WELCOME TO OUR WEB LOG where we have set up links to most of our photo albums, blogs and Facebook. Many of the albums are from earlier days in Connecticut before our relocation to Florida. Email me at r.payette2@gmail.com to comment. We're glad you've come to visit!
Not my words, but exactly what is going on between folks in Florida and loved ones that live elsewhere.
Dear everyone who doesn't live in Florida but loves someone who does, here are some things you need to know about hurricanes:
They don't come until they come, so if you ask us how we are on a 93-degree sunshiny day 72 hours before we expect the winds to start, don't be surprised if we tell you we're fine. Please believe us. We're actively preparing, and we're watching the forecast more closely than you are, but we're truly fine at the moment.
Hurricanes are unpredictable. No matter how good the models are, hurricanes often demonstrate a mind of their own. We're always hoping and praying for a turn or "wobble" that sends the monster further from civilization. But if you ask us what's going to happen three or four days from now, we honestly don't know for sure (and neither do the meteorologists).
An entire state can't evacuate. Everyone packing up, jumping into their cars and heading north may seem like a great idea. However, the truth is that those of us in "safer" inland regions generally need to stay put to reserve the roads, gas, hotel rooms, shelters, plane tickets, etc. for the most vulnerable folks who live on the coast in the storm's path (where evacuation orders exist). Some inland folks may choose to leave, but most of us stay put and follow the instructions of our local governments.
We truly appreciate your love and concern, the offers to stay in your homes, and most of all your prayers. Just know that the media is doing a pretty good job of stirring up your anxiety...and ours. Of course we're worried, but we're trying to do all the right things to prepare and not freak out. Thanks for offering words of love and encouragement (and not jumping on the freak-out wagon - it just makes it harder on us).
Praying for Irma to make a hard right turn before Miami, Your Florida loved ones <3
The hardest part seems to be the waiting....knowing it's on the way, that's she's aiming dead down the middle of the State but not knowing what the intensity will be when it gets here....hoping for the best, knowing it could be the worst. Watching Weather Channel constantly would have the average person shopping for razor blades. The Governor on downs job is to scare the bejesus out of everyone so that the folks in the evacuation zones do just that.
So we've done all that we feel we can to prepare. Our motor home is fueled up and parked in Christmas Florida. Hopefully if this Town House gets it bad the rig (ten miles West of us) will have gotten through. It has of course a generator, refrigeration etc and would be a good place to live if this one isn't....a hell of a lot better then going to a shelter. But, looking ahead there is NO way of knowing what is going to be affected so you don't know, until it happens, exactly what the problems are. We have water (drinking and cooking), propane for our small stove, a fair amount of canned goods and stuff in the freezer that can be used up if it hits the fan.
This morning its life as usual. Alice is going to get her nails done, I'm going to water the plants and start bring in outside ornaments that could fly around. Tomorrow morning Joanna is going to help me start bringing in stuff from the upper deck, and then the plants will come in and most of the stuff from the Florida room. This is not our first rodeo, but it looks to be one of the worst that could happen.
What keeps me some-what relaxed is that this development of 88 town homes has never, since it was built 45 years ago, ever suffered any major structural damages to any of the units through all the storms. There have been shingles torn off and some siding, trees dropped etc, but nothing horrible. I would not want to be South in Ford Lauderdale or worst yet, Miami or Hollywood. These places get torn up it seems on a very regular basis. Since we moved here to Titusville from CT we've actually ghad very temperate weather. Update 12:00pm, Sept 8: Well, we went to the Motor Home in Christmas...closed all the vents and did a quick check on her...all ok. Then, we had the thought of getting a few sandbags for the front door. The Town has plenty of sand but ran out of bags, and both Ace hardware stores are also out. So much for being a day late and a dollar short! So, went into Publix and picked a few last minute food provisions...more water, some hot dogs and snacks. Update, 1pm Sept 8th: Hurricane Irma continued its Category 4 crawl through the Caribbean Friday, with warning cones from the National Hurricane Center showing it overtaking Florida by Sunday evening.
While Irma's exact strength and trajectory could still fluctuate, the 150-mph windspeed storm is guaranteed to make an impact on Brevard County by late Sunday and early Monday.
As of Friday morning, Irma was just under 565 miles away, moving northwest toward Florida at 14 mph.
So what can Brevard residents expect — and when? Meteorologists with the National Weather Service, Melbourne, can't say with certainty exactly how strong the storm will be in a given area at a given time, but a general overview is possible.
Late Sunday morning: Brevard will begin to experience tropical storm-force winds through the early afternoon as the Irma makes its way up the middle of the state and its outer bands begin to lap at the county.
Late Sunday afternoon: Brevard will begin to experience sustained tropical storm-force winds across the county.
Sunday evening: From the afternoon to evening, hurricane-force bands will begin to creep into the county, with parts of southern Brevard experiencing sustained hurricane winds.
Overnight Monday: After midnight Monday is when the brunt of the hurricane-force winds will come into the area. By 2 a.m. Monday, the county should be experiencing sustained hurricane-force winds.
Irma is nearly 400 miles wide, and meteorologists say hurricane-force winds can extend up to 70 miles from the eye, with tropical storm-force winds extending 185 miles from the eye.
The NWS did not mince words in its Friday morning statement about Irma's impact on the area:
"It is now very likely that this major hurricane will have significant and potentially life-threatening impacts to the citizens of east central Florida!! Extreme winds are of life-threatening concern and will have the potential for devastating to catastrophic impacts along Irma`s track."
Structural damage to buildings, heavy flooding from storm surges and rain and tornadoes are all possibilities due to Irma, according to the NWS.
This is our "Go To" beach here in Titusville...it's like a private huge stretch of undeveloped shoreline. With a Senior Pass there is no admission fee or parking fees either :).
So here we are on the 4th of July, seriously moving into another Florida summer. After a bit of deliberation we have decided we’re not going back to New England this summer...will stick around here. We just booked a camping outing at Anastasia State Park in Saint Augustine for August 20-24, and are planning a nice concert “Not In The Park” event at the Melbourne Auditorium in mid July. The new theater season starts in August and there’s lots to do here… Here’s to a happy summer!
I recently read that Lowe’s now requires an on-line registration to obtain the 10% military discount. They’ve changed their policy and are now giving the discount to all veterans, not just disabled vets.
We filled out the form (Name, DOB, Branch of Service, and ETS) and hit submit….and it bounced back saying my information could not be verified. I wasn't sure of the exact date of my discharge (it was over 50 years ago) and I didn't want to bother pulling my barely readable DD214. I went to the local Lowe’s in Titusville, explained that to her, and the person at the Customer Service desk punched me in...and couldn’t help even though I showed her my DOD ID. I
Needless to say I was a little cranky at this point and I explained to her that Home Depot had also instituted a registration program a while back, and then rescinded it when it blew up in their corporate face.
When I got home I went to their on-line registration form AGAIN (having dug out my DD214 for the exact discharge date) and again filled out the form, and was again notified that they could not find me.
I then sent out a blast out to Lowe’s Customer Non-Service on line explaining to them why they’ve lost a customer. It’s understandable that there could be kinks in an on-line registration system. It’s inexcusable that their in-house customer service representative, with my Department of Veterans Affairs picture ID showing a Service Connected disability in front of her, could not fix it on the spot. She showed little interest in fixing the problem, which could have been part of the problem.
Life is too short to put up with corporate incompetence. I'm gone.
As life goes on I notice it goes by faster and some of the changes are hard. We moved to Florida from Connecticut in 2012 after having had snowbirded here for four years. Our CT group (from the CT Seaport Sams Camping Chapter) had a half dozen or more rigs that converged at Manatee Hammock here in Titusville anytime between November and January, usually staying thru late April. The Manatee Hammock group is now down to one. Illness and age have really thinned out the numbers. Early on, when we were snow-birds, Alice and myself recognized that we couldn’t (and wouldn’t want to) make the annual trek back and forth and hence nested here. THAT has worked out well for us, with two of the three kids with us in Florida and the other an annual visitor. For all practical purposes my health has maintained pretty good, so we’re “in place” where we want to be. That having been said though, it’s hard to see these transitions where good friends no longer pop on by….hard indeed. :( There is another couple (Jerry and Jo Lambert) that come down from November thru April, but they are mid-state, and Murray and Donna relocated permanently here the same time we did. So we still have those pleasant CT faces, just not as many of them. I guess Mike and Pat Breen win the longevity up at Manatee Hammock!
Monday we're off to one of our favorite local campgrounds, Jetty Park at Port Canaveral with several friends from our www.spacecoastsams.org Chapter. Photo's will be posted to our Google Photo's.
Today twelve of us from Space Coast Sams completed our quarterly cleanup to our assigned area at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. After the cleanup we had a nice lunch at New York, New York here in Titusville. Snaps and video clips from the event...click here.
