One week ago, the remnants of Hurricane Ida came to Philadelphia. The downpour started in late afternoon and did not let up for hours. When we went to bed at 10:30, the parking lot lines were visible, so the river was behaving itself. One hour later, a car alarm woke us up. We moved to the other bedroom, but as soon as we snuggled under the covers, the building fire alarm went off. Fire? Really?... Read more →
Well folks, someone stole our checking account number. Isn't that fun? I found this out when I noticed that a weird e-check had been sent to our account. The check number was off, so I looked at the check image. It was for $33 and change, submitted by a company called Perfect Service Systems. They spelled my last name wrong, but they had our correct address. And right there on the bottom of the check... Read more →
Six years ago, one month after we moved here, we experienced what the forecasters called a "hundred year flood." We've had a few other wee floods since then, but they never approached the magnitude of the first. Until Monday. Tropical Storm Isaias quite literally blew through the Philly area, dumping around six inches of rain in about eight hours. When the rain lightened up, the wind took over and hammered the area with 60 mph... Read more →
I drove down to the beach Saturday - the first time I've driven that far alone in years, and the first time I've taken Rinaldo on a long drive. I confess that I was a little nervous, but I reminded myself that I used to drive long distances alone all the damn time and I would be fine. Besides, unlike in my circus days, I had a phone. I'd be able to summon help with... Read more →
Four years ago, I bought my Fiat 500, Chicolini. It's been a great little car. Oh, it had its flaws, but I accepted them because I bought it used, after all. It had the proper inspection stickers on it, so I figured all was well. They couldn't sell a car that wouldn't pass inspection, now would they? Each subsequent year, it passed inspection, sometimes needing minor repairs. But it always passed. (Cue ominous music.) In... Read more →
It's been quite an eventful month and I am grateful for nothing much to do. Here are ten things of note that happened in April. In early April, Joe and I traveled to Savannah, Georgia to attend an old friend's wedding. The groom is one of Joe's oldest friends, part of a quartet of guys who hung out together during their high school years. We had a very very nice time! The wedding itself was... Read more →
Well, it wasn't exactly our Chicago problem, as in Joe and Mary's Chicago Problem. No, it was really American Airlines' Chicago Problem, and they solved it quite nicely. We were on our way home from Weetacon (more on that lovely weekend later) and connecting to our flight to Philly. We had a rather tight connection at O'Scare O'Hare and had to make the trek from Concourse L to Concourse H quickly - not quite a... Read more →
I had a doozy of a nightmare the night before last. It came at the tail end of a long, involved dream wherein I was working with a bunch of people in the building where I had my first real job. That whole "other" dream doesn't even matter -- I've forgotten it already, in fact. This is the nightmare part. I walked out the building and got in my car. It was very cloudy; a... Read more →
This could be interesting. Image from Weather.com, with my annotation Sandy is battering Eastern Florida even as I type. This morning many of the models were sending the storm past the mid-Atlantic and up into New England. Now? More and more of them show the storm hitting hard right my backyard, late Sunday and all day Monday. In fact, the Weather Channel guy on NBC Nightly News showed the two most likely scenarios. One of... Read more →
Some odd form of madness took hold of me this morning. The Big Boss sent one of his inspirational emails about how public speaking skills are very valuable and in fact required for doing good marketing, and listed some Toastmasters Tips for good speakers. Then he closed the email by stating that we would all have "opportunities" to practice said skills. And right after I read that, some synapse in my brain sparked and fried... Read more →