Just frickin great.

[Gob]

Start of the thunderstorm season here too, though we usually get nothing like the sort of stuff you guys experience.

[TPFKA@W]

Start of the thunderstorm season here too, though we usually get nothing like the sort of stuff you guys experience.

But you make up lost ground with poisonous creatures that hunt you down for sport.

[oldr_n_wsr]

By my unofficial measure (ruler stuck in the snow piled on the back stoop railing) we got 3.5 inches. At work (35 miles west of me) we got about 7 inches. Didn't loose power (YET) and I filled up my car and my two gas cans last night so I am good for a few days. Didn't go to my meeting as by the time I got done filling up I was tired and went home to bed instead. Need a meeting tonight though.

But at least it stopped snowing.

[Big RR]

We got about 4 inches and now it's melting as the temperatures rise--good, because I still have a lot of leaves to rake up.

[Sue U]

We got nothing but wet down here. Sunny and warmer today, not a flake to be seen.

[Guinevere]

Worse than Irene for me, since we are an east-facing beach and the Irene was tougher on the south and southeast-facing beaches. My street has been flooded since about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, my yard is full of sand, cobble, and other debris. Winds have been steady in upper 30s for 26 hours, with gusts approaching 50, and waves 15-20 feet. That means they come over my sea wall and blow against my house. It was a restless, bone rattling night. Still, I have power, heat, roof, a dry house, and since I moved my Jeep, a dry and working vehicle -- and I only had to wade through about 6 inches of water to get to it.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Still snowing here. Parking lot at work was not plowed, and with heavy snow no one could get into a parking spot. I really need to teach more than a few people that putting the "pedal to the metal" does not get you unstuck. And turning the wheel makes you more stuck. I have parked at least 5 cars today where their owners were unable to drive straight forward to "unstick" their cars and get moving again. Of course they were worried about being able to get out of their spaces at the end of the day. I just said, "give me your keys and I will get you out of the parking lot, I promise".

When I tought my kids to drive (and I hope they remembered) I took them out in a snowstorm or right afterward, to a parking lot and had them learn to drive in snow. How their car handles, how to feel the brakes be them anti-lock or regular. Feel the car slide. Get stuck and how to get out.

Here we give licenses to people who can't drive in rain, forget about snow. I have a PT Cruiser with ground clearence of about 6" and I have no trouble getting through. People with dodge durangos can't make it into the parking lot. STOP IT!!!!

Hitting the gas is not your friend. Let the car pull itself in. Soft and easy is the key for your car (and you woman).

[oldr_n_wsr]

Worse than Irene for me, since we are an east-facing beach and the Irene was tougher on the south and southeast-facing beaches. My street has been flooded since about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, my yard is full of sand, cobble, and other debris. Winds have been steady in upper 30s for 26 hours, with gusts approaching 50, and waves 15-20 feet. That means they come over my sea wall and blow against my house. It was a restless, bone rattling night. Still, I have power, heat, roof, a dry house, and since I moved my Jeep, a dry and working vehicle -- and I only had to wade through about 6 inches of water to get to it.

Glad you're ok and didn't get slammed. Westbury (work area) has more than a few trees break due to the heavy snow. Scooter if you drop in, take note. Westbury may loose what little power it had just gotten.

[Lord Jim]

Didn't go to my meeting as by the time I got done filling up I was tired and went home to bed instead. Need a meeting tonight though.

Props to you oldr, for staying on track through what must have been a very trying and stressful time....

[oldr_n_wsr]

Thanks LordJim. Crisis mode has been my best times (non drinking that is). It's after that I feel the "need" to relax with a drink. Gotta keep my wits and stay straight although yesterday/today I am back in crisis mode. Needed gas, keep everyone safe, help where needed. Pushed/drove more than one car in/out of the parking lot this morning.

Tonight I head to my "Old Time AA" meeting. They don't coddle you there, and that's just what I need.

[dales]

Oldr...

The national media has been taking Long Island Power to task for such a long time in restoring power.

What's the deal with that?

Some have been without electricity for next to 2 weeks.

(and I thought PGE was bad)

[oldr_n_wsr]

LIPA is made of a bunch of incompetent fools. They answer to no one. The board is appointed hacks. They couldn't organize a high school car wash. They have done zero maintenance on the grid which is mostly above ground. They postponed for 4 years their inspection of the poles that hold up the wires. Usually they do it every 4-5 years but they pushed that out last year for another 4 years. Many of the poles were old and past their useful life. Snapped like twigs. Now I hear they ran out of the poles.

They imported thousands of line workers and to hear them tell it, they put in 16 hour days and only really work about 6 hours. The rest is spent standing around waiting for what to do next. The mainframe computer they are using to organize this runs on COBOL that's how old it is. No one in teh field is equipped with laptops or blackberries. They are using paper maps with highlighters to determine what's done and what isn't. No automatic hookup from the substations to the main "command center" They rely on landline phones (yeah they work with the poles laying in the road) and fax machines. There is no communication with the people or even the local (and state) politicians, and what communication there is the info is usually wrong. It has gotten to the point that the county exec is communicating with the substation employees directly to get somewhat accurate info. Tjhe employees were told by LIPA not to say anything, the county exec got a court order and the cops.

Then they come up that homes that were flodded need to be instpected before power can be turned on. Which is fine, no need to take down the grid or have fires, but they told the homeowners just this past thrusday, some 10 days after they got flooded. Then they don't have inspectors to go around, they had to get the help of local firedepartments people to help with this. And still the power isn't on. I think they came up with the inspection scam to buy more time as they were nowhere near getting those areas power.

My son, who's house is about 2 blocks from the Expressway (middle of the island, no flooding, not in a very wodded area) only got his power back on friday.

All this and one of the highest electric rates in the nation. They are still paying off the debt of the closed Shoreham nuclear power plant (which never generated one watt) which was closed some 20 years ago. I think we have paid for 2 or 3 times already, but still they owe about $1billion on it (maybe more).

And now they are predicting rates will go up again due to all the damage from teh storm.

[Jarlaxle]

Still snowing here. Parking lot at work was not plowed, and with heavy snow no one could get into a parking spot. I really need to teach more than a few people that putting the "pedal to the metal" does not get you unstuck. And turning the wheel makes you more stuck. I have parked at least 5 cars today where their owners were unable to drive straight forward to "unstick" their cars and get moving again. Of course they were worried about being able to get out of their spaces at the end of the day. I just said, "give me your keys and I will get you out of the parking lot, I promise".

When I tought my kids to drive (and I hope they remembered) I took them out in a snowstorm or right afterward, to a parking lot and had them learn to drive in snow. How their car handles, how to feel the brakes be them anti-lock or regular. Feel the car slide. Get stuck and how to get out.

Here we give licenses to people who can't drive in rain, forget about snow. I have a PT Cruiser with ground clearence of about 6" and I have no trouble getting through. People with dodge durangos can't make it into the parking lot. STOP IT!!!!

Hitting the gas is not your friend. Let the car pull itself in. Soft and easy is the key for your car (and you woman).

But hitting the gas can be FUN! Well, at least in a RWD vehicle (or a 4x4) an empty parking lot.

Couple inches of snow here, which turned to sleet, then to rain...no big deal, though the drive home from work Wednesday was kind of interesting.

[oldr_n_wsr]

But hitting the gas can be FUN! Well, at least in a RWD vehicle (or a 4x4) an empty parking lot.

Couple inches of snow here, which turned to sleet, then to rain...no big deal, though the drive home from work Wednesday was kind of interesting.

But hitting the gas when one is already stuck does nothing but dig you in deeper. And forget about getting these people to "rock" the car, it's beyond them having to go from drive to reverse back to drive in quick succession.

Yeah, donuts in the parking lot are fun. On front wheel drive we have to pull up on the parking brake to get the ass end to come around.

Getting home for me that night was just time consuming. Not interesting at all.