September 17, 2005
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I’m still watching Ophelia. She’s fortunately moved more to the east, tracking further offshore as she heads northward. For those in Massachusetts, Maine & Nova Scotia, she can still be a threat. As long as she doesn’t track back to the west any, they’ll be fine.
I finally got my cable channels back late morning, so switched over to The Weather Channel. They were showing shots of some of the devastation in North Carolina. Some of the buildings they showed surely didn’t look very well. Fortunately for them, FEMA seems to be better on track to assist Ophelia’s victims.
I don’t know why my cable channels didn’t come back sooner, since the heavy rainfall had stopped overnight. When I checked the local radar, there wasn’t the clustering of squalls directly to the east of Hilo that are typical when these channels are knocked out, which had been amassing for the past couple of days. I was about to call DISH & asked my son to turn on his TV to see if his was okay & that it might just be my wire from the antenna or my receiver that was causing the problem. As soon as he turned his on, getting all the usual channels, I tried mine again & they all came in for me. Was it his turning his system on that helped? Who knows. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Strange, though, since a neighbor’s had been working earlier in the morning when mine still wasn’t.
We’re back to our typical weather here, meaning occasional showers. But we’re keeping an eye on 2 hurricanes in the Eastern Pacific, named Jova & Kenneth. They’re predicted to lessen in strength before reaching the Central Pacific, because of our colder waters, but you never know for sure. I hope the steering air currents keep them at bay at least, but expect that we’ll get the remnants as squalls, meaning more heavy rains & some high winds. I’d rather we have our normal trade showers every evening.
I like the rain… that’s why I live on this side of the island. Rains mean cooler temperatures & a better growing environment for plants. And I love my plants! Especially orchids (particularly catalayas). Those who live on the Kona side can keep their Texas-like heat & humidity. I like the cooling trade winds & showers! As a kid, I loved playing outside in the rain… stomping in puddles in the grass was delightful! The only thing I don’t like about the rain is my glasses lenses getting all spotted up. I’m picky about them being clean & clear & when one’s clothes are wet, it’s difficult to dry the lenses.
This afternoon, my son & I headed into Hilo to drop off the car for shipping. We ran into a snag though. BT Auto Transport hadn’t paid Matson for their part of the shipping, even though I paid the entire charge over the phone on Monday. Matson wouldn’t take the car without their portion paid ($899… to the West Coast) & I could only get the voice mail of BT Auto (they close at 6:30 PM, CT & we’re 5 hours behind). It was late afternoon by the time we took the car to the port, since I couldn’t get my son going in the morning, like I wanted. I had to plunk down another $899 on one of my credit cards, so his car could go out on the ship leaving tomorrow (Saturday), heading straight for LA. When BT Auto finally pays Matson, they’ll reimburse my card. Believe me, it’s at the top of my list to call them & bitch them out for not having this taken care of BEFORE dropping the car off, since the drop-off date was set on Monday!
The car is expected to arrive in LA by the 26th or 28th, where BT Auto will pick it up & load it on a ‘piggy-back’ transport bound for Denver. How much longer that will take will depend on how quickly BT Auto gets a truck there for it. Hopefully, they’ll have one available within a day or 2 of the ship’s arrival. That would mean the car would be in Denver before his school starts on October 3rd. His move-in date at the college’s apartments is the 28th, so he’ll be without a car there for a few days. Since he leaves here next Thursday, he’s now without a car here for the rest of the time before he leaves. He’s bummed about that, since it’ll cut out his skateboarding activities with his friends (they’re all without wheels right now… he’d been their transportation for the most part). And no, I’m NOT letting him take my SUV! I’m sick of him leaving me stranded!
Besides, I have some projects for him to do here before he leaves, like weed-whacking the yard, trimming the tree that overhangs my roof & cleaning the gutters. We also need to bag up & dispose of trash that has collected under the house & in his room. I would like to be able to use his old room once he’s gone, so I can get my house in general straightened up & cleaned up. Maybe I can get my house relatively uncluttered before my new house gets built!
I also bought new wiper blades for his car & installed them before dropping it off. The old ones were dragging on the windshield, crying out loudly to be replaced. I know they wouldn’t work well in the upcoming cold climate with snow & ice there in Denver for very long. The ones I bought are the Triple Edge® brand silicon wipers, which are lifetime guaranteed & don’t harden with the cold. Right now, they seem a bit stiff, but I figure that they’ll soften with use.
Besides the phone call on Monday, my son is planning to ship out his personal items, including his computer. There goes another couple hundred bucks out of my pocket! He claims he’s going to pay me back, once he gets his student loan money. We’ll see…
