I have discovered a secret natural law...

Are there any fairies involved in this law?

So murphy's law is really a natural law? yeah I guess that makes sense, I think its the same forces at work when I want to go sailing and there is no wind, but when I wanna fly RC planes its blowing 15.

although, my experienc with it isn't nearly so destructive as John's

J-Wil there is only one solution to your ills, go the way of the shaved.

What the hell is "sheetrock"????????
(Its not "goblins” is it – fairies don’t like goblins)

Sheetrock is the boarding used for the inside walls of houses. John, by continuing to replace his walls and roof every summer, is single-handedly responsible for drawing all of the hurricane activity to the Florida / Gulf Coast region. John's selfishness in wanting a house free of hurricane holes is making life more difficult for the rest of us. I personally think he should stop taunting Mother Nature and "take one for the team". He will just have to come to terms that he will have to live in a tent so we can all have some decent weather this year.

Can anybody explain to me why you guys, living in hurricane land, make houses out of boarding and stuff instead of brik and steel girders ?

Sure enough, one could design a house that will withstand a hurricane in full force. I mean if we humans can design bunkers that the biggest bombs we can drop on them sure enough we must be able to build something that withstands hurricanes ?

Wouter

Can anybody explain to me why you guys, living in hurricane land, make houses out of boarding and stuff instead of brik and steel girders ?

Sure enough, one could design a house that will withstand a hurricane in full force. I mean if we humans can design bunkers that withstand the biggest bombs we can drop on them sure enough we must be able to build something that withstands hurricanes ?

Wouter

Hey Wout -

My home is, in fact, constructed of cinderblock and cement with terrazo flooring and a tongue-in-groove decked roof. The home was built in 1959 and has withstood many many storms. Generally, after a storm, you shovel out the sand, hose everything off, and you're good for the next one. We wanted, though, to have a more finished look inside the home and had the cement walls covered in sheetrock. The interior and roof covering (140-mph-rated 90-pound-weight rubber covered with tar and white gravel) are not nearly as storm resistant as the floors and walls. Many of the newly constructed buildings that have sprung up around us, built to modern hurricane code, are the first buildings to come apart in a storm. I have a five-foot-high pile of my neighbor's house on my back porch from Dennis last month. Have codes improved survivability? Not to my mind. Low, unobtrusive, concrete homes have outlasted the rest.

Off to the store to pick up some more plywood. ugh.

Lance - trust me, if Mom Nature knocks us down, we'll stay down. In hurricane speak, we've only been getting love taps. Now Andrew... THAT was a storm.

As for decent weather this year, we're out of luck. Pattern is firmly established. It'll take a good, cold winter to break it again.

JC - if I had your delightfully round head, I wouldn't hesitate to go the way of the shaved. Due to several childhood incidents (which explain a few things, actually), I am far too lumpy beneath my coiffure to pull it off.

Awwww c'mon John...it could be worse...

Jake, where do you come up with this stuff?!

That reminds me of some high school pranks we used to pull on each other. Rule #1: Never be the first to fall asleep or pass out at a gathering of "friends".
It takes a long time for eyebrows to grow back.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

Google Images...the possibilities are endless.

Jim Cantore is in Biloxi. The storm will be here.

sea ya
tami

Think gyprock (Aus) / gib board (NZ). All are brand names.

We cancelled our "Take a New Person Sailing Day" today in Central Florida because the storm was supposed to turn north. Today was one of the nicest sailing days all year. Never listen to the weatherman.

Never say "never."

It was an absolutely perfect sailing day here in Panama City. I saw a bunch of sails out on the water on my way home from work. They made us work today and gave us Monday off in the case that the hurricane turns this way. So, I was in class all day thinking about how wonderful it would be to be on the water. I think the sails I saw were from a youth race today.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

The U.S. Youth Multihull Championship is going on in Panama City August 25-28.

Are the "huricans" the reason people move to the west coast????

But there you get earthquakes.

I'll take the huricanes over the earthquakes, mud slides, forrest fires, and gas prices anyday. At least we can predict huricanes.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

I will take the change in seasons and the snow in Michigan over storms and heat of Florida and the earthquakes and mud of CA.
Fresh water sailing, the only reason to wash the boat is to get the bugs off.

... but you right your cat a lot faster when you know that there are sharks in the water

What the hell do you guys do with your cats when there is a hurricane? Where do you live? What happens with your work? What about your income? And I would have thought that “hurricane insurance” would have been a “bitch” to get for a hurricane prone area?

Hi Darryl -

Boats get tied down or put in garages. I've weathered the last several storms in an 1960's brick house on high ground. Most businesses shut down in the first few days after a big storm, and slowly reopen as power comes back on. Some people make a living during this time moving debris, cutting trees, making repairs, etc. Kirk's entire beach crew converted themselves from jet-ski rental and parasail boat captains to a dock repair company, which is still thriving a year after the storm - no loss of income and plenty to do.

Insurance in Florida is now state and federally managed - it is more expensive than private insurance (and will be more so next year) but nobody is turned away. There are strict requirements - for example, if your older home is more than 50% damaged, it must be torn down and a new built-to-code house constructed. There is talk that Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana will follow Florida's example now, as private insurance companies pull out of areas where the current profit margins can't be maintained.

I don't know where you get your information that nobody was turned away but my girlfriend made a small claim for the hurricanes last year and they dropped her claiming that it was accross the board and not just because she made a claim. She is having trouble getting new coverage.