Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are ?

[Bigmike911]

2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Mr HH has survived his first day, it felt a bit odd waving him off this morning as he's been at home since I started working from home. Although we will be working quite close together when we're both on site that might not be that often as I work from home half the week and he is in a rotating day pattern.

Have a good week everyone, hope the storm avoids New York.

At least a bit more "normality" coming to the HH household with Mr. HH back at work. Congrats. 

[Lanky Lad]

6 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Mr HH has survived his first day, it felt a bit odd waving him off this morning as he's been at home since I started working from home. Although we will be working quite close together when we're both on site that might not be that often as I work from home half the week and he is in a rotating day pattern.

Have a good week everyone, hope the storm avoids New York.

Congratulations to Mr HH and I hope he enjoys he new job.  I am still looking, but no luck yet.   

[BklynBoy8]

14 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Sometimes information from the City is better qualified as mis-information.  Recent situations where they failed to put out sufficient warnings about trouble have made them over-cautious - with the result that they now over-do the warnings.  That creates its own problem: enough predicted disasters not coming about results in people ignoring ALL warnings.

 

Yes, this is a storm - most likely will not regain hurricane strength by the time it hits NYC area - and, given the wide Hudson estuary, Manhattan flooding is simply very unlikely - it is very different from the funnel-shaped  bays on the South Shore of Long Island where a slight storm surge will build up to result in coastal flooding.

 

Enjoy your day.

Kindly Beg To Differ from a New Yorker...

 

Ditto, Enjoy your day...

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

Kindly Beg To Differ from a New Yorker...

 

Ditto, Enjoy your day...

Differ all you like, a tropical storm is not a hurricane.

[frankp01]

Boys, chill! It *is* back to being a hurricane, heading right for Philadelphia. I've never seen so many tornado warnings during a hurricane. The storm hasn't reached Philadelphia yet and some of the suburbs already have some very bad flash flooding.

[navybankerteacher]

30 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

Boys, chill! It *is* back to being a hurricane, heading right for Philadelphia. I've never seen so many tornado warnings during a hurricane. The storm hasn't reached Philadelphia yet and some of the suburbs already have some very bad flash flooding.

Don’t be silly. With current sustained  winds approaching 40 mph, possible gusts to 60 - it is no hurricane.  Yes a lot of rain.

[BklynBoy8]

1 hour ago, frankp01 said:

Boys, chill! It *is* back to being a hurricane, heading right for Philadelphia. I've never seen so many tornado warnings during a hurricane. The storm hasn't reached Philadelphia yet and some of the suburbs already have some very bad flash flooding.

Frank,

Take Care & Stay Safe.

 

We too are concerned in NYC.....

 

Watching the reports too about the multiple Big T's....

Edited August 4, 2020 by BklynBoy8

[frankp01]

5 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

Take Care & Stay Safe

 

Thannks. We live right downtown, and other than a **lot** of rain, there was nothing exciting for us. We have power, no tornadoes decided to visit us, and we're not in an area prone to flooding.

 

I learned there's more than just hurricane-force winds in a storm that can do damage, however. Even though "only" a tropical storm, Isaias spawned a lot of tornado threats on its way north. At least three touched down in the greater Philadelphia area. There's also a lot of flooding, because rain fell at the rate of 4 to 6" an hour for several hours. Rivers are still rising. The Schuylkill, the major river running through Philadelphia is expected to crest at 19 feet. Flood stage is 11 feet. Lots of power outages: about 500,000 in the immediate area. And while that all sounds bad, I don't think there were any fatalities in this region, and the tornadoes primarily inflicted their damage on a few buildings; mostly telephone poles and trailer trucks that were blown over. Lots of excitement, and now the calm after the storm:  It's gorgeous out. Sunny, comfortable temperatures, and no humidity.

 

Hopefully things will be relatively uneventful as Isaias moves north. Good luck to everyone in its path.

Edited August 4, 2020 by frankp01

[alc13]

Isaias is still a couple of hours away from Maine at about 4:30 pm, although it's moving towards New Hampshire now so we are only expecting a small bit of rain.  Happy to know everyone is safe so far.

[navybankerteacher]

6 hours ago, alc13 said:

Isaias is still a couple of hours away from Maine at about 4:30 pm, although it's moving towards New Hampshire now so we are only expecting a small bit of rain.  Happy to know everyone is safe so far.

It looks like you Mainers escaped this one - seems to be heading across northwest corner of Vermont - towards Quebec Ciity.  We lost a few trees and were blacked out for two hours - not long enough to threaten stuff in the freezer - didn’t even need to “borrow” electricity from neighbor who has back-up generator.

[navybankerteacher]

Interesting to look at flood zone maps of lower Manhattan.  The temporary barriers inflated make a good PR effort, but would be fairly ineffective if actually relied upon.  Only extending from South Street up to Wall Street means that storm surge could easily make an end run.  If the water in the harbor rose enough to need to be blocked by the temporary barriers - that  level would extend up the East and Hudson Rivers and inundate lower Manhattan from further uptown than the barriers run. Yes, the start of a good idea - but just a token effort by Mayor DiBlasio.

[alc13]

Wild winds but almost no rain here.  We got off lucky.

[LewiLewi]

Friends in Stamford, Conn. just sent me an email, re: Isaias. Heavy winds. They had two large trees come down in their driveway, just missed their house. No power at all. They said that 600, 000 homes are without power. They said power will be out for several days. I hope that the rest of you in the Northeast are OK.

We were very lucky in Florida, this time.

[Bigmike911]

Way down here in South East Texas no hurricane, but yesterday afternoon after I had started my charcoal grill (with the top closed to warm the grill) a thunderstorm blew in with winds as strong as I have seen them outside of a hurricane. The pool was filled with pine needles and we got 3 inches of rain in about 15 minutes. Fortunately we live high on the San Jacinto River watershed so rain goes downhill from here. 

 

According to the weather radar, the storm was only about 5 miles across but very intense. I have more than the usual number of branches to collect in the garden today and tomorrow before the lawn mowers arrive on Friday. So I feel your pain, East Coast U.S. Take care all. 

[naturelovergirl]

We are coming up on the 5 month mark since our immediate lives (work in the arts, the overall business of the arts, family) were altered so significantly from the pandemic- and that is something which is hard to grasp even though it is our everyday reality. 

All of these things- work, business, and family- are so wrapped into who we are as a couple and as individuals... so it has been a very strange 5 months with quite a bit of soul searching and pondering for both of us.

 

Luckily we continue to try to find ways to keep our spirits up while maintaining our strong convictions of being good and compassionate citizens of the world.

 

It should also be noted that we would have been traveling to Alaska on Cunard this month... 

I try to not concentrate on that too much- but I would be lying to say it does not sting my heart a bit when I do think about it.
Hopefully that experience will be part of our future- but we know (quite well) it just was not meant to be for this time.
Instead of having an Alaskan vacation we have taken our RV (caravan) out to enjoy some socially distanced nature nearer to home. 
 

For now we focus on the things we are grateful for... that seems the best way to handle it.

Best to you all in your worlds.

 

[Host Hattie]

Our weather is typical Welsh summer, damp but we're promised the sun back for the weekend !

Stay safe if you are still waiting for the storm to pass.

[Lanky Lad]

My final payment for QM2 in December is due next week.  I will pay and hope for the best.  I have already accepted a credit for the cancelled August trip so if December is cancelled as well, I will be sorted for 2022.  (I already have 2 cruises booked for 2021).

 

I need to be careful booking new trips until I get a new job and find out how may holiday days I get.

[navybankerteacher]

Connecticut got clobbered - while it was a tropical storm with 40-50 mph wind rather than a hurricane (over 70 mph) the fact that its  forward movement accelerated to 25 to 30 mph (normally about 10 mph or so), resulted in areas in the northeast quadrant  (where the forward motion is added to the counterclockwise rotation) experience a steady  75 to 80 mph wind — and the occasional gust added up to 20 to that.  

 

This early in the season the trees are heavily leaved - putting them at real risk.   There was virtually no flooding, but a great number of limbs down and trees blown over.  The fact that so many local roads are blocked makes it more time consuming for repairs to be made to overhead power lines. It will take some time to restore power.  We are fortunate - our local untilities are underground, so we were only blacked out for a couple of hours;  but several houses in our neighborhood suffered damage from falling limbs and trees.

Edited August 5, 2020 by navybankerteacher

[Bigmike911]

Well, the amount of debris in the garden from the wind has surprised me. I have worked for two days, and still have about 20% to complete later this afternoon. I worked a couple of hours in intense heat and humidity this morning, and think I was on the brink of heatstroke. Water didn't seem to make it better, so I had some Gatoraide and that seems to have done the trick. I have filled 2, 55 gallon rubbish bins and have two additional 55 gallon bags filled. I will likely fill one more, and after I finish a nice bit of time in the pool to recover. 

[rakkor]

Finally booked a cruise for September, not Cunard unfortunately  (well not unfortunately), but have hired a narrowboat for a week on the Oxford Canal over my birthday. It's something I've always fancied trying so quite looking forward chugging through the Oxfordshire and Warwickshire countryside at 3 miles an hour. Now hoping the weather holds out.

[Camgirl]

How lovely. My parents owned a narrow boat when I was young and we frequently travelled along the Oxford Canal. I'm sure you will have a great relaxing time.

 

Enjoy your birthday cruise!

[Host Hattie]

@rakkor that sounds lovely, I think we've finally abandoned hope of being able to travel abroad again this year so I'm looking at something in the UK for September. We both need to use some holiday & hopefully the weather will be bearable.

Mr HH's  first week in his new job seems to have been OK, he's off this weekend and starts his proper rota pattern next week. He's struggling a bit with the 7.30 start time but hopefully it'll get easier.

We were promised very warm weather (for Wales) this weekend, it was lovely when I was at work but by the time we went to have a drink outside the pub before we collected our food, it was a bit chilly. Hoping for better today.

Have a good weekend everyone.

[Camgirl]

Host Hattie, we have the very warm weather, and to be honest, you are welcome to it!! 35 degrees here yesterday, and so humid you could hardly bear to move! After a difficult night, there is a slight breeze this morning. It was already 20 when we went for our walk at 7 this morning. But much more pleasant than last night, so far. It is forecast to be low 30s again today and humid. Then we have a weather warning for thunderstorms for Monday!

 

I don't mind the heat so much, it is the humidity I find so difficult. I hope you get a nice warm weekend, without too much humidity.

[MelbTone]

10 minutes ago, Camgirl said:

I don't mind the heat so much, it is the humidity I find so difficult.

Yes, before I emigrated to Melbourne (Aus), I'd been here lots of times on holiday but always spring or autumn. Coming from London I wasn't worried about winter, but having experienced London 30C heatwaves that were unbearable my number one concern was surviving summer. No need to worry: hot here generally means low humidity so anything up to 35C is generally OK by me. Winter? It may not get cold in degree terms, but it lasts a lot longer than I was expecting, not helped by living in a high-rise with floor to ceiling single glazed windows. A cold week here is probably helping sustain our current virus second wave - I'm not expecting to be on QM2 come February.

[Camgirl]

3 minutes ago, MelbTone said:

Yes, before I emigrated to Melbourne (Aus), I'd been here lots of times on holiday but always spring or autumn. Coming from London I wasn't worried about winter, but having experienced London 30C heatwaves that were unbearable my number one concern was surviving summer. No need to worry: hot here generally means low humidity so anything up to 35C is generally OK by me. Winter? It may not get cold in degree terms, but it lasts a lot longer than I was expecting, not helped by living in a high-rise with floor to ceiling single glazed windows. A cold week here is probably helping sustain our current virus second wave - I'm not expecting to be on QM2 come February.

Keep safe and well. Hopefully, we will all be back on board in the not too distant future.