Monday miscellany - 10Oct16

Well. Last week I said I expected a rather interesting week, and to say it was would be an understatement. By early Wednesday, it was looking like Hurricane Matthew would make a direct strike on our area as a Category 4, which is stronger than anything we've weathered in this house. We do have a relatively new roof, and hurricane shutters, which we didn't when Frances and Jeanne came through in 2004, but a cat4 was still a bit concerning. Still, we stayed in place and prepared as best we could, and waited for it to pass through.

There's a certain surreality with an approaching tropical storm, especially a powerful one. The associated low pressures play havoc with the body and the brain - headaches, muscle aches, lethargy. And just the sense of impending doom, the worry, the stress, the cabin fever as one either evacuates with one's family in a metal box to a hotel room, or shelters in place behind aluminum or plywood. The obsessive stalking of the weather websites or TV (Wunderground is my go-to, with cross-references to National Hurricane Center).

I went to sleep around 11pm Thursday night, expecting to be awakened by the worst of the storm passing through starting around 2am, and in for a sleepless night after.

I did awaken around 2:30, but we still had power and the storm didn't sound too bad yet, and I went back to sleep. I woke up again around 5:30, when the worst of the storm had been projected to have already passed.

We still had power. I could hear the winds outside, but it didn't sound horrible. A check of the forecast track showed it due east of us....about 20 miles offshore.

We were extremely fortunate - no damage, and the area was spared the worst - only some downed trees and fences. Beachside took it a bit worse, but still significantly better than could have been. And while 2/3 of the county had lost power, it was almost all back by last night. We ourselves never did lose power.


What I've been reading... I'm on page 489 of 620 in _The Autumn Republic_. I should finish this week, then off to a collection of short stories also associated with the Powder Mage trilogy.

What I've been crafting... I'm about 65% done with Ink Circles "Tapestry". I did stitch some, but not as much as one would expect for having an extra two days off work. Some of it was all the minor tasks that normally take up one's time, and some of it was just storm-induced lethargy.

Fumbling toward fitness... I only made it by Curves once due to hurricane prep and aftermath, and only treadmilled for 5.2 miles over 104 minutes. However, I did get a bit of a work out putting up and taking down hurricane panels, so I wasn't a total slacker. I may do better with treadmill this week, but not certain about Curves - they were closed again today due to water damage from the storm.

One Little Victory Avoiding a direct strike from a powerful hurricane and suffering no damage is a rather large victory indeed!

Water water everywhere....

Thanks to Fay, we've had 19 inches of rain in the past 36 hours....

Between the pool's normal pump and the little submersible one we bought last year, we managed to confine the flooding to our Florida room, so no real damage here. There's localized road flooding, so we have 3 days off work/school that need to be made up. And DD is getting a touch of cabin fever. DH and I are holding up a bit better in that regard, although we have been spending a lot of time on WoW. I've done more instancing the past two days than I have in the past two months. Not that that's a bad thing...I finally went into Karazhan last night, so I can now say I've officially raided. Sorta.

Not too bad for a couple of VERY rainy days.

Is it just me?

Yesterday I was waiting outside my workplace for DH to pick me up for lunch, and I noticed that things seemed somewhat subdued and almost surreal. There seemed the normal complement of traffic, but the sky was grey and the air was still. (Now, grey skies are nothing new here in Florida, especially this time of year!) Last night, the wind had picked up quite a bit, and slate-grey skies signaled approaching storms. We did get quite a bit of rain off and on through the night and this morning, and the tone of surreality persisted.

It wasn't until I checked the weather pages this morning to see how much longer the rains would continue that I realized there was a low pressure system moving across the state. I really should have figured this out sooner, because I've noticed before that things seem unnatural when tropical storms are in the area.

Or at least they seem unusual and surreal to me, in a way that the almost-daily thunderstorms Florida summers bring do not.

Has anyone else noticed such differences when low pressure systems come through?

Water, water everywhere!

I awoke yesterday morning to the ominous sound of my pool pump keening its death knell. There is never a *good* time for expensive equipment failures, but this came at a particularly bad time. We've had three inches of rain in as many days, with yet another heavy rain overhead as I type. My pool has been filled to the brim since Thursday night, with no ability to play Rain'N'Drain.

After several attempts, this afternoon we managed to get a siphon going with the garden hose, to try to make room for the water that we knew would be coming. We'll see how effective it is, though doubtless it'll be hard to gauge with the new rainfall.

So basically, this sucks. But not fast enough...my pool just flooded my back porch while I was typing...

Time to invest in a separate pump, methinks...

Tropical fruitiness

Yep, it's that time of year again.

This calendar year, we've been in a bit of a drought. Rampant wildfires, brown grass, talk of watering restrictions...

Until the first of June, the official start of hurricane season. The night of 1 June, we got 6 inches of rain! My pool, which had been a foot low, had overflowed and flooded my back porch overnight. It also exceeded our typical June rainfall, and bumped our YTD rainfall up to average.

We got another two inches of rain yesterday, for another exciting round of Rain 'N Drain.

Crazy Florida weather....

Playing twister!

To hear (or read) the news today, you'd think it's the end of the world. A streak of severe weather blew across Central Florida early this morning, spawning a few tornadoes that left a wake of destruction, primarily around the Orlando area.

I've already gotten several calls from concerned friends and relatives, so I wanted to post to reassure my readers that all is still well here in Alternate Dementia. Melbourne got wind and rain, but as those are the two primary weather events 9 months out of the year here anyway, there's no reported damage in my neck of the woods.

Now if the weather would just make up its mind whether to be hot or cold! It was 80F yesterday, after dropping below 40F two days prior.

Living vicariously...

There's been just enough of a drop in temperature here to make me really miss autumn, especially the changing leaves.

As somewhat of a remedy, a friend of mine up north sent me a link to a webcam in Duluth, MN, which remedies the longing a bit. And today, he emailed me that there was snow on the ground...

Thanks, D!

Seasons change...

...except down here. We did have a slight 'cool front' come through last week, actually getting the temperature down to the upper 70Fs, heralding what passes for autumn in Florida.

With so little variation in seasons, I am finding it's often difficult to gauge the passage of time or even to accurately place memories in time without the aid of any sort of contextual seasonal marker. I sort of feel a little lost in time and space, if that makes any sense.

Today at lunch, it was overcast with a slight breeze, not too hot, and it has made me miss autumn something fierce.

Thrill rides?

Driving in torrential rain - NOT my idea of fun.

So far so good...

We put up the shutters last night, and Ernesto has dropped down to a tropical depression. The first of the outer rainbands came through about 3am, dumping a brief spate of heavy rain. It's been a pretty steady rainfall most of the day, with the occasional burst of heavier downpours, but we're not likely to get much in terms of wind - maybe some 20+mph winds later this afternoon, but far short of the 60mph predictions.

The kids are off school today, and DH and I are off work. So far, it hasn't proved worth the closure. But, better safe than sorry, and at the time the decisions had to be made, the weather folks were thinking Ernesto would be rather worse.

Long story short, all is well here at Alternate Dementia. Except the pool needs to be drained down a bit again.

The Importance of Beating Ernesto

Well, here it all goes again. Tropical Storm Ernesto is heading for us - the forecast has been pretty consistent for the past 24 hours that it'll be moving pretty much directly over us tomorrow. Some wind, some rain, widespread panic among a lot of folks...

We're prepared, though, and we know from last year that we can secure all our storm shutters in under an hour. I've drained my pool down a bit, but other than the rainfall possibly overflowing the pool (again), the cast of Alternate Dementia is not particularly concerned. DsS and DD will likely have off school, because unless the forecast changes we'll be getting the outer bands during the morning commute. It's possible that DH and I will also have off work - the call for both work and school outages will be made later today.

It'd be a good day to chill out and relax tomorrow. Maybe do a bit of gaming, some stitching. Kind of like a snow day but in August!

Now where did I leave those gills?

Hello again, dear readers! I am back home, and relearning to breathe water courtesy of the tremendous humidity difference between here and the UK. We finally got in around 1:30 AM because of a 4-hour delay at New York JFK airport, so you'll have to wait for the full trip journal to be posted.

When we were waiting at JFK, there was a sports pub near our departure gate. When we first arrived for what was supposed to be a 3 hour layover, there was a small crowd standing outside, watching the Italy-Germany World Cup game. As time passed and crowds of people prowled the airport in search of gates, some folks would stop to watch the game, so by the time it went into overtime, there was quite the crowd, almost blocking the throughways. It was the World Cup Borg!
Resistance is futbol - you will be assimilated
One could tell when great saves were made just from the crowd noise, and a large collective groan when satellite feed was briefly lost due to storms. And during overtime, the cheers from the crowd attracted people who ran to the pub from the far reaches of the terminal. It was quite amusing...

Hey hey hey, it's fat Alberto!

During my morning commute, the sky was a pale overcast grey, slashed through on the west with a heavy dark grey line of battle marching resolutely to the north.

Thus goes the passage of Tropical Storm Alberto, never having quite made it to hurricane. His trailing rainbands have been passing through today, dumping heavy volleys in short timespans. A blessing for the parched and scorched earth here.

It is ironic, though. The remnants of Alberto will be passing over Raleigh, NC on Wednesday afternoon/evening...just as the Oilers are facing elimination there against the Hurricanes.

Note to Carolina: According to Guy Carbonneau, the Stanley Cup does not float. So if you win, keep it away from Alberto!

Well *that* didn't take long...

The 10th day of hurricane season, and there's already a tropical depression out by Cuba. It's expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Alberto, and come around to hit North Florida. Fun.

Maybe it'll at least bring some rain with it.

Raising 'Canes

At 3:30 this morning, I awoke to a heavy rain, the first in far too long. So begins the 2006 hurricane season - six months of intermittent torrential rains, oppressive humidity, and obsessive viewing of The Weather Channel.

This year, like last year, there was a sales tax break on certain items considered hurricane supplies, like batteries, generators, candles, tarps, and such. I had already acquired tarps, gasoline containers, and most other nonperishable supplies last year, but last night I went and stocked up on canned foods and bottled water. At this point, we're about as ready for storm season as we can be. I suppose in a way hurricanes are like having children - no matter how much you prepare, you're never *truly* ready.

I am ready for some more of that rain, though - we got less than half an inch in the torrent this morning, and we're 8 inches shy of the average rainfall for this time of year. All of the retention ponds and even the reservoirs are getting rather low, and it would, unfortunately, take a hurricane's worth of rain to make up the shortfall. But hopefully, all my dear readers will hear from me on that is my usual bemoaning of the rain'n'drain cycle of the Alternate Dementia swimming pool, and not being in some storm's crosshairs!

A little humor - old but still funny:

Top Ten Reasons Hurricane Season is Like Christmas
10. Decorating the house (boarding up windows)
9. Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season (camping gear, flashlights)
8. Last minute shopping in crowded stores
7. Regular TV shows pre-empted for "specials"
6. Family coming to stay with you
5. Family and friends from out-of-state calling
4. Buying food you don't normally buy ... and in large quantities
3. Days off from work
2. Candles

And the number one reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas ...
1. At some point you know you're going to have a tree in your house!

But speaking of hurricanes, I just finished watching Game 7 of the Sabres-Hurricanes game. DsS and I are a tad disappointed because we were cheering for the Sabres, but DD was happy that the Hurricanes have advanced to play Edmonton for the Stanley Cup.

Who knows, maybe we'll get to test her theory about a Hurricane Cup preventing hurricane effects in Central Florida!

Wet Wilma

So the quoted rainfall total for yesterday was 5" at my location. That's rather a lot to get in a 12-hour span, certainly. But my pool has been drained down and is no longer green (although it is still a tad murky from washed-in debris), and my pool deck is dry now. So the water has at least gone somewhere *else*.

Funny thing is, now they're saying we're at a higher risk of brush fires, because the cold front that has moved in has dried out the vegetation. Um, okay, if they say so.

It was in the low 50's when I left for work this morning, and hasn't gotten higher than 60 all day. I'm enjoying the brisk air. Many folks down here, however, are not. I just went to the grocery store, and I kid you not, I saw several people with winter jackets and hats!

Nesh.

All clear!

About a minute after I posted last and shut down the computer, we had a brief power hit. The backside of Wilma started affecting us around 11am, and we had some pretty heavy winds (gusts of up to 60mph), and a few power flickers. And a LOT of rain! Our back porch flooded, predictably, but we've sustained no other damage. The sun is out now, and we've opened up the shutters and taken down some of the storm panels. Life is back to normal.

There's still a bit of a stiff breeze, and the temperature outside is down to the mid 60F's, and it's supposed to reach the 40s tonight. I personally like the cooler temperatures - it's quite pleasant outside now that the storm has passed!

Well *that* was different...

We lost power around 8:30 last night, well ahead of the storm, and were only without power for about an hour. Probably a blown transformer or something. Power came back about 9:40 and has been on since. For now, anyway.

I have two small Victorian-style oil lamps that I've had forever, and we lit those. They didn't give off very good light...until DH added some lamp oil to them. We honestly don't know how old the oil that was in them was - I think I had the lamps when we married, which would put the oil at a good 15 years old. Fresh oil does work much better. Still, maybe larger hurricane lamps might be in order.

All else is well, if sleepy, here. We turned the A/C off so power hits didn't fry the compressor, so it's starting to get a tad muggy. I just got up a few minutes ago to check the storm track - everyone else is still asleep.

We've been getting rain here since last night, but I haven't heard much in the way of winds yet. Of course, Wilma is still getting closer - she's going to exit well south so we'll get tropical-storm force winds at worst, but we have yet to experience the worst of the weather we will get from her.

A defensive stand...

We just finished putting up the storm shutters, so we're in as defensive a stance as we're likely to get. DsD is getting a bit claustrophobic because of the lack of incoming outside light, so her accordion shutters will be closed at some later point tonight. I do admit it's a bit unnatural with it being so dark inside, but it's not bugging me a whole lot.

We learned that we don't have work tomorrow, and DD and DsD don't have school. So I'll be sleeping in tomorrow!

And so it begins...

Given that the computer models are starting to converge, and inch closer to us as they do, we've already started putting up the storm panels. We've got maybe a third of them up now - the rest will have to wait for daylight. It's dark, and handling large metal panels with lightning in the area is not the key to a full life expectancy...

Since Wilma's expected to come at us on Monday, the schools have already declared a closure Monday. No word yet from DH and I's employer, but obviously at least one of us will be taking the day off.