Big Day

[Stewmuse]

All is good for us. The eastern tip of the country is all that got severe damage. Mostly downed trees, localized flooding, etc. here. Typical tropical storm stuff. We didn't even see any hurricane force wind in Santiago. Palo Alto was mostly OK, although the old lady in the community lost her house. We're going to survey what it'll take to get her back up and under roof. Besides that, only a few buildings up there were the extent of the damage because they're on the crest of the mountains that separate me from the ocean. The winds sweep up the range and across their houses. I'm surprised more weren't lost, considering the construction material and method.

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Not to make light of any situation, but I'll bet you never thought you'd be in better shape after a hurricane in the DR vs. Florida.

[Kip]

Florida has caught a break as of the 5pm update, relative to what was expected.


It has again made landfall, this time near Naples. Marco Island has kicked the crap out of the storm (relative to what was previously projected). The NHC discussion now has it well weakened before Tampa Bay. Still hurricane force in the area, but not a 3 and maybe not even a 2. Don't get me wrong - there'll be a LOT of damage, and a lot of sensationalized reporting....but this is far more preferable to what we've all been looking at for the past few days.

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[Kip]

Cuba did more to dampen the storm than was discussed, and it looks like an eyewall replacement further knocked it down. Coming into Naples at 110mph vs. 150mph is a difference we probably can't even fathom. Again - a very serious storm, even without the high winds; the surge and flooding (15+ inches in a VERY flat, low-lying state) will be costly. But, I still think this is about as fortunate a turn of events as could have been hoped for, save a radical turn out to sea.

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[Kip]

BTW - for those who watches the various graphical plots on the NHC website: the *real* story is always in the textual discussion amongst the NHC staff. It's under a link ("DISCUSSION") on their website. This is where the nitty gritty, reliable info comes from much of the time.


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[Kip]

5pm wind forecast. This is 30-40 mph slower than forecast, even this morning.



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[Kip]

What a difference a day makes. Early yesterday morning, the NHC was projecting a storm that would arrive in my old neighborhood as a Cat 3, and retain hurricane strength possibly into GA. This morning, when it arrived in the old 'hood, it was barely clinging to hurricane status and the NHC said they were being generous with still calling it a Cat 1 - and have now in fact dropped it to Tropical Storm as of the 8am update. I talked to my friends and most didn't even lose power and even their screen enclosures around their pools were undamaged. The flooding appears to generally be much less than anticipated as well - except for the southeastern side of Naples. The numbers I see on the NHC potential surge inundation are incredible. Thankfully, this is a very sparsely populated area.

[Zedman05]

Glad to hear you guys are good.

It looks like thosr smaller islands took that one on the chin. There is some massive damage out there. Some parts of Cuba apparently got it bad too. I am glad I dont live there at the moment...

[Kip]

I ate chicken feet today. I realize that many cultures around the world eat them, but it just wasn't on my radar when I awoke this morning. I've avoided it for years, but found myself in a situation where it could have been culturally insensitive to have refused. So, I ate the bony little claws. I'm generally a pretty adventurous eater, but these have always been off-putting for me. No idea why. They seem like such a low-return on investment. Not much meat for the work involved. They actually weren't bad, if you can put aside the thought itself that hours ago these little feet were traipsing around in a yard covered with chicken sh*t . The little meat that was there, on the sole and around the toes, was flavorful and kinda smoky tasting.


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[Stewmuse]

I ate chicken feet today. I realize that many cultures around the world eat them, but it just wasn't on my radar when I awoke this morning. I've avoided it for years, but found myself in a situation where it could have been culturally insensitive to have refused. So, I ate the bony little claws. I'm generally a pretty adventurous eater, but these have always been off-putting for me. No idea why. They seem like such a low-return on investment. Not much meat for the work involved. They actually weren't bad, if you can put aside the thought itself that hours ago these little feet were traipsing around in a yard covered with chicken sh*t . The little meat that was there, on the sole and around the toes, was flavorful and kinda smoky tasting.

I'd readily eat a plate of fried grasshoppers before those. You can keep the bull testicles and tripe while you're at it, too.

[Kip]

I've eaten grasshoppers, crickets, ants, and grubs in my lifetime. No problem. But chicken feet? Not a fan.

I've eaten chicken parts of questionable age and quality bought from a trash can in the back of an old corolla. Drank fermented pineapple peels boiled in used rice water. But chicken feet? Not a fan.

The scariest part was while I was eating them, the host leaned over and - in a hushed tone - said to his wife, "Está comiendo las patas." That was disconcerting....

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