Wandering Thoughts of a Writer: #weather

Showing posts with label #weather. Show all posts

Last Thursday (December 5, 2024), my coworker Susan and I were in a town thirty minutes away from our office, shopping for baby items to give to one of our resource parents (foster parents) who will be taking care of an infant that’s currently in our care. We work in human services for the state, and we’re located on the coast. As we were headed into the store, our phone went off, alerting us of an earthquake. We thought that was weird because we didn’t feel anything and proceeded to go inside the store. A while later our phone and everyone else’s shrilled. It was a bit ominous, tbh.

My first thought: WTF!?

We looked at our work phone.

A tsunami warning???

Our team chat on our phone ballooned with information from our coworkers.

The town was ordered to evacuate and move to higher ground. 😮

The Pacific Ocean is a couple of blocks from our office and everyone there was told to leave NOW!

Again, WTF!?

My manager contacted me and told me to be safe and to get to higher ground. Susan’s manager told her the same and that when we left the town we were in, we needed to take a different route – a higher one.

We called our family to make sure they were okay, which they were.

So, what did Susan and I do?

We continued our business as normal, then took a break and got a Dutch Bro’s coffee. I mean, hey if we were going to die, we were going to die caffeinated and happy. 🙃

And obviously, where we were, not everyone was panicking because they were still working and others were going about their day as if nothing was happening.

Maybe because the town we were in was not in the danger zone whereas the town I worked and lived in was. Hell, sometimes I can hear the ocean from inside my house because currently, we live five blocks away from it.

The experience was a trip though, and thankfully, my life partner and I do have a bugout plan if faced with a major catastrophe.

But anyway, after an hour or so, the evacuation was called off and life resumed as normal with the added frazzled nerves that some people had from the experience.

It was a crazy day, and I’m so grateful for Susan being with me through the whole ordeal, for her being her amazing self, for my other awesome coworkers, and for my wonderful job.

I have to say, even though there is a possibility of a major tsunami where I am, I will take my chances with that because it’s worth being here. 🥰

#coworker, #dutchbros, #earthquake, #evacuation, #humanservices, #pacificocean, #tsunami, #weather, 0 Comments

Sunday was an awesome day to work on renovating our RV (Aesop) because the weather was cool enough for us to get shit done.

-And we’re making progress!

We’re not finished yet, but check out what we’ve done so far inside the RV . . .

Kevin had to install the padding and carpet in the cockpit area.

I think he did a fine job.

-Then we painted. We still need to finish painting the bedroom and part of the bathroom.

The booth cushions will be covered in a mandala pattern, and the couch will have a brown slip cover with bohemian type pillows. The two windows you see will have patchwork curtains and blinds or a shade.

This is a closet and pantry we redone.

I love the vintage look.

I showed you the following in another post, but I'll show you again.

Kevin distressed this bottom cabinet to give it that vintage gypsy theme we wanted. It was one of the first projects we'd done.

Anyway, I wanted to share our progress with you. I know I love seeing before and after pictures because it shows me what a difference paint and new fixtures make to a boring cabinet.

If you want to continue reading about our progress on transitioning from a conventional lifestyle to an alternative one and about my books—which I need to write a post about in the near future—you can subscribe to this blog on the right-hand side here under "follow me".

Have a wonderful week!

#alternative, #blog, #book, #future, #gypsy, #love, #paint, #progress, #RV, #RV #renovation #installation, #vintage, #weather, 5 Comments

It’s been a miserable hot and humid summer here. Even my sunflower has lost its energy under the weight of the brutal sunrays and thick ass, suffocating air.

We haven’t been able to work on the RV in weeks now. However, we have continued to get things for it (flooring to install, lumber to build shelves, etc.), so when it cools off next month we’ll be able to finish renovating the inside.

In the meantime, while we lounge in our perfect climate control abode, we’re practicing to be here now—in the moment.

Tomorrow doesn’t exist.

What exist is right now.

-But the human brain gets in the way. The pestilent child emerges and wants to be entertained.

It loves drama, so worrisome or stressful thoughts run rampant through the mind.

"What if we can’t get done with everything before winter?"

"There’s a lot of shit to still do."

"It figures. We buy an RV, and this summer has been the hottest and most miserable one since we’ve been here (12+ yrs.). WTF?"

"I’ve been tired a lot lately and I’ve had a headache every day. What if it’s cancer?"

"That guy the other day was such an asshole. If he ever crosses my path again and is a dick to me, like he was to the poor cashier at the grocery store, I’ll tell him to fuck off (a scene plays out of that situation happening)."

See what I mean? The brain thrives off of that shit. It’ll create outlandish scenarios because it wants to be entertained, and most importantly, it’s a protection mechanism that’s hardwired into us.

What helps silence the mind?

-Meditation.

-Focusing on the moment and your surroundings.

-And when the pestilent child bombards you with bogus thoughts, recognize them, and then push them aside.

This takes a lot of practice. It's an art, but the more you do it the easier it’ll be and a lot happier and enlightened you’ll become.

The other day Kevin told me he read this quote that I found amusing:

“I have lived with several Zen master—all of them cats.”—Eckhart Tolle

Wow. I’ve been living with a Zen master for eleven years and didn’t even know it. :)

#art, #beherenow, #brain, #cat, #child, #drama, #enlightment, #entertain, #hot, #human, #humid, #master, #meditation, #misery, #renovation, #RV, #weather, #zen, 0 Comments

Hey, you guys. We didn’t do anything on the RV this weekend because of how hot and humid it was outside.

A guy we know was supposed to come over and check out our furnace and water heater because we don’t know what’s wrong with them.

-Well, he never showed up.

. . . Anyway, I came across an article I wanted to share with you that I thought was interesting and you might think so as well. If anything, knowledge for yourself and to pass along.

It might save lives.

Here's how the article begins . . .

One of the most popular questions RVers ask each other is: can my RV propane system explode on the highway? A propane safety expert will probably say that it can and you should leave it off will driving.

You can read the rest hereà http://rvlife.com/rv-propane-system-explode/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

#explosion, #furnace, #hot, #humid, #propane, #RV, #RVrenovation, #weather, #weekend, 0 Comments

How was my Monday?

Well . . .

I believe I’m being tested.

Endurance and patience.

Yeah.

I wrote a positive blog about Monday.

I still stick with what I said and believe it.

But!

I’m being tested.

Did I say that already?

It’s fine.

Really.

The universe is testing me to see if what I’ve been learning I’ll actually apply to my life.

I’m being tested with this.

Can you believe this shit?

It’s April!

And check this out . . .

It’s supposed to snow again today, Sunday, and for three days next week.

Really?

It feels like we’ll never be able to renovate our RV.

I know we will, it’s just . . .

I’m tired of this weather.

I know I choose to be tired of it.

It’s ALL a matter of perspective which is true.

So I will adopt the attitude of being indifferent on the matter because hey, I don’t have magical powers to change the weather, so what’s the point of getting all balled up in a knot about it?

I do have the power to change my perspective.