Mike Cohen

Wilma two years later

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Two years ago today we got hit by Hurricane Wilma. Although Hurricane Katrina got more press, Wilma was the bigger disaster for south Florida. I lost power early in the morning and was without power for 10 days. Almost the entire county lost power when many power lines and substations were damaged.

We had a cookout by the pool every night, since that was the only way we could cook. Someone set up a generator, so we spent the nights hanging around the pool & clubhouse instead of in our dark apartments. We were still without power on Halloween, so we had a party for the kids in the clubhouse instead of letting them go trick-or-treating in the dark.

We learned from it and prepared for future storms. The condo association bought a generator and a large freezer for the clubhouse. One of the reasons I bought my Prius was because of the long gas lines we had when most gas stations were without electricity to pump gas.

We just finished having the last roofs replaced – almost half of the 34 buildings needed a new roof. Other than that we were pretty lucky. We didn’t have any damage other than the roofs and some flooding. A lot of people lost their homes and some of them still don’t have their roof fixed.

Flooding

Kitchen renovation day 8

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The guys made a lot of progress today. The microwave oven and most of the cabinets are in. The stove is in place but not connected, along with the bottom cabinets on that side. The wall is uneven, so they need to fix it before they install those cabinets.

Kitchen Remodeling Day 8Kitchen Remodeling Day 8

"In Rainbows" Distributed by ATO?

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Via nancies.org: Weeks of rumors broke into the press today with the New York Times reporting that Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” will be distributed by ATO Records. The band made waves recently by selling the release online on a name-your-price basis, rather than surrendering ownership or distribution to a label. Dave Matthews and Coran Capshaw’s ATO Records — an imprint of RCA/BMG — has earned a reputation as a label that’s willing to let artists do their own thing, which is presumably what attracted Radiohead to them.

Day 7: Kitchen Cabinets!

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The guys finished painting, picked up the kitchen cabinets, and started installing them. One of them fixed my doorbell, which hasn’t worked since I’ve lived here. A piece was stuck and it took less than a minute to fix.

Day 7 Day 7
Day 7 Day 7

Republicans love Hillary

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I’ve avoided writing about politics because I’m just too angry & bitter. I don’t share the euphoria about a predicted Democratic win. Nothing is assured until the election is over, and even if the Democrats win, nothing will change.

Much as I dislike the Bush administration and how they raped this country, the Democrats are no better. I’m still angry about them abandoning Florida because of the early primary date (which was set by our Republican governor & legislature). I’m not going to bother voting if my vote won’t count. Beyond that, they refuse to oppose any of Bush’s more outrageous actions. They just roll over and play dead on issues such as domestic wiretaps for fear of being labeled “soft on terrorism”.

I’d like to see Obama get elected, but I see very little chance of it happening when everyone is practically anointing Hillary Clinton as the next president.

Interestingly, some of Hillary’s biggest supporters are Republicans, including Drudge. Despite speaking out against her publicly, they secretly want her to win because they know she won’t change anything. She supports the war and has remained silent on Bush’s abuse of power. She’ll continue to go along with their policies if she’s elected.

Although there are a lot of things I dislike about Ron Paul, he’s probably the one who can bring back respect for the constitution and end the war. No Democrat will touch the Patriot Act or do anything about wiretapping & other abuses because they’re so afraid of being labeled “soft on terrorism”.

I’m afraid it makes no difference who gets elected (unless by some miracle Ron Paul does), since they’ll all leave Bush’s policies untouched. Our country has already been damaged beyond repair.

Midnight lost & found

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All of the mess, noise, and confusion is taking its toll on the cats, especially Midnight. Cody spends most of the day outside, so it doesn’t bother him as much.

Midnight hides most of the day and occasionally shows his face when he wants to eat or use the litterbox. Somehow he managed to get out today, most likely while the door was open when they delivered the stove. I didn’t notice he was gone until about 7; I figured he was just hiding under the bed like he usually does. I looked for about 90 minutes with a few of my neighbors helping. Finally my friend heard a little cry by the side of my building. It took a few minutes to finally coax him out so I could carry him home.

Midnight

Day 6 of renovation

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The guys did more electrical work, closed up the walls where they could, applied textured surfacing to the walls & ceiling, and picked up the stove. They’re making lots of progress – if everything goes according to schedule, the cabinets & floor should be in by the end of the week and the washing machine & drier should be hooked up.

All of this mess is starting to take its toll, however. The cats are freaking out and I almost lost Midnight (more about that in another post), and the paint smell & dust is getting to me. I’ve been sneezing continuously all day.

Renovation Day 6 Renovation Day 6
Renovation Day 6 Renovation Day 6