For days now we have been tracking Felicia. Somewhere out in the Pacific it was a once a hurricane, and was once headed pretty much right for us. People get a little freaked out about hurricanes, but since they don't actually hit too often, the freak out is minor. Costco was a little busier than usual selling cases of water and the occasional generator. If there is a weather related emergency, our power is likely to go out. It doesn't really matter what form that emergency takes, the power just goes out. When we had the earth quake a couple years ago there was almost no damage to the island of Oahu, yet the power was out. In January the power went out when some lightening hit some transformer or something. Losing power is more than just losing your TV or your fridge. Unless you have an iphone, or a BB, you can even lose INTERNET!!! Oh no!
Actually, it is pretty crazy when the entire island is without power. For one, you can't fill your gas tank. The pumps don't work with out electricity. Even if the pumps did, how many people have enough cash on them to fill a tank? No electricity = no atm machines, or paying with your debit/credit card. It is warm here, so once the power goes you you don't want to open the freezer or the fridge. Hopefully the power comes back on before the entire contents go bad. So, if the power were to go out on a typical day for me, I would have about a 1/8th of a tank of gas, less than 10 bucks in my wallet, and a fridge full of food I can't eat. I usually have some drinking water and pantry food that would last a few days or so. In January I stocked up on flashlights, batteries and some candles. So, we are all good for drinking water and looking at stuff in the dark.
The cell phones would probably work, unless the storm takes out the satellite, then who knows. My GPS was having a very hard time today maintaining connection with the satellite. My theory is Felicia. Cell phone batteries don't last forever, especially if you are watching movies or playing games. The car charger will work, until you run out of gas ....
Felicia, now down graded to a tropical storm, was supposed to hit on Monday. Sunday, the class of 10 year olds I teach already had their day off school all planned. We don't get snow days here, we get hurricane, or storm, or flooding days instead. Same concept, different form of precipitation. We could start calling them precipitation days and then everyone would be able to use the same word, or maybe not ...
The air has been heavy, hot and sticky. If we had gills breathing might be easier. Light rain started Tuesday night. Following the normal bedtime routine Ryker takes Chester outside one last time before bed. He refused to go out. The crazy pooch does not like to get his precious little paw paws wet. So, he went to bed with a full bladder. At 6am, he came running for me to put him outside. About 5 feet from the door he noticed the rain and came to a screeching halt. Again, he refused to go outside. I put him on the leash and shoved him out the door. He promptly went back to sleep on the porch.
At 7:30am, as I am taking Q to school, we tried to get him to go out yet again. We drug him out, and he ran back. We forced him to the grass, and he ran as soon as we let go. Here's a good one for your fortune cookie - You can drag a dog outside, but you can't make him pee.
At 11am, Carl and Ryker leave for work and put him outside. It has now been more than 12 hours and he still has not peed. He has GOT to be uncomfortable! When I came home at 12:30pm he was still sitting on the porch and refusing to set foot on the wet grass. Chester is one stubborn, prissy dog!
When Quincie came home from school we came up with an idea to get that dog to relieve himself. He gets very excited about going on a walk, and the site of his leash usually brings him running. She put him on his walking leash and took him for a turn about the yard. He resisted going out, and going down the stairs, and had to be drug. With Q's typical calm patience and persistence, she got him down the drive way. She walked him past a tree, and he just couldn't help it, he had to and pee on it.
The air is wet. My glasses fogged right up when I got out of my air conditioned car. Carl's home inspection photos from today show fences and gates through a thick fog. Fog at 80 degrees is an odd phenomenon, not at all what I am used to. Pouring rain at 80 degrees is also a little odd. If you put on a rain jacket you just might steam yourself.
Somewhere around 8pm tonight the real rain started. The wind is mild, so I wouldn't call it much of a storm. All this rain is great for the yard. I shut off the sprinklers after getting an outrageous water bill a few months ago and it shows. The grass is dead, along with just about everything else. The native plants are still doing great, like the plumeria trees, and the jungle plants. The imports don't thrive here without some extra water. Bring on the rain - I'm tired of looking at a brown yard!
A friend told me you can buy rain shoes for your dog. I wonder if that would make a difference to Chester? Would he equate shoes on his feet with dryness and get over his rain phobia? That seems like an awful lot of reasoning for a dog. Who makes dog shoes anyway? And how do you size them? Do they tie or maybe they are velcro, strange ... Knowing him, he would just chew up the shoes, and still refuse to go out in the rain.
For any of you on the mainland who were wondering how were were doing out here in the middle of the Pacific, with a hurricane headed our way, there you have it. We are safe and sound, albeit slightly damp and a little irritated with the prissy dog.
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