Thanks, GR... I appreciate the concern.
We have gotten some rain here, but not much at all @my place. I live in one of what we call the "Banana Belts" which are often protected from certain types of storms. It doesn't rain much at my house even when it rains all over, although I get some of the most heavy snowfall. My parents live in another Banana Belt where they hardly get any snow, even when I might have got over 4-ft @my place. But they do get a lot more rain than I do here.
While I am in no immediate danger of flooding, one of my sisters is still in the Arcata / Eureka area in Northern California and they are experiencing intermittent flooding particularly during high tide. Fortunately her home is on high-ground, which is only a stroke of luck and was not planned (this is my sister w/a genius IQ but sub-zero common sense).
WARNING: tangent ahead. My parents were furious when she bought the home she did... it only passed inspection because my sister runs in political circles and the guy thought he could get a favor in return from her (but he did not realize that she was too dense -- you know, that whole "I'm the smartest dumb person you'll ever meet" deal -- to have caught on). None of my other sisters would ever consider purchasing a home without it being fully vetted by my dad. Anyhow, the house is a money pit and she has neither the skills to do it herself or the financial resources to pay people to do it right. It is a very old home and she'd (understandably, in my opinion) like to restore many of the original features (READ: $$$$$).
Before we stopped buying each other all Christmas gifts of any significant monetary value (I'm talking, $50 - 100/person... with all the people in my family plus stocking-stuffers that can add up very quickly), Mom used to call or email each of us asking what we needed for Christmas and my birthday (which is 6-wks after Christmas). My list has rarely ever varied: some new pocked knife I'd spotted, a new tool that had caught my eye, my favorite socks from Target, and (always) gift certificate/s to Barnes &; Noble. Then Mom would send each of our respective lists out to the rest of us in hopes that we didn't end up with a bunch of junk we didn't need. So, this one year -- and I should note that this was THE LAST year that we exchanged $$ gifts -- my Idiot Genius Sister told my mom that what she *really* needed was A NEW ROOF. That was met with total silence until my sister began fumbling around trying to justify this need, finally adding, "OR, maybe you, Dad and Grandma could come up here for a week or two on vacation and
help me do it!" MAJOR mistake on her part.
Mind you, my daddy is now 78... so I'm estimating that he was probably 75 or 76 at the time, and if there is one thing that pisses my mom off it is people (even family members...
EDITED: ESPECIALLY family members) taking advantage of my dad and not recognizing that although he could outrun and outwork me hands-down any day of the week, he is nearly EIGHTY and has had both knees and one hip replaced. He no longer even gets up on my parents' roof after a near-hit (I refuse to conform to calling them "near-misses") accident where his bad hip (not the one that's been replaced) locked-up on him causing him to nearly fall off the roof. Thank god he is extremely safety-conscious and was tied off.
Back to the Idiot Genius, my mom was so infuriated that she called me to tell me of my sister's latest antics and so that she could vent, rant and yell in order that she did not do so to my dad. After expressing anger and dismay at her inability to use common sense, I reminded Mom (as she often has to do for me) that my sister is an Idiot Genius with sadly, <0 common sense coupled with a genius IQ, and that as Dad has long been the official mediator of the family,
were she to ask me for advice I would tell her that she might should speak calmly to my dad once she'd cooled-down, tell him about the conversation and "The Santa List" lol, requesting that perhaps he should give her a call explaining why both requests (for the roof and for my folks' and Granny's help while on "vacation") were so grossly inappropriate. Speaking of inappropriate, Granny would have been 87-88 at time.
Gimme-a-freakin-break-wouldjya??So it is only by a stroke of luck that she bought her home on high-ground in Eureka, on the Northeast side of town toward Arcata, where she really wanted to buy and which is now far too expensive for anyone who makes <$500k/yr to buy a home, after the SF-ites and Fancy Marin County Jerkoffs discovered it and drove the home and property prices ever-skyward. Adding to her idiocy, Dear, Sweet Sister (heh heh) bought the home from a "friend" who lied on paper about the issues the home had/has. As incredibly intelligent as she is, she is just DUMB sometimes.
Arrrgh!! She was actually looking and *wanted* to buy a home in Old Town Eureka, which @the lowest of local elevations, is often and presently flooded. I used to live down there in an old Victorian flat whose previous life was a whore house back during WWII and before. Lots of interesting history about that old place.
Sorry about the above tangent / rant. She has been getting on
My Very Last Nerve lately, which may be partially attributed to my insomnia for the past ~6-wks. To circle-back to the actual subject (finally... lol), while her home is on high ground her office is not, which is where she spends most of her time.
My kindhearted although Idiot-Genius sister is in this photo, which was taken Spring or Summer of 2011 after she took a huge step up in the non-profit world, where she has chosen to make her career and is now the Executive Director of the outfit to which she stepped up and into. Their office is between Arcata and Eureka on a flood plain.
"Ooopsie!" I'mma email or text her now to make sure they sandbagged the ofc against the high tide flooding and that all is well. So, she is in the photograph below. Can anyone pick her out??
I am grateful this new, more safe place to vent rather than doing so @PDF. In fact, I think I might go over yonder and delete the last two posts I made on my insomnia thread. Quite often I need a forum (as in "outlet," not an internet forum per se) in which to vent, talk about private things to a certain extent, and generally get things off my mind. Writing has always been therapeutic for me so online forums are a good fit, as the relative anonymity provided by forums enable me to speak far more freely than in my private life. I very rarely ever discuss my personal / private issues w/friends, except Az. After all, people often read your comments and offer great suggestions, as happened in my insomnia thread over @PDF. But as previously mentioned here @EvPNS, I have a strong dislike for the harassment, bullying, armchair psychoanalysis, diagnosis and prescription advice (RE: Dreams in particular) that too often comes along w/PDF.
Alright, alright... I fully admit that I drank too much coffee this morning. I am doing my level best to get up @the same time early each morning despite whatever late hour I go to bed. It is now past noon PST, so no more caffeine for me today.
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