I was afraid of this

[annathepiper]

I've been monitoring hurricane season all throughout this year so far, and after the bitch monster storm that was Katrina, I was wondering if she had some equally badassed siblings waiting in line behind her. Looks like I was right, because Rita just hit Category 5.

Now yeah, I know, it's hurricane season, so there are going to be hurricanes. I get that. This is not surprise motivating me here; it's worry, thanks to everything I've been reading warning about the possibility of hurricanes only getting more bigger and badassed. I think Katrina twigged something in me, too--something about the idea of an entire city getting wiped out by a storm of Katrina's magnitude.

And I can only feel for the displaced residents of New Orleans, moved to Texas, who are now having to move again because Katrina's bitch monster sister is coming in to pick up where she left off. And for the other residents of New Orleans who started to try to come back to their city, only to be told they have to turn around and run away again.

And I'm really worried about what'll happen if Rita mows into Texas refineries, as experts are warning. I am really wondering about how well the U.S. could handle it if our oil production takes that severe a hit, and my gut is telling me "not well".

Texans on my Friends list, my fingers are crossed for you. Take care of yourselves and batten down the hatches. No matter which way you slice this, it's going to suck.

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

1) Texas is much sturdier ground than the Mississippi/Louisiana bayou country. I've been to Houston. The arroyos are 20 feet deep, BELOW the level of the city.

2) Texas has been subject to FAR more direct hits in modern times than Louisiana has, so they should be better prepared by sheer dint of attrition (i.e. the substandard structures already got washed out and replaced with stuff that can stand up to a hurricane).

3) The guy that wrote this is a money writer, not a meteorologist or a science editor. That means he's looking for a story that will have an effect on prices.

Translation: Hype, hype, hype. I got a bag of kettlekorn that says we see a ten-cent uptick in gas prices before Rita ever makes landfall. These rat bastards will do anything to raise prices, and damn little to cut'em. Makes me thankful I'm tangentially carpooling most days; if my work wasn't such a pain in the ascii to get to via bus, I'd do that. (I also wish I had the $$ to get a diesel vehicle and run biodiesel, we'll show these fat cat oil barons how the world ought to be run!) (p.s. Metro Transit runs B20 biodiesel in their buses, as does the Ferry system...)

[annathepiper]

I really hope you're right--about the hype part, that is. Guess we'll have to just see what happens. I'm somewhat reassured by this morning's forecast talking about Rita having lost a little bit of steam. Dara says that as of last night the storm had been right on track to do the maximum amount of damage possible to the refineries down there, but as of this morning, Rita appears to have shifted somewhat.

Fingers crossed!

And yeah, let's hear it for carpooling. And bussing. And biking to work.

[kissare.livejournal.com]

I didn't know Metro Transit was running on biodiesel! That's awesome! My boyfriend keeps saying his intention when it is time to buy a new car is to go diesel so he can run it on biodiesel. I think it's a terrific idea. Personally I love being able to walk to work, but I still have to drive to dance classes, so it doesn't save me much road-time. :(

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

If I had my druthers right now I'd have a New Beetle TDI, or maybe a Jetta...

What I really want to see, though, is a TDI hybrid. They'd have to solve the issue of fuel heating, though, before they do that; diesels are fussy about having warm fuel before running at anything resembling full power. But at the moment I'd settle for being able to run (and make) B100...

[kissare.livejournal.com]

Yeah - being able to make your own is the most awesome thing in the whole wide world! I am looking forward to happy afternoons of making fuel for the bf's car, when he gets one. ;) No new Beetles or Jettas, though - he wants a station wagon!

A TDI hybrid... mmm!

[annathepiper]

I've seen a few of the busses that are running on vegetable oil, even, when I'm downtown on the mornings I take the bus in. They're easily distinguishable, since they're painted to look like a giant bottle of vegetable oil. Heh.

I would love to be able to walk to work, but I don't think anything in my line is going to be anywhere in Kenmore or Lake Forest Park any time soon. Biking, on the other hand, I might be able to do... if I can get myself in good enough shape by the time my next contract rolls around. (Or next full time actual employee job! *touch wood*)

[kissare.livejournal.com]

That's awesome! I want to see one of those! I am considering pouting because I haven't seen one yet. ;)

I didn't pick a job near my home - I'm just so nimble and mobile, being a lone person who doesn't own a house, that when I GOT my new job, I packed up and moved to an apartment as close as I could get to me office building - which turned out to be 2.5 blocks. Yeay for mixed business and residential zones! ;)

Touching wood for full time actual employee job!

[annathepiper]

Googling around a little, and poking on Metro's own actual site, so far doesn't get me a picture of the vegetable oil busses. Foo.

Way to go on that apartment finding. :)

And as long as we're touching wood, well, let's do that for my book getting sold first, since that's what I REALLY want to do, but a full time actual employee job would be good too! ;)

[kissare.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course. Lots of wood-touching for the book getting sold!

[annathepiper]

I'MALMOSTTOFOURMONTHSWITHOUTANANSWERYETAAAAAHWHENARETHEYGOINGTOGETBACKTOMEABOUTTHEBOOKAIE?!

Ahem. Er. Sorry, getting a bit twitchy over here. ;)

[kissare.livejournal.com]

But... but... longer is better, right? Means they are taking more time looking at it, right? Right?

[annathepiper]

Yeah! I'm just being twitchy! ^_^

[kissare.livejournal.com]

Aw, I guess I can't blame you for that! I'd be pretty twitchy too, I guess - I've never sent a book off to sell. Heck, I've never written a book! Only stories.

[annathepiper]

It does not help that I just recently ran across a few more pictures of Russell Crowe from an era where he most matches my mental picture of Christopher, either, which makes my brain go "AAH! MUST! WRITE! NEXT! BOOK!" ;)

But I have to sell Faerie Blood first!

[kissare.livejournal.com]

How come? Because of potential changes that might throw things off for plotting the next book?

[annathepiper]

Actually, that's a good point that I hadn't thought of! But I was more thinking that I don't want to put effort into writing a second book to go with a first book I haven't sold yet. My goal right now is to get a few first books or standalones in circulation at once, so that if they sell, THEN I can go and put out the effort of writing the followups. :)

[kissare.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well in that case... what's the status on Lament of the Dove?

[annathepiper]

Just cracked 100K, and the chapter I'm in is (I'm hoping) going to be the halfway point. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of the year. It's going to be a bitch to edit, though.

[kissare.livejournal.com]

Good luck! :)

[annathepiper]

Thank you!

[kitchengrrl.livejournal.com]

Since we're not down on the coast, we're just kind of hoping the leftovers track this way. It hasn't rained here in over a month, and we're having a record heat wave. First day of fall, and it's still 100 flippin degrees. :P

[annathepiper]

Oog. Yeah, that's its own variety of suck. *hugs!*

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

I've got two and a half hurricanes wandering around my island here in the mid-Pacific. After surviving the four that hit southern Florida last year and seeing this year's season, I'm beyond convinced that global weathern patterns have shifted/ are shifting.
-=Jeff=-

[annathepiper]

Yeah, I saw the mention of Jova heading that way, on the National Hurricane Center page. Are Kenneth and Max the others you're thinking of, or are they not far enough west?

And I'm with you... the case for global weather patterns shifting looks pretty solid to me. This is part of why I started paying attentions to hurricanes this summer; I want to keep track and see if this continues and the case does indeed prove right. Not that I want it to, but forewarned, forearmed, and all that.

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

The weather guessers are clueless as far as I'm concerned. Weather just has too many inpredictabilities about it, I mean, most weather models rely on a tad of chaos to 'accurately predict' wtf is that?
Kenneth and Max are somewhere out there as well trailing Jova, so far we're being told that they'll veer northward and miss us, dissipating in the colder waters just above Hawaii.
-=Jeff=-

[annathepiper]

I've found that most weather guesses seem to be exactly that, indeed. The number of places I've heard tell uphold the old chestnut "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes" is very high.

*nods about the storms, too* Glad to know they'll miss you!

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

I know it's a very serious issue and not funny at all, but every time people mention global warming or global climate change, I think of the cartoon I saw ages ago, with someone all bundled up and standing waist-deep in snow, looking at the sky. Caption: An Alaskan's view on global warming. Thought bubble reads: "When??"

I'm a bad person.

[annathepiper]

*snicker!*

Hurricanes and Biodiesel

[(Anonymous)]

Biodiesel can be made at home! It's easy to break down from old deep-fryer grease(free,mostly)with simple equipment and chemicals-the only downside is the methanol used is kinda unfriendly(flammable,and vapors can cause nerve damage)..old grease is separated into diesel and soap..
My scooter used to get laughs..not so much any more. More like"how much did it cost?" and "what kind of mileage does it get?" (900 dollars,three years go, 120+MPG @ 25MPH- A Yamaha Razz 50)
Maybe the weather patterns really haven't changed..it's just the difference between human time scales and planet time scales..may just be a fluke.
I wonder how Rita will affect New Orleans and Mississippi? Even if it just brushes them, I would guess even a few day's rain would be disasterous for New Orleans..

Re: Hurricanes and Biodiesel

[annathepiper]

Scooters are good, yeah. solarbird used to have one. Me, I like bussing to work, and I hope to get more biking to work into my future. (Assuming that I keep up with the contracting.)

As for weather patterns--well, depending on who you ask, it's either "part of the natural cycle of hurricane intensity" or "global warming". I doubt it's just a fluke, not after the badassed hurricane season we had last year.

And New Orleans is already getting flooded again, says cnn.com.