XPost: sci.electronics.design, alt.lasers   
   From: nico@puntnl.niks   
      
   Phil Hobbs  wrote:   
      
   >On 08/26/2011 07:52 PM, Nico Coesel wrote:   
   >> Phil Hobbs  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On 08/26/2011 04:01 PM, three_jeeps wrote:   
   >>>> On Aug 24, 11:12 pm, Phil Hobbs   
   >>>>    wrote:   
   >>>>> Hi, all,   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> -John   
   >>>   
   >>> Thanks.  I actually got most of that stuff from eBay for a couple of   
   >>> cents on the dollar--including the eBay equivalents of a couple of   
   >>> things that I was given, the total cost of the rack, its contents, the   
   >>> optical table and the two drawer cabinets was less than $15k.  My total   
   >>> equipment expenditure has been around $20k, including that nice   
   >>> wavemeter and stuff.   
   >>>   
   >>> But we're supposed to have a direct hit from Hurricane Irene in a day or   
   >>> two--it'll be Cat 1 when it gets here, so the Florida guys in the group   
   >>> would be all relaxed, but there are a lot of big trees here and this is   
   >>   
   >> Trees can be good or bad in a storm. If they are strong they 'break'   
   >> the wind. OTOH if the trees are old they might fall...   
   >>   
   >>> the strongest storm to hit us in 30 years or more.  Hurricane Floyd in   
   >>> 1999 dumped two feet of water on us, but it's the winds that are the   
   >>> main worry this time.  Hopefully both home and office will survive   
   >>> unscathed, but it's quite likely that yours truly will be incommunicado   
   >>> for a day or two.   
   >>   
   >> Well, good luck then. Is it a concrete building or wood? It always   
   >> surprises me that so many houses in the US are made from wood.   
   >> Concrete + bricks are much more likely to stand up against the   
   >> strongest winds and flooding.   
   >>   
   >   
   >Well, we have a lot of trees, so it's cheaper.  And we like to remodel   
   >our houses a lot, which is hard if they're made of concrete.   
      
   You mean a concrete house can resist a storm so you can't claim a new   
   one from the insurance :-)   
      
   >Anyway, it's usually the roofs that fail in storms, and even the Dutch   
   >aren't stubborn enough to make roofs out of brick. ;)  Anyway, you don't   
   >have real weather over there.   
      
   Every now and then it gets stormy over here with wind speeds reaching   
   65 to 75mp/h. With such strong winds I can hear the concrete(!) roof   
   tiles start to resonate a little every now and then. But they are well   
   interlinked so there is little chance they'll be blown off the roof.   
      
   --   
   Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply   
   indicates you are not using the right tools...   
   nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)   
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