This is a special bulletin. I’ll have to go blow-by-blow, so to speak. To be exact, Hurricane Ida is approaching.

I’m starting this on Saturday, August 28, even though it’s scheduled for Monday, the 30th. It’s presently just after 9:00 am on Saturday; and I’m expecting a ride out of town in about an hour. I’m not sure my laptop has remote Internet access; and I want minimal interruption to the blog flow! Hence this special bulletin.

I got up very early, about 4:30 am; and really wanted to go for a ride. But the  laundry needed to be done; and I decided it was wise to get it done! So after I had something to eat, I did the laundry; and then I went for a short ride.

And I do mean short: less than 8 miles. To compensate for the lack of mileage I did some short, hard efforts. I didn’t know when conditions might start to deteriorate; but I don’t think they expect that until later today, or even tomorrow.

In fact, the sky didn’t look too bad. It was quite cloudy; but part of the time the sun was out.

To Continue

Sunday, August 29, 2021. To continue with this special bulletin, I had to shut down yesterday morning around 9:15. My ride came at about 10:00; and we headed for the Northshore. I was amazed that there wasn’t all that much traffic; and we made a rather quick trip.

My friend had told me where she would meet me once I got across the lake; and I got to my friend’s house at about 11:00 am. She was very busy trying to get things ready for the storm; and also very worried about a Category 4 hurricane’s winds. There are numerous trees around the house; and she was scared of having trees fall on her home.

We watched television coverage of Ida constantly; and this morning, a friend of hers suggested leaving if she could — again, because of the hazard of falling trees.

Thus I’ve moved once again. It’s almost noon; and things don’t look bad. Yet. It’s coming, though; of that I’m sure.

I brought my laptop with me, and my friend’s friend generously let me borrow her WiFi password so I could get on the Internet. I’ve got to look up how to get on WiFi once I’m back home! When I got back online, it occurred to me that I’m more attached to the Internet — and my web and my web site! than I ever thought.

And On

Special bulletin continuation. It’s shortly after 1:00 pm on Sunday. About half an hour ago, Ida hit the Louisiana coast; and they’re calling her a “monster”.

As of 2:22 pm Sunday, it’s raining heavily. The wind is still pretty calm; and that surprises me. We have electricity so far; and just watched some footage from New Orleans. They’ve got downed trees already; and somewhere in Mississippi just got a tornado warning. I’m glad it isn’t here; but those poor folks in its path are in for a rough time.

I sure missed going on my long ride today; and I hope I can start riding again very soon. I’m going to lose too much conditioning; and I need to continue practicing on-bike eating!

I have no idea what things are like in my own neighborhood. I don’t expect street flooding; but power outages are a sure thing. I got online via WiFi; and won’t have it when we lose power here. Even if we did still have it, I don’t want to run down my laptop’s battery. I’d better keep that battery in case I need to send emergency emails!