Morning Update: 09/21/24
Today is technically the last day of summer. The high here in Indy is forecasted to be 91 degrees. Tomorrow’s high is 80 and it falls from there for all next week. It’s time to start making chili and making sure the kids have jackets with them when they leave for school. I’m not aware of anyone who is terribly upset. The past couple of weeks have been oppressive to the point that even the dogs haven’t wanted to stay outside very long. Autumn will get a cheerful welcome here tomorrow morning.
There were some storms to our near North last night. In fact, I was sitting in the front yard for a while, enjoying the light show. After a particularly entertaining flash of lightning about a mile away, though, Hamilton decided that he was quite done and the anxious pup demanded we go back inside. We never did get more than a few sprinkles here at the hose.
I’m starting to feel better. In fact, I felt well enough last night to devour about three-quarters of a rotisserie chicken for dinner. That may be the most I’ve eaten all week. I’m still congested as hell, though, which makes breathing difficult, which tires me to the point of complete exhaustion. I’m glad my bed is comfortable, but it’s getting to be too familiar.
There’s not a lot of impactful world news this morning. This fact-checking article is probably worth a couple of minutes of your time, but it’s not likely to sway anyone’s vote. I don’t know if Hamas is getting a breather as Israel goes after Hezbollah, but they’re not showing up in any headlines this morning. There is a bit of an “oops.” Iran did not include mobile launchers with the close-range ballistic missiles that Washington last week accused Tehran of delivering to Russia for use against Ukraine, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. Pardon me while I giggle at that one.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is getting some blowback over its criticism of GMO foods. Critics are saying that important evidence wasn’t considered in determining the safety of the foods. However, one is right to question the ties those critics have to major food conglomerates. Here’s the thing: GMO foods are cheaper to farm and therefore easier on the pocketbook, which is stretched to its limit. Are the risks worth the savings? Who do you want to believe?
The truly disturbing articles this morning are all local. Here’s a list of headlines from Indy’s CBS affiliate:
- Indy woman made child porn, sent it to UK
- Former police chaplain accused of raping child
- IN YMCA daycare worker charged in child abuse case
- IN man arrested for online solicitation of a minor
- Woman arrested in Carmel for rape of special needs minor
- Man shot, killed on north side of Indianapolis
- Man critical after shooting on Indy’s south side
If anyone was thinking about moving here, those headlines would be enough to cause one to pause. For those of us already here, we hold our children a little closer and make sure their phones are charged when they leave for school. One piece of good news: Marion County proposal would let police impound cars used in street takeovers. I wholly support this idea. Here’s hoping it happens.
Of course, this afternoon/evening is full of football. I have a problem, though. Tennessee visits OU this evening. I have reasons for supporting both teams, but they’ve never played each other enough for there to be an established rivalry. For whom do I root? When OU plays Texas, we root for OU. When OU plays Oklahoma State, we root for the Cowboys. Those are easy. But this one? I dunno. I do have a sinking feeling that the Volunteers are likely to run all over the Sooners, but counting the Sooners out is never a good idea. The game doesn’t start until like 7:30 local time, though, so I doubt I’ll see much of it.
Between now and then, I think I’ll sleep. There doesn’t seem to be a good reason not to. The twins seem supportive of that idea. The dogs are already back to snoring. Seems like a waste of time to not join them.
Morning Update: 10/01/24
Welcome back! Our power finally came back on at 11:44 EDT yesterday morning. Crews showed up right at 8:00 and started working. They identified the local problem but then had to find the cause of the local problem and fix that first. The problem on the pole across from our house wasn’t that bad: a blown fuse. It took longer to level and raise the bucket truck than it did to replace the fuse. The crews working our neighborhood were from Ft. Wayne and South Bend. This morning, they’re heading for Kentucky and will be helping restore power down there. We greatly appreciate their sacrifice in getting power turned back on.
Having our power back was nice, but then came the problem of checking the refrigerator and freezer to see what we had lost. We had been careful to not open the doors, but when the power is out for over 72 hours, there’s not much hope. I opened the door with the trash can by my side. The smell caused my stomach to turn. About the only thing that survived was the various jellies. It took three large garbage bags to cart everything out.
Fortunately, we have fantastic family and friends who have helped us be able to restore some of what we lost. As has consistently been the case over the past two years, you again came to our rescue. Food has been ordered and we’ll be okay. There are still some cleanup issues, but we’ll be able to handle those. Through all of this, we have to remember that what we got here in Indy was but a smattering compared to the decimation in other places throughout the Southeast. The search for survivors still continues, especially in North Carolina, where numerous roads and bridges are just gone. As of this morning, 140 are known dead, but that number will have increased by the time you read this. Helene is one of the deadliest storms to hit the US and it will take weeks to even start putting things back together. For too many, the devastation is incalculable. All the help in the world won’t bring back lost loved ones.
Sadly, the Orange Felon has been spreading lies about disaster recovery. Is anyone surprised? No. However, his rhetoric could cause some to experience delays in getting the help they need. President Biden will look over the devastation today and has promised all the help legally possible. The topic will almost certainly come up at tonight’s vice presidential debate. Please remember, when the felon was president, he minimized disaster relief. Haiti is still dealing with severe hunger and crime because they didn’t get the disaster relief they needed. We don’t need that kind of response again.
What is scary is that the hurricane season isn’t over. The National Weather Service is tracking multiple storms forming in the Caribbean. What had been an unusually quiet season seems to be heating up on the back side and could still cause continued problems for the Southeast US even as they’re trying to put their lives back together after Helene. There’s just a lot going on and the next few weeks could have everyone reaching for their anxiety medication.
Oh, and just as millions of people are needing their food replaced, dockworkers have gone on strike across the East and Gulf Coasts. This is going to affect everything from food to fashion, especially fresh foods that have to be imported this time of year. I saw someone on Facebook foolishly question why we don’t “just grow the vegetables that we need here in the US?” We do. The problem is that all that food has been harvested and much of it has been consumed. This time of year, through April, almost all fresh fruit and vegetables have to be imported and come through those docks along the coasts. Even if the strike doesn’t last long, the ripple effect will cause higher prices on almost everything and make some items unavailable through the holiday season.
I’m not going to even try to catch up on all the news that we missed. I know the big headline story this morning is Israel’s incursion into Lebanon, seriously expanding the war.
Today is former President Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, which is nothing short of incredible.
Pete Rose, Dikembe Mutombo, and Kris Kristofferson have all died.
A Judge blocks Georgia law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
The New York Times editorial board has endorsed Kamala Harris for President.
Life sucks for a lot of people right now. Be nice. You never know what someone’s going through.
Thankfully, there’s coffee this morning!
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