2/14/2016

Weekly Update 2/14/2016

My new floor was scheduled to be installed on Wednesday, but I had a phone call early Monday to see if I'd be willing to re-schedule for TODAY! Let's get this over with, so yes, I can do that. I think it looks pretty good, and all the cuts, nicks and discolorations of the old floor are gone! It took about five hours. Everything was moving along well until I had to go to the bathroom, and then discovered that the water had been turned off. I asked the workmen if they had done that, and they promised me that they had not. There was a Roto Router man working outside, so when I asked him if the work he was doing could affect my unit, he didn't get into any explanations or discussions, but just shrugged and said “maybe”. I asked how long he would be working, and he guessed 3 or 4 more hours. Since I hadn't washed my hands after peeing, or brushed my teeth, or showered, this was a problem. But everything was back to normal by 5 pm, so I could get cleaned up. My downstairs neighbors, Dave and John, had invited some of us over for cocktails, so it's good for all of us that I was able wash!

before

after (not that much different)

Thursday, I had been asked to go to DH in the afternoon to answer the phones while Dottie, the person who usually does that, had a dentist appointment. I said yes, but I probably should have declined as it's difficult for me to hear on the phone, particularly Southern accents and people who talk fast. But there were actually only a few calls, and I did ok.

Friday, I was at DH for my normal tours, and then to The 90 for my normal “bar time”.

Saturday was special - The Savannah Book Fest! I wait all year for this day. I didn't go to the evening lectures by the famous authors - Erik Larson, Paula McLain and William Paul Young, but I did spend all day Saturday hearing lesser-known authors speak about their writing. It was all interesting, in fact, some of the spaces were too small to hold all the people who wanted to hear the talks: Geraldine Brooks, Rita Mae Brown, and Stacy Schiff. I heard authors of: a woman’s fiction writer who writes hopeful stories set in and around Charleston (Karen White), a cookbook author who wrote of old family recipes and the stories that go along with them (Johnathon Scott Barrett), a SCAD professor of writing who wrote a very funny memoir of growing up in Mississippi with a redneck father (Harrison Scott Key), very famous and popular light fiction writer who has had tv movies and a series produced based on some of her books (Debbie Macomber), a prolific write of fiction regarding current topics (Christopher Bohjalian), a fiction writer who also incorporates modern themes but sets them in Appalachia, and finally a biographer of Harriet Tubman whose latest book is about Rosemary Kennedy (Kate Clifford Larson). Because the book fest has become so popular and the attendance is so great, they expanded and changed some of the places where the lectures were held. Two churches on other squares near Telfair Square hosted the speakers in both the sanctuaries and church halls. That was good because it meant there were no lectures in tents around Telfair Square (it can be cold to just sit and be still in February in Savannah), but that also meant it took a few minutes to get from one hall to the next - I didn't have time to browse the sale tent. And when I did get there at the end of the day, the two books I'd decided to purchase were only in hardcover format, so I bought two other paperbacks and will borrow the ones I want to read from the library. They also included lectures all day without a lunch break, which meant I didn't get to Goose Feathers, my favorite breakfast place in Savannah. I have to limit myself to only going there on Book Fest Day because the raspberry cheese croissants are too good (great soups and quiches and whoopee pies, too).

Telfair Square

Kate Clifford Larson speaking at the Jepson Center

I didn't even have time to go back home after the festival ended because I'd planned to meet Dave, Lisa, Adam and Kay (and Donna unexpectedly showed up - that was great) for drinks and eats at Churchill's. What a nice way to end a wonderful day - with my besties.