Saturday night, my brother-in-law invited us over for dinner. He has just moved into a new place and wanted us to be his first guests. It’s a beautiful building—he’s on the 41st floor with incredible views.

He wanted to quickly walk his dog before we arrived. He entered the elevator with another resident also walking her dog.

The elevator started moving, suddenly stopped and then dropped six inches. Both of them grabbed the railings. Thankfully, aside from the brief jolt, they were unharmed. Unfortunately, the elevator was stuck.

They picked up the emergency phone, which connected them to a call center in India. The audio quality was terrible. After a frustrating conversation, they hung up and sat down to wait.

Neither of their cell phones had reception inside the elevator.

How long can you sit in an elevator with a dog who needs to pee before things go south?

Forty-five minutes later, they were freed. Instead of risking another elevator ride, they decided to take the stairs. What they didn’t realize was that the staircases in this building have one-way locking doors. Once inside the stairwell, the only way out is down—forty stories.

But, they had cell reception again. She called her husband, who came to meet them on their floor. Her dog, thrilled to see her husband, ran up and bumped into both him and the door—slamming it shut.

Now the three of them, plus two dogs, were trapped in the stairwell.

At this point, my brother-in-law’s dog couldn’t hold it any longer and peed in the stairwell.

They called several numbers before finally reaching someone who could come to the floor and carefully let them out.

Dinner was overcooked. We had a great time together.

And we are back in Seattle. 

Big AWS/Internet outage last night. I've been up since 2am quarterbacking our efforts. Our customers are not blaming us which is nice. 

Our friend and his husband have rejoined us in Pigeon Forge.

Our cabin is remote and up a mountain. Having said that, it's only 15 minute drive to Pigeon Forge. We get the best of both worlds, city entertainment with evenings the evenings in splendid nature. 

The trees are just starting to change to their fall colors. Maybe we arrived here a week to early... first world problems.

 

We are now in Pigeon Forge. It is gorgeous here. We are touring around on Sunday.

Nashville is a wonderful city. We’ve seen many, many, bridesmaids parties. One has to wonder the where abouts of the bachelor parties.

Hmmm. The editor seems to be inserting many AI selected links. I’m scrubbing them. Apologies if I can’t get rid of them completely.

The food in Nashville is fantastic. Not healthy, but delicious in that southern style. 

A little bit of travel drama. One of our party originally intended to travel with us for the full week even though his husband wouldn’t be able to join till Wednesday. He flew in Friday, but flew back Saturday morning, stating he was feeling great anxiety— his meds had recently been adjusted, perhaps that was it. He intends to join us again on Wednesday when his husband will also be here. I hope all goes well. 

Once a year, for the past few years, we've got together with some of my Husband's oldest friends. Last year it was at our home in Seattle. The year before that was Dallas. This year it's Tennessee. 

So we are in Nashville for a few days, then heading over to Pigeon Forge Tennessee..

A few of us can work remote and will do a little of that while we are hear, The rest of the time we intend to enjoy the mountains, Dollywood, the food and a little exploring.

Fall has set in. Temperatures are cooler, though nothing uncomfortable. I have switched from shorts and short-sleeved shirts, to jeans and long sleeved. We are debating when to turn on the heat in the house. Afternoon and evening temperatures are pleasant. It can be too cool in the morning. 

Allan has been falling off the wagon-- quietly, when no one is around. Most days, he is sober. His husband, Evan,  travels for work a few times a month. When Evan does so, Allan spends much of his time inebriated. Not much I can do here, other than take care of myself and encourage Evan and my Husband to do the same. 

The weather was wonderful over the weekend. Had dinner with the neighbors on Friday, old colleagues of my husband on Saturday and friends on Sunday. I'm ready for a bit of downtime.