Just a couple of days ago we were hit pretty hard by the hurricane. Sadly, we lost the beloved mother-in-law (Gayle’s mom) a couple of days before Juan hit us. Then we almost lost the car. We had no power and we merely starved. Not really, but while it’s getting colder out, praise the gods (the power guys) for returning power to this section of town.
More of that later: I have to pick up on the news first.
Juan did visit Truro, and as a result Arthur and Gayle still have no power. That’s why this blog is quieter than usual. Arthur will be back.
Posted by alfons.
Last Tuesday we put Elsie MacKay to rest in New Germany. The following is the eulogy I wrote for the memorial service in Truro’s United Church. It’s put here for reference purposes only.
We’re getting closer to landfall and
apparantly HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality) has announced a local state of emergency, expecting a storm surge of 5 feet above normal high tide levels. Additionally the HRM announced safe locations for the people in the areas under the evacuation order, which can be found here (link to HRM EMO site).
Maybe it’s just me being sarcastic, but I find the latest WeatherOffice’s statement laughable. Partly because it’s all written in capitals, giving a feeling of urgency or danger.
Update: ATV does have reporters in the field something I consider stupidity. It is stormy outside and in this weather it’s much-o safer inside. I presume that both Halifax bridges will be closed for traffic sooner or later, particularly since the hurricane appears to make a landfall around Sambro. Flicker, flicker says the light here.
Update, again: There are reports that both Halifax/Dartmouth bridges have been closed for all traffic.
Winds have
picked up here too, but no rain yet in sight. I noticed that the hurricane track pages over at the WeatherOffice are getting popular since downloading the pictures is getting slower and slower. Please have mercy with the Office.
News outlets report that HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality) has ordered evacuation of the lower regions of the city of Halifax. There’s confusion when they expect the hurricane to make landfall, but according the latest broadcasts it’s around 11 (local time), approximately around Mahone Bay. Flights to Halifax have been cancelled since 8 pm. There are a couple of videos over at CTV’s (ATV’s parent company) , most likely WMV files, but they aren’t up-to-date. I’m a kind of disappointed that ATV’s coverage isn’t available on-line: Aliant usually has feed but, alas, they are from yesterday.
Update: Mandatory evacuation orders for Sambro, Clam Harbour and lower regions of Halifax harbour by 11:30 local time.
Local
station ATV is on top of the hurricane and had (sober) coverage from several sites. Reminded me of a perfect commercial for Nova Scotia, since most well known pittoresque places were mentioned. Mahone Bay, Peggy’s Cove, Halifax Harbour and naturally Truro.
Regarding Truro, I think Alfons may remember the tidal bore here (that’s behind the motel where my wife and I married), which is (presumably) the most amazing places to go, that is if you like to see the tide come in. See it! Right here, right now!
ATV also had a couple of American tourists from South Carolina. They miraculously managed to stay clear from Isabel but when hearing about the upcoming hurricane in NS, they were surprised about the low media attention. You see, we do not have people like Jeff Flock, Jean Meserve and other CNN stars running around and weathering rain and gusts.
Juan disturbed our daily 
schedule. We decided to get a couple of bottles of water and fill up some 10 liter bottles we have had for years in our storage. Additionally we decided to get a couple of extra candles, batteries and the much needed flashlight (we never had a flashlight, which is a kind of silly knowing the storms we always endured the last three years). The media is pretty pessimistic, suggesting we may lose some power overnight and possibly floodings overnight. The tide is coming in too, so I wish those Haligonians the best of luck. Not to mention, the people that live close to the tidal bore over here.
Currently the weather here looks like a classical example of a major disturbance: it’s windy alright, with a mix of drizzle and sunny periods. And it’s way too warm, like in the 22 degrees Celsius. Silence before the storm.
A bunch of (self-proclaimed) computer addicts have participated in a competition to destroy their hardware in a spectacular way. 300 people in the city of Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, ‘kicked mice’, ‘threw keyboards’ and ‘creatively destroyed monitors’. Ironically, the price for doing this activity was new hardware. Plus, owning a computer in the Ukraine is still very much a luxury.
The event was organized by a local radio station with the ‘aim of raising young people’s awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer’. I thought it was funny, because it reminded me of a couple of quotes game designer Roberta Williams (link goes to unofficial fanclub page) once made about creating video games. I’m pretty sure she said that she created games to draw kids away from the TV because computers provided better interaction. Think about the progress humanity has made since those early days.
Hurricane Juan is heading for Nova Scotia and weather warnings are currently in effect. 
A kind of silly, though: both my wife and I had lost track of any recent news, so when my mom’s sister told us about the hurricane, we were both a kind of confused.
A hurricane? Oh, right, is that news lately? I wonder if CNN will send teams to Nova Scotia (We Have A Cheap Dollar). Naturally, that’s out of the question. I hope (and others of course) that the weather will work with us next Tuesday: Mom’s ashes will be buried next to her husband Lester MacKay in New Germany, NS.
Anyway: the Weather Office has a neat Juan-track site. With animation, so enjoy. With some bad luck we’ll be out of electricity by tomorrow 6 pm.
I remember that I was in doubt how to call you: Elsie or just ‘mom’. We were talking on the phone. I remember my staggering English, but eventually we both concluded that calling you mom was fine: I was going to marry your daughter anyways which you already knew by that time.
Time has gone by. We became good friends, besides just being son-in-law and mom-in-law. I paid you a visit week after week. We battled cold winters, icy sidewalks, muddy backroads, loads of earwigs, virusses and other critters. We drank our tea, discussed Canadian matters, politics, family affairs, immigration cases. You met my sisters, my mirror image (‘Lets keep him here!’) and one of my best friends. We had plenty of suppers together, we played Scrabble and we laughed about our silly pets and your silly cat.
Verslagenheid, was the word my brother mentioned when I talked to him last night. I couldn’t find the right word in English, but the Dutch word is the perfect one to describe the situation.
It’s that feeling of losing a football game and all you could do is watch the ball going in the wrong direction. Over and over. It’s like running around in the rain hoping it may clear up, but knowing it will not because the forecast told you so the day before. Pouring. Cats and dogs. Or it’s that feeling of hurt somewhere inside of you and you pray to everyone to let it go away, but you know it will be there until you see a doctor. If you’re not religious, every reasonable question leads to the one answer and the inevitable outcome. Verslagenheid.
My wife ran into a pop-up that looks like the same as the one over over at this group at Google. Naturally, she was suspicious and warned me, before she did anything.
I’m rather surprised how far people go to sell their wares (link has image of the pop-up). Obviously, scare tactics aren’t only reserved for governments and administrations. I hope someone manages to sue these people responsible for the pop-ups.
Lorem ipsum dolor 
sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nunc eu lorem. Ut fringilla libero ac felis. Integer elementum rhoncus nunc. Ut sed mauris. Recipe File Nulla facilisi. Suspendisse in felis. Maecenas tortor ipsum, tincidunt ac, ullamcorper et, feugiat vitae, quam. Praesent cursus odio. Morbi purus. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Aliquam placerat pharetra eros. Suspendisse potenti. Vivamus justo libero, viverra sed, imperdiet ut, suscipit nec, arcu.
