Hurricane Irene did not hit Westchester County as hard as predicted. However, she did knock out electric power in a number of cities and towns, such as Yorktown Heights and Ossining. Residents and businesses there were without power for more than 48 hours.
I slept through the sound and fury of Hurricane Irene. Around 8:00 am, my sister and I went to Marina, one of our hiking places and found it blocked by a police car. The path was submerged by flood. Many morning hikers like us looked amazingly at the high tide pushing water banks continuously. For some reason we were all thinking the same thought that we were lucky to be spared of any more damages!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Murphy's Law on the Eve of Hurricane Irene
26 August 2011 is a memorable day for my sister, niece and me. Our day plan could not be simpler: they would pick me up at Cedar Manor at 2:00 pm, then we would shop at Flushing and drop some necessities at the niece's dorm. By 6pm, The sister would resume her lab work and I, join Mama.
Little did we know that our car had a flat tire the moment it was on Whitestone Bridge. I had never experienced such a deafening sound while talking to my brother who was on his way to China. We stopped at the first legal stopping place, to call AAA for road service. Our waiting period turned out to be a stretch of 4 hours, for we did not realize that AAA was unable to service any cars on freeway in Queens. The local contractor we contacted only rendered oral promises but never materialized in person. Finally a pass-by toll truck driver came to advise and helped us to back into a local street.
Acting upon the advice from the tire changer that the spare tire could not sustain more than 30 minutes, we found ourselves at the deserted Enterprise HQ at 10 minutes before 6 pm. Fortunately a manager in charge happened to leave for the day and sent us to a nearest rental agency to replace the rental car. Once we arrived at the agency, the agent was not too thrilled to see us. It was closing time, but he was still working his way with two other customers. After 40 minutes' waiting, we were finally being served. But the result was a surprise: the agent produced a mountainful of paperwork for my sister to sign and insurance company to call. According to him, our car was scratched on the side, and tire was sliced by a knife. After contacting her insurance and refusing to sign any faulty reports, the sister drove us away with a new car.
It was 7:00 pm, and the bridge was still busy. At this point, we all decided that we needed to shop for our mental therapy and physical needs. So we headed towards Flushing to brave ourselves with extra long shopping lines, hot and flooded underground parking floors. It was at a crowded gas station that it dawned on us why everywhere was busy, and everyone was stressed: it was the eve of Hurricane Irene.
With a big sign of relief, we left NYC for the quiet and dry Westchester. At 12:00 am my niece and I were waiting patiently for my sister to finish her lab work. At 2:00 am we were back home, exhausted by a series of unfortunate events. I never joined Mama at her manor the previous day.
Little did we know that our car had a flat tire the moment it was on Whitestone Bridge. I had never experienced such a deafening sound while talking to my brother who was on his way to China. We stopped at the first legal stopping place, to call AAA for road service. Our waiting period turned out to be a stretch of 4 hours, for we did not realize that AAA was unable to service any cars on freeway in Queens. The local contractor we contacted only rendered oral promises but never materialized in person. Finally a pass-by toll truck driver came to advise and helped us to back into a local street.
Acting upon the advice from the tire changer that the spare tire could not sustain more than 30 minutes, we found ourselves at the deserted Enterprise HQ at 10 minutes before 6 pm. Fortunately a manager in charge happened to leave for the day and sent us to a nearest rental agency to replace the rental car. Once we arrived at the agency, the agent was not too thrilled to see us. It was closing time, but he was still working his way with two other customers. After 40 minutes' waiting, we were finally being served. But the result was a surprise: the agent produced a mountainful of paperwork for my sister to sign and insurance company to call. According to him, our car was scratched on the side, and tire was sliced by a knife. After contacting her insurance and refusing to sign any faulty reports, the sister drove us away with a new car.
It was 7:00 pm, and the bridge was still busy. At this point, we all decided that we needed to shop for our mental therapy and physical needs. So we headed towards Flushing to brave ourselves with extra long shopping lines, hot and flooded underground parking floors. It was at a crowded gas station that it dawned on us why everywhere was busy, and everyone was stressed: it was the eve of Hurricane Irene.
With a big sign of relief, we left NYC for the quiet and dry Westchester. At 12:00 am my niece and I were waiting patiently for my sister to finish her lab work. At 2:00 am we were back home, exhausted by a series of unfortunate events. I never joined Mama at her manor the previous day.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Backyard Chickens for Sustainable Life
Paul forwarded me a WSJ article entitled Cooped Up: Chickens Come Home to Roost for Urbanites With a Yen for Hen.
As a chicken lover throughout my childhood, I read the whole article with great relish. It is very informative about chicken tours going on in Austin, Texas (the Funky Chicken Coop Tour), Dallas (A Peep at the Coops) and Portland, Ore. (the Tour de Coops). Other cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Madison, Wis., Bend, Ore., Davis., Calif. have their own chicken tours. According to the article, urban chicken caretakers have now more than 100,000 members on backyardchickens.com on July 27, doubling its membership from last year.
Personality-wise, chickens are more like cats. Unlike affectionate ducks (and dogs), they like to be fed and left alone. As for food, they tend to prefer pasta (and rice) to bread. I am wondering if it has anything to do with their sharp and accurate beaks. Bread crumbs do tend to be sticky on their tongues.
More and more city dwellers are taken on the idea of raising chicken in their back- or front-yards. It does sound an idyllic lifestyle, if they can collect eggs everyday straight from their chicken coops. No wonder Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) is always reluctant to go back to his detective duties in Pie in the Sky! It seems that only those chickens can restore his sanity if he ever returns from his cases.
As a chicken lover throughout my childhood, I read the whole article with great relish. It is very informative about chicken tours going on in Austin, Texas (the Funky Chicken Coop Tour), Dallas (A Peep at the Coops) and Portland, Ore. (the Tour de Coops). Other cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Madison, Wis., Bend, Ore., Davis., Calif. have their own chicken tours. According to the article, urban chicken caretakers have now more than 100,000 members on backyardchickens.com on July 27, doubling its membership from last year.
Personality-wise, chickens are more like cats. Unlike affectionate ducks (and dogs), they like to be fed and left alone. As for food, they tend to prefer pasta (and rice) to bread. I am wondering if it has anything to do with their sharp and accurate beaks. Bread crumbs do tend to be sticky on their tongues.
More and more city dwellers are taken on the idea of raising chicken in their back- or front-yards. It does sound an idyllic lifestyle, if they can collect eggs everyday straight from their chicken coops. No wonder Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) is always reluctant to go back to his detective duties in Pie in the Sky! It seems that only those chickens can restore his sanity if he ever returns from his cases.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Cyrus Back from El Salvaodr
Cyrus just finished his latest trip to El Salvador. He can always capture the spirit of a foreign land, people and animals:
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