Raincharm’s Weblog

Even though we do not get to go to the polls, I find myself energized this morning.
There are races I feel deeply about, and others, not so much. I even found myself thinking, if this one wins – I could take a loss in that one.
In our state, I think the one I care most about is approving gay marriage. 

We had a door hanger placed on our house between 6:20 and 6:45 AM.
It shows how committed many folks are to their cause, and trying to make sure very body votes.

I am very proud of the folks I know that have been out canvassing these last several weeks. In particular, kudos to my sister Anne – who always sets a good example. And to our friend Ann in Colorado, who has been going out daily in that swing state, and will continue through today.
(Maybe it is something in the name.)

 In many areas, on certain topics, every vote really does count.
In 2004 our Governor’s race was decided by 133 votes.

The Governor’s seat is again up for election, with the incumbent retiring, and too close to call. We are assuming a recount will be required once again.

 If you have not – please get out and vote.

 Partly because we do not expect all of the important races to be decided tonight, we are going for a dvd marathon.

Season 2 of Downton Abbey is our first choice, assuming it is available at the video store. (Mind you, this will probably slop over into the weekend, but we plan to get through at least a few episodes.)

And say goodbye to all of those ads!

This was an e-mail from NYC received Sunday 11/4/2012 in the AM – from Ashlan.
In her own words. (For those challenged by textese, b/c = because)

I’m home with power now but still no heat/hot water/internet so my phone remains my only form of communication. The trains started running to union square yesterday as well so getting home from uptown is much more pleasant. No more insanely crowded buses with a huge backpack woohoo!
I managed to work 35 hours this week (thanks in large part to an 11 hour shift I worked yesterday 😛
so not too shabby.

For the forseeable future I will be working at 24th and park.
I’ve never been there before but I have worked with Brian the GM and he’s a pretty cool guy so I’m happy. There was talk of me going to 30 Rock so I’m very thankful that didn’t end up happening.
I’m going to brunch with some friends this morning b/c frisbee was cancelled b/c the park is still not open. Can’t wait for life to be fully normal again but for now I’m gonna enjoy the eggs benedict. 🙂

And a few of her pictures from the Stone and Broad store to boot.

The Stone & Broad web-page on 11-4-2012

Looking at the pictures it appears that the water did not get to the upper part of the wall.
But perhaps that is partly due to the wall/floor separation that allowed an alternate to rising higher.
Water is a powerful beast.

A window blown in.

The wall disconnected from the floor, allowing water to drain down to the business below.

The dining room.

The heavy line equipment, flipped.

In the end – her life is moving forward, with many inconveniences, but not bad compared to what many others have gone through. If you have not already, and have the resources, consider a donation to the Red Cross.

That is how Ashlan has described her situation for the last week.

I don’t have her pictures yet, so you will have to use your imagination. For the last two days (Wednesday and Thursday) she worked at the Potbelly 44th St. Store.

It is helpful to understand the 34th St demarcation in NYC the past week. North of 34 th there is power,
and subway service (at least the last few days). South, not so much. In fact, not at all.

Ashlan lives at 14th, adjacent to the exploding transformers that were a frequent news clip a few days ago.  Her store is in the financial district, north of Battery Park.  Her apartment complex was at least partially surrounded by flood waters. Her store was flooded.

Ashlan’s first impression of the store on Wednesday, from the sidewalk, was 100% trashed. Yesterday she got an up close and personal view and verified her initial assessment.

She and her GM spent six hours cleaning out the walk-in cooler and freezer. Just to get in they had to take off a board from the doorway. Then to get to the back of the store they had to climb over furniture and whatever else had ended up in their way.

The flooding had been bad enough that the cooler had moved. The walls were bowed. A hole to the business beneath the store had opened and allowed their flooding to drain down.

Their task included inventory of the spoiled food, and then bagging it for  disposal with a folklore of bleach. (The bleach is intended to discourage dumpster divers.) All of this work required several trips back and forth over the store debris.

Oh, and no water service or power. They were able to use a nearby porta-potty for a construction project. Hazard pay?

When I spoke with her she was on her way to or from her apartment. She had at least one more night at a friend’s apartment, a different friend this time. On a bus line, north of the 34th line of power.

Prognosis – power back sometime this weekend. Sleeping in her bed by Monday. Work? A bit less clear. Hopefully she will get enough hours somewhere. They are estimating 4-6 weeks to get her store back into service.

As for us? Same as usual. Sounders are in the playoffs.

Yesterday we spent a few hours in the rain watching a 0-0 first leg of a two-leg game against Real Salt Lake. Their goalie had an outstanding game. Hopefully the Sounders will prevail in SLC.

I am trying out a new WordPress app to post from my phone. Work bound in the shotgun position.

No report from NYC yesterday, so no new news.

Beautiful sunrise this morning. That means two things. 1. It is not raining, and not even cloudy. 2. We are bordering on being late for work.

Tomorrow is Halloween. There may be a few neighborhood kids that probably planning to stop by.
There are about a half-dozen kids on the block, and we are known as a kid-friendly house.

We are in that every year decision – to get ready for them, or to ignore the night.
And it is predicted to rain as well, decreasing the possibility of more than a few kids arriving on our doorstep.

But we do have a couple of good size spiders that are waiting on the porch to welcome the little ones.

Our first. He/She lives under the light.

The other one. He/She lives off to the side. Obviously not as dominant as the shelter from the wind and rain is not as substantial.

Here is one we encountered along a walk the other day.

And at work we have a really big one, judging by the web.

(This is the IT guy’s (Wizard – see the hat) cubicle, decorated by a customer service friend. )

And tomorrow we may get some more information on the horror story from NYC.
Late breaking news is that Ashlan will be accompanying her GM to their store to assess the damage.
And then go help out at another store that is further from the flooding.
I have requested pictures.

I wrote this post yesterday. Published it. Updated it. Really.
But when I went to look for it today – it was not there!?!?!?

The idea was to update the storm impacts to dear Ashlan. This is information from yesterday, with a brief update from this morning.

She is still in Queens, at a friend’s house.
She had self-evacuated there shortly before the subway system shut down.
Kitten, movies, and power. She has it all.

Ashlan’s Cuddle Buddy

Her opinion is that the move was a good move.
A few pictures from her apartment’s area.

At one corner of the apartment complex.

20th St and Avenue C

A Google-Map view from a sunny day.

A drier version of 20th and Avenue C

Where we walked about a month ago.

Battery Park Walkway in September

Yesterday – we would have needed some rubber boots.

Battery Park Walkway

No work today – her place of business is near Battery Park. Probably out of power, and possibly flooded.

Speaking of power. Here is the video of the power sub-station putting on a light show next to her apartment complex. You may well have seen this on the news.

And while she is in Queens, she is in A, not Breezy Point where 80 homes burned. (This was the news we woke up to this morning, not knowing where she was in Queens.)

Today’s challenges have extended to Michigan as well.
We have rain, and lots of it – but then we are in Seattle.

I think yesterday’s version was better written, and maybe had more information – but ……. oh well.
I blame the computer!

Yesterday was wet. Today not so much.
So dry so far that we might walk to our home for the World Series.
That is, here in rainy Seattle.

We spoke with Rey earlier, and apparently winter has arrived in eastern Tennessee.
They had 80s not too long ago, but are expecting snow now.

On the east coast Sandy is dominating the news.
Ashlan is without an umbrella and the subways will be shutting down in less than an hour.
She is in Zone B, so evacuation has not been ordered.
She is also on the 8th floor, so if the windows are closed they will probably stay dry.

Stuyvesant Town – Hurricane Zones

There was no mention of rain during the Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions game earlier today, so we are assuming Game 4 of the World Series will go on as scheduled.

We have managed to watch all games so far with our little baseball family here in Seattle.
All at Chez Handley.
Chez Handley features TiVo, which allows late arrivals, breaks to refill plates with food, and replays of our own design.

The food:
Game 1 featured Sausage, mashed cauliflower, salad, and a few other sides. With local ice cream (Marionberry and Chocolate Pudding) for desert.
Game 2 was a vegetable spread and fruit  salad, accompanied by some “popped” chips.
Game 3 included roast chicken, tabouli (couscous really) salad with feta, greek olives, tomatoes and onions. We finished the ice cream as well.
Game 4 is scheduled to be chili with cornbread.

The games themselves? Heavily weighted toward Giant fans.
I am the sole true Tiger fan at these events.
Carl has wavered a bit, and doesn’t cheer as loudly as the others.
Yesterday there were claims of others supporting the Tigers, but really they are just hoping to extend the Series into next week.

GO TIGERS!

OMG
I have moved myself to Turkey Day, already.

I was having a bit of chocolate, just to help the coffee go down, and I started thinking about sweets and my holiday relationships with sweets.

I decided to be able to control myself from too much partaking of the holiday excess that can arrive at our office in November and December, I should start stopping now.

Then I self-congratulated our house on getting through Halloween without candy and/or its leftovers.

After a moment I realized that Halloween is still a few days away.

Game 1 came and went last night.
It was definitely the Giant’s night.
They were hot coming out of the NLCS, and were still hot.
I am hoping they cool down just a bit, and let the Tigers have some fun too.

We have been graciously invited to watch at least the first two games of the World Series at fellow fan Mark’s house. This is good because 1) he has TiVO, which means that those of us that take an hour to get home sometimes don’t miss the game, and 2) he makes a great dinner.

Last night we had sausage with grilled onions and pepper, mashed cauliflower, salad and pickles. Mmmmm.

Tonight Carl is bringing a fruit salad, veggies with humus, some crackers and will be ordering a pizza.
(Note: Pizza isn’t exactly a low-carb alternative, or low-salt, but should be OK in moderation.)

Tomorrow? Don’t even know exactly where the viewing party will be, so the food is an unknown.

GO TIGERS!

(I think I am the only one truly rooting for the Tigers in our bunch. There was much panda praising going on last night. However, I will admit that Carl has tried to balance the shrine with both Giant’s and Tiger’s paraphernalia.)