Foo - It's That Wonderful Time of The Year...again

With great anxiety we have started the hurricane season. We have our first named storm of the year…Alberto. It doesn’t look like it will be too bad, mostly rain.

Is anybody else on the Gulf or East coast doing anything special to get ready for the season?

I’ve installed new stronger windows, doors and garage doors. I also invested in window coverings that are suppose to keep out the flying debris.

I’ve got the usual stockpile of flashlights, food and water.

P.S. Many people in this area are already suffering from Hurricane stress. The mere mention of the storm season produces an angry reaction.

I got a new roof. . .oh and I still have MRE's left over from last year. I'll use them this year. I have no stockpiles of nothing. Just MRE's. But I made a plan this year. If we dont evacuate, if a storm comes, I am going to take my 3 speed for supplies. The traffic, and parking, is just too bad to take the truck.

This sucks cause I'm headed to Florida on Thursday for vacation.
Hopefully its out of there by then. Going to be flying into Fort Myers.

Standard stuff.

Generator, with five 5-gal gas cans (will fillup when bad storm approaches), about five days worth. Plus extra oil, spark plug and air filter.
Window A/C unit for above (set up in garage for "storage", would move to bedroom in event of no power)
Small fridge for above (stocked with beer for now, but would put as much of main fridge contents as possible)
25 gal drinking water
40 gal utililty water (sponge baths, sanitary)
Canned food (no MREs, can't stand them, and they cost too much, up to $8 a pop), enough for two weeks.(includes powdered milk, large jar of peanut butter, crackers, tuna, chef boyrdee, Dinty Moore, hash, jerky, fiber tablets, etc)
Toilet paper (always have a months supply minimum)
batteries, rechargable
gas grill with 2 tanks
plywood storm shutters
couple of plastic tarps
two decks of playing cards
dart board
Oil lamps and oil (parafin based, no odor)
Bug Repellent
FRS radios (everyone in neighborhood)
and
12-gauge pump shotgun, .22 bolt rifle and .22 auto pistol.


I got busy in the kitchen, and just saw where I'm now under a Hurricane Watch! Seems that Alberto has spun up to 70mph.

buying a new supply of canned stuff and water

Standard stuff.

Generator, with five 5-gal gas cans (will fillup when bad storm approaches), about five days worth. Plus extra oil, spark plug and air filter.
Window A/C unit for above (set up in garage for "storage", would move to bedroom in event of no power)
Small fridge for above (stocked with beer for now, but would put as much of main fridge contents as possible)
25 gal drinking water
40 gal utililty water (sponge baths, sanitary)
Canned food (no MREs, can't stand them, and they cost too much, up to $8 a pop), enough for two weeks.(includes powdered milk, large jar of peanut butter, crackers, tuna, chef boyrdee, Dinty Moore, hash, jerky, fiber tablets, etc)
Toilet paper (always have a months supply minimum)
batteries, rechargable
gas grill with 2 tanks
plywood storm shutters
couple of plastic tarps
two decks of playing cards
dart board
Oil lamps and oil (parafin based, no odor)
Bug Repellent
FRS radios (everyone in neighborhood)
and
12-gauge pump shotgun, .22 bolt rifle and .22 auto pistol.


I got busy in the kitchen, and just saw where I'm now under a Hurricane Watch! Seems that Alberto has spun up to 70mph.

Dang, it sounds like you got it all. You just need a can of black spray paint so you mark your house with the insurance number and "You Loot We Shoot".:)

Hope you guys and gals weather hurricane season without too many problems this year.

In the meantime, I'll sit here in So Cal and wait for "The Big One."

Oh, and a HUGE tip....LED bike headlights, like the 3-LED cateyes are quite handiny in household applications....and very good on batteries.

I have one I keep on the shower curtain rod in the bathroom, so I can at least see in there if the power goes out, and then I have another one I carry around.

Add in the crank-operated light/radio I have, and there is plenty of LED goodness to go around.

Now all I need is an oar to go with my air mattress for the day the big one hits and I have to play mariner to find dry land.

they cost too much, up to $8 a pop Thats why when the military is called out, your lucky. I have about 5-7 boxes left, and I ate 3-4 boxes after Katrina. We got all the MRE's for free. My dad had the truck filled, to give to the neighbors. What they didnt eat, and didnt want anymore, we kept for this year. Smart eh? And after a while, MREs taste real good. For me, it was either MREs or canned food.

Yeah, MREs are great stuff....bad part is finding good MREs at this time...most of them are going to Iraq.

And those retail MRE-wannabes suck.

For now, spam, pork and beans, dried sourdough pieces, canned spinnach, and water will serve me just fine.

Thats why when the military is called out, your lucky. I have about 5-7 boxes left, and I ate 3-4 boxes after Katrina. We got all the MRE's for free. My dad had the truck filled, to give to the neighbors. What they didnt eat, and didnt want anymore, we kept for this year. Smart eh? And after a while, MREs taste real good. For me, it was either MREs or canned food.


I have eaten entirely too many of those things. Meals, Ready to Eat. Three lies for the price of one.

But you are right. When you are -hungry-, even bugs taste great.

Bon Appetite.

Looks like catatonic is in the strike zone right now. We are under a Tropical Storm Warning, a Hurricane Warning, Flood Watch and Tornado Watch. There is a feeder band getting ready to come ashore in Pinellas county where catatonic is. Looks like 60 to 70 mph gusts. I'm across the bay in Hillsborough, probably 40 miles east.

Backstroke, dude!

MRE's aren't too bad. It's just some entrees are better than others.

Don't worry...I've been through enough of mother nature's hissy fits to handle this mess.

Worst case, I inflate the air matress, put an eye patch over my eye, pirate flag on a stick, and go out to sea with a resounding "YARR!!! AVAST YE SCURVY DOGS!!!!"

Don't worry...


But I do. Thats what I do! I'm the Road Worrier....Drives my wife crazy......"will you just drink some scotch and relax...."

So now I'm drinking.......

I mostly watch The Weather Channel and say "I'm glad I don't live there". Probably like you do to where I live during the winter. :D

Ah wasn't too bad last night....lots of wind and rain, and this morning found small pieces of debris all over during my commute.

It was amusing to see this giant bird (fully black, about goose sized) pose like the karate kid by the pond on the way to work :D

This sucks cause I'm headed to Florida on Thursday for vacation.
Hopefully its out of there by then. Going to be flying into Fort Myers.

Looks like your timing will be good. The storm is about to make landfall north of here. I went to work today, in Tampa, under partially blue skies. The wind has died down quite a bit. Have fun.

Good luck to those weathering the storm.

Worst case, I inflate the air matress, put an eye patch over my eye, pirate flag on a stick, and go out to sea with a resounding "YARR!!! AVAST YE SCURVY DOGS!!!!"
:roflmao: That was my plan for katrina!! Except instead of a matress, a very small flatboat. But I didnt get to use it, because when it hit cat.5 ,we left. :eek:

Looks like your timing will be good. The storm is about to make landfall north of here. I went to work today, in Tampa, under partially blue skies. The wind has died down quite a bit. Have fun.

Thanks, the storm is way North too so I'm happy about that. Can't wait to get to the beach and doing NOTHING. :)
Stay way storms!!! :D

I am in Tallahassee. We are in the middle of a residing job on my house and half of my house is covered in tarpaper. What great timing!

:roflmao: That was my plan for katrina!! Except instead of a matress, a very small flatboat. But I didnt get to use it, because when it hit cat.5 ,we left. :eek:


My take on life, is so long as you can genuinely find something funny about a situation, or make light of it...you won.

That said, I crack jokes in the most f-ed up situations....sometimes it's not a very good idea either....like my infamous "Would you like to Biggie Size your robbery for an extra 49 cents?" that I blurted out the third or fourth time I got robbed while working cashier at Wendy's....I'm amazed I didn't get pistol whipped....the guy just shook his head and muttered something about kids these days being f---ed in the head, and walked out.

There are times when people who say that are wrong.. this wasn't one of them :p

Hey, i couldn't help it....they hammered in the whole "sell Biggie packages" into my head so hard, that it became the first thing out of my mouth.

Thanks, the storm is way North too so I'm happy about that. Can't wait to get to the beach and doing NOTHING. :)
Stay way storms!!! :D

Two years ago I was on vacation at Ft. Myers Beach. One week after our vacation hurricane Charley came through. Talk about timing.
My Father in Law lives in North Ft. Myers. Tell him I said "Hey".