Recovered, but...

 Finished the chainsawing and yard clean-up yesterday,

The Giant Pile of Debris

and the electricians showed up yesterday to touch up on Monday's electrical repairs, so now the dryer works,

but in the meantime, sometimes you've just got to do the wash.  Besides, how else would you find out that the dryer circuit's not properly hooked up?  Nothing finds a dead dryer circuit like a washing machine load of damp laundry.  Eh, the weather was nice, sunny & dry.

Still waiting for the cable internet service to return, but the end of the street that comes in on is still oak limb salad.  Just glad the AC power supply comes in from the other end of the street.  So, recovered and taking a day or two off.  Think I'll take a bike ride around BSL today and take in the sights.  And now this:

How 2020.  Well, that roulette wheel is still spinning and I've got a few days to catch my breath.  Think I'll make good use of them, starting with another cup of coffee and a bike ride.

A Few Days Off

 Just a few.  Well, maybe more than a few.  I'm still dealing with a few items from Hurricane Zeta – nothing bad, just dealing.  And I'm tired.  Really tired.  And you don't want to hear about the little chores and snafus that make up a hurricane's aftermath.  So I'm taking a few days off.  It may stretch into a month or more.  Don't worry.  At very least, I promise a year-end wrap-up, but I intend to be back and blogging much sooner than that.

Coffeeneuring Stop #7: Henderson Point Park

 Last Wednesday, I wrote "What could be more 2020 than sneaking in a coffeeneuring trip with a hurricane bearing down on the area?"  How about coffeeneuring in a declared disaster area following Hurricane Zeta?  With MRE coffee of course...

1. where: Henderson Point Park, Pass Christian MS

2. date: 11/1/20

3. what: French vanilla cappuccino (instant, in a bag, heated w/MRE heater)

4. ride details: CX bike, 70F-ish clear blue fall day

5. distance: 11.5 miles round-trip

Continuing with Disaster Week here on the MS Gulf Coast, after chainsawing for a good chunk of the morning, I drove to the National Guard distro point at the farmer's market to restock on ice.  I didn't need the case of MREs, but the only question the guys working there asked was "How many people?"  "Two."  [turns to shout]"Two!" and four guys run up with the standard load-out, throw it in back of the truck, and move along don't slow down the line.  [rolling out]"Thanks!"  "No problem!  Next!!!"  Eh, won't have to hunt for groceries before next week, and the ice is much appreciated while finishing out the remaining fresh food in the house.

But back to the coffeeneuring.  I had to peek into one of the MREs, not having seen a standard one in fifteen years.  Hm, what's this?  French vanilla cappuccino in a mix-and-drink bag?  That's going in the jersey pocket for this afternoon's ride.

On to the ride.  Today's destination is a half-mile from this year's stop #4, but on the bay side of Henderson point, at the little park tucked next to the Bay Bridge.  Downright cozy, it seems a world away from the windswept Gulf-facing point.  Families were out with the kids on the playground, burning off pent-up energy.  Another group was down on the beach under the bridge salvaging lumber off a washed-away dock.  I took a seat on some of the larger debris, and added water to the coffee bag and the heater...

 

 

While waiting for the cappuccino to heat, I snapped a couple of pictures of the mouth of the Bay of St. Louis, including the Hwy 90 and train bridges...

And then raised a toast to another successful year of coffeeneuring...

For instant coffee in a bag, it was surprisingly good.  None of the synthetic or metallic tastes usually associated with instant mixes.  The new MRE heaters are a big step up, and had things tasty-hot in just minutes.  The drink was a little sweeter than I'd usually go for, but that's just me.  Frankly, it was a good cup of coffee, and much appreciated after a week like this one.

On the way back, I snapped a pic of the park pavilion:

It seems to have made it through Zeta without a scratch, though the rest of the park was looking pretty rough.

And that wraps up the 2020 Coffeeneuring Challenge here on the MS coast.  It has been different this year, to be sure, and it will always be outstanding in its weirdness.  Looking forward to next year already, which will assuredly be quite different: less solo, more social, and lots more coffee-shop-with-walls.

Circling back to the One Good Thing theme for this year: Right after I got home, the electrician called and said he'd be here first thing in the morning to get my power hooked back up.  Truly the one good thing I need!  Funny how these things work out.

In closing, here's a pic of the beach bench where Stop #1 happened last month:

Hm, yeah, that was quite a storm.

Coffeeneuring Stop #6: Waveland's Ladner Pier Pavilions

 With a hurricane on the way (but not here yet), what else to do but take a ride along the beachfront down to the Waveland Pier at lunchtime.  We'll get back to the hurricane part in a minute.  But first...

1. where: Garfield Ladner municipal pier pavilions, Waveland MS

2. date: 10/28/20

3. what: chicory cafe au lait with half&half

4. ride details: CX bike on a blustery pre-storm day

5. distance: 4.6 miles, with another 3.8 miles added on by riding along the beach toward downtown, in sort of a T-shaped route.

What could be more 2020 than sneaking in a coffeneuring trip with a hurricane bearing down on the area?  Well the window boards were all up, the yard objects were all stowed, and the cars were moved away from the trees.  Time to ride off some pre-storm jitters.

So here I sit, typing on my little laptop by the light of a battery lamp, linked to blogger via the phone's wifi hotspot.  Ugh, soooo much cleanup to do.  Second-worst storm I've been through, a distant second to Katrina.  Got to find an electrician tomorrow... and get the chainsaw running... so much stuff to do.  Time to upload pictures and hit the rack.  Main thing: everyone's OK.

Coffee, and listening to storm news...

 

Not too rough, yet.  Water's only up about a foot.  I hear it topped out in the neighborhood of 10 feet.

 

I wonder what Zeta clocked in at when it finally hit the MS Coast?

afternote, 10/29: Gusts to 104 recorded here in town.  I believe it!

Next Monday: 100 Years of KDKA

 KDKA in Pittsburgh has a decent claim to being the first commercial broadcaster, and while these things are always murky, it is absolutely not in doubt that they first began broadcasting on November 2, 1920.  Stumbled across this article about their early studio and transmitter hardware today, and if you want more history here's their Wikipedia page.  Lots of nice grainy old B&W photos of tube amplifiers and wind-up record players – one with what is likely the first electric phono pickup.

It's an odd thing, but when I lived in Pittsburgh I can't recall ever listening in on KDKA.  Lots and lots of WRCT, but no KDKA.  Eh, I was busy with other things.  Way busy.

Side-story:  Some years back I met an old gentleman who had grown up in Pittsburgh, and been in his teens circa 1920.  Being young and technically-minded, he built a crystal radio to tune in the then-new KDKA.  He related that people in the neighborhood were fascinated by his device, but they didn't quite understand what was going on.  Word got around and people who barely knew his family were dropping by, asking to have a listen at this mysterious gizmo.  One old matron tucked the earpiece to her ear, listened, made some strange faces, listened again, slammed the earpiece down on on the desk, shouted "I still don't believe it!" and stomped out.  My, how times have changed.

Anyway, I'll bet that they're planning something interesting and cool next Monday evening.  Don't have a clue as to what, but on their 100th birthday they've got to have something planned.  Will definitely try to tune them in via skywave.  Remember, 1020 AM, a good half-hour after dark.

Coffeeneuring Stop #5: Washington Street Pier

 Yet another coffee shop without walls, today's coffeeneuring ride was to the Washington Street pier & boat launch area.

1. where: Washington Street pier fill, Bay St. Louis MS

2. date: 10/25/20

3. what: cafe au lait, chicory coffee w/ half&half

4. ride details: CX bike on a cool (~70F) morning along the seawall

5. distance: 3.8 miles round-trip

Another beachfront landmark.  Sat on the rip-rap, sipped a couple of cups, and read for a bit.  Then pedaled home and had lunch.

Rip-rap, coffee, bike.

View looking east, toward Henderson Point (see stop #4).  Pilings are from the old Bay ferry, which ran for a couple of years while the new bridge was being constructed in the aftermath of Katrina.  Pelican!

Spooky October Picture

 From today's NASA APOD.  It's a computer simulation of the distribution of dark matter in a large section of the universe.  Not exactly real, but it is carefully constructed to show the result of hypothesized interactions.  If it looks spooky, it's because the universe can be a pretty spooky place – if you look at it the right way.