Category: MusikHaus

General news about the doings of the Feiszli household

MusikHaus, Uncategorized

Here we go again? Nah…

Checking in as OK in Fort Myers with Hurricane Idalia.

OK, much PTSD here in southwest Florida as Idalia comes up the west coast where everyone is still recovering from Ian last September. Michelle and I are not exempt from these panicky feelings. Thankfully, the local TV stations have recognized this angst in the populace and done a remarkable job of 1) suspending normal broadcasting to replace it with 24-7 hurricane coverage, 2) gone to great lengths to explain what the National Hurricane Center means with their steady updates, and 3) assure the southwest Florida region that this storm is NOT our storm even while giving us steady warnings about what to expect.

 

 

We approached this storm as if it might be Ian. 1) Do we need prepare for high winds and heavy rain? 2) Do we need to evacuate? 3) Will we get flooded again?

It was a good exercise in emergency planning. I booked a pet-friendly hotel for two nights. We readied pet carriers and supplies – all three cats have medical issues including diabetes, thyroid medication, and special dietary needs, not to mention litter boxes, etc. Dogs are easier. “Are we going for a ride? Yey!!!” “Do I get to sleep in the same room as you? Yey!!!” “Do I get to go for walk and smell new things? Yey!!!” “Is there food? Yey!!!”

Then we monitored the storm and waited for the 11:00pm update on Monday night. When it became apparent that Idalia would remain west of us, we cancelled the hotel and began to prep the house.

 

 

 

So, today I cleared the lanai. All tall plants went against the house. Boat plug was pulled in preparation for tons of rain. Sprinkler system turned off for same reason. Boat lashed to boat lift. Boat lift lashed to dock pilings. Lanai furniture moved up against the house. Precious things moved indoors. I am running the washer and dryer constantly, so everything is clean in case the electricity goes out.

 

About 2:00pm the first waves of the storm hit. Grey skies, rain, wind. More worrisome is the possibility of tornadoes. As I write this, there are already reports of funnel clouds south of us in Marco Island.

The other worry is the storm surge, as always. This storm is not producing much surge, but it (naturally) comes on top of the August full moon, which brings the highest tides of the year. So tonight (Tuesday night-Wednesday morning) about 3:00-4:00am will bring the highest water. That is Michelle’s and my biggest fear. We are constantly assured by the newscasters that we have nothing to fear, but this photo shows the current status. Taken at 2:45pm, high tide is at 3:30.

So what happens at 4:00am Wednesday with both the highest tide and the highest storm surge? No sleeping tonight. All authorities tell us not to worry, but they aren’t watching the water creep up on our dock!

In other News

After Hurricane Ian, during Jennifer’s illness; Michelle had been a “show up when I can” employee at the Florida Civil Commitment Center. As a team leader, she was responsible for other clinicians and, in actuality, had been running TWO teams in the absence of an appointment for her original replacement.

Not surprisingly, she was somewhat apprehensive when she returned after six months of part-time (although totally understandable) work. “Are they going to still want me here?” “Do they consider me reliable?”

Evidently, they missed her.

Shortly upon returning, she was asked to consider becoming the Assistant Clinical Director – one of the top four administrators for the entire facility. She was previously in charge of four other clinicians. Now she is in charge of all clinical work in addition to several other areas of the facility. It is a huge step forward in her career and a great compliment to her work. Here is the announcement of her appointment:

Michelle Feiszli has accepted the role of Assistant Clinical Director. Ms. Feiszli has been a valued member of the Clinical Department and FCCC team since 2018, bringing with her years of relevant experience and clinical expertise. Throughout her time at FCCC, she has impressed in her roles as a clinical therapist across multiple treatment tracks, as a member of the assessment team, and in leadership roles with the Conventional and Corrective Thinking teams. Ms. Feiszli’s dedication to her work and our mission at FCCC are evident in all that she does and has earned her the respect of her supervisees, her peers, and administration.

On behalf of the Clinical Department, we are grateful for Ms. Feiszli’s passion for sound, competent, and ethical clinical practice. In addition to her years of accomplishments as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Ms. Feiszli was recently accepted into the National Association of Forensic Counselors and is quickly on her way to earning recognition as a Qualified Supervisors for Mental Health Counselors in the state of Florida. Her innate clinical and supervisory abilities, coupled with her drive to continue her studies of innovative research and clinical practice, are appreciated and respected by her supervisees and her peers, who often speak to the degree of support and confidence her clinical advice and guidance provide.

Please join me in extending appreciation for Ms. Feiszli’s commitment to our mission and congratulations on this deserved accomplishment. 

Michelle continues to amaze and achieve as she develops in her chosen career path. So proud of her.

And me? I plug along. During my recent annual evaluation I was graded as “exceeds expectations” in every category. Cool. I got to choose to take home a $100 bottle of wine (2016 Levendi Stagecoach) and a $100 bottle of spirits (25yr. Barrowman’s blended Scotch). 

I was recently asked to step in on short notice (24 hours!) and teach a course on Old World Wines at the Naples Total Wine store. We explored Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Portugal over four hours. I was able to throw in a lot of history and culture in the process. It was fun to be in front of a classroom again – especially one in which the students (wine-loving adults) were all eager to learn about the subject matter. Evidently I did OK, since the store manager told me to let him know my availability for future possibilities. Meanwhile the Port Charlotte spirits manager is also asking me if I want to do some classes up in Port Charlotte.  Bourbon, Scotch, Gin, etc.,

So, we muddle on, hoping to survive the 2023 hurricane season with no loss. We’re happy, healthy, and hopeful that our life here will continue to be blessed with good friends, good fortune, and good health. Hope everyone reading this is blessed with the same.

Lanai view
Choralis Constantinus, MusikHaus

gang aft agley

A month ago, Michelle and I were about to board a flight in Tampa to Zurich to celebrate my 70th birthday in Konstanz, Germany by attending a concert which featured some of my Heinrich Isaac editions; and attending some celebratory parties hosted by my friends in Konstanz.

We were to leave on Friday. We packed on Thursday, preparing to drop the dog off at boarding Friday morning and head to Tampa for the direct flight to Zurich.

That evening we received a phone call from a family friend, who also happened to be the doctor for whom Jennifer (Michelle’s sister who had been battling pancreatic cancer) had worked for over 25 years; and whose two daughters had also taken voice lessons from Michelle.

He informed us that Jennifer was unlikely to survive the weekend. This, despite the fact that Michelle had just been back to Rapid City the weekend prior and spent quality time with Jennifer – shopping, touring the Black Hills, laughing and enjoying time together. In the intervening few days, Jennifer became ill and (due to chemo, etc.) had succumbed quite quickly to this infection and was now in hospice.

We looked at each other and said, “Well, I guess our plans have to change.”

We quickly booked one-way tickets to Rapid City, South Dakota. One-way? Because we had no idea when we would be returning.

Gott sei Dank, we had the foresight to book fully refundable tickets to Zurich when we bought them. Swissair came through with no problems and refunded the entire amount, which gave us the funds needed for the Rapid City flight and then some.

We left from Fort Myers for Rapid City Friday morning and arrived there that afternoon.

Long story short, Jennifer was barely responsive when we got to see her. Michelle spent the next three nights by her bedside along with Jennifer’s daughter, mother, with me and her father spelling them for a few hours. She passed away in the early minutes of Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends. 

The next week was spent with funeral arrangements and family matters. The funeral was well-attended, and I was happy to see some people I had not seen in a long while. 

Jennifer

I returned to Fort Myers after the funeral, while Michelle remained in Rapid City to help her parents and niece and attend the burial at the Black Hills national cemetery. I needed to retrieve Loki from boarding and relieve our neighbor from having to feed and medicate our cat menagerie.

In Fort Myers, we are still trying to pick up the pieces from hurricane Ian last year. Said cat-sitting neighbor is still waiting to have his roof fully repaired. Other neighbors are still living in campers in their driveways. All of this: Jennifer’s passing, the remembrance of my own brother’s death – who would have been 74 on the 5th of July this year, and the acknowledgement of my own 70th birthday; have made Michelle and I more aware that, regardless of plans, life happens.

On the plus side, we wrote our last check for the restoration of the house. The last pocket door has been installed! Now I just need to go over the entire house and fix the sloppy work that was done by various contractors. The yard is slowly getting back to normal and there is still some repainting to do on the exterior of the house. But we are, by far, way ahead of most of the neighbors, some of whom are still waiting for new roofs or pool cages.

We have decided that it is impossible to recreate or restore the lost Konstanz trip. I will never again turn 70. That concert will never again take place. Yes, as someone said to me “Germany will always be there.” but that moment and experience cannot take place again.

Instead, we have decided to focus on the here and now. We moved to Florida to enjoy the sun, the warmth, and to be together. We have not experienced that fully due to a variety of reasons. There is a great joy in being here in this oasis that we have worked so hard to create. The title photo above was taken today as I wrote these words.

We have learned a great deal in the last year. Some of those lessons include:

  • In crisis, listen to others, but trust your gut and make the decisions you feel are best for you. 
  • When something needs to be done, “There’s a YouTube video for that!” 
  • Do what you want to do now, don’t put it off. Don’t be stupid about money, but don’t deprive yourself either. 
  • Live life!

BTW, if you’re wondering what the title of this blog is about, I am again reminded of my dear departed sister-in-law, who left us with this memorable quote:

Google that shit.

MusikHaus

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

It’s been five months since my last post. Michelle and I have spent the intervening time – in addition to the seemingly endless task of putting our property back together – in a serious evaluation of our priorities and life choices. Several factors have been at the forefront of these deliberations:

 

Hurricane Ian made an indelible impact on the way we think about our lives. We are still recovering from the destruction and changes forced upon us by this natural disaster. We are aware that nothing is certain, and that life is short.

We lost an immense amount of money from the hurricane – having to pay an exorbitant tax bill because of our withdrawals from retirement (thanks, congress, for doing NOTHING to help victims out, unlike other natural disasters in the past like Irma, etc.). Despite that, we are not destitute and have made some conscious decisions to change how we live our lives. 

 

 

Michelle’s younger sister Jennifer is fighting stage four cancer. Jennifer has been a primary element in our introspection. Her refusal to submit to despair and her courage to live her life has inspired both of us. Jennifer and her daughter Elizabeth came to visit us in early March. Despite her illness, she is determined to live her best life. We spent five days visiting Busch Gardens, swimming with manatees, playing in the Atlantic Ocean, visiting the devastation on Fort Myers Beach, and eating some great meals. We are fortunate to have such a great role model – even though she is younger than both of us.

I turn seventy years old in seventeen days. Paul Simon’s Old Friends line “How terribly strange to be seventy” keeps running through my head. The clock is ticking.

Michelle’s job, while personally very satisfying to her, has proven to be (much like my SDSMT position was) two jobs for the price of one and she has worked to the point of burnout. I recognize the symptoms, thanks to my own experience.

We have not, as we envisioned when we created this resort home, taken advantage of living here. The boat sits on the lift unused. The pool and spa do not see human visitors. The many beaches, historic sites, and fantastic restaurants are not visited on a regular basis in our convertible. We have become conscious that there will not always be a tomorrow. 

So, we have resolved make some major changes in how we approach living. From this point, we will do whatever is possible to make each day special.

Revel in the sunsets, sunrises, and beautiful weather.
Flora and fauna always amaze. Lizards, egrets, manatees, dolphins, and even alligators and feral hogs are always cool to see. The Seussian plants are amazing as well.

We have the means to do what we wish. Rather than being fearful of the future, we are going to spend money on important things.

On June 9th, we leave for Konstanz, Germany (meine zweite Heimat) to celebrate my seventieth birthday – twenty years after doing the same thing for my fiftieth birthday. Markus Utz and his ensemble cantissimo are presenting a concert on my birthday with some of the Heinrich Isaac editions that I created for them: über Grenzen… – ensemble cantissimo (ensemble-cantissimo.ch). I had expressed my desire to Michelle about visiting Konstanz again before much more time passed and when we learned about über Grenzen, Michelle said, “We have to go.” I responded that we could not afford it. She came right back at me and said, “What’s it worth”? Long story short, we’re going. Yeah, refundable tickets because of Jennifer’s situation, dog boarding, cat sitting, blah, blah, blah. We’re doing it anyway. No more putting off because of “what if …?”  The best part? We can fly non-stop from Tampa to Zurich (love living here).

Shortly after that decision (less than five days later), Michelle left for Rapid City to visit her sister. Well, United Airlines screwed up the flights and she ended up back in Fort Myers after spending two days in Houston trying to get to Rapid City to see Jennifer. She flew home extremely upset. I made her a vodka tonic, and we went into the pool to float. I asked, “How important is it to see your sister?”. She realized that we were having the same discussion about Rapid City that we’d had about Konstanz earlier. So, out of the pool we went, booked a new flight to Rapid, and she left the next day for four nights.

Michelle has decided to step away from her position as a team leader at the Florida Civil Commitment Center. She needs down time rather than going from one tense situation to another. She is sad about leaving her position, but has realized that for the time being, this is what must happen. She will continue to work at FCCC part-time to facilitate two groups, so she will not give up all of it. She needs time to visit Rapid City whenever needed and is going again to Rapid City 1-5 June to see Jennifer. She has many opportunities to work in telehealth and can be licensed in states other than Florida and still work from home.

The last piece to getting our home back to normal was restoring my walk in shower and the tile surrounding Michelle’s freestanding tub. The original contractor had proven to be less than reliable or meticulous, so we went out to find a tile specialist. Best decision. BUT, as he assessed the job, he informed us that the shower had not been done well originally and so we decided to rip the whole thing out and start over. What the hell, just another dollar sign. But the results are amazing.

Pentatonix is coming to Tampa in August. We’re going. Bought the tickets. Next door neighbor is the general manager of the Marriot hotel downtown here in Fort Myers. He got us cheap(er) rooms at the Marriot Riverwalk in Tampa for two nights. No more putting things off. We’re going to live and love our lives here.

Best thing about all this is that we have neighbors who will take care of cats and house, and security cameras that record anything outside and inside.

In summary:

  • We love Florida, cannot envision living elsewhere. The current political issues unsettle us, but we hope the pendulum will change soon.
  • The insurance money has all arrived. The settlements are fair. We lost a huge amount of money on the camper and pickup and our retirement funds have suffered because of it. We have sold the boat. OK, I know…. But we have enjoyed it for five years and the current situation is that we don’t use it. Why not let someone else enjoy it?
  • My part-time job has little impact on our real life, but I am having fun at it. They seem to think that I am a good part of their team. It’s nice to be appreciated.

We are working to get back to who we are and why we came here. Stay tuned. As always, we are here if you wish to contact us. We welcome your calls, emails, and visits.

MusikHaus, Total Wine, Uncategorized

Two steps forward, one step back

Happy New Year! And hoping that that this year will be MUCH better than 2022. So far, it has been two steps forward, one step back. Our journey to normalcy continues. At this writing, new countertops are installed, and we have sinks, appliances, and laundry facilities again. Imagine that – the luxury of sleeping, cooking, and doing laundry at home!

Hurricane Ian made landfall on September 28 as a Category 4 hurricane on Cayo Costa Island – exactly 30 miles due west of our home. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit Florida since 1935, causing 146 fatalities and damage estimated to be over $50 billion, much of it from a 10–16 ft. storm surge. Said surge was mostly south of where Ian made landfall – directly up the Caloosahatchee River, where we live. Perfectly situated for this storm, Lee County experienced damage to 52,514 buildings. The Sanibel Island causeway collapsed, cutting off vehicle access to Sanibel. The Matlacha Bridge, connecting Pine Island to the mainland, was washed out. Throughout Lee County strong winds resulted in a widespread downing of electrical poles, trees and tree limbs, road signs, and traffic signals. Cell service, electrical service, and water service were all destroyed. Falling debris blocked many roadways.

After re-emerging from our attic refuge, Michelle and I had 1) no electricity, 2) a boil water notice, 3) no cell service, and 4) no internet service. I thought it might be enlightening to show a timeline with photos of the entire IAN experience.

 

September 28, 2022

Ian moved onto shore, well away from our location miles up the river, the rainfall and winds began to make an impact. This view from our lanai is of the neighbor’s fence being blown down.

 

The rain was unrelenting as was the wind, but nothing overtly frightening was happening yet.

 

In a matter of minutes. Ian pushed a wall of water up the river condensing it into an increasingly tall wave as the river narrowed upstream where we live in a community of canals just off the river channel (home is the blue dot). Our entire area became one big lake. The water soon breached our lanai and we went into emergency mode, putting everything possible up to higher ground.

 

When the water began to come through the wall in our master bathroom from the garage, we knew that we had serious problems. The wind and rain were bad enough but the rising water was making it impossible to remain in the house. So, Michelle improvised a plan to move everyone (including three cats and a huge Doberman up into the attic. Such an action has dangers as well, because if the water reaches that level, then there is nowhere to go. And, of course, if the roof blows off, you’re also dead. But we did it anyway. Next time (assuming there is one), we evacuate. We spent a tense night there, listening to the wind howl, rain pound, and hearing reports on the emergency radio

September 29-30, 2022

The water began to drop at about 4:00am, having risen to about 27 inches inside the garage – enough to total the electrical systems of both the Miata and Mini and destroy tools, supplies, generator, and many other essentials.

Outside the garage door it had gotten even higher, about 40 inches – enough to total our Ford Fusion and dent the garage door by the force of the water against it

 

 

Inside the house the water level was lower, but even one inch is enough to ruin drywall. We emerged into a home filled with mucky residue and most all furnishings were ruined. Looking at some of these photos, the water level line is visible on the wall.

Drywall was soaked, appliances were toast, pool was muddy, pool pump was dead, and some pool cage screens were torn off. We were lucky. Many neighbors lost their entire pool cages – their estimated replacement date is sometime around July 2023…..

Our lanai pavers had been lifted off their base by the hurricane winds pushing against the pool screen.

Compared to others, we had very little roof damage. Our solar panels sailed through the storm magnificently. A few shingles that were not covered by the solar panels lifted but did come off. The amount of water flooding against the front of the house stripped stucco off the house, pushed a hedge apart, blew over a hibiscus, four lime trees, and three other trees. Our boat – which I had lashed to the lift and then the lift to the pilings – never moved, unlike most of our neighbors’ boats which ended up in yards, on shore, and in one spectacular instance, washed down the street taking out many mailboxes and shrubs along the way.

October 1-15 – Clean-up and Recovery

Everyone was in shock. But no one could remain there long because things had to happen if we were to recover. We had to quickly decide what was salvageable and what had to go. Almost everything had been swamped by river/sewer water and had to be thrown out. The pool was flooded with that same water, and our walls were now infested as well.

Luckily, we have excellent resources/contacts. Our pool screen guy had our screen repaired within one day. A day later, the pool had been drained, acid washed, and re-filled. A few days later we had a new pool pump installed.

Our original realtor [shout-out to Stacey Bohannen] was invaluable in connecting us with QSP Build to begin our demolition and reconstruction. Demo and bio-wash were costly and terrible to watch. We saw our home stripped down to bones, dried out, and rebuilt.

The demo pile outside the house kept getting bigger and bigger (killing the lawn in the process). Even through that, some of us managed to keep our sense of humor.

Meanwhile we bought a camper and Ford F-150 pickup truck through Michelle’s relatives in South Dakota and paid for them to drive it down to Florida so we had a place to sleep and a vehicle to drive while we dealt with the reconstruction. Kudos to Michelle’s parents, uncle, and brother-in-law, who sacrificed their time and energy to help us with this.

Of course, we screwed ourselves in the process. FEMA provides housing to those who need it. We withdrew funds from retirement to pay for the camper, pickup, expenses for relatives here and back, and additional supplies. FEMA evidently considers that if we have the resources to do that, we do not need assistance. Meanwhile, neighbors all around us held out and received as much as $45,000 in FEMA housing assistance <sigh>. So much for being pro-active. Anyway, now that we’re back in the house, we’re recouping some of our losses by selling the truck and placing the camper on a consignment lot. It was a strange, sad feeling to move forward with these sales. The truck and camper were our safety and security after losing so much. We’re thankful to have had them.

November 2022/now – Recovery

We had to rebuild. It wasn’t an option. As with every challenge Michelle and I have faced, we met it head on and decided to upgrade what we could within the parameters of what the insurance would cover. We would have liked to pull up all the tile floors and replace them. The adjustor, who was forthright and open, told us that the insurance company would not pay for that, nor would they pay for replacing granite countertops – unless they were broken during the demolition, which some were.

There were always things about our kitchen we did not like. Michelle’s creativity came to the fore. She designed a kitchen that works far better than what we had. Where a microwave was hung over the cooktop, now there is a hood that vents to the outside (no more setting off fire alarms!), a microwave drawer (really expensive), and beautiful, sleek countertops and cabinetry. The countertop is far more user-friendly and the overall look is very modern European. Below see the former and current versions.

We celebrated Christmas Eve by moving back into the house – with one working sink, one working toilet, no kitchen appliances, and no living room furniture. The weather was really cold during this time – 40 degrees! – so we were glad we were out of the camper and back in the house.

As of this writing:

  • Our kitchen is complete and functional.
  • Michelle’s tub in the master bathroom is useable but my walk-in shower needs to be re-grouted and broken tile needs to be repaired.
  • We still have no interior doors. We have baseboards but no doors or doorframes. There will be much touching up to make this place OK.
  • We await final flood insurance payments currently in the hands of the mortgage company, which has been dragging its feet to release the funds. After getting feisty with them yesterday on the phone, I believe I may have resolved the Gordian knot of paperwork.
  • We’ve sold the truck and are selling the boat and camper to offset the retirement losses.
  • There are many items that still need to be fixed but we await the insurance settlement to address those: exterior stucco sealing/painting, landscape repair (resodding, replanting), garage repairs (door, cabinetry, storage).

One reads about disaster areas taking years to recover. That is reality. The sound of circular saws and hammers is prevalent throughout our neighborhood every day. We had our last piles of rubbish on the sides of the street picked up on January 31st). And our neighborhood is hardly the worst in Fort Myers.

Items unrelated to Hurricane IAN

In the first week of January, Michelle and I took leaves of absence from work so that we could move back into the house. It was a great opportunity to reorganize and regroup. Except that I began to feel unwell about two days into that week. After two days of feeling poorly, I took a Covid test. Positive. That triggered a ten-day leave of absence from work. Of course, by the time I took the test, I had begun feeling better. Doesn’t matter. Rules are rules. Meanwhile Michelle and I were selling things from the house that we no longer needed – range/oven, microwave, utility sink. In the process of getting the range into a buyer’s pickup, I fractured my left middle finger. I left it for a week hoping it would get better, but finally had it x-rayed. Yep. Broke the upper joint. Sheesh. So, Covid and now this. Splint it and go back to work.

I spent the enforced Covid time off studying for the Total Wine Spirits Professional exam. 😊 On January 17th, I took the TSP exam and passed. I have now achieved the highest level possible in both wine and spirits in the store. There is only one other person who has done that in southwest Florida and he, the store wine manager, remains my mentor. None of the spirits team – manager, supervisor, team members – have passed this exam. So, the store had to order me new shirts with the new logo. I am quick to state that although I know spirits, I cannot find that stuff on the shelf or talk about it like the spirits guys can. So, there is that.

One of the first friends I made in college at Mount Union was Robert Colaner. Bob has had a successful career by any set of standards. He worked for years in parochial schools and became quite adept at arranging well-known choral pieces for the changing male voice. He came to Fort Myers for a week on vacation and reached out to me so that we could spend a few hours together. We had lunch at a restaurant on the river catching up on old times.

So glad we did.

In summary:

  • We still love Florida, cannot envision living elsewhere, but are feeling rather unsettled and probably will for another few months.
  • We’re making it work until the insurance money shows up or we get all our vehicles sold.
  • Michelle is amazing and excels at her job but is overworked and exhausted much of the time – supervising ten masters-level clinicians and responsible for over 400 adult male formerly-incarcerated residents. She is working to balance her work and life, especially since this hurricane made us realize what is really important to us.
  • I am good at a part-time job which has little impact on our real life, but am having fun at it.

We are working to get back to who we are and why we came here. Stay tuned. As always, we are here if you wish to contact us. We welcome your calls, emails, and visits.