HODLing Down In Rural Florida During Hurricane Irma

This is our humble a-frame with a new metal roof... patio cleared for Irma potential impact.

I'm sharing this relevant preface from a Facebook post my wife showed me.

"Dear Non-Floridians,

Rules when discussing the hurricane with Floridians need to be put in place....

1. Calling people who don't evacuate "idiots" or saying "they deserve what happens to them" is a judgement statement that
   without facts, you are not qualified to make.

2. Just go get a plane ticket! (You can't just fly out.) There are challenges to leaving. Flights out are being changed, cancelled, delayed and price gouged.

3. Don't say "Get in your car and drive fast out"
   A) Gas stations are getting fuel still, but that fuel is gone before the lines are empty.
   B) There is no driving fast. Cars are moving 5-7 mph on highways trying to get to safety. The lines are long and imagine, with a gas shortage, being stuck on highways in jams for 12-15 hours.

4. Florida has one way out, and that is through the top (Northern) part of the state. There are basically 2 major roads out. Those roads are jammed, backed up, and not expected to change.

5. To post "Florida is about to be wiped off the map" because you are watching the news reports and panicking from 3,000 miles away is not the most uplifting thing for us to see. Be positive!

6. "If I lived in Florida, I would have evacuated a week ago." Well I'm not so sure that you would have. Nobody is sure which path the storm is going to take. Homes have to be boarded up. Things have to be done to ensure that if you do leave, you have somewhere to return.

7. Stop saying God is angry and that's why Texas went through what Texas went through and that Florida is being hit. Believe in science occasionally or research about The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP). An ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),[1] designed and built by BAE Advanced Technologies (BAEAT).

8. "Go to a safer part of the state." Yes, we thought of that. No one knows exactly what part that is. If Irma takes a turn it could hit the west coast- if we are all fleeing to the west coast because it says the east coast is the most dangerous, then that could be costly. We know what we need to do and we are monitoring the situation.

Feel Free to check on us, text us, call us. But, don't text your fears of our demise. Don't call us crying because you are scared for us. We have a storm to conquer and we need to be healthy, mentally and physically.

When your son or daughter or friend gets ready to go play in a competitive sport ... before the game, do you call them and say ....
"you are going to lose"
"don't show up for the game"
"The odds are against you"
I would hope not... well we are preparing to overcome this storm so send us some encouragement, we welcome it!
Stay safe, love and help your neighbors."

These reasons are mostly while we are HODLing... our house was built in 1993 when construction was a little more involved and done carefully. These days you see new homes built in a month or two.

Our only neighbors have been here since 1976 and have been through a few hurricanes and never have had an issue. We are 70 feet above see level and 17 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

Here are a few outdoor preparations we've made for Irma.

Back patio mostly cleared and cinder blocks on some items.

Chicken coop ratcheted down... good luck girls... we will be here for you!

Shed packed with outdoor odds and ends.

RV port cleared, packed and ratcheted down into the corner.

This tree at a 45* angle has been propped up against our tree from a vacant lot for 8 months... it surely is going to come down on our fence. It looks skinny... but is about a foot in diameter... we hope this is the only tree that comes down.

We are looking forward to concentrating on crypto after this crazy week!

Thanks for your time and wish us luck please!

-K

... hopefully we can update in the near future!