Tag Archives: frances

6869 – Tuesday Morn…

Broward PSA

All Broward County Public Schools will remain CLOSED Tuesday, September 7, 2004 as restoration efforts from Hurricane Frances continue. Students, teachers and other school-based instructional staff should NOT report to the schools. Principals and Assistant Principals should report to their respective schools.

District offices and facilities WILL reopen tomorrow. All full-time District employees, including administrative and supervisory, clerical, maintenance and facility service employees should report to their normal work locations. All food service employees should report to their respective work locations as well.

The decision was made to keep the schools and offices closed for another day because of the power outages that persist at several dozen District schools, along with potential hazards to children presented by downed power lines, busy intersections where traffic signals are not operating due to power outages and storm debris that may prompt children to walk in the street to school and bus stops. There is also a concern with the ongoing restoration efforts involving the use of chainsaws and heavy vehicles to cut up and haul away downed trees and branches, as well as the major operation by Florida Power & Light Company to restore electricity to the area.

An additional issue involves scattered sewage and water disruptions throughout the county as the result of power outages. Pumping stations and sewage treatment facilities have been impacted, causing some sewage backups, sporadic water service and boil water orders.

Students, parents and District employees should monitor the District’s Web site at browardschools.com, call the District’s Rumor Control Hotline at 754-321-0321 or monitor local media for updated information regarding the status of the schools.

More Information on District’s Status

/PSA


scottodoodle – Regular Scotto-Entry –

Ah, how nice to sleep in my own bed. It’s been a long few days. Thank goodness I didn’t go to a shelter… I would have gone totally insane. I’m very thankful. The funny thing about hurricane Frances was how many “experts” came out of the woodwork.. like they all have a direct line to Thor/Zeus/Mamma Nature. I wonder how the homeless folks did, under bridges or other semi-public cover? Bro did ok, as did the Mother.

Ivan 5-day Tracking – Ack. D&J may have a houseguest again. I’m not officially worried yet.

Yum… fresh oranges. Nice breakfast, and for some reason, I rarely get ’em. Tasty, and good to eat in the middle of the night as a snacky-snack.

Off to work after a quick phone call…Let’s see how things go. Power was off at the company building earlier, so I may go to an off-site location (probably Big Kahuna’s house) to continue. I *think* RI is off this week.

I love the fourth piccie of Newt. He’s got a little Santa beard! (he caught a light-monster in his jaws.)


Freeware replacements for commonly warez’ed programs

I use openoffice and it’s excellent. I’m going to make a point of sniffing around phpEDIT and SharpDevelop

If you’re not in the mood for useful utilities, there’s these nifty games. (many are decent clones of $$ games) I’ve dug FreeCiv for a while now… good to fall back on when between other games. There’s a palm version in the works too! (hasn’t been updated since June ’04. ouch!)

As always, check for spyware!

America’s Army looks really nifty… I’m pulling that down tonight.


A few storm-related doodles


Caught in the middle of Frances.


My noggin was throbbing for about two of the days… I suspect it was the pressure change, and my general cabin fever-ness.
My barely legible script reads “hurricane hurts my brain”


Newt happy to be back at HQ!
I don’t know where my arms are.


Hangaroo Hangman with a mouthy kangaroo – (thanks enigma!)


10 handy CSS tricks


Archives –

1 year ago – Harvest moon, auto-cashiers, acim two-level split, lynching, cluster move, gender genie, newt-bounce,

2 years ago – Sleestaks and Oatmeal, Sculpey and Fimo, Bewitched, cave photo, bad prefixes, dog snoods

3 years ago – lj drama regarding cheaters,lovely long chat where blackie burped, the scents of rose, lavender, gardenia, violette, and muguet (burts bees), Skeletor, Back in 1997, there was an exorcism performed on Mother Teresa, saints.

4 years ago – Suzy goes to jail, actors, cravings, dwbh

Later Journal-gator!

6867 – Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Back at home base – Power was still out when I arrived, so Dan and I went to publix to get some dry goods and water for me to wait it out here. We had some serendipitous encounters with another shopper… Dan (the big goof) kept prodding me to get her number.

Obligatory tiny quicktime movie of gale-force winds.(~700k) Warning, loudy-loud wind-whoosh.

Power is been back on now, though spotty. Cell phones are still kind of weird in this area, too.

I’m now shaved, showered and re-goatee’d. I’m regretting the office tomorrow.. a lot of work ahead. But, it’ll make the day go by that much more swiftly. I figure the majority of the morning will be putting machines back where they belong, and getting the network back to aces.

Newt’s so happy to be home, he’s practically dancing. I’m delighted to have my own bed again, too, though it wasn’t really a hardship staying with D&J. They were very helpful and gracious… I appreciate being able to stay there. Janet’s cooking is a lot better than I remembered. The scones were especially good.

Ivan is due next weekend. Some frickin’ supervillian is testing his weather machine, I just know it.

Who knows what stuff I missed on the blogs I read…I imagine I’ll get caught up eventually.


Um.. Paris Hilton’s publishing her “memoirs?” It’s a pity that there’s even a possible market for that. Site Meter


Snopes link for anyone else that mentions that whole “757 or missile?” pentagon crash thing. Read it top to bottom… it answers every question posted with logical and well-researched answers. I guess it’s rearing up again, because the anniversary is drawing near.

6864 – still here still here….

Still no power at my place tonight, so I spend one more here at Danny’s. (Beats going black to a dark, hot shoebox.) There’s still a wind advisory and a flood watch, but the worst of Frances is over. Wind and water still whistles and batters the outside.

We all went for a midday wet-walk to the gas station, and around the lake to assess damage, and breathe some open air. It’s messy here, with a number of blown over fences and snapped trees, but the houses look ok and everything seems mostly intact.

Cell phones are still kaput here, and the land line is spotty.

The Winn-Dixie was open, and people were in and out… not crowded, but had a lot of movement. I think that we’re going to get some Chinese Takeout for supper tonight.

The Gamajin movies were a huge success.. Everybody liked ’em, and power only blinked a little bit while watching them.

I wonder how the TV news is able to have so many reporters on the coast… they must be placed just far enough apart up and down the line so that they can’t see one another’s show-lights.

I’ve got about 150% the hits in the first three days of September over the entire month of August, thanks to the hurricane, I’m guessing. (averaging 1813 hits an hour??)

Dear Hurricane Ivan:

Leave me the hell alone. I want to spend next week at my own damn home. Please just shoot North, and harmlessly spin some fishies.

Thanks.

Best Frances Photo so far:

I missed the JLU episode I was really wanting to see.. the one with the Question. I’ll have to seek out a torrent of it when I make it back to base.

6862 – And still I wait.

Well, I was hoping to go for a walk this morning… get out of the containment field that is the house. No luck.. the wind outside is at a very strong level, and the rain is coming down in sheets.

Dan’s working on grading, and Jan’s watching TV evangelists, so I figure I’ll feed my own obsessive action by working on the journal a little bit this morn. I prefer to read Real Live Preacher to watching any carnival barker on the tube.

Jan’s making cranberry scones for breakfast this morning…they smell really good.

Though the hurricane is moving exceedingly slow, I have high hopes that I’ll be home tonight, or at worst tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and having the apartment to myself (and Newtself). Though it’s a two-bedroom house, three people tend to bump into one another a lot.

I have a half-gallon of ice cream in the freezer at home…I wonder if power stayed on long enough to keep it ice-creamy.

Latest reports are that there are 2 million people without power, and Frances is now downgraded to Category 1.

archived article

6866- 09/04/04 – 11:58 am

Reading in Dan’s room while he grades lab reports. The poor guy spends more time grading than the student takes to do the report, I suspect. He’s putting together grading templates now, to make the job easier.

It’s quiet right now, the only sounds being those of Dan typing, Janet
working on a pattern, and Newt bebopping around the house, in search of
that hidden cricket.

Dan talks to himself a bit while grading. I’m going to watch myself over the next few days, to see if I gab solo as often as these guys… I suspect that most of my internal monologues stay inside.

some hurricane piccies:

Dan walking by the lake, pre-storm – we visited the ducks, which looked
rather like a crossbred crew of lovely mallard and ugly muskie.

it was pretty dark inside the house with all the aluminum shutters up – the only natural light available was via the front door.

newt seemed to like the new terrains available to explore, lots of
surfaces, nooks and crannies to sniff out. He doesn’t seem to like hanging out with Dan or Janet much… I suspect that they’re a confusing “new furniture” to him.

I haven’t shaved since Wednesday, so scruffy is the fashion statement this week.

sent via palmtop

very little natural light
dan by the duck pond
newt on the sewing table
danny and newt playing with the flashlight
non-chalant duckies
newt chillin'

6860 – Dial-up is slo-ow.

Dan snores, and it makes me laugh. He’s about 1/3 Doug sound level.

The 2nd movie – Return of Gaimajin was even better than the first. good hurricane karma, I got them by helping with Charley.

Newt’s being naughty… hissing at Janet a lot. (A bit at Dan, too. I don’t think he’s happy sharing space with them.) If I pick Newt up, he quiets down and purrs like a fiend… I’m an anchor of familiarity in this place.

Danny pointed something out to me on the way to his place yesterday… how do new and used car lots empty out so fast? Where do they put ’em? I theorized that there’s some hidden underground parking or more likely that they’re accordianed in the back. I got a call from Wilt, and he told me that no wood is going on my windows.. just tape. Ugh… I’m glad I was smart and packed up all my important tech and took it with me.

I’m glad I left on Thursday, because I hear that the roads are now mobbed with folks trying to get the heck out of there.

Dan’s house is super-prone to little power-flickers at this point I’m glad I had a candle in the bathroom while I took my morning shower.. I’m glad that I’ve got a surge bar and that lappie is on battery power.

Wind’s kicking up pretty good, now… I’ll have some nifty movies to upload from the palm after the storm.

Another J factoid – She’s never, ever stopped talking when I’ve been within earshot. Talks back to the TV, and steps on other people talking, too. I wonder if she ever has a quiet time? I think that maybe her own voice is a comfort to herself? I suspect it’s a nervous habit, to take her mind off of other things.

Mighty windy and wet at this point. Lots of boil water orders, though not in my region quite yet.

Waffles for late breakfast today – clearing out the freezer in case of a long term power out.

All in all, Still safe and sound. Still mostly have power, a/c and light.

6859 – Friday

I can’t rightly call this a vacation, considering that I’m still taking call.

three so far today… I was a little difficult to train D&J to shut the pie-holes while I’m making a call, but it seems to be working out ok, now.

We took a little walk around the neighborhood… it looks like the brunt of the storm is going to pass to the north, now.

I’d forgotten how J speaks in monologues, disguised as dialogues. I think she could have the exact conversation with or without a partner.

Shutters are up throughout the neighborhood, clouds are rolling by quickly, some comfy breeze, but no rain.

It’s a little tricky training Newt to stay off of the counters here.. I don’t want him wandering around where food is prepared.

6858 – in the box with D & J.

At Dan’s, and it’s going better than expected. My panic was misplaced.

Tonight, we watched gaimajin, and had quorn nuggets for supper, with new potatoes and brussels sprouts. I abstained from the sprouts… they remind me of my formative years as a podling.

Newt’s digging the plants (no pun intended) and is enjoying all of the new places to nose around and check out. Minimal missing person calls tonight, and I’m only on call until tomorrow at 5pm.

Tomorrow, I’m introducing Danny to invader zim.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DCL! thanks again for the CDs!

I haven’t used this laptop for quite a span… the windows update and anti-virus both took forever on dialup.

Hitting the sack soon. See you later, Dear journal.

6858 – in the box with D & J.

At Dan’s, and it’s going better than expected. My panic was misplaced.

Tonight, we watched gaimajin, and had quorn nuggets for supper, with new potatoes and brussels sprouts. I abstained from the sprouts… they remind me of my formative years as a podling.

Newt’s digging the plants (no pun intended) and is enjoying all of the new places to nose around and check out. Minimal missing person calls tonight, and I’m only on call until tomorrow at 5pm.

Tomorrow, I’m introducing Danny to invader zim.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DCL! thanks again for the CDs!

I haven’t used this laptop for quite a span… the windows update and anti-virus both took forever on dialup.

Hitting the sack soon. See you later, Dear journal.

6865 – backdated from Thursday

backdated.

I decided briefly that I wasn’t comfortable with the C’s around Newt. I think that Jan or even Danny might get careless, and do something that would cause Newt to somehow get hurt out of the house… I’m being irrational. I came close to having a panic attack just thinking of poor Newt, out in a hurricane. It sort of saddens me to be this distrustful of Dan and his wife, but they just don’t know better, and are prone to carelessness. I don’t think that I should stay, here, but if I go to Danny’s place, I’m going to have to lay down some ground rules. Maybe I’ll stay with Newt in the guest bathroom the whole time. [update: Of course ,I ended up going to Dan and Janet’s, and everything turned out fine)

pretend-sushi made with twinkies and dried fruit… I think I’m more partial to the kebabs.


Looking for more potential hurricane cams? Check this old entry for lots o’ links. note that some links may be broken, but the Sun-Sentinel’s has always been pretty reliable.


I tried out the evil genius demo… pretty cute, but I’m not sure how much repeat game play it holds. Being a Bond-style villain is fun… and the music is groovy. Sort of a sim-city version of Evil base management.

6857 – update

I’m going to stay with Danny and Janet’s place if things continue to be bad. Poor Danny’s allergic to Newt, but he’s willing to sacrifice for me and the little orange guy. Newtie-boy will be banned from the bedrooms, is all. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to spend time in the living room with me. I’ll bring some Heroclix with me to play to while away the time in a more analog style.

Janet’s rather allergic to me, too, in a different sense. Our beliefs and ideals are fairly different, but she has been nothing but very gracious to me in times of need. I’m thankful for that.

My mother is going to be fine where she is, and if bro needs a place to stay, he can go be with her and Wilt.

To be on the safe side, I’ll be unpacking my PC later tonight, so I’ll be on and off-line as things happen. Danny’s only got dial-up, so I won’t have my DSL perma-connect that I do here. I’m tempted to lave my pc covered in plastic, and have the cam pointed inside for a Hurricane-view. I figure I’ll point it at the windows without wood on ’em to scan for alien invaders or flying coconuts.

Speaking of the cam, here’s the Newt pic of the day:

Current Cam pic – (will change over time)

What do you see?

Currently, you should be able to see my front door, South and East Windows, and bike. I’ll be taking the headlight with me as my personal flashlight when I go. You may also catch me running back and forth to the oven in order to retrieve lunchtime veggie taquitos.

Wilt’s coming by with a lovely bit of 5 x 6 wood to protect my most vulnerable window… the others should be fairly safe, and wood is very rare right now, as could be expected. My landlord claims there’s none to be found… I think that there probably could’ve been some if he was better prepared. I’m also happy to uproot the broad wooden fence outside, and use it as a side-barricade if need be.


current meme – (nicked from bubbles3563)

Leave a comment with your name if you want to know what I really think of you, and I’ll reply and tell you. No lies, all honesty. [I think most people already have a good idea of how I feel about ’em, but I’m happy to reinforce / surprise them.]

Post it in your journal after I do yours so I can see the reverse. (it may take a while, as checking email might get spotty.)

6855 – office secure/ Hurricane Frances PSA

Ok, Office is disassembled, network secure, and everything is safe there.

Now to research what to do for myself.

Hurricane Frances Information Hotline 954-831-4000

Broward County Mayor Ilene Lieberman announced at a media conference today at 8:00 a.m. the following action Broward County residents and visitors should take in preparation for Hurricane Frances.

• In anticipation of a hurricane warning later today and an in an abundance of caution, a mandatory evacuation has been ordered effective 2:00 p.m. today for the Barrier Islands and all mobile homes. Residents are strongly urged to evacuate. Voluntary evacuations can take place at any time.

• A recommended evacuation has been ordered for those areas east of US1 and for those residents who live on tidal bodies of water. [that’s me. I’m looking into pet-friendly hotels now.]

• Red Cross shelters will open at 2:00 p.m. today. Buses will begin running to assist with the evacuation at approximately 1:45 p.m. along A-1-A.

• Those persons who need to evacuate should first attempt to stay with friends or relatives outside the evacuation zone. The Red Cross Shelters will be available for those that need a safe refuge.

• Shelter guidelines:

– Shelters are a place of refuge only
– No pets are permitted in shelters – a list of pet friendly hotels is posted on the web site
– No smoking is permitted
– Items to bring: medication, battery-operated radio, special diet foods, baby food, personal items, pillows and blankets
– Shelter location information is available on the Broward County web site www.broward.org or by calling the Hurricane Hotline at 954-831-4000

• The Broward County special needs shelters will also open at 2:00 p.m. today. These shelters are for people who have special health care needs and require assistance. Residents in need have pre-registered and will be notified by telephone this morning to schedule transportation.

• There are approximately 17,000 visitors to Broward County staying in hotels in the evacuation area. Hotels in western Broward County are at capacity. Our Red Cross shelters are available as refuge for our visitors.

• Travelers should call the airlines before arriving at the airport to ensure that their flights are still scheduled.

• Port Everglades closed at 8:00 a.m. this morning to all vessel traffic including cargo and cruise ships.

• Homeless persons in Broward County should seek shelter at any of the Red Cross shelters or at the four shelters designated specifically to assist homeless persons. The shelters are:

Broward Outreach Center, 2056 Scott St., Hollywood, 954-926-7417
Salvation Army Lodge, 1445 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-524-6991
Central Homeless Assistance Center, 920 N.W. 7th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 954-779-3990
North Homeless Assistance Center, 1700 Blount Rd., Pompano Beach 954-979-6365

• All Broward County offices are closed today, as well as all public schools.Site Meter