I'm back! Ian didn't get me!
Left Dothan, AL, early Friday morning because I heard I had electricity. Came back to an intact house, yay!
My tree was all over the yard, now looks like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, but it's standing, yay!
I just got the Internet and cable on ten minutes ago, yay! I can rejoin the human network!!
I feel fortunate, and asked about by my friends, loved by my adult kids while I was in AL, and my DU family's support was a big help while I was coping. THANK YOU! 
I just helped my next door neighbor to get her electricity back on yesterday, got her into my house for AC, a hot shower and some dinner. Today I got her groceries, so she's better today, and her very nice institutional caretakers are relieved (they didn't know that her power was out when they dropped her off) and that they have one less emergency to handle.
So I'm feeling grateful and fortunate that I could help more than just myself. Over a million more down here in Florida are still suffering, unable to access communications, and as many are trying to help them, thank you Big Government and Biden. Disaster reminds us that help for humanity is more important than politics.
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Glad to be here! 
I do, too, but we each have to try. Disasters definitely put millions in a new frame of mind. 
And mindfulness is a good thing.
I'm relieved and my heart feels full. Life is a bfd.
lol even took my french knife. Can't function without a good knife. 
It's the little that help get us through. I only hope the bigger politics here change over this.
and on one tank of gas. Cuz you never know about gas availability coming back.
Glad you didn't get too much more than a storm cleanup.
I will check that channel out. Though I've already had season tickets there for 30 years, way before the Ricketts turned it into baseball disneyworld. It IS quite the extravaganza up in Wrigleyville, isn't it?
Kinda cool that I got to use the "safe" notification on FB for the first time. 
Safe at home, indeed. 
We are, and I'm seeing that Floridians in a disaster arent' so bad, either.
See, just a gentle breeze, and now you don't have to worry about trimming that tree! 😉
Very nice of you to take care of your neighbor like that. She's lucky she doesn't live next door to a republican.
Good to have you back with us. It's never the same without you. 
Haha. True. The only branches that DIDN'T come off are the ones over the roof that I'd scheduled to have trimmed b/c of gutter clogging. Once that's done it's gonna look like a Serengetti dry season transplant.
Y'know, it's kinda true. Only one other neighbor helped her, and they're Dems, too.
Glad to be back with good friends and political family, Serge. I need a drink tonight. 
They say drinking alone means you have a drinking problem. There. No problem.
You're very kind to call me kind.
I'm all about being the bearer of good news from FL! 
Did you know you were in the Peanut Capitol of the World?
Yes! I passed by the huge Peanut Festival fairgrounds up on Rte. 231 on the way in to Dothan! Very cool! They've got some beautiful farmland around that area, too.
They've got concerts, museums, etc. -- it's a busy town, looks like.
AND I found out that one guy named Mr. Watson owns half of all the commercial properties in Dothan. Quite the capitalist.
Very cool, all that badass skill you had! Nice to know a flyer around here! 
Just about anything that had Boeing on it in commercial aviation.
707, 727, 747...
Um...skill I still have.
There's no expiration date on your pilot's license.
You are hardcore. Now I know who to call if I need an airlift outta here if a Republican wins in 2024.
I'll meet you anywhere you land, my friend. I've got cash. 
You have certainly had enough on your plate this year, so I'm glad you are doing well and able to help your neighbor.
Yes, we've both been through a lot.
And that your house is intact...
I made sure it wouldn't even be a close call. For good judgment, never listen to or depend on this governor. 
and lending a hand like that is a wonderful gift. The humanity…
Aww.
It was good of you to help your neighbor. I bet you are her hero. 
Actually, I've helped her out before; she's a mildly disabled, can't drive, etc., and so depends on subsidized in-home care. But now and then, if she's in a pinch, she'll text. This time, her caregivers were overwhelmed, and didn't even know her electrical was out, so me being me, I just tried to solve the problem.
Ah, very nice of you to say. But I'm no hero and not the hero type.
I know people are going through troublesome deprivations. It's an ordeal to cope without even the basics. I hope your friends get help soon and encouragement and support.
No, I didn't lose frozen food. I cranked the fridge all the way up a day ahead of leaving to get it super cold so it would withstand a couple of days off, then came back to find that the power had stayed on the whole time! (I think we have old school underground wiring, because power has never gone off; though I had to think it would in a hurricane.)
Thanks for sharing your situation. Hoping for good outcomes for your friends tomorrow.
Just trying to help out when I can. 
Same here.
It's been good to wake up in my own bed and have coffee nearby.
and that your house made it through.
We have what is left of Ian sitting out in the ocean not far from me in Philly, after transitioning to a rainstorm and then transferring its energy to an off-coast low. So now we are experiencing it as a cold nor'easter. I have already registered over 4" of rain from it with more to come over the next couple days since the system is now cut off from any steering flow and is just sitting off the coast spinning wind and moisture back to the west. Most of the stronger winds are confined to the coast but we are definitely getting the rain here.
It is going to take who knows how long for those poor people down in Ft. Myers, Cape Coral and especially Ft. Myers Beach to recover - especially any who lived in those mobile home parks.
I'm glad to be a bearer of some good news from this state. lol
She didn't evacuate, but everything's okay. Just some minor roof damage and downed trees.