And It Has Begun

The lights have started going up. I'm MUCH further ahead this year so far than I have ever been. There is a particular way that I usually do updates on blogs when I'm updating for Christmas display progress (though they are gone since the PC blogs went away, and then came back, and now I'm posting here instead).

As of Thursday, 10/23/08 (official start date)

Number of Christmas Lights Hung Today: 0
Number of Strobes Hung Today: 22
Number of Christmas Lights Up: 0
Number of Strobes Up: 22
Total Number of Lights Up: 22
Anticipated Number of Christmas Lights: 36, 508
Anticipated Number of Strobes: 210
Anticipated Total Number of Lights: 36,718

(there's more, but I'll put it at the official bottom of this post)


As of Saturday, 10/25/08:

Number of Christmas Lights Hung Today: 1,400
Number of Strobes Hung Today: 0
Number of Christmas Lights Up: 1,400
Number of Strobes Up: 22
Total Number of Lights Up: 1,422
Anticipated Number of Christmas Lights: 36,508
Anticipated Number of Strobes: 210
Anticipated Total Number of Lights: 36,718



As of Sunday, 10/26/08 (finally caught up):

Number of Christmas Lights Hung Today: 7,340
Number of Strobes Hung Today: 10
Number of Christmas Lights Up: 8,740
Number of Strobes Up: 32
Total Number of Lights Up: 8,772
Anticipated Number of Christmas Lights: 36,508
Anticipated Number of Strobes: 210
Anticipated Total Number of Lights: 36,718


As of 12:44 AM on Monday, October 27,2008:

Days Until Lightup: 31
Days Until Christmas: 59
Days Until Last Night For Lights: 65

Time Marches On

And it's the end of September, 2008. Posts will begin to look familiar from those of late last year. That's right. It's time for serious work to begin on Christmas lights.

As it stands right now, as of 1:27 AM on Tuesday, September 30, 2008:

Days Until Lights Start Going Up: 32

Days Until Lights On: 58

Days Until Christmas: 86

Last Night For Lights: 92

It won't be long. Oh, and last year there were 29,998 lights not including strobes. This year, I'm making damn sure that we top 30,000!

Something to Think About Today

Here's a nice quote to remember:

"Time lost can never be recovered, and this should be written in flaming letters everywhere."

Another thing to think about:

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.


I bring these two things up today for a reason. The quote at the top was spoken by Isaac Monroe Cline. Isaac was born in Tennessee, and passed away August 3, 1955 at the age of 93. Though he grew up on the farm, he became a meteorologist, and found his way to Galveston, Texas in the late 1800's. He was the one in charge there when on Saturday, September 8, 1900, a Category 4 Hurricane came roaring ashore just west of town. It started out a nice day. The ocean was large, but the sky was a beautiful shade. Even with warning of an impending storm, nobody left.

Right now, Friday, September 12, 2008, there is a very dangerous high-end Category 2 Hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico heading right for Galveston. At the very last minute, mandatory evacuations were issued for the island. We shall see how this turns out. We can only hope that it turns out better than 1900.

8,000 people were killed in the 1900 Hurricane. One of those killed was Isaac's wife, Cora. Isaac never remarried after that.

And the Contest Results Are In

And the winner is...





Dad!


There's a reason he's smiling...he got the landfall point right!

Here I am, hanging my head, playing a sad song, because I lost.
Oh well. Off to bed for the night...it's been a long one. I'm going to Charleston to play music tomorrow! That will be fun. And I'll get to meet Joey's new baby girl.

Tropical Storm Hanna Makes Landfall

3:35 AM Saturday, September 6, 2008 now. Hanna has made landfall right on the SC/NC border. Here are radar grabs from landfall:

Time To Concede

It is 3:20 AM now, and though Hanna is not yet officially onshore, she is close enough for me to have to concede, and admit loss in the contest with dad on where she will make landfall. She is minutes away from landfalling, and is right at the SC/NC border.

Here are the graphics:

Wilmington:
Newport/Morehead City:
Wilmington Long Range:

A Snip From The 2:00 AM Advisory

AT 200 AM EDT...0600Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM HANNA WASLOCATED JUST OFFSHORE NEAR LATITUDE 33.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 78.8 WESTOR ABOUT 30 MILES...45 KM...SOUTH OF MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINAAND ABOUT 60 MILES...95 KM...SOUTHWEST OF WILMINGTON NORTHCAROLINA.HANNA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 21 MPH...34 KM/HR. THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURSWITH A GRADUAL TURN TO THE NORTHEAST AND AN INCREASE IN FORWARDSPEED TODAY AND TOMORROW. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CENTER OFHANNA WILL MAKE LANDFALL NEAR THE BORDER BETWEEN SOUTH CAROLINA ANDNORTH CAROLINA WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS...THEN MOVE ACROSSEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA LATER THIS MORNING...ALONG THE MID-ATLANTICCOAST LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT....AND ALONG THE COAST OF THENORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES AND SOUTHEASTERN CANADA ON SUNDAY.



It appears as though Dad has won the contest. It will not be official until the center officially makes landfall, though.