INSOMNIACS place to talk in the wee hours

sas-schatzi

Hello all, finally checking in. Thanks for the calls, thoughts , and prayers. Getting ready for these "Blows" are so much work. It's a process. Ready except for those things that can only be done before hunkering down.

First, I didn't evacuate b/c I knew we wouldn't be in the first direct hit area. I know that's an odd statement. It's my location. I am directly across from Kennedy Space Center. It's that point on the east coast that juts out. For some unknown reason hurricanes wobble when they come up the coast.

This particular area was used by the old sailors for centuries as a point to turn to go to Europe and England. Something about current and water depth. Anywhooses, if the hurricane came across the state, they loose power by the time they get here b/c of land mass.

What we are subject to are wind. Flooding has always been minimal. We don't have rivers like Huston. We have two barrier islands between us and the ocean, so storm surge is heavy on the first barrier island, less so on the second, non existent where I am(knock on wood). We have a well developed program for surface water management. However, I never say absolute about anything. (hahahah), there's a pun in there). I have carried flood insurance for twenty years, even though it's not a requirement.

Expecting about 15 inches. But hurricanes have rain bands versus constant downpour. The wind picks back up some of the moisture, and there is time for the very sandy earth to allow the water into the ground. That's unique to the peninsula, plus with not being subject to storm surge, and no rivers, and a very aggressive surface water management plays heavily into the decisions I make about action.

Hurricanes don't behave. That's why all the spaghetti models. Over the years many from our area run away only to have the hurricane meet them elsewhere. Our location is unique. So, what is done and how it's done is always an analysis.

This morning when I awoke and we were predicted for Category 2(3). I told Donnie YAY. We can do category 2 in our sleep.

I've written this long missive, to assure that all the prep has been done

When writing a Tornado plan in the 1980's, one phrase has stuck with me. A safe place after a wind event is relative. If you (and the dwelling) survive it was a safe place. So we shall see Monday.

However DS Steve is in Tampa and now it appears Irma is going directly up the coast. If Jose can push it out to the gulf a bit the coast will do a bit better. But frankly, it's going to be a mess. They don't have all the advantages that we have in our unique area.

The problem when it goes into the gulf. UGH. Nothing with hurricanes is nice.

sas-schatzi

What is different, is there hasn't been two side by side hurricanes, I think recorded. I was telling Shep that the picture on NOAA looks like a horserace with Jose coming up on the outside. Jose is actually responsible for the left shift of Irma.

Anyone from Texas through all the states to eastern Canada need to prepare. There will be lots of flooding as both hurricanes move north if they still continue to compete. Plus, we have also got the fires in many states.

Lay in supplies for at least 3-4 weeks. For longer if you can. There may begin to be shortages of disposable goods. Don't mean to be chicken little, better to prepare.

sas-schatzi

Sorry for taking up so much oxygen. I have got some really exciting news. Many here are familiar with the Toradol thread. We worked on it in 2015. Since 1980 in working on projects for work. After completing the study of whatever, I would call the researcher or researchers of the subject. I did this for varied reasons. The side effect is that it lead to some exciting things for me. Plus, it always gave me additional insight into the subject that wasn't available.

Many here will remember that Dr. M. R and his wife came for a visit. We have been in contact since about Toradol or other stuff. I just opened this tonight from him "I am preparing a grant proposal that could support two clinical trials and a research arm. We need 1 or 2 patient representatives and I immediately thought of you. it would not take too much work. Your input would be important. There would probably be one or two trips per year and the rest email messages. The grant is based in London. The trials are planned in Nigeria and Denmark. Let me know if you are interested."

Whoppeee, who knows what happens, it's just nice to be asked.

marijen

Sas your hurricane logistics are so interesting. Thank you! Does this mean your keyboard is fixed

sas-schatzi

Thanks, Mamma

Mari, the b&n keys and the space p started working. It was a few days after I had my IT folks work on the computer for another problem. But I had previously contacted them for the keyboard problem so I have no clue what happened. Way back when it started one of the suggestions on the net, was to take the keys off an clean underneath them. Well the B key fell off and wouldn't reseat. I'm a two finger typer. With the B key gone, I'm constantly looking for it. But it's becoming more automatic. I could actually buy a replacement B key, but it's not that irritating yet. On the hurricane logistics do you mean about the location? If you've been to south florida, basically from Stuart down to the Keys it's cement. No place for ground water to go. They have the Everglades, but that's not a drainage basin for city stuff much. Not sure how it's regulated, but it's a big deal here for waste water and storm water runoff as to where it goes.

Hello everyone WAVING, will catch up during the hurricane if we have power. Goodness I dislike power outages, But we have been lucky, the longest has been 3 days. Many more have gone through much more than we have. The one prep item I forgot was the gutter between the pool and the house. Donnie's going to check it in the morning.. Shucks, I was thinking that we were going to be in the worst part tomorrow this time. It's two days at 2 am. These friggen things get you so disoriented as to time b/c they move so slow and that's all you are thinking about.

sensitivehrt

Sas-stay safe, sending good thoughts your way. That is an awesome opportunity for you and you are the perfect person for it.

Waving hello to all the other ladies

marijen

Sas, your computer must be from the twilight zone. Yes, I think it's fascinating your location and your informative description. And you're right this thing is so big and moving so slow it does mess with our concept of time. Hoping it goes better than expected. Please stay safe and keep us updated if possible. I heard they had added free wifi stations or towers, whatever that means I'm not sure but it's to help the people with communications.

feelingfeline

Best wishes with your prep for getting safe and staying safe Sas.

DH's brother and family are in Broward County, his niece is in Tampa (and heavily pregnant) so she and her husband and her in laws were hoping not to have to go anywhere but are considering their options now, her Mum is in Deland so they can head north if needs. PopPop is in NC so I athey all had an invite there but it is hard to up and leave too, especially with business property to take care of too. God willing all Floridians will be safe.

M0mmyof3

One of my friends in Florida lives on the eastern side. He and his family evacuated to the western side only to have to evacuate back to the eastern side where he lives.

feelingfeline

Poor them!! Hopefully they will find themselves in the right place.

Wren44

I think waiting for a hurricane has a lot in common with waiting for labor in the last 2 endless weeks of pregnancy.

Still worried about fires here. Level 2 evacuation orders are 10 miles east of Hood River where DS and family live. Local businesses are having a rough time because the highway to Portland is closed. Normally Hood River would have a ton of people visiting from there.

M0mmyof3

Feline, from what I understand they went back to the town where they live on the eastern side.

Anonymous

I just learned more about the hurricanes than I do on the weather channel : ) Good to know you at least have it covered and are in a cozy arm.

Good news on the trials and your possible involvement. Trips to London, Sas?

JWoo - I haven't had the bowel issue but the other meds do that for me. I try to avoid everything. Haha, that said, it isn't working for me.

Loveroflife

Ms. Sas, so neat that Dr. Michael Retsky asked you to be a pt representative. You must be walking on air. Hope you get to go to Denmark, London, or Nigeria. Have your dogs been acting weird the last few days? Finger crossed for minimal damage from Irma and her brother. Please keep us updated when you can.

Mari, the pathophysioly of PAH and the role of estrogen in PH is so complex. I don't think they know yet how AIs fit in the picture. The body can only compromise for so long when something is out of balance. It's a domino affect. So many things can disrupt the fine balance, the ying and yang we need. Ha!

There is a Black Box Warning for metformin. If your kidneys or liver is compromised, the drug put you at risk for a serious condition called lactic acidosis. A drug is a good drug if it does its job (for you) with minimal and tolerable side effects. No one drug fits all.

Feline, Dad will see the Urologist next Thursday. My younger sister will go with him to the appointment. Hopefully, he will get a surgery date soon. Thank you for your support

Hey Sensi, how is my boy, Chance?

Mommy, how are you handling chemo?

Junieb, don't take too long of a break. Have you recovered from the heat wave? We finally got cooler air at night a few days ago, but I think it's warming up again. I am ready to wear fall outfits, but it doesn't look like fall is coming anytime soon.

Shep, you too. Well you have an excuse. Hope you are done with the prep.

Ms. Wren, we have had a few wild fire here too. Air has been bad. Worse last week. And I was wondering why the headache and sinus pressure. Mystery solved

Mia looking not to happy with her parents for dragging her out in the heat:

She is grumpy when it's warm, let alone hot.

Will try to get more photos of her smiling.

Loveroflife

The child knows that the phone is a camera. As soon as her mom holds the phone up, she looks at it and starts smiling.

marijen

So loveroflife, thanks for the added info on Metformin. I knew there was some kind of a problem with it. It's not something I take or need.

sas-schatzi

Hi everyone, thanks for the thoughts about retsky and the storm. It was just an awesome feeling that Michael asked. Believe it or not haven't looked at storm info all day. It's left sided and unless it cuts back across the state we should be okay. One of the storms did that in 2004.

Steve and Jamie did bug out this afternoon. He called when he was on I 4. Sounds terrible, but I would have preferred to have him call when he got to his inlaws. Now worrying about him on the road. There decision was based on storm surge report change this am, new report said much worse for Tampa than predicted in 8pm report last night. They will be fine. I think it will be a significant learning experience.

Feline hope you family is okay. Deland is a better choice as the storm is going to Georgia. All the evacuee's are up there. Deland is a bit more inland. It's in Volusia county. Lot's of places in Volusia flood, but I've never heard of Deland having a problem.

Bluebird nice to see you? :0 haha on learning hurricane stuff. Each one is a learning experience. People share info all the time. I did read a report this morning that has everyone below us on storm surge warning and as high up to south Carolina. But not us. The barrier islands yes, but not here on the mainland for Brevard County.

Loverly, Mia is so cute. Her smile is wonderful. Isn't it funny she knows it's a camera. Thank you about Dr Retsky.:) I realized later in the night I'll have to go back and restudy all that we did in 2015. Hahaha I also have to work on getting a sleeve, but it will take awhile for him to do the grant and get an approval. We had talked about Nigeria before. Very poor country. Very high TNBC rate. If Toradol does pan out it would be an absolute wonderful thing for everyone, but where chemotherapy is in short supply. a ten dollar shot of toradal would be an amazing blessing. He went someplacein frica since he had been here. I don't remember if it was Nigeria. He described his ride between cities as "harrowing", I laughed b/c it was just after I described driving to Tampa into the sun as "harrowing".

Hurricaine Port St John(my place). pretty heavy rain bands with standing water all day. Now b/c of less rain bands the standing water is already gone. Winds possibly 40 mph. Only guessing. The key is it's dried up the water and ground Just checked with Steve he arrived at inlaws.

sas-schatzi

Wren hahaha good description comparing the late pregnancy and a hurricane.

Anonymous

Ack.....just woke up at 6 p.m. Been scrambling to do storm prep - I even COOKED in the bottom part of the hot thing aka "the kitchen clock". Totally overdid and slept all day. I like the sleeping part, not the achy body parts. And now the dang storm shifted again and is totally missing us. Glad to no longer be in the direct path... At least we won't have to worry about groceries and such for a loooong time. And the house is fully prepped for the next storm.....

Hoping Florida will be spared or at least get a very much weakened storm.

Feline - Oh my! I do so hope your niece in Tampa evacuates. Something about hurricanes seems to encourage babies to arrive in the midst of the storm. Having a hospital safely nearby is a must. Although the wrath of a heavily pregnant woman is nearly as dangerous as a big hurricane..... Thank you sooo much for sharing the Paddington video! I had a delightful breakfast a few mornings back while watching it. I had tea and a bagel - no marmalade or scones, but lovely just the same 😊

M0mmy - Hoping your friends stay safe. This storm is so wacky..... May your chemo be gentle on you but tough on those nasty buggers 💗

Sassy - Phew....glad DS and his new bride are safe. Relieved you are out of the path. Woo-Hoo about your exciting news! Your selfless research and hard work has helped so many and will continue to do so 👏😇

Loverly - Isn't that the sweet babe that was born in Florida? And she doesn't like the heat? Silly little cutie!

Wren - Fire is more scary than a storm. We've been close to several major forest fires. !0 miles is not that far.....are you getting any of the embers? The wind can carry them for quite a distance. The smoke carries too and gets into everything. Keep your sprinklers on and the windows shut. Hoping the fires are soon under control and do not cause any damages or harm to anyone.

MammaRay - Awww...you are the cutest Wonder Woman! Love you girlfriend 💕

Mari - Much appreciation for the article links you've shared. Very intrigued by the idea of Zika killing brain cancer....

Jwoo - Interesting stuff about the Metformin. So sorry you had such horrible issues with it. I've been on a low dose for several years, no problems so far. Odd how each of our bodies react so differently....

MIss Blue - Stick around, you'll learn all kindsa stuff here! 😜

Big hugs to Sensi, Peppy, Smaarty,Mags, Eeyore, Lookie, Junie, Patty, Susan, Susie and all my Owlie Sisters!

Prayers for safety for all in the storm's path 🙏

marijen

Wow! I've never seen a house wearing suspenders. Cool

Lookforward

Popping in to say hi to everyone. I hope all you ladies in the hurricane zone stay safe. It certainly is a scary storm.

Shep it's good to hear that the storm has moved away from you. Take it easy, sounds like you had a full day.

Lovely your nieis adorable . Fingers crossed that your dad's surgery gets all the cancer, he's had a rough year.

Mamma Ray thinking of you and hope you have comfortable days.

Mommy I hope the chemo is not to hard on you, are you having radiation as well?

Wren we have had a lot of smoke this summer from the forest fires in British Columbia, there is now a fire burning in southern Alberta at waterton park, which is connected to glacier park. It doesn't look good. Does your DS have to evaluate?

Junie how are you and Kirby doing, are you feeling better?

I went for my first appointment for a nipple tattoo, I have to say it looks pretty good, the tattoo artist is very talented. I have a lot of damage on my chest ( broken veins) from the surgeries . She said she can tattoo that as well with skin pigmentation or maybe I should go for a skull and crossbones.

We came back from Vegas last night. I met up with three of my sisters and had a great time even though it was over 100 . I like the heat, but walking around during the day is exhausting.One of my sisters who is 11 years younger had breast cancer at the same time as me. She looks and feels good. It was strongly recommended that she have chemo and radiation, but she decided to do radiation only. It is always a personal choice.

We are heading out to the east coast next week to sightsee. I will post pictures, I have wanted to do this trip for many years.

Waving hi to everyone else.

Lookforward

Wren44

Lookforward, That is so pretty, almost magical. DS does not have an evacuation notice but the fire is getting closer. A friend has had a level 2 notice for a week. She finally went to the beach to get away from the smoke.

M0mmyof3

So far not having lots of problems just being on the Herceptin and Perjeta. No radiation so far

Hoping that all I know who are in the storms path will be okay.

marijen

I found this article yesterday and it's a quite different take on depression..

Depression is a physical illness which could be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, scientists suggest.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/09/08/depr...

Wren44

They have shown that abuse and trauma change kids brains. It would be wonderful if a cure could be found that would prevent depression. I worked in mental health and 75% of our clients were survivors of some sort of abuse.

sas-schatzi

Hi Hurricaine update : Intermittent bands, ground water keeps absorbing and evaporating. Wind speed approx. gust 75 mph(guess). Lots of tornadoes here and throughout florida.

West coast, well it will take years. Storm surge as high as16.4 ft south florida. Google pictures of Miami. Looks like a modern Venice. Oddly, dogs are doing well, not hiding , pacing, or panting.

Donnie mostly sleeping. Worked on his ac stuff outside until 11:30 am. We took a drive to get out. I95 ahd Hwy 50. 1/2 dozen motels packed and bbig truck rigs everywhere. No restaurants or food stores open except one gas station. Hmm idea. Anywhooses, that's my newly learned thing. I have never evacuated, Must take food and water for 4 days(?). Toughy, they've already been here maybe two days. We have till sometime mid-day tomorrow. Hard to tell the wind field is so huge and it's moving so slow.

It's back up to Cat 4. b/c it's back sucking up water around the Keys. Not good. Reporting sucks. One report had it already up to Naples. So, all I can say is it's over there.

A fella from Texas Tech Kishor Mehta, that was a wind man. I met him the same way I meet Dr Retsky. I called him when I was working on a tornado plan. His comment about Andrew was "We thought we knew something about wind, this will change everything"(pretty close). Irma will be the next teacher.

Anonymous

Mari - Those are not suspenders on the house silly goose......Those are some old belts FFH (Fart Face Husband) "outgrew" !!!

I had seen that same theory about treating depression in a diferent article. Incredible.....so many poeple could be helped.

Sassy - hoping you still have power.

All is quiet here in SC . It has been predicted we will have heavy rains Monday with some coastal surge. Flooding will be main issue.

Stuck here at home with Tropical Depression FF. The worse the weather outstde, the more he seeks out potentially dangerous projects to work on. The roof has been his latest obsession. Very possible the weekend could end on a positive note

marijen

HaHaHa Shepkitty, your husband is a Big man! I think he ought to apply for a patent, a vey creative way to keep the roof on

sas-schatzi

Hurricane update Port St John. Massive power loss in florida, but we still have power. Oodles of tornadoes. The amount of tornadoes post recording of storm , I think will be a record. Oddly, for our area many are occurring at Port Canaveral and track northwest. Once we were identified in the group, I packed the safe room. Donnie's no help he thinks I'm over reacting

Yes, he took the car out earlier and came home. ANDDDDDDDDD I said do I get to say I told you sooooooooooooo. He said yes. In the middle of and increasing wind speed he opens the garage door.. DUH. Now consider that the house is 1988. I'm on my third garage door to keep up with Miami-Dade standards which were created after Andrew.. --------The biggest failures of roofs coming off were the implosion/ lifting from the bottom of garage doors. I replaced the first in 1999(?). Then 2016. He goes and opens it. It wasn't at a critical point, but it wasn't a smart move.

It's on land Cat2. Horrible for any land folks. The west coast and central florida are going to be devastated. Just seeing this now. But had it remained off shore the devastation would be far greater.

Retrospectively, I would have preferred to see it track up the center of florida. That's mostly swamp land. Low density very low density population. Would have lost huuricane power very quickly.

What I object to now is getting accurate information of what's occurring.

This has been the worst. This will change everything.

The house is solid, But of course a direct hit with a tornado, oh well. The problem with solidness we have to open the door to see what's going on, b/c inside you can't hear the stuff outside. Major wind as evidenced by the trees and shrubs. First time I ever had to force the front door shut and do a knee bend to do it (*25 years). That was the front door. The power is in a counterclockwise blow. So, depending on the position of the house you know where the power will be. The power of the blow is at the front of my house.

Well, The beeping for the tornadoes has stopped. Their guessing 8-12 hours more for my county

Then comes the walk around and the drive around.