I Survived.

     You read the title right. I survived, the most catastrophically overhyped storm of all time. Listen, I know Hurricane Matthews history, and the devastation that it dealt out to Haiti, but the way this storm was coming up the Florida coast, and what side of the storm that was going to strike us, I knew that there was nothing to worry about. When you grow up in Florida, one of the many things that you learn about hurricanes is, that they Northeast quadrant of the storm is the worst part of it. That is where all the energy seems to go, and with us being on the Northwest to Southwest side of things, we weren't going to get much more than some high winds and rain, and that is exactly what we got.

     I went riding Saki around Cocoa Beach yesterday, and it appeared that nothing more than a very strong Tropical Storm had passed through. There was minimal damage, nothing that can't be taken care of in a matter of days. The worst that happened to me, is that I lost a few large branches off a tree, and I was without power for 3 days. I just got it back today at 4:30. It went out on Friday morning at 1:44 AM. Really, the worst part of the whole thing, was listening to generators droning through the night. I ended up going to my favorite watering hole  last night, and getting a tad bit drunk, so that I would pass out, and get some sleep. It worked for the most part. I slept uninterrupted until 3 in the morning. Then it was listening to the generators again.

     Funny thing happened while I was sitting at the bar. The bartender was a bit frazzled. There was a pretty big crowd for that time of night, so I understood it. Here's where the fun part comes in. I was getting my second Jack & Coke, when she pours the Jack, and then swiftly plants the bottle in front of me instead of the shelf. Everyone sitting at the bar let out a gasp. She quickly looked back at the bottle in front of me and proclaimed, "What the hell am I doing". I just laughed it off, and asked if I could get some ice. I was hoping that while I was there, I would get power back, but that didn't happen.

     I have a picture of my cooking setup from this morning, but it seems that it hasn't made it to the cloud yet, so I can't post it for you. I'll just tell you about it. I have a two burner propane camping stove, that I had to set up on a folding tray and a potted plant stand. It worked, I was able to make a decent breakfast, nothing spectacular, but it fed me. I had forgotten that I had that, and only remembered this morning. I could have eaten much better of I'd remembered sooner.

     Let's get back to Saki for a moment. I have to tell you, that the motor is opening up nicely. It seems to run better and faster than it did before. It even sounds a better louder when you roll on the throttle. I spotted a few places that I think would be great for a little Saki photoshoot. I have this image in my head of Saki in front of dilapidated buildings, and I think I found two very good ones on Saturday. I've actually known about theses building for a while now, but I never really looked at them as I rode by until Saturday. I want to do it at daybreak to get that real soft natural light. I might try it this coming weekend and see what I get. I'll post the best picture here, when I get them done.

     I think I'm going to call it a night. This should be the first night that I get some decent sleep in a few days. I don't sleep well when it's hot, and the last few nights without electricity has been nothing but hot. Sweating in your sleep sucks. With that in mind, peace in and goodnight.