It's getting to be that time of year....

This weekend is a big weekend, as I'll be putting out the Christmas lights. Tuesday before we leave, I'll put the candles in the windows (because I'll FINALLY be done washing all of our windows, which I've done a few a day of since the beginning of November!). The traditional "Grand Illumination" day for me is November 27, but this year that is Thanksgiving and we'll be in Williamsburg, so I'll turn everything on Sunday, November 30. This year I'm still doing the candles, the foundation plantings and the archway in the back, but instead of doing all three front trees, I'm going to try to do a fountain effect on the middle tree right at the corner of the two streets we live on. This weekend I'm off to Lowes in Austell to stock up on any new extension cords and replacement lights I may need (since I have a gift card to use). Hopefully at the end it will all look like Monument Avenue in Richmond!

I think Hurricane Season is about done. We had Paloma a few weeks ago which caused havoc in the Cayman Islands and Cuba. The election is over and CNN is now just downright depressing (plus their hologram thing on election night was downright creepy).

It's off to Williamsburg next week, and then we're having a Lexington Christmas. Bowl season does not look promising for UVa, as we still need to win a game just to be eligible, and then most likely we'll be shipped off to Boise!

Football, Elections and Weather

In terms of football, the Texas Longhorns are #1 in the country yet again. They have a big matchup in Lubbock this weekend against Texas Tech, who I am still upset at for ripping my heart out on New Year's Day this year. Gameday will also be there.

UVa had a huge win this weekend, on the road in Atlanta, beating nerds from Georgia Tech by a touchdown. We are in the "also receiving votes" tally now, and could move up if we beat our homecoming opponent, Miami (who schedules these things??!). If you remember, last year we beat Miami 48-0 in the last game ever to be played in the Orange Bowl. Right now we're riding a 4 game win streak and in sole possession of 1st place in the Coastal Division of the ACC.

The election is also next Tuesday, and despite everyone's best efforts, it looks like we won't be putting two Mavericks in the White House, and instead voting in a Socalist. Tonight Barack had a sickening self-serving ad that ran for 30 minutes on the major networks plus some cable channels just before the World Series game 5 (which was postponed from Monday because of rain, snow, wind & cold) resumed in the 6th inning. Well, us Republicans can at least emulate the Democrats in critizing every move Obama makes. I thought about going to the polls early, however with so many people voting early, it appears that election day actually won't be that bad (let's hope!).

Finally, it's gotten really cold all of the sudden here in Atlanta (and the rest of the east). I don't know if we've officially had our first freeze, but temperatures have been in the 30's on multiple occasions, and with the winds, the days haven't been much better. The orange & blue pansies are in, and the grass is growing quite well, and will be cut for the first time on Saturday once I get my mower back (and I got my 10 week exemption which lasts through Christmas to water that grass!). Kentucky had some flurries, and some parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have actually gotten some decent snow!

Houston/Galveston still a mess but the tropics are quiet.

Ike finally dissipated on Sunday night near Orilla, Ontario, Canada, which is due north of Toronto and Buffalo. However, after hitting Galveston Island with 110 mph sustained winds and a huge storm surge more like a Category 4, it flew up through Oklahoma and Missouri, but not before leaving 15.75" of rain in Houston and blowing 75 mph gusts in Louisville (incidentally every house in Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb had damage to some degree).

Nothing on the tropical front for now, but 49 days until the election!

St. Charles & St. Bernard are starting evacuations

Scene in Baton Rouge:


St. Bernard and St. Charles are starting assisted evacuations, and may start (along with others) mandatory evacuations by tomorrow. Right now Gustav is leaving Jamaica, and could hit anywhere between Corpus Christi and Destin, Florida in the next five days. However, it is most likely to hit Houma around midnight Monday night. My flight on Delta is now in a situation where I can change it without penalty up until September 8. Lafourche has a mandatory evacuation by 3 PM tomorrow. The Saints will most likely be going to Indianapolis.

Hanna is also still out there, and is taking a weird hook south at the end of the 5 day track.

More updates to come...BTW though, if I had plans this weekend anywhere from the Louisiana/Texas border to Panama City, I would SERIOUSLY consider cancelling my plans. Good luck everyone.

11 AM UPDATE: Gustav is reorganizing after heading back over water, and now eastern Louisiana from Lafourche Parish all the way to the Mississippi/Louisiana border including New Orleans and all of Jefferson Parish is in the 3 day cone.

Also, John McCain's running mate will be Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Finally, if you're going to get gas, get it NOW, because gas is going to quickly rise with the threat of Gustav!

Here are the Contraflow maps for New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana. This will probably start tomorrow.

Gustav, possible Hanna and football season

Gustav update: The tracks for Gustav are a mess because unexpectedly, Gustav jogged south this morning and is now expected to go around the southern coast of Jamaica instead of the northern coast. New models are being run now, but basically the model tracks mean nothing. However "officially" the track has it possibly making or having made landfall somewhere between Corpus Christi and Panama City. Winds are at 70 mph and the pressure is 988, and Gustav should be a hurricane again possibly within the hour.

There are no decisions yet on evacuating New Orleans or other surrounding parishes, and the LSU game, for now is still going on schedule. Evacuations could still start as early as Saturday afternoon, and contraflow could start Sunday. This is mainly due to the fact that now it seems if the track still has Gustav headed towards NOLA or just west, it won't be until Tuesday morning, probably as a Category 3. My trip to New Orleans next week however is already cancelled.

TD-8 formed as well this morning, and it could be Hanna within the next hour. Right now the storm is pointed towards Palm Beach, however within 5 days from now (next Tuesday morning) it would still be only as close as eastern Bahamas.

Today is the start of football season, and I'm headed to the Georgia Tech v. Jacksonville State game, which should be exciting in that Ryan_Perrilloux, formerly of LSU, will be the starting QB for the JSU Gamecocks and GT is unveiling its brand new offense. Also, the Gameday tents are all set up in the middle of Centennial Olympic Park for the big Alabama v. Clemson game at the Georgia Dome on Saturday. I'm nervous for our (Virginia) game against Southern California in Charlottesville, but figure it's a win-win...either we lose big and it's as expected, or we win and our stock goes way up.

More updates through the day.

11 AM UPDATE: Gustav is still at 70 mph but could become a hurricane at any time. The track has settled out to hitting Houma/Lafourche Parish, Louisiana on Tuesday as a Category 3. Hannah has also been named, and is still headed towards Florida.

Fay is finally a thing of the past as the last advisory has been issued on her. She moved from North Jackson County, Alabama, through Niota, Tennessee, near Exit 56 of I-75, up past the Cumberland Gap at the VA/TN/KY border, and at 5 AM was located near Williamsport, Kentucky in Johnson County. Here is her path.

No update on evacuations yet, but those plans are all ready to go at any minute.

Also, John McCain will announce his VP selection today or tomorrow...I hope it's Romney.

Nothing new yet but the tropics is hot right now

Bertha is STILL chugging along as a strong tropical storm, and she's now the longest lived July storm ever. No signs of her weakening yet, but she should be well on her way out to see by the beginning of next week.

The potential "Cristobal" near South America and the Windward Islands is trying to reform again, and hurricane hunters have either just finished investigating or are still investigating. What I don't know is if they've found anything, or if they just haven't decided whether to make it TD-3 yet. There was a special statement on the NHC webpage earlier saying it could be forming, but they've taken that off, at least for now.

The next best chance for a system is by Nicarauga and Panama, but it's got to get its act together quickly or it will hit land.

Finally, there is a system just off the coast of Tampa, Florida, but it's very close to land, so chances are slim it will actually develop.

So, by tomorrow we could either have Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly & Edouard, or possibly just a weakening Bertha. We shall have to wait to find out.

Finally, I voted in the "gulp" Democratic Georgia primaries yesterday...only because our Georgia Assembly seat, #53, was a tight race and there is no republican challenger. Unfortunately, the race is SO close that they haven't yet tabulated the results, and depending on what news outlet you look at, my candidate, Elly Dobbs, is winning by a bit or her challenger is winning by a bit. We'll have to wait and see!

Hurricane Season Begins - Kind of

Tropical Storm Alma has formed...in the Eastern Pacific. This is not the start of Atlantic Hurricane season however, but there is a minute possibility that this could cross over into the Caribbean and become a Tropical Depression...again not likely though.

June 1st though is the official start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, meaning that the National Hurricane Center will start releasing twice-daily updates regarding potential development. I'll finally get to wear my new hurricane belt from Nola Couture "in season"...haha.

June 1st is also the date of the Puerto Rico Primary. Polls close at 3 PM AST/3 PM EDT. Clinton apparently is a little ahead in the polls, campaigning for equal representation for the island (hey, what do they need, they're already coming out with a "state" quarter.

Finally, the Weather Channel debuts in HD on June 2....PLEASE Comcast have that be the day you debut the channel on your HD lineup...I am we are only a couple miles away from the studios!!!

More Politics Crack for the addicts out there...

Tonight is the Mississippi Primary results...may not be a long night b/c McCain has things locked up, and the African-American population of that state is so high that Obama may have it fairly locked up already. In any event, I need my campaign fix, and my fix of Wolf Blitzer drawing out the results as long as he can. In any event, the polls close at 8 PM EDT. After this the next democratic (and republican) primaries aren't until Pennsylvania on April 22. The next Republican caucus (which no longer matters) is Puerto Rico on April 5. The race between Obama & Clinton is so interesting even though I am not even a democrat! Thank god for CNNHD.

Dangerous weather in Alabama, was in Arkansas & Tennessee last night

There is a tornado warning until 8 AM for Cleburne County, Alabama, 60 miles from here. There have also been some tornado warnings for extreme northern and northwestern Georgia, but those are gone now...not sure if this is the end of the bad weather or simply a lull. These are the same storms that hit Nashville, Tennessee last night and left at least 40 people dead, and disrupted the counting of the votes for the primaries. Although the storm was bad, CNN's graphics in HD look really cool I must admit.

So Huckabee won the South, but McCain still seems to be in control of the race. There is no frontrunner on the Dem side. Upcoming is Kansas, Washington & Louisiana on Saturday and DC, Maryland & Virginia next tuesday on the Republican side. For the Democrats, it's Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington & the Virgin Islands on Saturday, Maine on Sunday, and DC, Maryland & Virginia next Tuesday.

Updates on weather when they happen.

Finally, now that it's Ash Wednesday, I leave you with the end of Mardi Gras: 1) The meeting of the Courts; and 2) the closing of Bourbon Street at midnight on Mardi Gras night. Picture courtesy of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: here.

Happy Lundi Gras!

It's the 2nd to last day of the Mardi Gras season, and presumably most of the tourists have left or are leaving New Orleans, leaving the locals to have their fun. Temperatures there should be around 80 today and tomorrow there (and in the high 60's or early 70's here!).

This afternoon at 6 PM CST, Rex, his Majesty, King of Mardi Gras, will take over the city and the Mayor will hand the keys to the city over to him at Spanish Plaza when he comes in on boat.

The Super Bowl was pretty good last night, but the commercials I thought were awful. Nothing original or new...maybe they're out of ideas?? The "Rocky" Clydesdale horse was the best though. And who would have though the Giants could pull off the colossal upset?

Tomorrow is voting day here in Georgia. Go Romney (of course I'm totally okay with McCain).

Big weekend/next week coming up!

So from here to Mardi Gras day (February 5...that's a Tuesday obviously), there are basically parades every night in New Orleans and all along the Gulf Coast. My sister will be there Friday night through Monday night and I'm very jealous. I think we're going to have a "Mardi Gras" celebration with our neighbors though so that'll be fun.

Then on Sunday night is the Super Bowl, which I again don't care too much about (New England v. New York???), but will watch anyway b/c it's the last football game and the fact that it has good commercials and finally b/c it's an excuse to party. Of course those in New Orleans have to decide if they're going to watch that or go to Bacchus, which is about the same time. Apparently members of LSU's championship football team will be on some of the Bacchus floats, so that'll be cool.

Finally, Super Tuesday is on Fat Tuesday, so CNN-HD will have 40 straight hours of coverage (6AM EST to 10 PM EST on Wednesday). However it does not appear that Super Tuesday will clinch the nomination for either party even with sweeps, but it could make it very clear by that point. It still sounds like some of the later states, like Virginia on February 12, could still matter.

Lots to do, lots to do....

The flu & storm thunderstorms

So I've gotten knocked down with the flu since yesterday at lunchtime. I made it to work today and have gradually been eating my lunch since then. I do feel better now, however I'm not sure how tennis practice is going to go. Let's hope for the best.

In weather news, we're expecting some strong storms tonight, and then of course it's going to get cold again. Argh. Oh well. There is a chance for some snow/rain mix on Thursday night, however nothing to report at this point about any statement or advisory, and it looks to be a non-event.

Because I have had the flu, I've been a CNN-HD junkie the last few days watching news of the primary. It looks especially good on my upstairs (new) TV...in HD they also give you extra graphics and pie charts and all. I would watch FoxNews, but they are not yet in HD (neither is FOX Atlanta, WAGA for that matter).