Quick Update

It's been a busy couple weeks as we move into fall...

• We are enjoying the lower temperatures (yes we can actually feel the difference between 110 degrees and 95 degrees!).
• Work is still in some ways a PITA. There are several old guys on our team that are one annoyance away from retiring with a few day's notice...I am probably right behind them!
• Prices on everything continue to rise. Our food stockpile is bursting at the seams so we don't want to buy much more (we don't want to waste it because it expires before we can eat it).
• We look forward to getting outside and doing more activities in the fall since we have been practically home-bound all summer.
• It may storm tomorrow (I love storms in the desert!).
• Monday is Labor Day. There are lots of sales but at this point, we literally don't need a single thing.
• The feral cats are still cute as ever...

!0 Things from This Week

In no particular order...

1. I cant believe it is almost September! This year has flown by!
2. RIP Dolly Parton. I knew she had been sick but like other larger-than-life cultural icons, you never think they will actually die.  :(
3. Our sunrises are as pretty as our sunsets! 
   
   
   
   
   
4. Exactly half of our lemon tree is suddenly dead, no idea why  :(  
   
   
   
5. We replaced all of the carpet upstairs with vinyl plank flooring last week (we did the downstairs a couple years ago). It should be cooler and easier to clean--not to mention it won't collect dust and dirt like carpet--but it takes a bit of getting used to on our feet. Also, hubby and I determined we are way too old and frail to be moving furniture these days.
6. According to my work email (and meetings...and fire app), most of the west is on fire! eeekkk 
   
   
   
7. Speaking of disasters, September is National Preparedness Month. Here is a great daily calendar of preparedness tasks everyone should complete for the month.
8. I can't believe that everywhere we go there is wall-to-wall Halloween advertising--the holiday is still a full two months away!
9. Here is an interesting 'Almost Tariff-Proof' Grocery Guide.
10. I'm thinking about retiring. I love my job so I am not in a hurry to retire but it suddenly dawned on me that I am nearing retirement age (how did that happen??? It seems like I was just 40 a year or so ago!). So I guess making a graceful exit from the world of work is something I should start planning for.

50 Items for Your Evacuation Bag

It's been a scary (and busy) couple of weeks in Eastern Washington state. With wildfires, mandatory evacuations, and permanent displacement for hundreds of people, this is a good reminder that everyone should be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. Here are 50 items that should be in your evacuation bag/vehicle:

1. Case of water
2. Cash/credit cards
3. ALL of your prescription medications (if your house burns down, it can be difficult to get replacement refills)
4. Laptop/charging cord
5. Cell phone/charging cord
6. Important documents (passports, birth certificates, marriage/divorce/military/immigration docs, etc)
7. All of your files backed up on a thumb drive
8. Copies of financial/insurance/other important records
9. A paper map of your city/state
10. A video tour of your entire home for insurance purposes
11. Any irreplaceable heirlooms
12. Jewelry
13. Firearms/ammo/holster/pepper spray
14. Pets/carrier/leash/food/meds/water bowl, etc
15. Shoes/couple of changes of clothes for each family member
16. Toiletry kit for each family member/makeup/sunglasses
17. A bag of snacks and easy to prepare food/MREs/etc
18. Can opener/utensils, plate and bowl for each person
19. Insulated cooler
20. Wet Wipes/hand sanitizer
21. Kleenex/paper towels
22. Ziploc bags
23. Notebook and pen/envelope for receipts
24. Camping gear (sleeping bags, tent, cooking gear, mess kits, water purifier, etc)
25. Necessary health aids: dentures/hearing aids and charger/cane/wheel chair/glasses/contacts/etc
26. Stuff for infant/baby/toddler if applicable (diapers, wipes, bottles, food, formula, favorite toys, etc)
27. Stuff for elderly or infirm family members (diapers, CPAP, feminine hygiene products, etc)
28. Throw blankets
29. Weather appropriate clothing (coat, hat, gloves in the winter)
30. Tablets for each family member with pre-loaded books, movies, games, etc
31. Headphones or earbuds for each family member
32. Battery banks to recharge phones
33. Portable battery bank and solar panel kit
34. Battery box jumper for car battery
35. Portable air compressor for tires
36. Other entertainment options: coloring books/crayons, puzzle books, playing cards, etc
37. Small AM/FM radio/extra batteries
38. First aid kit/sunscreen/bug spray/umbrella
39. Vehicle emergency kit
40. Flashlights/extra batteries
41. Portable toilet kit/wag bags
42. PPEs (nitrile gloves, N95 masks, goggles, leather work gloves, etc)
43. Basic tool kit (hammer, pliers, wrench, screwdrivers, etc)
44. Spare tire/jack
45. Fire extinguisher
46. Signal material (flares, whistle, etc)
47. Specialized radios: NOAA weather, HAM radio
48. Compass
49. Knife and/or multi tool
50. Other: paracord, duct tape, tarp, zipties, sewing kit, matches

10 Things from This Week

It's been a busy week!

1. It is still hot here (around 110 degrees everyday) and our source of water (Lake Mead) has hit its lowest point ever.  eeekkk
2. Of course our sunrises and sunsets are still beautiful!  
   
   
   
3. We saw this clever idea on TV so I bought a cheap plastic shoe holder on Amazon and hubby organized it perfectly. 
   
   
   
4. I also bought this very small, very cute vacuum on Amazon and was surprised at how well it works! It seems to work as well as the Dyson we tried for a fraction of the price plus it has a cord so I don't have to charge the battery every half hour.
5. EVERYTHING at the grocery store has increased in price. We only bought loss leaders today (a big tub of coffee was half off at only $10,99) but we skipped the hamburger all together (the price was shocking high...for hamburger. Ugh).  
   
   
   
6. Half of the state of Washington seems to be on fire. I thought August would be quiet for work but, because of the fire response, we are having meetings everyday even on Sundays!
7. The stores were packed today. I forgot that kids in Las Vegas go back to school on Monday.
8. AI keeps escaping its set boundaries. Scary when you think about the possibilities.
9. A reminder to occasionally check for unclaimed property and class action lawsuits.
10. I love bucket lists. Here are a bunch of great bucket list ideas for fall. 

Scam Averted?

There are so many scams going around these days! I think we barely avoided becoming a victim of fraud today and it was all my fault (and I knew better!).

I checked my email today and got an email from Netflix saying that hubby's credit card on the account expired and we needed to add a new card for payment. Stupidly, I clicked the link in the email and entered the new card info and the second I hit 'submit' I thought "something is not right here". While it was true that hubby's card had expired (he had just got the new card in the mail), I did several things wrong...

#1, never click through a link in an email to enter personal information. Close out the email, go online to the business website, and provide the information that way.

#2, even though the email looks legit, it may not be. This scam email said Netflix Service but other email from Netflix just says 'Netflix'.

#3, click on the email name and check it out. When I clicked on the email name 'Netflix Service' it showed the email link as some woman's name @ hotrod something .com. Definitely not Netflix.

#4, when in doubt, Google and see if this is a scam. Apparently it is and there was even a reddit thread about this exact scam. 

So after a moment of panic, I closed the email and "account" I had logged into and called the bank immediately. We had the bank cancel and reissue the card with a new number and cancel any pending charges. Then I logged into our Netflix account and changed the password then logged out (I entered the email and password through the email link so not only did the scammer get the credit card info, they got the Netflix user name and password). Next I logged into the account with the new password and put in a new credit card for them to charge.

Whew! I hoped that fixed any potential scam we could have become a victim of but we will definitely be watching our credit card accounts in the next couple of weeks. I have all of my credit reports frozen to avoid fraud so we will be freezing hubby's credit reports as well. I also haven't pulled our free annual credit reports in quite a while so I will do that too.  Aaarrggg

Some Random Pictures

I finally took an OK picture of the moon...

Our evening skies are beautiful...

Our feral cat is hot (but won't venture into our house where it is much cooler)... 

Free Books!

We were at the military base yesterday and I saw a cart labeled 'free books'. I am now the happy owner of two new (to me) free books! On a side note, I noticed that when we went to the Goodwill earlier this week people were buying up the DVD movies like crazy (myself included!).