On sugar highs, favorite films, and hurricanes...

A quick concise comparison, L,G,&M with a good take on old/new music, and in the "People wonder why I don't fly commercial anymore" department...

I'm a big fan of Halloween, monster movies, and candy. I mean seriously, who isn't? As a kid, the high point of the holiday was being able to watch "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" after trick and treating on a monumental sugar high.

See what I mean?

The other thing about October 31st is that, for me at least, it's the day where I lose 90% of my "H" season stress factor and breath a sigh of relief. Sure I know that we can still get hit by a hurricane (I still remember Lenny!) but it no longer feels like I'm walking through a shooting gallery.

So, I hope that all of you have a most excellent Halloween and avoid the worst of the forthcoming Black Friday BS.

Candy corn anyone?

Listening to a playlist that seems apt for today

So it goes...

a not unsurprising turn of events...

Some hellish thinking,  wood skyscrapers, and Webb Chiles with some thought on the current round-the-world race norm...

It's really that time of year again.

Yesterday, I was considering getting started on another dinghy and a new hard dodger but not so trustful on what the weather will be like come the weekend.

As I've said before, the best place to be during "H" season is at sidewalk cafe drinking Pastis in the south of France.

I'm really looking forward to that new dinghy and dodger as I've never been fully satisfied with the looks of the current dodger and since I just bought a new to me Cruise n' Carry outboard, a dinghy with an outboard-friendly transom would be no bad thing.

Not that I plan to quit rowing but it will be nice to have the option of the motor from time to time.

I suspect that today's tasks will be sorting out the mooring and checking out the ground tackle, as it's that time of year again.

Listening to Killer Whale

So it goes...

that time of year again...

Jon Stewart with some choice words, something about Esperanto, and Thursday was Overshoot day...

We're sliding into the serious part of "H" season and I haven't even begun to sort out what all needs to be done. From the look of thing it would seem I'm not an exception.

Maybe it's the ongoing COVID pandemic and the fact that so many people seem to believe that if you don't like the current reality you can just replace it with one of your choosing mindset. Or, possibly, it's just a lot of folks are just so tired of the crazy that the idea of a hurricane coming along and blowing it all away is just a passive way of coping with what's going on.

Whatever it is it's starting to scare me and it's well past time to get to doing.

Listening to Pigeon Pit 

So it goes...

Bears watching...

Badtux's on a roll, well this is interesting, and a climate change issue you may be unaware of...

Yep, that time of year again.

Listening to Larkin Poe

So it goes...

Stuff you need to know concerning the "H" ting...

A timely cartoon, another cruiser forum with issues, and in the "same old same bullshit" department...

Maybe the best hurricane primer I've come across.

Listening to the Tyron Benoit Band

So it goes...

It's that time of year...

A sad story, Jeff Masters talks climate, and in the "buy-now-pay-later" department...

Day one of the 2022 "H" season.

Listening to Ibeyi cover Black Flag

So it goes...

stress...

A dinosaur making sense, an article on evolving chemistry, and in the "Fuzzy math and headlines" department...

While it appears that the hurricane season is waning there is still a certain stress factor for the next month or so and I still remember hurricane Lenny in 1999 which surprised us all coming from the wrong direction and wrecking havoc in mid-November.

Plus, as it happens, I have a variety of projects I'd like to get to that are weather sensitive and that doubles down on the stress factors and pisses me off because I really wanted to do a new mast. It just does not seem like I'm going to be able to get to it within the current time frame.

On the positive side, I can now get my Covid booster shot within the next week and that will help keep the stress levels down to manageable proportions.

Listening to some Carole King coverage

So it goes...

Regarding my recent absence...

More than you want to know about baby poop, Melvin Van Peebles is no longer with us, and a politician with a backbone as well as a moral compass...

Sorry for the lapse in posts but our internet provider has been down for the last week and still is. Hopefully things will sort themselves out soonish.

In the mean time I'm keeping a weather eye out on TS Sam which looks like it's going to be a fairly gnarly hurricane...

Listening to a bunch of French Beatle's covers

So it goes...

Still floating with the mast right side up...

On the sowing of doubt, some progress of sorts, and something Jim C. Hines wrote that really helped get me out of a negative spiral...

Well, as far as we were concerned, tropical storm Grace was another non-event as it shifted a kiss to the south and all we got was a bit of rain. Lucky us.

Of course, being that little bit superstitious where storms are concerned, having two non-events in a row makes me all kinds of nervous about the next potential storm trundling towards us as "H" season continues with the worst of the season still ahead of us.

Now it's just a matter of getting the boat out of storm mode and back to the point where I can get to some projects.

Listening to Tommy Alexander

So it goes...

sigh...

Dick Dorworth on nature/nurture/neuroplasticity, some very depressing reading, and Nanci is no longer with us....

Apparently, I know what I'll be doing at 2PM on Sunday.

Which is kind of a bummer because I was looking forward to laminating the rudder for the new self-steering gear. Oh well, there's always something...

Listening to Nanci Griffith

So it goes...

not complaining...

A question of note from John Scalzi, somewhat unsettling news, and in the "Who really wants societal collapse anyway" department...

Not much happening aboard "So It Goes" so far as the only weather we're currently experiencing is a light intermittent drizzle with zero wind. Which, I should add, is a more than welcome state of affairs.

My experience where storms are concerned is the big variable to the forecasts is always in terms of intensity. NOAA seems to have their tracking down to a fine science so, they most always know where a storm (or potential storm) is going to be but not necessarily how strong or weak it's going to be at a given point. Which is why we mostly try and prepare for the worse and hope for the best.

Of course, it's not unheard of for a non-event bit of weather to spin up and all of a sudden and go from not-even-a-depression to a full-tilt-boogie-tropical-storm in the time it took me to get in my dinghy at Water Island and go to St Thomas (a ten-minute trip). So, just saying it's best to treat weather like Potential Tropical  Cyclone Six as a potential threat until it becomes someone else's problem.

Listening to a pretty awesome music project

So it goes...

I know how it feels to be a bowling pin...

An Orca tale, regarding a bad decision, and in the "Time to get some solar panels" department...

Well it would seem that "H" season has kicked in.

Of course, it will get worse before it gets better. Color me looking forward to Halloween.

Listening to Sad Park

So it goes...

Apparently Elsa will be someone else's problem...

Moldy Chum with news from Scotland, some bribery of note, and Liz Clark on sunscreens...

In the "So far so good" department it looks like tropical storm Elsa is not going to be problematic and I can get back to that much needed cockpit work in between rain squalls.

Best not to forget that we're just a butterfly's wing flapping from a direct hit and the storm being an off-the-scale hurricane. Chaos theory does not an optimist make.

Listening to some Joni Mitchell coverage

So it goes...

Just that time of the year...

A graduation speech of note, just another thing to worry about, and a cartoon which pretty much nails it...

Well this got my attention.

Something to think about while I work on the lifelines.

Listening to Watkins Family Hour

So it goes...

Waiting for the new normal...

An interesting lecture, EBM with some situational awareness, and Blue Heron Blast with something scary...

Tomorrow is the first day of the 2021 hurricane season which, I suppose, is a good thing in that we're admitting climate change is real and not just pretending otherwise.

Progress of sorts...

Of course, living in the tropics where hurricanes are just part of what happens come summer extending the "H" season is no big deal. In mid-May on we're already conditioned to get nervous and obsessively watch the weather. So, in fact, not exactly a big change.

What currently has me wondering though is whether the "H" season this year get extended into December as well. If so, that will really cement the whole acceptance that climate change is a very real thing.

Listening to Richard Thompson

So it goes...

Three years on...

Some interesting news about that tRump/Russia thing, more on the subject of that asshat & Puerto Rico, and enough with the tRump crap how about some tree climbing goats...

I just realized that it's been three years since the USVI and Puerto Rico got way-to-up-close-and-personal with hurricane Maria.  As it happens, Daily Kos has an excellent post today that's well worth reading on the aftermath.

The current "H" season has been particularly stressful with no real place to run this year, the ever-present spectre of COVID-19, and my countries inaction and inability to do the right thing in fighting it has taken a toll.

Hopefully, we'll make it through the rest of the season on the hurricane front but I'll wager serious money that, as the pandemic plays out, it will get a lot worse before it gets any better.

On a brighter note, I have a dinghy to build which is a good way to chill out.

Listening to the Iron Leg Radio Show

So it goes...

just another day in paradise...

A good question, Scalzi on dimwitted bigots, and in the "Has anyone seen MR Zip lately?" department...

Listening to Tryo

So it goes...

on being anchored in a three-ring circus......

Science (or lack of science) in Florida, George Carlin still making sense, and dumbest man in congress reaps his karma...

I've never been a big fan of licensing users of boats (or users of guns for that matter) but nothing focuses my attention on the idea that there actually might be a need for some sort of required boater education while I sit my boat watching other folks prepare for a possible hurricane.

On one hand, I'll admit, it's sort of entertaining seeing how others react to the idea that a real-honest-to gawd-storm just might be up-close-and-personal. Face it, folks of the inspired tyro boat handling and anchoring brigade seem to totally lose it when a bit of real-world danger becomes part of the mix and they go into cluster-fuck mode and flip out.

Then again, it's only entertaining for a moment or two and the overall effect is just depressing. We all have our days of shame and seeing someone going through one underscores the "that could be me" factor. Most of us learn through experience and, for most of us, by making mistakes of the "what does not kill us makes us smarter" sort.

Then again, most folks could avoid most of the traumatic crap of coming into an anchorage with a possible "H" ting on the way by doing a bit of study beforehand and having a semblance of a plan in hand. Two books that will help are Fatty Goodlander's "Creative Anchoring" and "Storm Proofing your Boat, Gear, and Crew". Seriously, you don't really want the stigma of being "That Idiot" who did that "Stupid Thing".

Need I say more?

Listening to a plethora of Bee Gees covers (who'd have ever thought?)

So it goes...

and in the "Not how I planned to spend my week" department...

Today in the "Disproportionate force without provocation files", some "essential" workers that you might want to keep in mind, and the question I keep asking myself...

So, yeah.

On the plus side, there's a lot of Saharan dust about so maybe it will fall apart.

Listening to Mavis Staples

So it goes...

Doing the "H" ting two-step...

Some needful reading on the ongoing plan to kill the USPS, a good cause that could use your support, and in the "Why am I not surprised" department...

Looking at the various storm models for the 92L invest was somewhat depressing as the GFS models have the storm passing as a hurricane just a kiss north of us while the ECMWF has the storm passing a bit to our south albeit not as a hurricane.

That said, the ECMWF model appears to have higher winds for us than the GFS. Of course, this is still too early to be a precision forecast and will continue to change in the coming few days.

So, the question is, do I run to the hole or not?

In the meantime, I've got a lot of work to do.

Listening to Pascal Rinaldi cover CSN&Y

So it goes...