Hurricane Ian 06

Please note: As of this entry, my posts are being backdated as to give “real time writing” for what happened during Hurricane Ian.

The posts will be mixed with personal thoughts, news interjections and random items. I tried my best to give times, but there are points I did not write it down, so you’ll have to understand that there may be some time spans.

As I typed this out, if I’m talking about news for some bullet points in a row, I am trying to keep them together. In instances where I am rambling, as I usually do, don’t mind the nonsensical freeform. That too, I tried to lump together.

Reader discretion advised (there is some TMI [“too much information”]).

Pictures to come at some point (over 1,000 snaps).

October 3 2022

 

 5:50am – I’ve got to get back on a better sleep schedule. Waking up at 3:30 (or earlier) and staying up for hours is draining, both me and my phone because I check email and messenger apps. It’s the only time I seem to be able to get online and get a good data stream. But having the battery dwindle down to almost nothing benefits no one. Since I can’t connect during the day to check anything, I need to utilize midnight pee times. Not good.

What is good, is around 11pm yesterday, we got back some our street lights. Not all of them, but enough that my mother came running into my room to see if were up. She wanted to tell me the lights were on outside on the main road. It was nice to see and we hope they jump the wall to get into our complex. Once that happens, I think a lot of people will sleep better and feel better. A weight lifted off their shoulders. It’s now the question of when it’ll happen, so during daylight, I need to cut the circuit breaker so we don’t have a surge when the electricity hits us.

 

I guess I’ll try to get back to sleep. Wish me luck!

 

10:35am: Boy, you really don’t know how hot you get, even in the shade, until you throw back half a solo cup of iced drink. A neighbor on the other side of the street got a couple bags of ice this morning at one of the Publix stores and graciously gave us one. He said that “Publix has plenty of ice and people are going out for supplies”. He then shoved a bag in my hands, I thanked him immensely and he walked away. we continued doing what we needed to in our house, went to the tent next door (they now have a tent in the drive way) and two hours later, we are back inside. It’s getting hot and the landscaping crew is around picking up all the debris from the streets. It’s such a mess, but already is looking cleaner now that all the palm fronds are piled up and not all over the place.

 

Elaine, our friend who lost her house under 4 feet of water, had stopped by this morning. She’s a mess and she says her house is destroyed. She can’t be there anymore. Mold has set in and every time her husband tries to tip up carpet, it’s a struggle. We feel so bad for her/ we tried to find them a temporary shelter, and they were able to find something quick. My mother and I helped get them settled (12pm).

 

News from community: don’t put out trash until Thursday. FPL has gotten more of the complex power restored. Still a slow roll. County is working on alleviating the sewer issue. The clubhouse and amenities are closed until further notice.

Condo update: our street stinks to high holy hell because of the sewer problem, it is nauseating. It’s so hard to sit outside because it’s over 80 degrees and the trash is baking. We need to be hydrated and no one is drinking all that much. No one is thinking to drink, but complains about it later.

 

No one wants to do anything. We are glad to have a roof over our heads, but it is frustrating because you really feel helpless. No one from either board has really check on anything with us. We all keep saying “where’s the community president? Why did he spend all his time helping the neighbors on his corner?” (we watched. It was the excitement of the day the other day). It’s so odd. But I texted a friend (Hi Foamy) last night and it got through to him. I said that I can now understand what New Orleans felt like when Katrina hit them. There’s a lot of fear of the unknown in this disaster. We don’t know day to day what’s going on. Yes, we all have each other, but you just don’t know what will be in an hour, a day, a week. It’s tragic.

 

4:20pm – surprisingly, there has been less helicopters flying around. Haven’t noticed any today, but the sound of traffic on the main road is obscene. It’s like nothing happened. They also sound like they are speeding around. The radio has slowed down in reporting everything. We are on day five of clean up so I think they are only going to report during certain times. It’s starting to get back to normal – we got mail today. Sadly, it was Big Blue (Bed Bath & Beyond coupon).

 

You don’t know how refreshing it is when you have ice and a container of coconut water. I had a big glass of cold coco water this afternoon. Since I haven’t been eating much, this is “found calories” as well as “found hydration” because we are outside all day and not always drinking.

 

8:17pm. Well it took 5 days for the POS neighbor to return back into the POS neighbor. As we all banded together, shared stories, food, thoughts… the POS said he would provide a ham for supper tonight. It’s thawing out and as soon as it’s ready, he will put it in the oven (this was around 11). Since he is running a generator, he has the power to cook and wants to get rid of the food like everyone else does. We all thought that was really super nice of him to do that. Every couple of hours he would check in on us outside because he had other things to do. He let us know the ham was going in the oven. He kept repeating that. At one point yesterday, he and his wife had gone to a food pantry / distribution place to get themselves water, and they came bag with bags of farm fresh produce instead. The place just kept packing his trunk when he didn’t ask for it (he says). So it was suggested that he put some of the sweet potatoes in the oven with the ham, after he thought about it, he said that that was a great idea. Off he went.

5pm shows up and seven people are under the tent – all expecting to have a shared dinner together. POS comes down and asks Ed if he’s ready for dinner and if he wants the ham. Ed says sure, although we all weren’t 100% hungry because we had a giant lunch of Costco rotisserie chicken, Cesar salad, grape tomatoes… nice big meal. So we would have a slice of ham… twist our arm. Well, the effing POS brings down the five pound ham that’s still in its grocery sealed bag and two boxes of Pasta Roni to cook. He says “here you go” and hands it to Ed. He never intended on cooking it, and didn’t be forthright with it. POS had probably expected Ed to make it on the grill, but didn’t say it. All day he kept checking on us, saying it’s going to be in the oven. It’ll be done for dinner. Then he’d walk away and we didn’t think twice. He expected us to make it somehow. Ed and his wife ran upstairs to figure out what to do. What pans do they need, how long will it take, etc. Joanne read the directions and she and my mom figured out the time it would take to cook. By the time it would be done, it would take three hours and it would be done on the grill. It would be close to 9 by the time we would eat it because it would need to be sliced, etc. Right now, it’s 8:35pm and it is pitch black out. There is no frigging way we would be sitting around to eat right now. We are all pissed because he dropped and ran. So my mother told Joanne not to make it. We have leftovers from lunch. So quick, table was set with everything and it was fine. We are going to have the ham tomorrow. Problem is, Ed has to use 3 hours’ worth of propane to cook this. He didn’t expect to do that. Gas and propane are a commodity right now. Yes, he has a spare tank, but Jesus, that’s taking the piss. Everyone at the table was super mad. POS took us for a ride. Ed sat stewing in thought, you could tell the longer he sat thinking about it, the more angry he was getting.

I said to my mother that you just don’t pop a ham in your stove and walk away all day. Most people don’t leave the house because the gas is on – you have to watch it, baste it, etc. We think the POS’ wife works all day and not from home, so we don’t know what she was doing and it’s all the more reason to not leave if you’re cooking and promising people a meal. More reason to not leave right now: you’re on a generator. That is a bigger risk than just locking the door with something in the oven. You have the potential to cause more of a fire to the place.

Honest to god, the nerve of the guy. I’m not trying to make it sound like it’s the only meal we have had for the past few days or that I’m ungrateful he offered. But here he has stopped and been with us since the storm hit. He knows we are all together. We all shared everything. we are just tired right now, and if you weren’t going to provide something (completed) you were “promising” people, don’t bring it over. Just admit you didn’t do anything. It’s common sense and it’s responsibility. Be an adult and stop lying.

 

The news is still talking about the river rising. I guess some one earlier was wrong? I don’t know which river they are talking about. I missed it.

 

News is on. Why the hell does the news keep calling the governor’s wife “the first lady”? Every time they refer to her, it’s “first lady” and “governor”. No other state refers to the women as “first lady” when they are talking about them. Since when is DeSantis in office already? We already hit 2024 and he was voted in to the White House? I have never in my life heard this reference. Even my mother said the same thing – she knows every state has a governor and the partner is called “first wife” or “first partner”, but my mother says this is new.