Candy and Rick with Storm Damage

 Candy and Rick were parked behind us last winter in Trophy Gardens. Butch bonded with their pug, Thelma. We communicated after our derecho and they were sympathetic to our state of affairs. Well, last night Candy sent me photos of their big storm. She said when the sirens went off for a tornado warning they went to their niece's place to take shelter as they live in their RV full time. This was near Mcpherson KS.

These hailstones could have killed someone!

Windsheild on their truck.

Tomatoes in the garden are history

She said both skylights on their RV as well as the AC cover were broken. There may be more damage than they know yet considering the size of those hailstones!

Still Pedaling

 Yesterday Butch and I transported the MoHo to the RV hospital in Webster City Iowa. Actually, the name of the place is GoodLife RV. It is there for a complete diagnosis and then a consultation with the insurance company and hopefully finish up with a surgical procedure and full recovery of the patient. 

Then we went to Ames Iowa to consult with K D Billiards and Darts to discuss moving and perhaps upgrading on pool tables. They were still without electricity but talked to us none the less and we will be talking more in the future.

We snuck in a visit to Hickory Park, perhaps the most famous eating place in Ames. The place was swarming with returning college students. We wore our masks and they are doing an excellent job of social distancing and masks. Masks on ALL the employees. Patrons not so much. 😕 

Then we went to Menards where I purchased floor paint for the "Pool Hall," and Butch looked at electrical and scared himself. We followed up with a visit to Lowes where Butch did purchase the supplies needed for wiring. They were very helpful.

We were supposed to return to K D Billiards before returning home, and we did, but no one was there. By this time we were tired, I had a headache so we came on home. It was after 5:00 by the time we got home.

So with our MoHo in Webster City and Gary in the process of getting his RV back to Missouri, our backyard looks pretty empty! 

The white spot in the tree is a reflection from a window. This is an adequate look at the two RV sites we have in our backyard. After full-timing for ten years, we wanted two sites, one for our MoHo and one for friends or family who might like to visit.

Mango is a feral cat that hangs out at our place. I do not feed him and he is not allowed in the house. He is a friendly sort. This morning I found him under this table, sound asleep. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even. He had no idea I was taking his picture. His name is Mango only because Butch and I have given it to him. His color resembles a mango. I see his eye looks like it is open but I would swear it wasn't. His cheek was resting on the table leg.

Hit and Run

 

This post will be a "Hit and Run" after I tell all our friends that we once again have electricity! Not because the electric company finally got around to us but because Butch was able to take advantage of his connections as a retired electric company employee.

It has been quite a day with Butch losing his temper about being on the receiving end of one of these weather events rather than the one out there getting everyone back on. He did not like the role reversal. When you stop and think about it, it took almost twenty years for him to be the one waiting for the lights to come back on! He had no one to rail against except the sky and Mother Nature so it was a lesson in futility. 

But it is back to life as normal, as close as it can be in this time of Derechos and Covid-19. So now we are again running those pedals full speed to get back to where we were before all the falderols'.

Due to ingenuity and a generator the building of our "pool hall" went on without a hitch. So stay tuned for more blog entries. For now, I am looking forward to a good night's sleep and a fresh start in the morning.

Derecho pics

Front yard. These branches had to blow over the top of the house and garage.

These youngsters of all colors bopped out of this van and cleared our front yard in short order! We were ever so grateful, They would not take any money. I wish I knew who they were so they could be properly thanked.

Window out of the new room.

 These were taken on the roof of the moho after help getting the big branch off the top. Quite a hole!

And by the way-No damage on the new structure.

News on Derecho

 A derecho that hit a wide swath through the midwest hit us. I am using my Google Fi Internet to write this entry and it will be brief.  We do not have electricity yet because the line from the pole to the house is broken. Hard to tell when we will get it back. The town of Jefferson has it but we don't.

We are currently using the generator on the moho to run our refrigerator and I made coffee in the moho this morning, It would be so helpful to know how long this will last but that is not to be. I have taken pictures and will see if I can get them posted. A tree branch came down and pierced a hole in the moho roof. And one of the skylights (kitchen) was annihilated. And another branch came down and took out one of our windows in the new room. We were not home at the time, We went to Mickey's when the siren went off. We are fine. Lots of cleanup in progress. Leo and Keri have been helping us. Also one of the guys on our construction crew was instrumental in getting the big log off the top of the motorhome without instilling more damage.

https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/2020-08-10-derecho-forecast-midwest-severe-thunderstorms-chicago

Pictures will be available when I can figure out the transfer from phone to Blog. Things just are not working in the usual manner.

Keep up with Technology?

Or anything else! When I was a teenager I vowed to keep up with all the latest music. My mother was woefully ignorant of all of it and I certainly wasn't going to let that happen to me! Well, it did.

In 1998 or thereabouts when my good friend Mickey got me hooked on computers and the Internet I vowed I was going to keep up with all the new developments and learn as much as I possibly could and I did...to a degree. But somewhere along the line, I got behind a little and then I got WAY behind. Now a great deal of it is very foggy.

A while back Google offered me a Google Mini Nest for free. So I took it. I had a vague notion of what they were and I really didn't see any need for one but thought, "What the heck!" 

What does a Google Nest Mini do? Google Home, Nest Mini, and Home Max are all Wi-Fi speakers that double up as smart home control hubs and personal assistants for the entire family. You can use them to playback entertainment throughout your home, manage everyday tasks, and ask Google things you want to know.Jul 31, 2020

It arrived and I set it up and it gathered dust. This was while we were in Texas. So I packed it away when we headed North and moved it into the house. On a whim one day I set it up as the Bedroom Speaker. And when we were ready to sleep I would say, "Okay Google, play relaxing music for 20 minutes." And sure enough, it would happen. Then when Gary visited and we were playing cards we would say, "Okay Google play some Bluegrass at volume 8." Gary and Butch like Bluegrass, me less so. And if we wanted to know something, like the mileage to South Texas, we could simply ask and get the answer. It is amazing how often that happens.

So I decided to get an additional one for the pool hall, our pool hall, the one currently being built. Yes, our pricy Internet connection will function there and if it proves to be weak we can get a booster. I have checked it out and do not believe we will have a problem.

Then this message below passed my way so I set it up and picked out some radio stations we might like.

Online Radio Box

 https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/online-radio-box-listen-to-radio-stations-from-all-around-the-world-for-free/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thundercloud%2FIapJ+%28Cloudeight+InfoAve+Computer+Tips+%29

Here is the list we can ask the Google Mini Nest to play for us.

Bluegrass Jamboree

Classic Country 1630

San Francisco 70's hits

Classic Rock Florida

Oldies  94.9

Radio Classical

Radio Tunes Meditation

Hippie Soul Cafe

NPR

These are all radio stations in the USA. I am sure there are many more I could find but the problem of remembering what you need to ask to get the desired one becomes a factor.

This is my post of the day!

Bye,Bye,Birdie?

 I at first thought there was something wrong with this "guy". Standing on one foot? Seemingly clumsy?

El Chubbo stayed in position for a very long time but eventually resumed the business of living and stepped up to the plate. Took forever to eat and get on with the day.

Latest pics on Project

 From MY spot

Straight on in the middle

Looking west from the property line-rhubarb in the distance is on the line.

North side of building

Looking southeast from the northeast corner