I went last night to Minute Maid Park in Houston to watch the Astros v. Cardinals. Roger Clemens started for Houston and struck out the first 6 of 9 batters!

Astros sweep Cardinals, take wild-card lead

HoustonChronicle.com - Astros sweep Cardinals, take wild-card lead: "The cheers started in the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon while several Astros watched on television as the Cincinnati Reds mounted a rally in the ninth to force extra innings against the Chicago Cubs.

The celebration got a little louder during batting practice, when the Astros prepared for the St. Louis Cardinals by seeing the Reds complete their win over the Cubs on Minute Maid Park's Jumbotron.

The stadium was rocking by the seventh inning when Jeff Bagwell drove in the go-ahead run and Lance Berkman drove in an insurance run, helping complete a three-game sweep of the Cardinals with a 6-4 victory before a sellout crowd of 43,186.

Houston's victory combined with Chicago's loss and a loss late Wednesday by San Francisco put the Astros a half-game ahead of the Cubs and Giants atop the NL wild-card standings.

"I know there's a lot of excitement in here," Bagwell said after going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. "We have a lot of young guys who have never been through this before, and everybody is excited, and they should be.

"It is an exciting time. But as veterans and as a team, we understand that we have to take care of business. We had to go out and win tonight, and we did."

With the score tied at 4 in the bottom of the seventh, Orlando Palmeiro hit for reliever Chad Qualls (4-0) and drew a five-pitch walk from Jeff Suppan. After the speedy Willy Taveras was sent to run for Palmeiro, Craig Biggio sacrificed, and Taveras reached third on Carlos Beltran's groundout to second. Bagwell came through with a clutch two-out single to left, and Berkman followed with an RBI double to left-center field, giving the Astros a 6-4 lead.

"I've never felt as much energy in our clubhouse and with our fans as there is right now," Brad Lidge said after pitching the ninth for his 27th save. "Right now the atmosphere is just electric. It's fantastic. You can really feel the fans behind you right now."

Posted by Justin Hall at 12:36 PM | Permalink

Northpinellas: Storm deals damaging hit to Clearwater Beach: "CLEARWATER BEACH - Winds and rain from Hurricane Jeanne battered the beach all day Sunday, tearing off roofs and uprooting trees in a storm that everyone said was worse than France"

Hurricane Jeanne hit Tampa Bay probably the hardest out of all the storms. All day Sunday the winds blew and the rain pelted the region.

The Lamsons from IN were in town and were staying at my place. We made it through Sunday without any power, water, cable or Internet loss!

The St. Pete Times sums up our feelings with this lead story: Enough already. "FOLLOWING FRANCES' PATH: Surprising forecasters, fast-moving Jeanne leaves six dead and $4-billion in insured damage. TURN ON THE LIGHTS: Nearly a half-million people in the bay area are left without power, and traffic signals are out of service.

VERO BEACH - The toll on Florida this time: six dead, 1.1-million homes and businesses without power, at least $4-billion in insured damages and a punch-drunk state wondering how much more it can take.

Hurricane Jeanne made landfall at Hutchinson Island, about 35 miles north of West Palm Beach, right where Hurricane Frances came ashore three weeks ago - a rare deja vu that amazed experts at the National Hurricane Center.

Carrying Category 3 winds of 120 mph, Jeanne zipped across the state as if Frances had left a road map, never deviating from the earlier storm's track by more than 10 or 15 miles until Jeanne approached the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday evening.

The Tampa Bay area, which has largely dodged Florida's Year of Storms, got its first brush with a hurricane in 36 years when Jeanne's weakening center sliced into northeast Hillsborough County before turning north as a tropical storm."

Posted by Justin Hall at 08:45 PM | Permalink

It's early afternoon Sunday. The hurricane is pounding -- there are trees down in the neighborhood; I am seeing some shingles flying in the back yard. Power, water, cable are all still on! Local forecasts have the storm tracking just a little north of my home. The worst is still to come but should be over by 7 PM.

Posted by Justin Hall at 02:15 PM | Permalink

Guess what! Hurricane Jeanne is bearing down on Florida this will be the 4th major storm to hit our region this season. Right now Jeanne is off the east coast.

Here's a recap of the storms so far:

Aug 13, Cat 4 Charley hits Charlotte county then moved northward
Sept 5, Cat 2 Frances hit the southern eastern tip and moved north hitting the bay area
Setp 16, Cat 3 Ivan churned through the Gulf of Mexico then hit the Panhandle region

Jeanne is supposed to hit Sunday. We'll see!

Posted by Justin Hall at 05:32 PM | Permalink

The Apprentice last week had this quote: A leader has the right to be defeated but not to be surprised.

Posted by Justin Hall at 03:36 PM | Permalink

Hurricane Ivan (the fourth major storm to threaten Florida this season) has been lurking in the tropics. It has already devasted Grenada, blasted Jamaica and is today heading for Cuba. The track 2-3 days ago had it heading, once again, to Tampa Bay. Today the track has it much further west in the Gulf. We shouldn't be affected at all by Ivan. The panhandle of Florida, however, is in for a direct hit.

This Hurricane humor came my way in an email.

Subject: Hurricane Season
We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any
day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing
to some radar blob out in the Atlantic Ocean and making two basic
meteorological points:
(1) There is no need to panic.
(2) We could all be killed.
Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for
the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one." Based on our
experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness
plan:
STEP 1: Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at
least three days.
STEP 2: Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3: Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.
Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this
sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Florida.
We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:
HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE:
If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this
insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic
requirements:
(1) It is reasonably well-built, and
(2) It is located in Nebraska.
Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that
might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer
not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to
pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the
replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like
used dental floss. Since Hurricane George, I have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This week, I'm covered by the Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company, under a policy which states that, in addition to my
premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled, on demand, to my kidneys.
SHUTTERS:
Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the
doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are several
types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:
Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself,
they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself, they
will fall off.
Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get
them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands
will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.
Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and
will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have
to sell your house to pay for them.
Hurricane-proof windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane
protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane
winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in
Nebraska.
Hurricane Proofing your property: As the hurricane approaches, check your
yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture,
visiting relatives, etc... You should, as a precaution, throw these items into
your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one
built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects
into deadly missiles.
EVACUATION ROUTE:
If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route
planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your
driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area). The
purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home
when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic
jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other
evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.
HURRICANE SUPPLIES:
If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them
now! Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible
minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over
who gets the last can of SPAM. In addition to food and water, you will
need the following supplies:
1. 23 flashlights. At least $167 worth of batteries that turn
out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.
2. Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY
knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so get some!)
3. 55 gallon drum of underarm deodorant.
4. A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be
useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)
5. A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators.
(Ask anybody who went through Andrew; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate
alligators.)
6. $35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane
passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.
Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near,
it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on
your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next
to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for
everybody to stay away from the ocean.
Good luck, and remember: It's great living in Paradise.

Posted by Justin Hall at 01:20 PM | Permalink

Saw this domain hosting company today: Lunarpages - taking your site higher

They are top rated and have good support... cheap too!

Posted by Justin Hall at 11:59 AM | Permalink

Hurricane Frances has just passed. Finally. Frances came on-shore around Vero Beach yesterday as a Cat 2 hurricane. It slowly moved northwest across the state. Sunday night we thought the storm was over; that was far from the truth. Winds overnight Sunday into Monday AM were the strongest of the weekend.

We endured Frances without any damage to the house.

The storm is heading north to the panhandle. And brewing in the tropics is Hurricane Ivan. Stay tuned!

Posted by Justin Hall at 03:00 PM | Permalink