December 18, 2006
Seattle Has an Outrageously Bad Hair Day
But I kid. A little tastelessly perhaps since it really was a lollapalooza of a storm here, kiddos. In fact, as I write, we are still power-challenged here in the office and our generator is struggling gamely along to keep our 34 mainframes running, all of the lights on, and all of da peeps warm. (Question: If the definition of a Level 1 hurricane is wind speeds of 74-95 mph, and we had winds that fell well within that range, why isn't anyone calling this a hurricane? And the rain, oh, my God, the rain. I drove home through the worst of it and, about half-way home, I started to giggle a little maniacally there was So Much Rain. Seriously. No raindrops, just endless, black, cascading sheets of heavy, foaming, loudly drumming water. Truly astonishing.)
For those of you who have girl crushes on TMK, I can give you one more reason to have one. I lost power at about 1:45am (although I was one of the first people in the area to get my power back, just 12 hours later). At around 7am the next morning, I called TMK to see how she and the short, furry one were surviving sans electricity (because, remember, TMK doesn't "do" power outages) and then because it was frickin’ cold and dark—did I mention dark?—made a beeline back to my bed, my down comforter, my down pillows and my new best friend, Mr. Sandman. And was woken up at 9am by TMK standing by my bed, proffering a thermos of hot tea, made using water she had boiled on the side burner of her propane barbeque. Crush away, girls, crush away.
Although the worst that I experienced was my maple trees throwing small branches petulantly at my windows (and TMK lost one side of her fence), there were many trees down in our neighborhoods, and many houses and cars the worse for the wear. The Yarn Girls, who live in my ‘hood, have, bless 'em, posted some very illustrative pictures of exactly the trees of which I speak. However, the city crews (long may they live; may they have beautiful daughters; handsome, strong, sons; fruitful fields; and endlessly fertile livestock) have been working around the clock and now the neighborhoods look as if a ravening pack of nuclear-powered beavers plowed through, leaving nothing but piles of sawdust in their wake.
Which is all a long-winded (pardon the pun) way of explaining why I didn't post on Friday.
Speaking of the Yarn Girls, while TMK and I vegged in front of the TV on Sunday, still a little twitchy from the recent trauma, I made 1.5 of Peggy's Dulaan Avalanche Hats. Here’s the first one, displayed on the little fella—a battery-operated, black and white TV (long may he live; may he have beautiful daughters; handsome, strong, sons; fruitful fields; and endlessly fertile livestock)—that helped keep TMK sane during the storm:
Will do my meme posting on Wednesday. Off to see if my local Subway Sandwich shop has power and, more importantly, a 6" roast-chicken sandwich with my name on it.
Posted by Ryan at December 18, 2006 11:50 AMWelcome back! I was hoping you and TMK had not gotten blown away. We lost power for nearly forty hours -- brrrrr! I am such a wimp about being cold. One positive outcome is that my Dulaan knitting is now in high gear; I simply cannot imagine being that cold (or even colder) on a regular basis. {{ shudder }}
P.S. Don't let my husband see that battery powered TV or I won't have any peace until he gets one...
Posted by: Denise in Federal Way, WA on December 18, 2006 12:19 PMDenise: Don't worry about the TV. Your hubby won't want this one. It was a freebee from Office Depot when I ordered office supplies a few months ago. It doesn't have a cable port so you have to use the built-in antenna and the only channel it gets is channel 7. But it was enough to keep me company in the middle of the night with 80 mph winds whipping around the house! (Oh! and it's black and white.) TMK
Posted by: The Mysterious K on December 18, 2006 12:27 PMGlad you're all safe and now warm again. I do b'lieve knitters are better prepared to face something like that - think of all the wool you could burrow into! Anyway, cute hat.
Oh yeah:
CRUSH CRUSH CRUSH.
TMK makes beautiful yarn, makes beautiful things out of wood, does yard things, has a cute dog and NOW braves a storm to bring you hot tea? Where do I get into the crush line? I'm crushing. Hard. sigh. I'm glad to hear that you, TMK, and Frankie made it through okay, with minimal damage and everyone is unhurt.
Posted by: Nancy O. on December 18, 2006 12:48 PMIt wasn't considered a hurricane because hurricane season is over -- ridiculous I know but that is why - when we had the storm of the century it wasn't classified a hurricane because of that fact - but I don't care what anyone says that is what it was.
Ryan you had best be really really good to TMK - she is a keeper. We always knew that but the whole tea thing was the clincher :D
Posted by: Rho on December 18, 2006 01:37 PMWe need to start a TMK Fan Club--think TMK will design the logo?
Want to know what I was doing in the storm? Flying out of Seatac on a plane at 12:50 A.M. on Friday morning. I think we were the LAST plane out before they shut down the airport. Thought I was gonna die. No lie. Most scared I've ever been in an airplane.
Back home though, safe and sound.
MaryB
Posted by: MaryB on December 18, 2006 02:09 PMThroughout the entire storm, TMK and I heard airplanes flying low over our houses and we were just astounded. After the "virus video" that went around the world of that one plane trying to land here during the earlier storm, you'd think they would have shut down the airport. If I were you, Mary, I would now have officially sworn off flying forever, but I'm always on the verge of doing that anyway. Where are you now? Are you back here?
Posted by: Ryan on December 18, 2006 02:15 PMHi Ryan,
I have been hoping that you and TMK weathered the storm without too many problems. I am always amazed by the destructive power of weather. Last spring we experienced a microburst, about three minutes of 90 mph winds that did a lot of damage and had power out for a couple of days. At least it was spring then and warm. I can only imagine the damage that a longer extended storm would cause. Hope this is the last for a long time. Anyway, glad you are alright.
Posted by: Jennifer on December 18, 2006 02:30 PMSee I am calling it a Hurricane and I don't care what people say...Wind Storm this was not! Hurricane yes! WHew! Glad you made it through!
Posted by: Rebecca on December 18, 2006 02:37 PMSo glad you're back and okay.
And geez, even I have a bit of a girl-crush now.
Posted by: Franklin on December 18, 2006 02:58 PMGlad to hear you and TMK are OK! Very scary, but I never lost power (one of the few mutant places in the city where that was true, I think), and I'm thankful I got off lightly.
Posted by: moiraeknitoo on December 18, 2006 03:00 PMPoor MaryB! I'm with you, Ryan -- after an experience like hers I would definitely keep my feet on terra firma forever. I look for every excuse in the book not to fly as it is.
TMK, you clearly have never met my husband. That man would watch anything in a pinch. ;-D
Posted by: Denise in Federal Way,WA on December 18, 2006 03:02 PMTMK is very crush worthy! She sets the standard very high.
Posted by: Laurie on December 18, 2006 03:18 PMY'all are making me blush.
To Ryan's credit, when her power came back on a scant 12 hours after it quit, she let me stuff all my frozen food in her freezer, fed me and Frankie, warmed me in front of the fire and put me (and Frankie) to bed when I couldn't keep my bleary, unfocused eyes open anymore (after being awake for 38 hours). Frankly, I have a little crush on my honey! TMK
Posted by: The Mysterious K on December 18, 2006 03:25 PMAmen Girlfriend. It was a freakish storm and hopefully the last one for a very long time. Good lookin' hat...
Posted by: Rebecca on December 18, 2006 04:38 PMI am glad that you are safe and warm!
The reason it is not called a hurricane is that hurricanes only occur in the Atlantic (in the Pacific they might be called typhoons?) Also the names depend on whether the phenomenom originated in the tropics or not. More info than you needed or wanted, eh?
Posted by: Judith in NYC on December 18, 2006 04:42 PM~swoon~
BBQ Tea.
My girlcrush on both of you is now beyond measure.
Posted by: Rabbitch on December 18, 2006 04:48 PMMy BIL just flew in from Tacoma today and told me tales of the big storm. I'm glad to hear you are safe and warm. Hope you got your sandwich!
Posted by: Barb on December 18, 2006 07:25 PMOh boy, I'm glad to hear you two are okay. That was a hell of a tantrum the weather had out your way! Wind can be pretty scary.
Have I said I'm glad you're okay?
Posted by: Robbyn on December 19, 2006 06:28 AMThat is one hella storm, and TMK is one hella woman, and the road crews are one hella heroes in my book. Dayum.
It's funny how, after Katrina, we hardly even feel like we can complain about disasters or horrific storms anymore, heh? I've been amazed at how little news I've been seeing out here about your storm, and about the blizzards in Oregon, etc. It's hardly even newsworthy??? What's that all about?
Posted by: Norma on December 19, 2006 08:42 AMI wish we could have imported your city crews here to St. Louis the week after Thanksgiving. The ice and snow storm knocked out our power for four days and others for over a week (with nights getting down to 10 degrees F). We're in the midwest; you'd think our power company would be used to the not-exceptional weather and be prepared, right?
So. Much. Rage at our power company for the second week-long blackout in one year. Hauling four cats, a mother just out of a week-long hospital stint, and the two of us across the river should have been a harder job than keeping power going for over 1.5 million people.
On the positive side, my Brown Sheep cabled hat and mittens got a tryout inside our 40-degree home while we were getting more clothes and cat food together the next day. Wool plus mohair is seriously toasty.
Posted by: Beth in STL on December 19, 2006 11:00 AMBeth in STL, if it makes you feel any better, large segments of our 'burbs are still without power. My office just went off generator power this morning, but at today's Christmas potluck, a lot of people were saying that they still didn't have power. But I know the crews are out there trying!
Posted by: Ryan on December 19, 2006 12:33 PM