Hmmm, there was a movie, I think, or at least a book by Alistair McLean, Force 10 from Navarone. Don't remember if that was the wind howling at a mountain redout, or some guys after a villain or villains.
<I was chicken to go to that Scrabble thread. Maybe one of these days>
(Not meaning to get too far off topic but, ozzo, the scrabble thingee has been an absolutely amazing experience. You get matched with folks of a similar skill-rating. Johnboy is okay at the game, as are his opponents, but none of us at our level care too much about who wins or who loses. A lot of it is about the chatting that you can do while playing. I have met an incredibly diverse bunch of people from, as mentioned, 38 countries. And, god, do many of them have stories to tell. Some folks are sad or old or sick and the scrabble game is their link, an anonymous link to another place. Some are tired, like the lounge singer from Birmingham (UK) who played me every night for a couple of weeks after she got home from the dreary club where she sang, but nobody seemed to be listening. The Elvis impersonator who had a quip a minute. The guy from Syria who called his cousin in Lebanon to ask him to challenge me so I could add that country to my list. The lady from Brooklyn who tells me, in great detail, about her beloved Dodgers baseball team. She talks to me, not a baseball fan, because no one else will listen to her. I started following the Dodgers just so I could say "so your guys won last night."
Johnboy is a good listener, a good listener, and johnboy also does a bit of writing. I have filled many pages of my sketchbook with images from this little diversion known as scrabble)
Nice to hear, very heartening.
Why US must invade Cuba
Since Katrina originated in the Bahamas , it only makes sense that we invade Cuba. Why? Because if the terrorists ever got their hands on a hurricane...
Just give the Bahamians what they want...and be done with it.
panzade wrote:Just give the Bahamians what they want...and be done with it.
What they need is a spankin.
So the next one is Philippe. I am tempted to say that that is a stupid male name for a hurricane but I probably shouldn't. Moving NNW @ 7 mph. Should be no problem unless it turns west.
Is Ophelia still heading to Ireland?
BTW, I tried that Scrabble thing (I'm excellent in person, we played all the time when I was growing up) and felt soooo stupid the few times I played. I kept getting ridiculously impossible letter combinations. When I sat there looking at my letters, the board, my letters, the board, I felt like the other player must have been getting impatient. Then I come up sith some dumb three letter word that no one can work from.
Oh, well, maybe I'll check it out again.
Don't know about scrabble, but I do know there is another tropical wave:
Visitors Told to Flee Parts of Fla. Keys By JOHN PAIN, Associated Press Writer
4 minutes ago
MIAMI - Tourists were told to evacuate the lower Florida Keys on Sunday as a new tropical depression strengthened over the Bahamas and moved toward the vulnerable, low-lying island chain.
A hurricane watch was posted for the entire Florida Keys.
"It does look like that there is the potential for it to become a hurricane, near or just before it reaches the Florida Keys," said Daniel Brown, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
The watch means that hurricane conditions with sustained wind of at least 74 mph are possible by late Monday, according to the Miami-based hurricane center.
Long-term forecasts show the system heading generally toward the west in the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas or Mexico later in the week, but such forecasts are subject to large errors. That means that areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina could potentially be in the storm's path.
Uh oh, re the new wave.
On scrabble, I have a fair range of words in my brain, but have a fairly low stock of three letter ones that are, I gather, often used in scrabble.
Stop. Wait for a second. We had Opheilia, and now Philippe. But this thing threatening the Keys (and then into the Gulf): A storm with no name? Where did that sucker come from?
If it strengthens it will be named Rita.
Now known as Tropical Depression 18, I guess. It seems to be heading due west, but once it gets over the warm waters of the gulf...
and, I think there's another hot spot out there as well.
Received this today from a cousin... She is a woman with a huge heart and a tender soul... here's her eyewitness report
Dear Family & Friends,
Yesterday & today the worst of the devastated area went in to retrieve what they could of their belongings.
All of the roads are closed & they all pass through our little town to get the homes affected. Our area is the main way in and out of New Orleans.
I have seen trailers (open type) filled with a family's worldly possessions that were able to be salvaged as they pass back through. You can tell who is passing through our town to go to their homes. They always are loaded down with ice chests, generators, lawn chairs, cleaning supplies & tool chests. Then they pass back through with trailers loaded down and very weary faces inside. It is heartbreaking to see. One of the areas with mostly homes is an area called "St. Bernard Parish." Down here we do not call them counties like they do elsewhere-we call them parishes. Anyhow, St. Bernard was totally devastated. Then to top it off an oil container that had thousands gallons of oil burst after the storm and flooded the homes with oil that were already flooded with water. They might have been able to salvage some of their belongings with just flood water, but with the oil they cannot. Too toxic the experts are saying. Our next door neighbor's parents lived in this area. They are now living with them. They are a retired military couple.
We try to help out others by waiting in line at the grocery store for those who cannot stand the heat of waiting in line to go in. I have been standing in line for elderly people and when we are getting ready to get in they come out of their cars and I go on to the next one who needs me. I have a walkie talky I use to call to the people. In fact, my batteries died and Walmart gave me some batteries. The stores around here all have HUGE lines. This is the way it is for us here in Luling. Very few complain around here because if the storm would have been 13 miles farther west then our homes would be gone.
One woman in the Walmart line was from the area most devastated. She was on her way back to her house to see what she could save. She had stopped to pick up items to take back with her to clean and also to get water & ice. She heard me mentioning that God had blessed our family & we had "liveable" damage to our home. She turned to me and asked me "Why did God let this happen to me?" I stood there and all I could do was to just hug her. She cried and cried. I do not think there was a dry eye around us.
People have been living this way for almost 3 weeks and they are very weary. I ask that each of you pray for this area. Many in the nation have helped and are helping. The outpouring has been wonderful.
Any part of our great country could be in this situation-maybe not from a hurricane, but some other catastrophe whether it be man made or natural.
Thanks for your phone calls & emails. And as I asked please pray for this area. Pray for the people helping the area to recover they are getting bit by snakes and hurt by the debris around here. Stepping on nails etc. And pray for the children who cannot find their parents. It is unbelievable how many kids are separated from their parents.
With love,
P
Ah, Joe. That is so tragic. I feel fortunate, buddy.
Thank you, joenation, for the story. What scares me to hell is this: We have another month or two of hurricane season. What if...
Rita is now tropical depression Rita with good chance of being Hurricane Rita when it hits the keys. they are evacuating the keys, but looks like long term it will hit southern gulf coast of texas. (i mean stinks for texas but thank god it isn't supposed to turn and hit NO again-i don't know what they would do).
Hey, Virginia gal. We never know what the big winds will blow our way. My god child lives in the keys and I need to call her. She was a former Virginia Beach girl as well.
