Frances’ Ripples
Frances may be a mere tropical depression now, causing rain and tornado warnings in the local area, but, surprisingly, hurricane Frances had wider impacts on my life.
- My grandmother is auctioning off the rest of her farm land and the farm house in October. Grandpa died last year, and she just can’t take care of the farm by herself, even without the animals and crops. After a difficult search, she found what seemed to be the perfect condo in Red Wing, MN, not far from her sister’s place. To manage the purchase, she needed to get a “bridge loan” from her bank to close on the condo a month or two before the house is sold. So, for the past several weeks, she’s been fighting the surveyor and inspector to get to the house so she could arrange the loan.
Long story shorter, she was supposed to close on Tuesday this week, but got a call from the seller’s lawyer saying that they aren’t closing. The house they are supposed to move to is in Florida between West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach — right where Frances did a lot of damage. The seller’s went into a panic. They couldn’t find out the status of their house, and the husband needs to stay in a place with filtered air because of his health. Nevermind that Gram had already told them that they could stay until at least the end of September, and probably the end of October if they needed it.
Now, I’m not heartless. I understand that this is stressful for the sellers. But, dammit, they’re screwing with my Grandmother. She needs a place to live, and finally found something in Red Wing that was not only affordable, but well-built and a good fit for her lifestyle. Now they’re trying to back out. Oh, and the best part is that my parents, who have been helping Grandma with this all, are leaving tomorrow for the wedding. Ugh. Things will work out, and hopefully the sellers will come out of their panic with clearer heads…
- Kennedy Space Center was hit pretty hard by Frances. The damage is certainly not as bad as it could have been, especially if Frances had remained Class 4 or 3, but this pushes the Swift launch by at least two weeks. Now with Ivan on it’s way to Florida, the launch may get pushed back even further. Just our luck, it will coincede with the Minnesota reception November 6…