Just a big ol' wind bag

Ike is just a big ol' wind bag... at least for us here in Mid-Ohio... Quite windy. I have to make this quick... because we might loose power... & if we do... I doubt I'll have internet connection.

Anyway... I have another link for you... this is to Weather Underground... this shows current wind speed... well, at least it was... I don't know if one of the Personal Weather Stations (PWS) went off line or what... because it's been a couple hours since it's updated. I was watching it a little bit & I saw one gust register at 31.1 mph... (ok... now I see there was a gust of 47mph... That's Tropical storm force!!!)

Uh... it's starting to get really bad here now... I going to go find my shoes... & be ready to head to the basement. If we hear anything. Ok.. whew... just one big gust for the moment. Scary... I should close the drapes! LOL

I know it's NO WHERE near what my friend Amy went through the other night!! Still... I don't like wind like this!!

Well... I was going to post a video... but it will have to wait.

Storm Pulse that I had been using hasn't updated since earlier today. But you can see that Ike is going to be around for a while!

HERE'S THE VIDEO from earlier... before the really big gusts hit!

The almost PERFECT storm

Even though Hurricane Ike may only be a Cat 2 (at the moment! Winds are only 5 mph away from being a Cat 3!!!)... but it's wind field is much wider than Katrina! Being over 200 miles South East of Galveston, Tx... they are already receiving 17ft waves at the coast.
(Picture is from last night, when it was over 400 miles away.)

In watching TWC's Jim Cantore's live report from the area... I saw anger! "They don't know what they are dealing with!"... Because there are people NOT heeding their warnings. (If you click the link & it doesn't go directly to that report... then scroll down the list on the right.. & Look for the title being his underline quote above.)

Not only are the residents of Galveston not evacuating... but many are going to the coast & driving down the boardwalk road. It is being hammered with waves & starting to bring debris up & across the road! Some are actually out standing at the wall & getting hit with the waves & getting knocked over. Cantore's frustration could be felt just by watching & listening to his description of what is happening & what will happen!

Galveston is ALREADY experiencing flooding!! And to think, only about 1/2 the people evacuated! Are you NUTS?? This is a KILLER STORM!! I heard on the radio the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is calling this as bad, if not worse than Katrina!

Storm surge is expected to be about 20 feet & that does NOT include the waves!! ... The waves are expected to be at least 30 feet!!

Please if you're in the area... GET OUT... & GET OUT NOW!!! It's NOT too late... No more time to wait!
Also, as Ike reaches land, it's expected that even all the way up in Dallas will be experiencing tropical storm force winds. (That's about 75 mph!!)

More updates later... Stay safe!!

P.S. The 1st 2 pictures are from last night. The other is today. Looking at the top picture is why the title about this being almost the Perfect Storm... I mean look at it... it's the shape of a true hurricane symbol. It's just missing a well defined eye at the time.

I'll be posting all my screen shots in my photo albums here shortly... so, scroll up & click on "Photos" to see my albums. 

This is the most recent satellite image...

IKE .... & tomorrow is September 11... a day not to forget!!

I believe I am going to go "silent" tomorrow. Except for answering a few messages... I think I will take the time tomorrow to reflect.

If I post anything tomorrow... it will be tribute blogs like I did last year. Just as a reminder.

I'll try to find the ones from last year & link them in this blog... but later on.
Have a GREAT Wednesday... & DON'T FORGET tomorrow!!!!!

P.S. Also... HURRICANE IKE is getting stronger... and it's heading more north than they thought yesterday!! Please... Please... if you're on the coast... keep any eye on this storm!! Here's that one link again that I found the other day... from StormPulse... It's a great one... especially for tracking!

Another great link for tracking hurricanes...

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

This was part of a link that my dear friend Amy Sunshine sent me... It's no secret... she lives in Tx... & so, she's keep an eye on Ike just like the rest of the gulf.

Anyway, StormPulse is one of them "techy" sites that I love so much! There is so much you can learn about the hurricane from it.

I encourage you to bookmark it if you live on any coast!! If you don't live on the coast... I still encourage bookmarking!! It's THAT great of a site... & I've only just begun to scratch the surface of it! (Meaning, still checking out what all it does!)

When you do visit this site... slide your mouse pointer over one of the cities & hold it... you'll get a line from the hurricane / storm to that city... Then just above the information about the hurricane it will pop up the distance!!! SO COOL!!

Right now, Ike is 1024 miles from Corpus Christi, Tx!! & Heading that way!!

Enjoy!! :o)

"He smells like a wet dog..." 8-20-07 part 3

That's because he is one!!

This is a picture of Coleman from this morning after he finally decided to "go potty"!! The kicker is, had I just gotten up away from the computer 3 minutes earlier we would have avoided the down pour & lighting!!

I guess I'm in a "weather theme" today!!

SPEAKING OF lighting... I practically had the life scared out me just a little bit ago! I was heading to the library to drop off books that were due today when it started to pour again. That's the hardest it's poured, I've seen in a long time!!

I was driving through the 5 way light downtown when a crack of lighting happened a few blocks away... it was so darn close that I'd swear the clap of thunder happened before I saw the lighting!

The library was about 4 blocks away from there. So, I thought, ok, I'll just drop these books in the box outside that I can pull up to. NOT!!!

Just as I turn down the street it's on, it started to hail! I thought, ok, I'm pulling in the library garage & I'll wait it out. So, I did. While I was waiting, I decided to run my books inside. I walked in so fast & back out, I bet they didn't see me on the security cameras (if there are any.)

Well, as mentioned, hubby is home & needs the computer before he runs to his buddy's house. So, I will try to blog yet again in a bit! (If I don't fall asleep... I've been up since 3:30 this morning. Had to use restroom & then storm woke up Coleman & I had to keep him quiet. I decided to stay up, instead of fight trying to go back to sleep.)

(Sorry if there are any mistakes... I'll have to proof this later!!)

P.S. Check out this link at Weather.com for an updated radar of Hurricane Dean!!! He's moving FAST!!! To see it in action, click on "Show Map in Motion", just under the picture. Also, you can scroll the list & look at other maps of Dean!

Poor Coleman.... exhausted me... 7-27-07

Today was an early day for me. Early only because I didn't go to sleep until after 2:00 a.m. last night... & was awoken at 7:20 a.m. by my precious, scared Border Collie, Coleman.

He hates thunder storms & always barks at them. My hubby says he's trying to scare it away. So he wouldn't go potty in the house, (due to being so scared), I had to get up & take him out in the POURING RAIN... I mean it was really POURING!!

Then our other dog, Sunny, would not get out from under the garage over hang. I had to wait for it to stop raining so hard & take her out. (About 30+ minutes later.) Even then I had to pick her up & put her in the grass so she would go. (She's been getting really picky about getting into the yard lately. Wonder if she stepped on a bee or something?)

That is just ONE reason I am so exhausted. Another reason in medical. Yes, I finally have found out why I am EXTREMELY tired all the time... even after 8 full hours of sleep...

It's because my thyroid is VERY VERY VERY under active!

The blood test showed my TSH level at 67.16 & it should be between .35 to 5.50. (These figures are according to the paper work from the lab. However Wikepedia says .30 to 3.0) (The doctor wants mine to be at 1.0!!!) Basically it means my thyroid is barely working.

The doctor, (well she's actually a Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP)... who has ability to write prescriptions... & She works with an endocrinologist.), said she doesn't know how I'm even functioning. I told her, I barely am!! She should see me here at home! I have to "push" myself to do even the simplest chores, such as doing dishes.

This is why the past couple weeks my blogs have been a little bleek. But as you can see, I have been trying to blog almost daily, when possible. (Other times is because I've not been here… This is why I need a laptop!!)

Another reason is because of lack of sleep. See... my insurance through the "phone company" (the job I don't remember) finally expired last month. Thankfully my hubby had put me on his plan in January. However, his insurance company does not take into consideration I was on Ambien CR with my insurance.

So, when I ran out, I had been taking generic over the counter (OTC) sleeping pills. They just put me to sleep, but don't keep me a sleep... AND stays in my system for about 1/2 of the day... making me feel like I'm in a fog.

Well, hubby's insurance says they want me to go through a "step therapy" before they will ok the co-payment of Ambien CR.

After many calls & finally a follow up visit with the CNP she gave me a prescription for Temazepam, generic for Restoril. I have been taking it for the last 3 nights.

It is SORT of working... HOWEVER... it's like the OTC meds... It will put me to sleep (after about 2 or more hours) & is staying in my system for MOST of the day, after I wake up! It's about 6:00 p.m. before I start to feel "awake" & then it only last a couple hours.

With Ambien CR I could go to sleep in about an hour, stay asleep for a good 7 to 8 hours & wake up refreshed! Out of all the sedatives the doctors have prescribed for me... it's the ONLY ONE that has NOT made me feel like I'm dragging for most of the day!

So, just to be sure about this Temazepam, I am going to give it a couple more days.

I do have to give Temazepam a little credit, the past 2 mornings I have not heard my husband get up, get ready & leave for work. Which usually I'll wake up enough just to hear him moving around... but then I fall back a sleep.

So… the past few weeks of being sick, lack of sleep, pure exhaustion, many calls to the doctor & insurance company have made things quite interesting for me.

Oh & yeah… to top things off. Our virus scan system keeps finding a virus / Trojan… for the past couple days.
I thought before it ran today, I'd get this blog in… then I'll let it do it's thing while I go back to sleep! LOL!! (P.S. I did NOT go back to sleep! Hopefully I'll get to sleep early tonight!!)

One other thing I have been doing… is "applying" for Blogging jobs. I found a few I really think I'd excel at. Namely one for a "casual online game" community.

In their "application" they asked for a review of the game Zuma. Which just happens to be a game I love!

What's your opinion on my review… would you hire me to blog for you?

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE... Review of Zuma

One word for this game would be ADDICTIVE.

Be prepared for time to fly by as you get wrapped up in this intriguing, thrilling and action packed game.

The graphics & sounds add to the heart pounding game of skill & quick reflexes.

I could go on & on about this "match 3" game, but then you wouldn't have time to play!
You can play for free at All Free Games Online.

Score: 10 out of 10!

Here is another review they asked for (I had to choose a game on their site… & I went out of my usual "genre" of puzzles)…

Football Widow's Nightmare… Two Minute Madness Review

A wife's nightmare is this ultimate football fan's dream come true. Two Minute Madness is among the best football contest online.

It may take 1 full game (only TWO minutes!) to get used to how it works. However, you will not get bored with it.

If you're a wife who enjoys watching the football games, just watch your hubby play this captivating game. Then try it yourself! You will be amazed at the ease of this game.

The types of plays are all offense.

No download is necessary & can be found at: All Free Games Online.

Score is: 9 out of 10.

I'm excited about my chances to be able to have an outlet for my creative writing & desire to review online / casual games!!

I've only received confirmation that he is review my application. Nothing is definite yet. Don't worry, you'll know when I do!!

Now I'll leave you with a poll…

FYI: My definition: A casual game is one you can play online, with little or no download, or on your cell phone.... IE: Get It Now w/ Verizon.)

Official definition: The term casual game is used to refer to a category of electronic or computer games targeted at a mass audience. Casual games usually have a few simple rules and an engaging game design, making it easy for a new player to begin playing the game in just minutes. They require no long-term time commitment or special skills to play, and there are comparatively low production and distribution costs for the producer.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casual_game