So, after a really bad wind last night, I guess 2 million homes and businesses in Ohio didn't have power today. We did. How nice.
My VT came to check on me. I checked on the people I visit teach. Is that our ward's emergency situation plan? It seems like it should work. But how would I have contacted them if I hadn't had a phone or car?
We only know two of our neighbors. (We only have two actual "neighbors"- tons of the houses around here are foreclosed on and empty.)
I've got an appointment to go do food storage in a few weeks. We're using up the stuff we got for Christmas a few years ago. Some of it past the expired date already, but it's still good.
We keep getting wake up calls and finding ourselves generally unprepared for an emergency longer than a few days.
Showing posts with label what's it like living in Ohio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label what's it like living in Ohio. Show all posts
Monday, September 15
Tuesday, August 5
Yawn
Last night the thunder was so loud that at 2:55 the jolt set off our smoke detectors.
The girls all slept through it. Zach and I didn't.
The girls all slept through it. Zach and I didn't.
Friday, June 27
Uh- I have no idea what to call this one.
We had a very eventful day and night.
It was family night at the zoo- half price for Franklin County residents. So Zach came home a little early from work (yes, honey I know you have to make up the hours later, and I am grateful) and we headed up to Powell to see the pumas and jaguars. (Yes, Mimi, I know you watch too much Diego, and I am sorry.)
On our way out the door we got a good look at the helicopter that had been hovering just overhead for the last half hour. As we turned out of our neighborhood, we could see a cop up the street directing traffic and waving at the helicopter.
A minute later, everyone ahead of us pulled over when a cop blipped his siren behind us. Once we pulled over, he did too, and everyone in front of us left. "What did we do?" "We weren't speeding. I dunno..." The officer walked up to the car, took a look inside the van full-o-babies and apologized for the inconvenience. He explained (and we saw on the news the next morning) that someone escaped, was hiding in our neighborhood, and was supposed to be driving a van just like ours. On the news it said the guy was hiding with his mom, who got arrested for the obstruction of justice. The actual escapee is still on the loose. We were kind of wondering what would happen on our way back in... ;-)
We had a great time at the zoo. $13.50 for all of us! The babies maintained their easy-going demeanors, as hoped. Mia actually enjoyed running from place to place. (Next time we won't bring the triple stroller for such a short visit- the thing doesn't turn!)
We put everyone down an hour later than usual, and went to bed. At 11:45 or so, I woke up to the tornado warning alarm. I woke Zach up ten minutes later, and after listening to the radio for a few minutes, "the end of the woooorld- take cover!!!" we woke the kids up and squished ourselves onto the 3x5-foot downstairs bathroom floorspace, and the toilet. The already exhausted babies were not happy. But all three kids kept their cool for the most part. I was proud of them. Our bathroom door is directly opposite the TV, so we watched the news and could see exactly when the storm hit our house. Which was exactly when the satellite signal was lost, and we were left watching crazy lightning. I got scared enough to cry a bit, but luckily it was dark, and Mia and Zach couldn't tell. (Isn't "Mom" supposed to keep it together during tornado warnings?) The signal came back before we got too bored (and scared,) so we had something to watch while we waited to go back to bed. Around 12:45 we went back upstairs. Around 1 the thunder died down a bit, and Mia let me get out of her bed to go back to mine.
It was family night at the zoo- half price for Franklin County residents. So Zach came home a little early from work (yes, honey I know you have to make up the hours later, and I am grateful) and we headed up to Powell to see the pumas and jaguars. (Yes, Mimi, I know you watch too much Diego, and I am sorry.)
On our way out the door we got a good look at the helicopter that had been hovering just overhead for the last half hour. As we turned out of our neighborhood, we could see a cop up the street directing traffic and waving at the helicopter.
A minute later, everyone ahead of us pulled over when a cop blipped his siren behind us. Once we pulled over, he did too, and everyone in front of us left. "What did we do?" "We weren't speeding. I dunno..." The officer walked up to the car, took a look inside the van full-o-babies and apologized for the inconvenience. He explained (and we saw on the news the next morning) that someone escaped, was hiding in our neighborhood, and was supposed to be driving a van just like ours. On the news it said the guy was hiding with his mom, who got arrested for the obstruction of justice. The actual escapee is still on the loose. We were kind of wondering what would happen on our way back in... ;-)
We had a great time at the zoo. $13.50 for all of us! The babies maintained their easy-going demeanors, as hoped. Mia actually enjoyed running from place to place. (Next time we won't bring the triple stroller for such a short visit- the thing doesn't turn!)
We put everyone down an hour later than usual, and went to bed. At 11:45 or so, I woke up to the tornado warning alarm. I woke Zach up ten minutes later, and after listening to the radio for a few minutes, "the end of the woooorld- take cover!!!" we woke the kids up and squished ourselves onto the 3x5-foot downstairs bathroom floorspace, and the toilet. The already exhausted babies were not happy. But all three kids kept their cool for the most part. I was proud of them. Our bathroom door is directly opposite the TV, so we watched the news and could see exactly when the storm hit our house. Which was exactly when the satellite signal was lost, and we were left watching crazy lightning. I got scared enough to cry a bit, but luckily it was dark, and Mia and Zach couldn't tell. (Isn't "Mom" supposed to keep it together during tornado warnings?) The signal came back before we got too bored (and scared,) so we had something to watch while we waited to go back to bed. Around 12:45 we went back upstairs. Around 1 the thunder died down a bit, and Mia let me get out of her bed to go back to mine.
Tuesday, June 10
I neglected to mention
Okay, so maybe I left out the coolest thing about living in Ohio. But only because, mentioning it would have put a huge hole in my whining, and I had just had a really bad "Ohio" experience. Feelings before common sense, I always say...
The other reason I didn't mention it is because it's only temporary.
BUT! For at least a month or so, we have the coolest neighbor situated just across the street. Before we moved here in March, Mia spent her outside time chasing strangers on the way to their cars out in the parking lot shouting "Hi, fwend! Hi fwend!!" There was absolutely nowhere to play, and our back yard consisted of about a five by seven foot square of concrete leading to poop-covered grass and a ravine with tall weeds and a little creek.
Now, we have Miss Monica, her daycare kids and two poop-free front yards to play in! (The house next to hers is basically condemned because of flooding. So we kind of spread out onto that yard, too.)
She has an amazing way of getting a zillion kids to follow instructions.
We're so lucky she's here! Sadly, as evidenced by the realtor sign in her front yard, it's not gonna last. We'll miss Miss Monica. And even though her seven-foot dog wakes us up every morning that the kids don't, we're praying that her house won't sell until summer is over. Uh- don't tell her that.
The other reason I didn't mention it is because it's only temporary.
BUT! For at least a month or so, we have the coolest neighbor situated just across the street. Before we moved here in March, Mia spent her outside time chasing strangers on the way to their cars out in the parking lot shouting "Hi, fwend! Hi fwend!!" There was absolutely nowhere to play, and our back yard consisted of about a five by seven foot square of concrete leading to poop-covered grass and a ravine with tall weeds and a little creek.
Now, we have Miss Monica, her daycare kids and two poop-free front yards to play in! (The house next to hers is basically condemned because of flooding. So we kind of spread out onto that yard, too.)
She has an amazing way of getting a zillion kids to follow instructions.
We're so lucky she's here! Sadly, as evidenced by the realtor sign in her front yard, it's not gonna last. We'll miss Miss Monica. And even though her seven-foot dog wakes us up every morning that the kids don't, we're praying that her house won't sell until summer is over. Uh- don't tell her that.
Friday, May 23
Thursday, May 22
Today Ohio is a four-letter word
DISCLAIMER: I didn't eat a healthy breakfast.
I don't know if it's my bubble-wrapped sensibilities, an actual epidemic, or just plain bad luck, but I seem to run into less-than-awesomeness on a regular basis since I came to this state of Ohio. The following represents only a small percentage of experiences that have taken me by surprise since I began to venture out into the world post-twin-partum. I invited some neighbors to the party for Zach, and the ones on either side and behind me barely opened their doors wide enough to pull the paper through- dogs barking, smoke swirling, TV's blaring in the smelly scenes behind them. I've heard from the two decent people I've met here, that it's just "this neighborhood." No one waves back. Except for the dude that rides the reclining bicycle with four wheels. He waved back once. On purpose, I think.
What I've been more appalled by are experiences I've had (and haven't had) with people on the job. My smiles are met with either blank stares, winces, or averted gazes. My friendly attempts at small talk receive incoherent grunts or silence. I walked into numerous clothing stores in the weeks before our trip to Utah, and watched the employees avoiding customers. I'd chalk it up to the drudgery of blue-collar poverty, but doctors and nurses- professionals... abrupt to the verge of rude. Maybe it's the huge hairy wart on the tip of my running nose. Maybe we're living the real-life CareBear episode of that gray city where no one cared... shudder...
I never treated anyone like this- not when I was working as a no-name at ShopKo, Albertson's and Big-B's. Not when I was working as a professional at the photography studios. And I never ran into so much of this in Utah. I don't know. Maybe I'm just running into a lot of bad examples. I'm probably just homesick lately.
I would say I'm only finding what I'm looking for, except that I've been holed up for so long, when I leave the house now, I'm excited and searching for some friendly contact with anyone and everyone! Macy's was a nice exception. They've got some incentive program for customer-service going on right now, so everyone was super friendly. I took the survey and put in a good word for the lady who rang me up- just like she asked.
Jack Johnson says it best. "Where'd all the good people go?" Ohioans who know..please share.
I promise my next blog about Ohio will be about all the good things I've noticed. Just wait till I've had my Wheaties. (and enough good Ohio experiences to fill an entire paragraph k I'm shutting up now.)
I don't know if it's my bubble-wrapped sensibilities, an actual epidemic, or just plain bad luck, but I seem to run into less-than-awesomeness on a regular basis since I came to this state of Ohio. The following represents only a small percentage of experiences that have taken me by surprise since I began to venture out into the world post-twin-partum. I invited some neighbors to the party for Zach, and the ones on either side and behind me barely opened their doors wide enough to pull the paper through- dogs barking, smoke swirling, TV's blaring in the smelly scenes behind them. I've heard from the two decent people I've met here, that it's just "this neighborhood." No one waves back. Except for the dude that rides the reclining bicycle with four wheels. He waved back once. On purpose, I think.
What I've been more appalled by are experiences I've had (and haven't had) with people on the job. My smiles are met with either blank stares, winces, or averted gazes. My friendly attempts at small talk receive incoherent grunts or silence. I walked into numerous clothing stores in the weeks before our trip to Utah, and watched the employees avoiding customers. I'd chalk it up to the drudgery of blue-collar poverty, but doctors and nurses- professionals... abrupt to the verge of rude. Maybe it's the huge hairy wart on the tip of my running nose. Maybe we're living the real-life CareBear episode of that gray city where no one cared... shudder...
I never treated anyone like this- not when I was working as a no-name at ShopKo, Albertson's and Big-B's. Not when I was working as a professional at the photography studios. And I never ran into so much of this in Utah. I don't know. Maybe I'm just running into a lot of bad examples. I'm probably just homesick lately.
I would say I'm only finding what I'm looking for, except that I've been holed up for so long, when I leave the house now, I'm excited and searching for some friendly contact with anyone and everyone! Macy's was a nice exception. They've got some incentive program for customer-service going on right now, so everyone was super friendly. I took the survey and put in a good word for the lady who rang me up- just like she asked.
Jack Johnson says it best. "Where'd all the good people go?" Ohioans who know..please share.
I promise my next blog about Ohio will be about all the good things I've noticed. Just wait till I've had my Wheaties. (and enough good Ohio experiences to fill an entire paragraph k I'm shutting up now.)
Monday, August 13
In a different state
We got to Ohio on the 1st. I just re-read some of my past blogs, and I realized what an eventful year we've had so far. And that's about all I can say right now. Mia's really lonely. The rest of the crap I'm dealing with right now isn't even bloggable.
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