Tuesday, June 23, 2009

andres redux


Knowing I run the risk of sounding as if I am issuing royal health reports (The king is resting. The king has fallen into a coma. The crown prince is having his coronet fitted.), I thought I would let you know what is happening on the storm front.


Last night we had a thunderstorm with accompanying lightening. Because I am a good electronic steward, I shut down the computer and unplugged everything.


This morning I tried to turn on the computer. Nada. I tried it on battery only. Nada. I took out the battery. Nada.


I simply reconciled myself to the fact that you would all assume I was dead and eventually wander off to blogs about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens -- or whatever your favorite things might be. And Jiggs and I would wallow in our pity. Well, I would. Jiggs knows no pity.


During my Spanish class yesterday, I noticed that the salt air had begun to corrode the gold on my fountain pen. That gave me an idea.


I popped open the computer's battery again, and, sure enough, there were salt crystals on the contacts. Enough salt crystals to flavor a family size popcorn at the neighborhood cinema.


The battery went back in. And, voilĂ  (or whatever it is in Spanish), here I am again.


Enough about process. Where's the carne? Or, more to the point, where's Andres?


Jiggs insisted on his morning walk around 8. A quick look outside disclosed a usual morning at the beach where rain was a possibility. And no blustering hurricane.

So, off we went, down the street greeting the two or three people who are out, and down to the beach where Jiggs began his McGruff impression -- sniffing out crime and tasty tidbits.


One moment, we are on a warm beach with overcast sky. The next moment, it was as if we had strayed onto a Gene Kelly movie set in Paris.


I am accustomed to tropical rain. Anyone who has walked in Miami on a summer afternoon around 4 knows what I mean. The rain comes out of nowhere. Well, it comes out of the sky.


But this rain was accompanied with strong winds. Winds strong enough that a woman lost her balance in the sand.


Jiggs loved it. The wind, that is. He started running and twisting in circles -- as if he were a young dog. He thought it was pure joy. When I ordered him home, he sulked the entire four blocks.


But that was not Andres. Just a precursor, so we are told.


It is now almost noon. Andres does not look as if it will turn into a hurricane because it is starting to head seaward. However, I would not want to be on a sail boat caught in the tropical storm that it shall be. But we have apparently dodged the bullet on land.


As long as the hurricane warning is in place, we will keep an eye out. But Jiggs is pestering me for another walk on the beach. So, off we go.


More later.


By the way, the king is better. The crown prince pawned his coronet.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the morning laugh! Glad to hear that Jiggs is enjoying the changes in the tropical weather. I look forward to the continuing Royal saga.

Steve Cotton said...

Anonymous -- I would say it is a sign of courage to laugh in the face of danger, but I have seen nothing of danger's anatomy today.

Islagringo said...

Thanks for the update. Your fans can breath a little sigh of relief now. Hope that is all you get out of this thing.

Beth said...

For one brief moment, Jiggs might have thought he was back in Oregon!

Glad to hear the storm is moving back out to sea. Weather.com was still reporting fierce waves for your neck of the woods..er...beach.

Christine said...

I wish you would tell me how you get your information about what Andres is doing. I can't find a web site that is current and has good information. Christine

Julian from SC said...

Happy to hear you might not experience your first hurricane. I've been through two on the SC coast (well, inside the Georgetown Armory) and, to tell you the truth, they were a lot of fun for a small boy of 10 or 12. Plus the beach is really neat for a few weeks!

Anyhow, not sorry you're missing it. Give the professor a pat for me. I spent the weekend with two wonderful Goldens at a lake up here and they are a lot of fun to be with around water!

Julian

Steve Cotton said...

Islandgringo -- My neighbor says he thinks there will be more.

Beth -- The news does not mislead. There are still some very large and noisy waves rolling in. But they are keeping their distance from the house.

Julian -- I think Jiggs liked the idea that there was chaos in his world -- a dog's utopia.

Anonymous said...

Dear,Steve
Great news!Take care
min,Va

1st Mate said...

It must have been fun to see Jiggs excited and playful once again. A little unexpected bonus.

VisitLaManzanilla said...

Thanks for the update, we are in Denver and left guessing how our house is fairing! The folks in La Manzanilla lost electricity earlier this morning and I haven't heard if it's back on or not.

Steve Cotton said...

Min -- I may have spoken too soon. We are starting to get some interesting wave action. The teens were out on the skim boards, but they have retreated in the face of some very unfriendly waves.

1st Mate -- It was a very pleasant shock. He is begging me to go outside with him. But the wind and rain are back.

VisitLaManzanilla -- I haven't heard anything from over the hill. If I do, I will let you know.

Anonymous said...

thanks for the laugh indeed, your royal highness. how the heck do you come up with these ideas? well, i hope all you get are high waves and wind, not with hurricane force.

you never did tell us about your spanish class, except for what happened to your pen ;-) so how was it?

teresa

Anonymous said...

I'm always ashamed of how many of your pop cultural pop-flies I catch...like the McGruff reference.

Prof Jiggs really was loving the fact that lady fell down in the sand. Great that he's living large these days.

Charley
HoustonTX

Steve Cotton said...

Teresa -- Story lines tend to pop out of minds that are not properly stimulated. The wind may pound some sense into my head. We are starting to see more waves,.

Charley -- Pandering with pop culture icons is my specialty. Jiggs's sense of humor is pure vaudeville. He would love The Three Stooges.

john said...

My inner engineer cringes at the very idea of salt crystals on your computer battery. Corrosion damage on your battery may well presage corrosion damage on your motherboard, or in your hard drive.

Steve Cotton said...

John -- I cringed along with you. The laptop sits near a window that is often open. I suppose I could simply pour brine over the computer each week and get the same effect. And, short of moving to the highlands, I know of no way to prevent the potential corrosion. Computers on sail boats suffer the same fate.

Babs said...

Have you ever heard of "the calm before the torm"? Hopefully you are still not getting any high waves or winds. Please be careful

Steve Cotton said...

Babs -- We are still getting a little surf action and some wind. But it looks as if we dodged this one.

Tom said...

Suerte Steve! We'll be in Barra next week, hope it is calm by then and that there is still a beach to enjoy! This is the best website I've found so far for tracking Andres: http://www.stormpulse.com/pacific/tropical-storm-andres-2009

cheers, Thomas

Steve Cotton said...

Tom -- The waves are still doing a very good job of moving the sand around. As is the rain.