Just About Back

Yay! My power came back late Thursday night. After my three-and-a-half days without electricity, I've found a new appreciation for electricity. That, like a lot of other things, is something that I've just come to take for granted over the years.

I was even able to buy gasoline this morning without having to wait in line. That's probably something that we all take for granted too, but it hasn't been a given in Miami this week. In some parts of town there are still lines for gas - lines that can stretch from a few blocks to a few miles.

The curfew is still in effect around town, but it's been extended from 8 PM to 11 PM or midnight. Still, I haven't ventured out much at night, mostly because (at least until this morning) it didn't seem like it was going to be possible to refuel the car.

The grocery stores are coming back to life too. There's fresh meat, baked goods and fruit/vegetables. The frozen sections are being restocked. Up until late yesterday, there was mostly only canned foods and beer to be had. Yeah, that sounds fun, but even that gets old after a time.

I don't have any television service yet, but I have pretty much everything else. Actually, I can't even get someone on the phone to come out and take a look at my satellite dish (or to help me find wherever it might be now). Hopefully that will get worked out eventually. Regardless, I don't really care too much at this point. Baseball season is over and I'm not finding myself missing television all that much.

I went to the Canes game at the Orange Bowl yesterday. That was an experience. There were only about 30,000 people there, for what was to be homecoming. But, all things considered, that was a pretty good crowd. It was definitely a loud crowd. It was a weird experience though. There was visible damage to the scoreboard and a few sections of seating. Part of the fence that keeps people out of the stadium was also lost. The most unusual thing of all was that one light tower (on the North side of the stadium) was completely missing. Wilma took that with her I guess.

Oh, and the Canes won. Big deal. I don't think anyone really cares at this point. It was just nice to do something different for a few hours and not be reminded about the Hurricane, gas lines, and the like (despite the fact the the Canes are the Canes and that they were wearing hurricane warning flags on their helmets).

It almost feels like normal here in Miami now. That's pretty good.

Wilma Took My Power! The Day Three Recap

Still no power. FPL says it may take until 11/22. I'm optimistic that things will be back to normal before then. So far they've already restored power to 1/3 of all the people in Dade County. Last time (post-Katrina) I was one of the first people to get power back. The order of restoration seems to be different this time - I think because the damage in some places was more severe.

It's really weird. This whole thing is surreal. Not only do I not have power (and barely have water) but the White Sox won the World Series last night. I listened to the whole thing on the radio, but it still hasn't sunk in. It's a lot like how I keep flipping on light switches in my house, expecting lights to come on; I just can't comprehend that the Sox won the World Series (just like I can't comprehend that the lights really aren't going to come on).

The non-baseball "highlight" of the day came in the cafeteria yesterday, when I put out a small fire. Two young girls were ahead of me in line (there parents were nowhere in site). They were fascinated by the sterno that was heating up some food. One girl placed a napkin in the sterno (I didn't see this). Someone behind me noticed that it was on fire. I pulled the napkin out and stomped on it until the fire was out, but it was exciting to say the least. Weird stuff in a weird day.

Other than that, some normalcy returned around town. Grocery stores and drug stores reopened, if only partially. They're mostly running on generators. Nowhere is open later than 6 PM, so that workers have time to get home before curfew. The curfew is weird, but it's necessary because it's so dark that it would be easy to commit a crime and/or hurt yourself.

Enough rambling from me for now. Hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow (except for the White Sox part - that unusual truth can stay).

Wilma Took My Power! The Day Two Recap

Last night I perfected my re-heating pizza on a barbecue grill skills. It was truly a site to behold. In addition to that, I warmed up some bbq-chicken that I'd grilled last night. This feast, along with some fresh fruit that's in danger of going bad, was served under candlelight outside on my balcony. If it wasn't borderline depressing, it would be kind of fun. In reality, it was some of both.

So, there's still no power. Thankfully it's still cool in Miami. That makes the lack of power tolerable. I'm not sure how long that will last though.

There's some running water in my apartment now too. That's a tremendous luxury. Another good fortune is that I don't have to boil the water. Throughout Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale) and Miami Beach (my old home), you have to boil the water. I hope those folks filled up their washing machines and their bathtubs. If not, I'd imagine that it's hard to boil water without any power.

Here's the message I got from FPL about power restoration:

FPL is aware of the widespread power outages in your area and we are working to quickly restore your service.

Due to Hurricane Wilma, power restoration may take longer than usual.

This is today's update as Florida recovers from Wilma. Damage assessments continue, and based on what we know so far and on the ability to get additional out-of-state crews:

95 percent of customers will be restored by November 15th. The rest will be restored by November 22nd. Specific restoration dates for counties in South Florida and the Treasure coast will be announced on Wednesday's evening news and FPL.com.

We know being without electricity can be an inconvenience. We are working hard to restore your power as quickly and safely as possible. Thank you for your patience.

November 15th? November 22nd? That's like... a long time from now. Wow. Hopefully the update this evening will be encouraging. There's a small neighborhood less than a quarter of a mile away from me that has power.

My Hurricane Wilma Pictures

Here are some pictures I took around town yesterday (I know that most people prefer to see the pictures directly, but they're too large for the page and I'm having trouble sizing them):

This doesn't look like much of a picture (the light is from the flash), but it's the view from my apartment during some of the worst of the storm. It doesn't look like much came out, but that's honestly what it looked like outside at the time. You couldn't make out anything.

I took this picture during a relative lull in the action. Those white things that you see hiding out near the water are ibises (ibes?). Yes - the birds that the University of Miami uses to represent their mascot. We're always told about how brave the ibis is, since it's the last to leave before a hurricane and the first to return after a storm. Given that this picture was taken during the storm, I'm afraid to say that the ibis may just be dumb, as they rode out the storm without protection. Folks might think they leave late and return early, but in reality they may stick around all the time.

A sideways view of the second half of the storm, which was far less intense for me. I took this picture from outside on the balcony.

A normal looking shot from the same angle

The view slightly to the right of the previous two pictures (this looks somewhat Northeast). I thought I was taking a picture of a mini-tornado at the time. With the movement in the water you could almost see them forming. Fortunately, they never got going.

A view to the East. Normally you can see the Orange Bowl and the downtown skyline from this view.

NW 7th Street near LeJeune. Low hanging street lights like this were (and still are) a common sight around town. This picture was taken around 1:30 yesterday, just after the storm passed.

Typical Burger King. This one is at NW 7th and Douglas. Note that the large rectangular portion of the sign (where the BK logo should be) faces a different direction than the smaller rectangular portion below it. Normally these two pieces should line up.

Walgreen's signage. Another typical sight. This is the Walgreen's on 27th Ave and Flagler.

Some shops on 27th Ave and Calle Ocho lost all of their windows. This is a furniture store. Everything looked pretty ruined.

Same shop - more towards the corner. There were a lot of stores with broken windows. Those without store owners or workers were being guarded by police.

Another shot of the store. You can see through to 8th Street (Calle Ocho).

Outside Cocowalk. I went to visit a friend in the Grove. We went to look for food. We saw a stranded car (due to driver stupidity - not the storm) and lots of debris. This is just outside Victoria's Secret at Cocowalk.

More Cocowalk. Another Fat Tuesday's sees an ugly fate. You might be able to make out a television suspended from the ceiling, which seemed to be ok.

Another view of Cocowalk. Security wouldn't let us pass through - they said stuff was still falling.

Our intended destination. Senor Frog's on Main Highway never closes. Never. This is the first time in my decade in Miami that this place has been closed. This was an ominous sign.

A boat finds itself in the parking lot. This sailboat has to be at least 30-feet long. It's well into the parking lot in the Grove.

Some idiot from Channel 6 (NBC) prepares to do a shot with the boat. Note that the newsperson is wearing shorts. You always have to wonder what those people are really wearing when you see them on TV.

A view of the marina in the Grove. Normally there would be a lot of boats here. Note the masts. Many boats didn't survive the storm.

The boat in the parking lot wasn't the only one to suffer that fate. These just didn't make it as far.

These boats didn't sink. But they came loose from their moorings. It may have been fortunate that they ran into this island (not far from shore).

Hopefully the folks with the stranded boats aren't planning on calling SeaTow. Their boat sank too.

This mini-van was not far from the sunken sailboats. Hopefully this person's boat survived.

This is a full-size van on its side on top of a Camaro. This is on 14th and West on South Beach - just across the street from where I used to live.

And here's where I used to live. I was in the building on the left (the van is just to the right of this picture). The building looked ok, but getting in and out will be a mess.

Heading back to the Grove, we found this tree taking up the road. Someone was kind enough to nail a stop sign to the tree. That's a power line under the tree. We had no where to go but under the tree. Luckily the car (barely) made it. Such fun.

Major thanks to Craig for helping me to get these pictures posted! Thanks, Craig!

We Interrupt This World Series to Bring You Hurricane Wilma

Barley twenty-four hours ago my focus was on the White Sox and the World Series. I wasn’t a happy camper when my television signal went out and I wasn’t able to watch the game. I followed along on the radio – and what an exciting game it was. I still haven’t seen highlights of the game. I suppose that I will soon enough. Maybe I won’t though. A lot of the basics of modern life that we take for granted aren’t a given right now. 2% of the people in town have electricity right now. You can count the number of open gas stations or open food stores on one hand. Trying to find an open restaurant is a hopeless effort. There’s even an 8 PM curfew in effect – for everyone. It’s really weird. All of that will probably keep me from seeing the game for some time.

Waking up this morning was the weird part. Yesterday morning, the storm was going on. There was no sleeping through it. The wind and the rain pounded away at the windows. The howl of the wind, which sounded like a train surrounding you continuously, was pretty much everywhere.

This morning was different though. It was quiet, peaceful, and tranquil. The doors and windows were open all night, so that some air would circulate. The only noises to be heard were from the frogs down near the (normally there anyway - storm or not) water.

But upon waking up, reality sets back in. There are places to be and things to do. You’re supposed to have a normal day today. But the light switch isn’t working. The refrigerator is warm. No water is coming out of the faucet – not even water that the county might insist that you boil somehow (you know, without power).

So you need a shower. Luckily there are plenty of supplies. That a shower requires cups, candles, and flashlights is weird. There’s plenty of improvising from there, but I’ll spare you.

Driving around town is weird too. Most of the major roadways have been cleared – by the people, like me, who went out and about yesterday. There are police officers in the major intersections now too. That’s a huge help, as hardly anyone in town (despite having had many occasions to learn the rules and to practice them) understands that when the traffic signals are out, intersections become four way stops for everyone. Sadly, it seems, few folks adhere to this because most folks are in a hurry and/or more important than everyone else. What a pain.

The fun and excitement was yesterday though. First the storm wailed and howled. I really thought that the windows, particularly in the living room, were going to come in. You could see them bending in an out from across the room. Then the power went out. I figured we were done for awhile. Then the power came back. The worst of the storm had passed by then and there was power. I figured I’d have power the rest of the way. I was elated. The house had stopped swaying (it does that by design, as all modern high-rises do, but it’s still disconcerting to hide out in your closet and to see your clothes swinging around and banging into your wall) and there was power. Everything was looking good.

Then the backside of the storm came. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the front end, despite what the weather people had told us to expect. I suppose that may be because it was pounding the other side of my building. I went outside and took some pictures on my balcony during this point in the storm. I had wanted to do this earlier, but it just wasn’t possible. Then the power went out. This time for good.

There’s still no power. There might not be any power for up to a month. We will see. Last time this happened, during Katrina, my power came back within a day, after they’d warned us that it could take a week for power to be restored.

Amazingly, the one thing that worked throughout the storm was text messaging. Not cell phone service – which was, at best, iffy all day, if it worked at all (it seemed to vary wildly depending on your carrier and location). People began texting each other before 7 am, when the storm was already going strong. I sent a friend an invite to meet at Denny’s for breakfast. Another friend on Miami Beach invited people over to his house, where he said he’d be hosting an outdoor breakfast. It’s all a sick form of humor that helps you get through a pretty stressful situation. There was obviously no going out for breakfast at that time. At that point, everyone was just hoping that the outside wouldn’t be brought inside.

Then the eye of the storm passed, or we got some sort of a respite. I’m really not sure what it was. Regardless it was a break, but anyone listening to the radio or television, or who had read the paper (and speaking of the paper – they delivered on Monday morning, but there was no late news or sports, so what’s the point?) knew that the storm wasn’t over yet. Still some fools were out on the roads driving around. I hope they made it back to their homes safe and sound. I could see at least one car that didn’t make it back home. They ran off the side of the road and got some of the first emergency attention that I saw after the storm broke.

After the quiet period ended, the storm picked back up. From my perspective at least, it was much less intense. I wandered outside and took the storm in. There were even some birds outside, which I thought was reassuring; if the animals were comfortable being around, it must not have been as bad as it seemed.

Even though it was a little calmer now, clouds and wind were moving in multiple directions, and if not that, they were certainly moving exactly opposite of the direction they were headed in just a few minutes before. That’s always the weirdest part of these hurricanes. And yes, you could effectively see the wind – if only because of how thick the rain was or because of the waves it was creating in the water.

Once the storm ended yesterday, the eerie quiet began. There was the occasional sound of a generator. Once in awhile you’d hear an emergency vehicle of some sort go by. Battery powered radios worked, but nearly every station carried the news and that became insufferable pretty quickly. Media people talked about destruction in grand terms – mostly using analogies like “war zone” and “looks like a terrorist attack took place” for the areas that were hit hardest. In some cases that sort of talk may have been fair, but for the most part such talk was overused and only served to upset people who were already devastated.

The saddest part of all, at least for me, was that the one radio station that I could find that was playing music seemed to be having a Backstreet Boys/Paula Abdul marathon – even sadder than that was that I was happy to hear it. Luckily for me, I didn’t have Fishfan’s MP3; if I did, I might have jumped off the 12th floor balcony. Thankfully my XM radio is also battery powered. Between baseball talk and the comedy station, there was some good stuff to distract you.

Eventually I went out to find some friends. We’d hoped to grab lunch at a restaurant. There’s always somewhere open after a storm. When the typical places weren’t open, we knew this was serious. Eventually we bbq’d at my place. Technically that’s not allowed, but I can’t imagine that anyone’s going to be a stickler for the rules at this point. We’ll see. I didn’t see many of my neighbors cooking on their balconies though. We’ll see. Maybe I will be in trouble.

TBOM's World Series Predictions

I've atypically stayed out of the post-season prediction business this October, and that's intentional because the White Sox are in the playoffs. Now they're in the World Series and I'm not going to start making predictions about series outcomes. It's not that I'm superstitious or anything - some things are just bad luck.

That said, this looks to be a really great series. The pitching matchups look like they'll be outstanding. Both teams stand to benefit greatly from their home parks. You could easily make a case for either team winning the series. I'm not going to make the case for the White Sox or the Astros though. My only prediction will be that the series will not go to seven games. In their illustrious post-season history, the White Sox have never had a post-season series reach the limit. I see no reason for that to change right now.

Regardless of the outcome, I'm going to enjoy the ride. It's not that often that your team makes it this far. It might not ever happen again. I'm going to hope with all my might that the Sox pull off this series, but if they don't, that will be fine too. The 2005 White Sox season has been a heck of a ride, and I'm going to enjoy these next four to seven games to the fullest.

Go Sox!

White Sox in the World Series

I'll be honest: it hasn't sunk in yet. This layoff between the end of the ALCS and the start of the World Series is both a blessing and curse.

It's a blessing because it allows White Sox fans everywhere to revel in the fact that the Sox are going to the World Series. We get nearly a week to enjoy that, without knowing whether the Sox will win or lose, or how it will all go down. Most teams and their fans don't get to enjoy that luxury; it's usually win one series and move on to the next. But after 46 years for some and a full lifetime for others, having this week to soak in the pennant, and to reflect on the season that still is, is a great thing.

This time off is something of a curse too. For the players, it would have been great to carry over the momentum from the ALCS into the World Series. Maybe it will carry over anyway, but having a week off raises some doubt about whether that's really possible or not. It's also a curse, although a very slight one, for Sox fans, as there haven't been any Sox games to watch. This downtime has been so long that it's almost as-if the offseason has begun. But it hasn't. And that's so great. Even if this downtime seems long, watching replays of the bottom of the 9th inning and John Rooney's call of the final out against the Angels makes the time pass pretty quickly.

I don't think I really ever understood your team winning the pennant and advancing to the World Series before. Sure, I followed the Marlins closely in 1997, the Diamondbacks in 2001, and was as emotionally and financially invested as anyone in the Marlins 2003 run. But it's not the same as this. I've been a Sox fan for as long as I can remember. Longer than that, actually. But in all that time, even through the great start and great finish this season, I never really hoped or expected that they'd reach (and possibly win) the World Series. Year upon year of heartbreak and disappointment had conditioned me to not hope for so much.

The first season of Sox baseball that I really remember was 1983. Up until this season, 1983 was undoubtedly the best year of Sox baseball in my lifetime. But I was too young at the time to appreciate the significance of winning 99 regular season games or winning the division by a record margin of 22 ballgames. I knew then though that the LCS loss to the Orioles was crushing.

So too was the end of the 1993 season. The Sox were good that year, but the Blue Jays were a buzzsaw. No good came of that LCS either. Hopes were high again in 1994, but we all know what happened there (at least we're not Montreal).

The Sox won the division in 2000 too, but it wasn't the same. Going into the playoffs (my hopes at least), hopes weren't that high. Those doubts were rewarded with a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Mariners, who went on to do nothing in the ALCS.

My hopes were high again in 2003. The Sox had won the division in 1983 and 1993. They'd had the Cy Young winner in both of those years too. Certainly there had to be something to years that ended in three - especially since this would be the third time that the "threes" came through for the Sox. But that didn't happen either.

By 2005, my hopes had eroded. I didn't expect much out of this season. I expected a .500 club and some fun and excitement throughout the year. But I got much more than that. It started with a comeback win on opening day and only got better from there. Sure, there were some bumps in the road along the way, but it was a great ride. And in some ways, those bumps along the way made the road a little bit more fun to travel.

I'm not sure what to hope for from here. Obviously I hope the Sox win the World Series, but it almost seems like too much to hope for. This has been a special year to be a White Sox fan and I feel privileged to have followed it from the get go.

More than anything, I owe Ozzie Guillen, Kenny Williams, Roland Hemond, and all the rest of the White Sox players and organization a big thank you for reminding me (and all of us) that it's ok to have high hopes and big dreams. It's only with those high hopes and big dreams that you can achieve such things.

The White Sox Win the Pennant!

There will definitely be more to come on the Sox winning the AL Pennant, but I don't quite have time for it right now.

Suffice it to say, it's a really good day when this picture isn't even at the top of my list of things that made me happy:

After the 54th Out

At this point, Doug Eddings is signaling a third strike, but he hasn't yet called the batter out.


It isn't the LCS in Chicago unless there's some memorable controversy. We got that last night after the third out in the bottom of the 9th inning when A.J. Pierzinski took first base on a phantom dropped third strike.

We'll be debating home plate umpire Doug Eddings' call and gestures for some time. Even to most Sox fans, Eddings' call was suspect. It seemed that he called the batter out, making a tag or a throw to first unnecessary. A.J., playing the game as he should, ran to first anyway and was rewarded for it, as that (apparently) wasn't Eddings' call.

Hopefully the Sox won't win this series in seven games. If they do, we'll never hear the end of this call. We may never hear the end of it anyway.

All things considered, last night's game was oddly umpired. Batters (from both sides) complained about called strikes throughout the game, particularly in the middle to later innings. The White Sox announcers even commented a few times in the 6th and 7th innings about how animated Eddings had become in making his strike calls and how he seemed to be taking pleasure in making the call for called third strikes. Umpires, good or bad, shouldn't become part of the game. Last night, even before the bottom of the 9th, they did. That's a shame - especially for a game of this magnitude.

But the Sox won, and I'm happy for that. Heading to Anaheim/LA with a split is pretty good. If the Sox can take two of three out West they'll be in good shape.

World Baseball Classic in San Juan

As you probably now, there's going to be a tournament of 16 countries next spring to determine a true World Champion in baseball.

Well, it would be a true World Championship if MLB Commissioner Bud Selig would lay out rules for eligibility. So far he hasn't - only to decree that some players (i.e. Alex Rodriguez) will be placed on rosters regardless of their personal preference. If Olympic rules were used, Rodriguez would be allowed to play for the Dominican Republic. That lineup already includes the likes of Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz. Adding ARod to that mix would almost make them the prohibitive favorite. It seems that Selig is going to intervene and ask ARod to play for the USA - although it's against ARod's wishes.

In more recent news, it was announced that games for rounds 1 and 2 will be played in San Juan. This is an interesting development as we learned during the Expos visits to Hiram Bithorn Stadium that the park is a bit of a band box. Expect high powered offenses to prevail and for pitching to play a large role. This announcement makes for an interesting development. For rounds one and two, teams that are sent to Puerto Rico will likely want to focus on power. However, should they make it to the finals, which will be held at San Diego's Petco Park, they'll need to switch gears to focus on pitching - as Petco is not very power friendly. I wonder if the drastic differences between the two parks was an accident or if it was done intentionally to make things more difficult for certain countries.

The ALCS is Coming!

The White Sox got the whole weekend (plus a day) off before the ALCS starts. At this time of year--after 162 regular season games, 3 playoff games, and dozens of Spring Training games--that's a blessing. But by Tuesday night I'm sure we'll be hearing nearly as much about the potential rust on the White Sox pitching staff as much as we'll hear about how tired the poor Angels/Yankees are after surviving Games 4 and 5 of their LDS.

The White Sox handled the rust factor by playing some simulated games over the weekend. Ozzie Guillen even took a few ABs against rookie Brandon McCarthy. I'm not sure yet if McCarthy will be on the LCS roster or not.

One pitcher who will be on the LCS roster is Jon Garland. While Garland won 18 games in the regular season, he didn't get to start in the LDS (he would have started Game 4 had it been necessary). There was talk that Garland would start Game 1 of the LCS. Now it appears that won't happen. The Sox rotation looks like it will set up like this: Contreras, Buehrle, Garland, and Garcia. By the time we get around to Garland for Game 3, it will have been a long time since he's pitched in a regular game. Maybe that's a good thing though, as Garland did tire down the stretch.

Yay!

Make a Note of It

During last night's local (Miami) Monday Night Football pregame show, the hosts debated (why, I'm not sure) whether or not Major League Baseball should have a salary cap, like in football. The hosts went on and on about how great it would be to have a salary cap in baseball because it would force more competitive balance. As examples, they started the strong starts that the Bengals and Redskins are off to this year.

They also, of course, went off about how Steinbrenner and the Yankees "buy" titles. What they didn't mention is that the Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2000. They also neglected to remember that the Patriots have won three of the past four Super Bowls, and were the pick of many experts to win again this year.

This type of talk is something to keep in mind - especially as the League Championship Series loom next week. There's a possibility that we'll see an Angels - White Sox matchup in the AL. If that happens, the same people who are advocating a salary cap in baseball will likely be talking of how the end is near for the game, as ratings will likely dip from what we've seen in recent years when the Red Sox and Yankees matchup.

You can argue either side of that coin. Go ahead. But you can't have it both ways. It's tough to argue that a salary cap would be good for baseball and that you want the Red Sox and Yankees in the ALCS each year.

The Collapse That Wasn't

There's been a considerable amount of talk the past few weeks about the impending collapse of the White Sox. For awhile, it seemed pretty likely. I won't lie - I was worried about it.

But the Sox finished up strong, including a season ending sweep of the playoff-contending Indians. That allowed the Sox to win the division by a healthy 6 games. All told, the White Sox won 99 games - tying a franchise record (1983).

Now the playoffs begin and the White Sox have drawn the defending World Champion Red Sox. While the White Sox had the AL's best regular season record and have home field advantage in this series, they are, by almost all accounts, decided underdogs in this series.

I'm hoping that's just Red Sox hype, but I really don't know. Like each of the other six teams in the playoffs this year, the White Sox and Red Sox are definitely flawed. The 1998 Yankees and 1984 Tigers are not in this post-season tournament.

I'm just hoping that the White Sox stay hot for the playoffs. Most folks point at the ChiSox's strong record against the AL Central as evidence that they can't beat anyone outside of their division. That oversimplifies the truth, which is that the White Sox have run hot and cold this year. When they've been hot, they've beaten anyone. When they've been cold, they've lost to anyone (including the likes of the Royals). It looked like they were hot at the conclusion of the regular season. Starting tomorrow we'll get to see if that carries over into the playoffs.