Oh, and I saw him on Google talk today or yesterday, IIRC. He's at least got power at the office.
Hiya! We had a bit of a brew-up here - lost power for several hours, a few bent trees, my coachlights got ripped off, and I have a big dent in my garage door from what I suspect is my neighbor's "for sale" sign. Looks like a baby tornado touched down about a half mile from my house and came right for me, thwacked about 2-3 acres of corn and then did a number on my back woods, it got to about 100 feet from my house, splintered a bunch of greenwood. I never saw it, though, I was busy watching the rain force itself through my front windows, the wind was that tough. I couldn't see across my street at one point, nothing but spinning whitewater (at which point I figured it was the better part of valor to take my fool ass down to the basement). I'm down in a valley, so I got off easy - my neighbor lost a porch support and about 40 feet of soffit, another has several broken windows and some water damage. My across the street neighbor had his deck furniture stacked up like by a poltergeist, lots of bits and pieces thrown around (I think our babynado went across his deck at one point, no way would straight line winds have stacked everything up this way), and a shitload of trash in the pool. I went riding around looking for some take out (everything was closed, no power to most of the commercial district), there were TONS of trees and powerlines down, various sections of town without power, lots of people standing around gawping at this and that. About 8, they announced a boil order. So, you know, we boiled some water :)
Today's was the second batch of tough storms - the ones that whacked St. Louis two days ago barely hit us over here across the river, but in the city, there were close to half a million people out of power Wednesday night - my boss lost his juice at around dinnetime Wednesday, it's not back on yet. Mine went out for a couple hours Wednesday evening, but was back on quickly, no big whoop. But there's a couple hundred thousand poeple in St. Louis wihtout power for the third straight night tonight. Hotels are crammed, people are staying wiht relatives, etc.
Everyone's fine though. Thanks for thinking of us :)
splintered a bunch of greenwood
Finest, most evocative phrase I've read in a few days.
nothing but spinning whitewater
I stand corrected.
Glad you're safe, you and MissusFes and Feyd Rautha and the Beast Rabban. Now my only concern is the fucking ballpark.
Oh, and this really hot chick I used to work with who lives up there now. But mostly you. And, you know, the ballpark.
Nice to hear you are safe.
Sorry to hear you got blown around, Fes. We endured a derecho here in central New York State a few years back that had water spraying through the window frames into the living room with the force of a fire hose, and left us with no power for a week, an impassible village street and a huge tree flattening our car. The actual event took less than 60 seconds. The cleanup was overwhelming although the neighbors grilling up defrosting meat for all (rather than wasting it) did make for some nice human moments.
I lived through a close tornado strike back in the early 60s outside Pittsburgh and this was actually worse.
Heavy weather is coming at us with a lot more frequency these days. Roads are buckling, the power grids are failing and people are dying. Welcome to Global Warming.
Glad you and yours are ok, Fes.
Glad ye weathered the storms, Fes.
Good to hear from you, Fes! Glad everything's OK, and hope none of them elegant duds was on the clothesline!
Good that you are okay, Fes!
Hooray for Fes!
*knocks on door
Is this the Whahoo Fes thread?
OK, then.
WAHOO!
Glad you and yours are safe.
One for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready
Now go, Fes, go!
(In other news, you can do anything, but stay offa his blue suede shoes)
Love Fes tender, love him true
Never let him go.
Thanks everyone :~*
Confirmed - it *was* a little F1 tornado that pushed through my woods. Visuals from up the street put the column at about the size of a garage. It was apparently hopping all over the neighborhood, decided to skitter through the woods. It bent over a medium-sized maple about 60 feet from my back porch, that was as close as it got besides dancing around on my neighbor's deck (his patio furniture was a total loss, but we are going swimming in the pool this afternoon, it's fine). Not a lot of injuries, but tons of minor damage. People a block over are still without power, our block is bucket-brigading them ice and garage-refridgerator space. Ameren says "Maybe Tuesday!" "maybe!" on their getting the juice back on.
As for me, my coachlights are fucked :) But I sorta yoinked! out the dent on the garage door. Everything, and everyone, else is superfine. We lucked out. Thanks for the good thoughts, me monkey brothers and sisters.
Ooo! Almost forgot: you hear those crazy stories about cows lifted up and set back down on people's cars unhurt by tornadoes and other nonsense? My neighbor (he of the busted patio furniture) had a small pot with gardenias (or some other annual) in the rocks next to his sidwalk. After the storm, he found it balanced *perfectly* on a rail post about 45 feet away and, if that weren't weird enough? All the flower tops were gone, but the plant itself and ALL THE DIRT was still in the pot.
*cue theme from Twilight Zone*
Fes, I am very glad to hear that you, your family & neighbors avoided injury!! sounds like quite a climatological adventure ;)
Now you see what voting for George W. Bush has - *ow!* GramMaaaaa! I was getting to it! - glad you dodged the twister Festicle! A little power out is no big deal in the big picture, but hoping everybody gets back online sooner than later.
Sorry about the coachlights, but they've gone to a better place. Time to get new ones :)
Glad to hear you are safe and sound, mate.
Glad to hear that you're doing well, Fes!
Hope you've found a good way to stay cool in that heat with no power. And I'm glad all is well with you & yours, minus those pesky coachlights.
Fun Fes Fact: Although he has (poorly) defended his policies at one time or another over the last several year, Fes has never actually voted for George W. Bush!
Fes Presidential Votes:
1988: didn't vote (busy getting high with homies protesting in silence against The Man)
1992: Bill Clinton (Democrat)
1996: Harry Browne (Libertarian)
2000: Ralph Nader (Green)
2004: didn't vote (busy picking up and feeding children)
And the circle is complete.
And don't scare us like that again, Fes.
*gives too-tight hug, threatens to buckle spine*
Yeah I know, I'se just funnin' ya.
Cap'n, I think he's taken.
Sorry, sorry. The Captain's mojo was running on high this weekend, clicking with a couple girls who live at least eight hours away each leaving me with all this EXCESS ENERGY that I have to DISPOSE OF SAFELY before I ASSPLODE. But this isn't about me, or who was cockblocking me, or the incoveniences of Canadian geography. This is about Fes, and Fes being safe. Glad you're safe, Fes. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.
Owwww! Cap'n jeez, I need those kidneys!
no sweat, Pete, it's easily conceivable that I could have voted for Bush in 2000. I mean, c'mon, a classical conservative like myself, voting for Nader? It's a huge WTF, unless you know of my penchant for indulging my electoral perversity at the expense of the (to my mind) rather pallid "yay me" glow that comes from being able to say that one voted for the winner, which is to my mind just about most pitiful voting criteria I can think of, plus I love an underdog.
And thanks again, everyone. You all spoil me with well-wishes.
I am, Cap. As the proverbial kitten. And it'd take a lot more than a bear hug from a sex-starved Canuck to make me uncomfortable, mister.
also: the Fes Fancy Frase of the Day: "To my mind..." Use it with pride, homeslices!
*readies tentacles*
Hey, Fes, any of those 2004 kids born 9 months after that '88 election?
Oh, and,
Monkeyfilter: indulging my electoral perversity
To my mind, TUM deserves to be jitterbugged with frivolously.
Hey, nice one Fes, can I drive it off the lot?
A little bad weather comes along and it deserves a gazillion good-monkey-wishes? "lost power for several hours, a few bent trees, my coachlights got ripped off, and I have a big dent in my garage door". Wow. The Home Depot bill might top $300. People in Queens have been without power for a week, people in Iraq have been without power, off and on, since Hurricane Georgie blew through, people in New Orleans aren't, and so on. I mean, not that I'd wish the Summer of St. Louis Hell on anyone, but...isn't this a little, ah, wimpy in comparison to the daily dose of yuck served up worldwide to monkeys everywhere? Nothing personal, but..
Monkeyfilter: the daily dose of yuck served up worldwide to monkeys everywhere
Aaaaaand we're out! That's a wrap people! Let's get this set struck quickly, the 6th grade band recital is in one hour!
Someone clean up this fruit punch spill!
MCT take off the stilts!
Fabulous job, TUM, listen there's a little get-together in my trailer after the wrap party, I was wondering if you'd like to come and look over a script I've been pitching to Paramount . .
Yes, the Queens/ConEd blackout is astonishing -- like the Katrina response, ye wonder where in hell it is.
I find it interesting that as our world becomes more and more wired, we get closer and closer to disaster. A hundred years ago people were able to survive without a massive infrastructure. They depended on themselves more. Now, imagine when everyone is plugged into the virtual 3-D world and almost no one lives in meat space anymore. A massive system wide collapse, brought about by a cascading series of minor mishaps, could result in total societal chaos.
I was wondering if you'd like to come and look over a script I've been pitching to Paramount . .
Ah, the Prisoner remake? *winks, twirls stripey umbrella*
Snatched it up, eh, TUM?
Good oh, what? What?
MonkeyFilter: jitterbugged with frivolously
... could result in total societal collapse
Odd, that's what USians of my parents generation said of
1.The Roaring Twenties
2.The Depression
3.Japonaese attacking the west coast of the USA
4.The McCarthy Hearings
etc etc
Ain't happened yet.
Perhaps Eliot had the right of it ... not with a bang but a whimper ...
Hmm ... remains to be seen ... the phrase most underutilized by the undertaking industry
Yes, Bees, ever since the Greeks, the oldsters have been thinkin' the world's going to hell in a handbasket.
can't find the quote I'm thinkin' on
Trouble is, I don't think the handbasket was ever this size before.
getting high with homiesprotesting in silence against The Man) 1992: Bill Clinton (Democrat) 1996: Harry Browne (Libertarian) 2000: Ralph Nader (Green) 2004: didn't vote (busy picking up and feeding children)