Life

We are home after a short vacation. There was no network connection, even via my mobile, where we were staying. I was only able to post a picture or two and sent tweets when there was an available cellular signal. I did not bring a laptop everywhere we went--too much walking--so that was the best I could do. Today is the last day off. I am hoping to have time to transcribe some of the notes I made in my paper journal.

Thirty five doesn't seem so bad. At least not so far. But then again, it is the very first day. The boys picked out some very nice cards. And Jacob helped Natalie make breakfast. He even remembers almost everything that needed to be done to make a latte and talked Natalie through it. The only thing I was told he forgot was turning the knob on the steamer.

Now we are trying to figure out what we are going to do with the day. Maybe a movie. Maybe a nice restaurant. I haven't made up my mind yet. It's a little hard to think about it. I'm used to thinking in terms of other people (mostly Nat and the boys). And there is the small issue that we are expecting a very hot day, and lots of rain.

Micro updates to Twitter and Pownce .

Of all the places to get stuck during a really severe thunderstorm, a favorite coffee shop near the office is not that bad of a option. As I was checking my home e-mail via my phone during lunch, I noticed the now quite common AccuWeather alerts from the National Weather Service about the inevitable bad weather. And the alerts kept coming as I checked e-mail randomly the rest of the day. After everything calmed down at the office (all the meetings were done), a few of us headed over the Bean There, just because. The rain started on the drive over. Not a lot of rain, but really big drops. We got to Bean There without too much trouble, and stayed dry. As they were finishing our coffee order, outside got interesting. Rain, heavy rain. Pouring heavy rain and wind. And lightning and thunder. Wind strong enough to bend the young trees outside the store in half. Intersting to say the least. And we weren't going to go anywhere till the rain stopped. Back on my phone, I was IMing one of the Project Managers I work (for) with. She was kind enough to tell me just how bad the radar looked. A little bit later, Natalie called from the house. Thankfully she was already home. There was hail in Virginia Beach. And wind. And rain. A house three doors down had one of their trees fall into the street. Natalie took a picture and sent it to one of the local TV stations for their online gallery. We haven't heard of anyone being hurt, or any property being damaged, but it was a busy day for someone. At the office, there were branches, some of the quite large, littering the 'Enchanted Forrest' next to building. And there were leaves everywhere in the parking lot and on the road all the way home. I also passed a number of trees that had fallen down, into fences. A team from the city started working on the neighbor's tree just after I reached home. They removed the part of the neighbor's tree that had landed in the street, blocking a large part of the intersection in front of their house. It looks like it is going to be a lot calmer tonight. I can hear the jets from the base, which normally means there isn't going to be any serious weather for at least the next several hours. Those toys are just too expensive . . .

• WVEC.com slidshow of the storm.
• Bean There Cafe

All I saw yesterday, from about 16:30 till the warning was closed at 20:00, were pockets of heavy rain and some wind. West of here did not seem to be so lucky. The local news outlets were reporting that there were 17,000 people without power and about two hundred people hurt by the three-to-four tornadoes that touched down just west of here in Suffolk.

Looking out the window next to where I am sitting, it just looks like it rained overnight. But the light outside has that funny filtered look that makes you think that a major storm went through recently, or maybe is about to start.

Everyone here is home, and doing perfect. I did not see anything other than the rain. Either did Natalie or the boys. I wonder how many people I work with saw something more than just rain. Hope everyone is OK.