Hurricane Harbor

A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!

Friday, September 30, 2005

What do Michael Moore & Drudge have in common? They both watch Weather...

The various earth sciences, after years of being considered geeky and second cousins to the REAL sciences (biology, physics) have finally come around and realized that Earth Science is HOT, HOT, HOT and exciting to watch, pay attention to and has the POWER to MESERMIZE us all.

I mean we live on this hot, blue planet with a jet stream and atmospere constantly swirling around like a big blue and white lava lamp... in dark reds and oranges if you like enhance IR imagery. Bubbles in the flow get stuck and quickly become wild storms, filled with fury that travel across our land.. tornadoes, twisters, cyclones, hurricanes, hail, rain and the ever popular derechos.

One moment you are out at the beach... a sunny day, a pretty girl in a not much bikini.. a guy with a tan and the breeze is blowing across your young, hot bodies ... baking in the sun when all of a sudden.. out on the horizone, faster than you can save "Save Me Superman!!" a storm forms. Big, tall, white clouds reaching for the sky.. higher and higher and taking over the whole horizon while you lay there baking in the tropical breeze.

If you have lived in Miami in the summer... you may be a Redneck because the rich people go north... the ones faint of heart who will go anywhere to get away from Miami in the August. But.. if not.. if you are a poor working folk of any color... you know those storms can unleash a wild fury upon your world.

You learn to respect those storms for what they are... Severe Thunderstorms capable of producing large hail and winds in excess of 55 miles per hour... etc, etc.. etc.. whatever they say on the weather warning scroll that many of us know by heart.

Those were the storms we lived for at seventeen.. at the pool at the JCC.. hanging out on a summer afternoon.. waiting in the pool til the LAST minute before jumping out as the whole western sky turned a dark shade of blue-black-purple and gray and lightning began rolling in from the Glades. We were hooked.

Sorry.. I don't think Weather is Geeky.

I think weather is as exciting as anything you will see some computerized, movie company spend a fortune trying to simulate.

How many people watched the War of the Worlds and thought those early storms were one of the best parts?

Come on.. you know you did. The rest was good, fun.. but those wild storms forming just out and beyond the neighborhood there... everyone standing around with their babies, their bikes.. their pets... watching the storms form, the winds pick up ...the electricity in the air.. wow.. come on ...those were awesome.

And, we are mesmerized by it's power to destroy... as well as to bless this country with rich, long, fertile growing seasons. Rain... let it fall.

If it doesn't fall... you get people wishing for it, praying for it.. begging for it.
Movies where people will do anything..even pray for the Rain Man to come and put a spell on their city and make it rain.

Wasn't that Burt Lancaster? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049653/ Was this not considered one sexy, hot movie in it's day?

Was Leap of Faith one of Steve Martin's best moments ever on the screen?http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104695/ Unreal performance, script, staging of musical numbers and of course... the much waited for rains.

The Wizard of Oz.. a title I don't need to even link to..you all see it in your head. Twister.. the movie...

Weather is sexy. Weather is happening. Weather is HOT.

CNN and MSN and FOX.. have found out ...what most of us already knew but didn't talk about in public for fear of seeming nerdy..

Weather is Hot. Weather is Sexy. Weather is exciting. Weather Sells.

Lex Luthor figured this out.. why do you think he was forever trying to control the world's weather? Just to impress Lois Lane? Well, maybe cause am sure if there was ever a weather chaser girl in Metropolis it would sure as hell have been Lois.

Nope.. it's the money honey and the economics is all about weather... whether wheat grows, whether troops can move in and around Iraq, weather rain will mess up D-Day...Normandie, weather the space shuttle takes off. The whole hurricane hunter program was an outgrowth of the US troops having to deal with those crazy typhoons in the Pacific during WW2.

Fire... racing through Chatsworth, a place I know like the back of my hand... fire racing through mountain passages. CNN is trying to figure how to cover that one like they never did before but luckily... the SANTANA winds are dying down. Thank God.

Lived in L.A. My ex-husband was from Northridge. We would spend the weekends by his parent's spread out in the North Valley.. West Valley. The little Miami girl would wake up, go down to the cul de sac, get the paper and stare up at those moutains. Hills really compared to mountains but to a Miami girl.. they were moutains and they were beautiful. Every morning the sunrise hit them just a little differently, can still see the shadows moving across them. Sigh.. fire in Chatsworth...

Oh gosh.. Topanga Canyon.. the most beautiful ride down to the sea is through Topanga Canyon down to Malibu.. twisting and turning through Topanga Canyon.

So... finally the world has caught up with us trackers and chasers and they are standing around staring at the news and talking about Loop Currents, and Santana Winds and waiting to hear the next tidbit of news about weather, about earth science.

Oceanography = El Nino/La Nina, Loop Current, Gulf Stream
Geology = Earthquakes, Volcanoes..

Boring? No.Sexy and exciting and dramatic? Yes.Economically important? Yes.Newsworthy?? YES YES YES very very very YES!

Drudge watches the earth.. he knows that it may be tomorrow's hottest news story.
Quakes in Oregon.. clusters of quakes in California, a volcano beginning to puff into the air like an exhaust value broken from the earth below.

Drudge watches.. he's no dummy.

Got news for him.. Michael Moore watches... watches the eye of storm as it passes over him in Aventura.. he watches.....he knows this is a brewing story.

What do Drudge and Michael Moore have in common? They stay in tune to what is happening in the world around them..

They know where the story is.. follow the story like a good reporter..
The Story in 2005.. is weather.

Example. Lots of people have been upset about Iraq, about the troops not coming home so soon like Mr. President promised. But.. they didn't know what to say.. I mean..what can you say? Wait two more years til we change Heads of State and hope your man wins? Nah..now we have a REASON that unites American's against the war. Suddenly, there is misery and pain and problems in the Hurricane Region and Americans all over begin to wonder why we are paying a fortune to save Iraq when there are so many in need in Hurricane Lands.. American Lands..and no matter what spin they try to put onto it.. Money only goes so far.

Money can go here.. money can go there...money can't go everywhere.

Somewhere the buck has to stop and you run out of money..

Suddenly, people have a reason.. up close and personal in Louisianna, Mississippi and all those dysfunctional places (read notherners calling them dumb southern places in big words... did I not say THAT would happen.. ).

Money makes the world go round and weather tells you who has got it and who needs it..

Weather tells the story of power, politics and the changes that we all face when your worse case scenario really happens.

Andrew.Camille.Katrina.THE BIG ONE going shake, rattle and roll.Chatsworth or parts of LA going up in flames.

Hey ...you boring northerners... you got Winter coming.. Winter of what is left of 2005.. Hang on to your hats.. it's going to be a bumpy ride.

And... lastly... a very interesting link for you to think on.. and think where you want to live, invest, spend your summers.. a list from Hurricane City highlighted on MSN..which I may blog on later.. depending on if I get stuck with more time today than I would prefer to get stuck with...

A list that Jim has spent years putting together of facts on hurricane cities.Notice the list is on the MONEY pages...

MONEY $$$Not news of the wierd, not news on the back burner.

MSN shows Jim's page from www.hurricanecity.com on their MONEY site.

Think about it... think on the power of weather and earth sciences.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/Insureyourhome/P127816.asp

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Carib Wave Developing..Aims North Instead of West

Depending on who you watch the Carib wave that has been down there for days trying to collect it's very tropical thoughts might not make the trip west "towards the Yucatan" and instead head slowly North towards Florida, the Bahamas and places north along I95. Mind you she will need to tango with Cuba first.. in theory which is all this is right now.

North up the Eastern Seaboard or recurve merrily out to seas?

Not sure...don't know.

Just know one thing.. that wave sure as hell did NOT move gently off "towards the Yucatan."

Everytime I hear the morning girl on TWC say that I expect them to drop down a back drop of the islands..maybe Fiji or Hawaii...blue seas, tropical water..waves lapping gently on the shore and a mythically looking moutain in the background.. she suddenly will become transformed .. suddenly she's out of that boring Atlanta suit and wearing a hula skirt, necklace made of hibiscus and frangipangi blossoms and she doing the hula..pointing west.. "towards the Yucatan..."

They better be careful that tropical island doesn't have a volcano that is about to blow up into their wishful faces..

Planes go in today.. maybe.. maybe.. only if the tropical maidens are doing the right dance and there is enough convection down there to make the boys at the NHC get all hot, bothered and excited.

Will see.. I say IF it develops.. goes North before it goes "west towards the yucatan."

*******************

Going to work myself.. in the very NOT dysfunctional state of Florida.

So.....who is going to point the finger at who today and...........don't you think that the boys in Washington could have rescheduled Max Mayfield's appearance for another day as there was a storm down by Florida that day? Well...we aren't Louisianna so I guess they figured we could handle it. New bumper sticker idea.. "It may not look like Paradise but we aren't Louisianna!"

Last year they made fun of Florida..this year Louisianna..

Who they making fun of next year?

Gonna blame the New Madrid Fault or San Andreas on a state being dysfunctional???
My curious mind can't wait to find out.. cuase one day... we will find out.

Shit Happens..Worst case scnearios happen..

Elections happen.. 2 years away.. be there or well...remain dysfunctional!

Bobbi

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Weather Tomorrow.. RED SOX TONIGHT

Tonight I am watching a Red Sox game.

The world can go to kit and kaboodle without me tonight. Promised my "friend" I would sit here and watch ...though think stare is more the proper word for what I do. It's on ESPN.. this is soooo cool. Liberated from staring at Yahoo Live Play screen.. The players move.. lol. Maybe if I ever get around to moving.. I'll change out of the towel and into a Redsox shirt. Or my hat.

Which hat? Thinking..smiling looking at hats.
Nah.. don't like hats.
Will put on my necklace.
A towel and a necklace :) It works!

Bet I could take a great picture for my silly friend with those hats :)

Enough of that..

Weather.. weather.. weather.. wherefore art thou weather??

Oh.. that's right.. no Shakespeare names right now.

Watching a wave in the Caribbean. Watching a wave in the Atlantic.Watching the ULL around Florida that may become a steering current agent for anything that develops.
http://mkwc.ifa.hawaii.edu/satellite/satanim.cgi?chnl=uw4&domain=bah&size=large&period=360&incr=15&rr=900&satplat=goes12&overlay=off
Do you know Fenway Park is beautiful. Really, really beautiful. Can close my eyes and see it... even here in Miami.. far, far away.

Sharon deserves an award for putting up with me and more so putting up with them. She moved and she still can't get away from them. Hiding in Maine. Figures no one wants to go to

Maine lol. Well..some people you know. Rofl.

Okay.. so back to weather..

I could go on and on and on here how FEMA paid double what those berths on the unused cruise ships were worth. I mean.. that was a deal? Did they really think survivors of a flood, who have never been on a boat before would be thrilled about being on a cruiseship? What were they thinking? Carnival got twice what they normally get for an offseason, summertime, hurricane season cabin (about $599) and they don't have to spend any gas money, any entertainment fees... they made one hell of a deal.

Tell you what.. think we should fire everyone running FEMA and hire those people at Carnival that put together that deal. I mean.... you obviously don't need special skills or training to run FEMA... arabian horses.. cruise ships.

What can I say?

It's a crazy world and it keeps getting crazier.

Saw a great line today...so true.
If you aren't pissed. You aren't paying attention.

So true with this whole fiasco which wouldn't be so funny or pathetic to watch except that we have spent a fortune, a few fortunes to prepare this country for a disaster situation and when we had one.. the arabian horses had left the barn and we ran after them fast throwing money in the wind trying to get them back into the barn.

Watching the Red Sox Game.

Got to.. you know..
well.. you don't know but I know and I got to.
Bobbi
win or lose.. will listen to a beautiful CD and smile later tonight

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

ON STRIKE TODAY LOL.. ON HOLIDAY?

Don't you love the way the British say that? "On Holiday."Like that's so normal.

Just say.. "I'm sorry (turn head sideways like IDIOT friend) and say "On holiday." and cut off stage fast.. like some rabbit... in some play I cant remember.

So... spent the morning listening to Camelot (original case soundtrack) and sent pics back and forth to ex-husband of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Unreal period in Broadway History. Camelot, Carousel, Sound of Music... others Can Can, Sweet Charity... Camelot. And, Jay checked in from Greece... Don Adams died. Bet deep down some wicked thought came to him that NOW he had a road clear to Agent 99. God Jay loved her. My sister in law reminded me that Monday Night is Rosh Hashonah.. family dinner, start the year over. How will the year start over.

Can't write much today.

Hurricane City talking of doing an end of the Hurricane Season get together... people always talk, been talking for years now ..haven't we? 6? 7? going on 8? Too late? Who knows, will wait.. and see.

Meanwhile.. have to go ... have to go somewhere... listening for a few minutes to Jimmy Buffett LP on music box from stalker friend.. Chalk one up for the Stalker :)

What a life... when someone begins to deceive lol bad quote

I'm so on holiday today that I am not even going to find the lyrics for "How to Handle A Woman" but I might add that it's best to just love them and try not to dress up like one.. pain in the ass to have to "go find a bathroom" don't have go all the way to China to figure that one out, duh... though bet point made when you couldn't just whip it out on the beach huh????

Just to love her.. love her.. love her..

ps.........love the wave in mid-atlantic... love that way

bobbi

how they shine, glimmer and gleam
buffett is such a poet

Monday, September 26, 2005

Caribbean System a Possible Problem for Florida & points north

Something brewing down in the Caribbean and it ain't coffee or rum.

A wave is sitting over very hot water.. about 87 degrees according to the latest charts. Don't know about you but that's a bit too warm for me even... I'd like a cooler shower under a water fall today.. not a warm, bathtub. But, that warm bathtub called the Caribbean is brewing up something we may have to deal with down the road...real soon.

First of course.. it has to come together, find it's groove..right now it's all talk.. all possibilities and nothing real you can see or touch.. just a tease of possibilities and a building tropical breeze.

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/omd/ops/weather/plots/storm_99.gif

as for African Waves..

Well you know how I feel...can't have just one. Always two to make you wonder which is real and which is fake. How can you tell the dummy from the real one? Good question. Can't read it's palm ..just the loops..

African Safari
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/EATL/IR4/20.jpg


So..............well.................as far as I am concerned...
Come and Get Me... I ain't going nowhere..living here in Hurricane Land
Always have a plan... a method in my madness so don't you worry bout me

only down side............
at this rate I may never get back to the Chinese restaurant :(


Artist: Pat Benatar
Lyrics Song:
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Lyrics
Well you're the real tough cookie with the long history Of breaking little hearts, like the one in me That's O.K., lets see how you do it Put up your dukes, lets get down to it! Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Why Don't You Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Fire Away! You come on with a come on, you don't fight fair But that's O.K., see if I care! Knock me down, it's all in vain I'll get right back on my feet again! Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Why Don't You Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Fire Away! Well you're the real tough cookie with the long history Of breaking little hearts, like the one in me Before I put another notch in my lipstick case You better make sure you put me in my place Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Come On, Hit Me With Your Best Shot!
Hit Me With Your Best Shot! Fire Away!
Hit Me With Your Best Shot!
Why Don't You Hit Me With Your Best Shot!
Hit Me With Your Best Shot!
Fire Away!

Monday Morning Global Warming Controversy...

Woke up this morning and what did I see? A whole new world shining down on me..
Sunshine shimmered across the lawn
Birds that looked like Robins
took over a neighbors tree
and
surprisingly
a rainbow way up in the sky
inspired me
with a nice moment of reverie before having to face reality

And, reality I faced today.
Like yesterday and tomorrow
Reality bites hard upon a person's soul
in the bright sunlight
especially on a Monday

~ ~ ~

Models show a persistent African wave tries to make it across the Atlantic.
Weight watchers is offering a special offer
Something forms just over Florida again on one model.. looks to be weak
Louisianna tries to dry out and off.. again.
Texas cleans up.
Houstoners go back and vow secretly to never do THAT again.
Galveston beach beckons someone I know
Key West calls to my soul

I'm definitely going home early today or going some where my heart's not in it.
And suddenly, everyone's an expert on Global Warming...

Cute, sweet, strange man is here.. needs help finding values of a stamp collection he came across somewhere ....he recently acquired...he's a locksmith.. think on it

I helped him..
I always help him...
He offers lunch, I always turn down lunch
Hey.. keep trying, you never know
Persistence pays off sometimes


So.. as I said on Global Warming...

Good article on Drudge this morning... facts, dates.. deep as Unisys is wide..

A wonderful resource of Cat 4 and 5 material to remember when thinking the times we live in are different from other times.

Common.. this being the best of times, the worst of times.. you know?

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN SEPT 25, 2005 16:44:05 ET XXXXX
STREISAND DECLARES 'GLOBAL WARMING EMERGENCY'
THE SUPERSTAR SONGSTRESS SERENADED SAWYER WITH STORM SEASON ASSERTIONS. BUT TO SOME SHE'LL SOUND MORE LIKE A WINDSOCK SINGING LIBERALISM'S GOLDEN OLDIES!

NEW YORK -- This summer's back to back superstorms are proof positive we have entered a new period of "global warming emergency," artist/citizen Barbra Streisand warns.
Streisand is back on the scene to promote her reunion disc with Barry Gibb.

As hellstorm "Rita" churned in the Gulf, Streisand sat down for a promotional interview with ABCNEWS's Diane Sawyer.

"We are in a global warming emergency state, and these storms are going to become more frequent, more intense," Streisand urgently declares.

But Sawyer did not remind Streisand that a Category 5 hurricane struck the Bahamas with 160 mph winds -- when the singer was five years old, in 1947!

And when Streisand was 8 years old, a Cat 5 hurricane -- named "Dog" -- packing 185 mph churned-away in the Atlantic.

When she was 9, a Cat 5 storm named "Easy" ripped the seas with 160 mph sustained winds.

Streisand was 13 years old when "Janet" hit Mexico with 150 mph winds.

Streisand was celebrating her sweet sixteen as "Cleo" formed with 140 mph.

At 18, Streisand read news about "Donna" AND "Ethel" -- both storms carried 140 mph winds and formed 9 days apart in 1960!

One year later, when Streisand was 19, it happened again: Two Category 5 storms scared the world: "Carla" and "Hattie!"

"Carla" maxed out at 175 mph winds the year Streisand made her television debut on "The Jack Paar Show."

And who could forget Hurricane "Camille" -- which smashed into the United States with 190 mph, just as "Funny Girl" garners eight Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture and one for Barbra as Best Actress.

Up next on the weather warning watch, Streisand says to ABC: "There could be more droughts, dust bowls. You know, it's amazing to hear these facts."
Developing...
**************************

me again............just me..........Bobbi
And, if you are trying to take your mind off tropical troubles or the approach of Fall and Winter..Enjoy this collection of links to a great collection onlineWasn't what he was looking for but.. amused me while he made copies at the copier..

Really great page to wander through, history, art and memories
pick a period
grab a generation
sit a spell enjoy

now I know why grandma loved crossword puzzles was her generation's gameboyhttp://www.usps.com/images/stamps/98/crossword.jpg

great picture... underconstructionhttp://www.usps.com/images/stamps/98/ggate.jpg

http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/orson_welles.htm
http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/broadway.htm

a little too late for dust pneumonia in the Dirty 30shttp://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/antibiotics.htm

what weather person doesn't think of the movie Twister?http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/drivein.htm

Barbie teaches babyboomers the meaning of COOL, theirdaughters years later are hot, hot, hothttp://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/barbie.htm

Not global warming..http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/earthday.htm

after all these years...still the one that rocks my boathttp://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/football.htm

where do i begin? to tell the story of a love so...http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/2000/pcs.htmhttp://www.usps.com/images/stamps/2000/90s_www.htm

jurassic park is melting in the dark, all the sweet green icing ..oops..wrong song, sorryhttp://www.usps.com/images/stamps/2000/pcs.htm

after all these years..we still want to believe in peace.. reality bites but we try to believe...
http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/99/peace.htm

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Go Drudge Go... & forgot to mention Ronnie Brown had a 100 yard game.

Go Drudge go with the long, list of BIG Major Storms that have hit over and over all over the Atlantic Hurricane Basin that had nothing to do with global warming.

And..forgot to mention.. Ronnie BROWN had a 100 yard plus game.

Now..can you imagine when Ricky Williams gets in there.. wow... unreal.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-925dolphinsgame,0,5677588.story?coll=sfla-sports-front

Dolphin Wins.. Watching Tropical Update..

Waiting for the Tropical Update to come on. Then am turning off the TV and going to put the radio on. Drudge... or Kiss Country... or maybe some New Age music.

Watched too much hurricane coverage for one day. I may not talk a lot about it but... watched too much. Flooding... water....water... water everywhere.

May I say something RIGHT HERE:

THIS IS NOT GLOBAL WARMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble of government slush fund... but it's a very active hurricane season close in.. locally not globally and conditions were ripe for strong, storms and our equiptment is much better now and every little dropsonde flying down into the storm can register every moan, groan that there is... down to the most minute detail..

We have sensors that pick up every shudder and shiver that the earth's surface ... so it looks like we have more earthquakes.

Mind you I am a very, very big believer in ecological stuff... environmental action. Ask anyone in my highschool class :) spent hours ..um... working hard on that cause on great Sunday afternoons.. I recycle. I worry on every styrofoam cup I use... I feel guilty using plastic not paper. Great joke... Kill a tree or pollute the environment. I love the earth.

This is not global warming. If it was.. every stupid, pissant little barely a named storm in the Atlantic that bobbled about, lingering around low latitudes and not even being able to muster up decent convection would have become a Cat 5 Storm. Nope.. no cigar and barely enough winds to keep their name.

We would have Japan destroyed by cyclones every month... maybe even Korea.

Do not be so ethnocentric as to believe that Global warming is only affecting parts of the Atlantic basin and not other parts.

Just wanted to register my opinon here in badly mispelled english.. because I am too tired to see let alone do ABC spell check.

But.. I do know I am destroying the english language here so rah rah sis boom bah.

Next... the Fins won. Nothing else today matters. For once... in a long time... we have a team, we have a coach. We won.

Thought today on all the things I would like to do.. here and there while lost in Barnes and Noble.

I'd like to learn to paint. I like color more than words. Anyone who has ever seen my house.. knows lol.

I love color.. I love life.. I love weather.. I love wind. Picked up a beautiful book today to send to someone who will love it... unreal pics.

I wish I was Demi Moore... she's getting married to some guy she's been with for 2 years. Personally, I wouldn't invite Bruce Willis but hey..

Cybil's movie on whats her name... the movie is probably doing better than Burnett's show. Sorry.. I could have told you people are tired to death of hearing about Martha especially with death, desruction and devastation in the homelands... her life pales in comparison. Bummer. What can I say. Cybil mind you I love.. she rates. She is something else. Great biography she wrote a while back.. read it and gave it to Sharon to read.

Sharon is in Maine. Everyone knows. You know..Sharon of Hard Copy "el nino is gone, we are going to get canes" fame....Sharon.

Want to travel. Want to make love in the desert with the song playing in the background from the Eagles. I want to ... wash a hurricane race by from a safe hotel room with someone who used to be online and probably still is with a new name. Okay.. was supposed to be New Orleans.. oh well. Meant a small, small Cane. Or did I choose to drink tequilla and stand in the surf near Brownsville or Mexico or that town you go scuba diving... snorkerling to off of Central America.. Rota something.

Twisters and Canes.. on the nightly news.

The world's watching weather now... isn't so geaky or nerdy now is it America?

I want to get drunk on Duval street like a real tourist :) cause I'm not a tourist but I watch them partying.

I want to wake up tomorrow and walk over to Faustos on Fleming and get a Rainforest Coffee.. sit in the library, read a book... eat breakfast at the Deli.

I want... to see the head of Alfredo Garcia lol.. no... old joke. Gone.

I want to do the chart of Garcia Lorca.. is that his name?

I want to beat the crap out of Frank Maron and ..................I'm not very good at beating the crap out of anyone.

Non-violent, storm tracker... cute lady with dark auburn hair... great heels, good legs... a sexy smile when I am in the mood and who can read a water vapor loop better than almost anyone. Right Fred? Right. A Fin Fan... a Parrothead in my way and ... does not believe this is a sign of global warming.

Now you want to talk about that iceberg falling off of Antartica... THAT might be global warming.

And, you might be a redneck if you understand this post.

WWJBD??? He'd say.. why don't we get drunk and screw lol.

It's a Margarittaville Evening... no one can steal the Orange Bowl Queen because they shut down the old Orange Bowl Parade... sorry.. happens.. all good things must come to an end.

Chalk one up for the Stalkers.. the remote control for the beautiful real wood music box works damn fine! Got to love them.

Love Bobbi
and yes.................could use a two hour backrub.

Dolphins & Labradoodles & Louisianna & LInks to Other Blogs..

Watching the Dolphin game. Enjoying it immensely. Son is in victory land.. dreams of victory following RedSox game and Dolphins and he is even follwoing the Marlins. Creep.. stole his poor little mind.

Went to Barnes and Noble and got lost in music and the find aroma of coffee being eternally brewed.

Books on everything and anything... put away presents for a few friends under my son's name who works there.. will go back for them soon or ask him to bring them home.

Looked through a great book on Elizabeth Taylor; one of my all time favorite actresses. Great quote I can't find on being a woman who loves.. Beautiful pictures... beautiful. Have an older daughter up north somewhere who looks a lot like Elizabeth Taylor..well when she does her make up... Pisces/Scorpio combination.. similar chart.

Did a test this week and had to give my favorite dog... couldn't think of one. Bugged me. I guess the favorite dog is the one I fall in love with and vice versa.. the one who lands in my lap.

Labradoodles are sort of cute.. maybe too much hair. Is that a large poodle crossed with a lab.. probably gives the lab an edge..

Will keep looking.

Who knew they had a calendar for labradoodles?

I think I want one just so when walking the dog on the canal and people ask I an look at them like it's normal and say "labradoodle" and turn my head sideways, big smile and act like that is normal...

Trying not to watch louisianna parishes flood... wishing i had gone to visit. Wishing that I didn't put things off til someday and one day and stopped thinking time would stand still and it would always be there waiting.

In the mood for a road trip.. where is Mel when you need him lol.

Saw a book for him too! lol
poor boy...don't think he got one mention.. not one.. though Mel wasn't mentioned a whole lot.

later
Bobbi
suddenly worrying on the fins... praying they win
praying the water stops rising
wishing and hoping

Wondering on that wave way out there... keep her low.. keep him low
whatever it is... keep chugging along baby...

Did I mention that the one thing that I loved about Truman Show that I had not seen previously was...................... the moon. Turns out that the moon was evil...

Might not be poetic to say so but trust me.. I like my light pole more than the unconstant moon .. always shines.. always there.. and if it goes out.. you can call FPL and some cute guy in a bucket truck comes to fix it.. sure can't do that with the moon.

Oh..and it came to my attention that my blog was mentioned online in a blog list.

So .. posting it because.. great list of blogs to go through when you have the time..
know I will...

later bobbi
if i posted this..sorry... my mind is elsewhere today.. believe it or not

http://www.bloggersblog.com/cgi-bin/bloggersblog.pl?bblog=919051

Bloggers Cover New Gulf Threat from Hurricane Rita While bloggers continue to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina it looks like another dangerous storm is on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Rita, currently a tropical storm with sustained winds of 65mph is forecast to become Hurricane Rita later today and move just south of the Florida Keys. Rita is then forecast to move in the Gulf of Mexico and head toward the Texas coast. Another storm near the many oil rigs located in the Northern and Northwest Gulf of Mexico will cause oil to spike again and force gas prices upwards. It is still too far out to predict where along the Gulf coast Hurricane Rita will make landfall but it goes without saying that another major hurricane hit is bad news for the U.S. A few of the many blogs already covering Rita include the Sun-Sentinel Hurricane Weblog, WeatherBlog, Weapon of Mass Distraction, 7 Stormteam Weather Blog, Pensacola Beach Blog, Miami Musings, Stormtrack, Houston's Clear Thinkers, Hurricane Harbor, The Houston Conservative, Tropical Storm Rita blog, Storm Videographer, Lazy Iguana, Storm Chasing Mikey and Huffington Post. SciGuy blogs about a Houston Chronicle article that lays out the devastation a major hurricane hit could cause. In blog search engines, Technorati already lists nearly 1000 posts about Hurricane Rita and IceRocket.com lists over 1,600 posts. Update: More Hurricane Rita coverage can be found in our Hurricane Rita section. Posted on September 19, 2005PermalinkBlogs linking to this post: Bloglines BlogPulse IceRocket Technorati

RAINY MORNING IN MIAMI... watching Rita aftermath

Woke up to bright sunshine and blue skies. Woke up too late. Had strange dreams just before waking...writing a script on a bus with someone... well maybe a winnebago lol but someone else was driving. Still think the Grove is a good location for good storylines.

Even asleep the Muse is working overtime.

Woke up too late to do everything I wanted to..

Son came in and asked me if I was awake. Wanted me to know that EDTV was on TV.

What is this? Stalkers anonymous week on TNT?

He tells me they are at the part where he offers a lot of money for anyone.......

I put it on.. giggling, love watchint Rob Reiner get screwed in that scene..

Gidget was on. Wrong channel.. also ending. Pretending Moondoggie was really Jeff and not screaming at him in her parents living room. Wrong story of my life.. thinking that this was not going to be an easy day.

Toggled back and forth. Rob guy so cute being screwed.. such a better movie than Truman Show.. really much, much better... and they are in bed at the end..how much better can you get and isn't Ed cute???? Out of he wig and in his bed. No longer in hiding. What an end. Only problem is Reiner does have cute eyes and is a good actor.. still say he should be acting and not trying to direct the show.

So... got to see Jeff and Gidg say good bye to the Big Kahuna.. and watch her fall in love with Moondoggie... again and again...and got to see Ed and whats her name.. kharma girl... win.

And, then the rain came pouring down...down...down...

And, it is still pouring down...down..down..

There is still flooding in Cameron Parish and they are still on TWC trying to explain how Port Arthur in TEXAS got stronger winds than anywhere else. This new trend of "not letting the people back in" is stupid and I think I may check out after 35 years what the libertarian party is because am tired of big government. Can't get them to help when you need them but when there is no flooding and people want to go back... or jump off a boat onto a shore line within territorial waters... they are beaten back..told to go back to their Motel 6 and wait a month or two.

Watching the rain come down.. going to go out and do something before the Dolphin game before I lose my mind.

Hope its a good sign.

UM won.
Red Sox won.
Gators probably won but I don't care anymore about Gators or Gatoraide.. so let em win or lose..

I have priorities..

Dolphin Game at 1.

Must be rain drops.. falling from my eyes.. falling from eyes.. or skies or something.

Nope.. no rain allowed today.. going out in search of more better coffee as we say down south.

See you later.. if nothing else... I no longer hate or are afraid of Rob Reiner lol.. things are looking up. Nice eyes... will get you far in life.. even on your own without Big Daddy.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Giving Up the Ghost of Galveston & Selichos

Going to try and to hit on a few things here... and stay on track.. so that I get down the line to where I am going... or want to go before finding a way to go to bed.

And... not get lost along the way.

NHC.. National Hurricane Center makes a "cone" to show where landfall will occur in their best opinon based upon models, professional analysis and what the storm is actually doing.

The cone had Galveston in it.

That is like the lifeguard screaming SHARK on the beach in summer. Everyone must automatically get out of the water.

Many cities were in that cone.. path.. not an ice cream cone but a Probable Path for the Storm.

The media jumped on Galveston, naturally enough, and ran with it. And, it is very possible.. plausible that she could have hit Galveston but less likely when you factor in climo (without the models) and trajectory and a good knowledge of previous storm paths. Very few hurricanes actually hit Galveston; thank God I may add. Either to the west or to the east. Cameron Parish has been hit again and again whereas Galveston gets hit less rare. Brownsville is a Hurricane magnet early in the season. Whatever they were feeding Brownsville and Corpus Christi they did not give to Galveston when it was growing up. That is why Galveston has those old, beautiful houses.. that storm surges did not wash away.

Other cities such as Tampa rarely get hit.. Savannah/Jax..

Why?

Plain old weather.. Either a front comes sweeping down and pulls the storm north into Louisianna or..............the high builds in and it heads for the borderlands. One or the other.

Same in Florida... either a front stalls out to the north of Tampa.. of whoooshhh it zooms through.

Savannah.. Jax? They are well into recurvature and Savannah and Jax are very far west or they get under the high south of the Cape.. Canaveral that is.. Palm Beach and South actually.

Anyway.. on message boards all over the net people began fighting ...breaking off into two camps.

Louisianna... Nola worries
or
Texas Storm

No one seemed to want to accept that there is a border between the two and she took that middle road.... very wet ground I may add.

Truth is... if we are playing Truth or Consequences..

I said she would make landfall where she did. I was right. Check my earlier blogs as I am basically writing for myself and the powers that be so.. I know what I said.

I said Beaumont or east... around Sabine River.. those towns that fall between the Texas border and those more well known towns in Louisianna.. further south down the road from Lake Charles and Baton Rouge..east of New Orleans.

Tons of them. Mostly Bayou Country. Cajun Country.

So... she did. It was easy to see on satelite imagery, the water vapor loop and from a look at past history.

But .. the NHC's path and CNN and FOX and... etc... highlighted Galveston and Houston. The big, sexy cities we all know.. more people, bigger story... hoping for another Katrina I guess. Well, not hoping for destruction but TV rating and well... more people... Galveston of course would be a water story.

Funny huh? She was supposed to be a water story and she became a fire story.

As BURNS says... people always want to replay the last storm.
He's right... somewhere in ???????Ohio?????????????? anyway..

So...............truth is thankfully Glaveston was spared ...again and Houston has to come back in. Pasadena and Beaumont took a hard hit... all those northern towns just north of Houston where people from low lying places probably took shelter.. as Rita came in from the SE.. SSE REALLY.. she hit the border bayous around the Sabine River and kept going NNW (really) up north of Houston and Beaumont. Port Arthur got lucky just west of the eye.. took less of the storm surge, missed the harsh right side.

Meanwhile tonight on message boards they are still jousting over it.. fighting for who was right. CNN keeps showing footage of Galveston and the fire and the wall. TWC's Dave Schwartz, a man I do not know and do NOT have a relationship with, leads off at midnight with an explanation of how Galveston dodged a bullet but they did take quite a .... and showed footage.

I'm sorry world.. but Cameron Parish and Vermillion Bay are flooding the whole area as wind pushed storm surge is still surging into the area.. and homes that made it through the storm's high winds are now enduring something must worse.. the first major flooding event in well over 50 years.. of this magnitude.

Give up the ghost of Galveston and move on.

Give up the ghost of racism and move on... CNN is doing that story still.

I guess whatever will sell..

Whate else?

I watched The Truman Show tonight.. the whole thing. Something I have never done. Saw a few minutes and would turn it off fast, then on..then off.. better off. Sue me.. I am not the world's biggest Jim Carey fan. Think he is handsome. Liked him in Me, Myself and Irene (a little too tall for the part in my opinon..wrong body shape.. but good) and that Butterflies of the Eternally Messy Mind movie.. He is actually pretty handsome. A capricorn I believe. Figures.

Good movie if you like the gere. EDTV was funnier.. deeper too in ways. A much deeper movie that is overlooked by those able to. You see in the movie.. he was condemned to the life he was leading, not a bad one but not a true one.. until one person who loved him was there to be honest and tell him the truth. Honesty. Her love for Truman was more than her desire to play a role. Even though those playing a role were I hope well paid. And, everyone can be bought off in life.. that is the truth, bought, paid and delivered. They tell you that you are free.. its in your hands, your call but it's bullshit. Because we are all controlled in ways we cannot account for but are being controlled. By our fears... by our insecurities.. by our desires for money.. for nice things.. for acceptance.. outside forces always control us and............. rarely will someone stand up, be honest and follow their heart and not let themselves be controlled.. by money, by fear and by others.

And, the circle.. it goes round and round and the painted poney goes up and down..

Find a person's achilles heel and you won them.. or their weak knee. Knee jerk behavior.. they will take the bait.

Internet lets people fly blind in and out of chat rooms learning everyone's dirty little secrets and allowing them to back on with another name and use something they learned to build a rapport and the nextthing you know.. they are hooked. Hook, line and sinker.

And, if you tell them it's a scam.. they won't believe you. Their pride gets in the way. Ignorance and denial. And, wanting to believe that someone out there with a similar background, similar interest, similar city or similar problem found them.. deep, dark in the middle of the night.

It's scarey. Truly. Except unless someone has a reason to do that do you... the internet is a pretty nice place. Like living in tomorrow land and your world has access to any encyclopedia that exists or will exist someday.

But... it is a door. It can let in goodness and kindness or it can let in evil. It can let in a world of knowledge or.... you can sit mindlessly playing some game online.

Your choice. If you believe in choices or free will.

Had a wonderful Shabbos here.. oddly found an old history book from highschool and college that I thought for sure was lost. Looked and looked and wrote it off. Today it showed up on the bookshelf.. someone found it in their closet behind the Passover dishes and put it on my book case. Voila.. a lost item found.

Wanted it because.. besides being the best history book every written for World Civilization lol.. someone....somewhere is laughing. I wanted to know if a scene I have seen in my mind's eyes was in the book. Some image I cannot forgegt and thought well maybe.. thinking left brain logical.. ws in the old Ferguson and Brun book on the French Revolution and that is where I saw it. Lord knows it goes on and on about the subject. Nope...picture not there.. guess it's from somewhere else.

Margarittaville playing on the CD..

Selichos.

Tonight is Selichos. It is the start of the Jewish Holidays of the High Holidays. New Year when you start it off by looking back and asking God for forgiveness for things you did this year.

I'm not going to shul. Not to that shul. I don't belong there, I don't fit... it no longer resonates with me. I need to find a shul... a temple.. I suppose. And, can do it here..

You keep trying to fit and you don't.. something is wrong.

You keep trying to believe and trying to belive and trying to believe and it hurts to much you try to believe because deep down you know you are screwed and the answer isn't there..

My grandparents got married on Selichos.. my father's parents in the Rabbi's chambers before the service. They were married a long, long, long time and died a year apart in their late 70s.

Genetics would say I have a good 20 years left to love someone.. if someone was here to take a chance on love.

Talk about a dream... and not wanting to give up the ghost of love.. and a normal life.

So... passing this along... from another Shul. One I don't belong to but am on their mailing list.

I guess if I have a shul it's Bnai Zion in Key West. My great-grandparents started it.. late 1800s. Instead of living up the road on Big Coppit Key or Big Pine and I am just a little further up the road.

Looked for libary jobs in Louisianna a few months ago... has hurricanes, southerners, football.. all the requirements I need. Also a lot of colleges. Thought maybe one had a job that would fit. Wrote the local synagogue.. and they put me on their mailing list.

Now... here is a way to start the year... cleaning up after the old one.. doing a mitzvah.. as a ground, as a community... getting ready to start over in the New Year.

Selichos 2005... time to start over and after looking back.. look foward.

Dolphin Game tomorrow... 1pm. You know where I will be.. watching it.

First.. am going to think on ways to ask forgiveness for my mistakes this year and to forgive myself.. for making so many of them. Not being God.. it is a little hard to forgive yourself.. we are just afterall only human.


Subj:
Cleaning Day at the Shul
Date:
9/24/2005 11:59:53 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:
noreply@bethshalomsynagogue.org
To:
Bobbistorm@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)Photos of the water damage are on the website.http://www.bethshalomsynagogue.org-Assistance is needed Sunday the 25th at 9:00AM (today) to continue cleaning the Shul and prep the Rayner area.Our day will start at 9:00AM, please bring a shovel and a broom if you have one.If you cannot make it at 9:00 that is ok, I am sure we will be there for a good part of the afternoon.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Rita Moving in Towards Port Arthur & Getting Her Act Together... Again..

5pm shows a better storm than a few hours earlier.

She outright exploded in color on the enhance IR and color water vapor. Visible shows a very beautiful storm.

She also picked up speed and is now moving at NEAR 12 MPH....to the Northwest.

Would have to say as of now she will come in West of Galveston and Houston.. good news for Galveston.. bad news for places to the East of there... Cameron Bay..

So.. going to go cook a few things and watch on TV a bit. Check in before Shabbos.

Going to my sister in laws for dinner so don't have to do that much.. bought salad stuff for tomorrow, chumus, olive dips.. challah, cuban bread.. cholent.. whatever else I manage to make while watching Rita.

What can I say that hasn't been said before?

What can I say that someone else hasn't said?

Not much.. not more.

Remember one thing.. and remember it well.

A hurricane has the power of nuclear bombs going off... and the damage beyond radiation in an atomic bomb is also the blast at ground zero..

This from an article written way back by Georges that unfortunately was not a learning lesson or we wouldn't have the problems we have today in Nola. Well...we know .. we knew.. but our priorities as a nation and on the state level were not "saving lives" but maintaining governmental budgets and hoping that the Worst Case Scenario would not happen.

""A catastrophic hurricane represents 10 or 15 atomic bombs in terms of the energy it releases," said Joseph Suhayda, a Louisiana State University engineer who is studying ways to limit hurricane damage in the New Orleans area. "Think about it. New York lost two big buildings. Multiply that by 10 or 20 or 30 in the area impacted and the people lost, and we know what could happen."
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:X7ZBIIFTISEJ:www.nola.com/washingaway/thebigone_1.html+hurricane++nuclear+bomb+atomic&hl=en&start=2&ie=UTF-8 You are watching a meteorological nuclear machine heading towards land.. in some ways.... anyway... take care.. pray.. and good shabbos..Bobbi

Rita Moving Just East of Forecast.. & MSNBC mention to Hurricane City :)

Rita, downgraded but still demanding a date with destiny is moving slowly towards the NW.. a bit more to the east of the forecasted "middle line" you are NOT supposed to look at.. she is within the Cone.. just maybe might hit around the Tx/La border vs Galveston/Houston.

Heard Neil Frank was going to talk on this soon...wish I could watch that.

And.. nice article on MSNBC on tracking storms and a nice mention to HurrCity .. which I really think is the best site online when it comes to EDUCATIONAL information .. a wealth of info indeed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9445240/

Dry air is the culprit or the HERO here of the story with Rita being sent down to a plain old terrible Major Hurricane ..Cat 3..vs a TERRORIZING Major..

HAHA.. Just a Major.. how spoiled we are this year with Category FIVES that a Major Cat 3 seems suddenly something to laugh off??

Think not.. also.. the storm surge will be strong as the water is already there ..and rushing towards the shore.. as with Katrina..

later Bobbi

INLAND FLOODING PROBLEM LOOMS AFTER LANDFALL

This is a repost from www.hurricanecity.com where I wrote on this earlier today.

I really believe that as much as people want to make Rita.. Katrina The Sequel she has her own story and that story may indeed by the flooding AFTER landfall.

Yes, there will be storm surge.

Yes, she may trash the oil rigs.

Yes, she may cause devastation as a Category 3 or 4 upon impact along the coastal areas.

But...she is forecasted to stall out or "loop" after landfall. She is already slowing down.
Steering currents are weakening and there are no fronts lined up to snatch her water away and propel it up NE across regions which usually receive tons of tropical rainfall from such systems. This is not Katrina heading towards the NE areas of the US... nope...

She is way inland baby... something to think on.. maybe.

And, the more time that goes by this morning and the more I think on it.. the more I am worried on it.

It's not always what you expect that will get you.. but what you don't expect sneaking up on you while waiting for something else.

big prob to think on:
Flooding inland Texas/la area
Posted by bobbistorm on 9/23/2005, 11:16 amUser logged in as: Bobbistorm

A really big concern that has not been dealt with much (especially by the media) is that the mass of humanity that has evacuated from everywhere close to the Gulf is sitting inland right now in areas that will most likely have huge amounts of flooding after Rita makes landfall and the "steering currents collapse."

To me that is sort of a Floyd like problem. All the focus before the storm was landfall, barrier islands, the shoreline and then inland flooding became the real story.

Not to mention.. most people are stranded where they are waiting for the roads to open up, go home and find gas to get back in long, long traffic lines down to their "homes" if they have homes left (which most will have considering the large geographic area where people left in case...) and they may be stuck where ever they are while the area suffers flooding from very heavy rains.

IF Rita stalls out inland over Tx/La border.. that is a lot of tropical moisture to get dumped in one area.

from the 11 AM discussion at the NHC:

UPPER-AIR DATA SHOWS THAT THE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM CONTROLLING THEMOTION OF THE HURRICANE IS ALREADY NORTH AND EAST OF RITA AND ISCENTERED OVER ARKANSAS AND TENNESSEE. CONSEQUENTLY...RITA HAS TURNEDMORE TO THE NORTHWEST AND IS NOW MOVING 310 DEGREES AT 9 KNOTS. NOSIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN TRACK IS ANTICIPATED BEFORE LANDFALL NEAR THEUPPER TEXAS OR SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA COAST EARLY SATURDAY. ONCEINLAND...THE STEERING CURRENTS ARE FORECAST TO COLLAPSE AND RITA ISEXPECTED TO MOVE LITTLE OVER NORTHEASTERN TEXAS AND SOUTHWESTERNARKANSAS. RITA BY THEN WILL LIKELY PRODUCE TORRENTIAL RAINS. THEOFFICIAL FORECAST FOLLOWS VERY CLOSELY THE MODEL CONSENSUS.RITA IS A LARGE HURRICANE AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTENDOUTWARD A GREAT DISTANCE. A SOND DROPPED FROM A RECONNAISSANCEPLANE MEASURED 56 KNOTS SURFACE WINDS ABOUT 120 N MI WEST OF THEEYE.FORECASTER AVILA

RITA RITA..WHERE ARE YOU GOING BEAUTIFUL RITA?

Beautiful and very dangerous Rita.

Watching her on the loop this morning. Noticing the dry air on her left side that is wrapped around a bit into the storm. Amazing how an almost perfect storm can still have so many "problems" and weaknesses and yet at the same time have the power of nuclear bombs going off inside of her. Perfection is a long, aspired to goal of Hurricanes but few achieve that goal and she is far from perfect even in her Category 4 condition. Don't let the media fool you.. she is a bad, bad girl but far from perfect.

And, her steering conditions leave a lot to be desired.

Example: Don't know why but am afraid she is going to slow down between here and there. Models showed her looping up in Tex/Oklahoma at one point.. one model showed some kinky left hand turn down near the Texas coastline on the way to Mexico. Something about her keeps inspiring the models to get wierd just after landfall. So, I suppose I am worrying she might get wierd at landfall.

She has this hedgehog look of some storm I can't remember. Age and staying up too late talking on the phone with a friend makes my mind duller than it usually is but I'm smiling so that's good. Do you NEED to know what storm? Trust me.. a storm a while back and it had this look and there was some problem with it .. will remember later probably at work, faster connection and more places I can surf.

Also, the orientation that she makes landfall at is important. Say she suddenly went wnw and almost parralled the coastline going "in" well..she would scrap up those cities along the SW coast of Louisianna that have been scraped up for years and years before by other storms.

And, where is she going..

She jogs NW.. she moves wnw in my opinon... but keeps jogging suddenly for a few minutes nnw and it all evens out.

Like life..

A little bit here, a little bit there, a dibble dabble there... we move in fits and burts of energy across the map of our life.

Anyway, had a great time at the historical museum last night for my "class" and some things I need to write down. Met some nice people last night. Bought a new skirt at Express that is a size smaller than I have bought a skirt in years. Bought some earrings in the gift shop instead of a book. The skirt is a color I haven't worn since... oh my gosh I remember what the skirt reminds me of.. lol... a fancy dress my mother bought me for passover one year.. years ago.. think I spilled wine on it and she was pissed. What would possess a woman to buy a chiffon, champaign colored dress for a 7 year old girl who ran tomboy like around the block with her crazy cousin hiding in croton bushes? Maybe I tore it? The skirt is pretty.. tiers and old fashion and blows in the breeze.

Again.. I have to go.

Found a mystery last night at the museum. An old subdivision that was planned in 1925 for the area I ended up living in.. but wasn't there. Some grand subdivision with canals in a circular pattern.. but probably never built. Wasn't all so grand when I lived there but it was some of the best days of my life ever.. was the perfect spot to raise kids in retrospect or the perfect place to raise us. Want to know what it was and who was going to build it and I will find out. Am good at searching around for things...especially map or geographically related.

Also, got to spend some time in my favorite place in the museum leaning against a wooden post whispering back and forth thoughts to a good friend, teacher.. person. A person to learn much from in so many ways. You close your eyes and you are back... late 1800s.. earliest of the 1900s on a little wooden porch..outside in Early Miami. You look through the windows.. you can almost feel you can slip back into the past. But, can you slip out?

Maybe not so fast...because my mind is still there..

Have to run... Rita is running somewhere.. but where oh where is Rita running off too?

That is the question of the day.. while people sit in motel rooms in suburbs around Dallas and Shreveport... watching on the TV in their motel room.. huddled together wondering if they will have a home to go back to..

Who knew on January 1st, 2005..this would be the year that was?

Bobbi

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Beginning to Worry About Points East..........

Well.. the storm is looking like it may move to the right of the earlier forecast.

For all of you not living on message boards or in weather chat rooms..

right = east
east = La... or Tex/La border.

I like New Iberia :(

Hey.. I like most of that region.

Either way..

NHC must be hauling in strong anti-acids to track this storm.

Good news: She may not be a 4/5 at landfall.. "only a 3"

Bad news: The water dome pushed ahead of her that some lucky city will get will be about the power of a Cat 4/5 storm surge because the water is already there.. moving towards the shore.

Some shore.

Maybe Galveston's shore.

Watching.

Not much time to post today.. not much time to think.

Have work, class and museum opening tonight to go to...

My mind is all over the place.. meterologically, musically, meandering through parts still unknown.

Later.. Bobbi...links to play with below..

NHC doing a good job.. let them do their job.. they will adjust as needed.
They did hit their forecasted point.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-ir4-loop.html

Shame lexiom didn't give a longer discussion.. "oh well.."
Maybe at 5 someone else will give more clues into the forecasted track's reasoning.
Wasn't much of a discussion.. more an expresso version.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT3+shtml/221455.shtml?

Spy loop... shows a lot about the storm.. it's intensity and it's structure

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-bd-loop.html

Can see up the river of the atmosphere.. the things that may come into trying to control Rita..down the line..

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_wv_east_loop-12.html
personal comments as of noon “oh no”

Listen to local radio in Galveston area
http://www.ktrh.com/audio.html

Wide, colorful, pretty view.. a bit scary
http://orca.rsmas.miami.edu/wximages/jet/1_05/anis.html

Last but not least.. Drudge (bless his meteorologically crazy mind) is doing a bang up job with links, loops and the best pictures to capture your imagination and convey the story.

www.drudgereport.com

and as always

www.hurricanecity.com
www.flhurricane.com

RITA CAT 5- Galveston's Nightmare

This is a dream they have been dreaming for a hundred years. Since a child of Galveston is old enough to listen to tales of grandparents and neighbors; the first story they probably ever heard was of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. Stories of houses floating away in the night, filled with babies who would soon be floating out into the inky black dark night lost forever to the howling winds and rising waters of that monsterous storm. The gulf waters rising faster and faster until they covered the island and reclaimed the land for the sea once more.

The debris field moved inland.. carried fast with the rising dome of water and then... it slammed back onto whatever was left standing and took whatever was left... including the few survivors who had managed to live through the first part of the storm... suddenly sucked away with the storm surge as it went back out to sea with the second half of the storm.

Nuns tied together to their small wards, babies, children... tied together with bedsheets that were meant to protect the poor babes but instead dragged them down, one by one, like an anchor in a raging river... down to the depths of the tempest.. where Mother Mary blessed their souls as they departed from this world into another.

This has been Galveston's nightmare for a hundred years.

To be honest... this has been my nightmare since I was a little girl but mine was stamped with the date 1926. Stories of my uncle as a small child of 3 or 4 huddled in a funeral home where people gathered to ride out the storm on a small hill in old Miami. Ironically, ghoulishly the highest driest spot to make it through the storm alive. During the eye.. men who lived.. died as they drove across the bridge into Miami to check on their stores downtown. The storm wasn't over. The "second storm" as they called it.. not understanding the dynamics of the eye or how hurricanes work back then.. the "second storm" got them. Tales told of people barely making it back to safety after they saw the car in front of them.. the old Model T Ford being swept off the bridge into the Miami River that was swollen and surging below. My childhood nightmares until my Grandma told me about the storm that took the whole island of Galveston when she was a little girl. Stories she heard from friends, mariners, people living in Tampa and Key West and New Orleans..all the ports of call on the Hurricane Express.. stories told over and over of the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

Oddly... Isaac Cline who is best known for being the meteorologist in charge of Galveston at that time ended up living out his life in New Orleans. His wife washed away, his brother Joseph sailed away never to speak to him again.. his remaning children living in New Orleans dedicating his life to understanding the raging sea, the wild storms and telling the tale to all how would hear. Maybe my Grandma heard it in the Garden District when she was a young girl of 12 or 13 living with a relative after her Mama died.

Maybe.

Who knows?

I don't know.

I just know I heard it. Knew it. Have always known it.

Now, a hundred years later... the world will know it again.

If indeed Rita is that rare hundred year storm that comes to reclaim Galveston for the Lord of the Oceans.. Neptune the ruler having fun as he reigns supreme this year of 2005... his Rule of Terror.

So...that is what goes through Bobbi's mind this morning.

Honestly, had no idea what I was going to write. Something about a movie I got kidnapped into going to see last night with a friend from Key West that I couldn't say no to.. nope.. just couldn't. So, I went. I wanted to be home. I wanted to be online with my friend. I wanted to watch the storm..form... forming into a Cat 5 or 6 or whatever numbers we have left for her to form into. I wanted to post on Hurricane City and see if someone was back in town and to see if they had posted on Hurricane City. I called Sharon from the movie.. what cords, what lat.. watching the lat you know? Watching to see if she climbs.. how much she climbs.. if she climbs.

She climbed by the way.

The movie was irritating.. annoying and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429177/ not that funny. Then again for a jewish girl I have no jewish sense of humor. Maybe, because I am a southerner and we find different things funny. I don't find kvetching and people being afraid to live the life they want and worrying their lives away funny. I don't find dysfunctional families funny unless Charles Durning is playing the lead. Homecoming.. that was funny. This was cute, moments of tender.. Peter Falk who I do love ...who my father loved.. my father would have loved the movie. He grew up in the Bronx, he would have identified with it. Then again.. Yaffah would probably love it. Not sure, don't know, maybe not.. didn't have enough farts or depth or quirky moments. And, all that autumn.. who wants to see beautiful green leaves turn gold.. orange.. I don't know Autumn. I can't identify. And, then WHY is Burns going to Ohio. Is this some riddle? Rhyme? New shtick ( i can talk the talk.. if he can I can you know).. what is in Ohio?

Anyway.. was going to say the library was nuts because our operating system was down and had to wing everything we were doing through other systems, my heart wasn't in it..this bra sucks.. have to change it.. have to go to a class tonight to my FAVORITE building in Miami and I don't want to go to work.

I wanted to write a small note for someone to get right here------I missed you. The music is no substitute but it was night.

Sat in the middle of the movie writing poetry in my head, on my knee on a piece of paper I found. Looked up in the middle of some scene where they go to a baseball game and thought 'OH SHIT IM MISSING THE RED SOX GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Then I was really pissed.

Then I was pissed at you know who because there I was in a movie theatre the first time since July and I was missing the Red Sox. No words. Not even for me.

Movie over... called Sharon and found out it was still a five and a Jet Blue plane from LA was circling LAX and wondered how many people I might know on that plane.. if any. Most of my friends only fly Jet Blue.. NY/LA/Miami.. oh geez.

Went out for dinner. One of the nicer dinners I've had with my Key West friend in a long time. Really nice. Israeli place, fancy.. french-israeli.. small caps.. not sure. Pasta with feta cheese and fresh mushrooms, spinach... good fish. Decided the hell with it.. Just go home and start the day over.

So.. I did. Sat up and talked to my friend who just got back home.

And.. having problems understanding how so many people who live in America never "got" storms until NOW.

Can write on this later.. but suddenly.. so many closet storm freaks are coming out of the closet, unafraid to admit they have been tracking for years.. and telling me of things they loved most about Neil Frank ..way back when he was director of the hurricane center. The way he made you believe he cared and was watching out for you..for them.. for all of us.

Hearing on CNN, FOX, MSN...all those things I have heard forever in my head, typed a million times online, talked to Sharon of.. all those things about eye wall replacement cycles and stadium effects and barometric pressure.

This seems all so unreal. But .. it is real.

It is the Galveston Nightmare coming home again, returning after 100 years.. like that town Brigadoon? No... no...............don't mention that..last time I did that big old, gorgeous boat called Brigadooon showed up in the parking lot at the library .. and I think it was bigger than the Winnebago. Smiling.

Galveston's Nightmare is our nightmare again.

And.. may I add one thing..

Last night .. people on Jet Blue could watch the story unfold as they sat on the plane on televisions.

We watch natural disasters on television.

Galveston 1900 is most remembered in some circles as being one of the first storms ever filmed, it's aftermath.. an old movie from Edison's cameras.. movie footage filmed after the storm.. survives today.... a simple reminder that it is not what happens that matters but what is recorded that matters. For in it's recording.. either by Edison's cameras or with Hemingway's reporting of the 1935 Labor Day Storm.. it is in the recorded history that we learn about yesterday and we hopefully learn to prepare for tomorrow.

Bobbi
going to work.. changing my bra.. but going to work

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Similar Historical Tracks for Hurricane Rita.. Key West to Texas..

This is my best guess track estimate for where Hurricane Rita "might" go based on historical tracks..

Obviously the first one that comes to mind had a similar path...different start but ended up the same place.... caused real damage in Key West... moved on to Texas...
http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1919/2/track.gif

Then... 1933..figures you'd find one that year as there were so many
http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1933/11/track.gif

1966...if you start the track where inez went west after the zig zag through the straits
http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1966/INEZ/track.gif
Links from unisys... but I found them first in a great book a friend sent me
"Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1871-1992" always fun to look through :)

By the way... Steve Lyons and Jim Cantore work very well together on TWC. Heard he is headed out for Texas (jim) but it's been nice watching him do the weather in the studio. No one on TWC does weather like him... no one does the maps, water vapor and other loops. Steve been very on the money with Katrina and Rita.. enjoying him. Mike Seidel in Key West is cute..wondering if he is practicing his high school spanish down there.

Tropical Sampler Plate...& I went to the Ocean :)

What would that be?? Lox & Bagels, Plantain Chips and Coconut Fried Shrimp with Conch Fritters.. Key Lime Pie.

Anyway..............waited for the weather to get milder here and quieter and no rain on radar in site and ran over to the beach with my youngest son. Figured it would be good quality time with him and I took the camera to get some pics.

Sunny Isle Pier :)

Usually go there.. its a few miles due east of me.. easy to get to and not as packed with crazy kids as Haulover down the beach nearby. No media either.. never can figure out why.. maybe hard to park their trucks.... new construction trailers in the parking lot.

Beautiful waves. Wild waves.. beautiful air. Not like Floyd which was something else.. but stronger then usual. And, the storm was already way past Key West so that in itself says something for the strength of Rita right now.

Son had fun.. told him never to go swimming like some of the people were ... told him not to go surfing like his brother used to do.. told him to stand there and watch while I took pics. He looked so cute with his little Boston Red Sox hat on :) I wore one of Jim's Hurricane City tee shirts... hoping picture comes out.

Was great...nothing in the world like the ocean with a storm out there.

Feel so much better I can't tell you.

Key West was spared ... it's still raining in Key Largo... boy did they get hit with a heavy band. Probably most flooding from whole storm will end up being in the Key Largo area..

Wondering if she will go to Galveston.. Houston... maybe stay low.. who knows..

Feel like I can' breathe.. at least for the night.

Hang tight.. going to watch Red Sox game with my "friend" online and watch TWC.

Not a bad life.

Can think of a few ways to improve it.. but it's not bad tonight.

Everyone rest.. going to have a hard few days tracking..and praying Rita continues to not hit anyone too hard.

Bobbi

Miami: Tornado Warnings KW: Eye Due South & Getting Strong Weather

Watching Key West live on TV and have spoken to a few friends. Luckily, so far, they haven't had severe flooding. Not the flooding that was expected and it's been ...so far.. a wind event not a rain event. Heard more rain by Dennis and a lot more from Katrina than so far with Rita. But, there is still a way for her to go and as she moves away they will get more bands.. more rain..

Havana radar shows what is going on there

http://www.met.inf.cu/asp/genesis.asp?TB0=PLANTILLAS&TB1=RADAR&TB2=../Radar/03Cienfuegos/cienfuegosa.gif

Think they are getting it a bit worse than Key West right now as the south eye wall has been mean..

Middle Keys and Lower Keys really getting slammed. Roads that are just above sea level are getting some flooding and some low lying houses have had flooding as well. Mostly though.. the sun will come out tomorrow.

And, tomorrow we will all settle down.. clean up and try to figure out where Rita is going next.

Heard a few reporters from the Miami area comment that they have seen less foliage damage and minor damage in Key West from Rita than we in Miami suffered in Katrina. Which is believable but why? Weather is a wierd thing and doesn't always fit a pattern. One Cat 1 is not another Cat 1 and sometimes it seems a Cat 1 can be stronger (in effects) than another Cat 2. And, the storm is not over in Key West ...yet.

Miami has tornado warnings. One in Homestead area, one near Key Largo..one for Southern Miami Dade county... doppler radar sees twisters... so we hang tight.

Going to go out.. going to watch the rain.. which is still falling but lightly. Maybe even take a hot bath with lavendar oil.

Have to say...earlier today a strong band came through this area and it was awesome. I mean AWESOME. Water in buckets and buckets splashing and slamming the rooftops. Hitting cards and making tunnel cave like effects over the cars.. off rooftop edges. Grumbling thunder, deep, gurling sound thunder that often warns of twisters or hail nearby.

Hard to explain how in one way it is just a strong rainstorm and in other ways.. you can't even compare it.

It is as if someone upstairs turned on a big fire hose from a fire truck and let the water temporarily drown everything in it's path. You just cannot imagine how much, deep, tropical moisture there is laden in those bands... nonstop for ten minutes, fifteen..everything floods for a bit but..soon it goes away..somewhere.. very little ponding. My windows are sprinkled with raindrops now... beautiful. Wild trees...flying all about in different directions but not strong enough to fly away or break off.. though I have seen a few fronds go flying and a dead Mango twig/branch scared my son while he was outside playing ball against the house. Dead branch from Katrina.. not big, but scares you flying by.

And... for all the media bitching about people at the beach in Miami watching.. we always do it. It's part of the glory of the story. It's not so bad that you can't go out and be careful.. not this time... last time yes..not this time. And, its one of those things you remember forever.. witnessing nature at its finest, wildest hour. It is human nature to want to witness that and to share it in communication with others... and... those are the people who hear music in their heart, see the glory of things..the beauty... the power.. who connect with powers higher than themselves and can give thanks for what they have (a near miss.. a close miss) and who make the world worthwhile.

Not talking about people drinking and doing foolish things.. but to go to the beach when it isn't that bad.. and feel the wind in your face... beautiful.

later..Bobbi

Miami @ Noon.. Rita a Real Hurricane.. Fast Roundup of Info

Okay... back.

We had about an hour (give or take) of heavy bands come through here. Decided to put up some hot water and boiled some eggs in case I need to go into mode where I lose power but hoping, praying I don't.

Son lost power in Hollywood with that band that came through strongly here.

Sky is a bit lighter here in color than it was before.. but it is getting dark again to the east (a nasty looking cell out there on radar) and watching the cells spin round.

She is a real hurricane..wind.. circle center seems to have gotten smaller.. stronger and bands, nice bands... big, big NE quandrant like real hurricanes get.

Pouring on Miami Beach... rain shifted to south more.. at that location.

Otherwise.. round up given below.

Anyone with a map that has an insert of Florida and the Keys.. should track the storm. A rare opportunity and you really get a feel for where the storm really is better than even watching on radar..

Strong cell.. going off again.

Nice.. very nice so far..

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_east.html

Look at that band on the NE side of Rita that is pumping strong bands through the Miami/Broward area. You can feel the difference since she has gotten stronger.
Watching a sample of TV and listening to the radio a bit. A lot of people without power after first good squall.

Watching Mike Seidel in Marathon. Beautiful place..getting strong tides.
10:30 am gust of 52mph reported on mami beach

Channel 6 on back up power is doing a great job They have someone down on Lower Matecumbe where the storm surge is coming in... about 6 inches of sand on US1.. (beautiful down there that stretch of highway) and.. ocean is pounding in against the roadway.. Nice images.. good job reporting too.Ed Odell doing a great job reporting down there.

radar:http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge/byx_N0Z_lp.shtml

Hurricane Rita & Miami Morning Diary

I'm on information overload here.

Really.

So much to look at .. so much I want to do.

Watching Channel 4 in Miami, CBS.. Norcross station. They have great coverage of the storm in the Keys but they keep losing signals off and on. Switching back and forth to TWC.
I think Bryan Norcross said it perfectly and I quote..wrote it down..

"What a nice surprise to wake up this morning and find a tropical storm not a hurricane." Bryan Norcross

Yes...so so true.

Last night kept watching radar and sat imagery and was worried that Rita was going to become a hurricane any minute and become the sudden Cat 2 or even a Major 3 that would slam Key West but... woke up this morning to a blustery but quiet morning and knew without turning on the TV or wxr radio that she had stayed south.. and hadn't done the deed.. was still a storm.

Hadn't lived up to the model's forecasting a Major Cane.

Thank God.. thank anything you want.. I am very happy on that. Let her be Hurricane Rita but keep her small.. not strong.. a "weak" Category One and nothing more as she makes her way along towards Key West or just south of Key West.

Maybe she will thead the needle as Bryan said.. though she seems on radar to have more of a northerly component now in her westward movement.

Also good news.. since she is moving faster than yesterday she will come into Key West earlier during low tide and not high tide..

More good news.

Not saying there won't be damage but nothing that Key West can't handle though she is slamming the area from Marathon up to Key West with strong bands.

So.. in Miami.

Diary style for a bit..Woke up at 4am and heard loud noises. Stared up at the windows near by bed facing east and they were getting pelted with very strong rain. Very strong. Heard the wind. Heard heavy thunder (which I rarely heard in Katrina) and got up... stood by the window and it was wild. No other world.. word but WILD... looked like a hurricane. Crawled back in bed (with my 13 year old daughter who fell asleep watching TWC on my bed) and fell asleep.

Decided not to put on tv.. just enjoy watching it with my eyes and go back to bed.

Woke up at 7am .. no hard rain, no heavy wind..no sign of a hurricane. Thought to myself.. she stayed south.. she stayed west bound and didn't become a hurricane. And, I was right. Been there before.. knew it wasn't a break in the bands... and I was right.

Went outside with my younger son and sat on the bench watching the clouds. No birds, no cars... a few houses put a few shutters up. Smart thinking in this case... cover the picture window.. cover the side of the house most exposed.

Everyone in Miami had this watch and see mode even though we were having a warning.. was more a watch mode. Wait and see what it was like early in the morning.. keep shutters nearby, supplies nearby, keep flashlight by the bed and radio... "just in case" mode.

Made some strong coffee.. took a quick shower.

Went online to find great pics, better data and watching coverage on TV.

Notice that the dividing line seems to be for now Kendall Drive which was mentioned online and I think Skeetobite showed on his maps. Though right now.... this very minute a strong gust came through and all the trees bent.

Calm again.

Birds came out about 20 minutes ago for the first time all morning.

I want to go to the beach. I really want to go to the beach. I really, really want to go to Haulover. Maybe I will.. later. Have to be the proper role model for the kids and not run out into the danger zone ..right?

I want to go to the beach.

Okay.. I am a hurricane child and I always will be.... even when I KNOW that they upgraded her to a hurricane ..when I open my email and see it say HURR RITA my face breaks out into a childish grin.. smile..

No.. I don't want death and destruction on the nightly news.. or noon.

But..............I just love to watch hurricanes. They are truly amazing. All that wind, rain.. pulled together into a storm..one swirling, round, mass traveling across the surface of the planet.. beautiful. You either get it..or you don't.

You either appreciate nature.. or you don't.

Mayor Jimmy Weekly on tv just coming out of a EOC meeting... just updating.

Telling you people up there..out there.... somewhere.. Key West and Miami are two of the most prepared places you will ever find for a hurricane. We are truly Hurricane Country. New Orleans is Cajun Country or Creole Country...

If I was in Key West yesterday and wanted to get off the Rock.. would have gone to a pick up zone and they would have taken me up to a shelter in Miami. They have help and people waiting to come in already set up. For a city that is made fun of for being too "why don't we get drunk and screw" Jimmy Buffett mentality... truth is it's all a facade to sell tee shirts on Duval Street. People care about eachother, despite color, despite nationality, despite where they came from before they found their way to the Conch Republic and despite their sexual preferences... it is one Human Family and people look out for eachother.

On the phone with a friend yesterday from Key West..he was worrying on if the buses were for just tourists or for the homeless who live down there by different names. He has a house.. a nice house... a business.. cats.. he is stuck up here with a house down there not boarded up and he is worrying if the city is taking the homeless north too..

And, many of my friends who did come up to Miami and Palm Beach..came not because they were terrified Key West would get swept by a tidal wave surge but because it would be easier and more comfortable (electric) and amenities and just to be safe because of what they saw with Katrina. Just to be safe.. everyone is a little shell shocked this year into being safe.
I mean.. I'm here now and haven't gone to the beach yet.. see?

WOW...GOING TO SEND THIS QUICK BEFORE I LOSE POWER.. MASSIVE STRONG BAND COMING THRU...SOUNDS LIKE 4AM.. RAINING HITTING WINDOWS HARD..SLAMMING IT AND LEAVES FLYING BY OFF TREES...WHOLE SKY TURNED DARK AFTER WATCHING IT COME THRU ON HAULOVER EAST OF ME..

WHICH..IS WHY I DIDNT GO THE BEACH :)

YET..

later...want to watch.. want to send in case I lose power but hopefully just a fast, passing band..

Key West will get a storm but a milder one than we thought last night it would be.

Don't ever underestimate a storm.. ever

Bobbistorm.. be back later








w

So...
ZCZC MIATCUAT3 ALLTTAA00 KNHC DDHHMMHURRICANE RITA TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATENWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL915 AM EDT TUE SEP 20 2005
DOPPLER RADAR DATA...SATELLITE PRESENTATION AND PRESSURE FALLS FROMTHE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT RITA HAS REACHED CATEGORYONE HURRICANE STRENGTH ON THE SAFFIR/SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. THISWILL BE REFLECTED ON THE 11 AM...1500Z ADVISORY.
FORECASTER AVILA
$$NNNN
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My thoughts exactly. Especially, after that crazy band came through at 4am and sounded like someone shooting rocks against my bedroom room window last night

Monday, September 19, 2005

Miami Monday Night...Windy but she is Far Away & Strengthening...

It's been a long day.

Wake up to see models shifting more north.

NHC kept to their basic path.. and so far.. so good.

Woke up to sunny skies and a fresh feel to the air..

A few hours later... the clouds moved in.

Checked the models and got nervous.

Thought the storm looked bad.. everyone on TV said it looked good.

Began to worry it was going to move more to the wNw...worried about an upper keys landfall
Ocean Reef... 18 mile stretch..

Then.. looked like it was crashing into Cuba.. was really just shear from north pushing cloud tops off.. a good look at the visible showed the center chugging along north of west.

So................its been a long day.

Helped a lot to get some rest and go out to dinner with friends in from Key West.. staying for the storm. After being on the phone with them a good part of the day ..off and on.. and other friends called.. other people here and there.. what a day.

So...here we are...again.

Got batteries, got radio, got water, got snacks, got battery tv hidden in drawer..

Hoping Key West misses a direct hit.

It's just such a part of me.. my family.. ME.. and I can close my eyes and wander up and down streets... breathe deep.. smell the frangrances... see the colors.. feel the Key West air upon my face that feels different from Miami... wonderful, friendly .. good.. nice people.

Hoping it will be okay.

Maybe I'm in denial. Maybe it's the pistachio ice cream I had ...not my favorite but was in the mood. Pistachio for Grandma Mary.

Night gang.. follow NHC.. watch TWC... going to lie down and fall asleep listening to Bryan talk..

See where she is in the morning...or when I wake up later.

Nite..hang tite.
Bobbi

Just Got Home.. Trying to Catch Up.. Watching Norcross

He is so good to watch. Really good.

Breathing a little easier for the Miami area and worrying more on Key West.

A Cat 3 in Key West will cause a lot of damage. A lot. Not the sort of devastation Katrina wrought on the Gulf Coast but enough to mess up the town. Enough to have loss of life.

More so.. the lower keys are more of a target for trouble. They are smaller.. low lying and not as big or high as Key West. Everyone will hunker down.. hope for the best.

In Miami.. some people have put up shutters. Most not. I figure if you got them.. you may as well use them. Heard a lot of talk by people today who are considering buying shutters who have opted for accordian vs panels. They figure if they will use them.. it is better than having shutters that they may not put up because of the hassle.

Listening to TWC and Bryan Norcross. Makes you feel so much calmer to hear Bryan talk logically. He is so good.

This storm is nothing to play with and nothing to laugh off.

You take each storm as they come. They are all different. One can bring rain.. one high winds, one squalls that hit hard.. one that brings tornadoes.

National Hurricane Center doing a beautiful job with their track and the discussion at 5 was excellent. Let the big boys do their job and if adjustments need to be made..they will.

Right now Rita doesn't look as good as she looked earlier this afternoon. Maybe it is interaction with Cuba to her south. Maybe a lot of things.

Keep watching.

Going out with some friends from Key West for dinner.. and then I'll be back.. staring, watching, writing...as long as I have electric.

Everyone stay safe.. windy here.. gray in all directions, heavy cloud cover.. trees are whipping around. Not going far, near the house and winds not that high.

Birds flying about wildly here.

Oh..and my son is staying with his girlfriend in Miami Beach so hoping we don't get a bad problem. They have shutters... second story house..should be okay.

Should you ever really say should?
Hmm Yaffah?? wondering..

later, Bobbi
ps.. everyone who wrote.. thanks for your prayers.. keep praying!

Conditions Expected in Key West...

HurricaneCity.Com Weather Audio Broadcast Network
Key West NWS Statement: Expect Conditions worse than Hurricane Georges
Posted by DavidK on 9/19/2005, 2:43 pmUser logged in as: DavidK
Expires 5:30 PM EDT on September 19, 2005
Statement as of 2:25 PM EDT on September 19, 2005
... Local effects of Rita in the Florida Keys will most likely be worse than those of hurricane Georges in 1998... ... A mandatory evacuation is in effect for all of the Lower and Middle Keys from Craig Key to Key West... ... A mandatory evacuation for all of the Upper Keys from Craig Key to Key Largo is to commence at 300 PM this afternoon... ... Flood Watch in effect for the Florida Keys... ... Hurricane Warning in effect for the Florida Keys...
... New information since last issuance... watches and warnings updated.Storm information updated.Precautionary/preparedness actions updated.Storm surge flood and storm tide impacts updated.Wind impacts updated.Marine impacts updated.Rainfall impacts updated.
... Areas affected... this statement is specific to the Florida Keys of Monroe County including the Dry Tortugas.
... Watches and warnings... a Hurricane Warning is in effect for all of the Florida Keys and adjoining waters... from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas... including Florida Bay. A Hurricane Warning means that hurricane conditions... winds of 74 mph or greater and storm surge flooding... are expected within the next 24 hours. A Flood Watch is in effect for all of the Florida Keys for late tonight and Tuesday. A Flood Watch means that conditions are favorable for heavy rains and possible flooding.
... Storm information... at 200 PM EDT... the center of Tropical Storm Rita was located near latitude 23.1 north... longitude 75.9 west... or about 340 miles east-southeast of Marathon... and about 380 miles east-southeast of Key West. Tropical Storm Rita was moving west-northwest near 14 mph. This motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours. Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph... with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours... and Tropical Storm Rita could become a category one hurricane late this afternoon. The minimum central pressure was 993 mb... or 29.32 inches of Mercury.
... Precautionary/preparedness actions... a mandatory evacuation is in effect for all of the Lower and Middle Keys from Craig Key Key West. A mandatory evacuation of the Upper Keys from Craig Key to Key Largo will commence at 300 PM this afternoon. The Golden Panther Arena at Florida International University will be used as a staging area for general population only... this will transition to the Charles E. Perry building later this afternoon. The Monroe County emergency operations center has been fully activated. All interests in the Florida Keys should rush hurricane preparations to completion. Install hurricane shutters now... and secure loose objects which may become dangerous projectiles. Power will be out for an extended period of time... possibly a week or more in some places. At least three days of food and water should be obtained. City offices... County Parks... and state Parks are closed. County offices are closed. Hospitals in the Keys will be closing today. Monroe County schools are closed today and Tuesday. Tolls on Card Sound Road are suspended. Key West International Airport and Marathon Airport will close at 600 PM Monday. Greyhound reports excellent availability of seats on service out of Key West and the remaining Keys. Contact the Keys shuttle at 1-800-410-Keys. The Monroe County emergency management information hotline is available at 1-800-955-5504.
... Storm surge flood and storm tide impacts... a storm surge of 6 to 9 feet is expected Tuesday. This will inundate most roads and large sections of the overseas Highway. A storm surge of this magnitude has the ability to scour the approaches to bridges on the overseas Highway. This may leave portions of the overseas Highway impassable. Astronomical tides have been about 1 foot above normal in recent days due to the full moon. Therefore... a storm tide of 7 to 10 feet is possible should storm passage coincide with the time of high tide. High tides at Whale Harbor Channel are at 1045 PM today... and Tuesday at 1118 am and 1129 PM. High tides at Key West Harbor are at 1134 PM today... and at 230 PM on Tuesday... and finally 1208 am early Wednesday. Remember... the total storm tide equals the storm surge plus the astronomical tide.
... Wind impacts... residents of the Florida Keys can expect roof and moderate structural damage to homes and businesses. Mobile homes are not safe. Many will be damaged... hundreds may be destroyed. Large trees and power poles will be toppled. Sustained tropical storm force winds of 39 to 73 mph will begin early Tuesday morning over the Upper Keys... and by Tuesday mid morning over the middle and Lower Keys. Category two hurricane force winds of 96 to 110 mph are a distinct possibility... especially in the Lower Keys... Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night.
... Marine impacts... Jewfish Creek and Snake Creek bridges are locked in the down position. Considerable damage is likely to piers Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night. Marinas will be flooded. Small craft in unprotected anchorages will be torn from moorings. By Tuesday... seas will build to 15 to 20 feet beyond the reef... with seas of 25 to 30 feet near the center of Tropical Storm Rita.
... Rainfall impacts... a Flood Watch has been issued for all of the Florida Keys for late tonight and Tuesday. Rainfall amounts from 6 to 10 inches are expected with locally higher amounts possible. Most streets will be impassable from water and debris.
... Probability of hurricane/tropical storm conditions... the maximum probability of tropical storm force winds in the Florida Keys is 87 percent at Marathon and 84 percent at Key West. The probability of hurricane force winds is 34 percent at Marathon and 35 percent at Key West.
... Next update... the next local statement concerning the impacts of Tropical Storm Rita on the Florida Keys will be issued at 530 PM EDT... or sooner if new information becomes available. For additional information you may visit the National Weather Service Key West web site at www.Weather.Gov/keywest.