Hurricane Sandy

this storm is no better or no worse than all the other storms that cause massive damage to communities.
But this is the coast of NY, Long Island,new Jersey and without a doubt its probably the heaviest populated area along any coastal area in this country
Theres just too many people and not enough places to put them.
My son still has no power, but the electric company said they expect to restore 90% of Long Island by weds.
The coastal areas, they are going to be months, since theres nothing left and it has to be rebuilt from start.

my son got his power restored at 5:30, couldnt come soon enough with temps dropping down to freezing tonight.
Hes waiting on the tow truck company to pickup his car.
My daughters car went to the body shop this afternoon, so we are making a little progress.
The contractor is waiting on the insurance adjuster so he can get started repairing the house damage.

Good to hear he got power back.

I added to my to-do list this week to replace the gas in the generator and fire it up. It's an older noisy one and not needed it except one time, paid for itself that one time though. We've got a pellet stove which I can manually light, but needs about an amp to run the feed motor and blower. We used it our first winter to heat the house, does a good job keeping it all warm by itself.

a tale of two idiots..........

I drove my wife and daughter to work this morning, they had alot of bags and boxes.

On my way back(2 blocks) I noticed the gas station on the corner looked like he was about to reopen again, and there wasnt more than a 20 car line, but my tank is almost 3/4 so Im good. I went home and went for my morning walk.
Now its 5 minutes after I just saw that line, and its already 4 blocks long.
As I was walking down the main avenue, I saw a woman pull up in a nice new car, and a woman making a U turn to get on the line. They pulled up about the same time, but the woman who made made the UTurn was not letting the woman who pulled up to the line go. They kept inching up and then the horn beeping started. Eventually, they tapped front ends, dont know what damage, didnt see it, but they jumped out and were yelling at each other.
2 idiots.

sounds like NY'er everyone always seemed to be in a hurry to argue no matter what the weather was or event.

my wife called me 10 minutes ago, so and so was just at a station on the main drag,(sunrise highway rt 27), and purchased gas with only a 3 or 4 car wait.
I got there within 5 minutes the line is a 1/2 mile long, and the guy only has 2 pumps, so thats about a 3 hour wait.
nothing is changing here, except we are getting snow today.
I wish fema and the others who claim to be handling things get a grip on things. Personally, I hope they fire them all. They are not performing the duties they are getting paid or elected to do.
I do not live in a third world country, and since we already pay the highest real estate and school taxes in the country, we deserve a bit of service. Not to mention the highest electric rate from a company who if they dont lose their certificate to operate in this state, I think I will move.where to I dont know, but there is going to be mass wide spread panic here soon if they dont get the electric on and the gasoline flowing.

Sorry things aren't moving along faster Allen...hang in there.

Allen my ex-dauther in law,worked for fema here in TN after the floods here. Tipical red tape bull crap. They can't do anything with out filling out a form at least 10 times, before going to upper managment. Then it takes them for ever to make the right call, if at all. Sorry for your troubles, Things will get better,but the people will do it not the goverment.

very weird weather.

last year, we had maybe 3-4 inches of snowfall, all winter.
right now, there is 2-3 inches on my driveway and sunday and monday they are expecting temps close to 65F
crazy stuff

My heart goes out to all your neighbors who must suffer through this colds snap with no heat. How's the shelter situation Allen?

we have heat.
we have alot of friends in howard beach queens(where me and my wife grew up) that dont have heat,or electric, or even gas, some still have water in their homes downstairs.
Most have moved in with relatives, the stubborn ones wont leave their homes, fear of looting although looting isnt a problem in howard beach.
this afternoon, alot of our friends in south nassau got their electric turned on, just in time.

my son is making progress. the adjuster sent him the reimbursement amount, not sure if it will be enough, but its a starting place. I dont know if fema will offer him any financial aid to cover any gaps or deductables.
Hes on top of it though, so things should move quickly for him.

we just noticed alot of the tree branches are weighed down with the heavy snow, and more wires are being pulled downward, one in the middle of the street, and I dont think its high enough if a truck goes by, it may take it out.

the thing is, between the people my wife and daughter work with, friends, relatives of friends, people we know with businesses, alot of them lost most of it. Some businesses are gone in long beach and island park.(people we are friendly with)
the devastation is just so widespread with so many people we know, its horrible.

the guy that offered me use of his spraybooth in his autobody shop, his shop is destroyed, the building red stickered.

I woke up to a few more tree limbs scatter on my lawn and in the street.
Looks like aroung 6 inches of snow.
My daughter is here, so she said shed shovel, but I told her Ill crank up the snowblower..........oooopsss., no gasoline, scratch that idea.

I just wanted to clear the driveway so I can get my car out saturday and get out of town. 2 weeks Im cooped up in this house and I need a break.
I have some small projects in the shop, so I figured Id give my daughter a hand with the snow, and hit the garage for 2 days.
The snow plow was coming down the street, so I wanted to move the limbs in front of my home so he can do a nice clean sweep, and when I walked back into my front door, I didnt see the edge of the stoop buried in snow, and twisted my ankle.

so whats the expresssion, fit to be tied? thats me right now.

the ankle is throbbing, and now again, Im trapped in my home for a few days. at least.

I did manage to drive my wife to a local market for a couple of minutes, the gasoline lines are now longer than ever.

Dang, you guys are getting clobbered. Personally, I don't have a problem being cooped up in the house for weeks at a time. Kind of turning into a hermit here in the desert.

as of this morning, there are still 210 thousand homes serviced by lipa without electricity.
and thats not counting the thousands that they just took off the grid since the ocean swallowed them up.

Well Allen it's 81 and sunny clear blue skies down hear if you want to get away from it all up there!

local news announced 200 thousand cars were destroyed.
what a boom for the car dealerships, and used car prices are going way up.
tomorrow morning at 5 am, odd even gas rationing is starting in nassau county as well as nyc and boroughs.

I remember them days from the 70's. The odd even didn't matter as we had 2 cars. One had an even plate and the other was odd. Only ever drove one.

Im thinking averaging things, thats like 2.5 billion dollars in lost autos.
wonder whos going to pay for that. (I expect premiums all over the nation will go up next year)

my daughters friend drove up to new paltz today, and brought back 50 gallons of gas for her and my son.
Hes a good kid.
they are set for at least next week.

Sounds like a good friend.

Hope things continue to improve and everyone works together to get things back to a normal pace soon.