Goodnight, Irene

This is a farewell to the whole of the last 7 days (including today), which, in this area contained: a 5.9 earthquake, many tornado warnings, lots of flash flood warnings, and hurricane Irene. Oh, that's Doctor John, above, playing Goodnight Irene.

It's also a heartfelt wish for no earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes (the drink is exempted from this wish), flash floods, mudslides (the drink is exempted from this wish), forest fires, volcanic eruptions or tsunamis for at least the next month or two!

For me, it also included an allergy scratch test which is aptly named, because it still itches. It gave me the unfortunate information that although ragweed makes my nose and sinuses go berserk, I'm not actually allergic to them. So, the sinus problems in the Fall are now a complete mystery.

This would be good news because it means that if I could raise the money, I could now actually go to Pennsic with no ill effects from ragweed.

In theory.

Real life is totally different.

I am still allergic (according to the tests) to some tree pollen, and the doctor did write a note, but I don't know yet if it'll be enough to help me get a portable air conditioner to keep me from getting sick during the ragweed that I'm not allergic to.

It was, all in all, kind of a disaster of a week.

If you're in an area that is still battling Irene, I wish you the best of luck. And I wish everybody a good weekend, and the best possible week coming up.

A week entirely free of all disaster!


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Roadmap to Winning the Darwin Awards

For any of you who may not know, the Darwin Awards are given to people who manage to kill themselves in the most stupid possible way. It can also be awarded if the idiot in question just manages to remove his or her ability to procreate in a spectacularly stupid fashion.

For a better idea of what is meant, click the link above, and scroll down to the examples section. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.

Once, long ago, I read a book which was based on the idea that someone had the capability to make everyone in an area decide to do the same thing at the same time with disastrous results. in the book, everyone in New York City decided to go to the beach at the same time. Then I lost the book before I could finish reading it, but I never forgot the beginning of  it.

That exact scenario is playing out all along the east coast this weekend. It's an instant replay of one aspect of the earthquake from earlier in the week, where cell and other phone circuits were overloaded because everyone decided to call everyone else at the same time.

Anyway, with hurricane Irene on the way, I woke up today to find a sheet of instructions in my door on how to cope with the impending gale force winds (and rain). And after reading it through, I have come to the the conclusion that following the instructions could get me nominated for a Darwin Award.

I have to admit that some of what I was given was intended for before hurricane season, and as a last-minute instruction is pretty useless (like: Review your insurance policy). And some of it is not helpful because it doesn't apply, such as: decide where to move your boat, and fuel and service family vehicles. They also keep telling me I need a radio (which I can't hear). After a bit of analysis, though, I think what I really need in lieu of a radio is my tablet, which won't do me any good if the local towers are down, but at least I won't need another person to let me know what it says. Along with the radio, they recommend checking your flashlights and having lots of batteries, which is a wonderful idea! I have a lot of batteries and plan to check my flashlights immediately.

But one of the lists I consulted advocated getting lots of canned food. Well, that's something that will only be needed if the electricity goes out, in which case, I will also lose the ability to heat it, and most canned food needs heating. What you really need is food that will keep without refrigeration, and will not need to be heated. Those little pots of applesauce, pudding cups that don't need refrigeration, apples, etc. Canned soups and other foods won't help unless you have a camp stove and a safe place to use it.

The best ideas I've found for preparing are here .

Oh, and if you have to leave (or don't) remember something to knit and some books to read!

If you're on the East Coast, I wish you the safest, most comfortable weekend possible!

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Addition:

No matter where you are, even if you're on the East Coast, bracing for Irene, don't miss the return of the new season of Doctor Who on BBC in America!


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DC and Virginia's Excellent Adventure

I'd be willing to guess that on Tuesday morning, probably 90% of the people in the local area had never experienced an earthquake. I could be wrong if there were more tourists than I thought there were.

But no one who was here Tuesday afternoon can say that now!

As anyone who has seen the news in the last two days can tell you, most of the East Coast had an earthquake on Tuesday afternoon.

For the maximum excitement of the people involved without causing serious damage, this one couldn't be beat! I haven't heard any reports of anyone being killed or even seriously injured. Which was shear, dumb luck!

You can help researchers learn more about this event by entering your experiences here.

In Maryland, one wall of a masonry building collapsed, sending rubble down on three doomed cars. If people had been where the cars were, they (presumably) would have had the sense to get out of the way when the ground started shaking. The cars, however, being parked, were stuck with supporting a pile of cinder blocks and becoming statistics.

I saw photos of another building in Maryland that had the top of it moved about an inch to the side, right along the line of a course of bricks part way up.

There were some local area schools that noticed some damage to their buildings, and local kids got a day off while the building inspectors came to see if they were still safe.

The National Cathedral and the Washington Monument both sustained damage, which makes me very sad. They are among my favorite buildings in DC. The photos above and below are of the cathedral.

But for someone who had never been in an earthquake before (while awake), it was about as exciting as such a non-destructive earthquake could get. I found I could start a conversation with anyone by just asking about their experience.

In further news that's sort of connected to this, there are areas of Maryland that are under a tornado warning tonight, and the whole area is expecting Hurricane Irene on or about Sunday.

Robin asked on Facebook if we were going to get volcanic eruptions next week.

This is the first time I've ever had a blog post that included the tags: earthquake, tornado, hurricane. All in one post, mind you!

I hope you're having a better week than this area is!


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Hannah Came to Visit!

Yes, folks, hurricane Hannah is here. She's planning on leaving soon, though.

It was pouring down rain when I woke up, and it's still falling out of the sky.

There are flash flood warnings in my area.

Holly sent me a text message and asked if we could postpone going out.

Really, it's not so bad. A lot of rain is coming down, but I'd never guess it's a hurricane from the lack of wind. Yes, I saw the radar images on the weather channel, but this is more like a warm front rain.

Cold fronts bring storms. Warm fronts just bring rain that goes on and on.

Yesterday, I went shopping at Potomac Mills Mall. People are starting to speculate on whether we're into a recession or not. We've been in a recession for about five years (although the statisticians have played with the figures to try to prove we're not) and we're in a full-blown depression now. The mall is the proof.

This is the first year that I've gone shopping in September and could find almost nothing in the way of Fall and Winter shoes, clothes, etc. The mall was a very sad place yesterday. I was looking for Fall and Winter shoes, and they had lots of summer sandals on clearance, but not very much in the way of real shoes or boots. It was pathetic.

I found some Totes boots on clearance for $10, which I would have bought in an instant if they had been navy blue, but they only had black. I was thinking about going back and getting them, but I think (after a lot of consideration) that the navy rubber boots at TJ Maxx may be a better idea. They would be warm with heavy socks (if they're big enough) and waterproof for when the snow turns to slush. And tall enough that the snow isn't going to slosh in over the tops of the boots and treat my feet to a dose of frozen water. 

There may be something wrong with me. I've always wanted navy blue Wellingtons, and never had them. At 65, I may not have another chance. They'll look good with my new coat, and boots for under $20 has to be a good deal. What am I waiting for? I should just get them.

I'd like some dressy shoes and some sneakers, too. I was hoping to remedy that situation yesterday, but no luck.

I did knit almost half of a mitten on the bus and waiting for the bus, though.

At this point, I have three (ambidextrous) mittens and a hat finished, and have enough multicolored blue yarn left for a very long scarf. I keep thinking that there must be some small item that I'd like to use some of that yarn for. Maybe a tam? Will that go with my coat?

Time to dig out my copy of Homespun, Handknit. This is one of the knitting books I love most. A magazine (I think it was Spin-Off, but I'm not sure) had a contest for patterns for small projects using handspun yarn, and they published the winners in a book, and this is it. It's a great book to just sit and read. Even if you're a very experienced knitter, it's got so many tips and tricks hidden in the patterns that it's really a treasure. One of my all-time favorite knitting books!

Oh, the mittens are knitted, but the cuffs want to roll up, so they need a bit of blocking before they're ready for their close-up.

On the way to the mall, I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics and got some nifty things.

First, there are the glow-in-the-dark beads for my Harry Potter KAL charms class. That was good. The mittens and hat I just made all have button loops on them so I can park them on a button and not lose them while at the same time not filling up my pockets. The coat will probably need some extra buttons just for them, and I found some beautiful ones that I think will match (or at least go with) the buttons on the new coat. If not, they will match some buttons I already had for future projects. I love my button box!

I also got some things to go with the single Options needle that I've bought so far. They had some coiless safety pins in the bead department for 30% off. Others have pointed out to me that these are great to pin to your project to use rather than the little wire things that go with the needle or cable sets. The little wire things are just guaranteed to get lost, they're so small. But a pin fastened to your project is not going anywhere and is perfect for tightening the cables.

I also found some needle pullers. They're small pieces of a rubber-like material to grip a sewing needle that's stuck in some fabric and doesn't want to move. They're also great for gripping the Options needle tip so you can fasten on the cable.

Well, there were several things I planned on doing today, but they involve going out, and I don't happen to have an ark handy, so I'll probably do them tomorrow.

A rerun of Chuck is on tonight. And a new episode of Primeval on BBC in America.

Have a great weekend!