How’s the rest of the CycleFish family doing that is has been affected by Sandy?

I know there is a lot more without power and in worst shape then myself. My thoughts go out to those that are still in the dark or worst with no homes.

I'm lucky we got away with 2 plus days without power (for us that no water either) appreciate electricity now. The decks missing some parts and a large pine tree is down in the back (thankfully it missed everything). A few weekends of work and everything should be ok.

Very similar here. Had no power, heat, internet or phone for a few days. One spruce tree down that took out neighbors fence. Feeling lucky. Really appreciate electricity! Starting to really appreciate gas too! Hope things improve quickly for those with much more serious problems.

No issues here in VA.

I've got family up in New Jersey though, they got hammered. Power lines across the car and 4 feet of water inside the house.

Fun Times.

Raleigh, NC rain and wind. Outer banks (100 miles east) got slammed.

Prayers for everyone

Them S.O.B.'s charging $6 a gallon for gas ought to tarred and feathered. That kind of crap is suppose to be illegal and needs taken care of.

I have some family in the NJ area and they said it was the worst storm they had ever seen. Suffered a little property damage but everyone is safe.

Our prayers are with all those who lost friends and loved ones. And to those who lost property, we wish you the best in getting your life back to normal.

I'm 6 miles inland from Long Beach Island in NJ. A few trees down, lost power on Monday afternoon and got it back on Thursday afternoon. A lot of damage on the island. There isn't a stretch of beach on the entire Jersey Shore that isn't damaged. Repairs will not be accomplished over the winter, so there is a long haul ahead! Now they're talking about a nor'easter coming by next weekend.

Come on Rex..(I just read your comments...) this modest storm was 1000 miles across at one point, it's outer winds were reaching 70 - 80 mph, it came ashore at high tide and a full moon high tide at that....it was a slow mover, allowing more wind damage and delivering 6 - 8 inches plus of rain. I grew up on the coast of NC, I am quite familiar with hurricanes...though this was not the worst of storms, it was far from being modest.

Thinking of you all, Hope you can get recovered from all this in a short time without much problems.

Prayers for all. The disturbing thing is, it's almost a week since the storm, and many are still without power, and there may be some, still stranded. WOW! I am from OHIO, and since moving to "Hurricane Central" (Florida), ten years ago, the one thing I've learned, is that it's better to be safe, than sorry. I've stocked up, boarded up, and packed up to leave, every time they've given us the nod to do so! Especially after Katrina. Thankfully, that's only been once, but we've had to "hunker down" quite a few times. Water ain't no joke, and anyone who thinks so, should re-educate themselves. Trust me, there ain't a thing you OWN, worth dying for. Sacrificing yourself, for a loved one is something else altogether, and many of us, would do that in a heartbeat. But, all that "stuff" you have?
Can be replaced, if it comes to that, huh?

As far as the gas gouging, greedy blood suckers, taking advantage of people, I only hope my Father in Heaven, will remember these "jackals", on judgement day. For there is no lower thing, than that of a man, who holds his brother
down. We are ALL here to help one another. And I know, there are more good than bad folks. Thank the Lord!
If you can spare it, help these folks out by donating to the Red Cross. Copy and Paste this address into your browser. Thanks, Ya'll. Your generous hearts, are why I am proud to be counted among you!!! <3

https://www.redcross.org/donate/index.jsp?donateStep=2&itemId=prod10002 />
Ride Free
Tweek

I'm one of the very few on Long Island (NY) who somehow never lost power or internet during the storm, so it had no affect on me at the time. (90% of LI had no power). The week following it though is a different story ... no work for almost a week because we had no power there (finally got that back yesterday), and I can only do about another 300 miles with the cage and maybe 50 with the bike before I'm out of gas so I'm hoping that gets sorted out pretty quick!

Text "Redcross" to 90999 to donate 10 bucks

No problems in Central NY worth mentioning. - Downstate is another story. - The kid in Queens made out fine, never even lost power. - Subway down and has to hike 5 miles to/from work. - Other areas of Queens got pasted with floods & fires of Biblical proportions. Still don't have power.

Staten Island, sort of the Red Headed Stepchild of NYC. - They go their own way politically and buck the machine. - The machine started getting their promised revenge early.



Give to the Red Cross if you wish but as far as this old-man is concerned they have way to much overhead and we direct our contribution to the Salvation Army.

Some places starting to look like"Mad Max" - So far my family safe
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/klyn_bat_man_run_looters_VxfnY8FAH2MYZZ9GrKM6eJ />
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/queens-residents-arm-looters-article-1.1196031 type="_moz" />

I live 200 feet or so from the water on Staten Island in the worst possible location for this storm.Too many people took this storm too lightly and paid a price,some with their lives.in my 56 years in this area i never saw anything this bad(here or elsewhere),I prepared well and am thankful for the safety of my family and friends.we are all safe and my thoughts are with everyone who didn't fare as well.we are hoping for federal aid but i will stand on my own if need be and will help those who can't.Something like this brings out the best and worst of people and i am proud to say i am seeing the best of these city folk to a bit of my own surprise.which makes me proud to be a part of this.The amount of material loss i suffered cant compare to the loss of a lot of others who have lost loved ones,pets,businesses and total carnage to their homes.This has changed our fishing and boating community for a long time to come maybe forever.Hopefully someday this will all be a distant memory.
GOOGLE EARTH GREAT KILLS HARBOR,STATEN ISLAND NEW YORK AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT IT USED TO LOOK LIKE IN CONTRAST TO THESE PICS.

Glad to see you made it thru ok Chaz, and after reading some of these posts I realize all the better the true extent of the destruction this storm caused.Sending prayers out to those who lost loved ones & those injured in this event.Sad to see tht harbor in ruins,and all the othr devastation its truly incredible !!!

Thoughts and prayers for all that were effected by the storm. I wish there was a list of smaller charities that were helping out wisely and being financially responsible. Sorry but in my opinion the Redcross is a total waist of your hard earned money. Way to much administrative overhead is why I have this opinion.

There are more administrative costs with the Salvation Army than any other charitable organization; including the Redcross. Plus one cannot designate where any donations may go. They go where the SA decides. Without delving into politics; the SA pretty much stands for (advocates) what many on this forum do not. As for 'Sandy' and the USO; I'm not so sure there's a connection to help the storm victims.

Monies donated to "disaster relief" via the Redcross go to disaster relief. Yep, there most likely are administrative costs as there would be, should be with any relief organization. But believe it or not there's not a great deal of political influence (heavy-handedness) in the Redcross. And, the 90999 number is "specific" for Sandy.

I don't give to the Redcross on a regular basis but I did for Katrina and Irene and Sandy because I don't know of any other way to help out those in need during those hard times. My main, regular, charitable contributions go to Wounded Warriors and Paralyzed Veterans; twice a year. They sound good on the surface wouldn't ya say? But these days ya got paranoid dilusionals who start to question whether the money one gives to Veterans ever gets to the right place. It's all a shot in the dark as far as I can tell but ya still gotta take the shot.

Peace

Like you Jimmy, I give to the Red Cross on occasion (especially after a disaster) and also donate blood to them quite often. But like any other large organization, I know only so much of it actually makes it directly to the people.

That being said, I also realize that to run an organization as large as the Red Cross with international presence it takes a hell of a LOT of man power and physical assets that do cost a lot of money, and not all that man power can be volunteer. But are their expenses too high? I don't know because you would need a ton of accountants to figure that out since they bring in over thee BILLION dollars a year and have over 2 BILLION dollars in assets!!!!

I mean I look at Gail McGovern's (Pres & CEO of the American Red Cross) salary of $501,122 and my first thought is that is outrageous for a salary of someone working for a charity! But then I think that to run an organization that large correctly you do need someone VERY qualified and to get someone to take that job vs a job in private industry, maybe you have to pay them that much? I'm sure someone qualified to run a $3 billion dollar company could make twice that in private industry.

So bottom line is I just don't know any more, like you said a shot in the dark, but I will take it when I can. I want to help, so I gave money to places like the Red Cross because I know they do provide some relief for those who need it.

I do use places like these to check out any organizations I have not heard of before giving a donation...

http://www.charitynavigator.org/ /> http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/ /> http://www.charitywatch.org/

Not my job to tell anybody how to contribute

Stopped contributing to Red Cross during Katrina.
HOWEVER did some research after JimmyAcorns's post
R.C. not nearly inefficient as it used to be; 92% charitable commitment per Forbes, was about 35%
But the salary situation MUCH worse than note by Lucky; New director, Gail McGovern receives $1,032,022/yr (2008), per Snopes

By way of reference:
Salvation Army has about 89% charitable commitment
The CO of the Salvation Army, William Roberts receives annual salary of $126,920

But the Salvation Army is always the first on the scene, they have local assets, and I'm sticking with them