26 hours after we lost power, we got it back, and the DSL was waiting for us already. Gotta love that. Here’s my entries from this morning that I’d been saving up:
—
Good morning.
I’m typing up a few blog entries to save for later when the internet comes back to Miami Beach. It’s 6:30 AM on Tuesday, October 25th. I’m sitting in my Jeep in the condo parking lot with the engine running, the radio on, and some of my gadgets scattered around me. I’ve got a power inverter so I can run the laptop, charge the cell phones, etc.
There’s no power in the house – or any house in Miami, for that matter. We’re on Miami Beach with a lot of high-rise hotels surrounding us, and most of them appear to have generators. Hallways and parking garages have a bare minimum of illumination. Last night, Erika asked how I knew that they didn’t have “real” power back yet – the key is in the signage. These hotels put a ton of lighting all over their logos, but last night, they were all dark.
I would have thought that a huge power loss like this would bring peaceful silence, but those generators are really, really loud. It’s actually quieter here on a normal morning. The condo building next to our bedroom window has a huge diesel generator powering the entire building. It’s deafening.
The hurricane went by pretty quickly. I woke up Monday at 5AM during the winds, and it was already too strong to take Ernie outside. Erika woke up shortly thereafter because it was just too loud. We sat eating breakfast, watching The Weather Channel on DirecTV until the satellite signal went out around 7am. At 8am, the power went out, and things got boring. I hit the bed for a nap at 9am only after I made Erika promise that she’d wake me up when the eye crossed over. It never did, and I woke up around 11am.
Neither of us could believe that the eye hadn’t passed over, because the morning weather maps had all shown a huge, huge eye heading from Naples to Miami. Erika called some friends back at the airlines for a weather update, and I downloaded a radar app to my cell phone. We figured out that the eye had gone north, missed us, and we were seeing the tail end of the storm.
I can’t imagine how bad the wind damage must be north of here. The wind here in Miami Beach absolutely howled to the point I was sure one of our living room windows was going to break. I even moved the computer gear away from that window in case I needed to get in there and put up some sheets or something.
By 1pm, the winds died down enough that we could venture outside with Ernie. The wind gusts were still stiff enough to blow little ten-pound Ernie sideways.
The damage is eye-opening. A large building near us called the Octagon, aptly-named because it’s shaped like an octagon (from above) – has shattered windows all over the place.
The only damage at our place is the deadbolt lock on the front door: the outside key lock doesn’t turn, and my key is actually stuck in it. We have two locks, so at least we can leave the house. Looks kinda odd with a key stuck in the door, though.
We ate through the food in the fridge last night and chucked most of it. Today will probably be the end of the food in the freezer.
I used to consider myself pretty well-prepared for an emergency, and we have the basics covered – water, food, etc. We’re missing stuff above and beyond the basics, though. I’m already making a checklist of stuff I want to get when things have calmed down – no need to bum rush Home Depot just yet.
What I really wish, though, is that I would have set up my cell phone for full-blown internet access coupled with my laptop. I’ve got a Bluetooth cell phone that can connect to my laptop, but I can’t get the damn thing to act as a modem. I’ll give Cingular a call this morning if I can get through – not very likely. Last night, only one in 10-15 cell calls went through, and it took just as many tries to get a text message out. This morning, everything’s working much better, of course – nobody else in South Beach wakes up this early.
–
8:35 AM
Ernie was climbing the walls this morning, so I walked her all over the neighborhood. When she still didn’t calm down, I took her for a drive. Everywhere I look, I see more wind damage. Huge, colossal trees went down and took fences, walls, and cars with them. Erika and I agreed yesterday that if we lived down here, we’d never have a tree in the yard, regardless of how pretty they look.
Power is already creeping into more and more blocks. A couple of blocks of stores in the Lincoln Road Mall were completely powered up, but amusingly, not the stores you’d want to go into. A hair salon was lit up in all its 1980′s neon glory, with lights on at every seat, but David’s Cafe across the street was inky black. The Miami Beach City Hall is only a few blocks from us, and they’re obviously powered by generators, but nonetheless it’s reassuring to see so much police presence and light.
I couldn’t find a restaurant open – or any shop for that matter – and I was itching for some coffee. It’s pretty chilly, around 55 degrees, and a warm drink was clearly required. With our gas stove and my spare French press coffee pot, I could make my own brew, but I had no ground beans! I have whole beans, but I grind just before brewing in order to get the freshest flavor! Argh, the tragedy! Brought down by my own good taste. Surely this is how the riots start! Thankfully, I came to my geeky senses and carried my electric coffee grinder down to the Jeep along with some beans. I started the Jeep, plugged in my power inverter, plugged the grinder in, and presto, fresh grinds.
Another resident pulled into the parking lot at the same time, and I halfway wished she’d see me in all my geeky splendor, grinding fresh beans in the driver’s seat of my Jeep. When your geekiness rises to a certain level, you just gotta show it off. The rest of the time, it should be hidden in the closet.
Anyway, now I have a fresh pot of French press coffee. Hooah! Also, notice the bank clock in the background – this just got powered back on recently. They powered it down in advance of the hurricane, and it wasn’t on last night or this morning in the dark.
There were looters last night! I didn’t see any of this myself, but several people were arrested for looting near downtown Miami.
When Erika and I drove around yesterday, we saw police checkpoints on the Venice Causeway, but I assumed they were stopping people from going onto the most money-laden island. I figured the residents had hired on police to restrict access to it, since it’s a pretty cushy neighborhood.
Turns out they were stopping the mainland people from coming to US!!!
Our very own island, Miami Beach, is off-limits to anyone without proof that they live here. I stuck a Florida Power & Light bill in the Jeep just in case we get stopped by police. We’ve both still got our Texas licenses and the Jeep has Texas plates, so I’m sure we look a little suspicious. Better safe than sorry.
Not that I plan on leaving the island today. I bet the Home Depot is open on the mainland – they were running on generator power after the last hurricane – but there’s not really anything we desperately need. I wouldn’t mind having a battery-powered radio, but you know those things sold out quickly. I used to have a USB FM tuner that I could plug into the computer and listen to the radio, but I think I threw it out when we moved, because I never use it. Yesterday, I went through the boxes in the closet twice looking for things – first my old battery-powered radio, then for candles, and both times came up empty. I swore I wasn’t going back through those boxes unless it was for clothes or books, both of which we have in abundance. I might actually have that USB FM tuner, but I’m not about to go through the boxes a third time. Erika would never let me live that one down, hahaha.
Speaking of which, she just woke up. It’s 9:00 AM. All of the other dog owners in the building are taking their pets out for a late morning walk, and the yelping and barking has suddenly overwhelmed the generator noise.
Brent Ozar
Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.
Follow Me:
