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Showing posts from August, 2004

Hurricane, vacation, hurricane?

Vacation was great -- will post a picture or two if I have any that look decent at small sizes. But now Hurricane Frances threatens. If Frances comes our way, it's likely she'll hit from the opposite direction as Charley. I guess it would be too much to hope that she would blow things that are now leaning eastward back to vertical again. :-) My friend Nigel has a hole in his roof caused by a fallen tree. I hope Frances doesn't head our way because things could get pretty damp in his house. (And for many others.)

The lucky ones

We didn't even lose our electricity, although it flickered a lot. I guess after the last time it failed in a storm (on Easter Sunday) the power gods fixed it really well because they didn't want to be out here on a holiday again. A lot of people in our area are lacking power, some are lacking clean water as well. But we're all fortunate compared to those in Charlotte County, where Charley made landfall. Living in coastal areas is always a gamble (we were there once) but the scenery is worth it! Some people don't fully understand the risk, especially if they're new to Florida. And even if you do know what's coming, there's only so much you can do.

See ya, Charley

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Charley's left us safe and sound, fortunately with only minor damage and no one injured in our neighborhood as far as we know. A little property damage here and there: A few more trees broken. Sorry about the lens flare on the photo of the second tree. The sun came out as I was taking that picture -- but it's pretty amazing as the tree top is snapped right off. There's a lot of debris scattered in the roadways and a lot of cleanup to do. But this is my favorite. This morning I discovered that we had a refugee in our kitchen. A moth had sneaked in and spent the storm sheltering with us. The mystery now is -- how do I get him back outside without harming him?

Part of a fallen tree

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This is the (part of a) fallen tree I posted about earlier. Click for a larger view. It fell right between the parked cars and the condo building, and no one was hurt. The 'real stuff' should be heading our way in a few hours. Good news from Mom in Fort Myers. They still have telephone service, though no electric. The main part of the storm itself has passed, but they're getting a heck of a lot of rain. The storm surge is now moving on land there. They're watching the drainage ponds in the center of their complex visibly rise. The walkways are already under water.

Hurricane Charley approaches

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That's not mist in the distance -- it's a torrent of rain falling as one of the leading storms generated by Hurricane Charley flew over our neighborhood. Just a minute or so before I took this photo, a large branch fell off the tree in the center of the picture and thudded to the ground. Fortunately it looks like it fell in a grassy area next to the building. My husband was on the phone with his mother in Fort Myers as she lost power. Fortunately she's on the fourth floor of her condo, so at least we know she won't get flooded out. We're in Orlando, which until a few hours ago seemed to be in for nothing more than heavy rain and tropical winds. Now it looks like Charley wants to see Mickey Mouse.

Ways to wear a lame ID badge: Croc Hunter

Croc Hunter: The Croc Hunter wears his lame ID badge and lanyard casually lashed around a front belt loop. He's ready a moment's notice to pull it free and use it to tie a crocodile's jaws closed, right after wrestling it to the ground. But crocodiles are rare here in Florida. He's more likely to see a gator -- or a Gainesville Gator , for that matter. The natural enemy of the Gainesville Gator is, of course, the Seminole .

Ways to wear a lame ID badge: Ring Around the Collar

Ring Around the Collar : She's less than five feet tall, so the lame ID badge --unassisted -- ends up hanging somewhere around her navel. So she loops the lanyard around her neck and then clips the lame badge itself to the tip of her polo shirt's collar.

Ways to wear a lame ID badge: The Obedient, The Hanger-On, and Stealth

My employer has issued ID badges to all staff. Naturally they are not the same cards that let us in the building. While employee safety is paramount, of course, we're not going to spend too much money on ID cards. Instead, HR went around with an outdated digital camera taking pictures of staff. They laid out the digital pix in a Word template, printed with a color laser printer, and laminated them. Wow: ID badges that could be counterfeited by grade-schoolers! The Obedient is the first pose that I saw around the building: ID badges hanging politely from the supplied lanyards like nooses around their necks. The Hanger-On is more to my taste, where the lame badge is clipped to the very bottom of one's shirt tail, as if it might fall off and be lost forever at any moment. Oops! How did that happen? Stealth holds to the letter of the policy while delightfully flouting the spirit. It states that the badges must be "worn," but neglects to specify w

Creativity is not just a word

Hugh MacLeod at gapingvoid is running a wonderful thread on creativity that gets better every day. His business card cartoons are pretty cool too.

Whose land is it?

JibJab said, " This Land is Your Land ," and it was good. And the Ludlow lawyers were wroth, saying, "Guthrie said it first." Now the EFF saith, " Not so fast." And Arlo, son of the Guthrie, thinks dad would be amused .

Phoning for pizza, the total-surveillance way

The ACLU has a creepy and cool Flash video illustrating the future of a "total-surveillance" society if we don't get some better privacy legislation enacted.

Moonly Froghopping

Tonight the sky is rich. The moon is haloed in diffusing silverlight. Humidity works such magic: softly the moth-white lunar disk bleeds into the darkness. A frogling hops up the cement walk. She's tiny, brown and perfect -- or was she a he? Either way, she leaves me standing in the dark, looking down at the walk and up at the moon.