Greetings All,
It seems like it was a months ago but Hurricane Irene blasted up the East coast just last week. I guess that is months ago by news standards.
I am happy to say Sneads Ferry, the house, and Jodi all faired very well.
Jodi worked hard to get the place ready for what was sure to be a powerful storm. Anything that could be picked up by a 100 mph wind and propelled through the windows was secured. Filled up the gas tank, found the batteries, and inventoried food supplies. Check, check, and check.
The storm was predicted to make landfall Sat morning somewhere between an hour south of us and an hour north. As predicted, the storm hit hard Saturday early morning. The idiots on various weather channels were gleeful at the prospects of a "monster category four" hurricane, which was never in the cards. I guess these dimwits have to grasp onto an chance of being in the spotlight when they can.
Chase had moved to higher grounds (or at least grounds to the south at his Dad's house) Friday afternoon. That's him in the picture above down by the dock/boat launch.
To my relief, Jodi's brother, Jarrod (a city fire fighter in Roanoke, VA) arrived late Fri night to offer his assistance. I know Jodi appreciated his presence even more then I. THANKS JARROD!
The weather associated with the upper left quadrant of the storm moved through and it calmed down for a bit. As the storm moved north, they also got hit with the lower left quadrant of the storm...round two.
By late Saturday night, Irene was an unwelcomed guest who moved on.
To my surprise, Jodi never lost power or internet. Not everyone in the community was as fortunate. Most lost power for several hours to several days and there were downed trees and power lines everywhere.
The house held up well with nothing more then some groaning and creaking under the stress of 90 mph winds.
As for us, there was no damage to the house but the yard was an absolute disaster. There was debris everywhere, the tops of two trees broke off, and one tree was blown over at the roots.
A special thanks goes out to Scott, our neighbor across the street, who spent the better part of a day chain-sawing those trees and removing it. I owe you A LOT of beer, buddy! Thanks again.
As for me, it was a pretty routine week. We have Monday off as a holiday, not that there is much to do with your time off. I have two weeks of the "Wall Street Journal" and "Investor's Business Daily" to read so I will use the time to get caught up. I will go into work for a bit on Mon as I have to brief the boss (Navy Rear Admiral) on an issue that came up with a couple of our guys in Tanzania that has resulted in some of the embassy personel getting their pants all in a knot. My estimate of the situation is that it is much ado about nothing.
On Tuesday evening, I will be attending a reception held by the French Marines which will commemorate one of the battles they took part in. Should be good fun and a chance to get off of the camp. I also get to wear my "charlies" which is the one with green trousers and a short sleeve, open neck shirt. I'll let you know how it goes.
Until then,
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