The hurricane is over, for now, here in Southwest Florida. It still is dumping a lot of rain in other states and parts of Florida but for here it is over. It is like 93 degrees but feels like 103 not=w. It is only 10:00 am and they say it will get warmer.

Another hurricane is brewing in the Atlantic and based on the predicted path it will not hit here very hard. Maybe some rain and wind but nothing drastic.

This is good and I’ll tell you why. Putting up the hurricane shutters are a big pain in the ass. They are somewhat awkward to lift and screw into the walls. Some don’t fit well. Some fit too well. Some have to be layered to the window. Once they are all up it seems like you are living in a cave until you take them down. I have noticed that our neighbor that we can see put up shutters and has taken only parts of his down. He took off some of the top layers down so he can have some light in his house. If another hurricane comes he only has to replace a few of them to get the protection. Great idea, but it looks crappy and does restrict the light into your house.

So, what is the solution? Automatic shutters or hurricane rated windows. Coincidentally, the other day, a man came to our door from a shutter company and to install shutters just on the lanai it would be $17,000 to do so. For hurricane proof windows it would be approximately $2,500 per window. There are 11 windows, not counting the door. So $17,000 for the lanai, $2,500 X 11 windows is $27,500. Total cost, $44,500. It is almost worth that much money NOT to have to do the steel shutters again, ever.

That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

Well it seems like we will be experiencing our first hurricane. The weather people say that Hurricane Fay will reach south-west Florida around Tuesday. Hopefully it won't be too bad. It now has sustained 45 mph winds sometimes gusting to 80 mph.

I do have the hurricane shutters to put on all the windows and doors but that seems to be quite a hassle to do it. People that I know here say they never had to put up the shutters. One guy lived here for 4 years and the other for 3 so I am hoping that I don't have to do it.

Anyway, other than that I am doing ok. Nothing new or exciting. I have t start looking for doctors pretty soon. I need a Endocrinologist and a regular internist. I would go to the VA but it is pretty far from here. There are little satellite offices but none for my problems.

So, everyone hope for the best. And I'll let you know what it was loke when it is over.

L8er,

Me

It is almost a month that we have been here in Cape Coral Florida. Seems like the day's drag by and the weather hasen't been that nice. Sure, it has been hot but it seems to rain everyday. Either in the mortning or in the afternoon. Kind of screws up the pool time.

My sister-in-law Ruth and her son Tim came to visit. They stayed for about eight days. It was fun to have them here. We just hope that the other members of the family can stop by and stay for awhile. God knows we have the room.

On of the women from Nancy's last job is to come and stay for a few days in September. Not quite sure exactlly when that will be but I do know it is sometime in September. Should be fun.

Every Tuesday at a place near here is a place called "The Joint." They have live music and it is very comical to me to watch some of these people try to dance. I almost feel kind of embarasses for them. It is free and there is a place to eat which is rather upscale called "Rumrunners." Kind of expensive but good food. You could not go there on a regular basis because you would go broke.

That's about it for now. Hope everyone is healthy.

Tomorrow it will be 2 full weeks that we have been in our home here in sunny Florida. The first week was full of rain and it has rained everyday in the afternoon, evening or the morning. But when it is not raining it is h-o-t hot. 90-95. Thank God for the pool. That makes it all worth putting up with the heat and the rain.

Today we woke up and it was like 85 in the house. Seems the fan motor on the air conditioner is bad and needs to be replaced. We called the repair guy and he was in another part of the Cape and he came right over. He said that we could restart it by pushing the fan itself but that only lets it run for 15 minutes or so and then it cuts off again. So until it gets fixed, tomorrow after 1:00 pm we have to suffer with ceiling fans.

More FLorida updates to follow......

Well we have been here since Monday late afternoon and so far all we have had was "liquid sunshine." It has been raining since we got here. Except for today. It has been sunny and hot all day. Some say it will rain but so far so good. No rain, lots of sunshine, perfect Florida weather.

Went in the pool today for the first time since we got here. Water was good. Refreshing.

Need to go to Costco's today and buy a few things.

Bought a TV. It is a 52" Samsung. Excellent picture quality when watching DVD's. I don't know how it will be to watch regular TV because the DirecTV guy did not show up today. They called and said that the installer hurt himself and did not make it. Then are suppose to be here tomorrow. We will see.

So that's it so far. Update later.....

It is 6:12 AM on Sunday July 13th and today is the day that we are leaving the comforts and familiar surroundings to drive to Cape Coral Florida where a new house and a new adventure awaits. We are leaving around 8:00 and hope to be there by tomorrow. We are stopping somewhere in Georgia for the night and then pick up tomorrow.

So until the next entry where I am in the new home.

Later...

We will be leaving for Florida on Sunday, 13 July 08. All of our stuff that we are taking with was loaded on a moving truck and it arrived in Florida yesterday. A friend of mine is there to open the garage and the movers loaded it all there. That means when we get there on the 15th we have a lot of unpacking and putting away to do.

My house is up for sale and a guy from across the street that lives with his mother has looked at it and expressed interest in buying the house. We will see what happens with that. I would love to sell it as soon as possible just to get rid of it.

Stayed tuned.......

Well it has been a long time since I updated the blog.

We are pretty much caught up in the packing department. Nancy has quit her job. In fact, today is her last day. So I would suspect that we will now be in the power packing mode. Once we have all our stuff packed we will need to do Nancy's Mom's house next. We are still shooting for the 15th of July. That is the date I was hoping to be in Florida for good. Our only problem is how to get a truck, and two cars to Florida cuz' we only have two drivers. I would hate to pull a car on the back of a truck but if I have to I guess I will. I would probably pull my Dodge. Almost $5.00 a gallon for gas is a lot of money to feed into my Dodge Hemi-Charger. But, we will see.

So that's the latest........