Hurricane Plans?

[tommy]

whenever there's a big storm, or snow fall, or state of emergency, i usually head to my local if it's open. there's nothing quite like a big change in schedule to get everyone at the bar buying rounds and having a good time.

i'm in.

[hwilson41]

Sextons;

I live out in Rappahannock County for those of you who actually know where that is . . . If you do know then you also know that we don't have a grocery store in the county (country/general stores but no bigger).

Yeah, but you've got the Inn at Little Washington. You could eat there every night with Patrick O'Connell, et al. Four star food, and you'd only need a small second mortgage to pay the bill...well...maybe a medium sized second mortgage .

I presume you have to go to Warrenton to do your supermarket shopping? I tried to circumvent buying water by buying empty plastic containers and filling them with water, but none to be found. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places. Good luck, anyway.

THW

[sherribabee]

I'll never forget my first winter in DC. It was in 97/98. The weather folks had predicted a "light dusting" of snow. I made the mistake of swinging by the Safeway to pick up a couple things I need to make dinner and OMG...the store was overrun with people pushing 2 carts each full of toilet paper, water, milk, bread, etc. You'd think they were planning to be snowed in for a good 6 weeks! Having grown up in the midwest, where as long as you can shovel your way out the front door, you're fine, I found this completely shocking and disturbing.

I was amused the next day when everyone woke up to a little dampness due to the 8 or 9 snowflakes that fell.

My friends in DC have reported that a few schools and businesses have already announced that they will be closed tomorrow. And my friend out on Long Island said the entier area has been sold out of generators for the past few days.

Madness, I tell you!

[sherribabee]

I tried to circumvent buying water by buying empty plastic containers and filling them with water, but none to be found.  Maybe I was looking in the wrong places.  Good luck, anyway.

THW

Giant Ziploc bags work.

[sherribabee]

whenever there's a big storm, or snow fall, or state of emergency, i usually head to my local if it's open.  there's nothing quite like a big change in schedule to get everyone at the bar buying rounds and having a good time.

i'm in.

Amen. And a game of darts is way more fun by candlelight!

[sextons]

Sextons;

I live out in Rappahannock County for those of you who actually know where that is . . . If you do know then you also know that we don't have a grocery store in the county (country/general stores but no bigger).

Yeah, but you've got the Inn at Little Washington. You could eat there every night with Patrick O'Connell, et al. Four star food, and you'd only need a small second mortgage to pay the bill...well...maybe a medium sized second mortgage .

I presume you have to go to Warrenton to do your supermarket shopping? I tried to circumvent buying water by buying empty plastic containers and filling them with water, but none to be found. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places. Good luck, anyway.

THW

You're right about the mortgage for the Inn! My hubby works at 4&20 though so if the power goes out then I imagine they'll be emptying out the walkins - although I don't know what good that will do me if I can't keep it cold myself . . . or heat it on my electric range . . .

Good idea on the empty containers though - or the ziploc bags (yes I do go to Warrenton to shop). Thanks for the suggestion!

[Al_Dente]

I'll never forget my first winter in DC.  It was in 97/98.  The weather folks had predicted a "light dusting" of snow.  I made the mistake of swinging by the Safeway to pick up a couple things I need to make dinner and OMG...the store was overrun with people pushing 2 carts each full of toilet paper, water, milk, bread, etc.  You'd think they were planning to be snowed in for a good 6 weeks!  Having grown up in the midwest, where as long as you can shovel your way out the front door, you're fine, I found this completely shocking and disturbing.

I was amused the next day when everyone woke up to a little dampness due to the 8 or 9 snowflakes that fell. 

My friends in DC have reported that a few schools and businesses have already announced that they will be closed tomorrow.  And my friend out on Long Island said the entier area has been sold out of generators for the past few days. 

Madness, I tell you!

When I was in high school, I worked as a cashier at a supermarket in Raleigh NC. When a whopping inch or so of snow was forecasted, we'd have to have ALL lanes open and the line would go to the very back of the store. The looks of panic on their faces. It was ridiculous.

[John W.]

I'm looking on the bright side here. We are kind of closed tomorrow (99% certain at least) and the staff that's working stays upstairs in the hotel. One thing is for certain, we won't run out of food, water or booze.

[browniebaker]

Montgomery County (Maryland) schools are cancelled Thursday, and were scheduled to be closed Friday anyway.

I haven't done a thing to prepare, as the whole pile of supplies I set aside in the basement against terrorism attacks is still there. I thought it would come in handy some day.

[Bux]

Thanks for the reminder. I've got to go up on the roof and get that patio umbrella off of there. I might want to turn over the tables as well and check the planters.

[hjshorter]

Scott took the chairs from the back yard and put them in basement stairwell, and tied down the garbage cans. We've got plenty of food and water.

But, there's nowhere to park our cars that isn't under a giant tree.

[jhlurie]

I went to the extent of finally taking my air conditioners out of the windows (no central air), but seeing the latest forecast for my area it now looks pretty unnecessary. You guys are definitely getting the brunt of it.

Since my neighborhood is on top of a cliff over a river (the Hudson) near the ocean, I DO get nasty wind problems whenever there is even a normal storm--thus frequently tree branches in the street, broken windows and downed power lines. So even a wimpy edge of a storm like I'm going to get... I've got to take semi-seriously.

sherribabee: I lived in DC for four years during college, and was also amused at their concept of a "snowstorm". I grew up in a part of New York where we'd often get 2-3 foot snowfalls, and with drift there were many winters where we'd literally have to dig tunnels. And this was mid-state New York--hardly Buffalo. So I was quite amused by the panic two inches of snow could bring to D.C.

Hurricanes on the other hand... well, I hope for all of your sakes that it doesn't stall over D.C. In and out, that's what you want. Pass your problems on to Pennsylvania.

(EDIT - Bah. Watching the news now. It's going to hit those of us to the north even less than they'd thought a few hours ago. The people on the Jersey Shore are gonna get flooded, that's about it...)

Edited September 17, 2003 by jhlurie (log)

[hwilson41]

Wow, obviously I'm not the only one taking Isabel seriously .

Sherribabee;

Giant Ziploc bags work.

Excellent idea. I'm embarrassed that I didn't think of that.

Heather;

But, there's nowhere to park our cars that isn't under a giant tree.

Do you have comprehensive insurance on the cars ? If so, you're probably OK.

jhlurie;

I was quite amused by the panic two inches of snow could bring to D.C.

I grew up in Texas (Ft Worth). Half an inch of snow would close the schools...probably for two days. Amusing to folks that live up north, but not a bad deal if you're a high school student .

Update on school closings: some of this has not been verified from other sources, but my understanding is that Montgomery, Prince William, Fauquier, and Loudoun are closed. Of course, Fairfax will wait until 5:00 am tomorrow morning to announce, because that's their way (spouseperson is a Fairfax County teacher) .

Good luck to all. This one could be a bitch, but I hope not.

THW

P.S. Would somebody please tell me the code required to get a reference to the quoted post after the "Quote" title rather than into the body of the quoted message (see the most recent post by Al_Dente)? I like to think I'm fairly computer literate, but don't know beans about html, which I suspect is my problem. TIA.

[tommy]

P.S.  Would somebody please tell me the code required to get a reference to the quoted post after the "Quote" title rather than into the body of the quoted message (see the most recent post by Al_Dente)?  I like to think I'm fairly computer literate, but don't know beans about html, which I suspect is my problem.  TIA.

you have to use the "quote" button. even then, you can only really do it for one passage. other than that, you're on your own. i don't even think you can hardcode the stuff in and have it look right. i seem to remember a bit in the "Site Tips" section from a while ago where we talked about this. perhaps the upgrade, which is on its way, will help this.

[Varmint]

Total cloud cover now. The clouds are moving from east to west at a pretty good clip. Gentle breezes. Anyone have a kite? School is cancelled. Work is not. There's something not right about that.

Will make scallops tonight. With corn, grape tomatoes, and cheese polenta. Might make a glorified fig newton by caramelizing fresh figs and wrapping in puff pastry. I need more wine.

[tommy]

I need more wine.

jesus dude, you're supposed to stock up on emergency supplies!?!!!!!!

good luck though.

[hwilson41]

Tommy;

you have to use the "quote" button. even then, you can only really do it for one passage.

I guess I'm a little thick, and probably not explaining my problem very well, because I still can't get this right. The part that quotes your message looks fine, but how did you insert the reference to my earlier post, as in "QUOTE (hwilson41 @ Sep 17 2003, 06.22 PM)" in the heading line beside the word "QUOTE" above the quote? I know to use the quote button to put the quote in the box, but I can't figure out how to put the "(hwilson41 @ Sep 17 2003, 06:22 PM" in the heading line. Sorry to be so dense. TIA.

THW

[vengroff]

A quote with no attribution is done like this:

[QUOTE]The quoted quote.[/QUOTE]

It comes out looking like this:

The quoted quote.

An attributed quote is done like this:

[QUOTE=Quoted Person at Quoted Time]The quoted quote.[/QUOTE]

It comes out looking like this:

The quoted quote.

A further example

[QUOTE=You can put whatever you want in here.]The quoted quote.[/QUOTE]

The quoted quote.

[vengroff]

Or, if you want to quote someone else's post, with automatic insertion of the timestamp, then instead of adding to the thread, go to the post you want to quote and click the quote button at the top right of the message.

[Varmint]

I need more wine.

jesus dude, you're supposed to stock up on emergency supplies!?!!!!!!

good luck though.

Two cases came home with me tonight. I'm good to go.

[=Mark]

I'll never forget my first winter in DC.  It was in 97/98.  The weather folks had predicted a "light dusting" of snow.  I made the mistake of swinging by the Safeway to pick up a couple things I need to make dinner and OMG...the store was overrun with people pushing 2 carts each full of toilet paper, water, milk, bread, etc.  

I never understood the deal with toilet paper. Do people actually shit more during heavy weather? I can never get the image of folks fighting over time on the crapper where they chug cartons of milk and load the bowl with storm induced logs...

Edited September 18, 2003 by =Mark (log)

[mcdowell]

Do people actually shit more during heavy weather? 

Those big storms, that far up the east coast, they scare it out of you...

[=Mark]

Bah! I thought we were a bunch of tight asses...

[Al_Dente]

I'll never forget my first winter in DC.  It was in 97/98.  The weather folks had predicted a "light dusting" of snow.  I made the mistake of swinging by the Safeway to pick up a couple things I need to make dinner and OMG...the store was overrun with people pushing 2 carts each full of toilet paper, water, milk, bread, etc.  

I never understood the deal with toilet paper. Do people actually shit more during heavy weather? I can never get the image of folks fighting over time on the crapper where they chug cartons of milk and load the bowl with storm induced logs...

It's an atmospheric pressure thing. As the pressure lowers, ones bowels come under inversely higher pressure and therefore, BAM (to paraphrase an oft maligned chef), more.... uhm.... output.

[hwilson41]

Vengroff;

A quote with no attribution is done like this:

{snip}

An attributed quote is done like this:

Thank you VERY much. I'm sure I wasn't expressing my quandry very well, but you managed to break the code anyway. Of course, now I feel like the village idiot for not being able to figure that out myself, but c'est la vie . Thanks much for the help.

THW