Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

And off we go!

Well, at least you know what colours I've gone with. GBG facets. 

The cord lengths have been cut to 80" (green) and 46" (black). The attachment loop has been tied, with two black and two green cords trailing, to be tied into the globe knot.

The green cord will go on first, with a 46" tail to go on the jig and a 22" tail because we need a total of 68" to make two passes.

The single black trace will be added last, with the two halves of the cord going on in opposite directions. 17" in each tail. 

I sure hope my math works out....

Can't get my recent scrapes to stop bleeding. Blood all over my desk, my pants, the floor..... Not going any further with the charm until there is no risk of bleeding all over it before it's even finished!

[Netfoot]

Small progress. 

The long green barely made it onto the jig with maybe an inch to spare. Which is really a short result because I prefer if I have a few inches to spare so I can start doubling while on the jig. I find this reduces any tendency for the knot to start to unravel. 

When I start to push in the pins on the jig one by one and tighten each strand in between, I will get progressively more loose cord and I will be able to chase the first pass of  green with the increasing amounts of slack. Just a couple of stitches to hold everything in place. The bulk of chasing/doubling can wait until the knot has been transferred to the ball and snugged up properly.

[Netfoot]

Green cord loose on the high carbon steel ball, and chased. 

This knot needs to be dressed neat and even on the ball. Then I can chase the two ends of the black on as well, between the two passes of green (GBG), to end up with a tripled knot. I just pray there is enough black cord here to complete the job. (IOW, I didn't cut it too short.)

Assuming all goes well with the tying and final dressing, we will then go into at least one, probably two rounds of tightening.

Each end of each cord needs a couple inches of excess to allow the ends to be "vanished." Then we will be done.

[Netfoot]

Uh-oh!

This closeup shows the facet where the attachment loop joins the rest of the knot. Two cords descend from the loop and chase the other pass on the upper side. Put another way, the upper pass of the facet diverts up into the loop. This is wrong!

One cord from the loop should chase on the upper side and the other should chase in the opposite direction on the lower side. To balance the facet.

To fix this, I will have to pull out one of the loop cords and re-chase on the opposite side of the main cord. But which loop cord should I pull out? One is 46" long and the other only 22". Obviously the short one is the better choice - less pulling out and less re-chasing for me to do.

Can you tell which of the two is the short one? Me neither! 😕

[Netfoot]

One-in-two chance of guessing right: nailed it.

You can see the upper cord from the loop chasing/following up the left hand side of the main pass. Meanwhile the lower cord from the loop chasing down on the right hand side of the main cord. 

All good. We will proceed. 

[Netfoot]

Fully formed and fairly well dressed. 

I will stop here. When I come back, I will tighten each pass which will produce a little extra length on the ends. There will be a little hammering on the lumpy bits if necessary. 

It doesn't look too bad! Colour choice gives me an attractive charms without it being too garish.

Mo is barking his ass off. He's been doing it all day. It's so annoying! I'd go out and blister his ass with lix! If I could only catch him.....

Edited June 27 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Slack pulled out of one of the four strands. Maybe 3".

Got to do the remaining three strands as well.

[Netfoot]

Done!

[Netfoot]

Wow! 📺 That was fun.... 😳

Off to bed late for some reason.

Coming In To Los Angeles by Arlo Guthrie in my ears. 

Pension dropped today. That gives me $28 on top of the roughly $5 I already had in the bank and the $7 in my wallet. I also get to cash my welfare cheque for $120. So a total of $160 at rough count. But got to go to the post office tomorrow to cash that cheque.

My woodwork guy came and we chatted. He has several  small jobs he wants done and he will come tomorrow (or so he says) and drop off the lumber he wants me to use. Should I see if I can get to the PO and back before he comes? Or should I wait for him to come (assuming he does) before going to the PO? I'll send him a WhatsApp and tell him I'm going out and another when I get back. That will protect me from him arriving while I'm out and also remind him I'm expecting to see him. 

Watched two movies today. The first was a revenge movie called (unsurprisingly) Revenge. Three men try to  murder a young woman but incredibly she survives. As they try to complete the job to cover their tracks, she sets out to turn the tables on them. There are several movies in this same vein but I was told this French version was the art-movie of the batch. If so, the prevalent paint was coloured red.

Second movie also features that colour, if in the name only: The Hunt For Red October. Sean Connery commands a Russian super-submarine which he wants to hand over to the US to sweeten the deal of the defection he is planning.

Well, the keychain charm is complete and attached to the keychain:

Not garish particularly, I think. 

The ball sinks to the bottom of the pocket while the cords at the other end float to the top. Always easy to find those keys in my pocket no matter what else is in there. 

I could tighten the globe knot a bit more by immersing it in boiling water for 30 seconds which will shrink the nylon. But high carbon steel is not stainless, not in this case anyway, so I don't want to subject it to a dunking. Besides, my round-jawed pliers have already tightened that knot quite a bit already. The cords do not move around at all on the ball. 

This particular charm was different to others I've done in the past. Normally, I tie the knot on the ball, with the extra length of the four ends being used to create the attachment loop. After the loop is fashioned, you still have the four ends to trim back and dispose of somehow. This time, I tied the attachment loop in the middle of the cords. So there are no ends to be seen there. Then I tie the globe knot around the ball, leaving the four ends of the two cords protruding from between the facets of the knot. These ends can be easily "vanished" leaving a charm such that the uninitiated can't find the ends of the cords anywhere!

Had PB&H for lunch. Different bread. Tasted much better than the last attempt. Dinner was sausages and egg with fried tomato. That tasted pretty good too. 

Just turned midnight. Will test blood sugar tomorrow morning. Been hovering in the high fives for the last few tests. This is "good" because 5.9 is the top of the OK range, but I always feel better if the number is lower. I'd prefer something too low even, rather than the high side of normal. 

Mo is here with me and has just started licking my feet. Oh, now he is curled up against my butt.... No, he's back at my feet again. I've taken his collar off for the night but he gets very stroppy if anybody tries to steal his collar! I have to take it off and immediately drop it in front of his face. Once he sees that you're not actually stealing it away, he calms down immediately and loses interest. You can then put it on the bedside table, or whatever you want. He's curled up against my back, now.

I'll post this and hit the hay. He's come round and is now curled up against my front. A tummy is in need of a rub!

Edited June 28 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Just heard that we have weather coming. Due Monday. Met. Office says: "By Saturday, a tropical storm watch as well as marine advisories may be issued." (Emphasis mine.) A Tropical Wave is expected to intensify into a Tropical Storm. And apparently, we are deas dead center in it's predicted track.

So it is still unclear what exactly is happening, but it's something to worry about. 

Gotta run to the PO.

 

Edited June 28 by Netfoot

[Browncoat]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Just heard that we have weather coming. Due Monday. Met. Office says: "By Saturday, a tropical storm watch as well as marine advisories may be issued." (Emphasis mine.) A Tropical Wave is expected to intensify into a Tropical Storm. And apparently, we are deas dead center in it's predicted track.

So it is still unclear what exactly is happening, but it's something to worry about. 

Gotta run to the PO.

 

I saw that on my local news/weather last night.  Stay safe!

[Netfoot]

In bed with a glass of ice and a bottle of water. Mo is nowhere to be found. He joined me on Garden Patrol a short while ago, so I'm sure he will turn up soon enough.

Went out to the PO and cashed my cheque, then I bought a bag of sugar and a sack of meat scraps. There was no evaporated milk and when I stopped at another store on the way home (getting soaked in the rain) they had none either. I never got to the bank to deposit the $127 in my wallet because I suddenly got a bad belly cuttings so I raced home and got there just in time. 

After that I waited for my guy who never showed all day. So I have just enough in the bank to cover the rent, and I can't deposit until Monday so I'm down to using cash direct to purchase. Maybe my guy will show tomorrow or maybe he will wait until Beryl departs (see later). It's a bit of a PITA because I could have got started on some of the work over the weekend!

Found the ugliest steak in the world in the sack of scraps. (The rain just started to fall and moments later I had a puppy snuggling with me. A dry puppy, thankfully.) I cooked the steak very slowly and fried some onions as well. I have potatoes and could have made chips but I chose not to. The steak turned out to be extremely tender and very tasty. I like my steak rare but if the cut of meat is dubious I prefer to cook it medium. So this steak was medium, but still very tender and very tasty. I ate it only with the onions. As I think about it now I could have sliced up my last tomato and had that with it but it really wasn't necessary. And the Hot Breath On My Hip thought it was pretty good too, since I cut strips off the steak and fed them to him!

Listening to Help Me by Joni Mitchell. Despite a giant reputation, I didn't really like her at first. But she grew on me and I have several of her albums now.

I had no dinner. Once again, I contemplated chips but laziness won out over nutrition. Well, I mixed Hotchup (which I made a while ago) with mayo and sweet chili sauce in a spoon and ate that for dinner. 

Instead of movies today, I watched a few episodes of the new season of The Bear which dropped yesterday. That is a 30-minute restaurant/cooking drama I was watching a couple months ago. This probably inspired my dinner. Head chef: "Use a  smaller steak. It makes the plate look cleaner!" They're thieving bastards, those fancy chefs. They think they are artists and that the customers come for the art. But I go to a restaurant for a meal. If I gotta stop at Roti Hut on the way home, you ripped me off! (The rain is now blowing in, forcing me to shut the window. And Mo had chosen this very moment to vanish. Not a good sign. I have a towel ready for his return!)

I've been looking for news on YT but there is no news today. Or more correctly, there are thousands of clips, but they are all about the same subject matter. And maybe that matter will drive a youse northerners crazy, but not me!

(The wet one has returned and is now licking the ice I'm my glass.)

Our TD has strengthened and is now TS Beryl. The Met. Office says that a Hurricane Watch may be issued tomorrow morning. I'm following the Met. Office WhatsApp channel so I should be able to keep an eye on any developments without undue difficulty. 

(He is/was only slightly damp. Now he is curled up behind me.)

I'm going to go read my book now. Mom has moved so he is laying along the back of my thighs and up against my butt. Legs in the air, it's a definite please for tummy rubs...

 

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Tropical Storm Beryl is strengthening and expected to become a hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday night and hence Barbados remains under Hurricane Watch. On the current projected track, the center of Beryl is expected to pass 45 km (26 miles) south of Barbados. The island is expected to feel the impacts associated with this system as early as late Sunday night 30th June, 2024."

[andidante]

57 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Met. Office: "Tropical Storm Beryl is strengthening and expected to become a hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday night and hence Barbados remains under Hurricane Watch. On the current projected track, the center of Beryl is expected to pass 45 km (26 miles) south of Barbados. The island is expected to feel the impacts associated with this system as early as late Sunday night 30th June, 2024."

Be safe Netfoot!!

[Netfoot]

Not well. Woke up feeling fine. Had a mug of tea and my tummy exploded. Extreme pains to the point of nausea. Cold sweats and shivering. Sat with sweat streaming off my body and dripping onto the floor. Ended up sitting in the middle of a sweaty puddle on the tiles. Today is very still and very hot (typical pre-storm conditions). Took some tummy-settling meds. Contemplated Panadol for the pains but they began to dissipate. Might be better not to mask any future pains so as not to conceal further problems from myself. Sweating considerably abated. Pains diminished significantly. What ever it was, it seems to be passing, but it was very unpleasant there for an hour or so. I'm still far from 100% and may take to my bed at any moment, now that I would no longer just soak the bedclothes in a minute. 

Watched the YT message from our PM. Defense Force, Police, Health Service, all government services... Everybody on alert. PM promises the storm will not be allowed negatively affect the big Cricket Match scheduled for this weekend. Because not even a German U-Boat shelling the capital during WW-II was allowed to interrupt the cricket match!

This island has an uncanny ability to "dodge" stormy weather. It's done so dozens of times that I can recall. My usual position is to doubt that anything can come of the predicted storm. Of course, you can't count on this sort of good fortune 100% of the time and you'd feel a fool if you ignored the warning then got a spanking. Today, feeling as I do, I really can't make any preparations. Even if I felt well enough, there is little I could do.

With some cash I might be able to build a barricade to help protect the van and the contents of my open-fronted garage. The lumber yards right now will be a bad-house mad-house of people buying lumber and plywood for boarding up windows, etc. Delivery services will deliver your order, but given the mad rush you might get it next Wednesday. I don't have the strength to handle that right now, and couldn't afford it if I did. So all I can do is make sure the windows are closed to keep out any rain, and when the storm does come (assuming it does) make sure Mo is safe & sound inside with me, and hope for the best. 

Sunday night may be the first time Mo and I miss Garden Patrol since he came home on 2021-OCT-16, when he was an itty, bitty baby weighing 5 lbs. But if the eye of the storm passes over at a convenient time.....

Having said all that, outside is overcast, but otherwise dry and clear.

Edited June 29 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Feeling a lot better - a little tender in the tummy, but... No lunch of course. No idea about dinner.

Here is Beryl, and just North of her predicted track you should see us cowering in fear. (Zoom in and you will see Mo and I waving at your satellite.) Click the arrow in the clock - bottom center - for a brief animation. I believe this is constantly updated so depending on when you view it, you will see something different to what I'm  seeing now.  It's very configurable so you can have lots of fun playing with it if that's your thing; switching to I/R after dark, etc. (It will be dark soon.)

Now, back to my iced water with Angostura Bitters!

ETA: If you point at the island (on the page) a pop-up appears which says "Hurricane Warning". I believe we are still under Hurricane Watch conditions. There is a significant difference in meaning between these two terms:

• A Hurricane Watch means that hurricane conditions (sustained winds of 74 mph or higher) are possible within the specified area.
• A Hurricane Warning indicates that hurricane conditions (sustained winds of 74 mph or higher) are expected within the specified area. 

We are as far as I know, still only under Watch conditions. That may change at any moment, of course.

Edited June 29 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Whooops!

The Watch has just been formally upgraded to a Warning. 

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl continues to intensify and is expected to become a major hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday night."

All the windows are shut other than the one right above the bed. I will close that tomorrow. 

In bed, glass of iced water on the small table beside me with Mo's nose stuck in it, damn it! It rained long & hard early evening so Garden Patrol was damp indeed. Had macaroni for dinner with a very thin sauce made from a tiny bit of bully beef, a few leaves of pak choy and an onion. Did consider black beans but deliberately chose simple. Wasn't terribly tasty but it was filling and no ill effects. Not even when I finished with a mug of hot tea. 

Mo has now departed but I had to refill the glass for him to finish drinking first. For a dog that must take a drink out of every puddle he meets, I don't know how he's so thirsty on a wet night like tonight. And it isn't like his bowl isn't full.

Listening to The Asphalt World by Suede from their Dog Man Star album. I really like this band. Front man Brett Anderson might be a bit of a dick - I respect Bernard Butler much more - but I don't fault his talent as a singer and songwriter. 

Mo has ninja'd back in and is curled up at the foot of the bed. 

Still only one subject of conversation on YT. Come on, people! Nobody can honestly be surprised at how it turned out. Can life please return to normal now?

Watched no movies but did watch a bit more of The Bear.

Rain now. Blowing in to sprinkle on me. Had to shut the window in a hurry. Mo moved to curl up against my back. No, he has decided to go out.

Remember the recently tied 40 facet keychain charm? I looked in the back of my recipe book. They have a recipe for a 176 facet knot! Apparently, it dresses well onto a ball or a cube! Never tried a cube before. And I can make perfect wooden cubes easily enough. (Perfect spheres not so much.) I am tempted to attempt a 176 facet cubical knot. Maybe from gutted Paracord, two passes in two colours.

How to do that math? Measure the width of the gutted Paracord. Multiply by four to get the area of a facet. Multiply by 176 to get the area of all facets (which should be equal to the area of the cube). Divide by six to get the area of one face of the cube. Square root to get the length of one edge of the cube. Cut cube of that size from solid wood on the table saw (or make up six squares and glue into hollow cube to add lightness).

Guessing ¼" for width of gutted Paracord because I'm not getting out of bed to go measure some: each facet would be ½" sq. so the area of the cube would be 44" sq. and a single face would have an area of 7⅓" sq. The cube therefore would be 2.70" on a side. But my math as usual is suspect.

Additional calculation: How much cord needed to tie? Take area of cube from above. Divide by width of.... Multiply width of gutted Paracord by two to get width of facet. Multiply width of facet by 176 to give length of one pass. Two passes will be needed. Plus extra for first pass, for fitting onto jig before tucking, dressing & tightening. At ¼" width, we are talking 88" of gutted Paracord cord per pass. 

The little jigs I have won't allow me to form a knot this size. I would have to make a larger, one-off jig to allow me to tie this knot. It wouldn't be too hard to do this...

Somebody stop me from going down this rabbit hole!

Rain stopped, window open again, Mo not returned yet. Quarter to one. Will read until Mo returns then go lock up. Guess I'd better sleep on the window side of the bed tonight so as to notice the rain. If I sleep on the wall side, it could be a while before I notice the rain is coming in and the bed could get quite wet before I take action.

Oh, great! A nice leg-cramp right now will definitely be convenient. 

Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Floyd....

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl intensified into a category 2 hurricane and is expected to become a major hurricane before reaching Barbados late tonight. Therefore a hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados. The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 73 miles (118 km) south of Barbados sometime early Monday morning 1st July, however, the island will begin to feel the impacts late tonight and into early Monday morning."

Calm & quiet at this time. Dry but partly cloudy/overcast. Mo woke me at 5:30 so sleepy. Will try for a nap later so I am mot too tired tonight/tomorrow morning.

Want a cuppa but yesterday morning  that leas to bad belly cuttings so not sure what to do. Lots of mosquitoes whining around this morning...

[Browncoat]

14 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 73 miles (118 km) south of Barbados sometime early Monday morning 1st July, however, the island will begin to feel the impacts late tonight and into early Monday morning."

Hopefully Beryl will stay on that track and spare you the worst!

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl intensifies into a category 3 hurricane therefore a hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados.

The reconnaissance aircraft is currently investigating the system and has found storm-force winds in the outer bands ahead of the system. Taking this into account storm-force winds are expected before midnight 1st July 2024. The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 73 miles (118 km) south of Barbados sometime early Monday morning 1st July 2024."

ETA: "The next update will be at 11am today..."

Edited June 30 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl continues to intensify as a category 3 hurricane. Therefore a hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados.

The hurricane hunter is still investigating the system and has found storm-force winds in the outer bands ahead of the system. Taking this into account storm-force winds are expected before midnight 1st July 2024. The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 75 miles (120 km) south of Barbados sometime early Monday morning 1st July 2024.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 km (30 miles) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 km (115 miles)."

The predicted track has moved a pivvy South. Not much, but it is better than nothing. Note that if it passes 75 miles South as predicted we won't get hurricane force winds but we will get storm force winds.

The next update will be at 2pm today. (The actual bulletin is written after the specified time so they can give the situation at that time. Then some intern has to remember to post it on the net. So it's never actually available/ready at the specified time.)

 

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl is now a category 4 hurricane. Therefore a hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados.The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 75 miles (120 km) south of Barbados sometime early Monday morning 1st July 2024.

At 2 pm today Sunday 30th June, 2024 the eye was located near 10.9N 55.6W or about 500 km (310 miles) east-southeast of Barbados. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 130 MPH (215 Km/h). The system continues its westward motion at 21 MPH (33 Km/h). The minimum central pressure is 960mb. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 km (30 miles) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 km (115 miles). The hurricane hunter's recent investigation of the system shows Berryl resembles the classic major hurricane pattern with a perfect eye and eyewall."

The next update will be at 5pm today.

Edited June 30 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Been looking at the animation for Beryl. (She is very pretty!)

The last major hurricane to hit Barbados was Janet in 1955. Before my time. My aunty Ju used to tell the story all the time. That was only 70 years ago, but back then they only suspected a storm was coming because some ship on the high seas saw it and reported it's presence. Probably using CW (Morse code). Or because (as aunty Ju used to say "The sky turned brassy, brassy, brassy, two days before!" 

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl is a category 4 hurricane. A hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados.

Higher gusts have already been reported across the island during the afternoon. The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 80 miles (130 km) south of Barbados sometime early Monday morning 1st July 2024. However, from early tonight, feeder bands associated with Beryl will begin to bring occasional showers and gusty winds up to storm force.

At 5 pm today Sunday 30th June, 2024 the eye was located near 11.1N 56.5W or about 400 km (250 miles) east-southeast of Barbados. Maximum sustained winds are 130 MPH (215 Km/h). The system has slightly changed direction and slowed down to west-northwestward at 18 MPH (30 Km/h). The minimum central pressure remains at 960mb. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 km (30 miles) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 km (115 miles).

The next update will be at 8pm today."

Note that the predicted track creeps further South which is a good thing. Although the eye is still 250 miles away, measuring on the satellite photo gives me only 30 miles from the edge of the storm to a landfall here and with the forward speed of 18 miles. the edge of the storm should arrive in under 2 hours. I am going out to get our wheely bin and bring it inside where it is less likely to be blown away. Unless the roof comes off, which is my greatest fear seeing how crap this house is.

Will bring Mo inside as soon as it starts to look bad.

Hopefully this will be a storm in a teacup (heh!) and the worst disruption will come from them deliberately shutting down power, telecomms and water to safeguard the systems.

The roof over my head, as I sit here at my desk. 😕

[Netfoot]

Wheely bin moved into the garage, saws, lathe, grinder wrapped in plastic.

Sound of Hilty drills and hammering wafting in from all around the neighborhood, as everyone battens down.

 

[luv2lurk]

Thank you for the updates - it's nice to hear what is happening on the ground.

In addition to wheely bin and covering tools - are you prepared for a lengthy power outage? With forecast wind speeds that is what I would worry about most.

[Netfoot]

36 minutes ago, luv2lurk said:

are you prepared for a lengthy power outage?

Depending on how bad it is, we could lose power for weeks. I'm hoping that the area I'm in will be a high priority for restoration of services. But I'm just guessing that might be the case. There is a supermarket, a mall, a very big hardware store, and several service-oriented businesses around me, and those might be considered desirable in the reconstruction phase. If it comes to that.

Somewhat annoying is when they deliberately take services down to "protect" them during the storm. I have no $$$ on my cell and if they deliberately take down my landline and internet I will be out of touch. My stove uses gas cylinders so I can cook while the electricity is off but the fridge/freezer (into which I just packed 5 Kg of meat) won't run without power. 

As for preparations, all the usual stuff I would normally do, I can't afford to do much of it. (Fill gas tank on van, get spare/full cylinder of gas for stove, top up phone, buy some basic non-perishable groceries, etc.)

Really hoping this turns out to be little more than a bad thunderstorm. But by no means sanguine about that.

Nightfall, pretty much. I'm going to bring Mo's feeding station inside. 

Edited June 30 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl is a category 4 hurricane. A hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados.

The center of Beryl is expected to pass about 80 miles (130 km) south of Barbados early Monday morning 1st July 2024. A feeder band associated with Beryl will bring showers and gusty winds up to storm force around 9 pm tonight.

At 8 pm tonight Sunday 30th June, 2024 the eye was located near 11.2N 57.3W or about 320 km (200 miles) southeast of Barbados. Maximum sustained winds are 130 MPH (215 Km/h). The system has slightly changed direction and slowed down to west-northwestward at 18 MPH (30 km/h). The minimum central pressure remains at 958mb.) Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 km (30 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 km (115 miles)."

So essentially going according to latest forecast.

By the way, since I don't live near the coast nor own a boat, I have been paying only cursory attention to the Marine Warning. But here is an interesting quote: "Model guidance suggests swell heights will peak near 8 meters (26 feet) around the coastlines of Barbados creating a very unsafe marine environment."

At 8:45 Mo and I set off on Garden Patrol but got no further than the garage before a strong shower of rain came roaring down, forcing us to pause. Well, they said 9 pm for the feeder band, so I guess they were on point there! After 10 minutes the shower reduced to a light drizzle and we Patrolled as normal, but we did not dilly, nor did we dally. By the time we came back to the house there was some stiff gusts but nothing remarkable. Fortunately, I was able to notice and recover my green, Paisley handkerchief that someone had removed from the clean laundry and left outside, neatly folded still, to get soaked.

The rain has not returned and the gusts have eased. Mo is sitting next to the van looking out. I don't know if he will come in by himself if/when really heavy rain starts but if not, I will fetch him in and lock the door. 

[luv2lurk]

This might be too late, but while you still have power, you could make ice blocks (I just use a loaf pan filled with water) and then place in a cooler if the power goes off. You can salvage the frozen meat that way.

As I recall items in a fridge are good for 24 hours and freezer 48 as long as you don't open the doors much.

Hoping the worst doesn't strike, hugs

 

[Netfoot]

22 minutes ago, luv2lurk said:

while you still have power, you could make ice blocks

Good idea. I have filled all the ice trays but I will freeze some 2L PET bottles. I won't need the actual ice so it doesn't matter that I won't be able to get the ice out. The frozen bottles should be good for keeping the freezer cold if the power goes off.

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Hurricane Beryl remains a strong category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 MPH (215 Km/h) and therefore, a hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados.

An outer band of Beryl will bring heavy showers and storm-force winds across the island after midnight. The center of Beryl expected to pass about 80 miles (130 km) south of Barbados early Monday morning 1st July 2024.

At 11pm tonight Sunday 30th June, 2024 the eye was located near 11.5N 58.1W or about 240 km (150 miles) southeast of Barbados. The system is moving in a westward direction at 20 MPH (31 km/h). The minimum central pressure is 959mb. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 km (30 miles) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 km (115 miles).

The next update will be at 2 am tomorrow, Monday 1st July."

It's now 11:34 and it's been calm and quiet. I've just been out for another look-see and there are occasional cool gusts accompanied by very light drizzle. As I sit here now, I just heard a brief sprinkle of rain on the roof but it only lasted a few seconds. Mo just decided to come in and curl up behind my chair.

I've just started watching a YT video about a guy who has just purchased a barn-find Austin 1300 Mk.III. My school chum Greg used to drive a blue one of these. Like a lunatic. The car in the video has been sitting there for 41 years and this guy is trying to get it to start. I'm familiar with the old BMC Transverse A-Series engine. In my youth I had three minis that used that engine, in the 848cc size. This one is the 1,275cc variety but is otherwise pretty much identical. The video has about 1:20 to run, so maybe Beryl will show up before I'm done.

We will see what we will see.

[Netfoot]

OK, just had a quick shower and crawled into bed. Mo was already tucked up on top of my top sheet. It's 1:06 and I just went outside. There was the occasional cool, blustery gust, accompanied by such a light drizzle that I'm still not sure if I imagined it or not. Now, there is the same cool, blustery gusts in the window and combined with wet skin, they are quite chilly! 

I'm listening to Bangladesh by George Harrison. We think Beatles equals Lennon/McCartney but the other two of the Fab Four made some worthwhile music too!

Don't know if you recall I had the world's ugliest steak a day or two ago? Well, it's cousin from my latest bag of meat scraps was even uglier! It had a large patch of connective tissue dead center. But I cooked it exactly like the last one, and apart from that very tough piece right in the middle, it was as tasty and tender as the last. But this time I also cooked a truckload of chips. So many chips there was no room for the steak and I had to balance it on top of the fries and pour the onions and gravy over the top of everything. 

While exploring the bag of meat scraps I discovered several bits of chicken. Breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings and ribs. There were three very large bone-in breasts So I removed the bones and separated the tenders. I fried these along with the steak. So lunch was three chicken tenders, tender and tasty steak, and a truckload of chips. Passed on dinner....

Now, before cooking myself lunch, I took all the bones from the three breasts plus the largest section of rib and boiled them up. When they'd cooled, I took a fork and separated the meat from the bones. The meat was Mo's lunch and the bones went in the bin. 

Watched a movie today calmed Trigger Warning starring Jessica Alba. She takes leave from the army to come home and settle her dad's affairs after he died. She also takes time out to deal with a crooked politician and his family plus bent cops who conspire to give her a hard time. Meh....

Still cool, blustery gusts in the window but no sprinkles. I will stop here and read. There should be another bulletin in 30-45 minutes. After that I will go to sleep until/unless something actually happens.

Baby is fast asleep after his tummy rubs!

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "Feederband from Hurricane Beryl is expected to bring storm-force winds of 50mph to 60mph gusting to hurricane force and some heavy showers across Barbados within the next hour (from around 3am). A hurricane warning remains in effect for Barbados.

The center of Beryl is still forecast to pass about 80 miles (130 km) south of Barbados early Monday morning 1st July 2024. Additionally, marine conditions continue to deteriorate with increasingly large ocean swells expected closer to mid-morning. Although Berly has weakened slightly it remains a strong category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 MPH (195 Km/h). At 2 am Monday 1st July, 2024 the eye was located near 11.5N 59.1W or about 175 km (110 miles) south-southeast of Barbados. The system is moving in a westward direction at 20 MPH (31 km/h) with a minimum central pressure is 965mb. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 45 km (30 miles) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 km (115 miles).

The next update will be at 5 am tomorrow."

Nothing new here. Cool, stiff breeze but no rain. Oh, wait! Just felt a couple of drops. 

Look, I'm going to close the window and go to sleep. Mo is dead to the world. If anything of significance happens if will wake me and I will deal with it. 

Will say more later. 

[Netfoot]

Mo and I are fine. We had no power when I woke at 5:42 AM and it's only just come back. With no power my fiber router was offline so no comms.

No sign of damage from my house but I have been listening to the AM radio in the van. There have been reports of trees down, roofs off, boats smashed while afloat or thrown onto the shore. Very rough seas with large waves breaking far up onto land. Family report all well with them; no bad news on club group. 

The all-clear has not been given. We are told Beryl is strengthening again and a new "feeder band" is now threatening us with more wind and rain. Wind here had been nowhere as bad as I thought it might get and there has been very little rain. I guess I happen to live in just the right spot. Plenty of videos surfacing on WhatsApp but I can't figure a simple way to "forward" them to you 

Assuming I don't lose power (or internet/phone directly) I will report again soon. 

My computer died (obviously) when the power went out and for some reason I can't get it back up again just yet.

Mo and I listening to the news on the van's radio:

Edited July 1 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Link to short video of the view from my garage earlier. It's been just like that all day and is much the same now. Windy but not terribly. Not particularly rainy. No actual damage to anything visible.

Obviously, the house roof could get blown off any moment, but it doesn't look likely. Knock on wood!

[Netfoot]

Met. Office: "The Hurricane Warning for Barbados has been DISCONTINUED at 2pm today Monday 1st July 2024."

We are still under a "Wind Advisory" which just means there are still strong winds gusting around so be careful.  But essentially, it's all over. 

Mind you, there was hurricane Faith in '66 which reversed it's course twice and struck Anguilla (I think) three times... But I doubt that is going to happen.

[Netfoot]

Wind still blowing cool and nice.

Having issues with water. I am getting it, but water pressure is low and there can be up to a minutes delay between turning on the tap and water flowing. Obviously something amis with the system. Pump broken down or without juice or a busted line or two.

Had spaghetti for lunch, drizzled with EVOO and sprinkled with granulated garlic.

Mo and I are going to take a nap now.

[Browncoat]

My local news showed footage from Barbados today.  They weren't specific about where in Barbados, but it just looked like a windy, rainy day.  Nothing catastrophic.  But!  There is another system just off the coast of Africa that seems to be taking a similar path to Beryl.  If it strengthens, it will be called Debby.

[luv2lurk]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Having issues with water. I am getting it, but water pressure is low and there can be up to a minutes delay between turning on the tap and water flowing. Obviously something amis with the system. Pump broken down or without juice or a busted line or two.

 

I read somewhere that the entire water system was shut down last night, before the storm (7pm I think). That you were able to take a shower was due to residual water in the lines.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, luv2lurk said:

I read somewhere that the entire water system was shut down last night, before the storm (7pm I think).

Well, it's off here now. Fortunately I have a few liters in hand, and with any luck it will be back on soon. 

Meanwhile, I had oatmeal with raisins for dinner and... can't remember lunch.

ETA: Just remembered - spaghetti & garlic powder. 😐

Edited July 2 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Going to bed early. Janice singing Ball And Chain and the fan (and the window) blowing cool. Guess I'd better get up and see if there is water in the taps and if so, take a shower.

Computer still dead. If I had a dollar for every time Light & Power has killed a computer of mine I'd be able to go buy a new computer!

Finished my book; #4 in the Egyptian series. Not my favourite so far. The ancient eunuch, savant and former slave visits the Fountain of Youth and not only regains his youth but regrows his missing "Wedding Tackle" as well. Hmmm. I know he is refered to as a wizard but his wizardry is of the type where he magically eases your pain by mixing up a potion from the sap of the red poppy. So, believable magic. But Third-eye, astral travel & fountain of youth magic? Uh, no... But still somewhat entertaining in the context of the previous three books. 

Now, #5, Desert God. Set between #3 and #4 it returns to the more believable form of the earlier books, or so implies the blurb. Only time will tell.

But right now I have a puppy curled up against my back butt feet so I want to get that front door closed, shower if there is water and get the lights off.

Oh, BTW! Mo terminated a mouse this evening. He chased it into the box fan in the bedroom just as I switched it on remotely from out in the living room. I heard the rat-a-tat-tat from half the house away! Tomorrow I will take the screen off the fan and dispose of the little interloper!

Gone!

ETA: Water back... somewhat. Pressure very low. Was able to have a brief shower. Not sure if it will last. 

Edited July 2 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Dumb-assed landlord woke me at 6:00 because he couldn't find the rent cheque in his leaky mailbox. "Of course not. We had a hurricane! I have the cheque right here on my desk. Wait a minute..."

And the computer which refused to power up yesterday, is sitting there at a Login: prompt. So, I logged in. Or tried. But the keyboard wouldn't work.  So I unplugged it, gave it two whacks, and plugged it back in: Problem solved.

Now. Back to bed!

[Netfoot]

Ok. Dinner, Garden Patrol, mug of tea, shower, bed.

I didn't really go back to bed this morning, but maybe I should have. The water was back on full pressure, and as soon as I remembered it I removed Mo's mouse from the fan and disposed of it. Sorry to say it was not a mouse after all. It was a small rat!

Two chicken breast sandwiches for dinner, with chips. Pretty tasty. Now, a chicken breast is never a perfect fit for a salt bread. So some bites have more chicken in them and some have more bread. I notice (perhaps unsurprisingly) that he more chicken the better the bite tasted. Not just that it was more chickeny but also less metallic. 

Been slightly more windy than normal, but otherwise an unremarkable day. Went to buy bread & milk but they had no evap. So on to another store which also had no evap. I've been having trouble finding evaporated milk for weeks! I was forced to buy imported Carnation evap. Instead of Pine Hill (local standard) and ended up paying $12 per liter instead of the $7 I'd pay for the usual. Also bought sausages, corned beef, tomato sauce and a few other basic items. Stopped at Kooyman on the way home and bought a $7 rat trap. The reusable type. I recently learned that certain types of trap are illegal in many countries in Europe. An icelandic woman was recently fined 600 whatevers for using one of the illegal type. Mustn't harm the little darling rodents! 

Apart from the 72¢ in the bank I now have about $35 left in my wallet. I reserve $30 of that for a bag of chow for Mo and tried to put the remaining $5 on my phone but the lady told me that her computer was "down" so I was not successful.

(The whole concept of computers being "down" was introduced by Microsoft when they released their crap Windows operating system. I know, because I was building and using computers before that. I built my first computer from SSI TTL chips, a Z80A CPU, a few LSI parts and a handful of discrete components. Used an Antex 25 watt soldering iron!)

Oh, by the way, my bruised leg is much improved. It now hardly hurts at all, but it has started to itch. I can scratch it quite vigorously without invoking any painful reaction.

Mo is here and he stinks. I dunno what he has been playing with but he has a real pong going! I did try for a nap this afternoon but never got any shut-eye. Cramps kept forcing me to hop out of bed. Also, Mo came and plonked himself down with his butt in my face and all four feet in the air. I can take a hint so I rubbed his tummy. This caused him to "peddle the bicycle" with his back feet, kicking me repeatedly in the face... That's when I first noticed he was stinky, but it's worse now. So he has obviously found something nasty to play with and it is now his favourite new toy.

Watched no movies today. Viewed some YT videos instead. People building space frame vehicle chassis (or what they erroneously describe as space frames) and one guy in Canada hamming it up on camera, refurbishing an ultralight on floats. He may know what he's doing with the ultralight but he knows nothing about making videos!

Also some news segments but there is still only one topic of discussion and the panelists are all either incredibly stupid or annoyingly disingenuous. I don't know if it's just me, but I seem to recall a time that when you were confronted publicly and shown to be an outright liar, you retired in shame to lick your wounds. Now, you just keep saying, "No, you! no, you!" And everyone is satisfied with that.

After going to so much trouble to shake up my guy to get some work out of him, a damned hurricane had to come along and get in the way of things. Now I have to start all over again and see if I can get him rolling. A sub-$1 bank balance is not a good thing. And 10-ish days before another welfare cheque comes my way. Assuming it does, because they never did tell me the plan. They may be ongoing but it may be only for three months or something like that. Cheques not expected before Thursday or Friday next week.

Stinky had departed and I might just sneak out and lock the door before he comes back in! In any event I'm gonna stop here and read a while. Got sausages defrosting so I suppose I will have a couple of them tomorrow. Should have bought eggs. But then there'd be no reserve for Mo-food.

Stairway To Heaven by LZ. "To be a rock and not to roll!"

Stinky's back....

Edited July 3 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

I think my eye-string popped last night. I just couldn't get to sleep at all. The last time I checked the clock it was 4:57 so I think I probably fell off around five. Mo woke me at 6:30 to open the door, after which I returned to bed until 8:00 when the Morning Meds alarm woke me again.

While i slept, a heavy rain began to pour. It blew in and woke me, forcing me to close the window. I can't recall if it was before or after opening up for Mo (groggy) but I think it was before. It's still raining heavily now (9:40) and isn't looking like it's going to stop any time soon.

I jokingly said yesterday that I was going back to bed. Having taken my meds, checked my messages & news and brewed and drunk a mug if tea, I think I will go back to bed. Mo is already there, still sleepy, still stinky. I may as well join him. I can read my book and if that puts me to sleep, so be it.

I should build myself a bedroom computer. Actually, I should build myself a bed! Complete with built in features & services. Like computer, audio, telephone, Qi & USB chargers, small bookshelf, etc, etc, ...

ETA: Just woke at 11:50 and feel a little fresher. The rain has stopped. Will consider sausage & bread for lunch. Found a small patch of something matted into Mo's fur near his neck. Think it may be the cause/source of the stink. Will brush it out and see if his bouquet improves.

Edited July 3 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Earlier, I found something stuck in Stinky's fur, near his neck. It looked more like old chewing gum and smelled like stale meat. Using a stiff brush and elbow grease I brushed it away and his odour improved. Later, he came to chat with me and the stink was back! stronger than before! I think he had found a treasure that he is using to replenish the pong when ever it weakens. I looked around while we were on Garden Patrol but saw nothing suspicious.

Listening to Be Natural by Manic Street Preachers. This is off their This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours album, which I like best. Some who claim to be true connoisseurs of the band say their first three albums were better, but that is not my experience. The discussion is complicated by the fact that one of the founding members of the band known to be going through depression and other issues disappeared off the face of the earth in 1995 after their third was recorded. His car was found near the Severn bridge (a well known suicide spot). Despite many supposed fan sightings since, he has never resurfaced and was declared dead in 2008. The band still pay his share of royalties into an account held for him in his name.

Puppy was just here. Stinky. And I can't find anything in his fur, but I have not searched exhaustively. He's gone again. 

Bread, sausage and cheese for lunch. Bread and cheese know sausage) for dinner. I have 5-6 sausages remaining but decided not to cook them. That was the last of the bread. I have put two chicken wings to defrost (Mum: "solve-off") and expect I'll fry them up crispy and have them as a snack lunch tomorrow. 

Will do my blood glucose tomorrow. Would normally have done it Monday but the power was off. I try to check every third day.) I use a little program to record the numbers on server overseas so with no power or internet I couldn't do that. By time power returned I had already had at least one mug of tea. I test first thing in the morning while "fasted". Anyway I tested Tuesday (4.6) and I will test again tomorrow, which will put me back on my original 3-day sequence. 

After eleven! Didn't sleep well last night so hopefully I will get off easily tonight and make up for it without issues.

Shoot, Mo just sicked up in the bed a little. Not much and easily dealt with. But I now have to wonder if he is coming down with something. I hope not. The vet won't be very impressed with my 72¢ bank balance. 

Ok, let me go deal with this now.

Edited July 4 by Netfoot

[Browncoat]

8 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Shoot, Mo just sicked up in the bed a little. Not much and easily dealt with. But I now have to wonder if he is coming down with something. I hope not.

He might have just eaten a bit of whatever stinky thing it is that he's found.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

He might have just eaten a bit of whatever stinky thing it is that he's found.

Maybe, because he is not very stinky this morning. Still investigating...

[Netfoot]

Just back from a quick run to the supermarket.

Still no $18.99 Mo-grub, but the $28.25 grub has been reduced to $24.99 so there is that.

Took $5 left over and topped up my phone. 

Looked for evaporated milk - still none.

[Netfoot]

By the way, happy Independence Day to those of you celebrating today! Forgive me if I was slow to remember. I think a bit of feasting with close friends and family is the norm? Hope you had a good time.

Mo and I spent the day at home as usual, apart from a short trip out to get some food for Mo and to top up my phone. For my lunch I fried up two chicken wings until they were crispy. There isn't a lot of meat on two wings, but enough for my purposes. Dinner was another ugly steak (and there is a fourth still in the freezer) plus chips. I cut only half as many as last time and told myself they would never be enough, but when the time came, I pushed back from the table with my tummy tight as a drum! So good vittles today. My only mistake was when I made the gravy for the steak. I left a little too much oil in the pan so the gravy ended up slightly on the oily side. This didn't spoil the taste but I should have drained off some of that oil before deglazing the pan.

Heard from my wood furniture guy. He says he will come around tomorrow and give me the specific details of what he wants made. Tomorrow will be the third Friday he promised to do this, so hopefully three times is the charm! In fact. He also promised to come two other times mid-week so tomorrow will be the fifth day he's promised to show up...

Listening to Genie In A Bottle by Christina Aguilera. Can't remember which album that one is off of, but it might be her first after leaving the Mouseketeers (or what ever it was called). Back when she looked like she bathed more often. CA isn't a favourite artist of mine, but she does have a bit of talent and has produced some good tunes.

Mo is here, curled up against my butt, scratching himself. When we set off on Garden Patrol he was exhibiting a sort of nervous caution. Last night on Patrol I discovered a 12 volt battery charger out on the driveway and this morning when we set off to the shops I had to retrieve a sock. (Just the one.) So given his behaviour this evening, I was careful to shine my torch into every corner but no purloined possessions could be found. 

Oh, and he smells fine. And is gone again. 

Started watching a new movie tonight. Something called Space Cadet. About training NASA astronauts. Now, there is a book of the same name by RAH which I remember very fondly. It is one of his "Young Adult" stories. I was not expecting this film to be based on that book, but somehow felt that it might be similar in tone and quality. It wasn't. 

The landscape was populated by juvenile dimwits. Everyone was stupid, self-serving and visionless. Even the grownup NASA big-shots exhibited pure adolescent behaviour. I had to pause the show and step away. I don't know if I will bother to resume watching tomorrow or not. The only point of curiosity in me about the show right now is how they plan to launch the "ascans" (Kyuk! Kyuk!) into space. Seeing as NASA doesn't have any way to do that these days and have to beg Elon - or Putin - for a lift. (No, they can't ask Jeff, because his rocket might get you into orbit, but it won't bring you home again! 🤣)

Otherwise, watched YT videos on the design & construction of cyclekarts. In case you don't know, these are go-karts that use a 200 cc class, 6.5 hp Honda (or Clone) OHV engine with a  Comet TAV-30 (or clone) torque converter. They are severely restricted in size and weight and are styled to look like race cars of the 1920s and 1930s.

I am and always have been interested in automotive structures and design. Recently I've been looking at electric powered tricycles and reversed ("tadpole") trikes with leaning or tilting suspension geometry. I'm searching for a self-righting geometry design so when you exit the corner onto the strait the trike returns to the vertical on its own. So far, all the designs I have found require the operator (me!) to lift or push the trike back to the vertical manually when exiting a corner. And some sort of no-tilt locking mechanism is required to prevent the machine flopping over to one side or the other when parked. Or at the traffic lights.

I occasionally find mention of self-righting mechanisms but never any references or links to said designs.

Set my new rat trap yesterday. Baited with a nice, tough piece of raw chicken skin. I tied the bait onto the trigger with not one, but two pieces of steel wire to prevent it being stolen. This morning the trap was still set but the bait was completely gone, with the two steel wires still wrapped and tightly twisted around a chicken-skin shaped piece of thin air. <shrug>

Arrrggh! He's back, and he's stinky again!

Ok, I will end here and see if I can get a few pages of my book read before turning in for the night.