[TAG] I'm back... mostly. :)

[Ben Okopnik]

Hey, folks -

I'm back on the net, back in the world, back with my laptop. Things look
good... whups, maybe it's too early to say that yet.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ftp/graphics/AT09/refresh/AL0904W5+GIF/

Hurricane Ivan is on the way (I've always _said_ them damn Russians are
trouble...) Currently supposed to miss us, and although I respect the
folks at NOAA/NWS, I'll reserve judgement until it happens; they are
very clear on these being nothing more than rough guesses (their Frances
position errors were 250-325 miles during the last four days), and I've
had *lots* of experience with their hurricane data.

This is THE year for weird hurricanes. Gainesville, where I've waited
out Hurricane Frances, is still recovering: at least a couple of people
dead, lots of trees (and consequently power and phone lines) down, a
hell of a mess everywhere; I haven't even been back to St. Augustine - I
took my boat down the Matanzas River, where there was nothing but mud
and grass around me and anchored her with my three largest anchors just
a short way from the west shore (the strongest winds were from the east;
if she went aground, I didn't want her to go far.) Soft mud plus a steel
boat - shouldn't be too much trouble, but - again - I'm reserving
judgement until I get there. Note that both of these places are known
for _not_ getting hit: St. Augustine, in particular, has had a total of
four hurricanes pass over it since 1906.

This morning, the wind was still gusting up to gale force, and if there
_were_ cats and dogs falling from the sky, they were invisible in the
deluge of water that came down with them - it looked something like a
series of 55-gallon drums of water being emptied overhead, one per
second or so.  I'm sitting at a Starbuck's coffeehouse in Gainesville;
my girlfriend is at work (surprisingly so - a lot of businesses still
don't have power.  Her workplace does, so off she goes.) It's my first
chance to charge my phone and laptop in the last several days; since
Kayos has fixed the email problem, I now also have my mail. I feel like
I've been doing the Indiana Jones thing (a series of leaps onto ledges
just as the previous one crumbles under my feet), but I find that I'm
surprised at how calmly I'm taking all of it. Perhaps I'm getting a bit
wiser as time goes on... or just learning, *again*, not to fight the
weather.

I'll be heading to St. Augustine either later today or early tomorrow,
to find out what's happening with "Ulysses". Wish me luck, folks.


* Ben Okopnik * okopnik.freeshell.org * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette *
-*- See the Linux Gazette in its new home: <http://linuxgazette.net> -*-