Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Bilis coming for a visit... and a weird dream...

Here's how it looks as of midnight 7/13...


Click here for a more up-to-date satellite image from the Central Weather Bureau.

In other news, I had a disturbing dream last night: Our department received official notification that because of an oversupply of university graduates and a worsening economy, English majors who graduated in the bottom third of their class were to be executed on the athletic field immediately following the graduation ceremony. The most frightening thing about the dream was how calmly everybody (including the graduating students) was taking the news. Students just said, "Wow--I hope it's not me..."

3 comments:

Mabel Liao said...

What a great visit! The Pingtung county, in the southernmost Taiwan, had suffered terrible disaster. Actually, this area almost can't avoid the threat from typhoon every year, and people here must accept it with great reluctance.

Something really frightened me to death was on last Friday afternoon when "Bilis" was showing its strength with the downpour accompanied with the rumble of thunder.
While I was playing computer on the third floor, suddenly a fierce lightning just stroke across the empty space outside the balcony. I witnessed the flash of the glare with astonishment, and then was horrified by the big explosion after a tremendous thunder stroke. The computer was being shut down automatically, and I smelled the burn of something unusual. Was the electronic wire being struck by the thunder?
Well, that’s really a huge calamity! Many of the electronic appliances are being destroyed by the thunder, including a notebook, a TV, a DVD player, and a telephone.
I know how lightning and thunder will kill people outside, but I have no idea it will cause such a terrible outcome inside the door. Maybe next time when you hear the first sound of the thunder, you should turn off all the electronic appliances in case something unfortunate like me happened again.
What an unforgettable and costly experience! Thanks for coming, “Bilis”.
Heard that another typhoon is coming! Better be ready for that!
Hope next time it won’t be me got hit by the thunder!

Jonathan Benda said...

Well watch out, Mabel--that other one's coming soon! Unplug those electrical appliances (the ones that still work, that is...)!

Mabel Liao said...

Sure, unplug the power seems to be a smart idea; however, that's a little bit overly susceptible for me to carry out the crucial procedure in the afternoon. As soon as I heard the rain outside, I rushed to turn the computer off. Am I too sensitive about the consequence? After all, there was no lightning and thunder during the whole afternoon.
Are people really safe inside the house when the lighting strikes? I just heard from the news that people also get hurt by thunder even stay in the house. I also wonder whether it’s safe to stay in the car when the lighting strikes. Will the lightning chase after the moving object? How much of the percentage will I get hit by the thunder accompanied with the typhoon? Although it’s better to say inside the house when typhoon comes, I still need to go to Henchung Peninsula (the site is frequently damaged by typhoon) for some “business” concerning about my career on next Tuesday.
Hope you have left Taiwan by next Monday night, and be nice to me this time, dear Mr.(Miss?)Kamei.