Category: Uncategorized

30-October-2012

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath.

Around midnight the wind and rain subsided. No power, but I could hear multiple generators running. Once it was light out I went out to survey the damage. A few trees in the yard were down or lost large branches, but less damage than from Hurricane Irene.

I was lucky as the power came back on at 8 AM. Most of my neighbors are still running on generators, when I checked found that I was one of two houses that had power. I set up a free cell phone charging station at my front door. Cell phone & internet signals are weak and intermittent. I gave 2 gallons of gas to a neighbor with a generator.

When I checked the basement, I only found a small amount of water. I did see a lot of house centipedes (Scutigera Coleoptrata) and crickets. Also, the mouse/rat poison trays were empty.

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Montgomery Township Fire & Rescue. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Montgomery Township Fire & Rescue. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath in Skillman New Jersey Day 1. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)
Basement Critters. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera. (David J Mathre)

29-October-2012

Hurricane Sandy Getting Closer

When I woke up this morning, only light rain and little wind. As the day progressed the rain got heavier and the wind increased. This still does not seem like a tropical storm as the temperature is only in the mid 50’s °F. Now that the wind is increasing, there have been several power glitches. I decided to grill this Porterhouse steak I got from Mallery’s Grazin Meats before the power goes out. Once the power goes out, no idea how long it will be before power will be restored. I have everything in the RV (water, food, fuel) ready for a few days.

The power just went off at 5 PM.

Porterhouse Steak Dinner Waiting for Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica VLux 30 camera (ISO 250, 4.3 mm (25 mm equiv @ 35 mm), f/3.3, 1/60 sec) internal flash. (David J. Mathre)
Porterhouse Steak Dinner Waiting for Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica VLux 30 camera (ISO 250, 4.3 mm (25 mm equiv @ 35 mm), f/3.3, 1/60 sec) internal flash. (David J. Mathre)

28-October-2012

The Quiet Before the Storm.

I am home in NJ after 3 weeks on the road, including a week in New Mexico with the Nikonians on ANPAT 12 and 40 days at sea on the M/V Explorer for the fall 2012 Semeseter at Sea Voyage. I got home just in time to experience Hurricane Sandy. So far, only clouds. The strange thing about this storm is that is is cold out, not tropical temperatures. This becomes the problem where we will get a lot of rain as the hurricane hits the cold front and stalls in place.

Before the storm, I am trying to backup all the images from the Semester at Sea voyage and the ANPAT 12 road trip. Some how during these two trips I took over 100K images. My main Drobo server (8 x 2 TB drives) is flashing a yellow light. I am at 85% of the disk array capacity, and the Drobo is wanting some bigger drives.

When I got home, the RV wouldn’t start. Apparently, I left the inverter on so the battery was dead. I charged the battery last night and then moved the RV next to the house before the storm. The propane tank is 3/4 full so should provide power to the generator for some time if the power goes out. Before going on the ANPAT 12 road trip, I winterized the RV. I’m reversing this for the storm by filling the water tanks and charging the batteries. During the last storm, I didn’t have power for 3 days.

As long as I do have power, I can start to process and upload the best images from the SAS and ANPAT trips.

Deer in my backyard before Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Deer in my backyard before Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Monday (22-October-2012) — New Mexico

Gone to See America 2012 Road Trip. Day 16: Roswell, New Mexico

Three Lesser Sandhill Cranes in Flight. Morning at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec).

Sandhill Cranes in Flight. Morning at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell, New Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Sandhill Cranes in Flight. Morning at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell, New Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec) (David J Mathre)