Heh, good stuff... Frank, I'll be praying for you and everyone else in FL. Don't die, or we'll have to start arguing about who gets to take over the site again. (I get the guns.)

Bah. I leave on the Space Coast. The reason they do shuttle launches here is because it's the place that always gets hit the least.

I was born and raised in S.Fla. I have been through more hurricanes and stomrs then I can count. (Andrew being the last one). And in my experiance I found during these times that kite flying would take my mind off things. And if you want to enhance your enjoyment I advise you to attach a long metal object to the kite while standing on a storm drain. Mucho Fun!!!!

be careful. i want you to be around to make the big announcement. i'm dying to know what it is.

Me too!

You leave on the Space Coast? Is the announcement that you are an astronaut on the first secret mission to begin plans to build the Outer Space Death Lasers aka The S.M.I.T.E. project.

FrankJ: Bah. I leave on the Space Coast. The reason they do shuttle launches here is because it's the place that always gets hit the least.

Uh, Frank, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's not why they launch from Florida.

It's orbital mechanics. It's close to the equator, and they can launch in an easterly direction (thus taking advantage of the Earth's rotation) without launching over inhabited land.

I'm not saying you're wrong about Florida being hit with hurricanes less often, just saying that's not an overriding reason why they do space launches from there.

So far, no one has disputed my claim to the firearms. Since no one is in an arguing mood right now, dibs on the house and car as well.

Oh yeah. All the stuff in the house and car as well. Especially the pool table and toll money. Those are mine.

There's no announcement.

There is no announcement; there is only the matrix.

We just got a glancing blow from Charley but a big tree limb fell on my place and my fence blew down. There was never much rain but a lot of wind, I figure about 3 or 4 more hours of this till we`re over it. The power was only went down once for 2 1/2 hours that`s a lot better than the last few times.
I live in Key West, hurricanes are like mosquitos, they`re an annoyance but no big deal.

you know, if you lived in texas, you wouldn't have this problem, frank.

Sean: he means that Canaveral is the part of Florida that gets hit the least, not that Florida itself does.

SeanF, (too late, Ian S. already said the stuff about the Space Coast having less hurricanes than the rest of the state)
Joatmoaf, I just took my family down your way last week. We snorkeled and left last Friday, lucky timing. I hope you are in a nice hurricane-proof house. Someone recommended Half shell Raw Bar for cheap food and fish-looking. We had plenty conch which was delicious for a chewy shellfish.
Free hurricane advice: unplug your favorite electronics during thunderstorms. In the FL electronics repair business March-October is 'lightning season'.

Apparently I wasn't reading IMAO in mid-2003. Because I surely would have mentioned that belong on the 'Know thy Enemy: Hurricanes' list -- a few years ago, Jim Tressell proved that Buckeyes could stop Hurricanes, though they may need borderline pass interference calls to do so :).

Ian S, I'll take your word for it, since I don't live there. Isn't Canavarel about in the middle of the state (North-South-wise), though? How does it get hit less than areas both north and south of it?

Unless you just meant that the Atlantic coast gets hit less than the Gulf coast. That'd make sense. But, still, they launch from the Atlantic coast for the reasons I gave, *not* because of a difference in the weather.

SeanF, the space coast is about half-way up the Atlantic coast in FL. Hurricanes tend to cut under FL and go up the gulf or stay off shore and make landfall further north. Canaveral & space coast get lucky and tend to miss hurricanes better than Miami to the south or Jacksonville to the north. Irene smacked here 7-8 years ago and I think there was another one many decades before that. It could be a false sense of comfort, "past performance is no guarantee of future returns".

I work in the same town as Frank J. and now am the last guy at work in a 3-story glass building (all windows). I think that makes me the least wise of my fellow employees. A short ride home but I hope I don't have to make it in 30mph winds. The eye is still plenty far away but plenty of storm bands will come through. Should be light traffic at least.

Trucido: You can have that car. Damn Hyundai.
sarahk: Doesn't TX have tumbleweeds? Those things give me the heebie-jeebies. On the other hand you do have the Dallas Cowboys and it just doesn't get any better than that.
joatmoat: I watched a program about Key West once and this guy said you didn't have to put screens on the windows because they were no bugs. Is this true?
Anyone: What do you call a person who is so frightened of bugs that any bug bigger than a 1/4 inch can cause hyperventilating and vomiting?

Frank, just kidding about the Hyundai. My first car was a Hyundai and she was a good girl. But then came my sweet little Buick and that's when I learned the joys of flying.

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