Sunday, August 31, 2008
Home ideas
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Hurricane Gustav
Gustav is now a category 3 hurricane and is headed towards the western tip of Cuba. Sustained winds are 125 mph. Florida is getting rain bands, but all we've gotten locally is sprinkles. New Orleans is getting ready to evacuate.
Link: Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook
(Thanks, Lloyd)
Update: We're getting rain now, with lightning and thunder.
Update: Gustav is now a category 4. It hasn't cleared Cuba yet, but it should go into the Gulf tonight.
Update: Gustav should become a cat 5 tonight and make landfall Monday.
Update: Or maybe it won't become a category 5, but it's still a strong storm, and New Orleans is being evacuated. Rain bands are rotating over Cuba and Florida. And now Florida is in Hanna's cone of uncertainty.
Update (8-31-08): Gustav is a category 3 and rain bands are over southern Louisiana now. Hanna will probably miss us. It's going north, though the computer models vary a bit.
Hanna link: Tropical Storm HANNA
Update: Gustav has made landfall near Cocodrie, LA, and I came across a post that was asking for evacuation space for livestock in northern Louisiana, northern Texas, southern Oklahoma, and southern Arkansas.
Update: Gustav is now a tropical storm.
Update (9-3-08): The remnants of Gustav are raining over Arkansas and other states, while Texas and Oklahoma need the rain.
Tags: Hurricane Gustav
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tropical Storm Hanna
Invest L 95 (as I recall), which means Investigating a Low, is now TS Hanna. The computer models show some strange loops... Hanna may become a category 1-3 and may head west towards FL
Link: Interactive Storm Tracker | WFTS-TV | First in HD
Update: Now they're saying it may become a category 4 or 5. I believe it'll become a hurricane within a day or so.
And Gustav has moved further west though some models show it moving further west--or east. And some other waves are coming off Africa; there was a possible storm off Campeche, but it's fallen apart. One weatherman said that we could have five storms by the end of next week.
Link: Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook
(Thanks, Lloyd)
Update: Hanna should become a category 1 hurricane; its path is predicted to turn to the southwest now.
Btw, this week's rain dance has been cancelled.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Kitchen design mistakes (link)
6 common kitchen-planning myths include bigger is better and I can add that later...
Link: KOHLER: Planning Tips: 6 Kitchen Planning Myths: Kitchen: Articles (From Kohler e-newsletter)
Publication news
My book, Building a Cool House for Hot Times without Scorching the Pocketbook, is #8 on this Barnes & Noble top ten list: Barnes & Noble.com Books - Architecture, Domestic->Amateurs' manuals Here's a free excerpt: Free Book Excerpts : Building a Cool House for Hot Times without Scorching the Pocketbook by Joy Smith
There's a free excerpt available too from my children's book, Why Won't Anyone Play with Me?: Free Book Excerpts : Why Won’t Anyone Play with Me? by Joy Smith
Still upcoming are the Magistria anthologies, Magistria: Realm of the Sorcerer and Magistria: Shards of the Goddess. My stories, Seedlings and Crystal Quest, in this shared world anthology series are about plant mages.
Here's the blurb for Hidebound, my ebook due out from Mundania Press (possibly next year): Not long after Anfissa and Ferenc meet, they’re trapped on a planet where even the grass is deadly.
For another book about deadly plants, read Alan Dean Foster's Mid-Flinx.
To listen to an audiobook about time travel adventure, check out Sugar Time at Hadrosaur Audio Odysseys
Monday, August 25, 2008
Tropical Storm Gustav
Tropical Storm Gustav has formed from one of the waves we've been watching as Fay wandered off and is moving towards the Caribbean; it's early yet; the spaghetti models are pointing in several directions, and the cone of uncertainty is big. It's about a week away from us.
Link: Tropical Storm GUSTAV
(Thanks for the link, Lloyd)
Update: Gustav is now a category 1 hurricane; it is weakening over Haiti, but it may make it up to a category 3; it should be way west of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.
Update (8-27-08): It's still over Haiti and the cone of uncertainty is brushing Florida's west coast.
Update (8-28-08): Gustav will probably only become a category 2, and the cone of uncertainty has moved west away from Florida.
Update: Gustav has moved farther away from Florida and is predicted to be a category 3 after all. Intensification should begin tomorrow about midday, and it should hit the north coast of the Gulf Monday night or Tuesday.
Home ideas
Friday, August 22, 2008
Green homes
With environmentally sensitive components, these homes deliver hurricane-rated sturdiness and resistance to fire, storms, mildew, mold, termites and noise."
I made a note of the website and looked it up when I got home: GreenSteel Homes™ It sounds good. The photo on the website was in the magazine.
Tags: Green Steel Homes
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Making house cleaning easier (link)
"Clean Smarter, Not Harder: Tips for making quick and easy work of cleaning" This website (HGTV.com) includes "speed cleaning tips from the Queen of Clean Linda Cobb," guides, and links:
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Time to recycle houses? (link)
"Lately a new philosophy on green building has started to emerge, and it is one that many people recognize as practical, but not popular. It boils down to this: no new construction.
With housing starts in a slump, developable land getting scarce, and the whole country holding their breath to see just how high energy prices will rise, the deck is already stacked against new construction. ..."
Link: Andrew & Stacy: The Green Team -- The elephant in the unfinished basement (HGTVPro.com)
Hurricane Fay?
It looks like it's going to miss us here in the northwest corner of Polk county; it's beginning to move away. 'Course it's going out into the Atlantic where it's expected to become a hurricane (category 1 or possibly 2) and curve back into Florida, but they're not sure where exactly. The computer models are all over the map.
Update (8-20-08): Fay is pretty much gone. That was a tight little storm and all the rain bands missed us except for one early one. I watched the clouds rotating this afternoon though--pretty. The dogs got a lot of exercise; we kept taking them out in case it rained for a long time...
Update: We're getting rain from the rotating rain bands. Melbourne got over 20"; they're really flooded. It's still not certain what Fay is going to do. One model shows it moving south instead of north when it turns west. (Georgia and Alabama are hoping for some rain.) There should be some intensification as the center moves out over water, but it may not make it to hurricane status.
Update (8-22-08): We're getting a lot more rain now from the rain bands rotating around Fay as it moves WNW. This is the first time one storm has hit one state four different times.
Update (8-24-08): So far we've only gotten a little over two inches of rain from Fay, though we're getting rain this afternoon from a rain band. It should taper off by tomorrow, I think.
Update (8-27-08): The remnants of Fay are over North Carolina and Virginia.
Tags: Computer models
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tropical Storm Fay
We here in central Florida should start getting rain Monday from TS Fay. The computer models vary; I saw one earlier that showed Fay cutting across Florida and exiting on the east coast. Here are two good links for keeping track:
Tropical Storm FAY (Thanks, Lloyd)
http://www.ih2000.net/ira/bmt-wth.htm (Thanks, Mina & Frank)
Update: We're getting rain bands now, and they're going way north of us. The center is over Key West; it's not a hurricane yet, and it may not become one. It will make landfall early Tuesday morning, and it looks like it'll pass over us as it heads north.
Update (8-19-08): No rain so far--just sprinkles. (That first rain band only gave us a shower.) I learned from a weatherman on the local news (The Weather Channel is disappointing because it doesn't show your counties or what's happening locally) that there's a pocket of dry air in the northwest corner of Polk county. That explains why the storm keeps rotating and rotating and avoiding our area. (I'm watching it on radar online.) Btw, here's another link: Hurricane and Tropical Storm coverage from MyFOX Tampa Bay | MyFoxHurricane.com (Thanks, Mina)
Solar shingles (link)
"Don't let your rooftop shingles just lay there—put them to work! Thin-film photovoltaic (PV) cells are now doubling as roof shingles. ...
[They] can save homeowners up to 60% on their monthly energy costs. ..."
Link: Best Practices : Mechanical : Solar Roof Shingles : HGTVPro.com
I hadn't heard of solar shingles until now. I'd love to use them on my next roof.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Tropical Storm Fay
The Associated Press
Published: August 16, 2008
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Tropical Storm Fay has formed over the Dominican Republic and was expected to barrel west toward Cuba over the weekend.
The storm's predicted track could bring it to Florida after passing over Cuba...
National Hurricane Center link: National Hurricane Center
I see from one forecast track that it could go up the west coast of Florida.
Update: Fay is over Cuba now; it should become a category 1 hurricane before making landfall on Florida, which is predicted for Tuesday--or earlier. Right now the cone of uncertainty covers the peninsula, but the tracks have shifted slightly westward.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Kitchen countertop choices (link)
Here's a link from the HGTV e-newsletter with links to various countertop choices. I like laminate because it's more reasonable than the high-end trendy choices, but I'm thinking about quartz and solid surface products too (for my next kitchen). Speaking of trends, according to the website, "Solid surfaces are in, tile is out" and "The Hottest Looks...Marble, maple, and concrete..."
Link: Kitchen Countertops: Comprehensive Countertop Guide to Choosing Kitchen Countertops
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Hurricane preparedness (links)
From HGTVPro.com
This link has links to articles on preparation and cleanup and news and background; resources (including FEMA, Red Cross, and the National Hurricane Center); and videos on preparing:
Learn more about hurricane preparedness »
Monday, August 11, 2008
Publication news (anthologies)
I have stories in a number of anthologies, including:
The Ghost in the Gazebo (Old Rex): Ed. Edward Lodi's Ghost in the Gazebo. The Eternal Night Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Web Site
Kings of the Night II (The Princess Quest) [out of print]
Magistria: Realm of the Sorcerer (Seedlings) [new edition upcoming]
Magistria: Shards of the Goddess (Crystal Quest) [upcoming]
Scoundrels & Rascals (Well Met By Water): ImPRESS Books Publications
WomanScapes (Pretty Pink Planet): Short Story Anthology to Benefit Humanitarian Aid
My story collection is Aliens, Animals, and Adventure: AnthologyBuilder: create your ideal anthology
And I contributed to Michael Flynn's story in Year's Best SF 12.
Btw, you can create your own anthology, using my stories and others at: AnthologyBuilder: create your ideal anthology
Thursday, August 7, 2008
More home ideas
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Home ideas
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Ideas for selling your home (link)
"We all know it's a little tougher to sell a house these days, and desperate homeowners are looking for any little advantage they can get to help sell their home. From paying hundreds of dollars to have a staging company come into their home to make it look like someone lives there (figure that one out) to repainting entire walls --- only to find out that no one else likes the new color!"
Link: Ed Del Grande: Ask Ed -- 5 Fast Fixes to help sell your home (HGTVPro.com)
Architecture of the Imagination
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Tropical Storm Edouard
TS Edouard is in the Gulf heading west away from Florida.
Link: Tropical Storm EDOUARD
Earlier report: "... A SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ACCOMPANIED BY CLOUDINESS AND SHOWERS
HAS MOVED INTO THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO. LITTLE MOTION IS ANTICIPATED
TODAY OR SUNDAY...AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS APPEAR TO BE FAVORABLE FOR
DEVELOPMENT DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. IF NECESSARY...A RECONNAISSANCE
PLANE WILL INVESTIGATE THE AREA ON SUNDAY"
(Thanks, Lloyd!)
Update (8-5-08): TS Edouard has moved on shore into Texas and is no longer a tropical storm.
Tags: Tropical Storm Edouard
Friday, August 1, 2008
Bubonicon 40 (2008)
My time travel adventure audiobook, Sugar Time, will be available at the Hadrosaur booth at Bubonicon 40:
August 22-24, 2008
The Albuquerque Grand Airport Hotel
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Guest of Honor will be David Weber; Guest Artist is Bob Eggleton. Other participants include: Ben Bova, Jane Lindskold, George RR Martin, S.M. Stirling, David Lee Summers, ...
Here's the con link: Bubonicon 40 (2008) » Bubonicon 40
Sugar Time is an audio time travel adventure featuring a full cast, music and sound effects; it has three complete stories: "Sugar Time," "Flight Test," and "Return to Neander." It's also available at: Hadrosaur Audio Odysseys