And it’s been three weeks without an update again. Neat. I do it this way just so that I might have something worth typing about.
Brett and I went back up to our hidden hunter shelter the week after the eclipse. Knowing what to expect this time, we planned on car camping and brought speakers and coolers and firewood and all of the other great things that you can bring with you when you don’t plan to hike anywhere – like beer. We spent a great two nights up there (Labor Day weekend), and even found – holy of holies – a pit toilet hidden in the brush behind the shelter. Not just a hole dug in the ground, mind you. An actual cement vault with a toilet on top of it. Not a great deal of privacy if anybody happened to walk up to it while you’re doing your business, but since nobody was anywhere around, it was pretty perfect.
Did a bit of walking with the dogs (Brett brought four of them), got some more ideas for my upcoming sojourn to the upper peninsula, and enjoyed nearly perfect weather for the weekend.
Then it was back to the grind at work. Not much to say about that. I got assigned as primary to three more companies, which isn’t as glamorous as it sounds. Other than that, it’s just more of the same. Oh! I did get taken off of the phone queue, which is nice. I can actually concentrate on some of my more pressing tickets now without worrying about being interrupted.
I guess the big news was that Atlanta was put under its first-ever tropical storm warning a few days ago. Hurricane Irma swept up through Florida and headed towards the big A, causing damned near every idiot in my adopted city to freak out. I couldn’t wait for the thing to arrive. I’ve always loved strong wind.
And…that’s about all we got. In spite of the governor declaring the entire state an emergency area. In spite of schools somehow making the decision to close for (at least) FOUR DAYS. In spite of my own company declaring that everyone should work at home on Monday and Tuesday (I didn’t). Here’s what I experienced in this mega-storm:
Sunday: A beautiful day, with an absolutely fantastic breeze blowing all day. Gusts of about 20 MPH.
Monday: Light rain and breezy in the morning. Empty roads on the way to work. Me and one other consultant in the office. Sprinkler system going full-blast all around the office. Rained on and off all day – never very heavy. Some pretty significant gusts (50-60 MPH) in the afternoon, lasting less than 5 seconds per gust. Lots of leaves on the ground (you know – like it’s FALL or something). Empty roads on the way home. Rain stopped by 7:00, beautiful breeze continued with some occasional strong gusts. Opened all of the windows (the cats loved it). Sat on the deck for a while with my eyes closed and imagined I was at Lake Superior. Went to bed with the windows open. Slept like a rock.
Tuesday: Light rain and breezy in the morning. Empty roads on the way to work. Drove around two trees that had fallen into roads (over the course of my 14-mile commute). Me and three other consultants in the office. Rain ended by about noon. Breeze died. Light traffic on the way home. Rehearsal until 9:30. Home in a drizzle.
Wednesday: Any other day.
So that was the Tropical Storm Trauma, huh? Not much different than any summer storm. Yet many schools are closed on Thursday….
I mentioned that I got some new ideas for my Superior trip during the Labor Day car campout. Ended up buying a Kelty 12-foot hiker’s tarp (which I’ve actually been meaning to do for years), and while looking for it, I stumbled across a double-wide Kelty sleeping bag, rated to 20 degrees. It’s pretty fantastic. Has a zip-off quilt and internal blankets and I’ve been sleeping in it on my bed for the last several nights. Incredibly comfortable, very warm when it needs to be, but wide enough to let me stretch out, cool off, and be very comfortable. It will be a wonderful topping for the air mattress in the back of the Subaru.
Can not wait to get back to the lake. I don’t remember the last time that I needed (and I do mean NEEDED) a vacation so much. Ironic that I’ll be going to basically the same spot where I found out that I was probably getting laid off, which is what ended up making me need to go back so much.
And that’s about all that’s new for now. I’ll probably think of more stuff later, but won’t write about it for another two weeks.