crIKEy...

So Ike really is on the way...

Hard to believe at this stage as it is hot and sunny outside with only a moderate breeze... but we are told it's going to go right through this part of The Great State of Texas (tm). Galveston is in some trouble - they're predicting Ike will push a storm surge of about 20 to 25 feet onshore... their seawall is 17 feet. They were already flooding this morning and the storm was still hours out in the gulf.

We went out this morning and put away the patio furniture and the grill so we won't have those flying around later on. We're as ready as we can be. Unfortunately there is plenty of construction going on in our area and they didn't do too much to prepare... so we have dumpsters full of construction debris and houses partially finished all over the place so if it's as bad as they say it's going to be we're going to have quite a mess to clear up tomorrow afternoon. And when I say bad, they're talking about category 1 hurricane force winds as far inland as North Houston and 12 hours of tropical storm force winds for most of the area.

Here he is as of an hour ago:

It seems that English men have a tradition of doing ridiculous things in the face of adversity (the Brits in the movie singing 'Men of Harlech' when faced with seemingly overwhelming enemy Zulus comes to mind)... so if it's bad, I shall don the rain gear and my bicycle helmet for protection and go for a walk in the wind :-)

Now where did I put that helmet...