Home again, to power outages and big expenses

Last week-end (July 21-23) we took a trip to Lakeside and stayed at the Idlewyld B & B since we no longer have a home there.  We met some nice people sitting on the porch, saw many of our old summer friends/homeowners who dropped by to chat, and enjoyed all the beauty of Lake Erie.  I had 3 good morning walks along the lake, plus all the usual walking I do when going places.  Like the other tourists, our car had to be parked in the remote parking area, which you get to with shuttles, or catching a ride with someone else. We had our first dinner at the hotel under this current food service (Ward) with Tom and Jill, our former neighbors on Oak, ate lunch there again on Saturday, and on Sunday we had lunch at the Patio Restaurant after church with Dale and Julia who live in Tennessee.  We haven't known them long--maybe 2 years--but enjoy their company.

We visited Phil's memorial at Chautauqua Park to make sure the tree is healthy and the flowers blooming. The fountain was lovely, so we sat for a while on the bench nearby.  We know life moves one for everyone and soon no one will remember but us, yet it still feels strange not to have him call to hear about the trip, catch up on politics, or pop in with a joke to tell. We attended two evening programs, plus church in Hoover Auditorium. On Friday it was a group doing homage to Broadway music during the last 101 years, although the focus was more the last 40 years, to my ear.  Still lovely.  During one of the programs Crowder (Christian music LOUD with lots of bass) we kept saying, Phil would have loved this (he played bass guitar in the Gender Road Christian Church praise band). That one was too loud for us, so Bob left quickly, but I stayed for about half. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPpEOUVpxrM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG-Y9bWlCw8 The crowd loved him (Crowder) so much they stood up much of the time, waving their arms, so it was difficult to see.

One of the strangest things that happened to us on this trip was an incident with a dog walker.  We'd decided to go to the Lakefront on Friday afternoon after we ate the lunch I packed for us, so were enjoying the cool breezes on a park bench.  A man about 55-60 came along walking 2 large Irish Wolfhounds, and he stopped to talk.  Bob was petting the dogs and we were asking him about the breed, their ages and where they had come from.  I noticed he was beginning to move very close to us, and suddenly he fell in my lap and partially on Bob's shoulder. He had fainted! He roused himself and apologized.  We asked if we could get the squad or perhaps the shuttle for him, but he refused.  I still had a bottle of water in the little cooler, so we gave him that.  He then said, "Maybe I overdid it today."  It turns out he had already bicycled around the peninsula, had taught an exercise class, and had walked his dogs there from the campground, quite a distance! He assured us all was OK and continued along the way.  I saw him on Sunday--walking the same dogs heading for the campground. So, I guess he's OK.

We were driving back from Lakeside when a big summer storm hit and were probably 5 minutes from home when lightning struck. We didn't know it hit in our back yard, or what happened.  When we got home, we couldn't get in the garage.  When we got inside the WiFi was down, but the TV was working. Then we found out the phones also didn't work. Checked with a neighbor the next day who had the Spectrum truck in their driveway who told us the strike was in our back yard, and they too lost power to garage door and TVs. Yesterday the Spectrum service person corrected the WiFi problem so I could use the computer, brought us a new tower and a box for one of the TVs, but the phone system still has us puzzled.  If it's in the phone lines, we'll need an electrician, but if it's the phone system we'll have to buy a new one. Today when the door company repairman came, it turns out to be $750 per door, because even though under warrantee (installed in February) lightning is an "act of God" and not covered. 

Bob had a tooth filled today from last week's check up, and that was over $180. Not sure what good dental insurance is.   So, it's been an expensive week counting the B & B, the Lakeside tickets, eating out three times in restaurants, the garage doors, and a dentist appointment! And we don't even know what the phone will be!