Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

fibber2

That whole house generator is paying dividends, although I just called my LP supplier for an emergency delivery as the prospects of getting power on within the next day or so is bleak. We were a bit space limited (and my wife was a bit more concerned about cosmetics when we installed the system), so we ended up with a smaller tank than I had wanted.

Trees and lines down everywhere. Spent yesterday morning cutting, but I did make it in to work late afternoon. And all things considered, we were very lucky as the storm hooked into the East Coast a good 200 miles short of the original projected path. My sister-in-law is down in VA, and they are still feeling it. The intensity of the storm has diminished, but it is still sitting stationary swirling with the lower half over VA, the upper half bringing in rain across CT and into NY.

When was the last time you saw a coastal storm make a hard left rather than head north and/or out to sea? Climate change, anyone?

grahampeters

G'day

The track patterns of cyclones are interesting. Australia is hit by a similar number to the US each year, but having a population about 8% of the USA on a landmass of similar size to the lower 49, the impact is less obvious here. However when we get a good one (ie big cyclone) we definitely know it. We are still untangling the mess from a decent sized cyclone in February 2011.

The house generator thing is a mixed bag. If I was living in a rural area, I would go that way. Here in suburban Melbourne, I think the hazard trade off makes it metter to rely on the supplier to get their act together. In the past 13 years we have only had one three day interruption when a neighbour's tree fell over the lines. We lived okay although the freezer contents went to a friend!

Cheers

Graham

fibber2

We joke that electrical service uptime in this area is at least 98.5% Maybe a little better on a good day! Last year on this same weekend we were down for several days. You can almost count on at least one good summer and winter storm per year striking a severe blow to this largely wooded and rural area.

We went back to a traditional 'twisted pair' home phone line after a two year experiment with a cable system phone. We only recently got a cell phone tower in the area, so when power went down (cable uses amps on the poles fed from the grid), we would loose everything. No emergency call access. The phone company has their own power source, so unless the lines are physically down, phone prevails. We got our phone back yesterday, while we don't expect power until closer to the weekend.

I shake my head with a bit of wonder when I hear friends and neighbors complain of spoiled food or freeze damaged homes. You've lived here for years, and you go thru this regularly. And you haven't thought it wise to make a minimal investment in even a little portable that you could extension cord to your fridge and a light or two? $250 will get you a decent entry level unit. I got my first portable back in the late 1990's. Got tired of living in a cold dark house with no water.

hammerhead

Graham: I'm betting that all are well. Power/phone/cell/internet infrastructure patching up will be a few days minimum.

It's hard to imagine the magnitude of the damage when it is this severe. Overwhelming.
Everybody stay safe.

ateixeira

Unusual silence...my bad!

Work was closed for 2 days but as the IT guy I had to make sure all the bosses could get in and get stuff done.

Power flickered twice but we never lost it. Bob did for a short while, Lucien a bit longer. They're north of me and got hit harder.

We had a few trees here and there, nothing compared to the coast. My condo was OK but they had major flooding and lost the entire fishing pier.

grahampeters

G'day

Glad to hear that damage was lighter in Washington. The coverage of New York an Atlantic City has obscured any remoter areas. It is not obvious to remote readers/viewers how widespread the damage is.

Cheers

Graham

dcm61

I'm ~90 miles NW of Atlantic City. Eye went south of us. Leaves all over, but only a few branches down.

No cable / internet since 5 PM Monday. No power since 9 PM Monday.

My parents bought a generator and didn't lose power. I don't have a generator and lost power. Murphy's law at it's best.

DaveM

xwesx

I shake my head with a bit of wonder

I'm in the same pot as them. It would certainly make sense to have a backup system, and I do plan to have one, but the actual investment part just hasn't worked its way up to a priority yet. Around here, it seems to be an all-or-nothing proposition, where most years we will go with no interruptions save for the occcasional "brown-out" for a few minutes or, at most, a couple hours.

Those times, loss of power is "fun" (novelty factor) rather than concerning.

But, when we lose power in the winter, it's most likely a major event that will result in day(s) to restored power. Most homes are frozen by then. Mine wouldn't be, but it would likely be in the low 50s or upper 40s inside if the temperature is in the minus 20/30 range outside.

So, I'm weighing the risk based on historical data. Yes, it is possible that we'll be up a creek without a paddle, but the chances are better that we'll be fine. That said, I do wear my safety belt when driving simply to hedge such bets (so I also want a diesel backup generator). If I patch such a generator into my heating oil tank (1000 gal), I could probably run for weeks off the grid before needing any outside assistance.

xwesx

At least you and your family are okay! I heard there were a couple score of deaths attributed to the storm, so a loss of power for a few days is but an inconvenience by comparison.

hondafriek

I hope everyone down there, got through the storm with little negative impact and no injuries.

Cheers Pat.

dcm61

Thanks Pat.

Had a nice homecoming ... arrived home and my power was on!

Was off for ~46 hours.

DaveM

rsholland

Graham, we lost our power about 7 or 8 times, each time for about a minute or so. The last time the power was out for about 3 hours, so the generator got a little exercise. Long story short is that we dodged a huge bullet.

My daughter Mairen and her husband Jess live about 6 miles (as the crow flies) from the ocean in Maryland. Jess' parents live about 3 miles from the ocean and about 1 mile from the bay. They came through unscathed too, but that's mainly because their power lines are underground and by the grace of God. The areas all around them were severely flooded, and Ocean City, MD suffered a lot of damage. Not as bad as NJ or NY, but still more damage than any other storm in decades.

I grew up in NJ and close to NYC, so this hits close to home. I'm very familiar with the areas ravaged by the Frankenstorm. I spent a lot of time on the beaches of NJ while growing up. I really feel for what those folks are going through.

Bob

rsholland

Graham, not sure how much info you got on the storm in Australia, but here are a few factoids:

* meteorologists had never seen a storm like this before. There were no models in their computers that could accurately predict how this was going to play out.

* it consisted of a hurricane, a nor'easter and a cold front coming down from Canada—the perfect storm.

* it occurred close to Halloween, hence the nickname Frankenstorm.

* the storm was HUGE—1000 miles across! I had a friend in Ann Arbor, Michigan who lost power. It wreaked havoc on the Great Lakes, I saw a video of surfers on Lake Michigan!

* it was a *tropical* storm that caused blizzard conditions in western MD, WVA and a few other states. 2-3 feet of snow was reported!

* a neighborhood of 110 homes were destroyed in a fire fanned by hurricane winds in Queens, NY.

* to date 50 deaths have been reported in the USA, 1 in Canada and 30+ in the Carribean. I'm sure there will be more once all the reporting is in.

* this was only a Cat 1 storm, with max winds of ~ 90 mph and steady winds in the 75-80 mph range. Can you imagine if this was a Cat 2 or higher storm?

Bob

grahampeters

Bob

Thanks for the extra bits of information. I also got an update from my firm (the world's largest Insurance Claims Handling Consultancy) today. It included a scatter map, showing where claims were coming in and we are amazed at how far west, the damage has spread. The press coverage has focussed on New York and New Jersey, but folks a long way away have had serious damage.

The power supply thing is interesting. The power, gas and water industries in Australia were public owned and when privatised had stringent service quality standards applied. If there is a service outage, beyond very narrow limits, even if unavoidable such as storm or fire damage, the power company is levied with heavy penalties, payable to the consumer. When many consumers are off line, it really concentrates the efforts of the power companies to reconnect, as quickly as possible. That actually makes auxiliary power supplies pretty redundant, as the need for them is so rare.

Cheers

Graham

ladywclass

We are in northwest Indiana - about 90 miles east of Chicago and not too far from Lake Michigan. We had such winds for 2 days that we had numerous power "blips" and a couple where power was out for short periods. We have some siding on one side of the house that came loose and was bent by the strong winds.
Yep - due to Sandy.

fibber2

If you looked at the weather maps last night, you could still see the circular flow of the storm, a full 3 days later. Gulf warm wet air entered into New York & New England, sweeps up over Ottawa, over the Great Lakes, down thru Ohio, turns to snow as it passes over West Virginia, and exits back to the Atlantic around Virginia Beach. More than a 1000 mile diameter! It is now finally starting to be pushed by the Jet Stream out towards the sea, so we'll likely see one last blast in NY / NJ as a large block of it passes thru later today. Hopefully the still fragile infrastructure won't go back down again.

Power came on in our corner of town just before dawn, but large areas are still out. I got my propane tank refilled yesterday, as between the summer outage and this event I was down to around 20% or so. $230.... It is expensive to be a private electric utility!

We heard from our niece yesterday down on the south shore of Long Island. The "Nassau Shores" community was built in the 1950's - a Venice-like setting with alternating roads and canals that lead to the Great South Bay and protected by the Jones Beach barrier island. Only 6-8 ft above sea level, but always dry. Her home was overrun by the sea and pretty much destroyed. First floor filled with sand and mud.

ateixeira

And it had been out for 30 hours last time he checked in to his Facebook.

Hoping Ed's luck improves and power is restored soon.

PF_Flyer

Same for a brother in Midland Park, NJ and a sister in Doylestown, PA. She's being told it could be up to a week. Both areas with a lot of old growth, BIG trees that can do a lot of power line damage when they leave that vertical orientation.

fibber2

Gravity - it can be such an annoyance!

dcm61

Bucks County, PA was apparently hit hard.

lilbluewgn02

Having followed most of you on FB, I am truly glad that you all came thru physically unscathed...homes can be fixed, people are a different matter.

I was talking to my sister-in-law today; they've been without power since the storm came (Monroe Township, NJ), but she put things in perspective with some very sad news regarding my nephew's best and oldest friend, Dov.

Dov had been living with an inoperable brain tumor for years, which had stabilized. Over the summer however, it started acting up again and growing. Dov started losing control of his facilities very quickly; last night, he passed away at the age of 29 after his long fight; once more he is at peace.
Count your blessings and hold your loved ones.

fibber2

Hey Serge. Very sad indeed, and a terrible way to go.

My folks also live in Monroe Township - one of the many retirement communities (also without power) within a few miles of Exit 8A. Small world, isn't it?

ateixeira

Far too young. Sorry to hear it.

rsholland

Well put Serge.

Bob

rsholland

We may get hit with a nor'easter next week. Just what the east coast needs. NOT!

Bob

ateixeira

Subaru sales up 30% ... I swear the bad weather only helps them.

fibber2

NY -NJ infrastructure problems are spreading fast. Fuel barges are not getting up the Hudson, so we have run dry 75 miles north. The few stations I've seen still open have long lines. Most are close.

rsholland

An old friend of mine (from kindergarten!) who lives in Bridgewater, NJ spent 3 hours in a gas line yesterday. She said folks were getting downright nasty, almost witnessed a fight. It doesn't look good.

Bob

xwesx

Blows my mind how dependent we are on technology and conveniences. I'd look at this as an excellent excuse to just kick back and enjoy the down time. If people would just chill a little, they might realize how nice it really is.

I do hope, however, that we return to a bit of normalcy by Tuesday. I'd hate for this to be an excuse for people not to hit the polls. We've not had a more critical election.

fibber2

http://vimeo.com/52754860?action=share&post_id=1531899502_590817754281210#_=_

This is one of several local government releases from my old home town, and shot just a few blocks east of where my niece's home was also heavily damaged.

Towards the end you might catch the Stillwater Ave. sign on the ground. My boss's in-laws were rescued from their second floor window Monday night. The Massapequa Fire Dept lost 3 trucks in that neighborhood that evening.

ateixeira

lark6 got power back but only after nearly 4 days.

rsholland

So sad.

Bob

fibber2

So now the ‘back story’. I didn’t grow up near the shore. Sure wished I did, but nope, we lived about two miles north, on the ‘wrong side of the railroad tracks’ in the poorer side of town. In the ‘playground wars’ of my youth, we’d get taunted that we didn’t own boats or the other toys of wealthy living. We’d respond that when “THE BIG ONE” hit, they’d be under water, and we’d have the new ocean-front property! After all, we were something like 25 ft above sea level, compared to their 6-9…

But it is so hard to imagine. Thanks to the barrier beach strip and a lot of good fortune, those seaside communities have thrived and remained largely unscathed for a century.

ateixeira

Ocean City, MD was spared, but Fenwick Island, DE flooded and that's just 4 blocks from my condo.

http://imgace.com/pic/tag/aerial-view-of-hurricane-sandy-damage-at-fenwick-islan- d-delaware/

This is still very moderate compared to NJ damage.

xwesx

Those weren't unrealistic responses (from your youth)! That's always the danger of ocean-front property.

I'd say those folks got of easy, all things considered. Much more and I suspect some of those structures would have come down (and then things could have become real ugly).

fibber2

All things considered, relatively so. They are alive, and the majority of the homes, with a lot of money and labor, will be filled with the sounds of family life again some time in the future. But there will be a lot of heartache along the way. Heck, if my jet ski was in someone else's dining room, I'd be pissed..... OK, someone had to say it!

Seriously, though. We spent part of the weekend working with the Arlington HS Marching Band making up 'kits' for distribution and preparing meals. We sent 4 trucks to Long Beach Island on Sunday & today, and are collecting now to do it again later in the week.

ateixeira

What if someone else's jet ski was in your living room? Isn't that a bit worse?

fibber2

Good question! Guess there are two ways of looking at that one.

a) I'd want my jet ski back!

b) Can you be sued by the guy who's living room was damaged because you didn't properly secure your personal property???

ateixeira

If you look at that Fenwick image, you could probably get around well in a Jet Ski. I'd "borrow" it until the floods subsided.

xwesx

Yeah, a jet ski sounds like it would come in pretty handy in such a situation! That said, I don't think the phrase "properly secure" really comes into play here. Heck, we could talk about folks not "properly securing" their couches and kitchen tables for that matter! :P

ladywclass

or "properly securing" their beachfront homes ...

fibber2

As I mentioned, the Band sent down several trucks worth of supplies and food over the past few days. The asst director of the parents organization post some pictures and commentary about the truly terrible conditions on the streets of Long Beach and some of the smaller neighborhoods. Cars buried in the sand, watercraft strewn about everywhere.

I commented to my wife that they should have filled the empty trucks with those 'abandoned and discarded' boats and brought them back home to us. She just glared at me.... Guess my attempt at a little bit of humor just isn't appreciated quite yet.

xwesx

Guess my attempt at a little bit of humor just isn't appreciated quite yet.

What is it about wives that makes them so good at that? Keep trying. Another 10-20 years might do the trick! :P

hondafriek

(I commented to my wife that they should have filled the empty trucks with those 'abandoned and discarded' boats and brought them back home to us. She just glared at me.... Guess my attempt at a little bit of humor just isn't appreciated quite yet. )

Steve, this is the sort of comment I would likely make, and definitely the kind of reception I would get from Rita Women are for sure wired differently, especially where humour is concerned. What a guy see's as funny is not always viewed the same way by the opposite sex.

I am getting under the table now before our female members weigh in. :sick:

Cheers Pat.

fibber2

When she gets on my case about my weird sense of humor, I just blame it on "undiagnosed Aspergers"! That's my standard 'out', given that most of us engineer and techie types are no doubt a bit touched.

rsholland

Son's '06 Outback Sport (100k+ miles) now has a head gasket problem. That's the second Subie in our family in less than 3 three months to be struck with that problem!

He's thinking of getting a new Crosstrek, but looking at others too. AWD is a must-have for him (and me too). He commutes ~ 70 miles a day, some of which is in the mountains between Frederick and Hagerstown Maryland on I-70, where winter driving can be an issue. So far he's test-driven the Crosstrek and a BMW X1. Yeah, quite a price range he's looking at... Part of his problem is he's had nothing but Outback Sports (2) since he got his driving license at 16, and he 33 now. So he's thinking he might want something different. We'll see what happens.

Bob

ateixeira

X1 base price: $31,500.

Nicely equipped: $80,000.

Just kidding, it's actually "only" about $44,000.

Can he wait for the new Forester?

rsholland

Well, he's also got to get his timing belt replaced (it's due), and the dealer was going to do both at the same time. $1,800 I believe for 2 head gaskets and timing belt. He's debating whether to put that kind of money into a 6-year-old car with 100+K miles on it.

$44K for an X1? Actually quite a bit less at the local dealer here.

http://www.russelbmw.com/new-inventory/index.htm?reset=InventoryListing&start=0&- year=2013&model=X1%20xDrive28i&gclid=CPirpe6u1LMCFexlOgodCzMAog

Bob

ateixeira

Only one retails in the 30s, though it looks like they're giving decent discounts now.

xwesx

Nice-looking rig. I like the Marrakesh Brown one (MSRP was saying just south of $44K), but the rear seat leg room didn't look so luxurious.