Hurricane Charley Update!

[Bob]

Hiya Folks ;)

Just got off the phone with Deb and the good news is all of the FutureQuest Team in Florida is A-Ok :)

Brian escaped much of the effects as a result of the last minute turn that Charley took, as it made landfall south of him...

Kevin never lost power, but had some minor connectivity issues that were very brief. He did report some local damage in his immediate vicinity but he suffered no loss... He did mention something about how BIG a Motorcycle looks when it is parked in his living room however... :rolleyes:

Up here in Jacksonville, we live on the west side of the St. Johns river and we saw about 4 - 5 inches of rain and sustained winds of no more than 30 mph and little in the way of gusts. Some small tree limbs laying on the ground but otherwise A-Ok :)

The Data Center switched to Generator power about 9 Pm last night which is when Deb and Terra went off-line as well... The DC continues on Generator power at this time and we do not have any information as to when power will be restored at this time, however we will keep everyone updated as we receive information.

We did speak to Deb and Terra about an hour or so after power went out so we did know they were ok after the main body of Charley passed.

This morning Kevin and I have both spoken to Deb and they are 100% Ok, all Humans and Pets ;) Their house appears, at least in initial inspection, not to have suffered any damage and the turtle ponds appear to be fine.

However that can't be said of their yard and surrounding area as many, many trees are either down or snapped, power poles snapped and transformers blown. Fencing is down around yards and they reported a couple of damaged roofs close to them and at least one they saw was peeled back :(

They obviously have no power at this time and even cell communications are out and no estimate of when they may have power restored, however 2 - 3 days would not be out of the question...

Overall, what is important, the Humans involved, as well as their pets, are all Ok and for that I am personally grateful and we all want to thank everyone that was concerned for us here in Florida in the last 24 hours and hope the next one just plain misses us all ;)

Also Thanks to Melissa, Sheila, Arthur and Bruce as they have already gone above and beyond during this period to ensure that FutureQuest keeps running smoothly and without any hiccups.
:QTFQuest:

And that folks is the Update...8}
-Bob

[LightGuide]

Great news! Thanks for the update!

[Andilinks]

Thanks for the report Bob.

I want to express my happiness that everyone at FutureQuest came through this relatively unscathed, and my sorrow for those in Florida who unfortunately did not.

And thanks to the FutureQuest Team. Not just for their efforts yesterday and today but also for all the foresight and preparation that made the passage through Charlie virtually invisible to FutureQuest clients and their clients.

A great job! Which is not over of course, certainly a lot of aftermath stuff. But I am so glad that my fears for all of you yesterday were unfounded.

Andi

[Armand]

Glad everybody is okay.

[tjlid]

AMEN!

[mromero]

Glad to here everyone at Fquest are O.K.

Up here in Central America we have our fair share of experience with these beasties and are somewhat nonchalant (though we do worry about the Cat 5 types).

Good to remember that after the storm there are still dangers - recall a woman and her kids being elecrocuted in Florida some years ago when they went sightseeing after a storm (a downed power cable did them in when they stepped on a puddle of water I think) and I just read this from one of the Charley reports:

"A man who stepped outside his house to smoke a cigarette died when a banyan tree fell on him in Fort Myers, authorities said."

[Monty]

It's good news to hear that everyone seems to have come through all this without any major problems. My prayers go out to those that lost friends and family to this storm. Bob, if there is anything I can do to help out, please ask.

[Bob]

Hi again,

Kevin took a trip to the Data Center, just cause he was bored today :P, anyway...

Some pictures of the immediate vicinity of the FutureQuest Data Center, housed temporarily in one of my Galleries. I am sure they will be moved for permanent disply to Deb's Picolio Gallery (http://www.picolio.com) once Deb and Terra are able to return to our on-line world...
http://wolfstalks.net/Gallery/CharleyDataCenter

-Bob

[Andilinks]

...immediate vicinity of the FutureQuest Data Center, Some powerful winds, but it looks like it's mostly trees that took the brunt of the damage.

Damage aside, that's a lovely area you're in...

Andi

[MTDesigns]

Glad to hear everyone is ok :)!!

Best always,

Joi~

[Randall]

Some pictures of the immediate vicinity of the FutureQuest Data Center How come we don't see armed turtles patrolling the neighborhood? There could be alligators hiding behind those fallen trees...

Randall

[Bradley]

Originally posted by Bob:
Hi again,

Kevin took a trip to the Data Center, just cause he was bored today :P, anyway...

Some pictures of the immediate vicinity of the FutureQuest Data Center, housed temporarily in one of my Galleries. I am sure they will be moved for permanent disply to Deb's Picolio Gallery (http://www.picolio.com) once Deb and Terra are able to return to our on-line world...
http://wolfstalks.net/Gallery/CharleyDataCenter

-Bob

Speaking of which, what happened to the FQ gallery on PicOlio?

Oh did Kevin get a digital camera finally? Go take some shots of the cabinet my server is in dangit! ;)

As for the turtles randall, don't know where most of them are, last I heard Guido was in a plane on his way up here to take care of *ahem* the problem I caused when I took 2 servers down... ~# :waa:

[Kevin]

Originally posted by brnoe:

Oh did Kevin get a digital camera finally? Go take some shots of the cabinet my server is in dangit! ;)


No, those were taken with a 20 year old 35mm camera. I just had the film developed into a photo CD instead of prints.

--
Kevin

[Bradley]

Originally posted by Kevin:
No, those were taken with a 20 year old 35mm camera. I just had the film developed into a photo CD instead of prints.

--
Kevin

ooooh I see! Speaking of which, if you (or anyone here) happens to like older cameras I've got one here, for sale or trade (not proper forum). It's a Nikon EM something another had it for some time now, has a 50mm 1:1.8 E lens.

Plus I was just razzing you due you "being to cheap and uninteresting to own a decent camera (http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=97183#post97183)" :P

Hope everyone is pulling through well, I saw Jeb talking about it earlier on the news at the bookstore.

[Wild Rose]

Glad everyone is OK. Thanks for the pics Bob. It is a beautiful "site"

[Mandi]

Thanks for the pics, Bob. The arm of that car gate is really striking, how twisted it became!

[Randall]

No, those were taken with a 20 year old 35mm camera. I just had the film developed into a photo CD instead of prints. How quaint. :P

Randall

[TVB]

Any update from the animal ranch? Just curious about the progress...

Betsy

[Bob]

Hi again,

I have spoken to both Deb and Terra today and the only real change has been extreme boredom... :(

They are still working on cleaning up the trees that were felled as well as what sounds like a never ending search for ice... Surprising what becomes very valuable in disasters of this nature :(

No definitive word on when power may be restored for them or the Data Center as of now, however we do have hopes for power to the Data Center being restored within the next 12 - 18 hours based on some public posts from the Orlando Utilities Commission...

Deb and Terra did ask that we pass on their thanks to all the offers of assistance which are deeply appreciated however until power is restored they are just playing lots of monopoly when not out playing tree surgeon...

-Bob

- I can't imagine hours, let alone days, without being online... oyyyyy %) -

Ps... Ohhh and the Turtles have been returned to their ponds and are probably the only ones not inconvenienced... ;)

[TVB]

- I can't imagine hours, let alone days, without being online... oyyyyy -

What did we do before the internet? :confused: I can't remember.

Betsy

[Mandi]

I bet they are uncomfortably warm, too, without A/C. I'm not sure which is worse, endless rounds of Monopoly Torture, or no A/C! My daughter beat the pants off me playing Monopoly while we sat around waiting on Friday . . . I consider board games a uniquely horrid form of torture. (I know, no Mother of the Year award for me again this year.)

[Randall]

Sitting around without power is never fun -- and more than a few hours is cruel and unusual punishment. :waa:

I actually spent most of the weekend reading, since something was up with the house's DVD player, and aside from following the hurricane news I didn't spend much time online. So I guess I could have survived it, with or without a Monopoly partner. (I'm sure the cat would cheat if she knew how to play.)

But surely with all those turtles and other critters it can't be that boring...

Randall

[Bob]

Well Folks just got another update and it appears that it may be possible for Deb, Terra and other residents of Orlando surrounding towns (Oviedo is in Seminole County) to be without power until Saturday Aug 21, 2004...
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (August 15, 2004) – As Progress Energy Florida crews work around the clock to repair the damage from Hurricane Charley, the company now expects to restore power to customers in the counties in the Orlando area (Orange, Volusia, Osceola, Lake and Seminole counties) by midnight Saturday, Aug. 21, and in the hardest-hit counties (Highlands, Hardee and Polk counties) by midnight Tuesday, Aug. 24. http://www.progress-energy.com/aboutenergy/stormcentral/index.asp?areaid=25

We certainly hope that it doesn't go that long but... :(

-Bob

- Ever heard of Stormopoly? Well it is being developed as I type this, apparently :hrmm: -

[frankc]

Originally posted by Bob:
Well Folks just got another update and it appears that it may be possible for Deb, Terra and other residents of Orlando surrounding towns (Oviedo is in Seminole County) to be without power until Saturday Aug 21, 2004...Ick. How long would an extension cord from the data center to their home be? :\

[TVB]

Ugh...that's not going to be fun. Food with wrappers for an entire week gets icky after awhile too.

Betsy

[Kevin]

Originally posted by TVB:
Ugh...that's not going to be fun. Food with wrappers for an entire week gets icky after awhile too.

That is what fast food is for. They are used to it over there anyways :P

--
Kevin

[Monty]

Bob, any word on how the aquariums are holding out? Geez, I can be there with house sized generator by sun up Wed. morning.

[TVB]

Originally posted by Kevin:
That is what fast food is for. They are used to it over there anyways :P

--
Kevin

Uh huh, that's what I was referring to. :P

Betsy

[Randall]

An entire week? Yrch. :hair:

That would be really pushing it in the sanity department, ten gazillion critters or no.

If I were them, I'd have my hammock strung in the data center by now. You can always commute home to feed the turtles...

Randall

# Psst... It's Betsy's fault -- pass it on

[johnfl68]

Commuting to and from the data center isn't a good idea yet. Driving around any where in the Orlando area still isn't much fun. For some reason people don't understand that if the traffic light isn't working - you treat the intersection as a 4 way stop (seen many accidents because of this).

Also - the gas stations with power don't have gas - and the ones with gas don't have power. Gas storage in the area dosn't have power to pump it into the trucks, so they are bringing it in from Jacksonville and other areas that wern't effected by the storm. The few with power and gas have lines of 20+ cars waiting to get gas.

Fortunately minimal damage here - but Road Runner is been down so I'm on dialup here. (funny - it had it though the storm and several hours after charlie left florida?)

Glad to here that everyone else seems to be ok. I hope Deb and Terra get power soon, as well as the rest without.

John

BTW - what's the runtime on the generator at the data center on a full tank???

[cindik]

7 days.

http://www.visionquest.net/Power.php

[Bradley]

I am pretty sure FQ has some contracts to provide enough fuel to keep the generator running a bit longer if needed.

[LightGuide]

Even so, I'd suggest we all make shorter forum posts so we use less generator fuel.

[cindik]

Originally posted by brnoe:
I am pretty sure FQ has some contracts to provide enough fuel to keep the generator running a bit longer if needed.

Probably, but the question was "how long on a full tank". ;)

[cindik]

Originally posted by LightGuide:
Even so, I'd suggest we all make shorter forum posts so we use less generator fuel.

Maybe we should turn out the lights! :QTidea:

[Bob]

Just to set the record straight ;) 36 hours refers to the Battery Back-up...
The generator is capable of powering the FutureQuest Data Center for at least 7 days straight, if not refueled. However, FutureQuest's generator has the ability to run indefinitely by being capable of being refueled while it is in operation! http://www.visionquest.net/Power.php

Which is what we are working on as I type this :)

-Bob

[Andilinks]

FutureQuest's generator has the ability to run indefinitely by being capable of being refueled while it is in operation! The unpleasant question occured to me the moment I read that the Data Center was on back-up generator but I was quite confident that the question had occurred even earlier to those who actually fuel the generator.

Only entropy is the enemy now. Even during normal times, things go wrong. But once again I am confident that this was anticipated by our heros. I often use irony but there is no irony whatsoever in my last sentence read it straight: the FutureQuest staff are my heros.

Andi

[Randall]

I will refrain from using animated smilies, photos, large fonts and other power-hungry forum equipment until the power situation improves. :noddy:

Uh, make that heavily animated smilies. :o Maybe I should lay off the boldface, too...

Randall

# How many milliwatts does a link use?

[cindik]

We should turn off all server-side code on our sites to conserve energy!


















I'm kidding, folks.

[Bob]

Event: Generator Power

Event Start: 8:58 Pm ET Friday Aug 13, 2004
Event End: 2:02 Pm ET Monday Aug 16, 2004
Event Duration: 65 hours 4 Mins
Time Down: Zero

-Bob :)

- Now if we could get some of this power to Deb and Terra :( -

[Randall]

Event: Generator Power

Event Start: 8:58 Pm ET Friday Aug 13, 2004
Event End: 2:02 Pm ET Monday Aug 16, 2004 Now they can give those turtles running the treadmills a break. :P

Randall

[Bradley]

Originally posted by Randall:
Now they can give those turtles running the treadmills a break. :P

Randall
http://bradleynoe.com/archives/turtle_jog.gif

Poor poor turtles.. execpt Guido of course, I think his plane got detoured a bit :QD: ~#

[hobbes]

Now if we could get some of this power to Deb and Terra Bob, I've been working on a wireless power prototype; if you talk to D&T and they want to try it out, let me know.

-- I also have some dehydrated water (just in case) --

[Bradley]

Originally posted by hobbes:
Bob, I've been working on a wireless power prototype; if you talk to D&T and they want to try it out, let me know.

-- I also have some dehydrated water (just in case) --

Would this have anything to do with Nikola Tesla? I might give it a try ;)

hrmm, dehydrated water.


Post #600 YAY!:P

[cindik]

Originally posted by hobbes:
-- I also have some dehydrated water (just in case) --

I'm amazed at how little space dehydrated water takes up. I carry hundreds of gallons of dehydrated water in my wallet.

[Andilinks]

I carry hundreds of gallons of dehydrated water in my wallet. This is dangerous Cindi, if it unexpectedly rehydrates you could be drowned, or at the very least wet, embarrassed and pressed for an explanation.

Andi

[cindik]

I once got caught in the rain while motorcycling and a lot of the water rehydrated. I was soaked.

[Buck]

But, what do you add to dehydrated water to use it?:o

[cindik]

So far, I've documented that it can be rehydrated by rain, or by falling into a lake. More research is needed.

[JoeLeBlanc]

The generator is capable of powering the FutureQuest Data Center for at least 7 days straight, if not refueled. However, FutureQuest's generator has the ability to run indefinitely by being capable of being refueled while it is in operation!

That must be a BIG bill to pay if FQ keeps running on gas.

Hehe, Glad power is restored. Hope Deb & Terra gets there power restored. I wonder how long we can put the cable from FQ Datacenter to Deb & Terra house for power.

[Andilinks]

More research is needed. Indeed, dehydrating water involves quantum physics which is why I warned about the unexpected rehydration. Heisenbergian uncertainty alone could rehydrate all the water in your wallet without rain or lake involvement, simply observation. I pointed out the possible danger and embarrassment because this could occur in a restaurant or taxi.

Andi

[Monty]

That must be a BIG bill to pay if FQ keeps running on gas.
The genset in question runs on diesel would be my guess ;) We keep one running every offshore trip for days at a time. After this, I bet Terra gets a backup genset. It's his style to have at least two backup plans. I will never forget pulling out of Grand Cayman into 12 foot seas with my Dad and having the genset go down on his boat. He flipped two switches, and number two was on line. It sure made for a great 4 day boat ride to Galveston.

[Bob]

Well this update has more Good News!

Deb, Terra and Family have Power once again, just recently restored...

Which also helps the answer about the Aquariums that Monty asked as they were getting a bit on the HOT and Funky side according to Deb but with power I am sure they will clean up very quickly and even more importantly the House A/C is running once again for all residents, Human, Dog, Cat, Bird, Turtle, Reptile and Fish... Hope I didn't miss anything :P

We also just got word that My Mother In Law who live less than 15 minutes from the Data Center also got power just within the last 20 mins...

Now for the remaining negatives :(

Deb and Terra's connectivity may be down for an extended time however Terra, as you probably already guessed, is working on alternatives already ;)

And that is tonights Update...
-Bob

- What a great bunch of Folks that host here at FutureQuest and Thanks to you ALL! -

[Randall]

Deb and Terra's connectivity may be down for an extended time however Terra, as you probably already guessed, is working on alternatives already ;) Power with no internet is like having fuel but no generator. A fridge without food. Monopoly without the money. :blah:

I suppose you could get some amusement from running the can opener for a while...

Randall

[Bradley]

Originally posted by Bob:
Well this update has more Good News!

Deb, Terra and Family have Power once again, just recently restored...

Which also helps the answer about the Aquariums that Monty asked as they were getting a bit on the HOT and Funky side according to Deb but with power I am sure they will clean up very quickly and even more importantly the House A/C is running once again for all residents, Human, Dog, Cat, Bird, Turtle, Reptile and Fish... Hope I didn't miss anything :P

We also just got word that My Mother In Law who live less than 15 minutes from the Data Center also got power just within the last 20 mins...

Now for the remaining negatives :(

Deb and Terra's connectivity may be down for an extended time however Terra, as you probably already guessed, is working on alternatives already ;)

And that is tonights Update...
-Bob

- What a great bunch of Folks that host here at FutureQuest and Thanks to you ALL! -

Good to hear their power is back up, as for the connectivity, tell Terra I can have a local loop ran from their house down to the data center for a nominal fee. ;)

[TVB]

Power with no internet is like having fuel but no generator. A fridge without food. Monopoly without the money.

Peanut butter without jelly :waa:

In the satellite stuff I do, we always use redundancy, and wouldn't even think of attempting a mission critical event without it. Then again, if there is no fuel available, we would still end up hosed (or not depending upon upon your perspective). No amount of rehydration will suffice then.
:\

Betsy

PS...I got an AOL disc I can send!

[cindik]

There are primitive cultures that live off the land and have no contact with western people. Even they have AOL CDs.

[TVB]

Well, there ya go! Let's all send our AOL CDs to Florida! :hehe:

Betsy

[jwlai]

I saw the news last week that a big Hurricane hit Florida. However, my website ran so smoothly made me forgot FutureQuest was hit!

Anyway, glad to know everyone is ok and I appreciate all the preparation(UPS, generator, tons of fuel...) made by FutureQuest staff so our websites do not have any interruption during such difficult situation.

[cindik]

Originally posted by TVB:
Well, there ya go! Let's all send our AOL CDs to Florida! :hehe:

Betsy

I wonder whether AOL CDs would be an effective protection against high winds (hurricanes & tornados. We get tornados here). One could cover windows with thim as if the CDs were shingles. Or fish scales. They would certainly be economical! MUCH cheaper than BUYING material!

[MTDesigns]

PS...I got an AOL disc I can send!

Betsy...I'm not sure what purpose an AOL disc might fill, but it couldn't actually be used to get online...? ;)

Best always,

Joi~
Speaking from one who knows...

[Andilinks]

If you stack these disks and heat them to 600° for 30 minutes they make fine patio bricks. You may want to first check your local codes on toxic emmissions.

Andi

P.S. Not too long ago I actually had to make a special trip to Best Buy for an AOL disk because they are quite good at looking for outgoing ports (failed unfortunately).

[Deb]

I placed my response into the open discussions thread at:
http://aota.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=116787#post116787

Figured I'd leave the server news area for the server news which I'm PROUD to confirm turned out FANTASTICALLY :)

[Wild Rose]

Glad to hear that everything is fine now and that everyone (including the ones with more or less than two feet) is OK :)

You guys ( gals ) are the greatest! Never noticed a problem at all with my site.

:P


Hope the going keeps going good.


All the Best