daily 2008 september page

Kay's Daily Journal
September 2008

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2008 Old Farmer's Almanac Predictions for September 2008 in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Temp. 64° (avg.).
Precip. 3" (0.5" below avg.).
1-5: Sunny, seasonable.
6-11: Rain, cool.
12-21: Showers, then sunny; chilly nights.
22-25: Heavy rain, then sunny, cool.
26-30: Showers, cool.

Historic Records For This Month

Historic Record High Temp. 96° Date - September 7, 1998
Historic Record Low Temp. 42° Date - September 17, 2007
Historic Record Rainfall. 0.0" Date -

Important September Dates

Holidays Etc:	Anniversaries:	Birthdays:	Miscellaneous:
September 1 - Labor Day	None	September 3 - Gail	Birthstone - Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli
September 7 - Grandparent's Day		September 8 - Jimmy	Flower - Aster, Morning Glory
September 11 - Patriot's Day 9/11		September 17 - Penny	Color - Deep Blue
			September's Full Moon - Harvest Moon
			5-A-Day Month
			American On the Move's September Campaign
			Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Month
			Baby Safety Month
			Be Kind to Editors & Writers Month
			College Savings Month
			Craniofacial Acceptance Month
			Fruit & Veggies - More Matters Month
			Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month
			Head Lice Prevention Month
			Healthy Aging Month
			Menopause Awareness Month
			National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month
			National Ballroom Dancing Month
			National Biscuit Month
			National Chicken Month
			National Cholesterol Education Month
			National Food Safety Education Month
			National Honey Month
			National Infant Mortality Awareness Month
			National Little League Month
			National Mushroom Month
			National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
			National Pediculosis Prevention Month
			National Piano Month
			National Preparedness Month
			National Recovery Month
			National Rice Month
			National Sickle Cell Awareness Month
			National Skin Care Awareness Month
			Pain Awareness Month
			Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
			Reye's Syndrome Awareness Month
			Save the Tiger Month
			Sports & Home Eye Safety Month
			Vegan Month
			Whole Grains Month

September 30, 2008 - Tuesday

Temperatures: Hi - 74° Lo - 56° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):20

Some pretty good storms went across the NOVA, DC & MD area this evening. But it was all north of us. They even had some tornado warnings out for Fairfax County and I think some other MD counties. But again, not near us. Not even a rumble of thunder.

Had a doctor's appointment today, but they still don't have the results back on all the biopsies done during the colonoscopy and endoscopy. They know some of the stuff that's wrong with me and basically it's just wait and see what the total package will be. But for now, a few more tests over the next month on the things that they have diagnosed so far. Meds have been deleted and changed which should help some with the multiple stomach ulcers. I really hate waiting, you know? Seems like you can deal with most things in life, if you know what you're up against.

So now we're at the end of another month! Where does the time go? I think I ask that every month. But it's worth repeating once again. Anway, here are my monthly accomplishments, insignificant as they may seem to you. They're accomplishments for me....

Accomplishments for September 2008:

Bible Read (NIV-New International Version):
     John
     Acts
     Romans
     1st Corinthians
     2nd Corinthians

Home Studies:
     Online SS Lessons: 2008 - 3rd Quarter:
          09/05 - 10. Women of Mission
          09/12 - 11. Mission in a Pagan Land: Daniel & Company
          09/19 - 12. Gifted for Service: Philip
          09/26 - 13. Here Am I! Send Me: The Prophet Isaiah

Note: Online SS Lessons are available at: Current SS Lessons

Daily & Continual Readings:
     Daily Devotional - The Word for You Today: September 1 - 30

Books Read - Non-fiction:
     Seasons Change 2 by Susan Dircks DeWenter (art how-to book)
     Friends are Forever by Gene Waggoner (art how-to book)
     Maple Sugar 4 by Roberta Hall (art how-to book)
     Enjoy the Seasons 3 by Roni LaBree (art how-to book)
     Bitterroot Backroads 5 by Glenice Moore (art how-to book)
     Another Path to Follow by Lee McGowan (art how-to book)
     Acyrlic Painting Made Easy by Bill Blackman (art how-to book)
     Canvas Creations by Donna Dewberry (art how-to book)
     Bob Ross: Joy of Painting Vol. 4 (art how-to book)

Books Read - Fiction:
     Heart of Stone - Diana Palmer

TV Specials:
     Democratic Convention
     Republican Convention
     Hurricane Coverage of Gustav
     Hurricane Coverage of Ike
     First Presidential Debate: McCain vs. Obama

TV Movies:
     A Cinderella Story
     Legally Blonde
     Failure to Launch
     Independence Day
     Yours, Mine and Ours
     80 Days Around the World
     My Mom's New Boyfriend
     Scorpion King II
     The Governor's Wife
     Ever After

Contests Entries:
     Total Contest Entries for the Month: 606

Skywarn/NWS/KG:
     September 5-6, 2008, rainfall amounts: 3.5", remnants of T. S. Hanna
     September 9, 2008, rainfall amounts: 0.1"
     September 12, 2008, rainfall amounts: trace
     September 13, 2008, rainfall amounts: 0.3", T'storm
     September 16, 2008, rainfall amounts: trace
     September 25, 2008, rainfall amounts: 1.0"
     September 26, 2008, rainfall amounts: 0.5", T'storm
     September 27, 2008, rainfall amounts: 0.5", T'storm
     September 28, 2008, rainfall amounts: 0.1"

     Monthly High Temp: 99°
     Monthly Low Temp: 52°
    Monthly Total Rainfall: 6.0"

Disaster Reports:
     Total Earthquakes: 674

Classes/Training:
     Bob Ross Oil Painting: Landscapes, September 21, 2008

Webpage Updates - kayurie.com
     Daily Journals (dailies)
     News Archives (end of month standard)
     Index (end of month standard)
     Oils-3
     Drawings-2
     Photos - 3 (oils); 2 (drawings) on appropriate pages; 5 (art class photos on new "Art Classes" web pages.

Webpage Miscellaneous Work:
     New backgrounds on all Art Webpages
     Re-organized Pencil-Charcoal drawings on Pencil webpage
     Changed all wcm***.html's to hyperlinks & deleted htmls
     Plan workup for new counter numbering system
     Added an Art Classes Webpage
     Added buttons to all art pages, back to Art page
     Added button to link Art page to home page
     Uploaded Animated 02 folder contents
     Had to reconstruct the Counters List - Numeric for all webpages

Household Projects:
     Room by Rooms: painted 3 bookcases; installed curtain rods on 3 bookcases;
     Routine housework: yep

Medical & Health Related:
     Colonoscopy & Endoscopy 09-18-08

Art:
     Artwork Projects - Oil paintings: 3 done; Peaceful Lake - 18 x 24 on 09-21-08; Winter Sky - 16 x 20 on 09-28-08; Mountains - 16 x 20 on 09-28-08;
     Artwork Projects - Pastels: 1 done; Sunset, 8x10, 09-04-08
     Artwork Projects - Drawings: 2 done: Kay at Black Rock, 8x10, July-07; Millie, Parents Dog, 8x10, July-07

Collections Projects:
     On paper, designed logs for Mobile County Hunting, logs & contacts
     Also for collecting rocks, sand, dirt, photos etc. from each county.

Music Projects:
     Recordings: 2 CD's (42 songs) - children's songs (1 instrumental-keyboard only, 1 me singing on keyboard

Note:
If you are interested in reading or listening or watching any of the listed items above, please check with your local library. Most of these books, audiobooks, CD's, cassettes or DVD's can be found on their shelves. The household, craft and hobby projects are mostly my own and many can be found on these webpages under the same category. If not my original ideas, then credit is given, if known, where due. For instructions, corrections, criticisms, additions or comments, please email me at the address listed at the bottom of this webpage. Hope you have enjoyed my entries.

September 29, 2008 - Monday

Temperatures: Hi - 76° Lo - 61° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):20

We had a 7.0 on the Richter Scale today in KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND. That's an impressive quake. It was 35.0 miles deep. It was followed with a 5.3 in the same location about 50 minutes later, at the same depth. I looked up the location on the maps and it was 45 miles SSE of Raoul Island in the ocean. For those of us who don't know where Raoul Island is, it's located somewhere in the vicinity of about 600 - 900 miles from New Zealand.

According to the website that I visit to see the Near-Real-Time Earthquake reports, this is where the Pacific and Austrailian plates collide. And I quote, "The interaction between the Pacific and Australia plate creates one of the most active tectonic environments in the world, with a high level of associated earthquake activity. Since 1976, a 200-km long section of the Tonga - Kermadec subduction zone that includes the epicenter of the September 29 earthquake has produced over 50 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger, with the largest having magnitude 7.9."

Just another service provided to you by, well, me.

No rain today and mostly bright sunshine. Humidity is still around but not oppressive. Probably non-existant if you get out away from the woods abit. No breeze or anything however, so who knows?

Today I tried to catch up a little on some housework since I goofed off alot yesterday and painted all day. I've got the 3 paintings laying on top of my piano, file cabinet and desk, so I've temporarily run out of places to set wet oil canvases. Since the instructor had explained how another artist had made a "home-made" drying box for her paintings, I'm going to consider trying that. I just need to empty some boxes!!! Which brings me back to getting some housework done in order to do that!

If I can figure out a way to make something tomorrow, perhaps on Wednesday I'll paint a couple more. I do have the black gesso canvases ready now to paint. They technically dried thoroughly overnight, but today they were totally, absolutely dry and ready to apply either a liguid clear or liquid black coat of paint. I'll see how I do. I've noticed that as I paint, my colors tend to get darker and darker. I lose all my whites, yellows and bright reds, as well as any pastel colors that I might've mixed. I need to work on that one!

So, as you can see, I am learning some things even though my paintings may not reflect such wisdom. It's just like anything else you do in life. Practice, practice, practice. Oil painting, the wet on wet method taught by the Bob Ross teachers can be done by anyone. But just like you can't sit down and play a song on the piano without years of lessons and practice before hand, the same applies to singing, crafts and yes, art. So....with that thought....to quote my childhood piano teacher, who said "If music be the food of love, play on"... I'll just change it to "If art be the food of love, paint on". You can say, "if (whatever it is you enjoy or would like to do) be the food of love, then (is it an adverb?) on"!!!!!

September 28, 2008 - Sunday

Temperatures: Hi - 77° Lo - 65° Rainfall Amounts: 0.1"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):21

Well, now that I've got a couple paintings under my belt, I need to get down to practicing the clouds and trees. I actually started to do the clouds but ended up doing a painting instead. I tried a snow scene and wasn't completely happy with it, but hey, that's how you learn. The next class I take in October just happens to be a snowscape so maybe I can learn some good pointers.

I'd forgotten how messy oils are. When we had our class, we only cleaned up our brushes and it was done. At home, you have the whole mess to deal with. It takes as long to clean up as it does to do the paintings. I also painted a 5 canvases with the black gesso, which is an acrylic water-based paint that is also very fast drying. For dark paintings it's good to pre-paint the canvas first. So later this week or whenever, I will have several canvases ready to go.

I'm still putting the initial layers of paint on too thick. It really gives you problems later when you do that. But for the life of me, I can't seem to put it on thin enough. I actually scrapped off paint on my second painting after I painted the sky. Course I am using inexpensive canvas panels to learn on and they are more difficult to paint on! The ones we used in class were a softer stretched canvas, which though they are more expensive, they certainly work alot easier. So I'm learning anyway.

Winter Sky

Mountains

September 27, 2008 - Sabbath

Temperatures: Hi - 78° Lo - 67° Rainfall Amounts: 0.5"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):18

The sun came out this morning and though the temperatures remained in the upper 70's, it was extremely humid outside! Felt like 88° instead of 78°. And TS Kyle is now a hurricane, but not a worry to the Mid-Atlantic area. Current projections show a landfall Sunday as a TS again but at the very Northeast corner of Maine. So Maine & Canada need to keep an eye on this storm.

This month has really been flying past! I know I say this every single month around this time, but I have to say it again. I just can't believe that it's already near the end of the month!!!!

Late brief thunderstorm brought an additional ½" of rain. Keeping the humidity in the picture as it always does this time of year in the woods.

September 26, 2008 - Friday

Temperatures: Hi - 67° Lo - 60° Rainfall Amounts: 0.5"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):20

Today was just busy housework stuff. Ran a couple loads of laundry, ironed 11 shirts, general cleaning, though not enough. Still have tons that needs to be done, but it's just not going to happen. I'm just working on certain things so that next week I can concentrate on painting and recording. Yeah, I know, there's still other things that need to be done and I will get to them eventually.

I still need to clean out a couple closets and the basement. And the basement will take awhile! I'm going to be harsh however, and really get rid of some stuff. I still have boxes of old catalogs and old books (not keepsakes) that I'm just going to throw away. Old broken stuff, old paperwork, stuff that I haven't needed or used in 20+ years (again, not keepsakes). But it's not a job I can do in a few days. I'll be lucky to have it done in a few months. I still have plenty of work to do UPSTAIRS, let alone in the basement. I also prefer to work in the basement when it's much colder. But I'll get done what I can get done, when I can get it done. Meantime, I'm so excited to start some more painting and practice, as well as working on some piano songs to record.

September 25, 2008 - Thursday

Temperatures: Hi - 61° Lo - 57° Rainfall Amounts: 1.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):20

Started raining late morning from the system just off the NC coast. Periods of moderate rain then nothing for awhile. Will add in the total rainfall tomorrow. It's supposed to rain the next three days or so. And on the tropical front, Tropical Storm Kyle, possibly soon to become Hurricane Kyle will be continuing North well off the coast of the United States, but probably will affect the rip tides and beach erosion. I think it is currently slated to hit up around Maine or Canada.

Recorded 42 children's songs today. (They're all short, most under a minute long!) Actually it was 21 songs, but recorded two ways. The first way was just straight on the keyboard, nothing but the keyboard and in the original key. The second recording was the sames songs, recorded on the keyboard with me singing and transposed into a lower key. It was a lot of fun! I couldn't have done it if Jim hadn't gotten the cables I needed and got me all set up!!! So it went very smooth! Hope they work for what the pastor's wife wants. Probably will need to "loop" some of the songs for additional verses, which we can do fairly easily now. Anyway, it's done.

September 24, 2008 - Wednesday

Temperatures: Hi - 74° Lo - 54° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):27

Looks like a small system has fired up just off the North Carolina coast which will be bringing us some wet, windy weather tomorrow. Don't know if it's tropical or not, but the hurricane hunters are scheduled to fly into the system later today to see what it's doing.

There was a 6.4 Richter scale earthquake today OFF THE COAST OF COLIMA, MEXICO. Also a 5.4 in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge area, out in the ocean.

Working in the music room today trying to cleanup some paperwork and move stuff out of the way so I can do the music project. Then perhaps I can also do a couple music projects that I have planned for myself that I haven't had chance to do. We shall see. I definitely want some "painting" time next week. Plan on doing that and mostly, only that for a few days! Just to see how I do.

You can get certified in the Bob Ross method of painting and once you are certified, you can teach. I don't think that I would want to teach right now, but I'd love to get certified, just for the personal accomplishment! There are levels of certification too. Takes about 3 weeks (9am - 5pm) for each certification from what I can see from the Bob Ross webpages. First I would want to do the Landscape Certification which can be done locally. Then there is also "Floral" and "Wildlife" which I would also LOVE to learn. They used to have a "Portrait" certification, but I don't know if that one is offered anymore. If it is, that would also be a cool one to learn. And I have a LOT to learn!!!!

First, however, I need to learn to paint trees and clouds......

September 23, 2008 - Tuesday

Temperatures: Hi - 75° Lo - 58° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):13

Before I start doing my heavy duty practices on trees and clouds, I have a music project to finish for the pastor's wife for the children's division. Starting next week however, I'll be doing some serious painting. I need to figure out some sort of drying rack for multiple paintings. The instructor has a spare room in her house and she just hangs them on the wall. That's not an option for me, though I have a spare room, my walls are completely filled with either paintings, photos, or tall furniture. The instructor also told how another instructor took a box the size of the canvases and put foam strips in it so that she could put several "wet" paintings in the box without them touching to allow for the drying procedure. That may be my best bet. Commercial drying racks are quite expensive and maybe someday I can justify having one, but not now. Oils take about 6 months to dry. So you can see why this is an issue.

I've discovered that the earthquake count is not as accurate as I would like it to be, so I will have to decide whether I want to continue it next month. Problem is, some of the so-called earthquakes end up being deleted for one reason or another, while others get added. Not only that, but the Richter scale is often changed according to reports and damages etc. So I'll think about how I want to handle it. Maybe a 2-3 day lag in order to get a more accurate count and Richter scale number.

I can't help myself, I'm just SO excited about the oil painting. I can't hardly wait to do some at home. I'm first going to practice with a whole canvas of blue sky and clouds. Then I'll also do a whole canvas of trees. My trees definitely need work and I think I understand now what I've been doing wrong. I'm talking about the pine trees. I can do other trees ok, but the various pines, well, mine just don't look right. So that's the area to practice. And the clouds. I noticed how the other students paintings looked with the pine trees and the clouds and in particular, the instructor's paintings. She showed me what to do and now I just need to get into the habit of doing exactly how she told me. It requires a little brain power because I noticed that as soon as I started painting the tree, I would forget about where my arm was positioned and just start changing the angle of the brush. You can't do that. Has to be the same all the way down the tree. So I understand it, now I need to practice it!

I'll post photos next week of my "practice" canvases and anything else I manage to accomplish!

September 22, 2008 - Monday

Temperatures: Hi - 82° Lo - 54° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):22

I had to do my grocery shopping today, since I didn't get it done last week due to my medical procedures. So I also went to sign up for the next painting class. I'm so excited! I picked up a few more painting supplies so I can do some serious practicing before the next class. I really struggled with my pine trees. I also see now the things I did wrong on them.

So as I practice and learn, I'll put photos of the paintings here and on my artwork webpages too. I'll let you know each time.

September 21, 2008 - Sunday

Temperatures: Hi - 78° Lo - 53° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):17

Took a Bob Ross painting class today! It was SO-O-O-O cool!!!! I feel like I learned alot, too. I need to practice on my trees and clouds. So over the next couple of weeks I'll be doing whole canvases of just trees and clouds etc. Best way to learn anything is to just practice, practice and practice!

The instructor, Kim, was very good. I was very impressed with not only her artistic skills, but how well she was instructing us. There were 7 in the class and she was able to give individual help and suggestions to each one of us! Excellent. She will be teaching a new class and new techniques once a month so I'm going to sign up for the next one also! I can't wait!!!!

September 20, 2008 - Sabbath

Temperatures: Hi - 72° Lo - 52° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):21

Quiet day, worked on some miscellaneous stuff on my webpages. Nothing you can see visibly from your end. All "internal" type maintenance. Will be updating more stuff later.

September 19, 2008 - Friday

Temperatures: Hi - 74° Lo - 56° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):28

Really a beautiful day, low temperatures, low humidity! Love this weather. Will love it even colder!!!

Today I feel alot better, can eat solid food. Yesterday when I got home I could have soft foods which was fantastic since I hadn't eaten much for two days! So I had macaroni for lunch and a rice dish for supper! Today I can eat normal but my throat is still a little sore as is my jaw, both sides from below my ears to my chin. Probably from the endoscopy.

Jim hung a little toy mouse on the deck for the cats and there are two of them that just play with it constantly! They love it!!! I have taken more photos of some more strays that have passed through....

Of course we name them all as they pass through. Sandy & Smokey have decided to grace us with their presence for a few days for which we are pleased since they are very cute! Won't let us get close to them yet but at least don't run away completely when we are around. Especially if we happen to be putting some food out.

In my computer crash last March, another document that I lost was my webpage counters log. It was a word document that I used to assign the counter numbers for each of my webpages. Since I have several hundred, it was getting quite bulky. So now that I have to reconstruct the document, I've decided that I will just overhaul all my webpages as far as the counters go. They will look the same but the numbers will all be reset down to 0 as I re-upload the pages. Otherwise you shouldn't notice any differences. This job will be very tedious and time consuming to get all the pages changed, organized, logged and uploaded. But you will only notice that the counters are real low in number to start with.

September 18, 2008 - Thursday

Temperatures: Hi - 83° Lo - 55° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):21

Finished Acts last night. Will start Romans tonight! Moving right along. I'm a little ahead of "schedule" as far as reading the Bible through each year. I'm doing it starting each January and trying to finish by December. Looks like this year I might finish earlier. I'm not in a race or anything like that, just have a goal of 3+ chapters a night. Sometimes I read more, sometimes less. It works for me. I've really enjoyed reading the NIV version. Though I have noticed several places where they (the translators) have injected their own misconceptions on some things. Maybe I'll start some webpages on the Bible at a later date. It's really amazing that each time I read the Bible, it's like I'm reading it for the first time. I don't understand that, but certainly is enjoyable! I especially like reading the different translations.

There was a 6.0 on the Richter scale today in the CENTRAL EAST PACIFIC RISE, about 10 miles deep. That's out in the Pacific Ocean west of South America.

Had my colonoscopy & endoscopy today. The procedures themselves went well. Biopsy pathologies will come later. Anyway, I'm sleepy still so going to sleep awhile....

September 17, 2008 - Wednesday

Temperatures: Hi - 78° Lo - 55° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):23

Quiet day today, just did a few things around the house. Watched some TV, watched the cats, watched some news. Otherwise, routine weekday. Can't eat anything today due to procedures scheduled tomorrow. Well, liquids and not even purple or red liquids.... Not as tolerable. Tired of drinking water and broth.

Overcast off and on today, but very low humidity, very pleasant. Feels abit like fall!

September 16, 2008 - Tuesday

Temperatures: Hi - 71° Lo - 61° Rainfall Amounts: 0.T"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):22

Had some rain this morning, I'm calling it a "trace" amount, since it was below the 1/10th mark in my rain gauge. But the temperature has stayed fairly low today!

Full liquid diet today in preparation for procedures on Thursday. Full liquids include mashed potatoes, jellos, diary products and even rice. Tolerable.

Took some photos of more stray cats that are wandering around the neighborhood. My poor raccoon doesn't know what to make of all these critters. I've been putting out food for the raccoon each evening, but it is attracting strays.

September 15, 2008 - Monday

Temperatures: Hi - 89° Lo - 68° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):24

Busy day, Jim's first day back from his long trip. Plus I had some town errands to run and stuff like that. So didn't get to really relax much today. None-the-less, it's good to have him back home!

While I was in town, it had been a very hot, humid afternoon. But when I came out of Wal-Mart, the humidity had dropped dramatically. The sun was still hot, yes, but without that awful humidity, it wasn't too bad! Must've been a dry "cold" front passing over us.

September 14, 2008 - Sunday

Temperatures: Hi - 93° Lo - 73° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):20

6.0 earthquake today in EAST TIMOR REGION. Otherwise normal routine.

Bad storm came up suddenly last night. Some wind, a little hail, smaller than pea size for 3-5 seconds and 0.3" of rainfall. All in about 15 minutes. Also a lot of lightning. Lost power at 9 pm and got it back at 4:40 am this morning. 7 hours and 40 minutes of outage. All because of a couple trees on Welcome Road. What? Didn't Virginia Power have any chainsaws? I drove around KG today and didn't see any other trees down or any other damages. True I only ventured around my local 10 mile radius, but still. Almost 8 hours to cut up a couple trees?

Busy day, Jim is coming home. He's been in Arizona for the last 3 weeks. I'm really glad he's coming back! It's been awhile since he has had to travel alot and this should be it now for this year. I really have missed having him around.

Rough day today, Apparently one of the little kittens, the black one, had climbed up under my car. That's a very bad place for any animal to go. I saw a couple kittens run out when I started the car, but apparently he didn't. So down the road he was run over and killed. I was really upset about it. It was too late when I got to him, but at least he didn't suffer.... Like I said, sad day.

September 13, 2008 - Sabbath

Temperatures: Hi - 92° Lo - 71° Rainfall Amounts: 0.3"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):23

Looks like a lot of destruction in the Galveston area, even up through Houston. Time will tell about the death toll. Some went through it just fine. But I wonder about those along the seawall who were partying yesterday afternoon. Why wouldn't anyone evacuate knowing that the consequences could be your life? I'll never understand that. And of course, the rescue services were receiving calls during the night from people in trouble who were saying, I'm sorry that I didn't leave, don't hold it against us, we need help now. And the rescue people cannot get to them at that point. Tragic. Totally tragic. It's the old "suffer the consequences for your actions" thing, you know? And still you want to help those who wouldn't leave when they could. Think about how Noah and his family felt when they could hear the people beating on the door of the ark. But the time had come and gone and nothing could be done.

If you ever get the chance to read the book, "Isaac's Storm", if you are interested in Meteorology, well, it is a "must" read. I think I may re-read it this week. For those of you who are wondering, it is a true accounting of the 1900 hurricane that hit Galveston Island and claimed over 8000 lives. They have never figured out how many actually died in that horrible storm, but figures are anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000 people. Horrible. But if you ever think about living on the water, read this book before you buy! No, it won't stop you from wanting to be on the ocean, anymore than "Jaws" kept you from swimming. Except "Jaws" was a fictional movie. "Isaac's Storm" is true history. I mean, come on, would the "Wizard of Oz" keep you from living in Kansas?

September 12, 2008 - Friday

Temperatures: Hi - 81° Lo - 67° Rainfall Amounts: 0.T"(inches)Trace
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):19

All eyes are on Hurricane Ike, which will make landfall in the early morning hours near Galveston, Texas. 240,000 people were ordered to evacuate as they were in the areas that will flood with the storm surge. 90,000 decided to remain of which 11,000 are on Galveston Island. There will be a lot of people who lose their lives tonight. Ike has 1 mph to go to be upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane. Galveston Island has a 17 foot seawall that was built after "Isaac's Storm" of 1900, a Category 4 that claimed over 8000 lives. The waves are already crashing over the wall. The water is being pushed into the area because of the size of the storm as much as the category. Just like when Isabel caused a 16 foot surge at the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay. They are predicting a 20+ foot surge with 15-25 foot waves on top of that. They are also predicting that most of the Galveston Island will be under that 20+ foot water. Do the math. A lot of people will die tonight. Foolish to stay there.

And let's not forget the Category 3 winds, which, as I write this are SUSTAINED at 111 - 130 mph with gusts much, much higher. This is going to be a bad night for alot of people. Well, yes, it's currently a Category 2 with 110 mph but what's 1 mph at those velocities?

HARVEST MOON: This weekend's full Moon has a special name--the Harvest Moon. It's the full Moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox. In years past, farmers depended on the light of the Harvest Moon to gather ripening crops late into the night. Post-Edison, we appreciate it mainly for its beauty. Be alert in the nights ahead for Harvest Moon halos, coronas and 'dogs.

There was a 6.0 earthquake today in KOMANDORSKIYE OSTROVA, RUSSIA REGION followed by a 5.1, 42 minutes later.

Yesterday, I didn't include anything other than the memorial type stuff for the 9-11 remembrance. But for your information, there were two big earthquakes yesterday. A 6.5 in HALMAHERA, INDONESIA and a 6.9 in HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION. In HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION there was also a 5.0, 5.4, 5.0, 4.9 and a 5.1. Probably aftershocks.

September 11, 2008 - Thursday

Temperatures: Hi - 78° Lo - 65° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):27

Remembering 9-11 and those that Perished

Judgement Day

September 11, 2001
began like the many days before,
But before long the world would know
what this day had in store.
A hijacked plane flown into one of the twin towers,
ending its deadly flight.
A mere 18 minutes later another plane hit,
This the beginning of America�s plight.
The once vital components of a business day,
Such as documents and desks,
Now trivial objects as hopeless employees
Leaped tragically to their deaths.
The Pentagon, once a national symbol of
Our country�s safety and strength,
Was also attacked and bears a wound,
Smoldering hundreds of feet in length.
The entire world watched in horror,
As tower one crumbled to the ground.
No true New Yorker will ever forget
The unbelievable sight and sound.
A short while later the other one caved,
Crashing down floor by floor,
And before our eyes reality set in:
The World Trade Center was no more.
Fireman and cops rushed to the scene,
Helping in any way they could.
Many of them risking, sacrificing their lives,
As any of our finest would.
Civilians ran in fear for their lives
Beneath a shower of debris and ash.
These many lives now affected as one,
Because of a cowardly crash.
Our government stated whatever it takes,
The perpetrators will be found,
Every American working together,
Until the animals are hunted down.
The violated people of a nation whose creed
Has been �the land of the free,�
Now seek comfort in our President�s quotation
Of God�s word, Psalm twenty-three.
We do not know what more terrors will come
Or how this nightmare will end.
All we know is that our freedom was challenged
And the time has come to protect and defend
Through the destruction the people will unite,
For an attack on one is an attack on all.
We will join together and win this fight,
United we stand, divided we fall.
As children of God and citizens of America
We must come together and pray,
Not just for justice or for revenge
But that God will be glorified through this day.
For we know that our battle is not against flesh and blood,
As the world would have us believe,
And we know that the day will come
when God�s judgment is received.

Kristen Noelle Buttafuoco
Copyright �2008 Kristen Buttafuoco

To view the list of names of the ones who perished, visit this website: Names

To see a video on the why's and how the towers actually fell, visit this website: Why the Towers Fell

To view the Timeline of events, visit: Timeline

To view over 55,000 poems written about 9/11, visit: Poems

September 10, 2008 - Wednesday

Temperatures: Hi - 73° Lo - 65° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):33

Some seismic activity today. First the "red" ones: 6.1 in SOUTHERN IRAN and 6.6 at the CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE (which is out in the Atlantic Ocean.) We also had a 5.8 in TARAPACA, CHILE. Several others above 5.0 around the world as well as several above the 4.5 level. Busy day.

Well, looking at the Atlantic Satellite Loop, I see two areas of interest (besides Ike). One near the Bahamas that has exploded during the day today and some interesting stuff just coming off the coast of Africa. NWS hasn't earmarked these spots yet. But you heard it here from me, first.

Prevailing winds and highs and lows may make them go away and that's a factor that I don't really have info on at this time. But none-the-less, the loop for today is interesting.

Interesting evening. A lot going on. More details at a later time when things are settled down. In the meantime, working on my household projects and not making alot of headway. I will get things done, eventually.

September 9, 2008 - Tuesday

Temperatures: Hi - 81° Lo - 71° Rainfall Amounts: 0.1"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):27

Another strong shake, this time in the SOLOMON ISLANDS and it was a 6.1. Yesterday, I reported a 7.0 in VANUATU. But today they have downgraded it to a 6.9, so I made the appropriate changes in my records.

Another routine day. Just housework. Rearranging, reorganizing, throwing away (not much), but cleaning up, none-the-less. If you saw it, you wouldn't believe that I have accomplished anything in the last couple of weeks. But I have, you just can't see it yet.

And I still have more to do than what I've already done. It's slow. I guess since I accumulated stuff for the last 30+ years, it might take me 30+ years to sort it down abit. I just want to get things organized so I can enjoy USING what I've got. You know, like being able to pull together a small scrapbook or record a song or paint a picture. That sort of stuff. Well, I'll get there eventually.

Oh, I got visited by the neighbor's kittens today. They are awful cute. They won't let me get too close to them, but I managed to sneak a couple pictures of them. So here they are....

Kitten 1

Kitten 2

Kitten 3

Kitten 4

Don't know if they will hang around or go back home tonight, but they were funny to watch today. I don't know about you, but kitten number 3, the white one with the 3 black marks above his eyes, well, I would have to name him, "Perplexed". Just look at that expression! Course another name for him could be, "Oh dear" spoken with a trembly-shaky voice. Come on, what could we call them? Maybe number 4 we could call "charcoal". Then there's number 1 who has mostly white but some black and number 2 who has some white, but mostly black..... Maybe "Salt" & "Pepper"??????

Yeah, ok, so I'm not the best at naming pets. You laugh, I hear you. Just because I had some beta's that were red, white and blue and so I named them "Red", "White", and "Blue". "Fusty" our parakeet that we had for many years, that moved here with us from Maryland, was appropriately named, since he fussed all the time. Actually the boys called him something else, because he liked to hang upside down, but I can't remember what it was.... Something like batbird or something to do with Batman...my memory just ain't what she used to be! So when we moved to VA we brought Fusty and Rusty with us. Rusty was the cat we used to have. Seth did a whole webpage about Rusty, who passed away a few years ago. I copied his page and included it in my webpages too, since he had done such a fabulous job on it!

September 8, 2008 - Monday

Temperatures: Hi - 88° Lo - 65° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):20

Two "red" earthquakes today, one earlier in the day and another one about 12 hours later in the same area. First, a 6.2 in VANUATU and then a 6.9 later. Pretty bad shakes! Vanuatu is about 1300 NE of Australia.

Busy day doing what I normally do on Mondays. Laundry, housework etc. Still working on stuff in one of the bedrooms. I'm sorting through my scraps of scrapbooking supplies and getting it better organized, tossing what I don't need. Course, as you know, scrappers don't throw much away, even cutouts from photos can be reused as mosaic borders and stuff. But regardless, I'm trying to better organize it so I can work on different projects as time permits. Rather than having to haul everything out and I only need a couple little things. Makes a small project a monumental task. So it's about time, don't ya think?

Just one of many projects that I'm trying to get to. Sometimes my head just swims with all the things I want to accomplish. That's why less is more and makes it easier to accomplish stuff. So I'm trying to shed my "pac-rat" status-quo and downsize my hobbies somewhat. It's hard but I'll get there. Eventually.

Besides, there's this new hobby that I want to try.....nah, just kidding. Well, sort of.

September 7, 2008 - Sunday

Temperatures: Hi - 83° Lo - 61° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):15

Hot in the sun today but definitely less humidity. The skies were really blue also, very normal for post-tropical storms/hurricanes passing over us.

Earthquake activity was lower today, but still a few shakes around the world.

I've been pretty busy today actually doing some of the projects on my very long "to-do" list. So I'm really tired tonight. Guess I'll call it an evening.

September 6, 2008 - Sabbath

Temperatures: Hi - 76° Lo - 69° Rainfall Amounts: 3.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):32

Hanna came through this morning and it rained pretty good for several hours. We got an additional 3" of rainfall today. Once the rain stopped, we did get a little bit of gusty winds for a couple hours. Initially, between the rainfal and wind, I made a quick trip out the lane to see whether the driveway was still there or washed away. Fortunately, it was still there and virtually no damage. There was a small tree down in the lane, but I was able to push it aside enough to drive past it. Now that we've had a little wind, there may be others down, but I'll worry about that later. The lane over the creek was the biggest worry and it was OK.

Quiet day otherwise, watched a couple movies tonight and now turning a watchful eye on Hurricane Ike. We'll see what he does.

September 5, 2008 - Friday

Temperatures: Hi - 93° Lo - 66° Rainfall Amounts: 0.5"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):21

The day started sunny, hot and quite humid, then got those huge puffy tropical clouds. By 3 pm it was total overcast and a miled rain dripped starting around 5:30 pm. It's now 10 pm and we've had ½" of rain and it has currently stopped. This was just from one of the little outer bands of Tropical Storm Hanna who has not yet made landfall. She's supposed to come ashore around the South Carolina, North Carolina line, but is intensifying slightly and trying to form an eye. So, since her winds were sustained at 70 mph, she doesn't have to increase much to become a minimal Category 1 hurricane (starts at 75 mph). She's coming in low enough that I don't suspect we'll have too much trouble. Local emergency alerts have said to expect between 4 - 8" rain and sustained winds between 40 - 60 mph. The first year we lived up in Westminster Md on that big hill, I had a wind gauge that went up to 65 mph. The first winter blast we had broke the wind gauge with gusts greater than 65 mph. So, not too bad. However, add a little rain to a little wind and these trees come down pretty easy... So we shall see. There are some old dead limbs that would be nice if we didn't have to pay someone to come and cut them down!

By the way, I don't really expect us to get that much rain. The storm is moving 20 mph and is still over open water. They always move faster once they make landfall. Disadvantages, more wind. Advantages, less rainfall amounts.

Otherwise, a quiet day. Did a little normal housework and got my art supplies all cleaned up and in a more organized state of affairs for easier use. I did do a small (8 x 10) of a sunset in chalk pastels. I've been wanting to try chalk and it's actually pretty cool to work with.

When I was young child, we visited a family, who, though they weren' "blood" kin, they were family to us none-the-less. Anyway, that's another story for another day. But what I want to tell you about was, one Sabbath, after church and lunch and a house full of guests, one of the guests was an artist. I was six years old and he set up an easel in the parlor and proceeded to draw this beautiful landscape and all in chalk. I don't remember alot about when I was six years old. But I remember that and thought it was SO cool! So I'll probably try some more chalks as time goes by. I'll scan today's and add it to my Art webpages. But thought you might like to see and also one I drew of "Millie" my parents dog of years ago.

I also added an old cat-face drawing I did last year to my Pencil-Charcoal Art pages. Nothing great, just the first one I've tried. Actually you should visit my Art webpages. I've changed the backgrounds, resized some of the photos of my art and just changed a few things a little bit.

September 4, 2008 - Thursday

Temperatures: Hi - 99° Lo - 68° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):26

Ran a few shopping errands today, just in case. Always better to be prepared than not. Regardless, we will get some rain and some wind at the very least.

Otherwise, just a normal HOT summer day. Humidity is mild and with temps in the sun of 99°, I'm glad to be back home in the AC.

September 3, 2008 - Wednesday

Temperatures: Hi - 97° Lo - 63° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):20

Happy Birthday Gail!!!!

All eyes are watching Hanna, but the trajectory is ever-changing. NOW they show the center of what will be Hurricane Hanna coming in around South Carolina and going back out to sea around Virginia Beach. That would put us on the upper west quadrant of the then downgraded Tropical Storm Hanna, which if you have to go through one of these storms, the upper west quadrant is the very best location to be at. So we might feel a little of the tropical type winds and perhaps a little rainfall, but not like if we were in the upper right quadrant! But don't worry, for those of you who have gardens and are desparate for rainfall. We may still get abit of moisture from the remnants of Gustav, once it gets caught up in the front that is slowly moving across the US. Time will tell. It changes every couple of hours!

We've have a 6.3 on the Richter scale in SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA. The interesting thing is most of the earthquakes are at a depth of 0 - 50 miles deep. Every day there also may be a couple that are 100 - 400 miles deep. This one was 547.4 km deep which is the depth at which the earthquake begins to rupture. (KM is rougly equivalent to 1.6 miles) So this was a very deep earthquake. I don't know if they feel that on the surface or not. Maybe someone could email me to let me know.

So Hurricane Ike, still aways out into the Atlantic has literally "exploded" into a category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 135 mph! WOW. Need to watch that very carefully!

The black cat's kitten followed her up to our house today and I got a couple photos of it before they left. Just passing through on their rounds. Remember, I mentioned earlier this summer that I thought they were either a neighbors who moved away or strays that someone had dropped in the woods. They acted like they were starving, so I had given them a little food. Well, they stop by every day at some point. Don't know where they go or who they belong to but I can't stand to see some animal hungry. Anyway, below is a photo I got of the kitten. She was not used to humans apparently, so she/he kept his distance. Kittens are so-o-o-o cute.

September 2, 2008 - Tuesday

Temperatures: Hi - 93° Lo - 60° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):24

And as usual, if you missed my end of the month accomplishments for August, all you have to do is visit the archive pages listed above. You may also notice that if you check my journal in the early part of the day, I will not have the daily high or low temperatures or the earthquake totals yet for the day. If you check back after 9 pm, on most nights that data should then be completed.

We're dealing with 4, yes, I repeat, 4 tropical systems today. Gustav who has been downgraded to a tropical storm is well into Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas. Though to listen to the media, it's all in New Orleans. It didn't even HIT New Orleans, they felt some of it, but the brunt of it was further west on the coast as well as some of the eastern outer bands in Mississippi and Florida. Anyway, next is Hanna which weakened abit last night dropping her to a tropical storm, but she is expected to gain hurricane status again today or tomorrow and is going to pester us on the East Coast. Her projected path is currently along the South Carolina coast but the cone of uncertainty is anywhere from Florida to Virginia.

The third storm lurking about in the central Atlantic is Ike, who is far enough out that they are currently projecting a similar path either, get this, up the East Coast or over into the Carribean and then the Gulf. Well, duh. The fourth storm is Josephine and she is came off the coast of Africa in the last couple days, so time will tell. And here's a bulletin for you. There's more coming off the coast almost every day. It's just the time of year!

So it may be an interesting weekend here in Virginia as the projections of Hannah currently show her still be a tropical storm when she barrels through the Commonwealth. A lot can change in a week and even when a storm is within hours of landfall, they can't honestly predict exactly where it will be. So don't worry, I'm not worried at all. I only worry if they enter on the northern part of the Outer Banks of NC up through the mouth of the Chesapeake. Then, and usually ONLY then, do we have serious wind problems. Otherwise, tropical storms and remnants of such are just a milder windy heavy rain event with embedded small tornadoes. The worst is possible flooding, maybe a few small trees down and perhaps, most likely, especially where we live, power outages. But otherwise, no biggy. In fact, barring damages to people's property and injuries and death, which I wouldn't wish on anybody, otherwise it's kinda exciting when a possible storm is coming! Hey, I find weather fascinating.

Oh, I just have to include the photos so you can see how exciting it is getting. After all, this is the peak time of the hurricane season!

So what have I been doing the first couple days of September 2008? Well, housework, housework and housework. Now you needn't think my house is now clean. It's not. I'm slow. Very, v-e-r-y slow. So I set a goal of one thing or project a day. Remember how I talked about lists last month???

However, it's no secret that while a project a day is a good goal, it's really more like an accomplishment every two or three days, sometimes even a project a week. What can I say? At least I am getting a little bit done. Really. Yes, I am. Well, sort of....

September 1, 2008 - Monday

Temperatures: Hi - 92° Lo - 59° Rainfall Amounts: 0.0"(inches)
Daily Worldwide Earthquakes (greater than 2.5 on the Richter Scale):30

Happy Labor Day!!!!

So what is Labor Day and why do we Americans celebrate this day? That's a good question, so I decided to do a little research on the subject. Here's what I found out.....

Labor Day is a national legal holiday that is over 100 years old. Over the years, it has evolved from a purely labor union celebration into a general "last fling of summer" festival. It grew out of a celebration and parade in honor of the working class by the Knights of Labor in 1882 in New York. In 1884, the Knights held a large parade in New York City celebrating the working class. The parade was held on the first Monday in September. The Knights passed a resolution to hold all future parades on the same day, designated by them as Labor Day.

The Socialist Party held a similar celebration of the working class on May 1. This date eventually became known as May Day, and was celebrated by Socialists and Communists in commemoration of the working man. In the U.S., the first Monday in September was selected to reject any identification with Communism. In the late 1880's, labor organizations began to lobby various state legislatures for recognition of Labor Day as an official state holiday. The first states to declare it a state holiday in, 1887, were Oregon, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Then in 1894, Congress passed a law recognizing Labor Day as an official national holiday.

Today, Labor Day is observed not only in the U.S. but also in Canada, and in other industrialized nations. While it is a general holiday in the United States, its roots in the working class remain clearer in European countries. It has come to be recognized in the U.S. not only as a celebration of the working class, but even more so as the unofficial end of the summer season. In the northern half of the U.S. at least, the summer vacation season begins with Memorial Day and ends with Labor Day. Many colleges and some secondary and elementary schools begin classes immediately after Labor Day.

State parks, swimming pools, and campgrounds are all quite busy on Labor Day, as vacationers take one last advantage of the waning hot season. September is the month that marks the beginning of autumn. And, because of that, the average daytime maximum temperatures take a plunge during the month in most of the U.S.

We had a 6.0 on the Richter Scale today SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS. Also a 5.7 in KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA. And closer to home there was a 4.0 in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Just keeping the public informed.

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