Tales of Home [1]

Mrs Figg wrote:yep I drink Ocean Spray juice. Its the best. wow what a coincidence. Its difficult to find here though and I have to go to the English/American store in town where I can find Cranberry juice, Heinz Beans and Birds Custard (for my bananas and custard)

How very cool! Thanks for the endorsement!

We've been watching updates on SKY NEWS about Hurricane Sandy !, It does look frightening, & the lengths people are going to,to get thru this. They must be so scared ! We're lucky in the UK that we dont suffer at the hands of Nature as USA does. My very best wishes go out to you & your friends & family, Keep safe !,

Norc wrote:you was more worried about loosing electricity than your house being smashed by a giant maple tree?

you need to sort out your priorities ;D

No, but losing power is significantly more likely. The tree in the front yard is pretty stable. On the other hand, it's possible that people as far inland as Chicago could loser power. For those that don't know, Chicago is not anywhere near the shore. Sandy is now the largest Hurricane ever.

Tip: play the song 'shelter from the storm' over and over again for a laugh

I was thinking more "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors but I'll take that into consideration.

Google has an interesting map of the storm's extent and likely movment.

http://google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy

I added a red dot to show my approximate location:

you seem to be in the thick of it, has it gone over you yet?

That sounds like your house has been destroyed and your dead body is travelling along the lonesome road of ancient mystics tho??

Mrs Figg wrote: you seem to be in the thick of it, has it gone over you yet?

The eye of the storm hasn't even made landfall yet but we've had strong winds and rain for about 12 hours already (and lesser winds and drizzle for longer). It will probably pass through the more northerly part of the projection cone, but that remains to be seen.

what I dont understand is, (and pardon my complete ignorance), but on tv programmes American houses seem to be all made from wood, this seems a bit odd in a hurricane filled country? wouldnt it be better to make houses from stone or brick?

I think that stone/brick construction is more common in the South, which gets hit by hurricanes more often, but yeah around here most houses are made of wood. I assume it's because wood is cheaper. Brick construction is more common in the city rather than the suburbs, though.

I am getting images of a big bad wolf huffing and puffing the wooden houses down.
If its any consolation we have mega earthquakes.
oh and a live volcano, that if blows will cover the earth in a nuclear winter, what larks.

I was actually up hang gliding the dunes in cape cod yesterday morning: every time we get a storm coming up the coast it's perfect conditions.

Not much happening here in new york: strong winds and a bit of rain. Times Square still has the lights on and tourists in raincoats passing through. the direct hit is in the DC/Baltimore area further south.

Of course the media up here are trying to play it up as more than it is: got reporters out filming live in the storm and making grandiose statements about how bad it is ... with crowds of people standing behind them making faces and waving at friends. The reporters complain about how people should be doing the right thing and go inside: it's really pretty funny.

There's a crane on the verge of falling off a 60ft building, that is something

I trust someone is filming it until it does fall!

spoke too soon: the winds just started hammering, but from the radar I don't think we'll get much rain. Just storm surge.

Carly, you're in Harlem? So am I!!

NYC is more likely to get rain tomorrow. The storm is passing over Maryland tonight and then heading more directly north. The eye will be more inland but the damn thing is so huge that it almost doesn't matter. I'd definitely be worried about the wind (especially with the canyon effect) and the storm surge though, given NYC is basically at sea level.

I'm on the heights, on the 7th floor, and feeling very smug. I really should traipse out and see what the Hudson is up to, but it just got dark and I can't be bothered.

Im watching the event on SKY NEWS, & its terrifying !

A few stray pets flying past the window. Other than that not much, though I'm sure the beaches are being scooped up and spat out.

The lights are flickering, so we might not have power for much longer. We're lucky to have come this far though. I hope tomorrow will be better (though it will likely be worse in New York -- sorry Halfwise).

Ya know, I've just realized this is one of the few times in New York when I can say "I want a slice of pizza", and not be able to get one!

Fuck, I didn't realize things were so bad

Get FEMA on this at once, Obama.