Florida Chat

[Mary Kay]

Didn't want to clutter up the nice neat threads with off topic stuff.

just wanted to say how glad I am to have some people who live in this state to talk to!! Hubby's family are fro Ca. and they think we are weird to want to live here. Like they can talk, we have hurricanes, tornados and big bugs. They have santa Anna winds, mucho wildfires and earthquakes!

This morning the winds and lightning were so bad that my neighbor lost her pump house building..it's draped over her porch. her maple tree split in half and flattened the fence between out houses. That was one bad thunder boomer.
Who else here went through the hurricanes of 04? LOL I sound like an old codger..remember the 'canes of ought 4? We got all 4 of them!

 

[Corki2]

I was in Clearwater. None of the storms hit us, but we had no electricity for a while. I got my generator that year. I also noticed that my garage door tracks were nailed on when I went around trying to reinforce and prepare (just in case), so I ended up having a new garage door put on. Then I lost a bunch of shingles, so I had to have a new roof. Man that was an expensive year for me! I'm lucky, all the storms missed us.

 

[Mary Kay]

Hi Corki, My daughter was in Brandon one year, she had a whole houseful who were hiding out from the one that hit around Ft. Myers. She too lost elec. but I had set her up with flashlights, batteries, radio, water and canned goods. She mangaged just fine.
Another one came across from Miami and threatened to hit Tampa, so I went down and got my grandsons. It decided to hook a right and hit us instead! The boys went nuts with only weather on T.V. Thank goodness I used to own a Video store, we kept a lot and I bought more since then. The boys alays have something to watch!
We got our ginny after the second Hurricane. The first one left us in the dark for 10 days. With all the windows boarded and no elec. sleeping was a misery.
We lost our stable/chicken coop. We didn't have horses and it was a very old stable. It was all over the yard along with some very angry chickens.
We also lost 5 pines. Thank goodness Mike (hubby) had 5 around the house cut down a month before or I wouldn't be here to tell the tale. FEMA was very good to us...6 weeks later.

 

[Corki2]

Yeah, we had five kids in the house, all sitting around complaining about being bored when we lost power for a couple days. That, and trying to get dressed for work while the sweat is dripping, was the worse. I grew up in Miami and remembered that my folks always filled up the bathtub with water or flushing, etc. So I did that, then with five kids, decided it wasn't enough. So I went in the garage and unloaded all my Christmas stuff out of my totes so I could fill them with water too. Then I decided the best place for them was on the screen porch. So, I'm lugging these heavy totes full of water out there and killing my back in the process. Thanks god I only hauled two of them out there when I remembered I had a 10,000 gallon swimming pool full of water! Duh!

 

[Mary Kay]

LMAO!!!! I laughed out loud..hubby was wondering what was so funny!
We did the same thing! I have a pool..of course it was full of pine limbs and the debris from 4 houses, but at least we had water for flushing and watering the animals. Not to mention a dip or two after we hauled out the junk! I had a rubber camp shower that heats when you lay it out in the sun (full of water) so I could wash my hair.

 

[smokingclam]

Gee I don't remember any hurricanes hitting Punta Gorda in 04? Oh it's time to wake up now!
Hope it's a quiet year this year.

 

[Corki2]

Weekends were fun. We would either be putting the plywood on the windows, or taking it down. After about the 4th or fifth weekend either putting it up or taking it down, I finally relented and we left it on. I could really see the value in those see through panels I've heard so much about. I just took cold showers. It was so hot that it felt good after the initial shock wore off. We had our BBQ grill cranking along with the coleman. And the generator, oh my GOD, I never realized how damn loud those things were. There weren't many running them in our neighborhood and I felt like I was disturbing the peace every time I fired it up. We only turned it on once an hour to keep the fridge cool. That reminds me, I need to order a cigarette charger or my new 510.

 

[Corki2]

Gee I don't remember any hurricanes hitting Punta Gorda in 04? Oh it's time to wake up now!
Hope it's a quiet year this year.

I was feelin your pain. It was supposed to hit Clearwater and that's where everyone was focused. Then all the sudden, sharp right and you were nailed! Do you still see a lot of blue roofs?

 

[smokingclam]

No don't see any more blue rooves but they are still rebuilding the downtown area back up again.

 

[Mary Kay]

Clam..you are just bragging!

Corki, Those tarps are just shredded memories now. For a while it was a sea of blue around here.

 

[Mary Kay]

Corki, I have a bone to pick with you! Tamap Bay Florida? You live on a house boat? No? Do you also say I live in San Francisco Bay? LOL
It's a pet peeve of mine. Between the Bucs and Bucsh gardens.."In Beautiful Tampa Bay". I once told the President of operations for Busch about that. He just laughed. Why not he lives in Colorado. So I said, what if I called Colorado the foothills to Wyoming? He stopped laughing. Denver is lower then Cheyenne.

 

[violetvoo]

I was here in 04-had the whole family staying out my house. We lost power and had no water becauseof our pump on our well couldn't run. 4 bathrooms and no way to flush,lol. Got a generator right after that one!!! All we lost were 7-8 big oaks and part of a wooden fence. What a mess!!
Funny you should mention San Francisco-I lived on the Oakland side of the bay for 4 1/2 yrs. moved back here in May of 04 in time for the hurricanes.

 

[Corki2]

Corki, I have a bone to pick with you! Tamap Bay Florida? You live on a house boat? No? Do you also say I live in San Francisco Bay? LOL
It's a pet peeve of mine. Between the Bucs and Bucsh gardens.."In Beautiful Tampa Bay". I once told the President of operations for Busch about that. He just laughed. Why not he lives in Colorado. So I said, what if I called Colorado the foothills to Wyoming? He stopped laughing. Denver is lower then Cheyenne.

LOL. You're right. I was trying to practice online safety when I did my profile and somehow felt posting my city might not be safe. After all, you never know when a stalker will search you out and make off with your juice stash! 8-o Truth is, we do live on Tampa Bay, not full time and not in a houseboat, but we have 8 boats and spend every weekend that we can out in one of them. (Three of them are kayaks for those of you who may think 8 boats are obssessive). My husband of 1 year is a boataholic. He's got everything from a 38' Morgan sailboat down to a kayak. I asked him "why so many?". "They all do something diferent" was his answer. He's right. And he also provided the answer to his own question obout my e-cigs when I'm ordering the next great model. "Why do you need so many e-cigs?". "They all do something diferent". No way he can argue with that, eh?

 

[greyeyes]

Oh you gave me such great ammo Corki, thank you! I can say the same thing about hubby's tools, when he remarks about my PV's!

 

[Corki2]

Oh you gave me such great ammo Corki, thank you! I can say the same thing about hubby's tools, when he remarks about my PV's!

You betcha! Glad I could help a fellow vaper!

 

[Mary Kay]

Corki, That's funny..all the boats, so I guess you can say Tampa Bay if you want! It just drives me nuts when people from out of State ask me if I live in Tampa Bay. It should be the Tampa Bay Area or the Bay Area.
My hubby would love a good fishing boat, maybe he will get one after we move back to Tampa.
I can't use the tool excuse..they are mine! A whole lot of them. He bought them to work on the house and then hurt his back, so I use them for woodworking. he does like to supervise me when I work and use the big boy tools..
As for on-line safty, I used central Florida for a while, but I was aked where so often I gave up. If somebody really needs to find me..good Luck! I can't even get friends and family to my house without getting them lost in the woods.
Violet, one word "barrels"! Put near the house when a storm is coming. Fill them up or at least part way so they don't blow away and let the rain keep them filled. Good for flushing, animal water and a sponge bath. Not good for cooking or drinking as you never know what will blow into them. I love San Franciso! Well, not the driving around part, I was in a V.W. bus! Talk about scared to stop! But the city was lots of fun to vist. I still have the Chopsticks (pearl and black) I bought.
The storms were bad last night again, Tonight just blowing rain. The grass is getting knee high and it's too wet to mow!

 

[Mary Kay]

Corkie! Shame on you! Look at that poor kitty's eyes!

We were talking about books in the Women's Room" and I remembered a book about Central Florida.
"Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank. pub. 1959. Has anyone one here read that? It about what amounts to the end of the world by bomb. The story takes place here in Florida and concerns a group of survivors. They learn to cope with the radiation, the lack of fresh water and food and what they do to survive in a world filled with marauders. The places are real except their hometown. There are a lot of good survival tips in the book. No E-Cigs though!
We used to have to buy at least one a year because people kept borrowing it and never returning.

 

[Corki2]

Corkie! Shame on you! Look at that poor kitty's eyes!

We were talking about books in the Women's Room" and I remembered a book about Central Florida.
"Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank. pub. 1959. Has anyone one here read that? It about what amounts to the end of the world by bomb. The story takes place here in Florida and concerns a group of survivors. They learn to cope with the radiation, the lack of fresh water and food and what they do to survive in a world filled with marauders. The places are real except their hometown. There are a lot of good survival tips in the book. No E-Cigs though!
We used to have to buy at least one a year because people kept borrowing it and never returning.

Too much vaping can do that to your eyes, haven't you heard? 8-o

I have not read that book, but aside from the location, your description reminds me of "The Stand" by Steven King. I will have to see if I can get a copy, it sounds interesting.

 

[Mary Kay]

Come to think of it ..it does! But no supernatural stuff.
The mosquito's have landed! I can't even go out back because of the little vamps. My cats and dog are staying indoors more too. Thank goodness for heartworm meds!
I broke down and tried spraying listerine around the doors, I don't know if it's working or not but the front and back door smell minty fresh!
Mike keeps the grass and plants cut back and sprayed near the house, but it's a big world and we can't spray it all.
Is it just me or are they bigger this year? I need to build a bat house.

 

[greyeyes]

Yes it seems that our "state birds = mosquito" are really multiplying now after all the rain we've had! Sure is nice to see the sun shining today, finally!

Please let us know how the Listerine works. Haven't had any luck with the Bounce dryer sheets I heard about via emails to keep skeeters away. Whoever came up with that idea surely doesn't live in Florida! LOL

When they get big enough, I saddle 'em up and ride 'em...saves on gas - same with the Palmetto bugs!