Hi all,
We didn't lose power. We dodged the bullet. I just moved some fallen limbs as big as saplings at the edge of the woods. I did a good job of hurricane proofing but we just didn't get that much rain or wind to knock out power. I worked today and all was clear along the way. The sky is dark and menacing and occasionally it starts to rain or a bit of sun pops out. Oh, our power was out today for 2 hours but we are pretty certain it was to fix something around the corner.

Thanks for the update, Kathy. I'm glad to hear the good news.

Looking good, Lindsey!

Jim

Good news indeed, kathy!

Nice piccie Lindsey!

Glad you're all ok! Watching the news is scary!

Ursula and Kathy,
Glad to see that you are both safe and that there was not too much horrible damage there.
The pictures of NJ that I saw on the news (internet) was terrible. It is so hard to understand
why things like that have to happen.
I am thanking God that you are all safe.
We had high winds here and lots of rain but no damage that we know of. Over night we received some snow. My husband measured it on his van and there was 1-3/4 inches there. The ground was all covered. It is a very wet snow. And I was not ready to see it yet either. Our first snow and it is still October!
Oma

Yes, so glad Kathy and Ursula came though the storm all right.

The news people are as bad as the weather liars for sensationalizing events. Only difference is, they show what has already happened instead of hyping up what is about to happen. They show the very worst of the damage, and report the very highest numbers of monetary damage as well as human loss. Damage estimates went from 20 billion to 50 billion on the news yesterday, but that includes "loss of business estimated" - Sheesh! Soon they'll add in the cost of emotional distress generated as well, and it will be into the trillions.

I'm a 'look on the bright side' person if ever there was one, and all that damage is going to generate jobs down the road when repair and rebuilding get going. Nothing bad but something good comes of it. Insurance companies will pay out a lot of those billions, and people will hire other people to help them repair and rebuild. Insurance will go higher for those living near the sea, but down here in Florida we are very aware of the price of living too close to the water - rich people who live right on the beach here don't even buy insurance any more, it's too expensive.

Sorry, shouldn't have gotten started on this, but we should certainly take the TV reports with a large grain of salt, or sand as the case may be!

I certainly agree, this will create lots of jobs to get everything fixed!
In the meanwhile, there has been absolutely no action in my neighborhood, my street and surrounding has not been touched yet. We just came back from trying the find a gas station which didn't run out of gasoline. We found one and stood in line for over an hour to get our can filled. There was a huge line of people with empty gas cans, we all need to fuel our generators!! Hopefully tomorrow someone here gets a new delivery....
Can't wait for the power to come back on!!

Ursula and Kathy...so glad to hear that all is well in your neighborhood. I know you
are glad to be done with it!

Sounds like you are not the top of the list, Ursula. Hope they get to you soon! I have a propane generator but I need gas to get to work. Stations ran out on Saturday near here but it was no problem filling up today.

Now for something different and a good choice for Halloween. This is Vanda Kultana Indian Incense. The flower is small by Vanda standards. The petals are very dark brown and the lip is purple. I used a white background and over exposed just a bit but it is still dark. This is a tough one to photograph. I haven't detected any fragrance yet but it still has a ways to go. So, BOO to all of you.

Jim

After hurricane Isabelle in Virginia..the gas stations had gas but no power to the pumps so they couldn't sell it.
the only place to get propane was at the huge propane place that normally did not sell to little people, but did during the
storm. I had a huge propane tank that floated away...several miles.
I hope you get back on line soon!

Oh yes!!

Jim, what a nice and dramatic Vanda!

FPL and other power companies have sent trucks up your way, Ursula. Help is on the way.

We are lucky to have a ready source for gas for our generator. Our little powerboat lives in the back yard, and has an 80gal. tank which we keep filled. DH was putting up an argument 'way back in 2004 when we were facing the 2nd of 8 hurricanes that hit Florida that year and the next. I wanted hurricane shutters and a generator for my anniversary present. He argued that we had no good way to store gas, until I walked out beside the house and pointed to the boat. Hurricane Charley had gone by nearly 2 weeks before, and people in Punta Gorda were still without power. I said "how'd you like to be without your computer for 2 weeks" and poof! we were on the way to Home Depot.

Now he smugly takes credit for the lack of hurricanes since we have had the generator. We've only had to use it once for a few hours.

Our friend up in Connecticut had to cancel his visit down here for the regatta. His house has roof and siding damage from the winds that he needs to address.

dyzzypyxxy said:
I wanted hurricane shutters and a generator for my anniversary present. He argued that we had no good way to store gas, until I walked out beside the house and pointed to the boat. Hurricane Charley had gone by nearly 2 weeks before, and people in Punta Gorda were still without power. I said "how'd you like to be without your computer for 2 weeks" and poof! we were on the way to Home Depot.

Now he smugly takes credit for the lack of hurricanes since we have had the generator. We've only had to use it once for a few hours.

Elaine, that is too funny!

Now I just need to park a power boat in my backyard!
This gas crunch is getting serious around here. The lines at the few gas stations which are open, reach for a couple of miles, no kidding! Hopefully we get our hands on some gasoline today or we are toast!

Ursula, look around the neighborhood, maybe a neighbor with a boat would sell you a few gallons of gas?
My start of Carol's weed, Gerberara Snow Ballet still blooming beautifully.

The little death row Phal from Lowe's still blooming a month after rescue!

We are actually getting a bit disappointed, Fair Lawn has not see ANY action whatsoever. All that nice talk about bouncing back stronger than ever!
I talked to some guys with their yellow town trucks, is it a lack of gasoline which prevents them from doing anything? No, they said and just grinned stupidly. I think this whole clean up effort is poorly organized and people here are slowly getting disgruntled. In the meanwhile, streets are blocked off which could be used and people are driving in circles. If our town has power back by the weekend I will be totally shocked.

Well, They are flying in a fleet of So. Cal. Edison trucks, and crews to the east coast to help. I hope they had sense enough to include fuel and a way to pump it.

It is time for the November thread. Please join me at The thread "Orchid Blooms in November, 2012" in Orchids forum.

Jim