Tropical Storm (downgraded) Lala seems determined to make landfall on our island, currently with 60 MPH winds. We’re out of the direct path, but well within the zone of high winds. Anybody here who doesn’t prepare for this is an optimist, indeed.
We’ve tied back the mosquito netting on the pavilion and moved the most fragile and lightweight furniture into the garage.
The hot tub came with straps to hold the top down, but when Luna the Big Dog™ was a puppy — before she became a Very Good Dog — she chewed up the buckles so the straps no longer work. We have some old truck tires, so I rolled one up on top of the tub to keep the lid secure.
The deck canopy had to come down.
The studio has three windows that are just screened but not glazed. We cut plywood coverings and boarded them up so our fresh drywall doesn’t get destroyed.
I’ve also closed up the generator house and I ran a set of off-site backups for the data stored here. I brought the satellite dish into the house so we can reestablish internet connectivity if a down tree takes out our fiber connection. We brought firewood into the house. The truck is filled with diesel fuel and our gas cans are filled with ethanol free gas for the generator. The chain saw is charged up. The GMRS radios are ready to go and the quarter-wave ground plane antenna is mounted outside so I can be on our neighborhood net without having to go outside in the wind and rain.
I hope we’ve thought of everything. (twoprops.net is hosted on a mainland server so you’ll be able to read this even if we’re totally hunkered down.)
—2p