@shrinkrap, I’m awed, but not in a good way, by your very near tragedy; bless your neighbor’s efforts on your behalf.
Like @Auspicious, I’m good for a night watch too, should you need it. Let’s hope the fires get nowhere close to you again.
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I’m depressed. There are two tropical depressions heading for the Gulf of Mexico one possibly for the upper Texas coast where I am.
I must be honest I am in my element having been a weather geek since childhood. I told the Wifeacita about my “depression” and she laughed saying I’m loving it. She’s right. There’s something exciting about a storm in the Gulf.
Having said this I don’t want to get slapped silly by a major hurricane, I’ve been through three, or my fourth biblical flood from a tropical storm or depression.
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Are you in a tropical depression @jcostiones? Sorry, couldn’t resist. I too am a major storm buff, but I always know people will die, lose their entire homes, and/or have their lives turned upside down due a catastrophic storm.
With Covid ongoing, let’s hope it doesn’t make land, anywhere. People have enough to deal with now.
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TD14 could be a problem for you in a few days. TD13 is not your problem. Florida, Bahamas, PR.
Well aware. I was reading the tropical discussion from the Hurricane Center for TD14 last night and the language was they have less certainty in forecast intensity than usual, which isn’t good.
They totally blew it when Harvey devastated Rockport/Port Aransas as an increasing Category 4. This was not expected at all.
Also there is what I call the cone of stupidity. I don’t want to call anybody stupid but 200 miles in either direction is considered accurate.
Do you watch Tropical Tidbits? I find it very useful.
Most hurricane deaths are easily preventable if people obey authorities and evacuate when necessary and not do stupid things like drive into flooded roadways or being near downed power lines. We get lots of major floods in Houston besides tropical systems and some always drive into 20 feet of water in an underpass with fatal results despite flashing lights, flood gauges, and sometimes police barricades.
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I just looked at it and it has great access to various models. It has NOAA info but I’ve been checking it out already.
True, I was thinking more of people who get trees blown onto their cars or homes @jcostiones.
We can get some wicked storms without much warning at all, although the weather people do get it right at times.
Levi Cowan does daily videos of his analysis when there is an active storm. That’s the big value.
The ECMWF model has heavy rain from Laurel hitting the Houston area let alone what Marco will do. Things can get ugly here.
My “expert” opinion based on many tropical cyclones is one to forty inches of rain. Wind shouldn’t be a problem unless the Hurricane Center’s models missed the mark, again.
Things are going to be interesting for this weather geek, I’m high and dry and will sit back and watch the show.
Nobody knows what will happen with one storm and we have two.
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Leading off my current comments here by posting a Detroit News piece about a very well covered action by the Michigan Occupational Safety & Health Administration (MIOSHA).
From my perspective this is like trying to bail a swamped rowboat with a teaspoon.
From the beginning of the pandemic sweep across the U.S. the residents of my state have been in the vanguard of Covid19 impact deniers and obstructionists. Almost 7,000 deaths in Michigan since March, and there’s still screamers & shouters claiming death numbers are inflated by the government; or, “same numbers we’d see for the common flu.”
Rant concluded. But here’s what I experienced this morning when stopping into a Party Store to replenish our stock of liquor & mixers (Diageo, Sazerac, Distillers Company, Beam & Co., you can thank us later…):
Three 30 / 40 YO males working. Two of the three making and wrapping sub sandwiches ( scores of 'em) not wearing face coverings or food service type gloves. Third guy at the register, same. Four other customers besides me in the store. Three of the five of us, sans face covering.
I’m solidly convinced, as a nation, we may win a battle against this pandemic here–or there. But the War is already lost…
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No argument that people are stupid.
From a food safety point of view however, it has been shown over and over that hand washing is more sanitary that gloves, and that gloves actually contribute to cross-contamination.
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Gloves have been hard to find, and the last two boxes I scored were at 3x usual price. The struggle is real.
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King County’s health dept (Seattle area) considers bare hand contact with ready to eat food a 25 point red ‘critical’ violation (the highest point value). I’m not inspected by them anymore, but I doubt ‘but Dave on the internet said …’ is going to help anyone’s case when they get a bad rating.
It’s a tough one, gloves can certainly be used wrong, we’ve probably all seen it, and so much waste. And sweaty glove hands are disgusting, you don’t want glove sweat dripping down your wrist into people’s food. At least glove use is easier to see than improper (or no) handwashing? Right now the optics can make or break you.
Here’s an old inspection report of mine if anyone is curious about the system.
2017-07-05 Dolceta Artisan Sweets.pdf (157.8 KB)
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My kudos to Dave and Andrea for their replies to my ravings, above.
Just want to note that I’m out-and-about every day. Have been since the Pandemic hit our shores. Back in March I was of the opinion, “I’ll take care.” “And, my neighbors will do the same.” Now, heading hard into September, no matter the precautions I’m practicing, I’m seeing my “neighbors” flaunting the science that has been screaming at them. Obviously, not all “my neighbors”, but enough to fuel years more of this virus spread.
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I absolutely agree with you.
ServSafe says to wash your hands before putting on gloves and when gloves are removed (which includes changes). Lots of articles pointing out that people aren’t as careful about cross contamination when wearing gloves.
I don’t claim to be an expert. I’m reading the official guidance and assessments.
Without any real information, I say that the King County health department is making emotional assessments instead of science-based ones. The rules of course are the rules.
It seems pretty clear, at least to me, that gloves used the way the guidelines mandate are a net plus. It is equally clear that very very few people in commercial food prep use gloves properly.
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I don’t think Health Departments anywhere make emotional assessments. They are heavily science based @Auspicious. King County being no exception.
Our lay understanding about SARS-CoV-2 precautions is that aerosol, not fomite, transmission is the overwhelmingly predominant risk to be addressed:
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473-3099(20)30561-2.pdf
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If King County Health Department thinks gloves are a food safety panacea (as the 25 point violation would indicate) then they are demonstrably not science- or data-driven.
