Just a quick note from here in Pinellas County. The local meteorologists I’m watching are forecasting that Irma is going to go more north than northwest. This means it’s going to go over Lakeland and Polk County and a bit of eastern Hillsborough County. They’re estimating near to and/or category 1 gusts for that area in about 90 minutes.
Orlando has also been taking a beating with about 70 mph gusts for several hours or so because of how the rain bands have moved. Naples took a beating, but that beating and Irma staying over land has helped the storm to weaken and begin to unravel.
Should this forecast hold, then the eye will pass east of Tampa Bay. This keeps us in this area on the west and less dangerous side of the storm. Though Ft. DeSoto Park in southwestern Pinellas County just registered a 76 mph wind gust. A heavy, hurricane force rain band is just moving over the area. Very quickly fortunately.
We’re safe. Dry, unless I go out with the dogs… And we’ve still got power for now. I’ll check in in the comments as long as I’ve got either wifi or cell service.
We are also well hydrated!
Lapassionara
Thanks, Adam. Good to know you are safe.
Adam L Silverman
@Lapassionara: I have shed my corporeal form and now solely inhabit the cloud…
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: And Major^4 is probably not a robot and everyone knew I was a sea monster. Quite a weekend for revelations.
Everyone down there: Please stay safe.
Kristine
I hope Irma keeps weakening. Glad you’re okay.
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
Thanks for checking in! Now if we could just hear from Betty Cracker . . .
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
I can’t figure out why the font of my nym is so small.
Major Major Major Major
@Omnes Omnibus: probably.
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): Sometimes mine is. I think it might happen while it’s editable? But it doesn’t look small to me. (Mine currently looks small to me on this comment.)
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
@Major Major Major Major: Thanks. You’re right. And you don’t sound like a robot at all.
Adam L Silverman
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): just checked with her. They’re fine. Lots of rain and wind.
trollhattan
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes):
Strictly to keep us humble.
Best regards and wishes to our Irma pugilists. The rest of you lot enjoy Sunday night.
Gvg
Gainesville is very bored. We still have power. Raining harder and more gusty. Early morning is when we will get it hardest.
Major Major Major Major
Oh, right, glad everybody’s safe!
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): No, just autistic.
rikyrah
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes):
I know… hoping for good news from her soon
rikyrah
@Adam L Silverman:
Yeah.. thank you for this?
And glad to hear from you
Schlemazel
@Gvg:
Careful, you are straying into Ann Coulter territory there
FrankueB
I’m in Kissimmee
Wind howling and it’s raining buckets
Lost power about an hour ago but amazingly have cell service.
Dog’s on my lap
Family is cozy despite the circumstances
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: you were a sea monster *too*?!
NMgal
@Adam L Silverman: The cloud would be a good place to be if St. Pete becomes an island for awhile, as has happened before …
I checked a recent evacuation map for Pasco County — for 10 years I lived in Hudson, which is seriously low-lying with subdivisions actually built out into the Gulf using the fill from the numerous canals dredged to give people “waterfront” property. I remember watching storm surge swell out of our pond and approach the front door at a walking pace. Was curious whether our standard hurricane shelter (school) was still there and used. Not so much; everything on the Gulf side of US 19 is part of the A evac zone. We were stone lucky to never have had to bug out further than a couple of miles.
Keep the shiny side up and the greasy side down, and all hydration interior! Best wishes to all affected by the storm.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Yes.
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks. I was worried about all y’all in Pinellas. Spent lots of time there when my Dad was stationed at USCG Clearwater Air Station in the 80’s. Such a beautiful place, but too damn vulnerable in a storm like this one.
Lapassionara
@Adam L Silverman: LOL
Prufock
That’s great to hear Adam. It would be nice if my house is undamaged when I get home.
lamh36
Glad to see this update, Adams
I’m tired AF, but I tried to stay up long enough to try to read and catch up on as many of the folks I know in the FL area.
Adam L Silverman
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): thanks. We’re good.
Adam L Silverman
@Prufock: we’re keeping good thoughts
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: I may or may not be a cat but I definitely can be catty.
debbie
Guess then it’s good my nephew bugged out of U. of Tampa.
mainmata
I don’t understand this fanatic obsession with bottled water though the water companies must love it. My aged mother near Tampa filled her bathtub with water for cleaning/flushing and filled the fridge with tap water filled jugs of water for drinking. IOW, she didn’t pay a dime for contributing yet more gigantic amounts of plastic pollution to the environment. Bottled water should be confined to emergency shelters. Sorry, Grumpy Environmentalist.
raven
Ft Myers peeps and varmits are enjoying the stay as much as possible.
gbbalto
My best wishes and hopes to the Florida BJ contingent and everyone else in Florida,
debit
@mainmata: Possibly Adam didn’t have jugs handy or the time when they needed to bug out. I feel the same way about bottled water in general, just jesus fucking christ, he was running from a hurricane.
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
@raven: Who wouldn’t? Can’t ask for much more than garden ‘maters and good company.
MomSense
Thanks for checking in and letting us know you and Betty are ok.
Isobel
South JAX still has power, put the power companies are going to cut us off before the worst of the storm comes. Saint Augustine is out of power in various areas.
Isobel
Glad Adam is okay, still hoping for Betty and everybody else down here riding it out.
Suffragette City
Glad to hear ‘so far, so good’. Hope it continues!! And thanks for letting us know about Betty.
All you FL peeps take care as well and hope your dwellings have little to no damage.
raven
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): We went to a nice gathering, a release party for Hawk Proof Roosters first CD. It was a great setting, a strong evacuee crowd and folks too care to be welcoming.
Omnes Omnibus
@mainmata: I am inclined to give a bit of a break to people with a giant fucking hurricane bearing down on them.
Adam L Silverman
@mainmata: I have four 24 ounce reusable sport bottles for the gym. I have two 30 ounce RTIC ramblers.
I have a couple of bubba kegs/bubba keg like giant mugs (64 ounces a piece). What I don’t have are enough empty jugs to have one gallon per person or pet per day for at least three, five, or seven to ten days. The collapsible ones leak and don’t hold up. So even with filling a bathtub, I’ve got to buy water to be prepared. And yes, I enzymatic ally cleaned a garbage can, lined it with a giant plastic bag, and filled it with water today for washing or priming the toilets.
lgerard
Hold on Florida
Tax cuts are coming!!
Adam L Silverman
@Isobel: I was in touch with Betty. They’re doing okay. Just wind and rain.
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
@Adam L Silverman: This is when having a large outdoor cat colony comes in handy. I’ve always got around 20 one gallon water jugs in the car!
Adam L Silverman
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): tracking
MomSense
Hemingway’s house and all 54 polydactyl cats survived the storm.
Pogonip
Adam, I was sure I remembered you living in FL and (for once) I was right. I am glad to read that you sound pretty safe.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
Why would you even respond?
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: I’m sitting here in a hurricane with the local 24/7 news on about the hurricane I’m sitting in. Exactly what else do I have to occupy my time…
More seriously, most people don’t realize how to prep for these. The 3 day recommendation on water is the minimum. Had this stayed over water and hit us up here as a cat 5, we might need up two weeks worth of water.
Annie
I have cousins in Florida but not in the immediate path of Irma and so far they’re all OK. Glad to hear all the Florida Juicers are OK.
A Ghost to Most
It sounds like every Floridian should thank Cuba for taking the heart out of the storm before it got to you.
Here’s hoping all are safe and well hydrated
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
@Adam L Silverman: No comprendo.@MomSense: That’s great news.
Adam L Silverman
@Pogonip: yep. I grew up here. Don’t like living here. But this is where the work has been the past couple of years.
Adam L Silverman
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): I am now aware that you keep lots of water bottles for interacting with cats.
Pogonip
@Adam L Silverman: Well, don’t give up. It took me 36 years to finally wander into my home town. I hope it takes you considerably less. Go with God and be happy.
And wait till Tues to call the insurance co because unless God really is your co-pilot, you will not get through on Monday.
la caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
Aha. I also have a drop trap.
eta: I carry so many cause it’s my job to replace the empties at our feeding stations every weekend so the weekday feeders don’t have to hump in a bunch of water.
randy khan
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for everyone in the path. It does feel like some bullets have been dodged, but I know there’s a long way to go with this storm.
burnspbesq
Looks like Mom’s house (Lake Wales) is probably getting hammered. Mom, however, is not. She is at my sister’s in Milbury, MA.
Adam L Silverman
@Pogonip: I miss living in central PA.
Hopefully we won’t need to call thmy insurance folks at all.
eclare
@MomSense: So glad to hear, thank you! And so glad to hear Adam and Betty have checked in and are doing ok. Here is hoping Irma avoids a direct hit on Tampa! Staying up for the 11 pm EDT (10 pm EDT for me) update from the National Hurricane Center.
efgoldman
@burnspbesq:
:::waves::: almost exactly 30 miles from my door, straight shot up 146
A Ghost to Most
@burnspbesq: My step-mother’s house in Ruskin is on a channel, so it may get nailed by storm surge. She isn’t there now, but would be soon.
Schlemazel
@MomSense:
Any word on the “Winter White House”
efgoldman
@Schlemazel:
Gauche? Tasteless? Tacky?
All good words.
Ohio Mom
@Pogonip: Nice to see you again.
Run, Lillian!
Glad to see Florida BJers are checking in! Stay safe out there kids. Hopefully Betty will pop her head in here soon too.
zhena gogolia
I hope the Frank Lloyd Wright church in Lakeland gets through okay.
Not to mention all the people, of course.
I don’t see any Bud Light.
MomSense
@Schlemazel:
Apparently it was not harmed in the storm but he won’t open it for people who need shelter.
Joy in FL
I had to evacuate from Pasco county and am staying with my brother who lives in Pinellas in a non-evacuation zone.
Still have power but the wind is scary with lots of rain.
Long night ahead. Daylight will be welcome.
Thanks for all the good wishes. My best to all who are in any difficulty.
Adam L Silverman
@zhena gogolia: nor will you
MomSense
@eclare:
I was really worried when I heard the storm surge was 10-14 feet in the keys.
(((CassandraLeo)))
The eye passed well to the east of us about ninety minutes ago. We still have power, despite occasional flickering. I think it helps that we’re elevated and most of our powerlines in this area are buried. I think the worst has long passed us by now – the wind isn’t even very loud now. I heard it consistently over the Grateful Dead a couple of hours ago, but now I only hear it when there are gusts (or between songs).
MomSense
@Joy in FL:
So glad you are ok.
Joy in FL
@MomSense: Thank you : )
eclare
@MomSense: Yes, glad everyone is staying safe and checking in.
Mike J
I was in Lakeland back in the 90s when a hurricane hit Orlando. We had about an hour of high winds, then I went to play pool.
Glad I’m not near the shore for this much stronger hurricane.
Schlemazel
@efgoldman:
I don’t know. I enjoyed my visit there & have a soft spot in my heart. Probably the decor has not been updated since 1952 but it felt so “Truman” there.
FlyingToaster
I just got off the phone with my mom. The eye went right over Lehigh Acres. Fortunately, she’s in a well built and re-roofed house. But for about two hours (with a 2 minute gap in the middle), it sounded like Paul Bunyan and Babe were dancing on her roof. She suspects loose shingles flapping (as do I), which is pretty minor damage.
The biggest problem is that the electric went out at 2:30 and is unlikely to be back before Wednesday. I begged her to stay inside until noon tomorrow; there is still a lot of wind left on the south side of the storm. Worse, she doesn’t own rubber boots so I really want her not stepping in the yard until it’s dried up a bit. Her house is in LCEC rather than FPL, and since it’s transformers and downed lines, I suspect they’ll be up by Friday-ish.
I listened to the mayor(?) of Marathon; he was with a clearing crew leaving Key Largo, and they were going one bridge and island at a time to clear the way to Key West. His crew will drop out at Marathon to clear the airfield. I would not expect most of the airports in South and Gulf Coast Florida to be open to commercial flights until they’ve been cleared and had a day of C130s bringing in equipment for cleaning up the mess. Same with the ports — cleared and bringing in supplies and equipment before any regular traffic resumes.
Everybody down there stay safe.
Suzanne
My family in Sarasota said that everything is OK so far, but that they haven’t gotten the brunt yet. Apparently that comes around midnight. So fingers crossed.
SWMBO
We have been without power since around 8 am. It’s humid as hell. On the plus side, we are hydrated! Tomorrow we can get the generator out and start the fridge back. Also power cpap machines and fans. The air is so still inside and so humid, it feels like warm pork drippings on you skin. Once the worst is past, we can open up and air the place out some. Let the dogs out earlier and one pottied. One started to and the wind lifted him off the ground. Everyone wanted to go back inside after that. Lol. OldDave misses the electricity to run his cpap. It’s hard to get any rest once you get used to it.
Pogonip
@Ohio Mom: Thank you! I hope the Ohio Kids are well.
joel hanes
@Adam L Silverman:
I have shed my corporeal form and now solely inhabit the cloud…
Reference to Zelazny’s _Lord_Of_Light_ ?
Adam L Silverman
@joel hanes: not that I’m aware of
mai naem mobile
I am so glad you’re okay Adam. I know next to nothing about Florida geography or counties except for Miami. Did you buy Niagara water because you were wishing you were at Niagara Falls? Haha.
CarolPW
@joel hanes: Like Sam, I hope everything is working to get Adam back home. One of my most favorite books from one of my most favorite authors.
Omnes Omnibus
@CarolPW: Oddly, I could see Adam as Tak.
O. Felix Culpa
Glad to hear that Adam, Betty, Joy, M^4, and various folks’ relatives are well. Stay safe!
Mike J
@mai naem mobile: Niagara Falls? Sloooooowly I turn…
CarolPW
@Omnes Omnibus: The thought of Adam as the simian Tak made me snicker. But Adam as Tak of the bright spear, that works very well.
Lizzy L
@Omnes Omnibus: “Go peel bananas with your feet!”
To all the Floridians: glad you’re safe. I’m concerned for my friends in Tampa and Orlando. I’m also concerned for the 20 year old daughter of a friend of mine who’s in Sarasota, while mama in San Francisco is pacing the floor. But daughter is smart and in a solid building so she should be okay. WeatherUnderground is showing Irma as a Cat 2 storm but winds are still at 100 mph — no walkies with the dogs in that!
Gonna be a long night.
Omnes Omnibus
@O. Felix Culpa: Major^4, who is probably not a robot is in CA (if I am not completely of my nut).
@CarolPW: Have you seen any photos of Adam?
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@raven: Hawk Proof Rooster? I was in a banjo workshop with Nancy a couple of years ago, led by Adam Hurt. She said some very nice and encouraging things to me.
Time constraints got in the way of my pursuing it further, but I remember she and Charlie seemed very cool.
Back on topic: Adam, very glad to hear you’re okay.
Adam L Silverman
@mai naem mobile: basically a big, flat sandbar coveted with grass, scrub, palm trees, and old people.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: there are none
CarolPW
@Omnes Omnibus: No – point to you. Nevertheless, the bright spear is required in either Adam iteration.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Of course not.
@CarolPW: I made no argument against that. I also thought that Tak was a heroic character in the book. I will neither apply nor decline to apply such a label to Adam.
frosty
@mainmata:
I can’t stand it either. Fill up a water bottle and take it with you. Plus, from what I read, tap water is cleaner since it has to be tested and certified regularly by the County Health Department.
PIGL
@joel hanes: Funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I suppose we must be about the same age…not that I’m telling.
Kay
Still trying to reconcile that the President who ran on his “enormous success” in the business world is absolutely fucking terrified that people might find out about his business deals.
The best part is not only does he not want anyone to find out, but his entire 50 year career is off-limits and that’s (now) acceptable. We aren’t permitted to know anything, really. If there hadn’t have been an investigation we never would have seen or heard anything real and documented about these people. It would all just be their bullshit.
frosty
@Adam L Silverman: On December 31, 1999, I had 3 milk crates with 4 gallon jugs each that I’d been saving for the occasion., for a family of 4 (oops, plus 2 dogs). Two bathtubs filled with water for flushing toilets. And thanks to an army of COBOL programmers, I didn’t need them.
I’m like you now, though. I have one collapsible 2.5 gallon container, and 3 empty milk crates. Maybe it’s time to start accumulating jugs again.
jl
@la caterina (Mrs. Johannes): On Twitter, Lady Cracker reports that she and her entourage have evacuated. Last report implies that the worst thing that happened so far was dogs kept sticking their asses in her face in the cramped evacuation vehicle.
I hope that is the correct interpretation, and if so, it is the worst that happens.
Another Scott
@frosty: It’s got fluoride, too, in most places, so it’s much better for your teeth than most bottled drinks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
@frosty: Hurricane. Need for unknown amounts of water. Don’t be an ass. Christ, this is why liberals lose.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: thanks, I think.
I’ve not read the books you all are referring to, so I really have no idea what you’re talking about.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: we win moral victories, and that’s all that matters!
Omnes Omnibus
Shelter. May those of you who need it find it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: As a student of comparative religion, you might find it interesting. Lord of Light by Robert Zelazny.
CarolPW
@Omnes Omnibus: Tak was certainly the most pragmatic of the whole bunch. Didn’t think of him as heroic, but there wasn’t anybody in the book who I would have considered more heroic than Tak, and didn’t consider anybody particularly heroic at all. Just a bunch of ordinary people doing the best they could (although in some cases with lots of weird enhancements).
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Omnes Omnibus
@CarolPW: I bet we first read it at different ages. I was about 12.
mai naem mobile
@Adam L Silverman: also too a higher than normal number of crazy people. Some stupid and crazy. Is it the combo of heat and humidity?
Aleta
@frosty: I have some of these
https://www.coleman.com/5-gallon-water-carrier/5620B718G.html.
I also used to get the 5 gal food safe white buckets (with handles) free at bakeries around here. It can be hard to pry the lids off those after you fill them, but there’s a cheap tool for it (works like a big bottle opener) at camping stores.
frosty
@Adam L Silverman:
Oddly enough, that’s where I grew up (well, South Central) and where I’ve ended up. I miss Maryland, planning to move back after retirement.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Gimme? (4:30)
Stay safe, everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
Marcopolo
Good to hear Irma seems to be losing steam fairly fast & that her track wasn’t as awful as it could have been. Let’s all give a lil shout out to the north coast of Cuba for doing the heavy lifting in slowing her down.
I’m curious if anyone else has seen this Irma related story about Tesla vehicles. Apparently, Tesla has intentionally software limited the battery life on (some?) of its cars. With the arrival of Irma, they took the “humanitarian” action of downloading new software which allows full battery use and thus extended mileage.
Article link here: https://mobile.twitter.com/qz/status/906940601207283713
Personally, I don’t like the idea that Tesla is asking folks to pay for a product that they are intentionally crippling. Not sure where I fall on them being able to make performance changes to something that is now the owner’s property (generally not opposed to things like software patches etc). Am curious to hear what other folks think–btw the hurricane software patch will only be in place for a limited time, of course.
CarolPW
@Omnes Omnibus: It was published when I was 17, and I probably read it when I was 18. If you had been a female of 17 or 18, the library encounter (with some demi/demi goddess) might have put some tarnish on the heroism.
Omnes Omnibus
@CarolPW: It was published when I was three and I read it out of my dad’s books when I was, like I said, about 12.
Sadly, the scene you mention never registered with me.
Adam L Silverman
@mai naem mobile: probably
Adam L Silverman
@frosty: I’d pay good money to be back in Carlisle.
Adam L Silverman
@Marcopolo: Polk County is getting hammered right now.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Polk is where?
CarolPW
@Omnes Omnibus: Nothing sad, just that Tak was quite the rogue. Have you read any other Zelazney? I particularly like the agnostic’s prayer in Creatures of Light and Darkness:
“Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to ensure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen.”
He was a gem, and dead too soon.
Another Scott
@Marcopolo: I haven’t read the stories, but I have seen a couple of blurbs about it (Atrios had a captured tweet posted). Could be a couple or few things:
1) There was a notorious FTFNYT piece in 2013 by a reporter guy driving a Tesla in the winter and he (seemingly) intentionally tried to break the car. Range anxiety in electric cars is a real thing and it can be fatal to electric car companies. Teslas are designed to have some reserve even when “empty” so that drivers don’t get stranded.
2) Deeper discharge or faster discharge rates can affect the life of the battery.
3) IBM was well known for selling the same hardware, but charging more if higher performance features were enabled. MS did the same thing with some of the “networking” features of Windows that were only enabled in the “Professional” versions even though the code ran fine on the other versions.
It’s not necessarily nefarious. And it’s nothing new, really.
If it helps more Teslas customers get away as a temporary feature in an emergency, then I’m all for it.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
@CarolPW: I’ve read that book as well. It did not resonate.
joel hanes
@Adam L Silverman:
I kinda think that it wouldn’t be your cup of tea, so I was surprised.
As you can tell, many of the old SF lovers among us revere that book.
frosty
@Omnes Omnibus: Did not mean to be an ass*, hadn’t read other comments re:hurricane when I made that one.
* Not always successful, sadly.
Omnes Omnibus
@CarolPW: I have, in my past, been quite the rogue. Few were harmed.
joel hanes
@Omnes Omnibus:
I was about 12
I was just 22, and back from the Army, getting ready to go back to college.
A friend loaned me that, and John Gardner’s Grendel, which is less lovely but maybe has as much to say.
Years later, that same friend loaned me Dorothy Dunnett’s The Game of Kings.
I’ll never be able to repay the debt.
Omnes Omnibus
@joel hanes: I was 22 when I signed up for the army.
Kundera was my little block of weirdos author of choice. We were a few years later.
joel hanes
Couldn’t seem to engage with Creatures in the way I got sucked into Lord of Light, but the novellas A Rose For Ecclesiastes and The Doors Of His Face, The Lamps Of His Mouth IMHO are Zelazny at his peak.
Psych1
Just finished the book I was rereading, CONDOMINIUM, by MacDonald. For those of you not familiar with it, it is a 1977 book about a hurricane the goes up the west coast of Florida. It tracks exactly like this one but causes more damage. I really really recommend it for lots of reasons.
Glad things are working out so well for those of you in the storm.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: central Florida east of Tampa.
CarolPW
@Omnes Omnibus: Tak harmed no one either, he was quite charming
some guy
waiting for the eye to approach. we lost power for a full 30 minutes around 3 (YaY municipally owned utility!) rain bands intensifying, now even more limbs coming down, but still in Cat1 territory. Tornado threat here is very low, but strongest winds are still 6 hours away. some gal and boy asleep, some girl trying to get to sleep.
at least we are eating like royals.
Bess
@Marcopolo:
Tesla initially offered lower range models (S40) at a lower price but few people ordered them. In order to fill those orders without the expense of making a few ‘by hand’ they supplied larger capacity Ss (S60s) and ‘turned off’ some of the batteries with software. And delivered those cars at the lower advertised prices.
They also offered to turn the extra batteries back on for a fee. Some people did not pay to get more range. Tesla gave it to them for free for a limited amount of time if they were in the evac zone or not far away.
Tesla continually upgrades its cars with over the air instructions. The list of improvements (at no cost to owners) is long and impressive. Tesla is the only car company that I know of who makes your car better for free after you buy it and delivers it via the Tooth Fairy.
There’s a full list of OTA upgrades here –
https://electrek.co/2017/03/20/tesla-list-features-software-updates/
Tesla drivers climb into their cars in the morning and find that their car is better than when they parked it the night before.
Other companies do a few upgrades but you have to make an appointment at the dealer’s and sometimes leave the car with them.
Marcopolo
@Adam L Silverman: I wasn’t trying to imply that Irma wasn’t still happening and know many folks are still getting hit & hit hard, just that all in all it appears to be one or two levels lower in strength than the forecasts even 24 hours ago and made initial landfall in a less populated area of the state (which is no consolation to the folks on the Keys or Marcos Islands or Naples).
Adam L Silverman
@joel hanes: I have strange tastes in sci fi and fantasy fiction.
Adam L Silverman
@Marcopolo: never thought you were, just providing an update.
Omnes Omnibus
@CarolPW: That is what I thought, but you implied that I missed something.
ETA: Or I missed something – which happens.
CarolPW
@joel hanes: Creatures was meh except I adored the agnostic’s prayer, The Doors of his Face, the Lamps of his Mouth was astounding. He was a superb short story writer, packing more into his short stories and novellas than most writers do in multi-book series.
frosty
@Aleta: Lessee… pint’s a pound the world around, 4 qt/gal x 2 pt/qt =8 x 5 gal, carry the 0 …. 40 pounds? With this back and tennis elbow, I’d better stick to 2.5.
Nice carrier, though, not as difficult to move around as the collapsible one.
some guy
the worst punch is coming right at us. nothing is over until it is over.
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/weather/hurricanes/2017/09/08/hurricane-irma-track-update-radar-loops/638140001/
joel hanes
@Adam L Silverman:
Well, this one is a Boddhisatva / Ramayana mashup, with many of the traditional characters : we meet Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Yama, Ratri, Kali, the Lokapalas, and the Mahasamatman as people, and the Rakasha as living demons, with whom a brave person can wager. Garuda has a barbaric yawp.
Kubera is perhaps my favorite.
frosty
@Adam L Silverman: A ( very cute) teacher of mine ended up there, called it “Carlisle, rhymes with drizzle”. That being said, this whole part of PA, Piedmont to the Alleghenies, is some of the prettiest landscape I know. It looks very much like the photo of WV that John posted the other day.
If (when) I move to the Eastern Shore I’ll miss it. I’m hoping water views will make up for it.
burnspbesq
@Omnes Omnibus:
Lakeland, Winter Haven, Bartow, Lake Wales. US 27 is the main north-south highway.
CarolPW
@Omnes Omnibus: No – just that for me charming rogue did not equate to heroic. Nite all.
Omnes Omnibus
@frosty:
I can find parts of Wisconsin that look like that. Terminal moraines are quite lovely, years later.
Adam L Silverman
Okay folks I’m going to rack out.
I’ll catch you all on the flip.
Bess
@Another Scott:
“Range anxiety in electric cars is a real thing and it can be fatal to electric car companies.”
Interviews of people who drive EVs find that range anxiety goes away generally in less than a week. One reporter termed it “range anxiety” anxiety. Something that some people have before they drive an EV.
Granted, if you tried to drive a long way with a lower range EV life would not be all peaches and cream. Only Tesla has an established system of rapid chargers which allow you to drive about anywhere in the US (lower 48), western Europe and parts of Asia. If you’re driving an EV with less than an 100 mile range and having to depend on third party chargers which may or may not be working/available then you could easily be sweating it.
The maps on this page (scroll down) show where there are now Tesla Superchargers (red) and where there should be new Superchargers by the end of the year (grey). Tesla plans on doubling the number of charge bays they have now by the end of 2018.
https://www.tesla.com/supercharger
And Tesla has installed over 6,000 Destination Chargers at hotels and restaurants. Those chargers will pump in 50 miles per hour, an easy full charge while you sleep.
Other EV manufacturers are going to have to come up with a charging option. So far they seem to be waiting for some third party to open the stations for them. GM makes a good long range EV (Bolt) but you can’t really take a long trip in it because GM hasn’t provided a place to charge.
Marcopolo
@Bess: thanks to you & Another Scott for the replies. I guess I am just slow to wrap my head around the reality that cars are as much computers running software as anything else nowadays.
I was talking w/ friends last week about some report (and this may be apocryphal) that the vast majority of vehicles flood damaged in Houston by Harvey are slated to be destroyed (with maybe the engines and maybe a few other parts pulled) rather than repaired. We guessed that due to their extensive electronics and current manufacturing processes that it’s cheaper to start from scratch than go to the trouble of tearing out and replacing damaged parts–like buying a lot of things (VCRs come to mind not that folks buy VCRs anymore, yeah I’m old) new is cheaper than anything other than self-repair. And, of course if we were wrong about this I look forward to hear it from someone here.
Holaitsmonica
Still waiting for Irma in Tallahassee but she is on her way.
Brachiator
I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes an’ blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn
Come in, she said
I’ll give ya shelter from the storm
Everyone continue to stay safe.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: Unhelpful. East, West, North, South? Why would you assume that I know fuck all about Florida?
Omnes Omnibus
@Marcopolo: I blew up my beloved Saab in a minor flooding event. I got a replacement similar Saab, but even small puddles scare me now.
ETA: A mechanic who I trust said that water damage can fuck up electronics well down the road. If it sinks, consider it done. It was like a gut shot to me, but I knew not to fight it.
eclare
@Holaitsmonica: Good luck, stay safe!
Ladyraxterinok
@Adam L Silverman:
Lived in Gainesville 65-66. My then husband went to dig worms for fishing and freaked out ‘There’s no dirt out there; it’s all sand!’
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus: Lakeland is halfway across Florida, in between Tampa an Orlando.
Mike J
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike J: Thank you.
pinacacci
So so much rain, still have power which just goes to show how good FPL has gotten at this. They have had so much practice. Tree down across the driveway but that always happens. Possible tornadoes so have moved all critters to inner rooms. Gonna sleep well unless a tree falls on the house. Possible. There won’t be flooding though.
ETA the wind is wild
fuckwit
@Kay: Almost certainly, Mueller has established clear lines of evidence and probable cause and all that is necessary to prove that this research into Troll’s shady Russian mafia business dealings is in fact material to the case of election tampering. Sekulow can go blow a goat.
Origuy
@Another Scott: Back in the seventies, I worked for Control Data, which made supercomputers and competed with IBM. We had several models in one product line that differed mainly by processor speed. In one case, if the customer wanted to upgrade the processor, the customer engineer would go on site and either remove or plug in a jumper cable on the processor board. Companies need a range of products; sometimes you have to introduce an artificial difference to make a sale.
eclare
@Brachiator: Great song.
Tehanu
@fuckwit:
Dump’s his client, so he’s already blowing a goat for all practical purposes.
Starfish
I cannot believe no one has brought up Chronicles of Amber while discussing Zelazny.
rikyrah
@Kay:
He was always a fraud. Now, the rest of the folks will find out just how much of a fraud he is.
amygdala
Glad you’re safe, Adam. Checking in from Haiti, where I actually have internet access for a change. Irma didn’t cause too much damage here, thankfully–downed trees here and there, and some road flooding.
I’m due to go home this weekend, which could be an adventure given the airport situation in Florida. One of my staff brought in video on his phone of the storm surge at the Miami airport. Unbelievable.
I hope everyone is hanging in ok. I’m looking for a nice, cool reunion with Karl the Fog.