Today we made the decision to ride this hurricane out within our home.
This decision was a tough one and was based on many different factors. Because we live next to a Bay rather than the actual Sound, the chance of flooding in our immediate area is minimal. This left our decision mainly based on the wind factor.
This hurricane is supposed to be a category 3 or possibly a category 2 when it makes landfall in our general area.
I ended up getting what they call "hurricane tape" to put on the windows on top of the other 5 layers of shipping tape that I had put on yesterday.
This so called "hurricane tape" looks like nothing more that beefed up glorified duct tape. It is supposed to be stronger than duct tape and hopefully will help our windows from shattering or getting blown in during the storm.
I also put this hurricane tape on some other windows that I had not put shipping tape on yesterday.
Now 90% of the windows have tape on them and the other 10% are either small windows or windows that are to far out of reach for me to do them.
Because many stores are closing down for the duration of the storm tonight, we decided to make a last minute run to a local convenience store and we purchased 80 pound of ice.
The storm won't be here until Saturday evening but since most stores will be closed tomorrow, I felt that we needed to get the ice tonight rather than go searching around for a store that was open.
We have 3 rather large coolers of which 2 are just about new.
We filled the bottom of each cooler with soda pop and then put the ice on top. At least if the electricity goes out, we won't have to open and close the fridge in order to get a cold drink. I am hoping that the electric stays on but my gut is telling me that it won't.
We will be setting up "Command Central" down in the ground level floor interior bathroom.
We have basically packed up the fiberglass shower area with anything that we would consider valuable to us.
We have a couple of fans that run on either batteries or electricity. I think they are made for campers but they have worked great for us when we have either the a/c or the heat on and we place them right over the floor register so that they push the cold or warm air up into the room. They really help to keep the room at the temperature that we are trying to attain.
These 2 fans will be brought downstairs and used in "Command Central" should the electricity go out. If it does go out and we have no a/c, it will get really hot really quick in our place.
I will probably fix up some type of sleeping area in that interior bathroom.
It is a rather small bathroom but we will do what we have to to ride the storm out as comfortably as possible.
While I am doing my finishing touches to our emergency preparedness plans, Veronica will be at the store getting it ready to close for the duration of this storm and until the storm passes.
For the most part we have done all we can to prep our home for this upcoming hurricane.
So unless something drastic happens, we will be staying put and experiencing this storm as it actually occurs rather than seeing it transpire on the television.
I will continue to update throughout the course of this weather event.
Preparing For Hurricane Irene
It appears that we are going to have an unwanted visitor this weekend...Hurricane Irene is going to pay us a visit.
Veronica and I live on the Outer Banks and it looks like this hurricane will be hitting us and then going up the coast.
I have been watching the weather channel and they are telling everyone that this is a hurricane that needs to be taken seriously and could be the worst hurricane to effect the mid Atlantic states all the way up to the New England area in many decades.
From what I am seeing on the weather channel right now, we can expect a category 3 hurricane here with maximum sustained winds of 115mph.
Today I spent the day taping up the windows and then I had to move several wardrobe boxes filled with clothes from the ground level computer room up to the 2nd floor.
I wrapped the bottom of the boxes in plastic and placed the boxes in the 2nd floor hallway where there are the least number of windows.
Unfortunately my back is sore now from dragging those full wardrobe boxes up a bunch of stairs. I suppose that I could have taken the hanging clothes out and take several additional trips up and down the stairs but I figured that my back would have been barking at me even if I had done that.
We just were notified on the weather channel that all visitors in Dare County, which includes all of the Outer Banks, are mandated to start leaving tomorrow morning at 8AM.
I am sure that all residents on the Outer Banks area will have a mandatory evacuation.
We won't be able to go anywhere until after Veronica closes and safely secures the store...boards up the front of the store and things like that.
Because of where we live, which is adjacent to a bay, there are times when the water gets high enough to make the road back into town impassable thus leaving us stranded at our home.
Because of Veronica's managerial position, she has to be able to get to her store to check on it once the weather gets good enough and it becomes safe enough to travel about.
This leaves us in somewhat of a quandary. If she gets the official word that she can close the store on Friday, then we could go to Rocky Mount, NC which is about 150 miles away from here. It usually would take about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to get there but in an evacuation scenario, that travel time could be doubled due to all of the traffic leaving the area.
Once in Rocky Mount, we would most likely have to return Sunday to an unknown situation as far as what our home looks like or if it is even livable or if there is any electricity in the area, which would also effect Veronica's store. We could return to no place and nowhere to go to locally for the night.
The other option would be to stay in a hotel, which is of all places directly on the beach.
This particular hotel is where all of the weather channel personnel stay during the storm. The hotel has been around through several major hurricanes and has never had a problem except part of their roof was blown off during one hurricane and some beach facing room windows were blown in. They have never had any type of beach flooding in their hotel during any storm.
The hotel has generators for emergency electricity and they are one of the first locations to be put back on the electrical grid should the electric go out.
We were told that they have closed off all beach facing rooms to guests.
Logistically this would be the best option but on the other hand it could turn out disastrous.
Currently we have reservations at both a hotel in Rocky Mount and one locally at the Ramada Inn.
No matter where we stay, I will be blogging about this major weather event. If we stay at the local Ramada Inn, blogging from this beach front hotel will be intense to say the least.
We will know more about where we will be staying as the storm gets closer.
The next big chore will be packing the car up with everything that we can possibly take with us. As the weather channel always says...more updates to follow!!!
Veronica and I live on the Outer Banks and it looks like this hurricane will be hitting us and then going up the coast.
I have been watching the weather channel and they are telling everyone that this is a hurricane that needs to be taken seriously and could be the worst hurricane to effect the mid Atlantic states all the way up to the New England area in many decades.
From what I am seeing on the weather channel right now, we can expect a category 3 hurricane here with maximum sustained winds of 115mph.
Today I spent the day taping up the windows and then I had to move several wardrobe boxes filled with clothes from the ground level computer room up to the 2nd floor.
I wrapped the bottom of the boxes in plastic and placed the boxes in the 2nd floor hallway where there are the least number of windows.
Unfortunately my back is sore now from dragging those full wardrobe boxes up a bunch of stairs. I suppose that I could have taken the hanging clothes out and take several additional trips up and down the stairs but I figured that my back would have been barking at me even if I had done that.
We just were notified on the weather channel that all visitors in Dare County, which includes all of the Outer Banks, are mandated to start leaving tomorrow morning at 8AM.
I am sure that all residents on the Outer Banks area will have a mandatory evacuation.
We won't be able to go anywhere until after Veronica closes and safely secures the store...boards up the front of the store and things like that.
Because of where we live, which is adjacent to a bay, there are times when the water gets high enough to make the road back into town impassable thus leaving us stranded at our home.
Because of Veronica's managerial position, she has to be able to get to her store to check on it once the weather gets good enough and it becomes safe enough to travel about.
This leaves us in somewhat of a quandary. If she gets the official word that she can close the store on Friday, then we could go to Rocky Mount, NC which is about 150 miles away from here. It usually would take about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to get there but in an evacuation scenario, that travel time could be doubled due to all of the traffic leaving the area.
Once in Rocky Mount, we would most likely have to return Sunday to an unknown situation as far as what our home looks like or if it is even livable or if there is any electricity in the area, which would also effect Veronica's store. We could return to no place and nowhere to go to locally for the night.
The other option would be to stay in a hotel, which is of all places directly on the beach.
This particular hotel is where all of the weather channel personnel stay during the storm. The hotel has been around through several major hurricanes and has never had a problem except part of their roof was blown off during one hurricane and some beach facing room windows were blown in. They have never had any type of beach flooding in their hotel during any storm.
The hotel has generators for emergency electricity and they are one of the first locations to be put back on the electrical grid should the electric go out.
We were told that they have closed off all beach facing rooms to guests.
Logistically this would be the best option but on the other hand it could turn out disastrous.
Currently we have reservations at both a hotel in Rocky Mount and one locally at the Ramada Inn.
No matter where we stay, I will be blogging about this major weather event. If we stay at the local Ramada Inn, blogging from this beach front hotel will be intense to say the least.
We will know more about where we will be staying as the storm gets closer.
The next big chore will be packing the car up with everything that we can possibly take with us. As the weather channel always says...more updates to follow!!!
Midlife Crisis On A Budget
First off I would like to give Veronica credit for the title of this blog entry and for the idea of me writing about this subject as it pertains to me.
I have been going for my long walks for several years now.
Last Winter I decided to buy a recumbent bicycle so that I could continue to get a little cardio workout on the days that it was just too cold to go out for my long walks.
Then I decided that I would like to build a little muscle mass on my body, so I went out and got a small weight lifting bench and a set of Golds Gym 40lb weights.
Then I decided to get myself one of those bicep curl bars so that I could work on my biceps a bit.
So I have been going through this transformation for approximately 8 months now.
I have seen some decent improvement to my body since starting this little adventure. Keep in mind that I have done no lifting with anything higher than 40lbs total weight and most of my weight lifting workout has been done with 20-30 pounds of weight....just a lot of reps.
Within the last couple of months, based on the changes in my body structure, I was getting the itch to push things a bit more.
I don't know....maybe it was part of a midlife crisis type of thing going on. I kind of liked the effect that the weight lifting was starting to have on my body. It has been about 15 years since the last time that I did any serious weight lifting and I ended up having to quit because the amount of weight I was lifting and all of the day after day repetitions, which in turn caused some injuries to my body.
During the time that I lifted weights, I never got into any supplements or anything like that.
But within the last 2-3 months, I have found myself purchasing and drinking mass quantities of protein shakes. I have found myself really yearning for those chocolaty frozen blender concoctions on a daily basis now. Each one is packed with of 52 grams protein.
Of course I did some research and checked various locations and prices and ended up buying the 2 pound tubs of the protein shake powder at Walmart. Not sure if the product is the best but....what can I say...the price is right. Each 2 pound tub was around $14-$17.
Speaking of prices, I did more research and checked more prices when I initially bought my current workout bench, my 40 pound set of weights and my weight lifting bicep curling bar.
I bought each of these items at Walmart also.
The 40 pound weight set was $20...the workout bench was about $49 and the bicep curl bar was approximately $40.
This little journey was not dipping into the old wallet too badly.
But then this new yearning to relive my younger days and work my buns off to have a younger mans body started tugging away at me.
Once again I tried to find the cheapest way to muddle through this midlife crisis. It is bad enough being 56 years old and trying to look fit but the real challenge is trying to do it on the "cheap".
And if I forgot to mention it...I am 56 years old. I always thought that we guys had these type of midlife crises during our....well.....during our "midlife"...you know around 40-45 or so, not at 56. I guess maybe that I am just a late bloomer.
So here I am wanting to upgrade my weightlifting equipment and wanting to try some supplements to assist me in attaining the Adonis-like look I am trying to achieve( did I actually use the word Adonis in a sentence...lol....it doesn't get any worse than that) and having to do it as inexpensively as possible.
So here I am...shopping at bodybuilder.com looking for bargains on a few supplements that will help me get the most out of my weightlifting workouts and assist me in getting my old muscles to grow bigger.
And then I had to go shopping for a new weightlifting bench. Maybe I could just get by with my old one but add a Preachers arm curl bench to my current setup. That would be fairly cheap.
Or maybe I should just get a bench press rack because my weightlifting bench doesn't have one and I could get by with something like that for a little money.
Or maybe I should look for a really cheap weightlifting bench that has both of the aforementioned items built into it.
Of course I could get a really nice weightlifting setup and to hell with the cost but I am not wired that way...no need adding fuel to this crisis. I want to keep this crisis down to the bare minimum as far as the cost.
Like that old saying goes...you give a midlife crisis a penny and that sucker will take a dollar.
Ok so I made that "old saying" up...but I had you going there for a second.
So I did some research and shopping and more shopping and more research. Trying to "hem and haw" about what it was that I really wanted and what was the best deal for the money....hoping all the while that I could keep this whole thing under budget.
When all of the dust settled and I was able to get it all out of my graying hair and off of my wrinkled face, I ended up getting a Marcy Classic MCB-252 Combo Bench with 120 lb Weight Set . And can you guess where I bought this new weightlifting bench from? From Walmart of course...gotta love their low prices.
Not only did I get a new weightlifting bench but it has the bench press rack built into it, a preachers arm curl built into it and a lat pull down bar built into it too.
And the great thing is that the set also comes with 120 pound set of weights and a lifting bar....something that I was going to have to pay extra for. A complete package for a decent price. Sure I could have spent a lot more money but what was the sense in that.
So there it is...all laid out for everyone to see. A 56 year old man with a midlife crisis that he is trying to deal with, so as not to damage the finances too badly.
Kind of like having fillet of mignon taste on a 70% not so lean ground chuck budget.
And this midlife crisis will end up like so many other things that I have gone through in my life.....
A day late and a dollar short.
I have been going for my long walks for several years now.
Last Winter I decided to buy a recumbent bicycle so that I could continue to get a little cardio workout on the days that it was just too cold to go out for my long walks.
Then I decided that I would like to build a little muscle mass on my body, so I went out and got a small weight lifting bench and a set of Golds Gym 40lb weights.
Then I decided to get myself one of those bicep curl bars so that I could work on my biceps a bit.
So I have been going through this transformation for approximately 8 months now.
I have seen some decent improvement to my body since starting this little adventure. Keep in mind that I have done no lifting with anything higher than 40lbs total weight and most of my weight lifting workout has been done with 20-30 pounds of weight....just a lot of reps.
Within the last couple of months, based on the changes in my body structure, I was getting the itch to push things a bit more.
I don't know....maybe it was part of a midlife crisis type of thing going on. I kind of liked the effect that the weight lifting was starting to have on my body. It has been about 15 years since the last time that I did any serious weight lifting and I ended up having to quit because the amount of weight I was lifting and all of the day after day repetitions, which in turn caused some injuries to my body.
During the time that I lifted weights, I never got into any supplements or anything like that.
But within the last 2-3 months, I have found myself purchasing and drinking mass quantities of protein shakes. I have found myself really yearning for those chocolaty frozen blender concoctions on a daily basis now. Each one is packed with of 52 grams protein.
Of course I did some research and checked various locations and prices and ended up buying the 2 pound tubs of the protein shake powder at Walmart. Not sure if the product is the best but....what can I say...the price is right. Each 2 pound tub was around $14-$17.
Speaking of prices, I did more research and checked more prices when I initially bought my current workout bench, my 40 pound set of weights and my weight lifting bicep curling bar.
I bought each of these items at Walmart also.
The 40 pound weight set was $20...the workout bench was about $49 and the bicep curl bar was approximately $40.
This little journey was not dipping into the old wallet too badly.
But then this new yearning to relive my younger days and work my buns off to have a younger mans body started tugging away at me.
Once again I tried to find the cheapest way to muddle through this midlife crisis. It is bad enough being 56 years old and trying to look fit but the real challenge is trying to do it on the "cheap".
And if I forgot to mention it...I am 56 years old. I always thought that we guys had these type of midlife crises during our....well.....during our "midlife"...you know around 40-45 or so, not at 56. I guess maybe that I am just a late bloomer.
So here I am wanting to upgrade my weightlifting equipment and wanting to try some supplements to assist me in attaining the Adonis-like look I am trying to achieve( did I actually use the word Adonis in a sentence...lol....it doesn't get any worse than that) and having to do it as inexpensively as possible.
So here I am...shopping at bodybuilder.com looking for bargains on a few supplements that will help me get the most out of my weightlifting workouts and assist me in getting my old muscles to grow bigger.
And then I had to go shopping for a new weightlifting bench. Maybe I could just get by with my old one but add a Preachers arm curl bench to my current setup. That would be fairly cheap.
Or maybe I should just get a bench press rack because my weightlifting bench doesn't have one and I could get by with something like that for a little money.
Or maybe I should look for a really cheap weightlifting bench that has both of the aforementioned items built into it.
Of course I could get a really nice weightlifting setup and to hell with the cost but I am not wired that way...no need adding fuel to this crisis. I want to keep this crisis down to the bare minimum as far as the cost.
Like that old saying goes...you give a midlife crisis a penny and that sucker will take a dollar.
Ok so I made that "old saying" up...but I had you going there for a second.
So I did some research and shopping and more shopping and more research. Trying to "hem and haw" about what it was that I really wanted and what was the best deal for the money....hoping all the while that I could keep this whole thing under budget.
When all of the dust settled and I was able to get it all out of my graying hair and off of my wrinkled face, I ended up getting a Marcy Classic MCB-252 Combo Bench with 120 lb Weight Set . And can you guess where I bought this new weightlifting bench from? From Walmart of course...gotta love their low prices.
Not only did I get a new weightlifting bench but it has the bench press rack built into it, a preachers arm curl built into it and a lat pull down bar built into it too.
And the great thing is that the set also comes with 120 pound set of weights and a lifting bar....something that I was going to have to pay extra for. A complete package for a decent price. Sure I could have spent a lot more money but what was the sense in that.
So there it is...all laid out for everyone to see. A 56 year old man with a midlife crisis that he is trying to deal with, so as not to damage the finances too badly.
Kind of like having fillet of mignon taste on a 70% not so lean ground chuck budget.
And this midlife crisis will end up like so many other things that I have gone through in my life.....
A day late and a dollar short.
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