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Archive for August, 2021

Hurricane Ida Aftermath

August 31st, 2021 at 05:26 pm

My loved ones are all okay. We lost power for less than 24 hours at my parents' home. My apartment is without power & under a boil advisory for the foreseeable future as is most (all?) of Jefferson Parish. I am back at my parents' home after venturing into the city to check in at the hospital. After I learned of the water situation I requested leave for the week. I hope the situation will be better in a week, but as I understand it, it could take up to 6 weeks to get the power fully restored in Jefferson. With a boil advisory I would need power for my apartment to be habitable. There is also a curfew from 6p-6a daily. I just left my apartment at 6p yesterday, after picking up some things & cleaning out my refrigerator. There was no way that I was staying the night. I'd rather risk getting stopped, but thankfully it was smooth sailing all the way back to BR.

New Orleans had a total black-out after the storm blew through & the mayor is asking people who evacuated to not return. I was told there was some looting going on, which is another reason I wanted to leave before dark.

It's still hard to get gas in Baton Rouge, but it is available if you're willing to wait. I don't plan on going anywhere until maybe Laber Day so I'll wait. Hopefully it will be more readily available. 

This truly was a devastating storm. Thankfully there were not many lives lost, but the damage to infrastructure is pretty significant. The (huge) bright spot is that our levees held.

I will see if anything gets postponed with my condo sale. I went by yesterday morning after the storm & all looked well.

Hurricane Ida

August 27th, 2021 at 05:33 pm

We have a hurricane headed this way. It is expected to make landfall Sunday as a category 3. I am prepared as I am going to be at the point, but I will make one last trip to the store & gas station when I get off work this afternoon. Hopefully it won't be too crazy. I just want to grab any last thing that I can think of. Stay safe with these fires & hurricanes out there! 💨🔥

Moved & Sold Condo

August 20th, 2021 at 09:57 pm

Thank you for the kind condolences on the passing of my cousin. It still feels unbelieveable. We had the funeral on a Wednesday night & the gravesite dismissal the following morning. Immediately following the dismissal I got on the road to pick up the key for my new apartment. I had packed my car with some cleaning supplies & some important papers that I didn't want transported by the movers. I made it back to my condo that night.

The following morning I was up at 5 to finish last minute things. I still wasn't finished when the movers arrived after 8, but I was done well before they had everything moved. They didn't have the additional wardrobe box on the truck like I requested, but other than that things when pretty smoothly with the exception of a little damage to my footboard. The entire move took 8 hours. My mom thought that 5 hours would be too long, but I was actually surprised that we got it done it only 8 hours.  I had a lot of boxes & moved from a 2 story condo to a second story apartment. In August. In south Lousiana. It was hard work. Many of my boxes were books. I gave away plenty of books prior, but still had a good number of them. Maybe before my next move I can let go of even more of them. 

So move day was Friday. I was hurting so much the next few days that I couldn't turn over without groaning. Then Sunday I was back at the condo to clean before pictures & pick-up more items that I had left at the condo. I still didn't clean as well as I'd like & the carpets needed a good cleaning, but we got the pictures done Monday morning. Tuesday morning I had the carpets cleaned & Thursday morning I had a lady come in to clean the condo, including the refrigerator & oven. Thursday evening my realtor had the first showings scheduled. Friday afternoon I got an offer at full asking price, waiving an inspection & not asking for any of the repairs that I was trying to get approved through my insurance. What a relief! I was so estatic, especially considering that another unit had been on the market for almost 2 months. That same weekend the other unit also went under contract. I believe it was one of the buyers that viewed my unit. I think that commission should go to my realtor as she was really hustling so to speak to get my unit exposure. Closing is scheduled for September 10th.

I've been busy getting settled into my apartment. The grounds are beautiful with a creek, fountains, and gazebos, as well as a beautiful pool. It's a nice spacious 2 bedroom/2 bath with over 1300 square feet. The carpets are new & the walls freshly painted. I finally have enough room in the kitchen for more than one person & enough storage to get all the appliances off of the counters. I made a coffee & tea bar in the kitchen, which I can't wait to invite guests to use. The living room has a large sitting area off of it where I will put a desk. It's got a lot of closet space which I have made use of: a coat closet, walk-in closets in each bedroom, very deep linen closets in each bathroom, and another closet off of the sitting area where I am storing all of my Christmas stuff. The washer & dryer are a huge upgrade from my set, which I included in the sale of the condo along with the refrigerator. I am planning to purchase another bedroom set as I sold my nearly 30 year old guest bedroom set to my friend's daughter. She's in college & just got her first apartment.

My new neighborhood is full of shopping & restaurants. The shopping center adjacent to the apartment complex includes Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Ashley furniture, and a Starbucks. Then across the street is a plethora of other big box stores and restaurants. The parish office building where I can register to vote & conduct other business is also across the street. Everything I need is in a very short radius from my apartment. On moving day when I was looking for a gas station to buy the movers some Gatorade I found the post office which is also very close. There is the same family of hospitals that I used to PRN at in the neighborhood as well. I don't plan to pick up another job at this time, but it would be convenient.

The commute has been great as well as they have an express way into the city which keeps me off of the interstate. I'm very happy with my relocation so far in all aspects. Getting on the interstate to head back home is convenient & I've already been back a few times since my move. I'm looking forward to my family staying with me from time to time when I get my guest bedroom furnished.

 

Lost my cousin

August 1st, 2021 at 08:02 pm

I was off on Monday. Tuesday morning we had a supervisors' meeting then I met with my supervisor to discuss updating a policy. My mom called & left a voicemail during the meeting. Then my dad left a text message to call them. I excused myself from the meeting then as I knew it was something urgent. When I called my mom told me that my cousin had passed away. She & her fiancé had tested for Covid-19 & were recovering at his home. She lives with her parents, but once they tested positive she moved out to quarantine. On Monday she started to feel bad, then that night she started to have issues breathing. By Tuesday morning she was gone. It took her just that fast. She was 41.

My aunt & uncle lost their youngest daughter at the age of 30 only 3 years ago. Two of their three children gone in just 3 years. It seems unbelievably cruel. My uncle had C19 last fall & was hospitalized twice. Once for the virus, the second time for getting a blood clot due to the treatment. He was taking all precautions & had no idea how he got it.

I last saw my cousin on May 1st when we had an outdoor birthday party to celebrate my aunt's 70th birthday. She was beautiful inside & out and had her life ahead of her. Her doctor recommended she not get vaccinated due to having Crohn's disease. I don't know what concerns her doctor had, but hindsight is 20/20. I wish she had been vaccinated.

I am off this coming week because I was preparing to move as I have been for weeks. The funeral is Wednesday night in New Orleans. I will attend, but I'm nervous about my parents attending even though they are both vaccinated as am I. I will drive back to Baton Rouge that night, attend the gravesite service in the country the next morning, then head to New Orleans to start moving into my apartment. 

I pray that you & your loved ones remain healthy.