September 30, 2004
Josh and I aren't feeling well. I've developed a wee bit of congestion along with that general feverish feeling. Josh, well he just feels like he feels when he is getting sick.
I just thought I would post in case I don't respond to any emails tomorrow.
The Rasterbator - "... a web service which creates huge rasterized pictures out of relatively small image files." (link via the CraftGrrl Live Journal community)
Now to go figure out why I can hear a helicopter hovering overhead.
As newborns are, very cute.
Born this morning at 2:32AM
7 lbs, 8oz. 21 inches.
Time for bed.
We have power in the powerless room. Let there be light! Oh the joy and excitement. Now to clean up in there and put the desk back in there along with everything else. There are two things I dread though. Skittles' litter box must be cleaned and her water fountain is nasty. Of course she hasn't been drinking out of it, but it's just dried up gross.
Right now we have to replace a light fixture and do quite a bit of cleaning up.
Watermelon Hat - Oh how I would love to knit that for someone, but I don't know anyone who needs a hat that would wear a watermelon hat.
Sister in law is home again. I guess it wasn't time. I think she's just paranoid/worried/first time mother.
My sister in law started having contractions. Two of her doctors told her to head to the hospital. She is there now, waiting. Once again we don't know what is going on, but we'll wait and see. I think her contractions were about two minutes apart.
I'm developing a migraine. I think it is stress related as I am getting it on the side of my head where I normally get stress related migraines. We did finish the roof and take all of the storm shutters down.
Tomorrow we were going to test a breaker and remove a couple of ceiling fans, but I will probably be running my mother's store until after the baby is born. I guess it is a good thing that the girls don't have school tomorrow. We'd have to rearrange everything to get the poor babies home from school. Tonight they are spending the night at their friends' house and will be confused to find me around tomorrow to take them home instead of their grandmother.
Gina, if you read this before hearing anything from your mother, don't say anything to her. I think my mom wants to be the one to tell her when it happens. You know how she is. She's been calling her every day to let her know the status. They're getting weirder every day.
Well, that is about it. I am way too tired to write anything else and I have to get up in a few hours to get ready. I REALLY need a vacation.
CNN's front page has a great photo of the lake near here. A larger photo is posted here.
While cleaning up the yard I have seen two folks with their cameras.
I think my mom's shop is closed, but I don't have the details. Time to get some more work done.
My hurricane weekend, by miftik.
Friday evening:
We watched the way the path kept changing and realized it would be a good idea to start putting the shutters in.
Around 6PM we started. Each window took about 15 minutes. Next time will be easier. We got quite a few up, but left some for Saturday so we could have a little bit of light in the house Saturday morning.
Saturday:
We woke up bright and early. Josh had some stuff to do at the field, so he left. The insurance adjuster for the car came and checked out the damage to our car. We'll find out their estimate in a week or two.
I cleaned up the house and did laundry while waiting for Josh. We built and installed the three remaining shutters in addition to installing the other shutters we held off doing Friday evening. We noticed many neighbors Friday night observing our shutter techniques. Saturday morning we found many neighbors putting up plywood or whatever they could find. There really wasn't a lot of time and many stores were closing early. I know two homes were happy they put up the boards. They each had large tree branches hit windows.
We were supposed to be attending AJ's birthday party at 2PM, but managed to arrive at 4PM. He enjoyed the scarf, clothes, and computer game. There was much Spider-Man and Hot Wheels to go around.
We got home before the increasing winds. I pulled in all of the trash cans and yard items. It was time to begin "hunkering down". The family arrived a few hours after sans one brother and his pregnant wife. She was worried she was going in to labor. False alarm, but it will be any day now. My brother and sister-in-law arrived before 10PM. We all just tried to go to sleep.
Sunday:
The wind started to pick up a lot and howl around 4:00AM. Skittles was going nuts and would not take her eyes off the window. I tried doping her up with catnip, but that managed to work for about an hour. I woke up off and on. I finally gave up around 6:30AM. I made myself some breakfast and checked out the radars. There was still a hurricane outside, good to know.
I started checking in on some online folks around 9:10AM. I went to make a comment that we obviously hadn't lost power. At the same time the newscaster on TV stated that many people should be losing power soon because the winds were hitting more populated areas. Lo and behold, guess what happened? We lost power. Jinx! Much cursing of the newscaster ensued.
Cards and Twister were played by some and others took naps. Naps were good. Fast forward to later in the day. Something told us to check the back of the house a little more thoroughly than was done earlier. That is when we discovered how bad the back patio/porch was.
Once winds were around 45 MPH Josh and I climbed on to the roof to cover the areas causing some leaks. Of course the wind decided to start gusting quite a bit. Josh almost fell off once, but thank goodness for good shoes.
One brother opted to head over to his house to see if there was power at their homes. Yes. There was a rush to pack and leave. Shalyn stayed behind.
We cleaned off the back patio. It had become one of the storage areas for anything yard related. It had to be cleaned off before anything important was destroyed.
Fast forward to 7:45PM. We were almost done cooking dinner on the camping stove when Shalyn yelled out excitedly that "we have power". A single light was flipped on and she noticed the light. Go Shalyn!
Now we are all tired and just ever so not-excited about cleaning up after this one. I don't plan to take any pictures of damage around the neighborhood. There aren't as many trees down, but there is a ton of roof damage, flooding, and structural problems. Charley took down most of the trees and Frances filled most of our lakes and ponds. I did take some video through one of the tiny windows not covered. It was really windy out there. I may post them later. Not tonight though.
That everyone, was my weekend. How was yours?
A few of the things I need to do in the next few days.
- Call an electrician to have breakers checked.
- Call many roofers to get estimate for new roof.
- Call someone, somewhere about rebuilding the back porch.
- Find a hurricane proof shed plan or builder.
- Hope and pray that some money comes in to pay for the effin deductibles on all of this crap. Two deductibles for two storms (at $500 + 2% of the value of the home) = SCREWED.
Excuse me while I check my worth at humanforsale.com. Hrm, $2.5 Million. You can make the check out to my husband. Hey, my birthday is in three weeks. I'm probably worth more while I'm still young.
Me tired. No power for 11.5 hours. Back patio interior roof destroyed. Very messy storm. Have video, may post later. Need sleep.
Winds right now are about 80 MPH, give or take. The forecast is calling for a 100% chance of rain. For once, they're right!
It is looking like Jeanne will probably end up going to Tampa. I hope everyone there is preparing. It will be less intense, but it will still suck none the less.
I have been up since bout 4AM. The wind started picking up something fierce and I could hear everyone else in the house waking up. "The patio doors were farting" is how AJ put it. The wind escapes through the door seals. Our bedroom is taking a direct hit from the wind, so Skittles woke up very early into the storm. Nothing like babying the cat trying to calm her down.
It was a good thing we put the shutters up. I've heard quite a few things banging into the windows. I have also heard quite a few shingles come off. Thank goodness we still have quite a bit of roll roofing and tar left. I know what Josh and I will be doing Monday. Today is pretty much a loss considering they are talking about the storm (rain and wind) being out of here until around 10PM tonight.
Shalyn and AJ are getting really restless. They can't really play too much because there are some people still sleeping.
I think one of the fans on my computer either died or is on the verge of dying. I woke up and came out here to find it hotter than Hades.
My sister in law came home last night before it got too bad. They apparently had a large number of women delivering. The deliveries were overflowing into the operating rooms. She's just supposed to keep track of everything and hope she doesn't give birth at the house during the storm!
Well, it's time for a nap. Maybe something else.
So tired. I started to try and make some comments at another site, but I am so out of it that I clicked the post button before I finished writing everything. I'm just out of it. I would go to sleep, but I know I'll just sit there and wonder whether the roof is going to blow or something.
Maybe I'll nap on the couch. My sister in law is in to a room at the hospital, but we don't know if they will be keeping her.
My sister in law may have the baby tonight/tomorrow. She is at the hospital now, but we don't know what is going on. Oh yeah, there's a hurricane coming.
I've got pictures, but I thought I would post this. I'll post more news for friends and family later if possible.
I'm taking a break. I've been going not stop for the past hour. I've cleaned up one room, emptied the dishwasher, loaded the dishwasher, started a load of laundry, and eaten breakfast.
Oh yeah, in case you hadn't read it the 50 other times, there's another effin hurricane heading this way. The past three projections put the eye over us, so we're preparing to "hunker down*" as best as possible.
I finished AJ's scarf yesterday morning. I'm not sure that I will get to finish the little wrist bands. I may just have to make red ones with no webbing. There just isn't time to do that and finish getting ready for the hurricane.
Gotta go, the car insurance guy should be here any second now. They're getting out of Dodge after checking over our car.
*Any reference to hunker down is in regards to those playing one of the numerous drinking games associated with hurricanes.
It is rather hard to photograph a pile of catnip when the cat has discovered just what it is you are photographing. I think Skittles is praying that my monitor is scratch and sniff.
I tried putting the spider webs on AJ's scarf, but every time I stitched another web thread, I disliked it. I really like the simple color blocking. Now I am torn. While it is cool, I'm not sure if he will care in a couple of months. I might be better off putting his initials on it. I think he would like that more. /sigh
We're trying to figure out what to do about Jeanne. We aren't sure whether the winds will be strong enough to warrant putting up the storm shutters. Tomorrow I will finish yard work early and we'll judge it by the 11AM update. There, that's it.
With that, I'm going to bed.
OK. That's it. I'm calling shenanigans. As of the 5PM update, It seems that Jeanne will be sitting on top of me around 2PM Sunday. Yeah, you know what I'll be doing.
I finished the knitting part of AJ's scarf, but I am not sure if I can motivate myself to work on the rest of it.
Aa' menle nauva calen ar' ta hwesta e' ale' quenle. Namaarie Ms. Dunn.
Jeanne will be following the east coast. What does that mean for us? More wind and rain from a flipping hurricane. Ayeeeee!
My sister in law's due date is a week from Saturday. I wonder if she'll go into labor early. This hurricane stuff is getting ridiculous.
Just whacked my wrist against the kitchen island. That was not a pleasurable experience. I caught Skittles using my cell phone. That was probably the funniest things I've seen in a while. She was just sitting there with it laying against her head. Bad kitty.
Off to make some chai and warm up. I don't know why, but I am freezing. I shall post pictures of the Spider-man scarf once it is given to AJ.
Forgive me for I have sinned. I missed Lost. I planned to watch it, but forgot. For some reason I was thinking it was on tomorrow.
I did confine myself to the couch to watch Law & Order and CSI:NY. Skittles quite enjoyed getting to sit on Josh's stomach and watch it. I swear that cat only plops down with us to watch those shows. She couldn't care less if we watched Mail Call or some silly movie. Weird cat. Now she keeps trying to sit on the keyboard so she can get fed.
I am near the end of the knitting portion of the Spiderman scarf. I had to stop due to my wrists killing me. This entry won't even be that long so that I can let them rest. Plenty to do tomorrow, so I am glad I got a lot done tonight while watching TV.
I am glad to know that Kryptonite is stepping up and taking care of the situation regarding their U-Locks vulnerability.
I am not happy to know that Ivan has reformed in the Gulf of Mexico and that Jeanne could very well hit us. Needless to say, I am leaving a plate of milk outside!!
Time for rest.
It's been months it seems since I last got a nosebleed, but I just got one. Weather? Stress? I have no clue.
I know I can't do it, but Wendy Knits! is helping Petfinder.org's Adopt A Senior Pet Month by getting folks to make her felted kitty bed. Those beds will be given to Petfinder.org and I believe they will then be given to those who adopt a senior pet during the month of November. She posted about it on her site, so check it out.
I really, really need to update my links section, but I keep thinking of other things that must be done. My un-linked folder is huge right now. Today I have barely gotten a chance to glance at my regular reads, much less read them thoroughly. I'm too tired now though. I just can't win.
Taking a brief break from knitting.
I'm sorry, but why is "The Former" Cat Stevens not allowed in the country?
I'm including the text of the article for future reference. The Former Cat Stevens Gets Plane Diverted
By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A plane bound for Washington from London was diverted to Maine on Tuesday after passenger Yusuf Islam - formerly known as pop singer Cat Stevens - showed up on a U.S. watch list, federal officials said.
United Airlines Flight 919 had already taken off from London en route to Dulles International Airport when the match was made between the passenger and the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.
The plane was met by federal agents at Maine's Bangor International Airport around 3 p.m., Melendez said.
Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the individual as Islam.
One official said Islam, 56, was identified by the Advanced Passenger Information System, which requires airlines to send passenger information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center. TSA was then contacted and requested that the plane land at the nearest airport, the official said.
"He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds," said Homeland Security spokesman Dennis Murphy. He said the man would be put on the first available flight out of the country Wednesday.
Islam, who was born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1960s and '70s, including "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken." Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his '70s hit "Peace Train," to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites).
He abandoned his music career in the late 1970s and changed his name after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law. He later became a teacher and an advocate for his religion, founding a Muslim school in London in 1983.
Islam recently condemned the school seizure by militants in Beslan, Russia, earlier this month that left more than 300 dead, nearly half of them children.
In a statement on his Web site, he wrote, "Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."
I've really procrastinated working on AJ's scarf. I don't know why. I did the same thing with Shalyn's scarf too, but managed to finish in time. I am using the same pattern for AJ's, but I am going to sew in a spider web on it (or at least try to). I think I am in a procrastination mood because Josh was in one all day today. It must have rubbed off on me. Bad idea.
Anyone want to buy a Wenger Tool Chest Plus? My dad has six (possibly more) of them he's thinking of putting on Ebay. No, they aren't from the hurricane. He keeps the stock of really good knives somewhere safe from any possible damage (aka not at the store) and only keeps displays at the store during bad weather. I think he doesn't want to carry Wengers anymore. The type of people that come into his shop now aren't into the types of knives Wenger makes. Such is the fickle tourist market.
Enough procrastination, time to work on that scarf.
Oh yeah baby. The cat has a wishlist! She'll shop later. Right now she's taking a nap.
Can you tell I am bored? I should really be working on AJ's Spiderman scarf, but I'm too tired to knit right now. I think I may just take a nap and then work on it. We did our errands and went out and got AJ a cute little outfit for his birthday. I saw something that I really wanted to get him, but they didn't have it in his size. It was a Batman pants, long sleeve shirt, and jacket set. It was extremely cute.
To those folks celebrating it today, Happy Mabon. I believe tomorrow is the actual equinox. My little equinox nephew will be turning four tomorrow as well. He is quite excited. He's been singing the ABC song to everyone that will listen. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to sing it to the cat yet.
Do you think Josh would get upset if I made him this sweater? I think Brittany would be mad that I didn't make her one!
So I was flipping channels this evening when I happened across Steve Harvey's Big Time. I saw three guys hanging around on stage and swore they looked familiar. I kept thinking that it couldn't be, but as soon as they broke out with Brass Monkey, I knew I was right. It was the Beastie Boys.
I was a little saddened to miss The WB's new show Jack and Bobby, but I will catch it next week. I'll remember to fix dinner before it comes on.
And with that, I'm off. Lots of things to tackle until Josh's injured finger is better. He's learning to type without using his index finger though. If he tried, the splint would probably press three keys at once.
Oedipus The Movie - The story of Oedipus told with vegetables. For a mythology geek such as I, this is too good! (link via BoingBoing)
Due to Josh injuring his finger at the field (gawd was it gross), we have halted production of the final three hurricane shutters. Instead, today I have cleaned the entire garage and organized one half of it. Seeing as all of the insurance adjusters have come and done their thing, we were finally able to move things where they needed to go. I also weeded the parsley garden. That was messy.
In about an hour or two we will take some things back to Home Depot. Specifically, a gigantic tarp that cost $100. We were afraid we might need it for Frances, but didn't. So we are taking it back so that someone who does need it, can use it.
Kris over at web-goddess made a really good post about finally deciding to get married. All I can say is, Amen!
I swore I would wear a black dress on my wedding day and I did! We were married by a Justice of the Peace on her property. She kept injured animals there. Our wedding attendees consisted of about 100 ducks, 5 geese, 2 dogs (which incidentally began howling when the JotP mentioned about speaking now or forever holding ones peace) and one mentally handicapped older gentleman.
A total of maybe four people knew beforehand that we were getting married. We just didn't want to do a wedding. It's not our kind of thing.
Anyhow. It just got me thinking and I felt like posting my eloping experience.
Well we ran over to my dad's shop to take care of a few things. BTW, he still has no telephone. The earliest anyone could get out there was October 4th. That was the first non-emergency appointment he could get.
As we prepared to walk out the door, the phone rang. My dad was calling from his cell to let us know the home insurance adjuster was on his way. Technically it was his dad coming see as our adjuster was resting comfortably down the road in the hospital. We thought he wasn't coming until this afternoon. We thought wrong.
We finished up at my dad's and decided to head to Staples to make some copies of the receipts we had. Josh's cell phone rang. The adjuster was at the house. So we just headed home instead of Staples and came home to find a truck in front of the house and an older gentleman on the roof. He was finishing up the roof inspection when we arrived and we brought him inside.
He spent about two hours at the house and most of that was just shootin the shit about life. He said that they will pay Josh and I for getting the roof done. Yeah for getting paid when we didn't expect it. They will also pay a certain amount to have the electric checked out/fixed in the one room without power. He said it could just be a breaker has gone bad. Let's hope it is. And last but not least, we need a new roof. Of course we all knew this.
The problem now is trying to figure out what kind. I'm growing more and more fond of the idea of a metal roof, but that is because it should last forever.
So no hurricane shutters were finished today. That's OK. My body really needed the break. We need to finish on Sunday though. Wednesday is Jeanne's landfall day. Did I mention that she is supposed to make a turn toward us? Yep, another damn hurricane. Where's the love? Cause it sure as hell isn't here.
In other news, the initial check from FEMA came. It's enough to cover the cost of the generator, oil, gas, and the microwave that died. Hey, somethings better than nothing!
I feel ill, but don't want to take a nap. I really just don't feel like doing anything. I hope I don't get sick. That would just plain suck. There is entirely too much to do.
Seeing as I am always in favor of getting people to vote:
The guys behind HotOrNot are giving away $100,000 to someone that registers to vote at their site. If someone referred you, they would win $100,000 as well.
(link spotted at A.WholeLottaNothing.org last week and back-burnered for too long).
Here is the little email they send to you, to have you forward to friends.
I just signed up for the VOTE or NOT Challenge. The challenge is to
raise awareness and get as many of our friends and family to
participate in the Election. The 2000 Election was decided by about
500 votes, so all our votes matter!! This year's election may be just
as close.It's cool because if you sign up for the challenge, you also get
entered into a sweepstakes to win $100,000, and if you refer the winner
to the challenge (like I'm doing right now), you get $100,000 too. In
other words, if you join and win, we BOTH get $100,000. (Yes this is
for real!) They're doing this to encourage us to spread the word fast,
because the voter registration deadline is coming up soon.Please sign up, when you join they will let me know so I'll know I
don't have to email you about this anymore. It takes less than a minute
to do, so sign up now for the challenge through my referral link:If you still need to register to vote, you can do it online at
http://VOTEorNOT.org/register.php
Now go on folks. I'll be reminding you throughout the next month and a half to vote.
Son of a sneeze. So some folks are starting to get their free ipods. Wah. I want a new ipod, go sign up people. Just kidding. I actually like my mp3 cd player that I have owned forever (read: two years). It still works beautifully, so Ipod-age isn't a necessity.
This is a first. Her royal highness has graced me with her presence on my lap. Strike that, she's gone to sit with Josh. I'm so unloved by the cat, unless it is dinner time.
Hopefully tomorrow we will finish with the hurricane shutters. We really need to finish filling out some forms for the SBA.
Wahhhh. Jo-Ann's still doesn't have the Bamboo set that I have been longing for. To top that off, they are having the sale for 50% off any one regular priced item online until the 22nd. Wahhhh.
This concludes my ridiculous whining moment. Now for more hurricane shutters.
Peekaboo Pole Dancing - The one video game every S.O. wishes their other half would start playing.
(Link found via Calhoun Link may not be safe for work for some.)
Things I have learned this past week:
- It is wise to not blow bubble gum bubbles as you are cutting wood with a miter saw. While fiber is an essential part of a balanced diet, that particular kind of fiber is not what they had in mind.
- Do not try to remember the names of the three songs you listened to over and over again as a child on a flight from Washington, D.C. to London. You will inevitably get those songs stuck in your head and remember that Joel Veitch did an animation to one of them that you will forever associate with said song. Then you shall giggle uncontrollably and everyone will think you are nuts.
- No matter how much you try to hide it, the cat will always find out that you have a bowl of ice cream.
Spread Firefox - They're trying to get 1,000,000 downloads in 10 days. I know I've converted a few folks. It's a good alternative to IE, give it a whirl. I especially enjoy the extensions.
My currently installed extensions:
FoxyTunes 0.61 - Control any media player from Firefox. This works really nice if you prefer to keep your media player minimized often.
Sage 1.2.2 -A lightweight RSS and ATOM feed aggregator. While the newest version of Firefox comes with Live Bookmarks, I find that I prefer using Sage. The main reason for this is that I can tell whether there are any new updates through Sage. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do that with Live Bookmarks.
Gmail Notifier 0.3.3 - A Gmail notifier that integrates into the browser's user interface.
Translate 0.5.5 - Translate web pages and/or selected text to English.
WeatherFox 0.2.8 - Get the current weather and forecast in FireFox.
Lots to do today, but I had to post this to remind myself to look at it in more detail later.
I found via the LJ DIY Tutorials community a great sculpting article. I think Brittany might enjoy reading it and trying out some of the techniques.
Edited to add:
Thanks go to Pamela for finding a gallery of the artist behind the sculptures.
Ivan's outer rain band just passed overhead. Yeah for him not hitting us head on. Boo, for him still having to make landfall somewhere. We're expecting more rain for the next few days. Hurricane shutter building will be done in between the bands of rain.
For those wondering, Lowe's has some really good instructions for making hurricane shutters.
Well, the rain has subsided enough to get a little bit of cutting done. Progress must be made. More progress than yesterday that is. One flippin shutter, sheesh. Part of me wants to just finish the little windows first to feel like we have accomplished more. Of course this is when the logical side of me says that if we get the big windows done first, the little ones should be a breeze. Catch-22 I guess.
More relevant post later. Oh Gawd.. Kittens on TV.. help
Jeez you all, why didn't anyone tell me that the links section was broken? I fixed it, for the most part. I am planning to massively update that section eventually. It will just take a really long time to do so. I have another huge database of my own personal links that I will take from.
We managed to make one hurricane shutter today. Yes, one. We are doing the largest windows first and well, it took forever to do. It looks cool though. In an industrial workshop kind of way. Of course, pictures have and will be taken. If we can get them all done, my parents' house should be pretty well set for future hurricane seasons.
I have sort of cleaned up my Amazon Wishlist (Can you tell I was bored?). It has been in need of some clean up. Things that were purchased, but not via Amazon were removed and things no longer available on Amazon were also removed. A few new things were added. One thing that I wish I could add is that full set of bamboo knitting needles that Jo-Ann's carries. They are sold out online and my little Jo-Ann's here doesn't carry them. There will be a larger store opening eventually, but I don't know if they will carry them there. /sigh
Before I forget, I found two nifty sites to remember.
ThrowPlace and Freecycle. They are places to donate/giveaway/whatever stuff you have, instead of dumping it in the trash. It looks a little young in concept, but it seems like a good idea.
I think I will head to sleep now. I was bonked in the head with a 2x4 earlier and it is still a little tender. It wasn't bad, but it was enough to make my eyes and head feel funny. I am not sure if it was a good thing or not that I didn't get bonked on the side I get my migraines. I was suffering one before the bonk. Oops.
To my FEMA Agent,
Get home and secure your home. It would seem that Ivan is going to give us a break. He is now projected to hit the panhandle. An agent for FEMA arrived yesterday (We'll probably hear from the insurance company now since FEMA will be calling them) and inspected the house. Yeah for generators being covered by FEMA! You know, I wouldn't mind working for FEMA, but they seem to contract out a lot. Oh well.
Good to know that the governor of California is busy signing laws that ban sex with dead people. If only he could do something for those pesky relevant problems plaguing society.
To the residents of Salt Lake City worried about the possible change to an aviation ordinance removing Santa Claus' special exemption:
If your kids are reading the ordinance or actually care about the ordinance, chances are that they don't believe in Santa!
And that has been the news. Time to go make some hurricane shutters for the parents. We're such good children.
Oh the humanity of it! My dad is sitting at his now reopened shop with his TV to watch football. Only now does he realize... he has no coax cable! His world is in a crisis. Who does he call? Super-Daughter. Fastest organizer in the universe, she knows where a coax is at.
So, uh, I am getting ready to take a coax cable up to my dad's shop before he has a meltdown over not being able to watch the Bucs/Redskins* game.
*If you are reading this before the game is completed, that link won't work. It is the future link of the game recap.
Megan strikes again. I am extremely tempted to knit Hallowig. Sadly, that is probably the only thing I'm truly interested in doing. Belle Star would be cute for Brittany, but I don't know if it would be worthwhile. Josh likes the Leo sweater, but I think he likes his Merino wool one I got him better.
And to follow up on this crafty goodness... I had a damn yarn related dream. There was a yarn pusher selling yarn out of their car. It was bad, just horribly bad (and funny).
Off to pay bills and search for stuff at Lowe's.
Headache - Still here.
Cat's Diary update - Done. (She's such a computer hog)
Cat grooming cuteness - In process in the chair next to me
Tomorrow's plan - Planned
Dinner - Done
Bills - Tomorrow, I'm too tired right now.
Hurricane update - Awaiting the latest path forecast from NOAA.
Sleep - As soon as I finish this and brush my teeth.
Tomorrow will be fairly busy and then the kids are spending the night too. I have to let them know that new shoe boxes were acquired for their shoe box doll houses that they have been building/designing. AJ built a car wash and then proceeded to tape up the windows with Scotch tape for Hurricane Frances. If he hadn't later informed my mom that you are not to open the window during a hurricane, I would say the car wash taping was the cutest thing ever.
"OK Nannie? Don't open the covers in the hurricane." He happened to be watching the news when the weatherman was answering a question he received about whether one should "crack the windows" during a hurricane.
Oh... and due to the fact that because of this afternoons storms, I could only get in the local pop station at my mother's shop (I was in such a rush I forgot the usual stash of cds)... I now have Car Wash stuck in my head. Apparently Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott reworked the classic disco hit "Car Wash" for the Shark Tale Soundtrack. It wasn't really a bad remake, I just wonder what the movie will be like.
Off to sleep with me...
Once again, I would like to do some more pimping for my friend(s).
Friday September 10th 2004
The Black Celebration
The Cruxshadows
at
The New Brookland Tavern
with Entreat (Columbia, SC)
Doors open @ 9pm
21+: $6.00
Under 21: $8.00
For directions and venue info check out:
http://www.newbrooklandtavern.com
Sunday Bloody Sunday - GW does U2, sort of. (link found... somewhere, I don't recall. Sorry.)
Mom is doing better, but still a little out of it. After leaving her shop, we went out on our quest for plywood. There was a huge line at Home Depot and they didn't really have what we wanted/needed. We went to Lowe's. Our way in drove us past the area where they were distributing plywood. It was then that our eyes filled with glee. </dramatic effect>
They had plywood. They had thick plywood. They had what we needed. They had... a line.
We were about 50th in line. We were a little worried that we wouldn't quite make the cut. The limit was five sheets per person. They weren't limiting the number of sheets per vehicle though like Home Depot did last time. Phew. We ended up waiting in line for just over an hour and got our ten sheets, five for me and five for Josh. Now we need some aluminum angle, tap-cons, bolts and other goodies. The angle we could have gotten at Lowe's, but considering it was storming, we didn't want to 1, have the moon roof open for water to come in and two, have large pieces of metal sticking out the top of our car during a thunderstorm. Tap-Cons are pretty much wiped out everywhere, so we may have to call in some family favors and have some overnighted. We have a few more days to see if we can find any here or maybe in Georgia. We are perfectly willing to drive up there and look for some if the need arises.
In other news, I've got a headache. It isn't a migraine, but I feel one of my migraine twinges coming on. I've slowly learned how to handle them and make them subside by balancing my diet and vitamins. I think the stress of these hurricanes lately though has thrown me off though.
Well, I should think about dinner. Toodles for the time.
OK everyone, break out your candles and light some for me. We've now got Ivan planning to smack us. Dude, why isn't the government taking care of these terrorists? Hurricanes strike terror, right? Do something about it. /end sarcasm
Considering there is no plywood to be found around here (we've checked everyday due to our need for it for a non-hurricane project), it's not like we could board up the rest of the windows. I'll just pack up our things and pray everything will be OK. Hurricanes suck, especially since the track will change completely, like it always seems to. /sigh
Today I have to go help my mom. She's at her shop and not feeling well, so I'm going to help her until she feels better. There is a lot that still needs to be done here at the house, but even over the phone she sounds miserable.
Happy belated birthday to my dear, dear, dear, Gary-sir. I've been bad and haven't emailed you. Forgive me, I am sorry.
Two and a half nights. That's how long my brothers' houses were without power.
We are pondering whether to take down all of the protective stuff on the house or not. If Ivan does come this way this weekend, I am not in the mood to put everything back up. We took down one of the barriers on one of the sliding glass doors, but that is it.
60% chance of rain today. We spotted a leak in the laundry room that we need to repair today but that will wait. First because if it is going to rain, we don't need to be on the roof and second, we are heading over the help my dad finish getting ready to open his store. Technically it is open, but it's not advertised open.
JAWS in 30 seconds with bunnies. You've got to love those crazy folks at Angry Alien.
Scout Walker Kama Sutra - Every so funny, but wrong.
I'm hoping that these designs for the 2008 Olympic Stadium aren't for real. B01 is kind of suggestive and the rest just remind me of something from early Star Trek episodes.
(links via milkandcookies.com)
I just made some sugar-free snickerdoodles and I have to say, they are mighty gross. Maybe it is the almond flour, but I know I don't like them. My pregnant sister-in-law likes them. At least someone does.
Josh and I watched Memento, backwards. Err, I mean forwards. Anyhow, it was fun and relaxing. Tomorrow we have to go more plywood (don't ask) if Lowes has it. I am not in the mood to attempt Home Depot. They have crazy systems going on there.
Ooh, it is almost curfew time. Everyone get in or the police are going to get you! Hope the Tampa peeps are surviving. They're flooding pretty bad. Then again they are barely above sea level and on the water.
I think we are getting the last of Frances right now. We're getting small gusts of wind. Not the normal ones, but rather substantial gusts. Maybe tomorrow I can get on the roof after Lowes and patch up any new spots. I am happy to report that our repairs held up beautifully. I wish I could say the same for our neighbors and their tarps.
I've hooked up my desktop again. The wind has lightened up quite a bit, so I gave in to my dark(geek)side.
You know what sucks? I have been so busy that I haven't been able to go and get Bjork's new album! I knew I should have just ordered it from Amazon. Of course it probably wouldn't have gotten here before they suspended mail. I will live with the mp3s for now.
Apparently quite a few people are without power and we just happen to be one of the lucky ones. It is just a reverse of the last time. My brother came over and he said that it is just a single pole that snapped that is causing their power to be out.
A man in a long yellow rain slicker went by. He could have been wearing shorts, but at the same time he looked like a flasher from the 80s sitcoms. Then again, didn't they always wear trench coats?
Oh yeah, before I forget...
Everyone, meet Ivan. He's our newest hurricane and already touting wind speeds of 125 mph. He's such a dashing young hurry-cane.
Once again I have more Gmail invites. If anyone needs a Gmail account, leave a comment or email me (me at this domain dot com).
I am really starting to get cabin fever. I miss being able to use my computer. I'm on the laptop, so things aren't that familiar. I think Josh is down for his second nap of the day. I am starting to think it is a good idea.
The title of this entry is a quote from Josh. The little "city" of Poinciana is being whacked by Frances and was also whacked by Charley. Poinciana is a planned community/city with one huge and scary homeowner's association.
We are getting what is left of the eye wall right now. We're right on the edge. We still have power here, but still none for my brothers. Their neighbor has a generator, so they had my brother hook their fridge up to it. If it isn't back on soon after the storm, I imagine they will come and borrow ours.
Most of what we have gotten is wind and a little rain. They are saying we should get the rain this afternoon/evening.
The kids have been keeping theirselves busy by making mini homes from shoe boxes. AJ made a garage, but had to tape up the windows for the hurricane. We were watching the news last night and AJ informed my mother "Don't open the covers." after the newscaster warned everyone not to open the windows to "stabilize the pressure" like we've heard people say you should do.
Well, I believe it is nap time. I am too bored to watch a movie. /sigh
Well, it is finally getting windy, not. It's been windy all night, but we haven't lost power. We've lost a few shingles and the neighbor lost a rather large branch. The eye is getting closer and the winds are getting stronger. Skittles would not sleep last night due to the wind and rain.
My brothers lost power around 3AM, but we are still ok. Obviously since I am using the computer.
I hope everyone else in the state is doing ok. It is still whipping around and covering the state. Well, everyone be safe. More updates if I can.
I think we are about to get a big old pimp slap. I just looked at the radar stuff and it's about 10 minutes away. I should follow Skittles and hide under the bed. I'd really like to just go ahead and go to sleep, but I know my body won't let me sleep. Signing off, probably for a while.
It has been seven hours since the first feeder ban came through and the main storm hasn't even made landfall. Ugh, it's going to be long.
We've had some more flickering of lights off and on, but seem to have been lucky so far. A few hours ago there were about 17,000 people without lights in the county north of us. My brothers are riding it out at their house, mainly for fear of the flooding.
I've pretty much given up on the forecasts. This storm has been so fickle that we you just don't know.
Skittles has been lazy sitting in the computer room. She's too cute today. That would make up for how bad she was last night. She insisted on waking us up and then hiding when we got near her.
One of our neighbors has lost his tarps. We were trying to see if there would be enough time to put up roll roofing and tar, but there isn't. We have extra and would put it up there for him, but it could just make it worse if we don't get it on in time. /sigh
I know our roof looks like a shingle puked, but I feel better having what we have up instead of tarps.
Well, I don't know whether I will be able to update again later or not. The winds are starting to increase so we don't know how long we will have power.
Ugh, they are saying we'll be getting about 18+ inches of rain from this thing. It seems as though each of the news stations have gotten some fancy new computers that do predictions. They are so new that they still have the trainers there helping through the newscasts.
We've got one machine still connected, so I am just giving an update.
We just had the second feeder band come by. We had a bit of poewr blinkage, but we're still up and runnning. According to the news, the storm is stuck. That isn't exactly the best thing as it is sitting over some nice energizing warm water. I have a feeling we will be pimp-slapped for a while.
Patience is being tested. Oi.
Apparently the storm is weakening. However, it can easily strengthen itself again, but right now I feel a little more optimistic. Once again my only concern is flooding. We're supposed to get a boatload of rain from the storm and with all of the rain we have been getting, it could be too much for the storm systems. I'm most worried about my storage too. The drain never seems to be completely drained and always high. If mine floods, I could lose a lot of furniture. /sigh Think positive.
If we lose power, I have decided I will do a little knitting and I will make a birthday list. Of course if storage floods, I'll be asking for money to replace the items lost.
Well, I'm signing off. We've got cleaning to do and storms to watch. I will post as soon as we have power and internet. Everyone be good while I am gone. I may have to send my minions out to deal with any evil-doers.
Damn stupid spammers are using my domain name for their spamming. Bastages. As if I didn't have enough to deal with right now. /sigh.
They are saying that it is possible that by the time the eye reaches us it will just be a tropical storm. We'll still get the hurricane winds before the eye comes though, so it isn't that much of a relief, but it is some. At least with the slow down of the storm, we've gotten another day to prepare. We're starting to get some breezes now, but nothing too shocking. We're going to start boarding up the important windows (those on the side with nothing to protect it from the wind) after we eat. We've been running errands all morning.
Mmmmm. Food.
It's Thursday evening and I am preparing for a hurricane tomorrow. Something seems familiar but I just can't put my finger on it.
Gawd I am tired. The yard is cleaned up. The roof is done. Stashes of water and food are stored away safely. Clothes and bedding are washed, the towels will be done tomorrow. We have enough generator fuel for about four days. The utility folks are saying to expect to be without power and possibly phone for a few days. I will call family members or post here as soon as we can.
Today, 60% of the sales at my mother's store was in flashlights. She said a lot of customers said they were heading out tonight. Good luck! The roads are so darned packed right now it is crazy. One news clip I saw had a woman saying that her normal two hour trip took six.
I'm going to bed now. Night folks.
This morning we went out early to get our tasks done. We went to Lowe's to get a couple of bow saws (for the debris) and some more roof tar. You just can't have enough roof tar. We got there and all went well. There were some huge lines in the lumber department. For a small second I thought they may just have plywood. Of course my hopes were easily destroyed when I discovered that they were actually selling fencing.
Yes, I said fencing. Not even good fencing. They had apparently gotten in a huge shipment of fencing last week and it wasn't selling. When all of the plywood was rerouted to the coastal cities, they decided to start selling fencing to people instead. Are they insane? The fencing is so crappy that one of the 2x4s from everyone's roofs will blow right through them. We're probably just going to board up a few side windows with the plywood that we have. There isn't enough time to get all of them done, nor enough plywood available. There are a few very exposed windows and we just happen to have neighbors there with plywood on their roof. Only one other neighbor actually worked on their roof and fixed it. Everyone else just left the tarps on.
So, after the little spree to Lowe's, we head next door to BJ's Wholesale club. Last night we went on a quest for propane. We finally went to BJ's where I paid for propane, but they ran out before they could give it to me.* They were supposed to get a shipment in before they closed, but they didn't. They said to come in the morning, they should have it then. Josh just dropped me off and went over to the BJ's gas station to get gas for the generator. I was probably about 15th in line and someone finally came out to let us know that the propane guy never showed up, so they didn't have any. We were welcome to wait, but they didn't know when he would arrive.
We waited and waited some more. Eventually so many people left that I was 5th in line. Works for me. Just under two hours later and as my line neighbor returned from taking her three year old in for a drink, the propane guy arrived. A few of the people in the back of the line cheered. I think I was too disgruntled to cheer. Either that or the sun had gotten to me. So I got my propane and now the boys can have steaks. Did I mention that was the original purpose of getting this propane? The guys wanted steaks last night. We actually have nine canisters of propane for the portable stove. /sigh
The cat is currently sunning on the printer. I'd move her, but this will probably be the last time she sees the sun for a few days. Hell, it will probably be the last time we all see the sun for a few days!
I quickly read a post made by Pamela and the second to last paragraph reminded me of something while I was mowing the yard.
Gord's position of being his own boss gives him the luxury of telling obnoxious customers just what he thinks of them. I'm sure many of us envy such freedom in being able to tell idiots we deal with that we think they're utter idiots.
I like being able to diss a customer, but I know I have to control myself. I do a lot of muttering under my breath when I am there.
Well, it's been fun, but now it is time to get back to work.
*I must add that the words, "Where's Hank Hill when you need him?" were muttered by myself.
When the hurricane and its aftermath is all done and over with, I have to remember to show AJ the Spider-Man Crayon Reviews. (link found via LJC) Anything Spider-man makes him happy. On the semi same note, the kids will be staying with us during the hurricane. I think we'll either hang out in the hallway or laundry room. The laundry room is bigger, but it is closer to the garage which doesn't make me all that happy.
OK, gotta go buy propane and regular gas for the generator. The boys wanted steaks on the grill last night and we went to get some, they ran out about seven people ahead of us. We prepaid, so we had better get our propane today.
This will be a fairly brief update. There is a ton going on right now. We are trying to finish the roof today. More than likely we will have to break for a while and then get back to work this evening. This crap is crazy.
I know I am constantly either complaining or whining here, but can you blame me? My stress level has been extremely high. The only thing that would be nice to have is plywood. That probably won't happen as there is massive shortage here. Ugh. Josh went to Lowes for some hammers and the parking lot was packed.
OK, back to the roof. I hate being on the roof.
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