Hurricane Jeanne
Well now I thought I was gonna go have a nice relaxing weekend at the hammock after setting off bombs to take care of the ants left behind by the previous hurricanes but instead I left work at 2:30 on Friday to come home and prepare for another hurricane.
Starting Saturday afternoon the winds were picking up with periods of rain. The outer bands had arrived already. At 400 miles across Jeanne was a monster with her sights on the east coast of Florida. By Saturday morning she was packing winds of 115 miles per hour and chugging directly west with a little jog to the north now and again. She was predicted to come onshore just north of where Francis did and that put us right in the path of the worst quardrant closest to the eye without actually being in the eye. Tensions rose as we tried to go about our Saturday chores unable to focus on anything else for any length of time. Nobody was leaving this time, we were just too tired, and too poor not only financially but emotionally. I begged Jenn to leave the island if only to come here but she convinced me that Dr Cowen was staying behind and was available to her if need be. Her and Mark just couldn't risk not being available for work the day they were able to reopen the stores.
Jeanne roared onshore a few miles south of where Francis did, sparing my neighborhood the worst of her furry but I have many friends south of Melbourne that suffered alot of damage. South brevard really took a beating from her. Houses that had been weakened by the two previous storms just couldn't hold up. I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep but when the wall moved under Kip's hand, he was awoken and of course that meant me too. I made some coffee since we still had power but before we could even finish the pot the power was gone.
Power went out about 5:15 Sunday morning with the storms furry still spinning outside. We got the battery operated TV running and huddled together to watch the little 2" screen together. We decided that if we never need it again it was worth the $59 I paid for it as it gave us sanity to get storm updates.
Late afternoon and i decided that I really needed some sleep and the worst of the storm was past us but when the neighbors generator ran out of gas just as I was drifting off, I was jerked out of my sleep and it wouldn't return. Calling family members I discovered that my parents in fact had electricity and we began to make plans to take the renegade there for the night where at least we could get a good nights sleep. The power came on during preperations and we were happy to sleep in our own bed without the roar of the generator outside our window.
A drive to check out the shop in Titusville revealed that north Brevard had been ever so lucky as there was little damage and that was mostly cosmetic. Power was on at the shop and we returned home to prepare for the next day.
Monday I spent the day making two new pairs of happy pants for mag fest. I just decided that I wasn't going to do any of the many chores I should have been doing and will probably regret that later in the week but I just needed the break. I attached my mp3 player to me and finished listening to The Divinci Code. Very good, highly recommend it! I plan to give it a second listen as I do think it is too deep to get all the little nuances in the first round. Anyone on to "The Lovely Bones" which I purchased in anticipation of being without power for days and I would be able to sit and listen to it in low light. I changed my subscription to 2 books a month but I am just not sure that is going to be enough. I love being able to listen to the hotest books while going about my other activities. Although I have discovered that I can't listen and do anything else that requires brain power or I miss important information. Once I get a card for my Palm, I am hoping that I will be able to more easily back up but my nuvo just doesn't do that well.
They are already talking about the next depression coming off Africa and I sure hope I am not writing about another hurricane in a couple of weeks. Mag Fest is only 3 weeks away and nothing will put in a fouler mood than if it gets canceled. I trully need the stress relief that festival gives me. I am smoking more and more and when I am not smoking I am eating. When I go to bed my heart feels like it is going to pound right out of my chest and sleep won't come even though just prior to going to bed I was dozing on the couch. My lower back hurts from being punished by too much time spent prone on the couch instead of in my bed and my shoulders are all cramped up from the stress of wondering what will become of us after the next storm. I have taken to drinking beer with tylenal pm just to get any simblance of sleep and I know that it is not the real restful sleep that I need. These storms have taken an emotional toll on everyone that far exceeds any financial toll. Our minds tell us that it is just stuff but that doesn't stop the adreline rush that starts a week before the storm actually arrives and takes a week to subside after as we clean up. With three storms in 6 weeks, we just haven't had any breathing room.
Starting Saturday afternoon the winds were picking up with periods of rain. The outer bands had arrived already. At 400 miles across Jeanne was a monster with her sights on the east coast of Florida. By Saturday morning she was packing winds of 115 miles per hour and chugging directly west with a little jog to the north now and again. She was predicted to come onshore just north of where Francis did and that put us right in the path of the worst quardrant closest to the eye without actually being in the eye. Tensions rose as we tried to go about our Saturday chores unable to focus on anything else for any length of time. Nobody was leaving this time, we were just too tired, and too poor not only financially but emotionally. I begged Jenn to leave the island if only to come here but she convinced me that Dr Cowen was staying behind and was available to her if need be. Her and Mark just couldn't risk not being available for work the day they were able to reopen the stores.
Jeanne roared onshore a few miles south of where Francis did, sparing my neighborhood the worst of her furry but I have many friends south of Melbourne that suffered alot of damage. South brevard really took a beating from her. Houses that had been weakened by the two previous storms just couldn't hold up. I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep but when the wall moved under Kip's hand, he was awoken and of course that meant me too. I made some coffee since we still had power but before we could even finish the pot the power was gone.
Power went out about 5:15 Sunday morning with the storms furry still spinning outside. We got the battery operated TV running and huddled together to watch the little 2" screen together. We decided that if we never need it again it was worth the $59 I paid for it as it gave us sanity to get storm updates.
Late afternoon and i decided that I really needed some sleep and the worst of the storm was past us but when the neighbors generator ran out of gas just as I was drifting off, I was jerked out of my sleep and it wouldn't return. Calling family members I discovered that my parents in fact had electricity and we began to make plans to take the renegade there for the night where at least we could get a good nights sleep. The power came on during preperations and we were happy to sleep in our own bed without the roar of the generator outside our window.
A drive to check out the shop in Titusville revealed that north Brevard had been ever so lucky as there was little damage and that was mostly cosmetic. Power was on at the shop and we returned home to prepare for the next day.
Monday I spent the day making two new pairs of happy pants for mag fest. I just decided that I wasn't going to do any of the many chores I should have been doing and will probably regret that later in the week but I just needed the break. I attached my mp3 player to me and finished listening to The Divinci Code. Very good, highly recommend it! I plan to give it a second listen as I do think it is too deep to get all the little nuances in the first round. Anyone on to "The Lovely Bones" which I purchased in anticipation of being without power for days and I would be able to sit and listen to it in low light. I changed my subscription to 2 books a month but I am just not sure that is going to be enough. I love being able to listen to the hotest books while going about my other activities. Although I have discovered that I can't listen and do anything else that requires brain power or I miss important information. Once I get a card for my Palm, I am hoping that I will be able to more easily back up but my nuvo just doesn't do that well.
They are already talking about the next depression coming off Africa and I sure hope I am not writing about another hurricane in a couple of weeks. Mag Fest is only 3 weeks away and nothing will put in a fouler mood than if it gets canceled. I trully need the stress relief that festival gives me. I am smoking more and more and when I am not smoking I am eating. When I go to bed my heart feels like it is going to pound right out of my chest and sleep won't come even though just prior to going to bed I was dozing on the couch. My lower back hurts from being punished by too much time spent prone on the couch instead of in my bed and my shoulders are all cramped up from the stress of wondering what will become of us after the next storm. I have taken to drinking beer with tylenal pm just to get any simblance of sleep and I know that it is not the real restful sleep that I need. These storms have taken an emotional toll on everyone that far exceeds any financial toll. Our minds tell us that it is just stuff but that doesn't stop the adreline rush that starts a week before the storm actually arrives and takes a week to subside after as we clean up. With three storms in 6 weeks, we just haven't had any breathing room.
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