Stormy Weather♫

 Well...It's Saturday here at Rancho Juvat as I write this, so if the world ends tomorrow, I won't be able to use that news for my regularly scheduled Monday update.  Mrs J and MBD have conferred in Top Secret Session and have put together an OPLAN that rivals Operation Overlord in scope.  

Well...Maybe not quite that large!  But it does involve the moving of people and supplies.  Turns out that SIL can finish up the final courses of his Doctor of Divinity degree remotely and since their lease on a old but small house in Houston is up this week, the decision has been made to move back to College Station.  He has made some inroads with a couple of churches there and hopefully will be offered a job.  On the MBD front, she and SIL had met some friends of his family while on vacation.  One of them is a venture capitalist.  She and he got to talking about work and such and, long story short, he offered her a job.

So, I'm pretty sure, the big guy is still providing guidance and opportunity for them.  

But, that still means we have to travel to Houston and help them move.  As discussed earlier on the advice of the Chant's medical adviser (you know who you are!), my role will be to direct the loading of the moving van.  Knowing the juvat track record of moving day weather, I decided to check Houston's forecast.

Source:Weather.com

Hot, Humid, with a virtual certainty of rain.  I know, Beans, it only says 50-60%.  They're just being polite and trying to keep my hopes up.  It has always rained on every juvat move.  I think I'm at 50+ on that record.

Speaking of rain, we had an interesting bit of entertainment earlier this week.  Tuesday night one of the usual Texas overnight Thunderstorms made an appearance.  They're so common, I rarely even wake up to them anymore.  That was the case that night.

The following morning, I woke up about the usual time (sunrise if you must know) and got up to start the coffee ritual.  This time of year (hotter than Hades), it's iced coffee.  When cooler weather returns (Please Lord, soon), it's hot coffee.  Anyhow, I get up and mosey to the kitchen, as I pass through the living room, I happen to notice that the front door is wide open.  Now, since we don't live in downtown Big City, I wasn't overly concerned although we generally do close the doors and lock them at night.  I was a bit concerned about our animals however.  When I had arisen, I noticed the three dogs were all in their usual spots sound asleep (as was Mrs J at this point).  But, I hadn't noticed any of the three cats.

For those new to the show, the cats are indoor cats, a tabby (Schmedley) and two korats (Mooschka and Moushka, don't ask).  

Schmedley

Usual hiding place, behind the exercise bike, not sure which korat this is.  They're virtually identical, Moushka has a small kink in his tail as an ID aid.

 

 

I do a quick search of their usual hiding spaces and see nothing.  Look out the back door and on the back porch, Mooshka is laying under the couch.  I open the door and he runs in.  One down.  Open the garage and start looking around the property to see anything.  I notice Schmedley calmly striding up the road towards the house like Marshall Dillon in Dodge City.  A bit soaked, but still exuding that confident cat "ruler of the world" attitude.  Struts into the house, mowling her demand for breakfast.

Can't find Moushka anywhere. 

Mrs J and I go to feed the horses, the barn and corral are less than a hundred yards away from the house so it's not a full scale excursion, and we hear a mournful meow from within the sunflowers growing in the corral.  It's Moushka, and he's spooked.  Won't come out of the jungle.  Until we bring his food dish outside.  Apparently he was interested in dining al fresco.  

All is now right with the world, until I notice that I'd had several missed calls around midnight.  The first was from a number I didn't recognize. The second from DIL.  Both phones had been on chargers in my office at the other end of the house and we hadn't heard them ringing..

Apparently, the folks staying in our guest house had had a slight problem overnight.  A young couple with two kids, a boy about 5 and a girl about 2.  We have roll down screens on the front porch to keep the sun from being too unbearable.  We also ask that they be rolled up before retiring for the evening, the reason will soon be obvious.

In any case, they had left them down and when the storm hit, the screens were banging and rattling and making enough of a racket to wake the parents up.  They got up and looked out the window to see what was going on and saw the screens.  So, they went outside to roll them both up, closing the door behind them.

After a bit of effort, they got the screens furled and went to go back inside, only to find the door was locked.  No, Beans, they hadn't brought the keys with them. They then tried banging on the window where the son was sleeping, to no avail.  He is dead to the world.  This was when they tried calling us as the owners.  Who are sound asleep. So, they go next door and wake up DIL.  Who doesn't have a key either.  

Fortunately after a bit of time and effort,  they managed to get a coat hanger into the door jam and pop the latch open.  Once we learned all this, we went down to check on things, a little apprehensively as, after all, we are the owners.  Knocked on the door, the wife answered. We asked if everything was ok and she said that they'd had a very exciting evening, learned a few lessons and were looking forward to returning again soon.

Since then, we've had a spare key made and stored outside, the location of which the guest can be informed should a similar situation arise.  We've also moved the phone charging station into the master bathroom.  Just in case.

Just because I get a kick out of Oskar taking himself for a walk.
Yes, Beans, the hay guy is scheduled for this week, rain permitting.

And then I went to PowerLine for the Week in Pictures.

Peace out, y'all!

After Action Report

A Lot!