Hurricane Irene: Yikes!!!

[ny biker]

Now if it doesn't do damage to your area are you still going to declutter ny biker? lol

sometimes I think people are afraid to stay in the house on the regular. We need to connect more by doing it and not have foul weather treat to get it done.

Well I have no plans to go anywhere except maybe (hopefully) a bike ride before or after the storm hits, so I will have to do something to pass the time. Of course I might just sit and read, since I have a book I need to finish so I can pass it along to my father and brother. But I will try to get at least some cleaning done. Also I need to pack for my upcoming vacation, so that's another project to work on. But I don't want to come home from vacation to the mess that is currently my living room, which is more incentive to clean.

It gets like this for me every year in late summer and early fall -- I spend my time riding my bike instead of doing things around the house, and after a while the house looks quite neglected.

[tytbody]

lol. I hear ya. Will it be a Biking vacation or will you have to leave her home. Are you near where that MLK dedication is going to be next week?

[ny biker]

I'm about 5-6 miles from the National Mall, though there is a river in between me and it. I heard the MLK Memorial dedication was postponed due to the weather, but hadn't heard yet what the new date would be for it.

I won't be doing any riding on my vacation, but I'm doing a metric a few days after I get back, so I need to log some miles before I leave in order to keep my legs from completely turning to mush. I want to enjoy the metric, not suffer through it.

[Possegal]

The news said 'postponed indefinitely' for the MLK dedication. Then another said something about in a month or two. So who knows.

My big worry is that I'm in the process of replacing my deck. Right now I have the old deck and no railing, and stuff on the deck. If it is very window, they won't just blow around the second story deck, they will blow OFF the deck. I have some cords to use to tie things down, but with no railings, kind of not much to tie them to. I have to figure that out before tomorrow afternoon.

My nephew works for a power company back home and his company has had 6 guys down here for the last 2 days, courtesy of Pepco. Not sure why they've been paying them and putting them up here since Wednesday. I also got my first ever Pepco robocall telling me how there may be power outages and they are ready for them. Which, since they recently made a list as the most hated company, I'm not buying.

I was planning on doing some organizing in my house and then a storage unit I have. I got an email from the storage unit place saying they are shutting down from tomorrow until Monday. I wonder if that means I can't even get in the gate, or just that there won't be anyone there in the office. I guess I'll find out.

[Crankin]

I got a "Code Red" robo call from the town of Concord, stating to hang on for a message.
There was none!
Going out to dinner tonight, bike ride early tomorrow, then will take care of the outside things, as much as possible. The furniture on my patio stays out all winter, so that's staying. The table on my deck which is high up, will be folded and laid down. The gas grill on the other deck; well, if that blows, it goes.
Will take the canoe off of its holder and lay it on the ground. That's blown off in a snowstorm. I might cook up some rice and other stuff to eat with the beans and tuna I have in cans.
Hope I don't have to cancel clients on Monday... the only thing that would cause that is trees all over the road and maybe no power. We shall see.

[ny biker]

Most of what's on my balcony will stay there. It's made it through some pretty strong nor'easters in the past few years. I will move a few small things inside if they don't fit in the storage benches that are out there.

I just printed out some work documents to bring home, just in case the power is out here on Monday.

I'm really glad I don't have to rely on Pepco. Dominion is certainly not immune to problems, but we have far fewer problems here than you guys do in DC and MD.

BTW last night people in Laurel, MD received robocalls telling them to evacuate, and they were fake. So I would try to verify any calls like that on a local government or news website, if you get any.

[redrhodie]

I had a lot of empty space in my freezer, so I filled every container I had with water and put it in there. A full freezer keeps the food cold longer in the event of a power outage, and now I have even more water to drink. A good tip I heard on the local news.

I tried to buy an oil lamp, but the woman ahead of me got the last one. The store had more somewhere. Seriously, 2 guys looking, and they couldn't find them. I ended up with ugly candles instead.

[ny biker]

I had a lot of empty space in my freezer, so I filled every container I had with water and put it in there. A full freezer keeps the food cold longer in the event of a power outage, and now I have even more water to drink. A good tip I heard on the local news.

I tried to buy an oil lamp, but the woman ahead of me got the last one. The store had more somewhere. Seriously, 2 guys looking, and they couldn't find them. I ended up with ugly candles instead.

Be careful with those candles.

Great idea about the freezer -- I'll put some of the water bottles in there.

[PamNY]

I went for a nice long bike ride which I highly recommend for anyone facing a hurricane. I feel all better. Ran into a cyclist friend and he cheerily pointed out that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday look like great biking days.

Quite a few people in my building are staying (unless the evacuation order changes, which I don't think will happen). The wine store was jammed, and I heard two optimistic people making a tennis date for Monday.

I think we will be okay.

[tulip]

PamNY, you had me calmed down for a while. But I just read that Isabel's sustained winds were 40-60 mph, less than the expected 75mph for Irene, and Isabel left much of Richmond in bad shape and without electricity for a week. So now I'm not so sure.

If NYC floods, you might have a problem with critters that normally live in the underground infrastructure. That was a problem in DC during floods. Ick.

[bluebug32]

I'm about an 1.5 hours north of the city. They have already shut our county fair down two days early and cancelled everything else for Sat/Sun. Should be interesting to see what actually transpires. I'll charge up our mtb lights and fill our cooler with water. If worse comes to worse, we've got several gallons of homebrew to get us through!

[ny biker]

PamNY, you had me calmed down for a while. But I just read that Isabel's sustained winds were 40-60 mph, less than the expected 75mph for Irene, and Isabel left much of Richmond in bad shape and without electricity for a week. So now I'm not so sure.

If NYC floods, you might have a problem with critters that normally live in the underground infrastructure. That was a problem in DC during floods. Ick.

From what I'm hearing, Irene should be less bad than Isabel in the DC area, and I think also for Richmond, because we're on the west side of the storm.

As for NY, I would hope for the best but plan for the worst. But then that's how I was raised.

I was going to get up early to try to get in a bike ride tomorrow morning, but I'm too tired to think about that right now. I should be able to get some kind of a ride in on Sunday afternoon, even if it's just an hour of hill repeats in the wind.

[PamNY]

PamNY, you had me calmed down for a while. But I just read that Isabel's sustained winds were 40-60 mph, less than the expected 75mph for Irene, and Isabel left much of Richmond in bad shape and without electricity for a week. So now I'm not so sure.

If NYC floods, you might have a problem with critters that normally live in the underground infrastructure. That was a problem in DC during floods. Ick.

Tulip, there is absolutely no point in worrying about what you can't control. The only thing I can control is me and my dog being near a window, and that won't happen.

One of the neighbors I ran into tonight calmed little children on 9/11 by telling them we were practicing for Halloween when we put painter's rags over our faces to breathe.

We will be fine.

[bluebug32]

It's looking cloudier and cloudier and getting humid as the day passes in NY. Time to get some exercise in now before some big-time sitting around tomorrow. Good luck, everyone! I'm keeping my eye on this: http://www.nytimes.com/projects/hurr...WT.mc_ev=click

[Blueberry]

The worst is past my mom, and the water is receding. Yay!!!

Safe thoughts for all who are still in her path.