While I was sleeping peacefully in my cozy bed on
the 2nd/3rd floor (depending on where you live) of my
tranquil home, all hell was breaking lose along the New York, Connecticut, New
Jersey shores. It is SO bizarre – just like one of those scary over-the-top disaster
films, only then you’re okay because you know it’s not real. It just confirms
to you in your gut that when God deems it is The End, He can easily make it so
– as easy as throwing on a light switch. All of us would have imagined that the
all-powerful New York City was impervious to the whims of Mother Nature, but it
is not so.
Now after that I’ll relate my trifling story: last
week I suddenly discovered that I was COMPLETELY out of my thyroid medication.
I had been aimlessly tootling along, assuming I had an ample supply, just as I
do of the other meds/supplements I take. Had a few frantic moments – thinking
of how I might be able to reinstate my supply the quickest possible way. Got it
sorted by contacting my mail order pharmacy back home, but there was going to be
a definite delay while it got shipped from America. So today, I thought I might
just go on up to the walk-up clinic (you know, the one in my neighborhood where
I COULDN’T get a flu shot the other day), and see if there was any chance they
could do anything to help me out. Chilled for a good long time in the waiting
room (anticipated so had brought along ‘Wolf Hall’), along with all the noisy
kids and hacking adults, till finally it was my turn. I was called out by nurse
practitioner, Jackie, who was as helpful and assuring as she could be. No
problem – how much of a supply did I want? While I was there, I brought up my
rhinitis. She had a fix for that as well – once a day, fexofenadine
hydrochloride. When I brought up the fact that I came from a pretty dry climate
and was not used to the damp I was experiencing here, she let a little chuckle.
I just figured out that the house where I live is celebrating its 150th
birthday this very year. No wonder I am inundated with molds and mildews, and
experiencing major allergic repercussions – it’s been accumulating for a good,
long time here!
Had to go around the corner to fill these
prescriptions at a pharmacy, for a fee, as I am not a member of the NHS – but
who’s complaining, not me, just happy to get it. I was back in business, and
would NOT turn into a pumpkin – this time anyway! While I was waiting for the
prescriptions to be filled, I was looking in their perfume cache (they were trying
to move their merchandise so everything was at a discounted price) and with a
suggestion once again, from a helpful knowledgeable young lady, came across an
obscure product that I actually have back home, and REALLY like it. Got that,
too! (Help, more money – I need MORE money!)
Via email correspondence with my financial advisor
back home (Daddy, can I get more money? I’ve got to reroof the house. Oh, man,
that’s going to take lots of money!), he told me when he had contacted the
major broker in the east that the voicemail said that due to the effects
Hurricane Sandy, they were not able to be in their offices at the present time but
expected to return the following day. I don’t think so! This led me to
investigate further online and that’s when I first learned what was going on
back home. Oh, my goodness – colossal havoc in New York City, of which by now I’m
sure you are all aware. It’s pretty alarming when a MAJOR institution is forced
to close its doors. Can you imagine the financial implications?! The
full scale of Sandy's wrath has yet to be determined, but according to a
government prediction, the storm's wind damage alone could result in more than
$7 billion in economic loss. Another estimate reported that the storm's economic impact, when all is said and done,
could reach up to 25 billion dollars. Sandy, how’d you get that innocuous
name?! But wait, you’ve already been re-named: Superstorm Sandy, the strongest
storm to ever have hit the Atlantic coast.
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it is going
to take a minimum of 5 minutes to merely get out the door each time I go out.
I’m not kidding! For the ADD mind, this is a hard pill to swallow. (I have
gotten myself into trouble several times by trying to rush the inevitable. (You
know, like shutting the door with the key in the lock, etc. With practice, I am
doing better.) Here are the steps: first, turn over my index card indicating I
am leaving the premises; if I am the last one out, I must remember to set the
alarm; close the entry door; put on my outdoor shoes, coat, scarf, gloves,
etc.; get out my key from my zippered pouch purse; open two locks to the outside
door; put on my sunglasses (if called for); and finally outside the door, use
my key a final time to secure the bolt, and then return it to my purse so I’ll
be sure to be able to locate it later when I return – all before walking away. See
what I mean?! Sometimes I choose to not even GO outside, just to avoid going
through this entire rigmarole.
Speaking of locks, wanna hear a sad story? (It’s
related to the above process.) Phil and I were home alone for a couple days
(Myfanwy has gone on a little holiday to Bournemouth, southern beach community,
while Philip’s department is having reading days this week, so no school and
him having the week to stay at home with his family.) We had arranged between the
two of us that I would be the one to turn on the house alarm around 10pm each
of these nights before retiring. It wasn’t until around 11pm that I got around
to seeing about it last night. Just as I was in the entry hall setting the
alarm, I heard a buzzing and a buzzing, that after getting my wits about me I finally
concluded was the doorbell. (You just don’t expect to be hearing the doorbell buzzing
so late at night.) At the same time I also heard a frantic calling – ‘Debbie,
Debbie, it’s me, Phil. Could you please open the door and let me in?!’ I had
put the recycling out earlier that evening for the weekly pickup the next
morning, and it seems he had gone out to add something to the bin, leaving the
key in the inside lock. I don’t want to think about how long he was stuck
outside. (Thank goodness it was not that terrible cold we had been having the
week before – but still!) We immediately exchanged mobile numbers in the event
we needed to contact each other at a future date, though this time around his phone
had been tucked safely inside the pocket of his trousers in his room, so
wouldn’t have helped anyway.
Photos_
1- Storm of the Century: Hurricane Sandy (Is there
some reason these things always seem to happen somewhere on the New England
coast? Just kidding.)
2- blackout in Manhattan
3- Mother Nature’s havoc
4- Walk-In Centre - oh, who are the people in your neighborhood?
5- got me covered - conveniently dispensed in packets not bottles
5- got me covered - conveniently dispensed in packets not bottles
.jpg)
