Post Hurricane Adventures

First, thanks James for posting the "he's still alive!" this morning

after we spoke on the phone. I lost power at 8:10 last night, right

after the eye passed unexpectedly over my house, perhaps 30 miles

south of where the they said it was heading just a couple of hours

earlier. Supposedly the maximum recorded wind speed was 86 MPH.

Judging by the size of some of the trees and limbs that came down

around here I suspect that that roaring sound I heard shortly after

11 PM was not a train on the nearby Florida East Coast R.R. track a

half a mile to the east of here, but rather one of the small tornados

the forecasters had said might be embedded in the hurricane.

 

The worst thing was the lack of coffee this morning! Claudia, my ex,

and I exchanged phone calls. She had no power either. I went over to

her place, about a mile away, to take a roll of color film of her

downed trees for insurance purposes before a friend of hers attacked

them with a chain saw. No place was open to buy coffee between our

houses, the signal lights were out at all the intersections, and a

few streets blocked by downed trees. The few drivers out and about

were very courteous at the intersections.

 

I shot a few 15mm pix of myself shooting downed tree photos while

holding a Leica in my right hand, and some shots of a city crew

chainsawing some trees on the streets. About noon Claudia called to

tell me that she'd found somebody with power and was going over there

to make coffee. Shortly afterwards she brought me a thermos full of

steaming life-giving java and I really understood the advantages of

staying friendly with the ex! I even told her that the roll of color

film I'd shot this morning was on me!

 

Starbucks finally decided to start selling coffee at 5 and I'm now

working on my third cup of that. Power at my house came on a little

before 9 PM. I was already behind on my darkroom work and now have

two more rolls of 15mm pix to soup and contact. I spoke with Diana

earlier this evening and she's going to post some more of my shots

tomorrow. Thanks, everyone for your Emails and postings on James'

thread. Raid, I hope this one misses Pensacola next week. It's some

excitement you do not need!

Sounds like a great day to be alive, Al!

Al, <br>

I am glad you made it well. I have loaded my M3 with XP2 film, and hope things will be manageable. This time we decided not to leave Pensacola and stay put. It is too tiring to keep on leaving by car driving left and right to find a motel and then stay glued to the phone and/or TV to monitor what has happened in Pensacola. There is a shelter at the university, and we may drive over there if the hurricane is Category 3 or higher (which seems to be the case). I still have not bought a generator. My wife fears the dangers of having a generator at home (Carbon Monoxide poisening). People are going nuts here in preparation for the hurricane; long car line for gasoline and long cashier lines at Walmart, Lowe's and Home Depot. Everybody chips in to make this a booming economy!

Welcome back, Al.

Al, first, I'm glad to see --first hand, as far as the 'net is concerned-- that you're OK. Second, I told ya, you'd go into withdrawal. The eye of a hurricane just whisks on by and what do you do?, you're looking for coffee and your Bessa/15mm combo.<BR><BR>

I didn't want to post on James's thread for I wanted to hear from you myself; and of course, e-mail would be the last thing on your mind.

Raid, I hope the storm never gets close enough to require you and your family to go to a shelter! One thing I discovered tonight was that there were more people wanting to charge their cell phones at Starbucks than available wall outlets! If you lose power at home, or end up in a shelter, bring a multi-outlet "power strip" or at least a three-way plug adapter with you. You'll be really popular! Don't forget your car charging cord for the cell too. Stay safe!

 

Gabriel, I called James and asked him to make the post because I Email with a lot of people here and suspected that I'd be off line for a day or two. Most of you don't have my cell number and the listed number is either connected to the computer or the alarm system, and never gets answered.

Reminds me of the time I was going to ride down to the Cape for a Shuttle launch, only to

have a

hurricane abort that trip (Andrew...), so I went to the gulf instead (St George Island).

Having rode the Beemer there was fun, setting up the tent and keeping the mosquitoes off

my tender, white ass was another.

 

The whole night I spent in fear as thunderstorms

loomed on the horizon (and me in a tent reading Somerset Maugham, swatting skeeters). I

rode to Appalachacola in search of Calamine lotion, as I was covered in bites save for my

privates... Later after spending the might in Panacea, I almost hit a large pig outside of

Ashland on the way home to So Ga. I very nearly dispatched him with the mdl 38, but

thought better of it. Ah yes good times, good times

 

Glad all is well Al.

I'm glad you're well, and it sounds like you even got some great pics for the 15mm project. Looking forward to seeing them.

Hi Al,

 

Glad to hear you're alive and well :)

 

I saw some footage from Florida (Miami) on TV last night and thought of you... Man, talk about windy weather ;)

 

Post some photos of the aftermath soon!

 

Regards,

 

Denis

The city sanitation workers were out first thing this morning filling their packer trucks with the piles of branches in front of everyones' house, making sure to produce enough noise that we all noticed their efforts. Yesterday they had crews out with chain saws until it got too dark to see. I suppose the cities and county will figure out some way to get the federal government to pick up the tab. Those guys are probably getting double time-and-one-half for coming in on Saturday.

guess you don't need the additional aspirin and 90mm lens

therapy! Welcome back!

Sounds like you missed the perfect opportunity to get rid of a caffene addiction.

Al, you really have to get yourself one of those camping packs, so you could brew your own coffee when the electricity is down. I have it in my emergency pack, should a Californian earthquake render us powerless.

I second to Yaron. I won't travel without a Esbit solid fuel stove and 2 film cans of instant coffee, which fit into a vest pocket. Backup is stored in my kitchen just for the case...

Yeah, I coulda dragged out the camping stove I suppose along with the percolator or just poured the hot water through the filter part of the electric pot, but I enjoy being out amongst people, meeting them, conversing with them, and Starbucks is less than half a mile away and is located midway between the campuses of Florida International University and Johnson and Wales University, less than 2 miles from either one, and Barry U not much further. Lots of college girls! And skin tight hip hugger jeans and mini-skirts are fashionable again. Even the braless look their grandmas' generation pioneered seems to be coming back in favor! Compared to that, my house is a very boring place, even with fresh brewed coffee.

:) ok Al, you win!

Unfortunately, except for some local girls I think they all flew home to escape the storm ;-(

 

Still, I've had some interesting conversations with several local students, both male and female. Last night I was pumped for information about poet Allen Ginsberg and author Jack Kerouac, and what I thought the influence of "the beat generation" writers had on the later hippie movement. He flipped out when I told him that I'd met Ginsberg and photographed him for a magazine article years ago. Yeah, I like going out for coffee! It keeps me youthful. Now if only the co-eds felt the same way. What the hell, a guy can dream, can't he?

Funny how these things go. At 4PM my wife and I are watching TV and we are told that the eye will pass just south of us at Lighthouse Point and that Boca Raton will be the hardest hit.

 

 

An hour later a jog to the south, another hour later another jog to the south, and finally it hit Al Kaplan.

 

We had some rain, about 3-4 inches and some wind maybe 50-60 mph at most. Lost power for 10 minutes but my 15KW propane generator kicked in and the TV was once again working.

 

Al, get yourself a 15KW generator and you can work in the darkroom all night. ;-)

 

Mike

Tomorrow we'll know more about the path of the hurricane. So far, Pensacola may be OK unless the hurricane changes its path. <br> What type of coffee do you drink at Starbucks, Al? If you are getting social interaction at Starbucks and if you enjoy it, maybe it's time for a Starbucks Series by you. I was on the phone with my mother and brother in Baghdad, and in comparison a hurricane warning is a piece of cake. They get 5 hours no power and then 90 minutes power. My sister's home has been cut off water for the past 50 days. They live in the central part of Baghdad. It is 45C in the shade in Baghdad, and that's a "cooling down" trend from the 55C they had. I guess, this puts things in perspective for me.

Raid, 19 or 20 of the 15mm series were shot on the outside patio or inside at the local Starbucks. Look for small dark round tables, square light colored columns, and paper cups. I order a "tall coffee", not really sure what blend that usually is, but it keeps me going and tastes great! I feel really bad about what your mother and sister are going through in Iraq.

Katrina's on the way to New Orleans. Hope we fare as well as Al. It's been 40 years since we've been hit by a major hurricane, 40 years of coastal erosion, loss of barrier islands, etc. Could be bad.

John, I wish you and your family a safe shelter until the hurricane blows away. I have a good friend in New Orleans who also must be very worried for his family. The city is below sea level and any flooding could be disastrous. I hope nothing bad will happen.

Al, There are now at least two Starbucks oulets in Pensacola close to where I live with my family. I usually get a Latte' or iced coffee in the summer. At home, I favor hot tea, brewed Iraqi style to be full flavor with some cordomom seeds thrown in Indian tea.

Raid, I look forward to the day when we sit together and I can try some of that tea with you. Be safe.

Thanks, Al. Things will be clearer by tomorrow.