I'm a couch potato storm chaser (with a love for Twister type movies and documentaries). It's easy to be oddly excited about storms in a country that usually faces just random thunderstorms and a few gusts or autumn/winter storms. I'm sorry for people who have to face clear and actual danger and the long and painful forethought and aftermath with respect to hurricane force winds. I wish you a safe ride through the coming storm and strength in all the exemplary preparation and cleanup. If everybody were as thorough and thoughtful as you, there would be far more less damage and (possible) casualties in the area.
The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)
- Thread starter SatNavSaysStraightOn
- Start date
- Status
You are fortunate in that you will be on the "clean" side of the eye. This is still expected to be a Cat 4 by tomorrow, so you are likely to get some heavy winds. I wouldn't hang around near any windows. You put your "projectiles" away, but there will be plenty left out there.
I was "on call" the last few days to make a run to Houston to get my parents up to Dallas, if necessary. At 87 and 89, they can't "ride out" big storms anymore. That trip won't be necessary.
CD
Lullabelle
Midlands, England
Today would have been dad's birthday, I will be raising a glass to him later
That is a Polaris Slingshot -- a Canadian Company. I have seen a few in Dallas, but not many. They are basically a three wheeled ATV for paved roadways.
Bombardier makes something kind of similar (also a Canadian company) called the CanAm Spyder. I've ridden/driven one of those. It was fun. The Slingshot sits lower and seats two side-by-side.
CD
It's on my driver to-do list. 🏎️
In the UK, perhaps you've seen a Morgan three wheeler somewhere. Those have been around forever. Same concept.
CD
flyinglentris
Disabled and Retired Veteran
Hurricane Ida has made landfall in the New Orleans area, zapping that city once again with category 4 force. ElizabethB , I hope you are doing OK.
I've been watching. Looking at the current satellite image, EB lives on the Western edge of the heavy rains surrounding the eye. That's the best place to be, relatively speaking. The really bad stuff happens on the East side of the eye.
The last estimate I heard was around 400,000 homes and businesses without electricity. That very well could include EB. Don't be overly concerned if we don't hear from her for a while. Power outages are common with these storms, even in areas that aren't that hard hit.
CD
The Robin has the single wheel up front. That's why they have the handling characteristics of a tumbleweed.
CD
Update: It is over a million people now without electricity in Louisiana. At least EB and G have a generator to power the fridge/freezer, and a propane grill/BBQ to cook on.
CD
I was supposed to be spending one week in the Seychelles end of September, but that looks like that's not going to happen.
This trip was booked back in 2019 and was scheduled to happen April 2020, but the pandemic hit and I had to cancel. I had to rebook the trip, which should take place until Jan 2022 or else I'd lose the money. I bought the flights on Ethiopian Airlines, Rome to Seychelles via Addis Ababa. I bought separate flights from Lisbon to Rome and back on TAP and still have that flight voucher to use.
Now, Seychelles asks travelers to take a PCR test 72 hrs before departing to the country. That changed my plans of spending a couple days in Rome since I think it's easier to book and take the PCR test in Lisbon. I also need to fill and a pay for a government travel authorization before going to the Seychelles, and need to book an approved government accommodation, and tourists can't take public transportation in the Seychelles (these are all restrictions imposed by the Seychelles government), so I'd spend more money on taxis.
The main airport is in Mahe, the main island which isn't as pretty and I don't want to stay there, all the pretty postcard beaches are in the smaller islands and to get there I need either to take the ferry or an internal flight on Air Seychelles (a really cool 25 mins flight on a twin-otter!). Nowadays there's only daily ferry from Mahe to Praslin or La Digue (the tourist islands with the beautiful beaches), and the day I arrive my plane lands after the ferry leaves. Flights are frequent but Air Seychelles may go into liquidation as there's some news about it owing big money to creditors. Doesn't look like the government is going to bail them out.
Adding insult to injury, Ethiopia now requires that every passenger transiting their airports takes a PCR test, 120 hrs before arriving, with a lab that has credentials from Trusted Travel (whatever that is!). If there's not a lab accredited by Trusted Travel in your country you can take a PCR test with another lab and send it to Trusted Travel for validation (I don't know how long it takes). There's one accredited lab in my country but it's 300kms from where I live.
Well, I could take this PCR test in Rome since there are 4 or 5 accredited labs there. But then I realized I need a PCR test to transit in Addis while going to the Seychelles, and another PCR test to transit back home. The only accredited lad in the Seychelles is in the main island.
So on a 1 week trip I'd have to spend most days in the main island of Mahe, where I don't want to be, so I can take the PCR test to transit back home in Addis Ababa.
Add another night in Rome so I can take the PCR test going to the Seychelles.
I'll be spending a lot of money, only to spend my holidays worrying about PCR tests and certificates, and if I don't get a certificate in time or if one of the tests comes back positive I'm stuck somewhere in the middle of the world having to pay to quarantine myself.
In regular times I'd be more than happy hopping from place to place and if something goes wrong I can usually fix it myself, but there's too much at stake here...
So I don't really know if I'm going to take this trip or not. I know I can't get a refund, but I've reached out to Ethiopian to try and at least change my flight dates, buy some more time.
Traveling in these times is insane...
This trip was booked back in 2019 and was scheduled to happen April 2020, but the pandemic hit and I had to cancel. I had to rebook the trip, which should take place until Jan 2022 or else I'd lose the money. I bought the flights on Ethiopian Airlines, Rome to Seychelles via Addis Ababa. I bought separate flights from Lisbon to Rome and back on TAP and still have that flight voucher to use.
Now, Seychelles asks travelers to take a PCR test 72 hrs before departing to the country. That changed my plans of spending a couple days in Rome since I think it's easier to book and take the PCR test in Lisbon. I also need to fill and a pay for a government travel authorization before going to the Seychelles, and need to book an approved government accommodation, and tourists can't take public transportation in the Seychelles (these are all restrictions imposed by the Seychelles government), so I'd spend more money on taxis.
The main airport is in Mahe, the main island which isn't as pretty and I don't want to stay there, all the pretty postcard beaches are in the smaller islands and to get there I need either to take the ferry or an internal flight on Air Seychelles (a really cool 25 mins flight on a twin-otter!). Nowadays there's only daily ferry from Mahe to Praslin or La Digue (the tourist islands with the beautiful beaches), and the day I arrive my plane lands after the ferry leaves. Flights are frequent but Air Seychelles may go into liquidation as there's some news about it owing big money to creditors. Doesn't look like the government is going to bail them out.
Adding insult to injury, Ethiopia now requires that every passenger transiting their airports takes a PCR test, 120 hrs before arriving, with a lab that has credentials from Trusted Travel (whatever that is!). If there's not a lab accredited by Trusted Travel in your country you can take a PCR test with another lab and send it to Trusted Travel for validation (I don't know how long it takes). There's one accredited lab in my country but it's 300kms from where I live.
Well, I could take this PCR test in Rome since there are 4 or 5 accredited labs there. But then I realized I need a PCR test to transit in Addis while going to the Seychelles, and another PCR test to transit back home. The only accredited lad in the Seychelles is in the main island.
So on a 1 week trip I'd have to spend most days in the main island of Mahe, where I don't want to be, so I can take the PCR test to transit back home in Addis Ababa.
Add another night in Rome so I can take the PCR test going to the Seychelles.
I'll be spending a lot of money, only to spend my holidays worrying about PCR tests and certificates, and if I don't get a certificate in time or if one of the tests comes back positive I'm stuck somewhere in the middle of the world having to pay to quarantine myself.
In regular times I'd be more than happy hopping from place to place and if something goes wrong I can usually fix it myself, but there's too much at stake here...
So I don't really know if I'm going to take this trip or not. I know I can't get a refund, but I've reached out to Ethiopian to try and at least change my flight dates, buy some more time.
Traveling in these times is insane...
- Status