They sky is falling, the sky is, oh wait,

So a tree fell on us. Sort of. Friday morning we're sleeping relatively peacefully unaware that the power went out for five whole minutes. Crash!

"What was that?"

"I don't know." I look out the window. "Huh, can't see anything. Wait, it looks like a few branches broke off the tree and landed on the roof. Nothing too bad." And since said roof is not over our portion of the house we went back to sleep.

Later Wife walked the dog and came in. "You know that crash? It wasn't just those branches. A tree hit the house."

I put on a hat and braved the wind and rain to investigate. In fact there was what appeared to be a tree in the driveway. And a large dent in the roof. Quick call to the landlord to let him know what was going on.

Later I went back out to check some more. It wasn't a tree but it was a very large branch off of a very nasty looking tree. I had worried before that it might go down in big winds and was partially right. The people who had lived in that section of the house had moved out towards the beginning of the month so they had avoided a disaster. Especially since they used to park their car right where the branch landed. And where they used to let their tiny dog pee.

Actually, we were extremely lucky. Sure it rained for two days straight and had big wind gusts. And parts of town did get flooded. Some folks even had big time boat damage and loss. But our town survived pretty well compared to the rest of the state. Heck, we only had some brownouts and got to sit around watching team handball without feeling guilt for not leaving the couch. (On a side note I have come to love team handball. Perhaps it deserves its own post).

Course now we're making sure to upgrade our insurance in case next time isn't so mild. Nothing like spending money that you don't have to protect against something that might or might not happen. If I were the landlord though I would look in to getting rid of that tree no matter how cool and Southern Gothic it looks.

Fay is coming

We're waiting to see if our first hurricane is going to hit our home in two days. I imagine that despite the suggestions of the 80s German metal band, it will not in fact, rock us. Mostly I'm worried about wind damage to the scooters. I'm not scared exactly. Just nervous. They're not evacuating or planning to evacuate. Our back yard will probably fill up a few inches with water. It will suck. Some vegetation will get blown around making messes that will eventually get cleaned up. But how do we know for sure? Just have to wait and see.

But there are aggravations. I'm sick. Maybe. I went to an academic conference last week and didn't feel right but I thought it was just leftover airsickness combined with being at altitude making me feel not quite right. But I've been back for three days and it lingers. It's a strange mix of symptoms that keep alternating. How can I protect us from hurricanes if I feel dookie?

And on top of that now some pipe in the bathroom is leaking through the ceiling. Gonna be hard enough to get the landlord over here to fix it with the hurricane coming but I don't really like the idea that we could be without a bathroom for a couple of days while he tears up floors and ceilings trying to find out where the problem is.

I just want to watch Olympics and wait for the last few days before school starts so I can stop procrastinating about getting my syllabuses* ready.

*I just learned that syllabi may not be the plural of syllabus. Rather that technically no plural of the word is technically correct. Learning all the time. Even while waiting for Faye to wash us off the face of the earth.