10/20/24 Update
Yesterday I met a neighbor, Mark, from the UK. He has a home across the street and 4 doors down which he and his family use as a vacation home. While we were talking, he teared up 3 different times. My heart really went out to him. He has a two-story home but, like us, lost everything on the first floor. He flew in with his brother and two friends, they packed all their tools in their checked baggage because they had heard how hard it is to get supplies near us right now, not to mention people to work on your home. He’s not wrong. We exchanged numbers.
I zipped up to Orlando with our two dogs in tow, had dinner with our son and then the two of us attended our youngest daughters first choral concert as a University of Central Florida student. It was very good, three different choirs and a solo pianist.
I spent the night and headed out bright and early.
When I arrived home, I was grateful to see that they were actively picking up the debris on our street. They had already been by our house. I cleaned up a bit and made two new piles from what they missed. They are using big claws to pick up the debris and put it in the back of dump trucks, things are falling through the cracks so to speak. I swept the street in front of our home, as there was a lot of glass, wood and other not so great stuff on the road.
My neighbor Laura, two doors down, came to get a hug, she was out sweeping the street too. There is a home across the street that no one has been in, the owners live in Germany. I can’t imagine how much mold they have, very scary. Laura was very kind; she was taking things that were in this yard and making a small pile to be picked up.
The police came down our street on 4-wheelers, checking in on everyone. I thanked them for patrolling and how much I appreciated it specifically at night. They then shared with me that boats are coming into the canals, we live on one, at night and are robbing homes. They told me not to worry however and just leave my lights on outside. They are only entering homes that are vacant. Well, I can assure this did not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
I heard from a Progressive agent today; he will be by at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning to look at the motorcycle and the Vespa. I reminded him that we have a golf-cart too. I’ve sent several emails and left voicemails because they are not including the golf-cart in any of their communications, even though I made a claim and during the first conversation on all our vehicles I was told that the golf-card, motorcycle and Vespa would all be handled at the same time. He told me he would see what he could do, and he’ll look at it and take pictures tomorrow. I do understand the work on these agents and adjuster’s plates, it’s an enormous amount. I’m just going to continue being politely persistent.
I took a nearly 9-mile bike ride around the island tonight. Still no power on the north end of the island. No telephone service throughout, I didn’t realize that since we don’t have a land line and services like Spectrum are not working everywhere yet. Several more homes are now condemned, big signs in front of them with threatening language about the fact you should not enter. Restaurants with power are starting to open with a limited menu, beaches are still closed to the public.
I love a list so tonight I made a long one of everything I want to accomplish this week. We’ll see how I do.
