Irma Devastating But Not Without Quirky Moments

During the last trying weeks, the nation suffered through the heartbreaking ravages of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. But even in the worst of times, little rays of humor managed to surface and I'd like to tell you some of my trials and errors.

Time erases memory, but Irma wasn't my first rodeo. I filled every receptacle I had with water and put them in the freezer. I precooked meats and put them in Tupperware. I was sure I had candles, and I was right. I had three candles, each about 5 inches long.

No worries, the weather people indicated the brunt of the storm would hit the west coast. I completely forgot that the "dirty" part of the storm was in the northeast portion. The hurricane was moving at a good pace and then it slowed. I still had power and a functioning cell phone.

Around 1:00 pm Sunday, I lost power but I still had a positive attitude.The night moved in, the winds increased and the son-of-a-bitch upstairs turned on his generator, clearly in violation of the law. I lit candle number one, had some iced tea and a snack. My cats, usually aloof, now seemed to feel I was their best friend, each curling up next to me.

Over the following hours, I cannot tell you how many times I turned on the light when I entered the bathroom. It never came on once (because, you see, I had no damned electricity,). At first, I tried to go to the bathroom using the ancient art of mental imaging and target location by sound. But, as I said earlier, time erases memory and when I didn't hear the "sound" of success, I realized that candle number two was going to be needed in the bathroom.

Scooter, my faithful companion who feels the necessity to accompany me on all my bathroom treks wholeheartedly agreed as he was the recipient of the poorly plan mental imaging and sound experiment.

I cursed myself over putting off buying an emergency radio, so there I sat, listening to the mind numbing staccato of the generator and watching my candles get smaller and smaller. I fell asleep sometime in the wee hours, only to be awakened by the howling winds but no generator sounds. It seems the generator had been shut off at first light.

Still sleepy, the winds roared as I prepared something to eat. I was sure the damned storm must be in Tampa by now, but my sister called and said it was in Naples. Candle number one burnt out and conservation of the final candle was a priority.

That evening, as darkness fell, the cats remained in a crouched position mainly due to the various loud noises. Right on time, shit-for-brains turned on his generator. Conserving the remaining candle, I sat in the dark plotting how to destroy the annoying generator and the owner, if necessary, as well. Peanut butter and bread became my go to snack. Sleeping off and on, the sun finally arose and dumb ass turned his generator off, so I tried to catch up on some badly needed sleep.

I woke to a conversation coming from my living room. Since I live alone, I assume I had unwanted guests. As it turned out, it was the television and I had electricity again. Although food was low and I was out of ice, I knew that it could only get better, 

Hollywood's hurricane relief telethon turned political with many stars using the opportunity to share their liberal platforms. Originally conceived as a benefit for victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, the "Hand in Hand" telethon was expanded to help people in Florida and the Caribbean devastated in recent days by Irma.

Stevie Wonder opened the one-hour televised event with a monologue about coming together, regardless of race, religion, political affiliation or sexual preference to help those devastated by the storms. However, he then closed the speech by taking a shot at those who deny climate change, saying "Anyone who believes there’s no such thing as global warming must be blind or unintelligent.

But the event was a potentially polarizing and alienating move at a time when, even as images of the powerful storms and monumental wreckage they caused literally flooded our screens, the impulse, especially from politicians, to call for prayers in lieu of recognizing science has become an exasperated meme.

To wit, after Wonder’s quote was tweeted out, responses came in chiding the singer for “undermining the objective of the telethon by alienating half the country in the first 30 seconds.”

Houston native Beyonce said in a video message aired on the telethon that hurricanes Harvey and Irma were a big blow following the recent "violence and racism in this country. She added she thought times "couldn't possibly get worse," but then the hurricanes hit.

All things considered, the event raised more than 44 million dollars for the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, so I guess one has to overlook the moronic, blatant politicalization and be content that the monies ostensibly will help millions of people.

The News As I See It: Hillary Clinton is promoting her new book, "What Happened?" She told Anderson Cooper that a lot of people come up to her now to apologize for not voting. And when they do that, she says she doesn’t forgive them. I guess she used all her forgiveness up on her husband, Slick Willy.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about Clinton’s book. She said she thought it was sad. Which is true. I mean, it is — I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who’s planning to read it, but at the end of the book, Donald Trump becomes president.

Huma Abedin and soon-to-be ex-husband Anthony Weiner say that they want to keep their divorce proceedings private. Weiner, however, insisted he’s still going to keep his (private parts) public.

It's official  - Pro Football has begun! I saw that the Patriots will play a game in Mexico this November. The U.S. border Patrol will be checking the returning team for anyone with a mustache and wearing a serape.Then again, the Patriots could sign Colin Kaepernick and then trade him to Mexico for two day laborers to be named at a later date.

Meanwhile, the New York Jets are 1000-to-1 long shots to win the Super Bowl. That means if you bet just one dollar...you will lose just one dollar.

Kim Kardasian and Kanye West have announced they are expecting their third baby. And this time, they’re going to name the baby something normal. That’s the name. Something Normal West.

Target annoinced announced that it will hire 100,000 seasonal employees during the holidays. Ten of them will be on the register; the rest will wander around saying, “I don’t work in this department.”

This Date In History: 1789; The U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs changed its name to the Department of State. 1821; Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador gained independence. 1835; Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle reached the Galapagos Islands.

1917; Alexander Kerensky proclaimed Russia a republic. 1935;  The Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of their citizenship and made the Swastika the official emblem of Nazi Germany. 1963; A church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, killed four young black girls.

1989; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Penn Warren, the first poet laureate of the United States, died. 2004; The National Hockey League lockout began. The 2004-2005 season would ultimately be canceled.

Picture Of The Day: Yep, I figured by 2:00 p.m., I figured Irma would be nearing Tampa, Wrong, hurricane breath!

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) Men reach their sexual peak around age 18 while women reach their sexual peak around age 35. Just about the time women reach their sexual peak, men are beginning to realize they have a favorite chair. 2) One year, I couldn't afford to take the kids to a corn maze, so I took them to an IKEA instead. 3) Forrest Gump's Facebook account has been hacked. His password was "1Forrest1". 4) If you play a game with your girlfriend where you pick one person you’d be allowed to sleep with, choose a celebrity and not "Liz from Accounting." 5) Starbucks should have a separate line for people who don't know what they want or how the world works.....and that's five !

Today's Horoscope: Virgo - September 15th: Your footsteps will seem louder today as you break in new shoes. Everything you've ever felt about anything will be tested today during some troubling moment in which you'll learn something about anything or everything. When gazing upon the face of a loved one, close your mouth and stop babbling on about how much you wish that restraining order had been quashed.

Birthdays: James Fenimore Cooper, American novelist 1789, William Howard Taft, 27th president of the United States 1857, 1857 Bruno Walter, conductor 1876, Agatha Christie, writer 1890, Jean Renoir, film director, writer 1894, Oliver Stone, filmmaker 1946, Dan Marino, football quarterback 1961.

The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: A farmer went to town to see a movie. The ticket agent asked, "Sir, what’s that under your arm?" The old farmer said, "That’s my pet rooster Chucky, wherever I go, Chucky goes." The ticket agent said, "We don’t allow animals in the theater." The irritated old farmer went around the corner and stuffed the bird down his pants.

He returned to the booth, bought a ticket and entered the theater. He sat down next to two old widows named Mildred and Marge. The movie started and the rooster began to squirm. The old farmer unzipped his pants so Chucky could stick his head out and watch the movie.

Mildred whispered, "Marge, I think this guy next to me is a pervert." Marge replied, "What makes you think that?" Mildred whispered, "He unzipped his pants and is exposing himself."

Marge said, "Well, don’t worry about it, At our age we’ve seen them all." Mildred said, "Yeah, but this one is eating my popcorn."

In California Unleaded gas went to $4.00 a gallon last Thursday. Sister Mary Ann, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. Fortunately, an Exxon station was just a block away.

She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait, and walked back to her car.

She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas, and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, Sister Mary Ann carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptist ladies watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said, "If it starts, I'm turning Catholic."

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: A frustrated wife buys a pair of crotchless panties in an attempt to spice up her dead sex-life. She puts them on, together with a short skirt and sits on the sofa opposite her husband. At strategic moments she uncrosses her legs.

Finally, after she had crossed her legs enough times, her husband asks, "Are you wearing crotchless panties?" She answered with a seductive smile, Yes." Her husband replied, "Thank God. For a moment, I thought the stuffing was coming out of the sofa." (He never heard the gunshot.)

An older woman is shopping in a supermarket when she notices this handsome muscular boy doing the bagging at one of the checkouts. Making sure she goes through his line, she leans over and asks if he'll carry her groceries out to which he responds, "Sure lady."

No sooner than they get out of the store, she leans over and says to the boy, "You know I've got an itchy pussy." The boy responds, "You'll have to point it out, lady, all those Japanese cars look alike to me."

That's it for today, my little tinker toys. Remember, if your smart phone gets wet, put it in a bag of dry rice. Then at night, the rice will attract Asians and they will fix all your electronics for you. I'm heading over to AREA 51 for happy hour.

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More next week.

Stay Tuned !