well, we've got the edge of the storm touching us outside now as you can see on radar if you'd like (that's the 1:58am radar picture)... the winds are kicking up... the rains have started to fall... the lights have flickered a few times... and some transformers have sprayed their fireworks toward the sky (I know, stay away from the windows... but it's out there! (note the mischeivous grin)... the eye of the storm is now completely on land and the path is not exactly following the forecast tracks (those might be adjusted over time, but this next link is, as of the time of this entry, the current track which says it's supposed to turn northwest and come much closer to Orlando... the weather people say they are surprised that the eye has tracked due west for so long... maybe Jeanne has sensed that the elixor of life (for her), warm water, is across the state in the Gulf of Mexico and not along the path the weather people have projected... storms have some sort of intelligence, after all...

anyway, I figured I'd give you an update (as opposed to the Hurricane Jeanne page, which has all the links to graphics and weather data and the latest radar, warnings, forecasts, satellite images, projected paths (those might be adjusted over time, but here's the current track), and summary (ah, now they are here... but not the changing radar links that I will update there...

the news people keep harping on how tired the power company people are and how the powers that be at the power companies have put the word out that people who lose power due to Jeanne should prepare for a longer power outage than there was during Charley or Frances or Ivan (notice I haven't mentioned Ivan?... well, I don't remember it doing anything here except passing along some rain... maybe I slept through it... more likely it missed us... but anyway, we are crossing everything (fingers, toes, eyes (you can imagine how challenging it is to type this entry now, huh?), that we do not lose power... if we do, I will update before I turn off this laptop and hope for the best (like the power company people are going to get stuff fixed faster than they predict)...

and the news just said that an emergency shelter for people with special needs has lost part of it's roof and the emergency responders are out there moving the special need people to a safer part of the building, hoping the whole roof doesn't go... the building is a public school in Melbourne (which is where the radar is centered, by the way) and Frances hit just south of there too (which means Melbourne got the worst winds of two category three hurricanes within the same month... so while it's not pleasant living in Orlando these days, it's much worse down there, so there's a blessing to count)...

and the weather people continue to insist that Jeanne will change it's westerly course any minute now...

all of Central Florida is under a flood watch (which makes living on the second floor, as we do, beneficial) and a tornado watch (which makes living on the top floor, as we do, scarier) until 6AM, at least, and occasionally specific counties are under tornado warnings (which means there's a greater chance for a Tornado than during a watch)... we haven't had a warning yet, but the night is young...

at the moment (it is now 2:41am), the hurricane force winds are supposed to be about a half hour south of casa de candoor, so the heavy blowing outside is not quite 75mph I suppose... it is getting wilder out there though, so maybe the storm inched a bit to the north after all... but I still don't see that on the radar...

I am getting lots of library CDs copied tonight... so far I've copied more than three hundred (and I'll soon need another CD holder book, which is a wonderful realization for me)... and there are some new artists I am discovering (at least in my mind, they are new) and loving that... and that's where I am going now, to copy more music and listen to snips of people I've never heard of before...

wow, just as I was getting this entry into the update box, the news said that 450 people with special needs are being evacuated in the middle of the worst of the hurricane because the roof (same roof as before, just worse) is coming off of the building (Sherwood Elementary School... I guess the kids are going to get another extended vacation there)...

meanwhile, the storm continues to move west and the longer it does that, the weaker it'll be if it finally turns north and the less likely the eye will cross over Orlando (it's already projected well to the west)... and there is a part of me disappointed because I'd like to walk around in the eye (and I was all title an entry greetings from the eye... yeah, there are serious adventure seekers in my brain)...

and as the weather people gaze at their maps with puzzled expressions insisting that Jeanne will turn north any minute now, it is time to post this entry and have some fun with music (cuz that keeps the hope strong that the power lines that lead to this abode will remain intact... though I think I'm gonna peek out the door and put some visceral texture to this memory of Jeanne... shhhh, don't tell the sheriff I am gonna violate the curfew)... I hope you are enjoying your Saturday night as much as I am enjoying mine (yes, she's a wild date, but that's what Saturday nights are about)... I'll slip away with my grinning mischief now before I inspire you to lecture me about safety...

. o O ( NOTES ARE THE NEW HAPPY PILL ) O o .
(just let me know you were here)