Had a horrible night last night. First, I had a nightmare that I was being chased by a giant monster through some ruins. I woke up because I was breathing too hard and looked at the clock. I’d only slept for a couple of hours.
Then Sookie, the elderly bulldog, starts hyperventilating and craws onto the Shih-Tzu’s tiny pillow by my side of the bed. The Shih-Tzu runs away, of course, and find a different spot. Sookie is drooling and there is a damn lake of spit.
For some reason, I have awful heartburn, too. I’m trying to remember if I took my Prilosec as I was supposed to in the morning, and I don’t know. I have GERD but it’s usually well controlled with medication.
The world past the French doors flashes, and simultaneously thunder cracks and shakes the house. And then there this deafeningly loud drumming.
Sookie freaks the hell out. Nykie, the dachshund mix, who is sleeping in our room because Kid 2 is in Austin right now, makes a mad leap and climbs onto our bed next to Charles Tubbins, who doesn’t even register the noise. He is just snoring.
I go to the French doors, and yes, it is the trademark Texas spring hail the size of shelled walnuts and it is bombarding the house. It sounds like we’re being shot at with pellets from some giant cannon and it’s super loud.
Gordon jumps out of the bed and takes off.
“Where are you going?”
“The car.”
“Where is the car?”
“Where you left it.”
I had gone out on Monday and I always park in the garage. Always. But that particular Monday the trash people came early, took the recycling, and blocked me in with the trashcans. I moved the trashcans to the side gate, went to my appointment, and when I came back, the trashcans were again in my way, so I got out, went inside the house, and Gordon and I moved them to their usual spot in the small courtyard out of sight.
I had forgotten to repark the car.
I chase Gordon and I’m like, “I’ll do it. I was the one…”
He takes the keys from me and takes off into the hail. I was right in front of the garage, so he didn’t have to run far. The windshield survived somehow and it is a miracle.
We go back to bed, and Tuna, the orange cat, runs into the bedroom, from which she is banned, because she tries to sleep on your head during the night. I try to get her out, and she hides under the bed which she does never. Gordon and I decide it’s not a battle worth fighting.
Sookie is still hyperventilating and drooling. Someone is whining. I still have heartburn. I get up again and get a Pepcid, because unlike Prilosec, which is best taken 45 minutes before food, this Pepcid is dual action and should work on the acid already in there.
We have an adjustable bed, so we move it into Zero G, I prop myself with a pillow, and Gordon puts on a documentary about some weirdoes in Alaska camping on the site of an abandoned settlement and looking for Bigfoot. It drowns out some of the hail and I finally pass out.
I am so damn tired this morning. Groggy, and dumb, and in a really bad mood.
Today will be the never ending parade of roofers coming to the door because they descend onto our neighborhood like locusts after every major storm. The roof on the house is huge and old. I’m almost certain that the hail has done it in just from the sheer force of it. Because we are in Texas, we have a hail damage clause in our home insurance policy, which basically means a massive 20K deductible related to hail damage. We will be paying for the roof replacement mostly out of pocket.
The name of Magic Claims might have to be abandoned to a much more practical “Magic Replaces the Roof.”
Ugh. Do not want. And my stomach is still upset. I might have to double the meds today.
Well, I’m going to take all this sunshine and joy I’m radiating, and try to get some work done. I suppose we should be grateful it didn’t knock out our power again. God forbid something happens to Texas grid, the most fragile utility construct on the planet.
Ugh!
Hi,
Hopefully, this can be the opportunity to install a solar roof and cut down on the unreasonably expensive, unreliable, power network that we have here in Texas. I am really hoping to get one!
Sounds like a good scene for one of your books……’hell breaks loose in Texas’
Hope your day gets better
Sounds like Charlie Daniels line: Cause Hell’s broke loose in Texas and the Devil deals the cards LOL
I live in the area and also had weird dreams last night – thank you for giving me something to blame it on!
TUMS chewable work wonders for GERD, bloating and gas. Look for the red/pink ones. Not the antacid pills but the heartburn and gas chews. the generic one from Equate work just as well and are cheaper than TUMS.
I understand completely. I’m in North Texas and last night we winds upward to between 60 to 80 miles per hours. It was so loud from the wind I couldn’t tell if it was hailing or not. I’d just managed to bring in my dog, a Great Pyr/Anatolian mix who was pacing the living room, when the skies opened up. When the winds started “howling” she suddenly decided that she didn’t need to pace and settled down in front of the front door.
We got hail up in Seattle yesterday too! It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it up here which is a bit concerning since we barely get cold enough for snow. It really scared my cat but otherwise hasn’t left any damage. Glad we can help you out with roof repairs! I’m super excited for the new book!
oh man, it sucks that hail coverage is excluded from your homeowners insurance! i’m extremely grateful it isn’t excluded from mine. the year after i moved into my house we had a massive hail storm that left piles and piles of hail on the ground. nearly the entire city got new roofs. all summer long all you heard was the sound of nail guns tacking new shingles in place. some people got new siding, new shutters, new screen doors. i even got new paint for my fence. you could see all the thousands of circles where the hail had taken the paint right off the wood.
sympathies about the GERD. i only have intermittent experience with acid reflux, but when it hits, its miserable. and if it hits at bedtime, thats the worst.
So sorry the Texas weather is awful to you. I dislike the Texas weather. Thank you for soldiering on. Please have a better day and night with sleep on moonbeams.
Ugh! Spring storms! You guys got the brunt of it. The storm was still strong but moved through us fast and had lost a lot of its punch by the time it got to NW Louisiana. Our tornadoes were earlier. Only a brief touchdown. Last year we bit the bullet and got a house generator. That was huge but worth it. Our power can get sketchy here too. Wishing you a better day.
### Hail
Glad everyone is okay
### Windshield
Hopefully you never deal with windshield replacement
But if you do, I hope you have USAA insurance ( best currently available car insurance ) because we had to do the windshield replacement dance ( see notes )
### Note
From a recent discussion of realism in novels versus entertainment ( example of non entertaining realism ):
We got to watch a child in the parking lot accidentally smash our windshield with a carelessly thrown rock, having the parents offer to pay replacement cost, getting told windshield replacement is similar to healthcare with both charged amount and out of pocket based on each insurance company, so parents’ insurance or our insurance will have to pay, contacting our insurance because better than parents’ insurance, scheduling a day off, getting the windshield replaced, etc.
From an old freemium game forum post:
Ethical business uses of probability – various forms of insurance – are difficult to find. Marry into / join the US military and discover USAA insurance ( avoid the banking ). USAA dividend style insurance used to be significantly more common
FIN
Wow what a hassle! Here in New Zealand IIRC pretty much any “full cover” vehicle insurance includes free windscreen repair/replace. Or it did when I took my policies out! I shall be more thankful for that in future!
Oy you cracked me up!!! lol about
“Gordon puts on a documentary about some weirdoes in Alaska camping on the site of an abandoned settlement and looking for Bigfoot. It drowns out some of the hail and I finally pass out”, hope you are O.K with the heartburn.. i think it is related to nutrition … or nerves.. a lot of health!!
Wow I didn’t realize hail was so common in Texas, w don’t get it very often in the Northeast. We recently had our first snowstorm on Tuesday in the NY metro area (very late in the season for us) and it wasn’t that much, we didn’t even have to shovel. It’s all melted now because it rained and temperatures have warmed up. Glad the car survived/Gordon remembered somehow at witching hour o’clock.
Also sorry to hear about the roof!
We got lucky here south of Houston. When I looked at the radar before sleeping, I saw that tailing end of the storm system breaking up a bit and most of it went around it. I am glad for that because one of the feral cats had kittens in our bushes and did not want to move. All looked well this morning. I will be working with a neighbor to capture, fix and rehome/release.
Oh my, it sounds like you went thru the wringer at your house…I hope things are improving and also that you are feeling better now. Sending hugs and happy thoughts…????????
Egad… so tired of the weather extremes! My anxiety built throughout the day as I got calls and texts warning of potentially dangerous storms. Poor oaks! What the ice didn’t get, the winds got… or in your case, hail.
has anyone tried/researched the gluten-free (no grain) plan, to help with the GERD?
Yes!! Definitely remove wheat, beans, oats, nuts, and hard to digest vegetables, and most fruits until your gut has healed. You can patch yourself up, and then try small amounts of, say, sourdough.
Some years ago, I had ulcerative colitis (and GERD). Plus my hair was thinning and the doctors said it was pre-menopause normal, like every other darned symptom I had.
My doctor prescribed the usual meds, but all of them had ongoing lawsuits for kidney damage.. A friend recommended Sally Fallon’s book called Nourishing Traditions. It saved me.
Now (post-menopause) my hair is glossy and my fingernails are long. I know it sounds trivial, but I’m happy about it. And my gut never hurts, no long sits on the toilet, either.
Interestingly, I realized I’m now eating what my great grandparents in the English countryside used to eat! If only I’d thought about that decades ago. But, hey, better late than never.
Wishing you luck!
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post.
Yup, I agree with you. My second sister was stationed in Waco, Texas and she said the same thing about Texas power grid.
Titan, the rescued Rhodesian Labrador puppy that my third sister foisted on me 4 years ago because I live rurally on a farm, is the first dog I have ever had that loves to ride in a car / pickup/ tractor and has no problems with explosions, gun fire, tornadoes, ice storms, snow storms, polar vortex, flooding ravines then there are Amazon delivery drivers who obviously are not trained in dealing with large dogs because they see him watching them, freak out, toss my delivery on ground and flee toward truck activating canine prey catching instincts not realizing that he can and will catch them before they reach safety etc. however, drizzling rain and he freaks out because He Might Melt. ????. You have my sympathy.
Well that sucks. Being in southeastern Louisiana, we don’t have a hail damage clause, but we do have one for hurricanes (& the related wind damage). However, whenever I took out the policy many years ago (after just moving here a year after Andrew), I chose the lowest hurricane deductible Farm Bureau had. Thank goodness, because after Ida, I needed a new roof (22K+ – I have a pretty good sized house). Several of my co-workers had a higher deductible (5-10% or more) & they are still trying to fix their houses because housing prices here are very high.
Luckily, last nights storms went north of us, or my dog would have woken me up hyperventilating. How a dog loves to hear the sound of a gun (rabbit dog) & is terrified of thunder, lighting, wind, and rain is beyond me. Sorry you took the brunt of it.
Maybe you should come to FL. We only have to worry about hurricanes a couple times a year and really only if you’re close to the coast, LOL.
Where we live, we get a few bad storms each year and the subsequent roof repairs evangelists. Yuck! We did have to replace our roof after a particularly bad one. Yuck x2!
For those of you in similar situations, here are some things that I learned for a friend in the industry. (Except #4, I learned that one the hard way.)
1. Roof company signs are great. Get one as soon as you pick a company and require that they leave it with you when they are done. Nothing else repells the roof repair evangelists, except another roof company’s sign. I put mine out after every bad storm.
2. Upgrade your gutters when replacing your roof. We went from regular size gutters and 1-2x a month cleaning to oversized gutters and 1-2x a year cleaning. It only cost a few hundred dollars .
3. The roof repair evangelists are usually temp workers paid a bonus for every appointment they set. They probably know less about roofs than you do.
4. Make sure your critter guards are still secured on ALL of your chimney AND vent pipes. (Sparrows and other birds like to sit on the warm furnace vent pipe in cold weather, then sometimes they pass out from the carbon monoxide and fall down the vent pipe. It is NOT fun when they wake up.)
5. Check for nails every few days afterwards. A good company cleans up, but there are always a few left behind and a magnet is cheaper than a tire.
6. Roofing crews are usually subcontractors paid by the job. And often work long hours in hard conditions. If you can, offering some cold water/hot coffee and a shady spot to eat lunch makes a huge difference in their day. (Also appreciated is a place to plug in a radio extension cord. )
7. Consider going with a local roof company that is a preferred provider with your insurance company.
8. Replacement Insurance is great in situations like this.
Also thank you for all your stories.
Ah, so that’s why the critters drop down from the chimney! I never thought about it, though it makes tons of sense.
Awesome tips! I especially like #1
Love these bits of life you are sharing. Reassures me that I’m not the only one with several things happening at once.
I have had GERD many years and when meds fail it’s awful. But the secret is Alka Selzer for those times that it breaks thru. It is amazing.
Have you considered a metal roof? The cost is offset by the fact that it’s permanent. No more roof replacement.
Take a day off, comfort food, and be good to yourself!
North of you in Dallas/Fort Worth. That storm didn’t bring us hail (thank God) but we did have 80+ mile per hour winds. The tornado sirens went off at 6:05 pm, got our dog and ourselves to our safe spot about 6:10, and the power went off at 6:15. It was off for 21 hours. Just got it back on about two hours ago. Yes, we have beautiful sunshine right now, but sheesh.
I lose more sleep to my pets these days. Naps are almost required a day or two a week to catch up. I have a sleep tracker and occasionally I look at it see exactly why I am so tired
So sorry about the hail and roof problems. When we got solar a couple of years ago we decided to go ahead and replace the roof even though we thought it had a few years left boy when the Bay Area got slammed this past winter we were very grateful.
Hopefully you will sleep better tonight.
had same problem wife didn’t want tear-off with roofers got metal pebble coated roof on 1×4 verticle with 2×2 horizontally on top metal shingles screwed to better insullation and no noise patterns to go with any style house 50 year warranty winds up to 150 mph costs more but worth it
Hope you feel better. It’s so unfair how you have a bad night’s sleep and everybody still expects you to function the next day. I wonder how people with no choice do it? Firefighters and surgeons and the like? Seems like I should remember from parenting, but thankfully the extreme sleep deprivation seems to have effected my memory.
I feel for you. What a night. Just wanted to tell you to try a bit of apple cider vinegar diluted in water for the acid stomach. Works for me.
I swear we have more WEATHER now than in the past. When I was a kid, before aircondioning was common, the big greeting during the Texas heat was the brilliantly funny…hot enough for you! Everyone then shares a story–made favorite hot spells from the past, funny ways to stay cool, whatever. Instant “ice breaker”!
Yes we had storms–blue northers are something to experience and lets not get started with remanences about hurricanes– we’re getting more and more incredible storms more and more weather-apocalypses. Climate change?
Or as we say in El Paso: can’t have all four seasons in one day? Hold my cerveza….
Hugs
We lost the power for a short while here in San Antonio. The house creaking caused my dog to jot around before sneaking upstairs. Our yard also was redecorated with leaves.
So sorry to hear this! I hope you all recover soon. Sounds incredibly frustrating.
I’ve just finished reading Magic Tides and had so much fun with it. Definitely will be buying Magic Claims. I love your writing style. Take care you two. My favourite writing duo ever.
Hope the roof is ok. Home repairs are the worst and especially in this economy. I thought yesterday was the worst because of the constant wind blowing all the pollen my way here in Florida, but hail would’ve made me loose my mind. Never been in it, only seen it on tv.
We live in the north Dallas region and use SafeCo for home insurance. they just replaced our roof due to wind and hail. our deductible is less than 3000. Also, the worst of the storms in this region hit around 6 while my daughter and I were frantically trying to beat it home before it hit. we were not successful. It was like watching the debris flying in the movie twister, except it was dark, and we could only see it clearly when the lightening flashed. we were sideswiped by what we think was a wooden store sign which took the driver side mirror. we made it home safely. surprisingly, other than the mirror, there were only a few small dents and scratches.
I sympathize, my dog had stomach problems. She woke me up 3 times last night to let her out…sorry about the roof. Texas sucks. Come to New York ????
Sorry about the roof and the heartburn and all. I have a steel roof. We don’t get hail often but when we do it’s like living inside a steel drum. and it terrorizes all the pets.
Oh yeah. I lived in a steel roofed house for a few years when I was a kid.
The first storm was like armageddon. Scared us kids half to death. Eventually we got to like the sound of a nice rain shower. You always knew when it started to sprinkle
Good luck.
Or book could be called, Insurance Magically Claims.
Sorry to hear about the roof and I know it will all workout in the end.
I know Ilona loves to knit. I’m not sure if she’d like these yarn bowls. I just thought she might like to see them. They seem very unique and funny to me. I figure she and Gordon could use a chuckle. ModR I promise the picture isn’t bad. Just funny.
Hi Cheryl,
There is a 1 MB limit for picture attachments, yours didn’t show up ????. It sometimes works if you take a screenshot and upload that.
Apologies in advance because this is completely off the topic, but I just have to ask!
I have been re-reading Hidden Legacy for the umpteenth time, and the references to Gisela keep recurring. How did Gisela ruin their lives and how did Grandma Frida manage to produce a child so far off the rails? will there ever be a story expanding on this?
Hey out there,
Maybe someone can help me, if I even need help. I always get I. A. Com. letters by email. Like the Frinnday installments. Is this the same as the blog, or is the blog different. If it is, how do I get the blog directly. Obviously I’m not social media savvy, I mostly use the internet for reading.
I don’t even know if I can find this posting again. I’ll try. If I can’t my email is knoviceknife@gmail.com.
I would appreciate any help, Thanks,
Roger
Hi Roger,
I will email you directly from modr@ilona-andrews.com ????
Moderator R
Thank you much for your help and time. I appreciate it.
Have a good day.
Roger
Lol. I watched Killer Bigfoot last night ;P
Kelly
insurance exists to make money for the insurance company, must be nice way to earn a living, what? ????
Is it just me or is the
“Where are you going?”
“The car.”
“Where is the car?”
“Where you left it.”
exchange the most relatable spousal and exchange in history?
Lol!
I’m glad the car is ok but sorry that the night was so rough!
this picture on Facebook made me think of the Hiru’s sky from the innkeeper books. Just wanted to share it. it does look like a storm, just to keep it relevant.