THE TIMEKEEPER CHRONICLES

Just a reminder....your analog "rabbit ears" ain't gonna work after February 17, 2008. Here's an article from AfterDawn.com.

New guide: Preparing for the US DTV Transition

15 August 2008 10:14 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 12 comments
New guide: Preparing for the US DTV Transition If you're in the US it's hopefully no surprise to you that most analog TV signals will be turned off on February 17, 2009. Unfortunately the government has done a particularly poor job of educating the public about what (if anything) needs to be done to prepare.

Fortunately the information you need is easier to understand than you might expect. Our new guide, Preparing for the US DTV Transition, should answer most of them. It will walk you through everything you need to know to determine whether you're ready or not. If there are steps you need to take it will also explain them to you.

Whatever you do, don't wait until the last minute to prepare. If you wait too long you may suddenly find that you need a converter box or antenna that isn't in stock at your local retailer. In order to make sure you can watch TV with no interruption you should act as soon as possible. There are fewer than 200 days left.

Click here for your Converter Box Coupon

Five years ago yesterday, August 17, Mikayla walked out of the St. Josephs Childrens Cancer Center after recovery from her last doses of chemo treatment(s). We can now sit back and reflect on this journey that Mikayla traveled, and all the uncertain moments, and the awesome small victory's, and say how blessed she is, and how fragile life is. God is good all the time, and without the prayers and faith of all who were there with us during this trying time, we can say five years is a pretty good start to a normal life.

We have unfortunately lost so many young lives to childhood cancer, innocent little lives that their only hope was to make it to their next day. Our hearts continue to be with their families and we hope those of you reading this will just take a small moment and pray for all the little kids who are suffering as a result of childhood cancer. God can heal, and God can comfort those who ask.


In celebration of Mikayla's milestone of 5 years remission, we threw a big party here at the homestead, and the feature was the biggest water slide I've ever seen. Our wonderful friends from Space Walk of Lakeland set this thing up and needless to say...it was an absolute blast. Everyone had a super time, and we want to thank everyone for coming out and sharing this special moment with Mikayla. God bless. P.S. - Please make sure to click the link above for Space Walk if your looking to have any fun inflatable for your kids. Vickie and Keith are awesome folks!
Walk in Faith, Not Fear.

Here's a slide show of pictures from the event. Enjoy!

Looks like theres no escaping this one. The track keeps shifting a little to the east, in which is closer to us. So, this may be another 2004. Below is the latest storm track as of 8am Monday...

From the National Hurricane Center..

000
WTNT41 KNHC 180915
TCDAT1
TROPICAL STORM FAY DISCUSSION NUMBER 11
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062008
500 AM EDT MON AUG 18 2008

THE AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT FIXED THE CENTER OF FAY OVER
CENTRAL CUBA TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE ROTATION ALOFT APPARENT IN
RADAR IMAGERY. WITH THIS FIX...THE INITIAL MOTION IS NOW 335/10.
ASCAT DATA SOUTH OF CUBA PRIOR TO LANDFALL SHOWED THE SURFACE
CENTER BECOMING ELONGATED...LIKELY IN RESPONSE TO THE CONVECTIVE
ASYMMETRY...AND SOME ADDITIONAL DISTORTION OF THE SURFACE
CIRCULATION IS LIKELY DURING THE PASSAGE OF THE CENTER OVER CUBA.
ALL TRACK GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THAT FAY WILL MAINTAIN A
NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD HEADING FOR ANOTHER 24 HOURS UNTIL IT REACHES
THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE AXIS. THE OFFICIAL FORECAST IS NEAR THE
RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE ENVELOPE EARLY ON...BUT SOME
ADDITIONAL RIGHTWARD ADJUSTMENTS MAY BE NECESSARY IF THE CURRENT
CONVECTIVE STRUCTURE PERSISTS AND THE CYCLONE REMAINS VERTICALLY
CONNECTED. THERE ARE LARGE DIFFERENCES IN THE TRACK GUIDANCE LATE
IN THE FORECAST PERIOD AND THE RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY OF THE
GUIDANCE HAS BEEN VERY POOR. GIVEN THAT...ONLY A SLIGHT EASTWARD
SHIFT HAS BEEN MADE LATER IN THE FORECAST PERIOD.

THE INITIAL INTENSITY REMAINS 45 KT...WITH THESE WINDS OCCURRING
JUST OFF THE NORTH COAST OF CUBA. AN UPPER-LEVEL
LOW OVER THE EXTREME NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA IS IMPEDING THE
OUTFLOW OVER THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE TROPICAL CYCLONE...AND SOME
WESTERLY SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.
GIVEN THIS PATTERN...RAPID STRENGTHENING IS NOT EXPECTED...BUT THE
SHEAR IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PREVENT FAY FROM
REACHING HURRICANE STRENGTH BEFORE IT REACHES THE FLORIDA
PENINSULA. THE OFFICIAL FORECAST IS CLOSE TO THE GFDL AND SHIPS
GUIDANCE.


FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL 18/0900Z 22.5N 80.9W 45 KT...INLAND
12HR VT 18/1800Z 23.5N 81.5W 45 KT
24HR VT 19/0600Z 25.1N 82.0W 55 KT
36HR VT 19/1800Z 26.6N 82.3W 65 KT
48HR VT 20/0600Z 28.2N 82.2W 60 KT...INLAND
72HR VT 21/0600Z 31.1N 82.0W 45 KT...INLAND
96HR VT 22/0600Z 33.0N 82.0W 25 KT...INLAND
120HR VT 23/0600Z 35.5N 82.5W 20 KT...REMNANT LOW

$$
FORECASTER FRANKLIN

..and then from Fox13..

Of course, here in Florida, it's that time of year again. And here we are looking at another storm. YEEEEHA. Tropical Storm FAY is eyeballing our state, and we should be feeling the effects sometime on Tuesday/Wednesday. Looks like fun. Though, we kinda have a bit of experience with these storms, so I don't look for it to be that bad (I hope).

Here's the current storm track as of 5pm Saturday...

Just sitting here on a Sunday morning catching up on some news, email and stuff, and decided to post something here at the "TIMEKEEPER CHRONICLES". At least I'm posting something, right?

Here's some old scanned pics again, just random. I still have a ton more pictures to scan, but that will be a project for a rainy day, since it seems there is too much other crap going on now :-)

Someone is ready to go mudslingin'
This is funny because either the kids are mesmorized by Susan's costume, or she just told them that Santa was a fake.
Parents are big from a short person's perspective.
No, you can't have the keys to the car. As a matter of fact, your grounded until, oh, let's say...your 30!