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Decade of the Pasty Cam on this day ^{Printed on Recycled Internet}

In 2002 on the Pasty Cam, was Hunter's Point:

A) Lazy
B) Hazy
C) Crazy
D) None of the above?

Hazy

Gotcha!

???

In 2003 it was hazy!

Good morning Charlie. It must be D) none of the above. Hunters Point was not the subject of 2002.

Good work, Art. It was a trick question.

Do I at least win the "Gotcha! Bird" award?

Good morning! It's finally Friday!!!!

Does today's question make Charlie:

A) Sneaky
B) Deceptive
C) Mentally Challenging
D) All of the above?

Maybe mentally challenged? Hm-mm. {:>)

Thats a lot to cover at 5:16, maybe he didn't have enough coffe yet.

Capt. Paul --

Here's hoping you and the good Dr. are chillin' somewhere well out of the line of fire. If you need a place to stay, come on up to the Muskegon area. The camper has a great A/C unit and you'll only be 10 hours from the Copper Country.

Going to Mackinac Island this weekend! I certainly need the break after working in the h.s. after 18 years teaching reading in early elementary! Often I see pictures above and on the preceding page which I think I took (and I'm wrong). Such was the case today when I saw the pic of the sign in the Pinery Cemetery in L'anse. I'll visit there in a couple weeks or so when I'm UP for my color tour. That's a beautiful spot at that time of year and I want to spend more time there this year checking it out after reading Lady Unafraid for the second time.

No No on mentally challenged Charlie. He is just new grampa and needs to hold that pumpkin!

Thanks for the invite, but we are hunkering down here. We have already cleaned up the yard, got our essential supplies, and securing everything down.

To give everyone an idea, we are located between Cypress and Hockley, Texas or about 40 miles northwest of Houston proper. It looks like the eye will come ashore just west of galveston near San Luis Pass (BAD for Galveston) then follow I-45 up through downtown Houston and then north up to about Huntsville before turning northeast. That puts the eye about 25-30 miles east of us and puts us in the western eyewall. What they are saying is 75-100 mph winds right here, not counting the gusts. What I can't believe is people are staying on Galveston Island through this. They are forcasting a 20-25 ft storm surge with 25-32 ft waves; that will completely erase most structures off Galveston Island.

At the moment, the skies are beginning to darken and the winds are picking up a little, but nothing compared to what is forecast here tonight. I'm sure we're going to lose power so we won't be on posting for a while, but rest assured we are well prepared for anything Ike will throw at us......

Just wanted to say hello

Texas sure ain't where I want to be,
Oil country ain't the life for me,
Still hopin' you all could be,
In the land, called, the big UP.
No stress, no storms in the land I love,
Just lovely skies shining above.
Hope you Texans will be all right,
Will be thinkin' about you through the night.

Snowman

CNN just announced a little while ago that there is a ship with a crew of 22 men floundering without power in the ocean where Ike is hitting right now. The Coast Guard is unable to get to them because of the wind & waves. They'll try again tomorrow morning. Please keep these men in your thoughts & prayers along with all of the others who will be affected by this horrific hurricane.
I lost my father to the wind & waves of Lake Superior & I feel so sorry for these men & their families & what they're going through right now.

Actually Cheryl, the ship will probably fair better than the idiots that decided to stay on Galveston Island and wait the storm out. The ship was a small (~580 ft.) tanker loaded with petroleum when it suddently and unexpectantly went dead in the water. The ship had dropped all its anchors and has its nose pointed into the wind to keep from rolling over. The latest reports from the ship is that they a bobbing up and down pretty good, but they are holding steady. The Coast Guard is going to wait until tomorrow after the storm passes to service the ship.

As far as we're concerned, the winds are beginning to pick up here and will keep picking up through the night. We will probably feel the strongest winds early tomorrow morning when the eye passes east of us.

As far as Galveston, 24,000 people did not evacuate as ordered to. The National Weather Service and NOAA had some strong words for those that stayed.... "You will face certain death!!", not words usually used by anyone, but with a predicted 25' storm surge and 30' waves, I can't see how anything will survive; living or in-animate.

Cap'n Paul....your reports are more interesting and more accurate than the National Weather Service. We'll be sending our prayers your way. May the Force be with you....

Capt...heard on the news that as well as the usual emergency provisions, people should have plenty of cash. No electricity means no ATM machines and it looks like parts of TX could have no power for a very long time. If you still have the opportunity you may want to stock up if you have not already done so.

God's speed!

Take care Cap't Paul,
Keep posting if you can.

Be careful and may god bless you.

Capt. and Dr.:

You're in my thoughts and prayers as well.

I listened to the hurricane coverage until late in the night last night, and started again early this morning. (I was born & raised down there, so I am really interested in it.)

The good news on that ship that is adrift: the Coast Guard has talked to the ship's crew, and all 22 are well! The bobbed up & down a bunch in the roaring waves on the sea, but they are ok.

Capt Paul, I totally agree, they were a lot safer out at sea than those Galveston people who would not evacuate, as ordered, in spite of the dire warnings. I heard some heart-wrenching stories this morning of some who stayed behind, but regretted their decisions when the storm came in. Some of them called radio stations, to apologize for staying behind, saying don't blame the officials because it was their own doing, but they regretted it now, and they were now afraid they might well not make it through the night. They knew that no one could help them now, but they just needed someone to talk to. That really brings tears to my eyes. The hardest part is that no one has heard from them yet this morning, so don't know if they made it through the night, or not.

Capt Paul & Dr Nat: I hear that you might be experiencing hurricane force winds up in your neck of the woods! That is really hard to believe just how far inland the winds (and storm surge, for that matter) are going with Ike!

I hope that you all have plenty of water! A generator would be a big help, too! (I have some friends down, inland from Freeport. Their generator will operate their well, refrigerator, & lights, fans, etc. That is a huge help.)

I do hope they can get generators down there so that some of the grocery stores can open and the gas stations can pump gas again. FEMA, et al, are supposed to be moving at least some in. They are saying that it may be several weeks or more before some of the power is restored. (There were still 78,000 people in Louisiana without power since Gustav.) And, this storm knocked out power in Louisiana, too, I think.

Just stay safe, guys! :-) We're thinking about you, lots of positive thoughts!

Cotton, there is great news on that stranded freighter in the Gulf of Mexico: it survived the hurricane, and the crew are all fine. The Coast Guard is going to tow it into the Houston Ship Channel. So, all is well! :-)