08:36 – It was 57.0F (14C) when I took Colin out at 0625, mostly cloudy. Cooler autumn weather is definitely arriving, here and down in Winston-Salem. The highs down there this week are to be in the upper 70’s. As usual, we’re cooler, with highs forecast to be around 70F (21C).
Barbara grabbed a couple items for our LTS pantry at Costco yesterday: a case of six #10 3-pound cans of Costco coffee and two 13.5-pound bags of baking soda. Both come already packaged for LTS, so they’re already downstairs and stowed away.
Barbara is off to the gym and supermarket this morning, followed by (you guessed it) building more science kits. As of this morning, we’re down to zero of the CK01A chemistry kits in stock. Yesterday, we built 22 of the regulated chemical bags for those kits, limited by two chemicals that we had only 22 bottles each of in stock. Barbara also built 24 more of the small parts bags for the CK01A/B kits. We have enough of all the subassemblies on hand to build five more CK01A kits. We’ll get those built today, just so we have product to ship.
After that, we need to fill chemical bottles to make up more CK01A unregulated chemical bags. Our limiting quantity on those at the moment is zero bottles of one chemical, so we’ll get more of those filled. Then it’s back to labeling and filling bottles, rinse and repeat.
Gotta get busy on my stuff today.
Rain from the outer bands started at 8am, right on schedule.
I see there is some flux in the strength but not track. Still plenty of time for changes.
Off to do work in the rain.
n
In the 60’s I befriended, over the CB, a member of the Hurricane Hunters who flew out of Tinker AFB in OKC. The kid was a young AF comm tech, not much older than I, who enjoyed the excitement of flying into raging hurricanes. I guess the Hurricane Hunters haven’t been getting much business in the last few years.
I hope everyone down there heeds the warnings and leaves town.
My relatives are already in Colorado for the duration.
My parents left Calhoun county at 2pm yesterday. There was a mandatory evacuation order for 5pm. At 5pm, the linemen went to all the substations and turned off the electricity. Supposedly they are turning off the gas also. The entire freaking county.
My parents house is 21 ft above sea level. The storm surge is predicted to be 16 ft. And their foundation is 1.5 ft higher.
So, CNN has a headline that the hurricane center warns “some locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months”. Sounds scary. Looking at the details of the story, the hurricane center issued their boilerplate warning that wind damage and storm surge could damage buildings, making those buildings “uninhabitable for weeks or months”. Sigh. Not exactly fake news, but close.
We are keeping an eye on things and depending on how the storm wobbles, we may leave. Need to see if the venomous spiders and the snakes will agree to guard the house.
I don’t have any problem with that CNN statement. It’s literally true, and didn’t take it as meaning “areas”, but rather discrete locations.
“Hurricane Harvey nears Texas, but may move back offshore”
https://spacecityweather.com/hurricane-harvey-nears-texas-but-may-move-back-offshore/
Good night, look at that proposed storm track ! Onshore into south central Texas and then back offshore to strengthen again, and then into Houston. This is the track of Hurricane Carla back in 1961. And then down the Gulf Coast, across Florida and up the eastern seaboard. This is a news reporter’s dream. And algores.
People are prepping now even though it is too late.
http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/More-gas-stations-running-out-of-fuel-as-11958559.php
So, CNN has a headline that the hurricane center warns “some locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months”.
Last year, a couple of weeks after the early May storms in Houston, the walkway around the reflecting pool at the San Jacinto monument was still flooded when we visited. Technically speaking, the location was uninhabitable for weeks. Plural.
_The Girl With All The Gifts_ by M. R. Carey
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-All-Gifts-M-Carey/dp/0316334758/
Book number one of a two book post-apocalyptic series. The second book in the series may be a prequel to this book, I have not read it yet. I read the excellent paper and font trade paperback. The book was first published in 2014 and made into a movie that I have not seen.
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-All-Gifts-Bluray-Blu-ray/dp/B01LTIAQE6/
******* SPOILER *******
This is a freaking zombie book, I had no idea when I started it ! And it is a new type of zombie plague, not viral, not bacterial, but fungal. The zombies are called “hungries” by the general populace when the infection starts.
The book is set 20 years after the zombie apocalypse starts. The book kept me up several nights to finish it, so I have rated it five stars.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (2,455 reviews)
I’ve got some updates on the local conditions, but I still have daylight and light rainfall so I need to do more work outside.
More later if I am forced inside.
TL:DR
stores were normal traffic but shelves were either empty or 1/10th of normal stock. Normal lines at gas stations. HUGE line at my propane guy.
n
Normal lines at gas stations. HUGE line at my propane guy.
Yeah, I am thinking about filling my four 5 gallon gasoline cans on Sunday.
I have three of the 20 lb propane tanks. I would like to buy three more.
And I have no electricity backup other than my 1,000 AA and D batteries. I have been thinking about buying a pair of those 2kW Honda generators that you can daisy chain. But, money has been tight and I have not done it. Plus I am not convinced that one can get gasoline if things go truly in the ditch.
https://www.amazon.com/Honda-EU2000I-Portable-Generator-Inverter/dp/B005ND19AE/
I wonder if I can order one now from Big River ?
I am also regretting not replacing my electric kitchen cooktop with a natural gas cooktop. Again, money tightness issues. Sigh.
I am really freaked by the shutting down the entire Calhoun county electrical infrastructure. That includes the town of Port Lavaca and is around 25,000 people (SWAG). I would think that they would just shutdown the areas that are known to be flooded. With a 16 ft storm surge, about half of the County will be flooded. The town of Port O’Connor will be totally inundated as it has been many times before.
lynn RE: power
I can strongly recommend the Champion Dual Fuel generators.
http://www.championpowerequipment.com/products/generators/for-home/100155-7000w9000w-generator/
This 8k watt model lists for about $800 but I got mine factory refurbished for $500 and change on Ebay. I have also seen them at CostCo in the $500 range refurbished. These run for 6 hrs on a 20 lbd Propane bottle or 8 hrs on 5 gallon gasoline. I prefer propane because it’s much cleaner and, in my area, still available when gasoline is gone. I also prefer propane because it’s safer. No chance of spilling on a hot engine when refilling the gas tank.
We ran ours twice a day for 4 hrs at a time and it kept the freezers and fridge cold and food safe. It saved well over a thousand dollars in frozen meats and such when we had a 5 day power outage in the spring due to storms.
We have four 20 gallon propane bottles for the generator and six 5 gallon cans we keep filled for vehicles. We also have an electric cooktop but use a Coleman two burner camp stove for cooking when the power is out. We have 10 of the smaller propane bottles for this. I would use a propane grill but I gave that to my son last year.
I can strongly recommend the Champion Dual Fuel generators.
http://www.championpowerequipment.com/products/generators/for-home/100155-7000w9000w-generator/
How is the noise ?
I like the Honda’s because they are super quiet.
Taking a short break.
Checked the trees for deadfall, and they were ok. Got up on roof and decided I didn’t need to prune anything near the roof. I’d done it just a few months ago.
Took down the swings and secured the deck chairs.
I was able to fill my 1/2 empty pickup truck at costco after a 5 minute wait. Filled 2 of the five gallon cans, and left some for the others. Later, I passed a small gas station with no lines at all and filled the other 2 five gallon cans. I’ve got about 20+ gallons normally but like to have more for hurricanes. Should have enough to run the gennie for more than a week without resupply. DIDN”T get propane. I’ve got ~6 full bottles and the 3 empties. Not worried about that. Lots of little bottles if needed for cooking or lanterns.
Took down my big vertical antenna.
Covered and secured a bunch of stuff in the driveway.
Need to dig out my gennie which is buried in the garage.
got ebay shipping to do before 5 so I better get busy.
n
Roll-up Paper FLASHLIGHT
(H/T Jeff Duntemann)
Oh yeah, I need to mount the rear door in the back of the garage. Right now, there is 32 inch by six foot hole. Lets a lot of air in so the garage does not get so hot.
I like the Honda’s because they are super quiet.
At least they are advertised to be quiet.
When hurricane Ike rolled through in 2008, we had all of the windows open for ventilation since the power was out for 2.5 days. Our neighbor had a generator going ALL NIGHT. At 5 am, I was ready to kill his generator. And him.
Back from airport run this AM w/wife; blood drawn and pee taken at VA in Burlap; recommendation letter claiming I walk on wotta delivered by hand to college admissions office and a nice chat with the people there; and a 4-pack of new “no-flat” tires picked up at Home Depot for our Gorilla Cart. Which has been a real big help here with loading and moving firewood, compost, potting soil, etc. Also got a big-ass fire extinguisher and vehicle bracket for the cah.
I will show up for the first class this coming Monday night at the college and the next afternoon have a face-to-face interview/meeting with two of the professor/shrinks. If all goes well with paperwork and that meeting, I’ll keep going and also have five full Saturdays of intensive lab training as my second class. So I guess we’ll see next week if I’m definitely in the program. Gorgeous views from the top of the campus; bound to be spectacular in coming weeks.
Best wishes and prayers again for all y’all in the path of whatever big-ass storm coming your way this weekend.
Best wishes and prayers again for all y’all in the path of whatever big-ass storm coming your way this weekend.
Good luck with the classes. I went back in 2011 after 20 years, and the biggest adjustment was that the faculty just expected us to follow the PowerPoint slides rather than take notes.
The upside of the storm is that, having grown up in FL, any Gulf weather coming in always smells like “home”. Pacific weather since Fuckushima smells like … well, I’d rather not know.
The upside of the storm is that, having grown up in FL, any Gulf weather coming in always smells like “home”.
I understand this.
When I was in 8th and 9th grade, we lived in the old Officer housing on Berkley AFB in Mobile. It was about 1000 feet to the bay. Lots of fun catching crabs and just wandering around.
I can still smell the place 45 years or so later.
Lynn: the champion generator isn’t quiet. But then it costs less than half a Honda. I couldn’t afford a Honda.
Well, it’s been fun. I’m cooking some macaroni. To top it, a can of Hormel roast beef with a best by date of 02/12.
The dogs and I will die happy. I call that a plus.
Harvey is now a Cat 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds. I am really glad that my parents bugged out of Port Lavaca yesterday. Looks it is going in at Port O’Connor which is south of Port Lavaca.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCUAT4+shtml/251856.shtml
looooool!!!!
President tRump pardoned “Sheriff Joe” Arpaio. The SJW/BLM/LARAZA derps are gonna go crazy.
Pass the popcorn!
Twitter is alight with derps blaming tRump for “no bread on the shelves” in Houston. lol! He should take AF1 there and open up a bakery. Maybe airdrop Wonder Bread from 20,000′.
And then refuse to serve gays….
fun times.
Go?
No. Let them eat cake.
Got the gennie out and on the patio. Haven’t fueled or started it.
We are currently 76F with 97RH light mist/rain occasionally.
I also filled my two new 100L tanks, an aquatainer, a 5 gallon coleman camp jug, and 2 water cooler bottles.
got the local supposed hurricane net up on 2m, but it’s just guys ragchewing.
Getting a really low signal for the hurricane net on HF. Listening on my shortwave since I took down the antenna for my TRX
Time to put the kids to bed.
n
President tRump pardoned “Sheriff Joe” Arpaio. The SJW/BLM/LARAZA derps are gonna go crazy.
There would have been hell to pay with the base if Trump hadn’t pardoned Sheriff Joe.
Plus there was probably a bit of political payback with McCain.
No signs of food poisoning yet. Dogs are happy.
I’m watching a movie on prime called Complete Unknown. They are not right. Save your time, there are better movies to watch.
Forgot to mention, been running the dish washer, and clothes washer all day. If we have a power outage, you want to start clean…
no real weather yet.
n
Wow, we have about 100% chance of rain until next Wednesday.
https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/tx/sugar-land-municipal-hull/KSGR
We are suppose to get 4 inches of rain today, 9 inches tomorrow, 8 inches on Sunday, 3 inches on Monday, and just 2 inches on Tuesday. Yes, that is 26 inches of rain over 5 days.
And better yet, we are going to perform another levee test on the Brazos River. Yes, the Brazos is forecast to come up 41 ft over the next 4 days.
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=HGX&gage=RMOT2
@Nick, you had better watch those Addicks and Barker dams west of you. They are gonna get full again. I know that they have been working on the VW sized voids in the Addicks dam but I doubt that they are finished.
http://www.houstonpress.com/news/if-the-addicks-and-barker-dams-fail-6594886
Yup, I am going to need to mount the back door on the garage tonight.
“He should take AF1 there and open up a bakery. Maybe airdrop Wonder Bread from 20,000′.”
“And then refuse to serve gays….”
And Mssrs, Atoz and Nick win the innernet today!
Thank goodness, too, that Mr. paul is still with us after that macaroni and aged beef.
“Good luck with the classes. I went back in 2011 after 20 years, and the biggest adjustment was that the faculty just expected us to follow the PowerPoint slides rather than take notes.”
Thanks. I have no real idea of what to expect; other than that the classes are gonna be small and there will probably be a chit-load of reading. Rather than PowerPoint, I’d sorta expect more chatter and yakking. I’ll have to tote along some bottled well wotta for these things. And I intend to check out their chow hall, also.
Could be loads of boffo laffs in the winter, as the place is way up on a hill; several steep roads and rolling driveways on the campus itself. I have All-Wheel-Drive but will probably get really aggressive snow tires this fall. And I’ll be bringing along my GHB and another bag of stuff to have in case I get stranded out there due to a storm (it’s about 35 miles each way along some fairly deserted stretches of forested highway and farm fields).
Round Rock HEB is picked clean. We just got back.
Eggs. Milk. Water. Coke products. Fresh fruit. Kinda surprising considering how far up we are.
The clerks joked about a guy who came in to get a cake for a hurricane party.
Huh. Just went outside and almost no clouds. Lots of stars. A nice crescent moon… A bit hazy. Nice breeze and about 78F.
The forecast was 50% chance of rain. I had enough today to spot my glasses. Looks like I’m getting the dry side of the 50% chance.
What do you get for a hurricane party? A “three sheetcakes to the wind”? A Windy City pizza?
Light but steady drizzle, calm at ground level with sounds of wind in the trees, station says 5mph gusts. total so far today is 0.75 inches.
WRT some ‘aged’ meat. Dinner last night was 3 racks of lamb rib chops (lamb lolipops) frozen in Mar of 2013 and absolutely delicious. Deep freeze with heavy vac pack and you are good until defrosted.
well, i’m gonna shower and go to bed. We’re due for our worst sometime in the wee hours and I might have to wake up….
Plus, I’m beat.
n
if i’m up, I’ll check in.
@greg, did I mention that our HEB, the chips section was wiped clean while other areas still had food? WIPED. Wife says “sure, you are gonna sit around eating chips, what else is there to do with no power?”
Never occurred to me.
n
What do you get for a hurricane party? A “three sheetcakes to the wind”? A Windy City pizza?
Lots of booze is standard. Its Austin — any excuse to drink in excess is welcome.
Chips and beer.
What do you get for a hurricane party?
Blow Job.
@lynn, addicks held up for the last one, that article was from 2012…
‘course I did go and inspect it every day, since it was a 70ft wall of water a couple hundred feet from my kids’ school…
n
And Ray takes it home this fine evening.
Yes, Mr. Ray wins big, and we have to take the prize away from MrAtoz and Mr. Nick. Wow. That takes the cake, Mr. Ray!
I mention that our HEB, the chips section was wiped clean while other areas still had food? WIPED. Wife says “sure, you are gonna sit around eating chips, what else is there to do with no power?”
Never occurred to me.
Oh, yeah, the chips in Round Rock were gone as were the eggs. Stripped bare.
Pop Tarts were a perennial favorite in FL during storms. I didn’t check that aisle.
What I’m puzzled about is that the Coke products were depleted tonight, but most of the Pepsi brands were available in all sizes.
Hey Lynn, did you see that the Girl with all the Gifts is also a video? The cover pic has her wearing a Hannibal Lechter mask….
n
Saw the repeat suggestion to write one’s SSN on one’s arm if not evacuating.
Might be better to write it on torso (and maybe a few other places) in case your body is ripped apart.
I’m not saying there is not a basic right to ride out the storm at home, but this is not a bad idea, just in case.
@spook, I know people who did that and wrote goodbye messages on their bodies during a narrowly averted plane crash scenario. Lost engines, lost altitude, pilot got it on the ground and they lived.
n
If you are swept away by flood waters/storm surge, they rarely find you. The debris is like a blender….
slow and steady has our rainfall at 0.94. Still just a drizzle.
n
@spook, I know people who did that and wrote goodbye messages on their bodies
Sounds like a Sharpie ad!
Corollary:
It’s not fair to responders to beg for rescue after the evac cut-off.
Might be good to give them a message to use next time, like “I was a fool.”
From the Warmists Are Full of Shit Department:
https://straightlinelogic.com/2017/08/25/new-climate-study-throws-a-wrench-in-the-global-warming-debate-our-new-technical-paper-will-likely-be-ignored-by-mac-slavo/
And from the Department of Wizards At Jackson Hole:
http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/controlled-demolition/
Harvey is a bitch.
Best wishes, Y’all !
From the Department of Fred:
https://fredoneverything.org/to-the-barricades-we-will-at-least-be-less-bored/
@lynn, addicks held up for the last one, that article was from 2012…
‘course I did go and inspect it every day, since it was a 70ft wall of water a couple hundred feet from my kids’ school…
There is an engineering term for stressed materials such as dams. Inelastic Deformation. You push something and you push something, some day it comes loose. Don’t be around when it comes loose.
They took Ann Barnhardt’s site/blog down today with bogus accusations; she’s of course pissed off the Church hierarchy and the anti-pope, the musloids and their eager-beaver enablers, and the Deep State and its many minions and stooges.
Back up within hours, though, on another host.
As she says, we’re gonna need hosts offshore somewhere, maybe Poland or Hungary or Slovakia, you know, where there is still a bit of freedom left.
RBT might wanna keep this in mind as a lot of the stuff here falls within the realm of “undesirable” and “deplorable.” Ditto for Western Rifle Shooters and a bunch of others. All it takes is an alleged “third-party complaint” of some kind.
RBT might wanna keep this in mind as a lot of the stuff here falls within the realm of “undesirable” and “deplorable.”
Well, then, just stop posting that stuff!
Edit: Ooops, I put a grin in brackets with that, but I guess my brackets were some formatting command!
Sorry. GRIN !
Hey Lynn, did you see that the Girl with all the Gifts is also a video? The cover pic has her wearing a Hannibal Lechter mask….
The girl is a not-so-tame Zombie ! They put that mask on her and strap her into a wheelchair and then take her to class …
slow and steady has our rainfall at 0.94. Still just a drizzle.
We’ve had almost five inches of rain today at the office out here in the sticks. A lot less at the house just a 1/2 mile away. My swimming pool has not run over … yet.
https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/tx/richmond/77469?MR=1
Pop Tarts were a perennial favorite in FL during storms.
I read an article a while back on data mining Walmart did on sales before hurricanes. Besides the usual stuff like batteries, water, beer, cleaning supplies, etc. one item stood out. Strawberry Pop Tarts. Other flavors, not so much.
Strawberry Pop Tarts. Other flavors, not so much.
Must be a survey of the low hanging fruit. Cookie Dough is the best followed by cinnamon.
Cookie Dough is the best followed by cinnamon.
Unfrosted blueberry pop tarts are the best.
I haven’t had one of those things for many years; I’ve been tempted a couple of times when passing them in the cereal aisles, though. I kinda agree w/Mr. Lynn that the unfrosted blueberry ones were the best, toasted up nice and crisp.
I kinda agree w/Mr. Lynn that the unfrosted blueberry ones were the best, toasted up nice and crisp
I am offended by your choice. I will be staging a protest outside your house. Expect a lot of police as I suspect there may be violence on both sides. I will beat you with my cane while you pummel me with your crutches. CNN will be there with a headline “Rage Erupts over Old Farts with Tarts”.
Do they still make cherry Pop Tarts? No, not the nasty frosted things.
I need to look and find the One True Flavor of Pop Tarts.
As for me, after working at I-Hop and seeing how blueberry anything turns green when washing the dishes, no, I ain’t eating that stuff.
Ask Mr OFD to build a statue of blueberry PopTarts so that you may smash it, pull it down, or demand that it be removed at taxpayer expense. Sheesh, are you an amateur at this protest temper tantrum stuff or what?
I need to look and find the One True Flavor of Pop Tarts.
42?
Sheesh, are you an amateur at this protest temper tantrum stuff or what?
Apparently. Guess I need to hire some pros to stage my protest.
And on a lighter note:
Football pictures from last night at Kingston VS OSHS for those will some spare time on their hands.
Strange name for a URL but there is a very valid reason. One day I will figure this stuff out.
“I will beat you with my cane while you pummel me with your crutches.”
I currently have the cane and have not yet graduated to crutches. I’m OK here in the house and around the yard but if I walk beyond it or go to the store or wherever, I take it in the cah with me and have to use it. If I fall in an open area, that’s the only way I can get back up. This is frickin’ ridiculous and I will so advise the primary care MD on 9/11. I got a ton of chit to do around here.
Speaking of being offended, and safe spaces, and triggering and suchlike; I am curious as to how I’ll be treated when I show up for class Monday night, given the current state of totalitarian snowflake rule on too many campuses. I have so many strikes against me from the start that maybe they’ll just give it up immediately as too much work. My usual tactic when dealing with new groups of peeps is to keep my pie-hole shut and LISTEN. As long as I can. And then only provide the most basic information/communication until I figure the buggers out. While being friendly and easy-going. So we shall see.
curious as to how I’ll be treated when I show up for class Monday night, given the current state of totalitarian snowflake rule on too many campuses
Yeh, you may stand out like a lump of coal on a snowdrift. Or you may just offend them all by your mere presence and thus will be considered a threat that must be dealt with. You may put a lot of them over the edge into their safe places and calming rooms, you know the rooms with coloring books, cribs, and soft plush toys.
A diamond in a roomful of turds?
My usual tactic when dealing with new groups of peeps is to keep my pie-hole shut and LISTEN.
When someone talks to you, just say, “Far out, man. Know where I can score some weed?”
You’ll fit right in.
This is frickin’ ridiculous and I will so advise the primary care MD on 9/11. I got a ton of chit to do around here.
It could be worse.
My mom moved in here four or five years ago. Just a cane, mostly to swat the dogs away. She could make her own coffee and once she made a batch of fudge. Yeah, little strokes in the speech center….. ok, she sounds like she’s not wearing her teeth for a couple of days.
And it went downhill. None of it was fun. Interesting, yes.
She’s about to turn 86. Seems happy in the nursing home other than they keep giving her crap like mashed potatoes (good) with chopped broccoli mixed in (no fucking way).
So, hey, look at your current decrepitude and figure you have another 25 years.
Just trying to find a bright spot.
“…you may just offend them all by your mere presence and thus will be considered a threat…
And that’s how it was down at Rutgers in the early 90s. Like walking on eggshells every day. Alone in a crowd.
“A diamond in a roomful of turds?”
I’m hoping for just a roomful of ordinary schmucks, including me.
“You’ll fit right in.”
Good advice ordinarily but I tend to give off the cop vibe w/o even trying, despite the long hair and facial stuff.
“… look at your current decrepitude and figure you have another 25 years.”
Thanks a bunch, Sunshine.
Naw, I’m not putting up with this chit for 25 days, let alone 25 years. Gotta fix it, by hook or by crook.
Unfrosted blueberry pop tarts are the best.
Followed only by unfrosted strawberry. Haven’t eaten another flavor in decades and haven’t toasted one for decades before that. WRT spoilage, I always tell students that there’s no danger of them going bad because there’s nothing natural in them that could spoil!