Day 144 of Sheltering In

Tuesday. It’s a nightmare! Flashbacks from the tornado August 27, 2007.

We went to the hardware store where we had my name on a list for a delivery at 2pm. We got there early and had our ‘spidey people watching senses’ on full alert. It was kind of funny. Guy gets out of his car, he looks determined, like he’s on a mission. Goes in, comes out with a small bag of hardware. Many people going in, coming out, many empty handed. Oh look, I bet they went in and asked about generators. Past 2pm a guy walked out with just a receipt. Bingo! He walked to his car and drove around to the back of the store. Yup. He got one. This went on until about 3:30pm when we gave up and went home. We talked to the guy parked across from us, he went in to check, they only got 8, that’s it. So he left and we left.

I made a run to put gas in my car first thing in the morning. It was very much on E. We charged our phones yesterday and today in the car. We also used the Internet to search for generators. Much faster than using data. After gas, I was on a mission for lunch. Everything was closed except for the grocery stores on the main road. We went to Meijer and got sandwich fixins. The lunch meat area was wiped out. I grabbed 4 very small packages of ham and turkey, and cheese. Trying to save and avoid fast food. I could have driven further out in search of fast food, but I decided to be budget minded. We were in and out quickly. I made sandwiches for everyone after we got home from the hardware store. My brother in law met us there and then went to my house to cut up the fallen tree limbs with his new toy. He got a gas chainsaw. He didn’t like my electric one. At my house in Chicago I had just 1 tree so I didn’t need an expensive gas chainsaw. He’s coming back Wednesday. My son and I go for bloodwork in the morning...if they have power. They did not have power today.

***Update: My daughter had a doctor appointment scheduled for after our bloodwork. I got a call saying that my daughter’s appointment was cancelled “due to the weather”. That means no electricity again on Wednesday. I got the call because everyone gives my phone number out for medical appointments. I did not get a call about the bloodwork appointments, however, I did call and their phone system was all wonky. I doubt they will be drawing blood by candlelight. Lol! So no bloodwork today. Gotta get coffee! Too funny, all the Karens on were on Facebook Tuesday asking if any Starbucks locations were open. Really? That’s your priority, getting Starbucks? I’ll take coffee from anywhere, I’m not picky. McD’s, BK, the gas station.

My wife did a run for dinner at about 9:30pn. That’s when everything settled down. Her brother had left, and the cleanup was put on pause til tomorrow.

I tried reaching my guy who repaired my snowblower yesterday. His voicemail was full. Today there was a guy on the village page offering to borrow out generators. I found that too late, but he did offer to fix mine. I’ll have to get ahold of him Wednesday. My neighbor that fixes small engines is an asshat. He again promised to work on that and the riders at the end of the week. I’m not holding my breathe. If this guy can get my generator going I’ll ask him if he works on riders. Hoping the engine in the Craftsman is still good. I want to have it swapped with the dead engine in the shiny red Troy Built Pony in the shed. (I bought it brand new when I bought the house and a couple months later I killed it by running over a tree limb that I didn’t see.) We get the Pony working and my wife and I can mow the grass.

My back is SCREAMING. I sat in the car much too long at the hardware store. I’m medicating. Not feeling it as much, but it’s flippin hot in the bedroom.

We had a few laughs, or at least a chuckle or two looking at generators online. My intent was to find one in stock, order it online for pickup in store, but nothing was in stock and delivery dates were too far out. Anywho, the laughs...Some of the generators boasted having electric start. How does that work? 🤷🏻‍♀️You use a generator because you have no electricity. Later on, I thought maybe a battery was involved, but it was a hoot for sure. Eased the tension a bit. Other generators boasted having a Remote. How’s that work? You still have to pull the pull cord to start it. What makes that advantageous? I mean, you still have to plug in your items you want to have electricity. I dunno. Both amused us, probably much more than anyone reading this.

My daughter has been calling and texting a lot. I feel bad that I couldn’t talk to her, but time was of the essence. If we found a generator in stock we had to go. Turned out all we did was surf the web and come up empty. She was ok. They did not lose power, but a tree limb fell on a house staff’s car. My daughter said it sounds much worse than it was. Little to no damage.

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