Miss you mom. Can’t believe it’s been two years already. Know you’re always in our thoughts. Love you.

If I could write a story

It would be the greatest ever told

Of a kind and loving mother

Who had a heart of gold

If could write a million pages

But still be unable to say, just how

Much I love and miss her

Every single day

I will remember all she taught me

I’m hurt but won’t be glum

‘coz she’ll send me down the answers

And she’ll always be MY Mum

Link to a page in memory of those who have died in the protests

http://1000memories.com/egypt

Spreadsheet view

My sincere respect and admiration for the revolution that is happening in Egypt.

I can’t begin to express how much the events in Egypt these last two weeks have brought forth such deep emotion, I am unable really to put into words how I view this as one of the greatest moments of human civilisation. Revolution is nothing new to the world, but I can’t think of any other one that came about in this way, there was no political agenda, no religious agenda, no ideological agenda, only common folks from all walks of life and all ages who were fed up to the point they couldn’t stand it anymore and who are now on the verge of toppling a corrupt regime that has been in business for 30 years. Where it will end is yet to be known, but every one should be aware, and EVERY (including ours) government of world as well, what can happen when those who dictate or govern a people fail to hear those very same people. My utmost respect and prayers to those of the #jan25 revolution. Stay safe and hold strong.

I have a flood of comments wanting to come out and may express them at a later date, maybe not, but for now I will say to the people of Egypt to please understand that the views of the US media and their paranoia and self centeredness and ignorance don not reflect the views of every American, we are with you , if not in person, in spirit and praise.

Here are some links to some sites/news agencies that I have been keeping up with.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish Aljajeera English live feed (down the page a bit) Kudo to them for the coverage they have given this from the start, when I couldn’t even find a US news program that had anything more than a tagline, “unrest in Egypt”! and a link to their English web site http://english.aljazeera.net/

One of the protestors in the area, who goes by the name of Sandmonkey , heres his twitter page http://twitter.com/#!/Sandmonkey and his blog http://www.sandmonkey.org/ very bright and brave individual, very good read on his blog.

Also a good way to keep up with news is twitter, # egypt search, http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23Egypt

mind there’s plenty of rumour and irrelevant tweets there as well, but many of them are right from Egypt.

more later, for now our prayers are with and we stand with you.

Miss you, love you

We were shopping the other day at Ross Dept store in Norfolk and passed down one of the aisles where they have those various figurines. This caught our eye and we couldn’t resist taking a pic :)  Not meaning to be sacriligious, just found it funny… Pictures speak louder than words, so here it is, Merry Christmas from Jesus and friends ;)

Merry Christmas

Ok closer to 3 minutes but we’ll take it! LOL I metioned in one of the posts about hurricane Earl that we were contacted by BBC radio in London after I made a comment to one of their news articles which asked at the end for reader contributions about preparing for the hurricane. I was quite surprised actually when they called me later that evening and asked if we would mind to go on one of the radio programmes, 5Live and speak. We got quite a kick out of the idea and agreed. They got a bit of background info and we went on. Both of us were quite nervous, well me for sure! Anyway they thanked us and asked to share any photos or videos and such. Well we tried to get a few pics and a vid or two but with all that was happening preparing for the storm we didnt have time to get anything really good or interesting. Plus we were worn out as well. Anyway after that initail radio interview I guess they passed on the fact that Alison was from the Northeast of England to their colleagues in Newcastle which is near to Sunderland and the idea of them speaking to a local girl who was in North Carolina was to their liking. So out of the blue the next morning we get another call from BBC Newcastle. The number came upo blocked on my cell so I didnt answer it thinking it was work calling and wanting me to come in on my day off!  They left a voicemail and a number and since I still have a subscription on to Skype I called them back. They asked us if we would spend a few minutes to pre record an interview to air on their morning show “Alfie and Charlie at Breakfast” . We spent a little bit of time talking to a few of them there, very nice and friendly people they are! Anyway we did the interview and found out when it would be on. It aired this morning about half past 7  UK time, of course we snoozing, or trying to snooze. The wind and rain were whipping up a lot then. Wasn’t so bad as it could have been, the hurricane had weakend and was making a northeastward turn as we were going to bed so we were spared the brunt of the storm. Anyway we were back at work first thing this morning and didnt have power so we would have to wait until we returned to try and hear it. As it turned out I was only at work about an hour when my cell rang and it showed “blocked” ! Well I answered it and it was BBC Newcastle again saying the interview was picked up by the BBC London and broadcast all over! Being at work I didnt have a lot of time to talk but they said they want to do another one on how we made out and all. So they are supposed to get back with us to set a time for it. As for the interview we prerecorded it wasn’t until we got back home that we had a listen to it and I was able to record it. 

OK without further ado, here we are!

Our (Alison’s) interview on the BBC

They’re saying now it will be around 3am this morning before Earl is supposed to be off of Cape Hatteras so it’s going to be a very long night! :( Just now the wind is beginning to pick up here. This is one of the tiring parts of going through these things, the waiting. It’s nerve wracking at times just sitting and wondering. Guess we have things at the ready, food and supplies, over 100 gallons of water stored up and all the hatches battened down so its just the wait. With it being night when it hits I wont be able to see or record any video. Probably could get some audio but who wants to hear that! Anyway we’re safe and just sitting around, going to get a shower soon and afterwards fill up the tub with water as well. Then I think its time for a gin and tonic! ;) even went back to the store to get the lemon!!

This morning our county decalred a state of emergency when it began to issue evacuation orders for visitors in the outer banks part of the county. This state of emergency also suspends the sale of alcohol in the county, much to the dismay of many! lol well lucky we made our purchases yesterday!!

I suppose its a good thing they do this, I’m sure alcohol causes some stupid decisions/actions when it comes to hurricanes, but I’m sure many already have stocked up as we did!

Will have more pics and things on in a bit as we have a few more preparations to do before the weather gets bad, and Alison once again got an interview with BBC newcastle radio this morning! She’s a star now! They prerecorded an interview which will be braodcast in the morning on BBC  Newcastle radio tomorrow morning about 7:20 am UK time. Heres the link to the program for anyone interested to hear it!

Water storage in preparation

 Seriously though we are getting prepared, beginning to clear the yard and deck, storing water for the inevitable power outage that usually follows these things. I’ve learned from experience that having PLENTY of water on hand is the most important thing, After Isabel we had 8 days with no power, temps in the high 90′s and unberable high humidity. Believe me it was wonderful to be able to even wash up in a basin of water during those days, not to mention having a “flush” supply on hand! That year I did the normal “filling the bathtub” before the storm which I had never done and it was the best decision i made. But we cut it very close as the last day of no power we were down to the bottom of the tub! So this time in addition to the tub we have filled a few plastic totes with water in preparation. We’ve got about 50 gallons on hand so far and will fill some more tomorrow. I expect tomorrow will find evacuation orders issued for all the beach areas and probably Currituck as well, at least the Outer Banks portion of the county. We will monitor the track and strength and decide tomorrow if we are going to stay. As it stands now we will stay and hunker down. As is ususal today was a clear beautiful day, calm and hot. Calm befor the storm… check out our commentary if you’d like :)

Calm before the storm and More Calm before the Storm