Thursday, September 30, 2004

Thursday, September 30, 2004

We took Galahad's cousin (from out of town) out for dinner.  We ended up at Riverwalk and then at Max's Grille, who is currently boasting everything on their menu for $6.99.  They have to be money-laundering to stay in business.  I'm not buying the whole market share concept.  Anyway, we feasted like royalty for a bargain price.  :)

For those of you keeping track, 2 Excedrin & 1 Imitrex --- deja fucking vu all over again.  :p  Haha, even though I'm hurting, it still makes me giggle.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

HUGE CONGRATS TO MY SIS WHO PASSED THE BAR!!  (not the alcoholic one, the legal one ;))  I'm so proud of her.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Migraines & Hurricane Fatigue Syndrome.

It's like deja vu all over again.  :p
 

Monday, September 27, 2004

Monday, September 27, 2004

We watched a funny movie yesterday -- American Splendor.  It's another one of those wacky ones that Galahad is known to pick out. 

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Sunday, September 26, 2004

I popped awake at 5:30am to more howling winds and the sight of my digital clock peering out at me.  Yay, we still had power!  =)  

In listening to the wind whining, I tried to see if I heard the train or the lion roar that these newscasters talk about.  Nope.  One newscaster actually described it accurately, imo.  He said it was the loudest white noise you could imagine.  A few more tense hours passed as I willed our power to stay on.  It started getting light outside and the wind lessened a bit. 

I moved downstairs to eat even more and park myself on the couch.  I was now officially suffering from Hurricane Fatigue Syndrome.  It's not pretty.  I think I ate 5000 calories in the past 24 hours which is a lot even for me.  Also, the muscle soreness from Friday night's class was starting to kick in.  Did I mention the migraine came back last night, too?

I became loopy & delirious when I finally felt safe.  The newscasters kept using a silly line that was redundant, which of course made me giggle.  Yeah, I know --- I'm a geek who laughs at grammatically incorrect usage.  Sue me.  You ready for it?  Sitting down?
 
"It's like deja vu all over again."  Beautiful in its simplicity, isn't it?  Poor Galahad had to listen to me repeat that ad nauseum all day.  It always set me off on a giggle spree, too.  I doubt I could have been more annoying if I had practiced.  This far surpassed the hunkering in the bunker remarks from last time, although I still throw those in for good measure since it's like deja vu all over again.  =D

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Saturday, September 25, 2004

I woke up bright & early and full of energy after my class as usual.  The soreness & fatigue would kick in later.  I turned on the TV and saw that we were now under Hurricane Watch and a major storm was heading right for us but might veer.  I woke Galahad up in a panic and told him we had to get busy cuz we were supposed to get hit in 8 hours or so.  The poor guy was sleeping so peacefully, too.  I started calling relatives to see if everyone was okay and actually aware of this.  Hurricane Jeanne became a threat to us so fast.

Galahad's mom asked if we would come over and help with the shutters.  They had taken them all down last week.  *grumble*  We did some preliminary work outside of our house then drove down there to start that.  I was so tense that I burned through the food I had eaten as we walked out the door and arrived there hungry.  Laugh.  Lucky for me, she's used to my ways and made me a quick snack.  Feeder bands started hitting us at about noon and we got soaked fixing up her house.   Afterwards, we ate again and then left to get home before the strong winds and rain became more consistent.

Of course, me being me suggested we sneak onto the beach first.  Galahad being him thought that was an excellent idea.  =)  Last time (Hurricane Frances) we tried it using a major thoroughfare and were thwarted.  This time, I remembered a smaller access road, which wasn't blocked off.  We parked in an empty parking lot since everyone had evacuated and walked onto the beach.  The surfers were out as usual even though we were in a Mandatory Evacuation Area.  They seemed kinda chicken to me, but what do I know.  There were several paddled out, but they were very finicky about which waves they would ride in on.  Finally, I was so cold in the driving wind & rain, that I was happy to leave.  We drove North to the next major road to cut over to the mainland.  The police in all of their infinite wisdom had both ways blocked off and told us to turn around and go back the 15 miles to the smaller road.  :(  Sigh

By the time we got home, the feeder bands were constant.  I ran inside to take my last hot shower before the power failed.  It was like the last dinner of a condemned man.  Galahad cooked up a giant pot of dumplings and we feasted on the living room floor using a cardboard box as our dining table.  I naturally brought out the place-mats.  No reason to live as barbarians.  =)

We finished up all of the inside stuff that needed securing and wished that storm North.  At one point when it was still aiming right for us and they were saying it would be a category 4 hurricane, I panicked and brought out the Lucky Goat Milk.  It had the desired effect of breaking up our somber mood (and perhaps a side effect of sending that storm north :p).

Jeanne did start veering north although we were still in line to catch the outer edges of the hurricane force winds.  It got a bit scary at times listening to the winds whine & howl.   The power flickered and blinked off at one point.  That freaked us out cuz they had been repeating that if we lost power, it could be 3 weeks to get it back.  I was on my laptop chatting to several people all over the world attempting to remain calm & distracted.  Thankfully this storm was moving much faster than Frances so we had only about 8 hours of really intense wind & rain.  It's amazing what you get thankful for, huh?

I was way too tense to sleep so I was up most of the night holding our house together with the power on through sheer willpower.  =D  I woke Galahad up at 2am to watch the 1st ever  Chinese Grand Prix.  I finally shut down my laptop and we moved upstairs to watch TV in bed, where I fell promptly asleep.

Friday, September 24, 2004

Friday, September 24, 2004

I'm tired of this migraine already.  I'm taking meds and going to my class tonight anyway.

Monday, September 20, 2004

Monday, September 20, 2004

Karma is a harsh mistress.   Omg, I had the migraine from hell yesterday.  It took 3 doses of Imitrex to even make a dent in the pain.  I completely lost my mind and freaked out on Galahad.  Thank goodness he was around to take care of me cuz I was ready for drastic measures much sooner than normal.  On a scale of 1-10, this one was an 11. 

Sunday is usually a day of intense muscle pain from Friday's class.  I was in so much pain from my head that I felt none of it.  I could barely eat, and light & sound was killing me.  I had to cover my eyes most of the day and turn the TV volume down to almost mute.  Finally around 4 or so, I was able to eat some chicken broth & soda crackers.  Three cheers for hurricane supplies.  :p  By 8, my stomach had recovered.  I was starving and scarfed down some of Galahad's pizza.

My head is still hurting this morning.  I breakfasted on oatmeal (plain as always) and 2 Excedrin.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Karma is a bitch.  :p  I woke up this morning with a GIANT zit starting on my forehead.  I was sure Galahad punched me during the night cuz it started swelling like a goose egg.  He swore he didn't.  :p  I wonder which of my unkind thoughts led to this.  Perhaps it was the King-sized pack of peanut M&Ms I had consumed.  ;)  I usually only get ones that bad after an intense migraine and copious amounts of medication trying to leave my body in a hurry. 

Thank goodness for bangs & make-up.  =)  I covered my blemish (hehe I love that word) nicely before we went out to a surprise party and then to a concert.  We went to support a friend who was playing there.  It certainly was an interesting crowd since the theme of the concert was recovering from addictions.  Ex-addicts are as bad as born-again religious zealots in their preaching and enthusiasm.  The funny part was watching the few drunks in the crowd, too. 

Friday, September 17, 2004

Friday, September 17, 2004

Class tonight was awesome.  I pushed myself hard, and it felt so good.  Afterwards, we went out for sushi.  I ended up in a deep philosophical conversation with a man I had just met from class.  He had some interesting theories on the universe and the meaning of life.  We discussed karma and bad energy following someone.

Of course, Galahad and I goofed on him on the drive home seeing as how he had put down people for being close-minded and then looked with pity on me because I failed to accept his theory just like that.  Talk about a hypocrite.   :p

Monday, September 13, 2004

Monday, September 13, 2004

We watched some unknown (to me) film named Billy Elliot.  I had a hard time with some of the accents.  Okay, who am I kidding, most of the accents.  Yeah, I know it was English, but I'm challenged that way.  :p  It was a very cute movie although I cried quite a bit in certain parts.

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Saturday, September 11, 2004

It looks like Ivan may be going west of us thankfully.  It's heartbreaking to see what it's done & is still doing to the Caribbean islands.

Today we replanted 2 trees that were displaced due to Hurricane Frances.  My brother was very nice and helped us.  Omg, it was so fucking hot!  Afterwards, Galahad made a huge feast for dinner with BBQ steak and fresh jicama among other tasty delights.

At about 10 pm, my brother decided to go check his house again for power.  He was trying not to be compulsive every 10 minutes.  :p  Anyway, he called me so happy and came back to get his suitcase.  I offered to let him stay another night since his house must be so humid & hot, but he was so excited to be home again.  =)

Friday, September 10, 2004

Friday, September 10, 2004

I went to conditioning class tonight to relieve some stress.  We brought my brother since he is still staying with us.  It sucks not to have power for over a week, poor guy.  I love civilization and its modern conveniences.  Anyway, I really pushed myself, and I'm going to be sore for the next few days.  It was nice to let out my pent up emotions in a physical way, though.

Afterwards, we went out to eat with my friend to a sushi & Thai restaurant.  Yay!!  Omg, I've been craving sushi for days now, but Galahad wouldn't let me have any cuz of the freshness factor or lack thereof.  It was so wonderful, but then my insensitive clod of a brother decided it would be a good idea to tell a story about our dead mother that portrayed her & her disease in a non-flattering way.  That freaked me out, and I ran out of the restaurant crying.  I know he didn't mean it, but it just set me off and kinda ruined the rest of my night.  :(  He apologized and said he'd try to remember that I'm sensitive.  He assumed since she's been dead almost 5 years now, I should be over it.  I mostly am until he brings up stories like that for entertainment value.  I hated causing a scene at the restaurant in front of my friend & her niece from Paris.  Gah, I felt like such an idiot.  I paid the whole check myself just so we could leave quickly and not have to muck about with who had what.

Thursday, September 9, 2004

Thursday, September 9, 2004

I broke down and started crying this morning.  :(  So many people have died already from this monster named Ivan.  Others who lived have to rebuild their lives.  If that weren't enough to make me cry (it is), it's also headed my way.  It's amazing how humbling a natural disaster of this magnitude can be.  Now multiply it by 3 and factor in another month and a half of High Hurricane Season.  It officially ends November 30th, but September & October are usually the worst.  I'm starting to lose my optimistic outlook.  :\ 

I've been planning on donating money for the people who got hit badly by Hurricane Charley.  Then, I thought maybe I should save for Frances (just in case).  Now, I'm saving for Ivan just in case.  My dilemma is where do I send money?  Just to Floridians or to some of those poor islands who got wiped out?  I wonder if they have charities set up and how corrupt they will be.  I'm still so cynical that my money won't go where it's needed the most.  I would rather hand it to people I see and not take the tax break just to know it's being used properly.  I heard this morning that some church was selling their Hurricane donations.  How fucking sad is that??

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

I tried to go back to work today, but now I'm starting to get nervous about Ivan the terrible, the next hurricane bowling ball being rolled down our alley.  My concentration was definitely off, and I'm still not getting my 8 hours a night.  Apparently I'm still on Farmer Time and am waking up at daybreak.

A piece of trivia I found interesting:  Friday night was the highest incidences of domestic disturbance calls to the police because everyone was all locked up together behind shutters and scared witless.

Florida Hurricane Relief Fund

Tuesday, September 7, 2004

Tuesday, September 7, 2004

We survived Hurricane Frances!!  Yay!!!  =)

I lost power Saturday night at about 2am (so I guess technically Sunday morning) and just got it back last night.  Less than 48 hours without power made me crazy.  :p  Our A/C broke, so even after we had power, it was still kinda hot in here.  And the humidity was horrendous.  We had to change all the sheets & towels cuz they were yucky.

All the days started to run together so I can't give too much of a blow by blow.  Cabin fever set in rapidly.  I was thanking my lucky goat milk that we stayed in our house and didn't have anyone else there with us.  The flip side of us not having shutters is that we were able to get a front row seat to the majestic destruction that was happening around us.  We watched as one of our trees knocked over easily and almost rolled into the pool.  We ran outside and tried moving it to a better spot.  The two of us could barely maneuver it.  I think we both strained some back muscles with that.  Yeah, I know ... lift with the knees.  Try doing that when you're standing in 60 mph gusts and driving rain.  Okay, I have no idea how forceful the winds were.  I'm thinking my next present to Galahad is going to be a wind-speed gadget.  :)

Later on, we decked out in rain-gear and took a walk along our back canal.  We saw so many birds hunkered down for the impending storm.  A great blue heron looked so peaceful in his little copse although I was surprised that he didn't evacuate.  :p 

Big trees were already coming down on Saturday as the feeder bands were hitting.  It scared me to think of what might be coming up.

After we lost power, it started to get scarier cuz I had no idea what was going on, and it was fucking LOUD outside!!  Every crash I heard, I kept thinking, this is the one that is coming through the walls or roof.  No power meant no over sensationalized Channel 7 News.  The house stayed somewhat cool that night but really started to heat up the next day.  We opened all the sliders to let the hurricane winds blow through and cool us off, but it also let 9 million percent humidity in.  The carpet started feeling yucky under my feet.  :(

I got crankier as the temperature rose.  It kept raining a lot so that helped, but the breezes started dying down.  We went for another walk at some point (I lost track of time) and scoped out damages and wildlife.  We saw a truly amazing sight.  Somehow every iguana was out trying to warm up and/or dry off.  There were at least a dozen giant ones that we saw on tree branches across the canal.  They were much easier to spot since most leaves were stripped off.  Gronk was out with his Gronkettes and then we saw Grampa Gronk.  He was huge although not as brilliantly orange as he used to be.

I know this is disjointed, and I apologize, but random thoughts are popping up.  Like I said, I lost track of time & day. 

Galahad got out his little camping stove and made us hot soup (good thing I bought one edible variety) when we came back inside all wet.  The rain was driving so hard that it finally penetrated our rain gear even though he had just coated it again with silicone (or whatever they waterproof gear with).  He was enjoying himself mightily and looked at all of this as a big adventure.  It was nice because neither one of us got cranky at the same time, so the other one could always boost spirits.  I'll give you one guess who needed more boosting.  :p

I had breakfasted on a Snapple Meal Drink at 5 am when I woke up hungry & in the dark.  I was scared to open the fridge and let cold air out so I just felt around on the counter for one of those.  Just because I can eat anything when I'm hungry doesn't make it palatable.  It was fucking god-awful.   Shiver.  Cringe.  I drank it while sitting on the floor next to one of my big windows and watching our mango tree blow violently around.  It did serve its purpose though.  It filled me up in a quick, convenient manner.

During one of the semi-lulls in the storm, we went out and fished half of a tree out of our pool.  This was a different one from the one we rescued before. 

I spent part of the day bored going through an old box.  I found all of my awards from school, including my HappyGram from 1st grade.  Gah, I'm such a pack-rat, but it was valuable entertainment during extreme boredom and repressive heat & humidity.  I had already finished the book, Digital Fortress, that I was reading. 

Galahad insisted we go out for dinner and I was up for the adventure although I wasn't sure what we'd find.  It was a bit tricky putting on eyeliner by flashlight.  :)  I had him check it afterwards to make sure it was even.  :p  We tried north first but there were curfews in effect and police were closing down restaurants, so we ended up south at a pizza place.  They had ice cold a/c and hot food, so we gladly endured the one hour wait time for food.  They had a very limited menu quickly scrawled on a napkin taped to the front counter, and pizza wasn't on it.  He got spaghetti & and I had ravioli (and a Zone bar from my purse while I waited the hour).

We debated going to his mother's house (since she had power) to sleep or staying home and letting the breezes cool us off.  His mother doesn't keep the a/c very cold so we would have been hot there, too, just without the humidity.  It was about 76°F out with 20-30 mph winds.  Privacy won out, plus the roads were scary to drive on.  There were no traffic lights, and giant trees suddenly appeared fallen in the road.  We milked our time at the pizza place and stayed there until we got sleepy.  :p  The people at a nearby table had driven over 20 miles to eat there.  We drove home, brushed our teeth by candlelight, and tried to fall asleep.  I woke up every few hours as I'd been doing since Tuesday or so.

One of my phone lines worked intermittently, so I checked in with family & friends to let them know how we were and see how they were.  We started to set our house back to normal and were cleaning up outside as well as putting all the orchids back out.  Then, we were on Lizard Duty to catch all the ones who had hunkered down in our house.  :p  I rescued a butterfly from the pool while I was skimming out the 6 million or so leaves that had blown in.  It was nice and cold in there so I kept dipping my feet in as I started to overheat.  I didn't really care how dirty it was at that point.  We had chlorinated it beforehand so no bacteria should be in it, just good clean dirt.  :p

By 11 am, I had hit the end of my rope and called one of my brothers to see if he had power yet.  He didn't and asked if we wanted to go get lunch.  That was an easy answer.   I went inside, took a cold shower (yuck but at least I had running water), shaved my legs, put my hair in a ponytail, and tried to make myself presentable.

There were long lines at all the nearby restaurants and since the car had nice cold a/c, we just kept driving farther south until we found one without a wait.  They again had a limited menu --- quesadillas or quesadillas.  Galahad ordered a margarita which turned out to be huge.  The guy at the next table was on his 3rd or 4th (that we saw) and was so fucking drunk.  Again, they had good a/c and hot food, so we planted ourselves there for a few hours.  My brother was fun company and we amused each other with reminiscing and good conversation.   At 4pm, we left and drove across the street where another restaurant was opening up.

My brother ordered more food, and we sat there for another hour until Galahad decided it was time to leave to go to his martial arts class.  He had persuaded my brother to join him as they were both missing their normal workout routine, and my brother's gym was still closed.

We drove home surveying the damage and the fallen trees.  Overall, I have to say I was very fortunate.

I'm exhausted and will finish my story later.  =)

Saturday, September 4, 2004

Saturday, September 4, 2004

It's finally here --- well the edges anyway.  It's down to a category 2 so only (ha!) 105 mph winds, and we still should be taking a miss on this by 50 or 60 miles if it stays on course.  Thank you Lucky Goat Milk!!

I guess I'd better explain about my lucky can of goat milk.  Six years ago, a Hurricane was headed right for us in our brand new (to us) house.  I had less flexible hours then at work, so I wasn't able to take off exactly when I wanted to get supplies.  I ended up at my local Publix Supermarket picking up stuff that had been picked through hours ago.  That store caters to mostly retirees, so the only section left semi-intact was the ethnic section.  I was kind of panicking since Hurricane Andrew's devastation was just a few years prior, and I remembered my parents living on canned foods for weeks.  I loaded up my cart with anything edible, whether I recognized its use or not.  I figured that Galahad is creatively talented in the culinary arts, plus I'll eat just about anything when I get hungry.

That night, he's going through the supplies I bought and starts asking why I bought them.  He's new to Florida's Hurricane Season so he's giving me the benefit of the doubt if it's local wisdom.  I started crying and said it's all they had left, and I didn't want to starve.  He reassures me that all will be well and starts his mind going on unusual recipes.

Since then, we've had quite a few close scares and some brushes with severe weather but have come out smiling.  I credit my lucky goat milk.  :p  At some point, he used it or tried to, so it was no longer in our cupboard.  Wednesday night, I went through a similar feeling of "omg there's no food left for me" since I went to a different store and most of the ethnic foods had been cleaned out there, also.  I bought some Goya Tamarind Juice and pigeon peas (both new to my repertoire this year).  You might wonder why Galahad leaves it to me to do the shopping, but he was getting over some cold or virus and working like crazy at work, so I offered.  Plus, I got to hang out and laugh with my brother at a Wal-Mart at 3 am.  =)  As we got to the register, there on the side where someone had decided they didn't want it, was a can of Goat Milk, nearly identical to the one from years back.  Of course I had to buy it.  And so far so good, the storm has seriously weakened and is forecast to hit a bit north of us.

/dance

Web Cam: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Ocean View Cam in New Smyrna Beach Florida Live Video of the Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, Ocean and Waves
 

Friday, September 3, 2004

Friday, September 3, 2004

I lied.  I'm posting again but this time from my laptop since my PCs are safely ensconced in my laundry room wrapped under sheets of plastic & duct tape.

I finally got about 6 hours of sleep last night so I'm feeling a bit better (but not that much).  The storm has slowed way down so impact is now being predicted for tomorrow instead of today, although we did start to feel some of the feeder bands this afternoon.

We finished up the outside work here (30+ orchids in my house along with assorted critters who were hunkering down in them) and then drove to Galahad's parents' house to help them with final preparations.   After lunch there, we stopped by my brother's house since he's on the way to say hello and see how he was doing.  He didn't sound so good on the phone --- too little sleep, too much caffeine, and too much stress.  His house was mostly boarded up by then.  I got to visit with his doggies (always a treat for me =)).  We hung out there for a bit until the transformer popped into fireworks in his backyard and he lost power.  I have no idea what caused that since it was sunny out, and there hadn't been any gusting winds for an hour or so.  Anyway, we decided that it was probably time to get off the roads and get home. 

First we tried to detour to the beach to see the surf coming in (it was still a gorgeous, albeit hot, day).  The police had every access road blocked off, so that shot that idea down.  I think it was smart of them to do that even though I would have loved to take a last walk on the beach before the storm hit.

The storm has weakened down to a Category 3 and looks to still hit a tad north of us, so we'll be on the "clean" side of impact.

WebCam | Views from The Miami Herald

Thursday, September 2, 2004

Thursday, September 2, 2004

OMFG IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR ME!!!!

I feel a little bit better now.  :p  This will be my last posting before the storm hits.  I'll be packing my PC up after this.  I met my brother at a Super Wal-Mart last night to do our last minute emergency supply shopping.  It just reinforced how much I hate Wal-Mart.  We were there from 2 am until almost 4 am.  And, they were sold out of water.  Fuckers.  Oh well, I got lots of weird soups & beans and my lucky can of goat milk.  =) 

I'm starting to feel a bit frightened and losing some of my normal good spirits.  I only got 2 hours of sleep last night which didn't help, but my mind is too busy to sleep.  I'm also feeling terribly overwhelmed.  I'm not sure what to do first, and we still have to go help Galahad's parents secure their house.  We haven't really started on ours yet.  And, it all seems like a waste of time cuz what can I do against 140 mph winds and 180 mph gusts?  Bringing my orchids inside so that they don't get launched as missiles until after our windows shatter seems a little irrelevant.

We still have a full day to accomplish these tasks, so maybe if I start now and get a few things done, I'll feel better.  Most gas stations have run out of gas already, too. 

Did I mention I'm a teensy bit nervous?  :p  I've enjoyed my time in this house immensely, but I'm not quite ready to give it up yet.  I apologize for my disjointed thoughts, but like I said before, my mind is racing doing a hundred things at once.  Okay, I'm turning this off now.  I'll try to have my laptop up for as long as possible for those of you who have my IM info.

So long and thanks for all the sushi!  =)

weather.com - Atlantic Satellite/Radar

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

Bwahahaha.  I sent an email to my assorted siblings letting them know our status with the Impending Storm of Doooooom on the horizon.  My brother emailed quite a humorous reply back.  =)

"Good luck!  Our best wishes will follow you wherever your house may land!"