damage

Share Your World — 02/05/2024

Fandango11 Comments
Share Your World

Di, at Pensitivity101, is our host for Share Your World each week. Here are her questions for this week.

1. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “cuddly”?

2. Would you like to own an exotic pet? If so, what?

I used to have a pet snake that I would feed live mice to. Is that exotic? I think I prefer domesticated pets like dogs and cats. You know, pets that will cuddle with you. Snakes don’t do that.

3. If you were suddenly gifted £1000/$1000, what would you do with it?

I’d pay my gas and electric bill for the month of January. That should just about cover it.

4. Do you wear slippers at home?

I used to wear slippers before I broke my hip and needed a walker (and now a cane) to get around. Now I just wear white sweat socks inside. That way, it’s quick and easy to put on my step-in (no-bend) sneakers when I want to go outside.

Gratitude

Yesterday we were hit by an “atmospheric river” coming off of the Pacific that brought pounding rains and gale-force winds. I’m grateful that the damage from the day-long deluge at my house was minimal. Two potted trees were blown off our deck, a canvas sunshade that was on our wooden swing/play set that our grandkids use when they come over was torn apart by the wind, and a lot of tree and plant debris fell into our waterfall. Otherwise, nothing serious.

Simply 6 Minutes — Bad Decision

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Victor was a stubborn old coot. He was also a very frugal, stubborn old coot. So when the fella knocked at his door to talk with him about getting a seismic retrofit for his turn of the century Victorian home, Victor slammed the door shut in the fella’s face.

But the fella was persistent, shouting through the thick wooden door, “Mr. Wilkinson, your neighbors on both sides of you have agreed to seismic retrofits on their homes. In the event of a significant earthquake, their homes are likely to stand, but without one, yours will collapse. You really should consider it.”

Victor slowly opened his door. “So you conned my gullible neighbors, did you?” he said. “What did you sell those suckers?

Beaming, the salesman said, “We provide a “brace and bolt” retrofit that strengthens homes built before 1980 and that have what’s known as a raised foundation, as yours does. This seismic retrofit involves bolting, or, if necessary, bolting and bracing, the house to its foundation in compliance with existing state building codes.

“And how much does the brace and bolt retrofit cost?” Victor asked the fella.

“We’d have get our engineers out here to confirm things, of course, but if your place is anything like your neighbors’ homes on either side, and I assume it is, I’d say around three grand.”

At that point, Victor stepped back and slammed the door in the fella’s face.

Six months later, a devastating magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area. Afterwards, Victor stood in the street in front of his home to see the extent of the damage. Suddenly he heard the somewhat familiar voice of a man standing next to him. “I hate to say I told you so, Mr. Wilkinson, but you should have spent the three grand on the retrofit,” the fella said.

Written for Christine Bialczak’s Simply 6 Minutes Challenge. Image credit: Underwood Archives/Shutterstock.

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — April 28th

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Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Flashback Friday post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (28th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on April 28, 2018.

MLMM Opposing Forces

2CBF6702-37DD-4529-B36D-FB40F1762873

“So do you live nearby?” she asked me.

She was stunning and I couldn’t believe it when she sat down at my table at the Starbucks and starting talking to me. “Yes, just a few blocks from here,” I answered.

“Oh, so you live in the city center,” she said.

“Yes. What about you?” I asked.

“Actually, I live in the suburbs,” she answered.

“And what brings you into the city?” I asked.

“Do you remember that downpour a few days ago?” she asked. “Well, the roof at my apartment leaked and the workers are out there today to assess the damage.”

“That’s a bummer,” I said.

“Indeed,” she responded. “My landlord is supposed to call me to let me know when they can begin to repair the roof.”

Her phone rang. “It’s my landlord,” she said to me. Then into her phone, “Hello? Yes. Tomorrow? Three days? Okay. Thank you.”

She looked back over at me. “Well, I guess I’ll have to find an Airbnb to stay at for the next three or four days.”

“You can stay at my place here in the city,” I said.

“Are you serious?” she asked, a look of astonishment on her face.”

I was sure she thought I was crazy. “Look, I know we just met, but you’re a damsel in distress and I’d love to be your knight in shining armor. My place has two bedrooms and I promise I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

A beautiful smile graced her face. “Not too perfect, I hope,” she said. She stuck out her hand. “My name is Guinevere.”

“Nice to meet you, Guinevere,” I said. “My name is Arthur. But my friends call me King.”

Written for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie’s Saturday Mix Opposing Forces prompt. The words are “suburbs” and “city center,” and “repair” and “damage.”

Friday Fictioneers — Another Direct Hit

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“This is like a bad dream,” Max said as he surveyed the damage, “a goddam recurring dream.”

“More like a recurring nightmare,” Peg said. “This is the third time just this season.”

“Yes, and the season isn’t even over yet,” Max said.“Honestly, Peg, I think we need to consider selling the place. It’s not worth the aggravation.”

“Well, I’m the one who convinced you to move to Florida,” Peg said, “but I think you’re right.”

“I knew going in that Florida is prone to hurricanes,” Max said, “but I didn’t think they’d always take a direct hit on our house.”

(100 words)

Written for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers prompt. Photo credit: Dale Rogerson.

FOWC with Fandango — Damage

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FOWCWelcome to December 4, 2019 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “damage.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.

Friday Fictioneers — Broken Glass

Fandango14 Comments

0c69accd-7a1d-41a5-a75f-c263834bcc78I was just about to go to the glass shop to get an estimate to replace the glass in the door when my wife stopped me.

“No, I don’t want you to fix it,” she said. “Leave the tape on the glass.”

“Why would you want to leave it that way?” I asked. “It looks terrible.”

“I want you to leave it that way,” she said, “so you will be reminded every time you enter our house the damage you do when you come home drunk. This time it was the glass you broke. Last time it was my nose.”

(100 words)

Written for the Friday Fictioneers prompt from Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Photo credit: Dale Rogerson.

In Other Words — The Blue Wave

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46C78B12-BBAB-45D0-A617-3D88E564EF9AIn the two years since Trump was elected, a lot of damage has been done.

The President, his Cabinet, and the Republicans in Congress (and Vladimir Putin) have been fiddling while our nation is burning.

Like me, many voters are fed up and angry, and in less than three months Americans will go to the polls.

We will be sending an important message.

A big blue wave is coming.

2E64CDA9-9659-4EFF-AA52-38290AED6E9FThis post is written for the “In Other Words” prompt from Patricia’s Place. Today’s word is “wave,” and the rules are to write a story or poem of five lines or less using the word “wave.”

This is the first time I’ve participated in Patricia’s In Other Words challenge, but when I saw what the word was, I couldn’t stop myself.

MLMM Opposing Forces

Fandango13 Comments

2CBF6702-37DD-4529-B36D-FB40F1762873“So do you live nearby?” she asked me.

She was stunning and I couldn’t believe when she sat down at my table at the Starbucks and starting talking to me. “Yes, just a few blocks from here,” I answered.

“Oh, so you live in the city center,” she said.

“Yes. What about you?” I asked.

“Actually, I live in the suburbs,” she answered.

“And what brings you into the city?” I asked.

“Do you remember that downpour a few days ago?” she asked. “Well, the roof at my apartment leaked and the workers are out there today to assess the damage.”

“That’s a bummer,” I said.

“Indeed,” she responded. “My landlord is supposed to call me to let me know when they can begin to repair the roof.”

Her phone rang. “It’s my landlord,” she said to me. Then into her phone, “Hello? Yes. Tomorrow? Three days? Okay. Thank you.”

She looked back over at me. “Well, I guess I’ll have to find an Airbnb to stay at for the next three or four days.”

“You can stay at my place here in the city,” I said.

“Are you serious?” she asked, a look of astonishment on her face.”

I was sure she thought I was crazy. “Look, I know we just met, but you’re a damsel in distress and I’d love to be your knight in shining armor. My place has two bedrooms and I promise I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

A beautiful smile graced her face. “Not too perfect, I hope,” she said. She stuck out her hand. “My name is Guinevere.”

“Nice to meet you, Guinevere,” I said. “My name is Arthur. But my friends call me King.”

Written for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie’s Saturday Mix Opposing Forces prompt. The words are “suburbs” and “city center,” and “repair” and “damage.”