Hurricane: Aftermath

Good evening, Gentle Readers!

There will be no image with tonight's post. At present, I am taking advantage of the library's connection to the Internet. Unfortunately, that means I have to forego some of the goodies.

The hurricane has hit, and hit hard. Oddly enough, my especial little corner of the world has not been hit as hard as some- but it is still an experience I am not eager to repeat.

Still, I did get to observe some wonderful things. The girls next door- whose home had a tree fall on it- are wonderful, smart, hard-working children. Bless their wee hearts, they came running to help clean up my yard, since they couldn't do much with theirs. After that, my husband and I put the underpinning back up on the trailer. While that project took a while, it didn't take as long as he feared. The neighbors on the other side watched out for our place as well as they could during the worst of the winds; My husband and I had taken shelter with my parents, much to the displeasure of the kitty contingent. They wouldn't have been any happier at home, though; They don't like storms.

The mood of the neighborhood was almost festive as everyone in the neighbor cleaned up and started putting their lives back together. We even got treated to the sight of an ice cream truck jingling down the road.

The second day was a bit more mundane, but a couple of gentlemen came by to clear the tree of the neighbors' home. One of them saw me chopping at a blown-over scrub tree with a hatchet and finished the job with a chain saw- a far quicker proposition! We were told to expect at least a week before we could get power back.

The local power outages were very strange indeed. It was more of a patchwork of outages than the usual pattern of clearly-defined areas. The holes without power are being closed as quickly as the power company can get to it, but some areas will need new poles.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

Daily Update 2

Greetings again, Gentle Readers.

This image is titled Chelcie. I made it for a young lady who was celebrating a birthday when I was introduced to her. I admit that I did have some difficulty finding a color balance that would match her without screaming, but the effect is quite soothing as well.

I was just listening to the radio for storm updates when the transmission suddenly stopped and was replaced by static. That's not unusual in itself; While the MCs don't say so, I'm under the impression that the equipment is a bit dated and buggy. What concerns me is that the staff is having trouble getting the transmissions back up. It may be something as harmless as a little rain getting into the wires or casings, and the crew not being quite as polished as that of some other stations.

The wind is a little stronger now, and the area is under a tornado watch or warning. Oddly enough, I'm seeing relatively little rain at the moment. I'm going to check on the status of the Dismal Swamp fires shortly; Hopefully those will be out.

Until We Meet...

The Storm Starts

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Sunlit Band. The reasoning behind the name is pretty much self-explanatory. I was experimenting with copying bezier lines one day so I could create parallel curves, and this is the result. I will have to go back and see what else I can do.

Right now, I am seeing wind and rain from Irene, but I am not seeing a real threat. I'm not holding onto any illusions that this will last; Right now, only the leading edge of the storm is here. She isn't exactly a speed demon, so we are looking at hours yet and might not see an end until tomorrow. The only thing I've unpacked is the coffee maker, and that's because I am hopelessly addicted to caffeine! That will be going back in a travel box when I'm done with it.

I'm also thinking I should make some eggs for breakfast; If we lose power, anything still in the refrigerator will be gone, so we might as well enjoy what we have.

Stay safe, Gentle Readers!

Until We Meet...

Hurricane preparations

Good afternoon, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Intertwining. I chose it for today's post because I find it soothing.

Right now, soothing is good; Irene is scheduled to come knocking tomorrow. I'm in the middle of making preparations to bug out because unlike some of the earlier hurricanes, she has me a bit jumpy. I've packed toiletries, cleaned the house and washed laundry, and even packed a few cleaning supplies in a bucket just in case. All that is left is the clothing and the kitties. We may have to tear apart their hiding places to get them- but there is no way we're going to leave them behind. I'm thinking if the storm is too dangerous for grown humans, it's too dangerous for a pair of cats who haven't been outside since they were kittens.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

Updates and things

Good Evening, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Static. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to call it, so I used a place-holder until I could make up my mind.

Another few courses have come and gone, each more challenging than the last. Right now, my brain is screaming for mercy! I don't dare let up tonight or tomorrow, though.

The past week has been anything but boring; A friend of mine is in the middle of a move. Hopefully, she is getting settled in by now. A couple of days ago, we even had an earthquake: A small one, but my area of the country isn't used to those beasties! The cats hid for quite a while afterwards, though they did creep out for dinner.

And now for the real reason for my hurry; A hurricane is headed my way. To be specific, Hurricane Irene. I've no idea if we will even have power when she passes, so I have to get as much done as I can before she hits. The size of the reading assignments isn't helping: I've been gnawing my way through some four chapters of textbook, large chapters at that. I also have at least that many items to read from the college site.

I will keep you posted as things develop. Wish me luck, Gentle Readers!

Until We Meet...

School- What a Wild Ride!

Good Morning, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is simply called Intertwining. I had been away from my artwork for a while when I made this and so had to remind myself of what a few of the filters would do. However, as you can see the break has not hurt the end product any.

I'm not too happy with a couple of the programs with the college right now. There is one that I am supposed to use to learn how to make various graphs and histograms- but the thing keeps freezing every time I try to perform the assignment, especially when I have the right answers and am trying to display them. I've written tech support about the issue, but I'm not betting on them getting back to me in time.

In better news, I did get my portion of the team assignment in. Not only that, Charlene Dunfee- The instructor for this especial course- has really gone out of her way to keep morale up in the face of a number of outages that have made an already difficult class even harder. Yay Professor!

I need to download the material for my next course some time today; I don't think I'll have much time to tomorrow. The next couple of days will be very busy!

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...

Looking Out My Window

Good Evening, Gentle Readers!

Today's image is titled Circles and Sunlight. I forget exactly what I was thinking of when I made this; It might have been another experiment with overlays. In any case, I thought it to be a nice cheerful piece.

Another course has come and gone. This course was not easy either; Subject matter aside, the portal to the school kept crashing for several days, right when my teammates and I were trying to assemble a project. None of us were pleased. Nor was the instructor. Even before the technicians asked her to give us extra time to work because of the issues, she had told us she would give us an extra day to work. I spent a lot of nights sitting up reading and taking notes long after most sane people would have gone to bed. I think now I am just about where I should be- but next week is the beginning of another course. I honestly don't think all of those complicated formulas for calculating statistics have much to do with my ultimate goals. If anything, I think they needlessly complicate matters. But I could be wrong, so I keep trying to learn.

I did a few things outside my window that I thought were well worth cheering over. The neighbor whom my husband and I share a driveway with had had a car up on blocks for well over a year. The previous vehicle that had been on those blocks had quietly rusted away, until a tow truck had to come and remove it. But today, this vehicle came down off of its blocks, and moved up and down the road under its own power! It sounded pretty good too! So the youngest resident of the abode next to me has her own vehicle again!

We also have a new feline that seems to have included our yard as part of his territory. I heard something rustling around outside a couple of days ago and had to work to suppress a growl; A number of the neighborhood kids have displayed a remarkable lack of courtesy when it comes to anyone's homes and yards other than their own. But some of these kids are pretty smart too, and deserve a chance to learn more than the schools are willing to teach them. While I'm not really a motherly sort, I was just wondering if maybe I should try to set up something with them where we could do homework together. One of the girls- a bright young lady who unfortunately has a brother who needs his britches warmed with a switch- was quite surprised and impressed when she learned I was in college. She was very pleased to tell me how her momma helps her with her math, among other things. As for the kitty, he's not sure what to make of me. But as long as he behaves himself, he's welcome to come hunt moles and things as much as he wants.

Until We Meet, Gentle Readers...