There was almost no rain here during the night, but we could see the wind picking up.

By 7:30am it was sprinkling rain, and the wind blew the front door open (#1 Son forgot to lock it, and if the bolt isn't thrown, a strong wind blows it open).  Since i hadn't been able to sleep much, i was downstairs to close it again.

This post is going to be updated through the day Wednesday, and if the updates stop, there will be a few reasons.  One is the loss of internet, and i can't get to someplace that has it.  Another would be no electricity and no generator.  Or we evacuated from the house to somewhere that i don't have a computer (very unlikely).

Since most of the trees that could actually fall on the house have come down in previous storms, we aren't too worried about that.  The more likely scene now is a tree taking out power lines.  This area was built back when they put the power lines on poles behind the houses, and there are trees all up among them.  The energy companies don't approve that sort of thing any more, so if we moved to a newer area, it would be transformers blowing instead of lines down.  Either way, these storms often leave people without power for weeks at a time.

Brother-In-Law, The Mouth, was already without power, but at least he no longer lives in a dump.  He rents a room from a long time single Christian friend who inherited his mom's 3 bedroom house and wants the extra money to help pay for upkeep.

My parents had their generator repaired on Monday, and their electricity is out and the generator refusing to come on.  It says "overcranked", whatever that means.  They now regret not coming, and if they can't get it on soon, will come up as soon as it is safe to travel.

The majority of the rain seemed to be being dumped right on the coast, as Isaac looked stuck churning up the shoreline.  That means less rain and damage here, probably, but it makes me sad.  What i hoped was that it would quickly move past us and into the areas of the country where there has been such a lack of rain.

They are the ones who need it, not those of us in the swamp.

Around mid morning, Brother-In-Law insisted Sweetie venture out and go get him and bring him here for a visit.  He came over to eat, mostly, then realized it's just as boring sitting around here as at his place, plus his power was back on.  When his power went out again, Sweetie told him if he wants to come back, he has to drive himself over, and we haven't seen him since.

Meanwhile, we were getting wind and rain, but not excessive amounts of either.  When i tried to nap, though, i couldn't sleep, as usual.  That's been the last few days, between being up at night with a kitten that needs every 3 hour feeding and unable to rest during the day.

As the afternoon wore on, "wore" was the word of the day.  The rain and wind came and went, and the radar images were stationary, it wore on the nerves.  Every sound was magnified, the kittens playing was grating, working around the house seemed pointless, and, as is usual for me, i was over the rain long before it was over.

Sweetie was, too.  He was bored, and kept trying to find "watch it now" movies on Netflix.  The problem was, he was looking in the wrong places.  After complaining that there was "nothing to watch," i got on there and looked under the kid movies.  Sure enough.  Santa Clause:  The Movie.  Labyrinth.  Five seasons of Rocky and Bullwinkle.  He was happy for the rest of the evening.

Meanwhile, i kept fielding calls from Grandma.  They couldn't get the generator going, she was getting sick from the heat, and there was no way for them to leave.  It was difficult to tell her, time after time, that the storm didn't look like it wanted to go anywhere.




Today is:

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Thoughtful Thursday

Blue Hill Fair -- Blue Hill, ME, US (beautiful "down to earth" country fair; through Labor Day)

Chatter Champion Announced -- Fairy Calendar

Chung Yuan Festival -- China (Festival of Hungry Ghosts, the day souls of the dead are released from Purgatory to roam the Earth, with ceremonies held and offerings made to appease them; dates in some countries differ from China's)

Constitution Day -- Kazakhstan

Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead (Nine Major Gods) -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of Charisteria -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day to give thanks)

Frankenstein Day -- in honor of Mary Shelley (Interesting, when juxtaposed to the next entry.)

Huey P. Long Day -- Louisiana, US

International Day of the Disappeared -- Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Detained-Disappeared

Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials -- Stamford, England (this year with a reappearance of some gates from the Olympic 3-Day event; through Sunday)

Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival and Fair -- Morgan City, LA, US (celebrating the importance of the shrimping and petroleum industries in Louisiana, it includes one of the most unique children's villages among such events and a Blessing of the Fleet; through Labor Day)

National Holistic Pet Day

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

Popular Consultation Day -- East Timor

Santa Rosa de Lima -- Peru

St. Fiacre's Day (Patron of box makers, cab drivers, costermongers, florists, gardeners, hosiers, pewterers, taxi drivers, tile makers; against barrenness, fistula, haemorrhoids, piles, sterility, syphilis, venereal disease)

Talk Intelligently Day -- holiday thought up by someone tired of non-intelligent conversations (maybe with co-workers?)

Turkey's Hellespont Swim -- over 300 participants swim the Hellespont from Europe to Asia

Victory Day -- North Cyprus; Turkey


Birthdays Today:

Cameron Diaz, 1972
Peggy Lipton, 1947
Frank "Tug" McGraw, 1944
Jean-Claude Killy, 1943
Warren Buffett, 1930
Ted Williams, 1918
Fred MacMurray, 1908
Shirley Booth, 1898
Huey P. Long, 1893
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 1797


Today in History:

European leaders, in an attempt to end war "for all time", outlaw the crossbow, 1146
One of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty, begins between the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders, 1363
Capture of the entire Dutch fleet by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, 1799
Founding of Melbourne, Australian, 1835
Founding of Houston, Texas, 1836
Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in south Louisiana, the longest bridge over water (continuous, not aggregate) that is not also a viaduct, opens, 1956
The Hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union goes into operation, 1963
Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1967
Guion Bluford becomes the first African American astronaut in space, 1983
NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces, 1995
A commercial expedition to raise part of the sunken British luxury liner Titanic ended in failure, 1996
Harley-Davidson celebrates its 100th anniversary in Milwaukee with a parade of 10,000 motorcycles, 2003
India and Pakistan agree to release hundreds of fishermen and other civilians in each other's jails as part of their ongoing attempts to negotiate peace between their nations, 2005