Eta Blows Through

 

Someone lost their carport at the Mobile Home/RV Park next to us

So, that was FUN!  It started to get windy and very rainy in the early afternoon.  I took Indy out, but all she wanted to do was watch the trees blow with the wind hitting her in the face.  Too bad girl, that was you last big chance.

I went to the motorhome to give it one more good look over...closed up the vents which have covers, but with straight-line wind, I just wanted to be sure.  Coming back I drove through the Winn-Dixie parking lot and they were covering the windows with these aluminum storm covers. The picture above is from the news of a Winn-Dixie in St. Pete...must be a company policy.  When I left the storm was a Hurricane, by 1:00 pm it was a Tropical Storm again.  This morning I went back to the motorhome and all was well...and Winn-Dixie had already taken the storm covers off.

Our biggest problem was that we lost our electricity last night around 9:00 pm.  They had been flickering a bit from 8-9, but that last one was not a flicker, it was total blackout, followed by a huge BOOM not too far away.  By midnight nearly the entire neighborhood around the Condo Complex was in the dark (including Win-Dixie).  Coming back from the motorhome I had hoped the electricity would be back on...it was 9 am.  I stopped to get coffee, and when I started to pull up to our condo, I could tell there were no lights.  I had not seen a Duke Electric truck anywhere, so I pulled back out and went around towards the library, and yep, there they were.  By the time I got back to the condo, we had lights.

Saw this Tarpon Springs Fire Truck on my way back and my thoughts were, "Squad 69?  Tarpon Springs is not THAT large of a community."

Someone was passed out nearly all day today.  Poor little girl tried and tried to do her business after the storm hit, but the heavy rain and wind just couldn't let her do it.  At 2 am I noticed the storm had died, and I took her out.  Boy, she sure knows how to spell relief!  At 4 am she wanted out again...she knows how to spell relief two ways, and neither start with the letter "R" but with the letter "P".

Boat up against the bank in Madeira Beach area

Damage in Pinnellas County

Getting ready for the storm, Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs

All and all, we (Marcia, Indy and I) made it through the storm with out a problem.  The overall Tampa Community up through Crystal River did well, but there were some areas of damage, and from all reports, one death from electrocution.  Overall we weathered the storm pretty well.  Thanks go out for everyone who expressed their concern.  (The above three pictures were taken from various news sources.  The other pictures were taken with my cell phone, which is why the quality is not there.)

Veta Day - Veterans Day

 

First Veterans Day since dad passed...only fitting I start my blog off today with a picture of him in uniform.  Dad served in the Navy from 1946-1947.  Although WW2 ended in September of 1945, the dates are different for active service during WW2. The government defines WW2 service as follows:  December 7, 1941, through December 31, 1946, inclusive. If the veteran was in service on December 31, 1946, continuous service before July 26, 1947, is considered World War II service. Code of Federal Regulations, 3.2 (d)  Dad fit that time period, so he is considered a WW2 Vet.  He served in the Navy in the Pacific, and even went to Japan for at least one short time period.

 

After working at Bank of America, getting married, he then went to work at the Sacramento Army Depot, and retired the day he turned 55.  He started as a peon, and retired as a high level executive.  His "Boss" urged him to take his temporary high level position permanently and dad said, "What happened to the boss I am replacing?"  "He had a heart attack," was the answer.  "And they guy he replaced?"  "He had a heart attack."  "And the guy he replaced??"  Well, I think you now know why he retired at age 55.  The Army Depot served as a repair facility for electronic equipment, such as night vision goggles, electronic circuit boards, and radium-dial instrumentation.  As part of his retirement we (family) got to tour the base, some of which was normally off limits to non workers.  They let us look through night vision equipment, something was still pretty secretive in 1983.  The retirement picture above was signed by what I think was the Colonel, and if I read it right it says, "Al - Congratulations on your 30 years of dedicated service to Depot and country.  Best wishes in your retired life.  When it comes to injenuity and initative you are tops.  John M...." (can't catch that last name")

Thank you DAD for your service to our country, along with the service of many of your ancestors, brother-in-laws, sons, son-in-law, etc. etc.  

So WHY did I call it VETA Day?  Because "Eta" is now "Hurricane Eta", and it is Veterans Day, so it makes sense to me that they rename the storm "VETA".

But according to our expert weatherman, it will die back down to Tropical Storm as it goes by us...but it is also going by very close to us.

Above is the latest projected path. We are under Hurricane Watch, soon to be Tropical Storm Watch followed by Tropical Storm Warning later tonight, and Tornado Watch along with Flash Flood Watch...just about any "Watch" you could think of outside of cold weather watches.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

The 1:00 pm update has already downgraded it back to a Tropical Storm!

For a little perspective...above is the latest path, the Red Arrow is where we live.  Expecting lots and lots of rain, wind gusts of 60-70 mph, and I am sure Pasco County will have Tornado Warnings soon...but thank goodness those are typically more inland.  We are about 3 miles from the Gulf.  Hoping we don't loose electricity...

Eta Bearing Down on Us

 

So...start with a Tropical Storm which may be a Hurricane when it passes off our coast (close enough that we will have high winds and massive rains), or do I start with pictures of Indy.  Well, as you can see, Indy wins again!  Took her to the dog park twice this week.  The first time was kind of a dud, as she had the small park to herself while the large dog area had a number of large dogs there.  But today, she had a few dogs just her size.

This dog, which is an older dog, was the right size...but too old to want to run and play despite Indy's many attempts to get it to play.  Eventually a dog about a third of Indy's size showed up, and it was too small.  I was so concerned about how she would interact with it, that I did not get pictures...but Indy did very well with the little dog.  

On our way home from the dog park, I decided to drop by the public library to see how it looks on Sunday.  Now, with voting over, it is once again closed down and no one was around.  So now my plans are take her to the library on Sundays, and to the dog park mid-week.

When I pulled up to the dog park, she got very excited.  When I pulled up to the Library and parked in front of the pond, she was not as excited...until I rolled down my window.  She jumped on my lap and stuck her head out and started to growl.

It was those Sandhill Cranes again.  Right after I took this picture, Indy nearly jumped out of the car.  She is fast, but I was faster.

Drove to another area by the pond and finally got her to see an Egret.  The Egret stood still for a long time, and she just did not take notice of it.

On Monday while Indy and I were at the motorhome while Marcia was at Bible Study, I was rolling down the driver window so Indy could look out and suddenly there is a BANG, and the window drops, and drops, and drops all the way down despite me taking my finger off the button.  I knew right away that I busted a window regulator.  Thank goodness I take my Kindle and the Air Card each Monday, and I was able to find out how to remove the Door Panel.  I then was able, using a pair of long nose locking pliers to hold the window in the up position, but it was still open by an inch.  I taped the inch portion to keep bugs out, and went to take Marcia home.

Once home I looked at another YouTube on how to get the regulator out and put a new one in.  Not much room to work with, and you have to drill out some rivets.  Also I found out that this is a very common item which breaks on the Fords.  I went back to the motorhome with a couple of clamps, bought a small C-clamp from ACE Hardware, and after cutting a wire from the regulator which was binding, not allowing the window to raise up, I got the window up, secured it with the clamps, and now we can drive until I get it fixed.  Talked to Arny, and he also told me that this is a very common breakage item with Ford, and if wait until we get back to California he has all the tools and new rivets to fix it.  I just wanted to be sure we could drive it in case this pending storm got real big and real close.

Which brings me to ETA.  Eta hit the coast of Nicaragua very close to a category 5 hurricane.  It turned north into Honduras and made another turn to the east and headed to Cuba.  It dropped to a Tropical Depression, but back to a Tropical Storm before it hit Cuba.  Now it is battering the Keys just shy of Hurricane strength.  Above you can see the current track projection, which takes it off our coast and hitting Florida between Cedar Keys and Crystal River.

 

 

Above is the projected wind speeds.  A level one hurricane has winds from 74-95 mph.  Sometime Monday and into Wednesday morning it is projected to be a Level One Hurricane.  But it is projected to drop back down to a Tropical Storm Wednesday as it gets closer to the Tampa coast...we are just north of Tampa by some 40 miles.  So if all holds, it will be a Tropical Storm as it goes by us.

Above is the radar of the storm passing over the Keys.  So far we have only had some minor winds, with no rain...but by tomorrow the rains will come and last through Friday...very heavy at times with heavy winds from time to time.  For now, we will ride it out as is...but if it intensifies, we will probably drive inland and/or south.  It just doesn't look like we will need to do that.