Snowing, sloshing, and soon to be sleeping

Snow? Isn't it November 6th? Today was crazy. Debbie flew home. Got there safely and we had a video chat complete with Kelli, Joe, and Elle in attendance with her. Then we added Scott, Amanda, and Matt in Crystal Lake, Il. It was the coolest thing. A family reunion without starting a car.

And then there was the weather. It thunder snowed, rained, hailed, and ... winded. Like a constant 40mph wind with these gusts that made my Explorer shudder. At home storms knock my trees apart. Here? There was this thunder storm with snow in place of rain. But that is not the strange part. I was just watching the weather and Lake Erie sloshed today. That's what the nice weather guy in the PURPLE SUIT said. The wind was just roaring all day long and Lake Erie, being an average of 62 feet deep and maxing out at 210 feet sloshes. I mean, that's deep enough for me. But as the Great Lakes go it's pretty shallow. And so when the wind goes nuts like this it pushed a bunch of the water to the east and it piles up there. I'm freaken serious. They showed a photo of where the lake usually hits the shore in our area and then one of where it was today. It looked to be a 3 or 5 foot difference in a shallower way. When the wind stops ... it will slosh back. They called this "the bath tub effect."

I live by the worlds largest bathtub.

Oh, and we gave up on the trailer. I'm not going to be an RV guy after all. My incredible father-in-law did his dead level best to make it work out but it just kept getting harder and harder. We finally had a talk and agreed that this was just not the way to go. So last night Debbie and I rented a nice studio apartment. Nothing fancy. It's just a little place ON THE 9TH FLOOR OVER LOOKING LAKE ERIE WITH A BALCONY FOR MY STILL-TO-BE-PICKED-OUT-LAWN-CHAIR. The entire north wall is glass. My glass apartment over looks the worlds largest bathtub. I'm telling you I've moved to the land of Oz. I would not be at all surprised tomorrow if a scare crow, a tin man, and a cowardly lion are waiting for me in my office.

At 52 years old I finally have a swinging bachelor's pad. (www.erieshorelanding.com) No, there isn't any shag carpeting. But the three painted walls are creme colored ... with about a 3 foot wide (tall) horizontal brown stripe mid-way up the wall. Why? I dunno. Some girl lived in it last. The apartment people were going to paint it. I told them I'd rather they just leave it alone and cut my rent. So they took $75 bucks a month off. Deal! I'll find a way to maximize that brown strip. If you have suggestions leave them in the "comments" link below. Right now I'm considering painting grass on top of it. Maybe some earth worms in the middle of it. We'll see. Did I mention the work-out room? The free tanning salon? The great room with a fire place and surrounding windows on the lake? It has a huge laundry mat. You don't put coins in the machines. There is a machine on the wall. You put money in it and it gives you a debit card that you swipe in the washers and driers. I MAY NOT BUY A HOUSE AFTER ALL. Ok, Ok. I could have cut $100 a month off the rent by taking a apartment facing away from the lake and having an outside entrance. Nope. I live alone in Cleveland and if you live in Cleveland you gotta have SOMETHING to look at. My furniture will be easy enough to arrange. Mainly because I don't have any. ANY. A-N-Y. Not one piece. So tomorrow I procure an air mattress and maybe a trash can. Might throw in a toilet brush if the price is right. I'm going to throw my shirts in one corner, my pants in another, underwear by the bathroom (of course) and suits in the closet. Which, by the way, is big enough for a microwave oven if you have a small one. I'll bring some real honest to goodness furniture when I come back from Thanksgiving in B-town.

Yes, I actually have showed up at the church every day this week. but my office is still bare walled and totally disorganized. I've been busy dealing with setting up life. Everybody has been great about allowing me the space and time to accomplish that. What I haven't been doing much of is sleeping. And that starts .... NOW!