Storm Damage

There was a lot less rain in this neighborhood from hybrid-hurricane-superstorm-Frankenstorm Sandy than a) predicted b) fell in other areas. There was no water coming in through my roof at all. It got windy but didn't seem excessive. I was very relieved and happy. But this is right down the street from my house...

...and this is in a wooded area near a creek that's in the opposite direction from my house...

Some Sandy Observations

Just read the 11 am update saying Hurricane Sandy's winds are up to 90 mph -- if they got to 96 it would be Category 2 instead of Cat 1 -- and the storm's pressure of 943 mb, according to Phillyweather.net, is typical of a Cat 4 storm. So there's this incredibly large storm, pretty intense, and atmospheric conditions are causing it to basically make a left turn into the coast near Atlantic City. Such a sharp turn for a hurricane in this region is close to unprecedented, and the fact that it's gotten a bit stronger even though it's moving north and away from more tropical waters is very unusual.

Between this and last year's Hurricane Irene and those ridiculous Snowmageddon blizzards a couple of years ago and lots of other things, don't tell me global warming isn't screwing up our weather. Don't waste my time with that tired non-scientific right-wing stupidity.

Anyway, it's a very strange couple of days. I'm nervous about my roof holding up under the expected rainfall, and couldn't fall asleep last night. I got the newspaper delivered, though, even with the state of emergency being declared. (Might be a different story tomorrow morning.) I finally started to read it and dozed off for about 2 hours. I imagine I'll be sleeping on and off since I'm not leaving the house.

The local TV stations and the Weather Channel are going non-stop with storm coverage but it seems like there's nothing on any stations that warrants my watching it for very long. Coverage ranges from inane to inept. 

So far, except for the time I was sleeping, it seems like it hasn't rained to an extreme extent. The brunt of it is still south and west. The good news is, if what I'm reading is correct, the landfall might occur a little earlier than previously thought. Phillyweather.net pegs it at between 4 pm and 7 pm. If so, perhaps it'll clear out of here sooner.

I might update this later. Maybe even with video.

UPDATE 1: Took some video around 4:20 pm. Just rain and some wind. The worst of it is still to come, they say.



UPDATE 2: Another video. Since it's getting too dark I don't know if I'll bother taking any more. Lot more wind, lot less rain at this time (6:15 pm).



UPDATE 3: 10:15 pm. Can't see much because it's too dark. Listen to the wind, though. Tree branches were really swaying.

Sky At Sunset Tonight

The first two pictures are from my tablet, as I was making my way to the supermarket near my house. It wasn't as dark as it appears in the photos -- that's just due to the light and lack of flash. There was such a straight edge to the line of clouds, a sharp divide between clear sky and cloudy sky.

The next two were taken after I left the supermarket, but before I ventured into the parking lot away from the shopping center. These are from my phone's camera, as I needed to take pics one-handed while carrying plastic grocery bags in the other. I don't think these pictures really picked up the colors in the clouds at the time. Again, it looks darker than it actually was.

My Odd Little Nice Day

The freak snow "storm" that showed up today (more like rain/snow/occasional sleet with much of the snow and sleet melting upon impact and the rest disappearing tomorrow) was the setting for a weird, fluky but ultimately rather good day.

It started with my alarm going off at 9:15 this morning (well, technically yesterday morning since I'm writing this a little past midnight, but go with me here). I turned it off and went back to sleep. I dreamed that the Phillies were playing, and I was suddenly called in to play third base. I was so excited! Then the batter hit a soft line drive that clanked off my glove for an error that allowed a run to score. At this point there was a pitching change, and I decided to run into the clubhouse for some reason. I was walking around, talking to someone in there for a couple of minutes. Then I heard a noise and realize that the game resumed without me. I wasn't bothered by this. I was like "Oh, well" -- and then I went out into the seats and sat down to watch more of the game. (And then I found myself out on a street with all of my family. Not sure why.)

I woke up, looked at the clock radio...and it had no time. My power had gone out. I checked my watch -- it was 10:30. I looked out my bedroom window and saw that the rain that began while I was asleep had already mixed with snow, earlier than predicted by the forecasters. I went down into my basement to check the fuse box (although why would it be a blown fuse? Hardly any electricity was being used at that time). Then I called PECO to see if they were aware of it (their automated system said they were working on it). I checked the clock that's on my oven, and saw that it was stopped at 10:15, meaning it hadn't been out long.

A little after 11, the power returned. Just then, I looked out my window and saw a FedEx truck, and there was a knock on my door. The driver had left a package. It was maybe five feet long, but not heavy at all. It was marked "fragile." I don't know why but I thought it might be a fishing rod or two. Although it had my house address on it, it had someone else's name. Perplexed, I brought it inside, went upstairs to shower and get dressed.

MixBlog 10-27-11

I need to put some content up here so the twelve or so of you who are actually reading this stuff (as compared to all the hits I get from people doing Google searches for pictures of shirtless guys*) continue to stop by, so here are some little observations...

Baseball: Right now I'm watching Game 6 of the World Series. It's kind of bizarre. It's 4-4 in the 6th as I write this and both the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals seem to be trying to give the game away with various displays of ineptitude. If they're this mistake-prone in Game 6, what happens if the Cards tie the series and they have to play the dreaded all-or-nothing Game 7? Update: 7-4 Texas in the 7th. Will this game end before I finish this post?

Hockey: Speaking of mistake-prone, I had the Flyers game on earlier. They were playing the Atlanta Thrashers Winnipeg Jets 2.0, who came into the game with a 2-5-1 record, at the Whatever-The-Bank's-Called-This-Week Center. Last night the Flyers lost at Montreal by a 5-1 score. The Canadiens were 1-5-2 before beating the Flyers and hadn't won a home game. So you had to figure the Flyers would be kind of desperate to put together a solid effort.

They fell behind 5-1 in the second period. I tweeted about it at the time and used these hashtags: #karma #apologizesimmonds (referring to this). After the teams traded goals, the Flyers then scored two more in the second and three in the first three minutes of the third period to take a 7-6 lead. I was worried that my tweet was serving as a reverse jinx.

Looking Both Ways In S. Philly

Today I was having lunch with my friend Kurt at the South Philly Bar and Grill (I had a yummy pork sandwich). I had noticed dark clouds moving in before we went inside. While we were there it began to rain, but as it turned out it didn't last long. I took these pictures at the corner of 8th and Wharton Streets at about 3 pm. On the left, the pic looking east. On the right, the pic looking west. I was really struck by the contrast between the skies on each side.

I also took (and posted to Twitter and Facebook) this picture of the South Philadelphia Musicians mural. It features singers Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, Al Martino, Bobby Rydell, Fabian and Eddie Fisher, as well as radio legend Jerry Blavat. No idea what the painted clock showing the time as 9:05 refers to. Let me know if you know what it means.

I love running into the murals from the Mural Arts Program, especially if I haven't seen one before. The one below, which I saw the other day on my photo jaunt (which I need to post about as well), I'm not actually sure if it's one of theirs or not. Unfortunately, I can't remember now where this particular one is. It's somewhere in a zone between 23rd Street and JFK Boulevard and 15th and Cherry Streets. Whatever route I took that day between those two points is where this is. Again, if you're familiar with it let me know.

An Irene Dream

"Jed! Jethro! Elly May! Vittles!!!"

As I start to write this it's 5:30 am. The center of still-barely-a-Hurricane Irene is just off the coast of New Jersey on its way north. At the weather station where official readings are taken (ostensibly at the airport but the physical location of the weather station is actually just across the river in New Jersey) we've had 5.50 inches of rain. There are a few hours where heavy rain can still fall, and the highest wind gusts may also occur.

Somehow there is still no water coming through my roof. This is borderline miraculous. For a short period, during an intense rainfall that was blowing against the back of my house, water was coming into my kitchen, where there's a door (leading to the deck) that is not particularly well-sealed. It was coming not just at the bottom of the door but also from the top. That was a little freaky.

And despite many dire warnings, the power has stayed on except for a blip of 15-20 seconds. This could change, of course.

Although I semi-planned to stay up all night, I decided around 1 am to try and sleep and I eventually managed to doze off. I got maybe 3 hours' worth, I woke up a couple of times, and now I think I may just stay up. Meanwhile, I had a weird dream about this crap:

Come On, Irene!

Some people stock up on water, batteries, etc. when a hurricane threatens. But that's not how I roll...

Picture this as a 1.5-liter bottle. Now picture six of them in my fridge.

I anticipate not sleeping at all Saturday night and Sunday morning, when the worst of the storm hits. Between the sights and sounds of heavy rain and wind, following the latest reports on Irene, anticipating the possibility of the power going out, etc., I think there's no way I could fall asleep if I tried. (And if the power goes out, I have batteries for a radio and flashlight. I just have to make sure my cell phone and iPod are fully charged.)

Besides, in a couple of past really heavy rainstorms (including the nearly five inches on the 14th of this month) my roof began to leak a bit, with water dripping around or through the ceiling fan in my bedroom. So if it does this again, I don't want to be in bed when it happens. I really fear that sooner or later a truly serious leak will develop or the roof will just cave in or something, and I have no money to get it fixed. God (or whomever) help me if that happens.

P. S. Because the title of this post has been overused by millions, you probably have this song in your head.

P.P.S. Here comes Irene now!

"How do you like yer possum, Lowell, fallin' off the bones tender or with a little fight left in it?"

The Voice DID Wear Me Out

Another post I'm finally getting around to: it was almost two weeks ago that I accompanied my friend Kurt as he went to the New York auditions for season two of "The Voice."

The "New York" auditions that were held at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, that is. The ones that required he be there at 7 am. And, as we are both financially challenged, there was no realistic way to swing a hotel. So we took the Greyhound bus from Philadelphia to the Port Authority terminal at 3:20 am. I had gotten up at 9:30 am the previous day. With SEPTA's overnight service the way it is, I had to leave my house well before 1 am to get to the terminal and not be rushed. I didn't bother to even try to sleep beforehand, and I couldn't sleep on the bus ride either, as I was not comfortable at all. The bus may have had air conditioning but it wasn't hitting me.

We arrived around 5:30 am and then had to wait for the first New Jersey Transit bus that goes by the Meadowlands. That would be the 6:50 am bus. Our one advantage was that, by being there that early, we were at the front of the line to get on the bus, and it was packed. Many people were using this route to get to the Izod Center, but we got to sit.

At about 7:05 am the bus dropped us off. Not in front of the Izod Center. Oh, no. That would have been convenient, after all.

The Guy On The El

This is the story of a conversation I had today -- the type of conversation that, if you weren't there in person, you'd think it could only happen in a movie or TV show. (And anything I show in quotes may not be exact, but they're to the best of my recollection. Now that I think of it, I really wish I would've somehow secretly recorded it with the video camera on my phone.)

I was on the Market-Frankford El to make my way home from Center City a little after 5 pm. I had a seat open next to me for a while, until at one point a guy in a t-shirt and jeans got on and sat down next to me. Dark hair, masculine good looks, in good shape, not too old but not very young, maybe around 40 or so at most. A real blue-collar, macho guy. He immediately started to talk, and pretty much didn't let up the whole time.

He started by complaining about the rain, which he wasn't aware was in the forecast. (I don't know where he gets his weather from, but the reports I heard were calling for a chance of late-day showers and thunderstorms.) He's a roofer and you can't put the rubber coating on a wet surface, so not only did he have to stop work on the roof he was on, but he had to go check the roof on another job he had been doing. Then he asked if I was finished with my newspaper because he had a long bus ride to take after he got off the El at Frankford Terminal -- the route 58 to Neshaminy Mall, because he lives in Feasterville and normally doesn't take the bus. (I wasn't really done but I skimmed through the rest of it as we talked so he could take it. There were a couple of regular columns that I figured I could read online, and I skipped over the rest. That probably says as much about how much actual news is in the Daily News as anything else.)

The El train runs through the Kensington section as it makes its way to the terminal. Kensington is where I grew up, but it has really gone downhill over the years. There's a lot of poverty, crime and drugs. It was at one of the stations in that area where he got on, and he talked about the guys on the corners begging for money and having their girlfriends walk the streets. All drug addicts. He was a Marine and was in Iraq and Afghanistan for six years, and was amazed at how much worse it was out there since he came back. His attitude is that they're young and should "get a job!" but he said he realizes it's easier said than done.

He introduced himself as Anthony, and then asked if I was headed home from work. I told him I wasn't, just hanging with a friend downtown. And then it got interesting.

The Blog Is Mobile, And Other Stuff

Now and then I check out a website using my cell phone, and it's not a pretty experience because there's no mobile version. My blog was once one of those sites. However, Blogger added a setting for a mobile template. I'm no expert but supposedly if you visit the blog from a mobile phone you'll automatically get the mobile template. Apparently, though, it doesn't work with certain phones or browsers or whatever. So here's a link to the mobile version.

So, what else is going on?

It's been wicked hot the last couple of days -- 97 and 99 degrees were the highs, breaking one record and tying another. We had one official heat wave already (3 or more days of 90-plus temperatures), and if we make it to 90 one more day we'll have another. I've been trying to make do without my central air, just to cut down on electricity usage. I finally put it on for a few hours today, mainly to make sure it works for when we have a really extended period of hot weather.

One thing that's not hot? The Phillies' offense. But that's nothing new. Everyone's back in the lineup now, though. So now it's time for them to produce. Part of me tries not to worry -- their pitching has carried them to the best record in baseball before their loss tonight. But as this goes on, more and more I think that they're never going to regain the hitting prowess of past years, and that will continue to strain the pitchers, and this will lead to an epic failure in the playoffs. And considering the expectations coming into this season, it could get ugly.

Oh, and our Pride Parade and Festival is Sunday. It looks like I'll be working at the City of Brotherly Love Softball League table -- signing up people to play Fall Ball and/or to volunteer with the ASANA World Series (the Women's World Series) in August, and selling raffle tickets. You can win two free round-trip Southwest Airlines tickets, or Phillies tickets. So stop by and say hello!

More S Words

I have a couple of photos I took during yesterday's trip to Center City to buy comics, but my phone (or Virgin Mobile, or something) refused to let me post them to Twitter (via Twitpic) or Facebook. So here they are -- both subjects start with the letter "S" -- just like this previous post -- and not only that, the titles of all three books I bought yesterday started with "S." (Insert "Twilight Zone" theme here.)

Shirtless Thugs II: For this first one, taken at Rittenhouse Square, I tried to Twitpic it with the caption, "Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY???" This graffiti seems to be a phenomenon. It's the second time I've seen it. It's also been mentioned on another blog, but that blog recently took a condescending and possibly anti-gay shot at the creator of one of my favorite blogs, Streets Dept., so it gets no link from me.

Yesterday was a bit too damp and dreary for people to be shirtless, anyway. (But at least there wasn't a tornado in town, like there was up in the Northeast, about 3.5 miles from my house! It's really rare for a tornado to touch down in Philadelphia. The last reported twister was in 1999. But this one yesterday wasn't much of one. It was EF-0, the weakest on the scale, and only traveled about 300 feet according to the National Weather Service. A few roofs torn off, a little debris, and that was pretty much it.)

Saxbys: There's a new one that just opened at 20th and Walnut. I'm not one for coffee but

My Miserable Night At The Phillies

Tonight the Phillies rolled to a 7-0 lead over the New York Mets after 3 innings, only to see that lead disappear in the next two Mets at-bats against Joe Blanton. Then the Phils regained the lead and went on to a 10-7 win. If only there had been that kind of excitement last night, when I was at the game. Or any excitement at all, really. More on that in a moment. First, this public service announcement:

Dear Snapple: please don't give away free samples of your product outside a subway station near a stadium which doesn't allow glass bottles inside. As for you, people of America, you don't have to take every free sample someone offers you. I didn't take a Snapple before the game because I knew I couldn't take the bottle inside. I didn't take a free Powerade (outside the ballpark) after the game because I was frozen. I didn't take a Sun Drop (again, at the subway) after the game because, besides the cold, I had no idea what the hell it was.

So the game was pretty dreadful -- Cole Hamels gave up 6 runs in the third inning and was removed to a chorus of boos as the Mets went on to a 7-1 win. The volume of the booing was a real surprise, considering it was his first start of the year. And it wasn't like he was really crushed -- the Mets basically had a bunch of singles, with a couple of walks mixed in, and a number of them were softly hit and found a hole. One was a bunt single. Unfortunately, the first and last hits of the inning were by the Mets' pitcher, Chris Young. That's a big no-no.

But what was worse was the cold.

Sirius-ly?

Ever since I canceled my Sirius satellite radio subscription, they've been trying to get me back. There was the occasional letter. Recently, there were phone calls. Many phone calls. What started out as an occasional call became at least two calls a day. Both in the morning and in the late afternoon or early evening, like clockwork. I did some Googling and found some discussion board comments saying that they're pretty relentless. (Or desperate, as I mentioned in the above-linked post; the letter I got today again offered the $20 for 5 months' service deal.) An automated calling system dials your number. If you answer, you're then connected to one of their representatives. And even if you ask the caller to stop calling you, to remove you from their system, that doesn't always work.

The first times the calls came in, since I didn't recognize the number showing up in my caller ID I didn't bother to answer. There's never a voicemail (since it doesn't connect to the rep unless you answer). One night I finally answered and the caller said, "I'm calling from Sirius/XM..." At that point I hung up. Then the calls began coming twice a day, every day. So I took a new, more fun approach. If I was in front of my computer when the call came in, and if I was listening to music, I'd pick up but not say anything, and just put the phone down on my desk next to a speaker. After a bit they'd hang up. I did this three or four times in a week.

In the last few days I haven't had any calls. I'm not sure if they've finally given up or not. I had planned to begin vehemently cursing out the callers, but I thought of something else instead. On their website I still have an account setup (where I could log in to make payments, etc.). So I changed the phone number in my contact information. Remember the phone number that we used to be able to call to get weather forecasts? That's my new phone number...as far as Sirius is concerned.

For Blog Post 666...

I was just going to post the video of "Devil Inside" by INXS but decided to expand this a bit. So, in addition, you'll find a live version from a Wembley Stadium concert as well, plus a list of other songs in my iTunes library with "devil" in the title.







Devil's Haircut - Beck
The Devil's Right Hand - Steve Earle
Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly - Mitch Ryder
Devil With The Blue Dress - Shorty Long
Devil Wouldn't Recognize You - Madonna
Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones
Sympathy For The Devil - Sandra Bernhard
(You're The) Devil In Disguise - Elvis Presley

Meanwhile, whether it's because of the Devil or just some generic devil, I still feel stuck in a real rut in many ways. Maybe warmer temperatures will help. By Sunday we may be pushing 50 degrees, and by next Thursday there's a chance of it even getting to 60.

Anniversary Weekend

While waiting for the Super Bowl, here are a few brief thoughts on a events being remembered from the recent and distant past.

One year ago yesterday was the anniversary of the car crash that took the life of Brendan Burke. Here's a fine article that talks about his legacy -- what his coming out, followed by his tragic death, means for gay hockey players and leagues, as well as the eventual coming out by someone in the NHL.

Also one year ago yesterday, Snowmageddon. 28.5 inches of snow officially here. And a few days later, another foot-plus, which would be the third storm that dumped a foot or more on us. But I think this winter has been worse. Because of the couple of large storms and a number of smaller ones, our snowfall total was actually running ahead of last year's total at this time (although now we're behind again, since we didn't have another abominable snowfall in the last couple of days). And the cold has been relentless. At least today and tomorrow the highs will be in the 40s, giving us a little break.

And it seems that 100 years ago today, Ronald Reagan was born, and there's a lot of talk about his presidency as a result. Unfortunately, his policies live on, repackaged and twisted into even more despicable form by the current GOP. For me, June 5th, the day in 2004 when Reagan finally died, is the day to commemorate.

Snow, Baby, Snow

Before you watch this (assuming it works, since I'm trying some new site), please note that I was carrying an umbrella in one hand and my phone in the other, and I had an OCD moment and had to check my pants pocket to make sure I had my house keys. That's why the video is shaky at times.

There must be at least a foot of snow as of the time I recorded this, and it's still coming down. Looking at the current radar it looks like it'll wind down in the next two or three hours.

EDIT: The embed code for the site I tried didn't work. I tried a second site and that didn't seem to work. So, for the first time in quite a while, I tried YouTube -- where the videos I had tried to post lately didn't have sound -- and it's working! With sound!

Weather Wars And Other Odd Screencaps

Here are a few things I copied from my screen today. Nothing like that weird Twitter comparison from yesterday, fortunately.

First, with yet more snow headed our way (have I mentioned how much I'm sick of this weather?) a Facebook post made a few hours ago by Adam Joseph, one of the meteorologists on 6ABC...

The "person who bashed us" is presumably John Bolaris of FOX-29. Locals may remember when a March 2001 "Storm of the Century" turned out to be a few showers instead of a blizzard. There was an interesting article recently about both the recent Bolaris comment and his role in the "Storm of the Century" hype, written by the station's news anchor at the time, Larry Mendte. Of course, Mendte has had his own problems in recent years, so you may want to consider the source. (And, while you're at it, here's an article from Phillyweather.net talking about TV news and weather hype.)

Later, as I was reading the list of Oscar nominations at Entertainment Weekly's website, I discovered a very popular film that I somehow neglected to see!

 

Gotta love those typos. And then tonight, there was lots of Twitter activity before, during and after the State of the Union address. Most of this "live-tweeting," as it's called was repetitive, boring and useless to me, to be honest. But in addition, Joan Rivers was live-tweeting the premiere of her new reality show, in which she moved in with her daughter for a while for some reason. President Obama made a comment about "our generation's Sputnik moment," referring to the 1950s space race in which the Soviet Union launched a satellite into orbit before the USA. So it was mentioned in a number of tweets on my timeline. But at the same time, Joan tweeted about another "moment." and reading these tweets one after the other made me chuckle:

MixBlog 1-23-11

Lately I have really been kind of in a rut, even more than usual. The weather is not helping. I hate the cold to begin with, but this winter has been borderline ridiculous. My house is drafty, which makes it worse. I've always thought I'd never really consider moving away from Philadelphia but right now I'd love to just ditch this place and move somewhere warm. I don't know how I could possibly make that happen, with my finances being what they are. Tonight's forecast is for the coldest overnight low yet...

  

...and Wednesday may bring us more snow (or possibly rain). But hey, check out the bottom of that screen cap -- at least people with migraines will feel better today.

Just finished watching the end of the Flyers game. In their first meeting since last year's Stanley Cup finals the Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. They are so much more consistent this year (despite a loss yesterday to New Jersey, a team that's having the same type of disastrous year that the Flyers did in 2006-07). The win puts the Flyers' record at 32-12-5, and their 69 points leads the entire league. That, of course, means little when it comes to the postseason, but the consistency combined with their depth is a very good sign. Hiring Peter Laviolette as coach was a genius move on the part of GM Paul Holmgren.

Meanwhile, in the strange recesses of my mind, I got to thinking about Taylor Swift earlier. Really.

MixBlog 12-15-10

The usual 1:20 am blogging time slot. So awesome. Anyway...

• Yesterday (Tuesday) I made a small donation to a toy drive for BEBASHI, a local HIV/AIDS services organization, after a column last week in the newspaper that said their donations were falling well short from previous years. Considering my financial situation I didn't spend much, but I still felt it was necessary. If you read this quickly there's still time to donate before Thursday's deadline. Information is here.

• After that I went down to Citizens Bank Park hoping to run into Cliff Lee. However, he hadn't arrived in town yet. Then I tried to see Roy Halladay but, as you can see from the picture, he was not around either. Okay, actually I was at the ballpark because the Phils were running a "12 Days of Christmas" promotion at the Majestic Clubhouse Store. Different discounts each day and other special things, and today the special was a free tour of the team's clubhouse. Here's a tip from the employees giving the tour: go for the full ballpark tour, during the season when the team is on the road. Then you see the players' cubicles with their uniforms and other stuff inside. They really have a nice facility. I took a few other pictures with the camera in my phone and I'll post them somewhere sometime.

• It was quite a day sports-wise. Besides the big Cliff Lee news,