The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

Off Topic => Tid Bits => Topic started by: Elkhound on June 30, 2012, 11:07:15 PM

Title: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: Elkhound on June 30, 2012, 11:07:15 PM
Here in Charleston last night we had a thunderstorm with 75 mph winds; I was without power for about 24 hours. (Strangely, some of my neighbors never lost power, and I had power in my garage, but not my house [because of how the lot-lines run, technically my garage, although less than 100 feet from the house, is in 'another neighborhood'].)  Over 500,000 people in WV alone lost power, and I am told that in VA, KY, OH, and PA there are at least twice that many more; the governor says that it will be next Friday before all of WV is restored.

Please keep us in your thoughts & prayers.
Title: Re: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: DesertRose on July 01, 2012, 01:11:20 AM
Yeah, that was a no-joke string of storms there.  I have a friend in Ohio who opened her house (which still has power and never lost it) to her friends who needed a warm shower and a cool house.

Glad you're okay, Elkhound.  Here's hoping that KK and hers came through okay.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow in chat, if she makes it.
Title: Re: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: Elkhound on July 02, 2012, 08:53:41 PM
There's no bagged ice to be found in Charleston for love or money.  The paper said that not too far from here, two women were fighting over the last bag of ice at a convenience store when one pulled a gun on the other. (!)  Several of the gas stations are out of gas, too.  (When I ride my bike past places where the cars are lining up for fuel, I have a strong impulse to 'cock a snook' at them.)

When we were out of power, you wouldn't believe how much Zane shedded!  Fortunately, he likes to be brushed.  Well, if you had to wear a fur coat in that weather, you'd try to shed it too!
Title: Re: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: DesertRose on July 02, 2012, 09:19:53 PM
Poor hot Zane.

I can believe the ice thing.  Somebody who wanted to ship a few nice big rigs full of ice your way would do a land-office business, I'd bet.  When I was a teenager and Hurricane Hugo rolled through Charleston, SC (where I lived at the time), ice was a hot commodity.  My uncle, who had a gas-powered water heater, actually bribed my mom and stepdad with hot showers for bags of ice, 1 bag of ice per shower.  Until he made the offer, we were sponge bathing with water warmed over the camping stove, and I don't even want to discuss what my thirteen-year-old hair (in the full throes of adolescent oil) looked like.

One upside of that storm (Hugo) was it cured our cat, Catarina (yes, I know, it's a very punny name; cut me some slack, I was 12 when I named her), of being afraid of thunderstorms.  She was an adolescent cat during the storm, and when she was a kitten, she was terrified of thunderstorms, but after living through a Category 4 hurricane, a normal spring/summer thunderstorm was small potatoes to her.  She passed away a few years ago at the age of 20, but after that hurricane, she slept through even severe thunderstorms.
Title: Re: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: Elkhound on July 04, 2012, 11:34:23 AM
Quote from: DesertRose on July 02, 2012, 09:19:53 PMPoor hot Zane.

He's certainly enjoying the AC now!  He's even voluntairily cuddling.
Title: Re: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: Elkhound on July 08, 2012, 09:35:28 PM
After church today I decided I needed a nap, and Mr. Snuggle-up-with-us, AKA Zane the Insane, the Cat of Small Brain, oblidged by curling up next to my head and purring me to sleep.  Apparently I slept through another big thunderstorm.  I never lost power (per the microwave), but some people did.
Title: Re: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: DesertRose on July 08, 2012, 10:38:55 PM
I love your nicknames for Zane.  They're so funny.

I used to have a cat named Cyrano who liked to curl up by my head and purr us both to sleep.  Unfortunately, he also did that milk-tread thing ("making biscuits") as he did it, so I'd get up with this huge snarl in my hair from him kneading my head.
Title: Re: Mid Atlantic/Upper South Storms
Post by: Elkhound on July 09, 2012, 08:33:53 AM
Quote from: DesertRose on July 08, 2012, 10:38:55 PM
I used to have a cat named Cyrano who liked to curl up by my head and purr us both to sleep.  Unfortunately, he also did that milk-tread thing ("making biscuits") as he did it, so I'd get up with this huge snarl in my hair from him kneading my head.

Zane never does that, for some reason; his predicessor, PurrPuss, did.  He also liked to suck my beard and to ride around on my shoulder.