waste. Oh crap. Other half of monthly deliveries is only a few stops away. Might as well wait for that first and get everything unpacked & cardboard out to the recycling bin.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 21h

If it looks like this won’t work, I can always go out & quickly bring them all in. 🤞bricks make adequate ballast. The rest of the patio furniture will come inside at the last minute bc it’ll be crowded in here.

A tall cactus of unknown type in a bigger pot that has bricks in it to hopefully make it bottom heavy enough to resist the coming storm.

A patio coffee table turned upside down so its bars can work as fencing for small plants now inside it. A patio ottoman turned upside down with a layer of bricks in it for ballast and Pitt the Elder Curly Locks Orchid cactus inside.

Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 22h

The todo item I wrote for the outside plants was “get plants low” and now I want to put Lil John on speaker & repeat while I do it.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 22h

Gonna leave the bird feeders & baths up until Friday am unless things speed up more. Let ‘em get all the food they can. Then I can just lay the shepherds hooks on the ground I think. I guess my pretty new Vanda orchid will have to come inside. That’ll be shock for it. W/luck it’ll only be for a day.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 22h

Aha. You can look up evacuation zones on the county site and his office address is not in one. Our house isn’t either and it’s on the upper side of a small hill so flooding has yet to be an issue. Wind damage, especially from trees, is going to be our risk.

Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 23h

Stuff is starting to be canceled. Wondering if B will get/take any of Friday off. They’re talking about TS level winds by Friday afternoon along with rain, but also H level on Friday maybe too? I wonder if his office is in an evacuation zone?

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 23h

SusyQ being a CutiePie.

A seal point and gray cat sleeping mostly loaf style, but with her right front leg stretched out and her head turned to rest on her right shoulder.

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Allegedly Amy @amyewest.bsky.social · 23h

Leaning into the sense of impending doom with my usual approach: a disaster film. Specifically World War Z.

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Since I mentioned her and she was such a chill weirdo in the best way, please admire Clara (2010-2023):

A plump calico lies on an ottoman on her side. Her belly and all four legs are white. She has a calico mask on her face with the rest white. Her front paws are folded and her head is turned up in a winsome pose.

A plump calico uses a human’s hand for a pillow.

Chubby though Clara was, she was always flexible. Here, B is reaching for one back foot splayed out while she groomed her tummy and she looks at him. It looks a lot like the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.

A plump calico sleeping mostly in a round bed but inexplicably with one back leg lifted up to the bed’s r. Her head and a front paw are resting on it. It doesn’t look comfortable but she was happy apparently.

One good thing that I had thought was just a waste on my end was the big box of disposable pee pads. Got them in 2023 thinking Clara wd live a lot longer & need them for car trips. Then she had sudden liver failure right after they came. But, if no power, they + tape will sub for the washable ones.

Hm. I could start getting outside potted plants off of tables or plant stands today. I don’t think they need to come inside and we’re fairly protected from wind so if they’re down low, they should be fine. Ooh, if I turn the outside coffee table upside down, it can be a corral for the small ones.

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Something extra ominous about “X watch _until further notice_”

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Well that’s enough hurricane prep for today. I’ll start moving shit inside when it gets closer to time. Or, if it intensifies enough, I guess packing up ourselves & the furballs to GTFO. Tho I’m not sure there’ll be time given that it’s already Weds.

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Aside from this particular design flaw (or maybe it’s just a flaw when you’re a goofball like me), these lamps are inexpensive, durable & really handy in extended power outages. Glad I managed to unfuck it.

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Decided that since it was useless stuck, I might as well risk breaking it to get the fucking battery compartment lid off. I did not break anything! Yay! Anyway, if you get a camping/emergency light like this, beware that fucking teardrop shaped compartment. FFS.

The bottom of a camping light with a teardrop shaped space where the compartment lid is supposed to fit. You can get it stuck. The good news is you can pull it apart eventually with a lot of force & nothing breaks.

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Argh. One of two portable lights. Bottom piece serves as battery compartment lid. Has odd shaped piece in the center that helps hold it in place. This one had no batteries. I somehow got the odd shaped piece stuck & cannot get it loose to add batteries.

A portable light with a black piece on the bottom sticking slightly away from the body bc it’s stuck and I can’t get it free.

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Annnnnd I need to pester B to get his flu shot this weekend. Ideally also Covid, but at least flu like on Friday on the way home.

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Ok when this storm has passed & power is back etc, I’m going to try this.

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It’s great! Very gentle, but still with a lot of pointed commentary.

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We shd at least be able to keep ourselves minimally entertained if the power goes out & stays out like w/Sally. That was 4 days & we didn’t have this many power banks. But I resolved to keep buying 1-2 a year & stuck to it. Also have rechargeable double AAs going. Gotta find other rechargeables.

A row of six Anker powerbanks all about 2 inches wide and 7 inches long and one tiny playing card sized bank. That should be about 21 full charges of phones/kindles or maybe 5 or 6 full charges of iPads. About half still have full charges. There are two 9ish pound cats in view for scale.

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Starting to make todo list for real and he doesn’t know it yet, but a few are for B. Idk what to look for to know a chainsaw is ready to use & since he’ll be in the garage anyway, he can check the camper propane. That’s how we cooked after Sally & it worked ok.

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Was going to try a variant of the Red Lentil Soup tonight anyway, but I think a double batch is a good idea. Variant is using lime instead of lemon. It’ll be boring to eat the same thing for many meals, but it’ll also be handy if we’re having to do real hurricane prep.

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Ah shit. The Zepbound will need continuous refrigeration. Right. Just gonna put dry ice on the list even if we end up not needing the cooler. It’s only ~$10 which is a lot less to waste than the drug.

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Realized that if the storm comes and we lose power for multiple days, I’m hosed wrt to the cpap machine. Powerbanks do exist. They work for 2-3 nights minus humidifier. And they’re very expensive. I may plan to budget for one later, but for now, I’ll just be sleeping rough I guess.

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Yeah, did that yesterday bc it was time anyway. Might top off tomorrow. We’ll see. Guess I better break out the Hurricane List.

! Amazing. I would not have expected local costs to be higher. Also, good luck & all speed to your mom on her procedure!

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