You are a complete moron if you think those planes could fly safely with a bunch of damn tornadoes around

We are so glad you and Joe are ok. We worried about y'all once we saw the line of storms headed your way. We've watched the weather all day long...that second tornado that came through Atlanta was horrible. Looking at the damage that has been done, it's amazing no one was hurt or worse...killed.

Glad you made it home safe and sound Charles!

Anyway, just surfaced from the basement. Few muscles wondering what the heck I am doing and i'm pondering why no one has come up with software to do your cleaning and packing.

Len! Decaffinated! Well, I completely understand where you are coming from, I cut back on coffee a couple of years ago, I now only have my two cups in the morning and that's it. At one point I had cut back to one.

C'est ca.

Why exactly do your drink coffee? I don't get it. Sore muscles, the sweet reward for misspent youth and middle age sloth.

Because it wakes me up in the morning! and

I'm sorry I didn't catch that, I must have nodded off.

I think the issue is the complaint about the airport having delays. Of course, we're all glad Charles made it home safe and sound. I do think, however, a bit more consideration was due considering the circumstances regarding the traumatic weather situation. Rather than complaining, maybe being glad the flight arrived at all would have been a better way of phrasing things.

With that said...I'm off. It's been a rough day all around here in Georgia.

Rough indeed! From the Atlanta journal Consitution:

UPDATED: 10:32 p.m. March 15, 2008
Friday tornado pummels downtown; Saturday storm kills 2

By TIM EBERLY, PAUL SHEA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/14/08 Two people are dead and Atlanta is under a state of emergency as the city picks up from the first downtown tornado in history.

The latest developments:

• A broad-reaching tornado watch spanning the upper half of the state has been issued until early Sunday morning. The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch that stretches from Rome to Columbus. The watch, designating conditions favorable for one or more tornadoes, will last until 1 a.m.

• Georgia nearly closed in on last year's record number of tornado reports, and 75 hail storms were reported Saturday. The NWS reported 10 possible tornadoes Saturday, all clustered in northern metro Atlanta and North Georgia, forecaster Stephen Konarik said.

"On March 1 last year, we had 14 tornados across the state," Konarik said. "That would be the bar in terms of most tornadoes in a single day."

There were 94 hail storms stretching across Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina Saturday, with the bulk of the storms landing in the metro area, he said.

• Gov. Sonny Perdue and Mayor Shirley Franklin declared a state of emergency in the areas of metro Atlanta damaged by Friday night's storms. In signing the executive order, Perdue said, "State resources are being made available to assist in the cleanup efforts. I have also spoken to FEMA Administrator David Paulison, and we will continue to coordinate closely to marshal federal, state and local resources as we recover."

• At least two people were killed during the storms -- one in Polk County and another in neighboring Floyd County. Neither person's identity has been released.

Floyd County Deputy Chief Coroner Tony Cooper said an elderly man, who was home alone, was killed by flying debris. "His house is gone," Cooper said. "You can't even tell it's a house. It was a small frame home."

Scottie Hancock, director of Floyd County's Emergency Management Agency, said two people in a car parked next door to the man's house also were critically injured when their vehicle was tossed into the air. The elderly man's wife had evacuated before the storm.

Hancock said about 20 houses were demolished and another 20 were damaged.

On the other side of the county line, a Polk County couple was snatched from their house and tossed into a field. The woman was killed while the man survived, according to local EMS director Thomas Wilson.

• Damage to the power system in North Georgia was worse than Georgia Power first thought. At Saturday's peak, about 41,000 customers lost power. By late Saturday, half of those customers had regained electricity, but there were still 20,000 across the state that were still in the dark -- 10,000 in the Atlanta area and 2,500 in Cartersville, Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson said.

Most of the outages in Atlanta were in the downtown area, Wilson said.

Company spokesman John Sell said two major transmission power lines coming out of its Bowen coal plant are down. The plant is near Cartersville. It's among the biggest on Georgia Power's system.

• State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine says the damage could be as high as $150 million, according to preliminary estimates. He said the bulk of that damage occurred at the Georgia World Congress Center, where windows were shattered, seats were scattered and portions of the ceiling sustained major damage.

"There is not a building that is safe" at the Georgia World Congress Center, Oxendine said.

• Much of north Georgia, including metro Atlanta, is under a tornado watch until 7 p.m., the National Weather Service said late this morning.

• Early this afternoon, authorities were advising people to stay out of three areas of the city: downtown, Vine City and Cabbagetown, especially the Cotton Mill lofts. An additional 125 officers will be patrolling those areas for the next 18 hours.

"It is important for the public to stay at home," Mayor Shirley Franklin said. "Do not use this as an opportunity for sightseeing."

• The Red Cross is placing displaced residents at two locations: Helene Mills recreation center and the Central Park recreation center. The agency moved at least 70 people from Helene Mills to extended stay hotels.

• As of noon, as the city braced for the next storm, 10,000 Georgia Power customers were without power. Crews repaired downed lines and poles throughout the night, with 30,000 losing power at some point. The peak outage was 19,000.

If the new storms are strong, the company said it will have its linemen stand down until it passes, to protect their safety. "We're monitoring the situation, as you might imagine," said spokesman Jason Cuevas. "If it looks like it's going to be severe, we'll pull them."

• Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran reported 30 injuries following Friday's storms; none were serious. The injured included one firefighter who suffered an ankle injury.

• Friday night's tornado was declared a category EF2, with the strongest winds reaching 135 mph. Tornadoes can reach up to a category EF5 with 300 mph winds. The tornado was 200 yards wide at its widest. It left a path of damage six miles long, said meteorologist Mike Griesinger with the National Weather Service.

• Friday's twister touched down near the World Congress center, Philips Arena, the Equitable Building, and then across to Cabbagetown. The twister is the first to hit downtown Atlanta since such weather recording-keeping began in the 1880s, Griesinger said.

• Damage was sufficient. At Centennial Olympic Park, two of the 65-foot tall "Hermes Towers" that resemble giant Olympic torches were blown down. The Georgia World Congress Center reported widespread damage, including to its roof. Even a downtown Atlanta penthouse belonging to Ted Turner suffered damage. The familiar bison-shaped sign outside his Ted's Montana Grill restaurant will need to be replaced.

• The tornado may have seemed to strike Atlanta with no warning, but that's not true. The weather service issued a tornado warning about 12 minutes before the twister touched down in the city, Griesinger said.

"There was a warning," he said.

He said 12 minutes is about an average amount of time for a tornado warning. The warnings are sent out to local TV stations, weather radios, emergency management offices and cell phones programed to receive weather alerts. The TV stations typically air such warnings almost instantaneously, he said.

Friday's storm hit fast and furious -- and with little warning.

Shortly before 10 p.m., winds whirled through downtown Atlanta, taking aim at CNN Center, the Omni Hotel and the Georgia Dome, which was packed with thousands of Southeastern Conference basketball fans.

The bulk of the storm's wrath fell on the core of the city.

Sections of the Georgia Dome's roof were ripped off, forcing officials to move the four remaining games in the SEC tournament -- three today and one on Sunday -- to Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Ticket holders will not be allowed in the arena. The first of three games today -- Georgia-Kentucky -- tipped off at noon, with the Bulldogs pulling off a 60-56 upset in overtime.

Access to the remaining games of the tournament will be limited to athletes' family members, cheerleaders, bands and other credentialed individuals, the SEC announced.

Officials from the SEC, the schools remaining in the tourney and the Dome deliberated from midnight to roughly 4 a.m. Saturday before announcing a new schedule and ticket policy. Alexander seats 9,191 fans, much fewer than the 25,000 the Dome holds.

For a few nervous minutes during Saturday's action, fans at Alexander Memorial Coliseum had a sense of tornado deja vu. Fans from both Tennessee and Arkansas were allowed into the building at about 4 p.m., two hours before tipoff of the Volunteers' and Razorbacks' tournament semifinal game.

Not long after the fans came in, the public address announcer informed the crowd that a tornado warning had been issued for Atlanta and that they should come further inside the coliseum and away from the glass that surrounds the concourse. They didn't have to be warned twice and scurried into the interior of the coliseum.

Not long after that, a severe thunderstorm came through downtown, pounding the roof of the coliseum, not unlike the way the Georgia Dome roof was pounded Friday night.

The storm lasted only a few minutes, but that was enough for frightened fans who'd been in the Dome the night before.

They remembered seeing a vacant two-story commercial building across from Centennial Olympic Park come down.

They remembered seeing massive pieces of metal siding peel off a Marietta Street parking garage and wrap around poles or clogged sidewalks and streets.

"I have not seen anything like this before," Atlanta fire Battalion Chief Gerry Rusinski said after surveying the scene Friday night. "It looked like 9-11 when we pulled up."

Somehow, serious injuries seemed to be few and far between in the aftermath of Friday's storms.

Four area hospitals, including Grady Memorial Hospital and Atlanta Medical Center, reported taking in 16 patients from Friday's storm -- most with minor injuries, though one reportedly in critical condition.

Ambulances responded to 106 calls between 9 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Denise Simpson, spokeswoman for Grady EMS, which handles ambulance transports within the city.

Simpson said that only 50 of those people were taken to four hospitals but only one person was kept for observation. Of the 50, 20 were taken to Grady hospital. Only one was kept for observation.

One was treated and released from Piedmont Hospital. Twelve were treated and released from Atlanta Medical Center. The rest were taken to Emory Crawford Long Hospital.

The same strong winds that sent patients to Grady also damaged buildings and ambulances there, officials said Saturday.

Among the hardest hit communities Friday was Cabbagetown, where this morning about 50 search-and-rescue team members worked on three areas of Stacks Lofts (170 Boulevard), which had collapsed. Large chunks of four floors collapsed on top of each other like a pancake.

The hunt for possible survivors or bodies could take up to 36 hours, Atlanta fire Capt. Bill May said Saturday morning.

Also taking a beating was East Atlanta Village, a hip enclave of restaurants and boutiques in the southeast corner of the city not far from Cabbagetown. Usually bustling weekend haunts such as Joe's Coffee Shop and the Australian Bakery were dark and empty, closed because of the power outages in the area. Along Flat Shoals Avenue, several massive trees were on the ground. Street signs and several roofs were crumpled and bent. Traffic crawled through the Village because traffic lights were still out after more than 12 hours.

Sandy Smith of Douglasville was at the SEC tournament game when the storm hit. The Alabama-Mississippi State quarterfinal game had gone into overtime when she heard a loud boom.

The ceiling started waving like a sheet.

"The lights started moving and the TV monitor started swaying back and forth," she said. Then a pole and sign tore a hole in the roof.

Outside, windows popped and shattered at the Omni Hotel. A billboard across from Olympic Park fell onto a car. Newspaper stands dropped in rows like dominos on sidewalks. Trees were pulled from the ground.

Darryll Douthard, 42, a valet parking attendant for the Thrive restaurant on Marietta Street, said one man drove into the parking garage as the storm hit.

As Douthard rushed him in a rear door, the man resisted, worrying about his car.

"Are you concerned with your car or your life? Douthard asked. "Get in the staircase!"

Marietta Street, deserted Saturday, turned into a sea of bodies hours before -- many of them in basketball jerseys. Some were crying and visibly shaken.

Other than an Easter egg hunt at the Governor's mansion, most of Saturday's activities were scratched. Philips Arena reported no damage but called off its "Winter Jam Spectacular" concert. The downtown St. Patrick's Day parade was canceled. And thousands of attendees were turned away Saturday morning from the Georgia World Congress Center, site of the Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting.

Several were still shaken from Friday night's trauma.

"The wind just kept getting faster and faster and louder and louder," said dentist Doug Clepper of Augusta. He and his wife took the fire escape downstairs from their 10th floor room in Omni Hotel.

"It was very surreal. People were dressed up for parties. Women were crying."

The storms also brought out the good sides in people.


[/b]

Yeah I hear you guys. To me it just said that Charles was having a rough day, long wait and he came to tell us about it, to me that didn't take away from the horrible news out of Georgia. But that's just my opinion and I certainly think you guys are entitled to yours.

The concern was with what fuzzness said, I just don't like to see people insult other people like that.

I think Charles was (rightfully) complaining about being late two hours, I don't think he meant that he was minimizing the horror or tragedy of what happened in Georgia. Fuzzness correctly pointed out the folly of flying under such conditions, albeit in a judgemental and assertive manner. Just a bit of miscommunication. It happens.

*realizes he took way too much cough syrup*

Oliver just asked me what a serviette was....
how precious!

Visited DC today with Bee and his brother and wife, where we saw the National Gallery of Art (and the bea-yooooootiful Da Vinci portrait they have there) and the National Portrait Gallery (where we took our picture with the Stephen Colbert portrait ). Long drive there and back, but it was a great time.

Off to soak my feet in hot water now and snooze

My sincerest apologies. I was mistaken in my opinion and it was never my intention to belittle or cause problems here in our Forum.

With regards to Atlanta airport, i do believe it ranks rather low on "on time" departures!!

Good morning! It snowed here - it's spring and it's snowing in Calgary!

You were in DC and didn't tell me?!@@%%&^

that was not stated, insinuated, nor implied on my part.

Yikes. I apologize for the rude behaviour, Charles. TOTALLY un-Canadian.

So..... looks like I have a lot to catch up on. Coles Notes version of my week:

1. Had a fantastic week with my friend. Didn't leave the airport until 2:00am; drove straight to the hospital in Melbourne; slept on a chair. Her daughter's fine. It was an attack of nerves. An $800 attack. Darned kids.
2. Was a couple of miles from Cape Canaveral so we got up to watch the space shuttle lift off at 2:28am for 15 seconds.
3. Watched a shark come right up on the beach after a fisherman's bait. Decided to swim in the pool.
4. Went through some model homes at million dollar prices. According to the sales agent, the outdoor fireplace with a fountain cascading over it into the pool can be omitted or redesigned for a cost savings of 17k. Think that might fit into the budget..... as long as I can omit the house.
5. Husband made appointment with plumber to fix hot water in guest bathroom. Apparently it stops working when you don't use it. Went to Lowe's and the plumber there told him he could fix it himself. Husband believed him. Flooded house. Had to call in emergency plumber who arrived while husband was out purchasing a wet vac. Plumber saw flood and said we had two options. Tear out kitchen wall to get to back side of pipes or.... tear out tiles in bathroom to get at front side of pipes. Either way, major restoration. Cursed husband and envisioned life without him. Plumber fixed problem without major dismantling of house. Tip of the week: Do not keep immigration documents in banker's box in room next to guest bathroom when you have a husband who believes salesjerks at Lowe's. I'll let you know when we start talking.

Do you know what I realized I missed while my friend was here? You know how English-speaking Canadians interject French phrases into a conversation? Like "Qu'est-ce que tu fais?" "Quelle heure et-il?" etc. I had stopped doing that because people looked at me blankly. Or, even worse, like I was crazy. My friend was doing that while she was here and I realized I really missed it. Made me homesick.

Them's fighting words. I think Charles forgot to add, nor was it his intent.

Crikey, you're in the US, pas de Coles it's Cliffs notes. As for DH and his attempts at home repair, all men are genetically programmed to engage in such undertakings. Don't be too mad at DH, MUMSIE has attempted his own unique method of home repair in the past with frequently dubious results ("l'll get the arc welder, a few welds and it'll be good as new." )

Just remember Crikey,
Sometimes its hard to be a woman
Giving all your love to just one man
You'll have bad times
And he'll have good times
Doing things that you don't understand
But if you love him you'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him
Oh be proud of him
'Cause after all he's just a man

Je suis tres desole, mais je ne comprend pas Franglais.

and omg crickey! I know what you are talking about, the have friends and plumbing challenges part. Suffice to say, boxing day, plumbing probs - 7 people in the house, no plumbing.

Anyway, I am so glad you are back!! welcome back <insert emoticon running around with flailing arms here>

That's the DH home repair icon. It is nice to hear from Crikey. I wonder if she has the shark's e-mail address?

It was a completely random and spontaneous trip planned by the in-laws! We didn't even have time to visit my friends in MD, we were in such a rush to fit all the museums in

you picked a nice day, weather was superb!!!

It was gorgeous weather! Bee brought a heavy jacket since he thought it would be freezing cold, but I brought my light jacket and was super comfy walking around the Mall. He was sweltering hot, poor thing

Had dinner in Baltimore with my sister-in-law's parents at Sabatino's, amazing food, great service, wonderful leftovers

Good Monday morning! I love Mondays! Here's coffee with a twist today. I just thought the heading was so cute. Welcome back Crikey! Sounds like you had a plum-ber time away from here. Aren't you glad you're back? Sounds like you had a fun day Nini...minus the sore feet!

thanks
altthough i do find a bit of humor in the situation - living in kansas and being lectured on tornadoes in the canadian forum

i see lady carla has the coffee, so i'll go butter her up

Good Morning All,

Funny (not too funny) story about the home-dis-repair Crikey.
Sorry to hear it.
My wonder-full partner decided he would replace a faucet in January, and I stood by to "observe".
He did a terrific job, even though it was his first attempt at such a thing.
What I didn't tell him is that I was guiding using telepathy.
Hee, hee.

Any more snow in Calgary dear Trailmix?
What a long and horrid Winter it has been for many. bleh

As I keep saying:

the unusual has become the usual


So Mumsie, has papa and mama gotten their tickets to the U.S. yet?
Or had mama already left?
I wish them all the happiness in the world...with a little left over for the rest of us.

Thanks Carla for providing the first cup each morning.
I would cut the coffee habit, but I like it too much.

And Liz please do get your cauldron out and use your alchemist powers to help out Ron and Sharon.
They need some faerie dust.


soon-to-be "Empress" Spirit

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

No, all sunny here today! Should be a high of 7, was just a glitch in the spring weather Also completely normal for our piece of the mountains.

Today we are going to venture down to the storage room. Not as bad as it sounds, my Husband has been down there a few times to start getting everything sorted, so that's all good.

Having a challenge finding somewhere to rent in Florida, everyone wants a lease of at least 7 months and as we are going to be looking for a small house to buy, we really only want to rent for say 3-4 months. What we will probably end up doing is moving in with Crickey

What we will REALLY probably end up doing is renting something furnished for a month and putting our stuff in storage.

Well, that's the smartest thing I've heard in a while.... mine is decaf, does it still count??

Of course it does! I drink decaf tea all the time (not a coffee drinker)
You just sit over here with stinky me!!!
I even got a big cushion for you to sit on, I know I know, the chair seems like such a long way down...don't worry Granny

B1TCH. I YOU.

OMG, I had a big old belly laugh when I read that! I'll squeegee out the spare room for you, T. Bring your swimming togs.

We had the same problem as you wrt renting. When I moved here it was also lease renewal time on the apartment. There were three options.... a one year lease at the same rate; a 7 month lease at a higher rate; or take a huge risk and give them our notice. (We could also break the lease for a month's rent.) We were still in the middle of house hunting and weren't sure if we were going to build or buy, or even if either of those options would occur in our time restraints. We gave them our notice. Finally found a house but the offer was refused. (Found out later that it eventually sold for less than what we had offered. nyah nyah) Put a bid on one of our backup houses and it was accepted. (Honestly.... did those other sellers not realize that it's a buyer's market here right now?) The nice thing was that we could pretty much move in right away, because the owners only used it as a vacation home.

When my husband was first transferred down here, he stayed in the Highlands at Heathbrook in Ocala and it was really lovely. It was fully furnished and had everything he needed until he found an apartment and the movers had brought his things. You may want to try doing a search on corporate housing. Here's some apartments in Sanford, which is really close to Lake Mary. You may find out that it's cheaper to take a lease on an apartment and pay the penalty to break it than to find a short term rental. Marriott Residence Inn is also a great long-stay place.

Oh.... forgot to mention..... a lot of the apartments are now offering one and two and three month free rentals to bring in the tenants. So it may even out, money-wise, if you have to break the agreement.

Good Afternoon your Transcendentalness. We were all at your coronation so that makes it official. Mes parents are in the process of getting things in order but in the immediate future Pop is waiting for his passport to come back from MTL. May I reciprocate in kind your empathy; when we stop caring about our fellow human beings we stop being human. Best wishes for true happiness to you and everyone else (except for Len, aww...what the Hell I'm in a good mood, Len too ).

C'mon Liz we need Ron and Sharon to get through!!!!


That's because you've been listening to me lately.

Laura, I'm glad you remembered how Grandma Len likes to sit in her rocking chair. I'll get her prune juice and blanket.

*snicker* Grandma Len... I had a good giggle at that one.

We've been discussing our moving plans... sadly we're not going to be out for at least another year or so (and that's dependent on whether we go back to school) but it's been from finding an apartment around the area we live in now, to going all the way to Seattle or Portland. Oh my! Choices, choices! Makes my head swirl just thinkin' about it, but right now we're just going to wait for my EAD and leave it at that

Go to Seattle, you know how much Grandma Len enjoys your company. Hope your plans work out. If I may be so bold, what are you and Bee studying, hope it is something you enjoy. Do tell.

SHUT UP - BOTH OF YOU.






nini, you'd loveeeeee C-@-TL. It's a cool place, though housing prices are insane. And like my bro said, a lot depends on the area you work on.

I've been to Seattle many, many times, and I adore it very much. I have a few friends there who I wouldn't be averse to seeing more often, and the weather does agree with me better than these East Coast winters... blech.

School-wise, Bee is looking to get his master's degree in a something-or-other, most likely relating to his current bachelor's degree which is in English lit and business/tech writing. I'm looking to finally finish my bachelor's degree, hopefully in criminology (though, I've changed my mind so many times, this might not stick either...). We've been looking at the programs at Bee's alma mater, West Chester University, though they're being quite stubborn about my Canadian transcripts and lack of GC. The reason we've been hesitating is mostly because of our accumulated student loan debts, but we're hoping to get that settled soon-ish. Preferably before the in-laws drive us completely bonkers

Jewish in-laws driving someone crazy, imagine that.

After she is done working her magic, can I have the hair, the wings and that outfit????

No fair, I thought I called dibs on it.

Only if you pose and post the photo for us all to see.

Ok so I guess we aren't bunking in with you guys (I truly am kidding, just so you know )

Thanks so much for the links crickey! Had a look at all of them - actually I have looked at so many sites now I sometimes forget what I have looked at. I remember you mentioning before about the rental incentives and I haven't seen 1 online, in fact when I email people they generally come back with additional charges. Funny I contacted 1 Canadian who is renting her house out - rent a sunny villa in Florida! $1000 - she will let us have it for $2700 month woo hooo! Made a preliminary driving plan today which looks like this:

Calgary, Great Falls, Gillette Wyoming, Sioux Falls SD, Nebraska, Columbia Missouri, Nashville, Tifton Georgia, Florida!

We went down to the storage room as planned today, wasn't too too horrible, it's cold down there though and my feet were frozen-ish.

We kind of have moving burn out today though - so more packing will wait until tomorrow.