Pointless Announcements

Wha? This happens in Germany? I would've never guessed!

pica wrote:

Eeewwww

Bulbous, ugh!

I've got some kind of migraine or something since yesterday afternoon, spent the whole night having nightmares then trying to get back to sleep with this head/neck pain. Misery! Hope it clears up today.

That sounds Awful!

I thought it was the largest not the strongest. I mean, I don't even think it's a hurricane anymore. Maybe it's the strongest storm to reach so far North. Maybe it's the strongest this late in the year.

Largest as in hitting the most states and getting so far inland?

Yeah. NY doesn't often get shut down by storms, I don't think.

OMG.

It is! At first I thought it was because I ate a lot of chocolate and rubbish yesterday but I think it's just a coincidence.

That explosion is mental. I know it's dumb to say but I get a bit jealous of American storms. I like the idea of staying huddled in a basement for 10 hours. Not this kind of storm though where things blow up and people die.

I've gone through quite a few storms in my lifetime here in the South, and I can tell you that none of them have been any kind of fun. I really thought we were gonna die last year during that day of killer tornadoes.

Hurricane Ivan was terrible for us. We had sustained 75 mph winds for 48 hours. SUSTAINED. It was scary!

It's not necessarily the worst hurricane, but it met with a winter storm system and a low pressure system once it hit land. Combine that with high tide/full moon, and you have a pretty bad and unpredictable storm.

The winds are down to about 45mph today, thankfully. Still, the subway system could be shut down from anywhere between 4 to 14 days, and no word yet on the airports reopening, though I am sure they're doing all they can there.

good to know that you´re okay.

thanks. just wish i could go out for some fresh air!

Kit what's the weather like now? Is it a situation where the temp's dropping and things will start freezing?

Emergency vehicles aren't legally allowed to be on the roads when the wind is over 40mph.

Not really any risk of that, at least not in NYC. The areas with snow and frost risk are states further inland.
It's about 60F here today and still raining a fair bit. The rest of the week is going to be in the low 50s with the rain gradually dropping off.

The thing is any areas that have flooded - like the subways, it's all with saltwater from the rivers overflowing, so the main worry is what kind of damage was caused to underground electrical systems. Hopefully the buses at least will be back up tomorrow, I think I'm expected to be back at work.

It has to do with the size of the hurricane and the fact that it combined with storm surges and the tides from the full moon. All of it together created a monster storm of the likes that we hadn't seen before. It had the potential to be a lot worse that it was. It was still bad, I mean it flooded Manhattan while causing snow in West Virginia. There are 8 million people without power.

Does a full moon really have any impact on the tides?

I know the moon does, obviously. But I do not see what the amount of light it is reflecting on any given day has to do with anything? It is the same size day after day no matter how much we see of it when looking up.

I mean yes, where it is in it's waxing and waning cycle has an affect on human and animal behavior, but that has to do with the way the brain responds to different levels of light.

Oceans and storm fronts do not have brains.

I'm just repeating what I've read.

Here's a better explanation for Irina.

http://www.komonews.com/weather/blogs/scott/What-makes-superstorm-Sandy-...

I looked it up...

I guess it does.

That was interesting to learn.

Amber I was wondering the same thing.
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/tides/tides06_variations.html
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/

Drew was explaining all the moon phases to me the other day but I was only half listening and din't really fully grasp what he was talking about. And he was talking about it in the context of farming and what we're harvesting for fall, etc.

When the sun and moon are aligned, there are exceptionally strong gravitational forces, causing very high and very low tides which are called spring tides, though they have nothing to do with the season. When the sun and moon are not aligned, the gravitational forces cancel each other out, and the tides are not as dramatically high and low. These are called neap tides.

Spring Tides
When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined. At these times, the high tides are very high and the low tides are very low. This is known as a spring high tide. Spring tides are especially strong tides (they do not have anything to do with the season Spring). They occur when the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon are in a line. The gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun both contribute to the tides. Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon.

Neap Tides
During the moon's quarter phases the sun and moon work at right angles, causing the bulges to cancel each other. The result is a smaller difference between high and low tides and is known as a neap tide. Neap tides are especially weak tides. They occur when the gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun are perpendicular to one another (with respect to the Earth). Neap tides occur during quarter moons.

The Proxigean Spring Tide is a rare, unusually high tide. This very high tide occurs when the moon is both unusually close to the Earth (at its closest perigee, called the proxigee) and in the New Moon phase (when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth). The proxigean spring tide occurs at most once every 1.5 years.

Yeah, I just looked it up too. I'd read so many places that it played a part that I didn't question it, but I just looked it up to make sure.

Hey, I think we just read the same thing!

PA: I'm watching Life After People (oh my God I love this show so much), and one of the "experts" is David Brin. He wrote The Postman (good book, stupid ass movie).

Well, i learned something first thing in the morning so I am happy and I think that is a sign of a good day to come.

I have a lot of decorating and cooking and cleaning to do today. Plus I was going to dye my hair and hopefully try to find time to carve a pumpkin or two. We carved four of them last night but we still have nine more to go.

Speaking of which. James put lily to bed with pumpkin guts in her hair last night. I went grocery shopping while they were still working on theirs and the kids were all in bed when I got home. This morning Lily says "Dad said I had to take a shower in the morning" when I went in to wash her hair it was full of stringy pumpkin guts. *eye roll*

Thanks, all of you.

I bought a pack of cigarettes today and already smoked 7. Fuck.

And one of professors said "shitfaced". Hee hee.

underneath the couch?

Was the spookiest decorated place in the whole house.

Changed that though, not anymore.

Irina what are you thanking us for?

For explaining the storm, I thought?
I just went outside. First fresh air in like 3 days. Even though it was raining, it was glorious!

Hoping against hope that The Misfits don't cancel their show tomorrow night, I need some fun this week

I didn't realsie you had been cooped up for three days! I guess I am not paying attention. I thought it was just since yesterdayish.

Well, we didn't really go out on Sunday except to move the car, weather was bad then too. So I guess it's been 2 and a bit days inside... had cabin fever bad enough to cause me to do a full on scrub and clean of the kitchen, stove, oven and all. Don't think it's been so clean since we moved in. Thanks Sandy!

Also,

Irina, please do not start smoking again.

I think you said you weren't really hooked before, but that does not mean it won't happen this time.

I quit for six years, and now I have been smoking again for five and can't seem to make myself stop.

My lungs hurt everyday.

My heart hurts.

My mood and tolerance for any situation is dictated by how long it has been since I had a cigarette.

My clothing stinks.

My teeth aren't looking too hot and I doubt I taste good.

My pocketbook is in shambles.

Just don't do it. Stop. it is a very bad plan.

I stopped smoking years ago, and then just randomly bought a pack of shitty Cheyenne 100s (Vanilla flavored) a few months ago and smoked it down to three left when I said, "WTF? Stop this." And those three cigarettes have been sitting on my book shelf for months...I wonder if they still have their flavor.

Try them

Smoking is gross you guys, stop it.

When Gabe got home from school we were standing in the kitchen talking and he suddenly stopped and grinned and pointed at his chest and then at me.

Then again, as I didn't understand.

And again, at his chest and then at me. All the while his grin getting bigger.

Turns out we were wearing the same Pink Floyd tshirt.

I was thanking you for explaining the storm, yeah.

I just want a pack, I really missed it and oh my god the first cigarette was like pot. As the day progressed, they felt more and more bland, so this'll probably be it.

I hate flavoured cigarettes and I hate the smell of cigars.

Yum yum yum lovely fags.

not really they ARE gross! gotcha!

I love you and I love this!

It made me smile. And I'm in so much pain right now. My chest, neck and chin are on fire. I'm exhausted and I can't sleep. I thought I'd been so careful to cover up today. Must have been when I was just pottering around home. GRRRR!

I had a really awesome day before the sun allergy hit me.

Giancarlo is mad at me.

You talk back to me, I take your iPod away. Sorry, dude.

Ugh they keep this lab so cold that my hands hurt. Sometimes i drop samples because it's so cold.

I adore you too Sarah.

That sun allergy must be a real pain.

This morning I was chuckling about the above still and Gabriel asked what the deal was,

Me: I was just thinking about how you were amused about our shirts. Most teenagers would be mortified if they realised their outfit matched their parents.

Gabriel: That is because most parents would do it on purpose and make it look bad.

...

Sometimes it is odd for my boy to be so close to me generationally.

I accidentally smashed an entire bottle of tequila last night.

You bastard.

I know the feeling!

We get along so well that in the rare moments when there's an issue, I feel like saying, "You realize I'm your mom and not your big sister, right?" haha

So no work for the rest of the week. I just wish someone had let me know before I spent 2 hours on a downtown bus this morning.