i'm really not sure why i started this running timeline of hurricane ike. probably out of sheer boredom sunday evening. but, now that i'm online for a few minutes, i'll post it here for posterity. i'll split the timeline by each day and post them seperately. i started with friday evening / saturday, so keep scrolling until you find part one.
Monday, 6 am
Dad leaves to pick up the tractor from Trinity. I go back to sleep; it is too dark to do anything anyway. Our water is completely gone. Not even a trickle when you turn the faucet.
8 am
It’s a beautiful day. Thank goodness for nice weather during these days without power. Hear on the radio that one particular power company will be down for a minimum of 3 weeks as they have to rebuild their plant (or something). Gee… I hope that isn’t the one that supplies our company.
9 am
It’s time to face the refrigerator... Nothing is remotely cold anymore. We fill up about 5 trash bags from 2 refrigerators and freezers (keep in mind they are not full bags, otherwise they would be too heavy). We do find a handful of salvageable items. Half frozen tamales cooked on the grill becomes our lunch later on.
1 pm
Dad has brought back a generator from a welding machine. It takes a little while to get it running, but finally we are able to plug in one refrigerator, run the septic system, and charge cell phones. Unfortunately, we were unable to save anything in our deep freezers. We’ll let those refreeze once we have power and throw the contents out later. Trash pickup is tomorrow and the load is already heavy without those bags.
5 pm
Find out we are among 5,972 other households in our zip code without power. That puts us in the group of lower outages than most zip codes. Not sure if that’s good or bad. However, it does confirm that we are NOT on the power company grid that is rebuilding. Hallelujah!
5:30 pm
Got to watch a little of the news while the generator ran. Lots of devastation all around us. We’ve also realized that the phone line is out – so no internet access, despite the generator! Talked to my grandma in Chester. Just as the news yesterday suggested, Ike visited them in the form of thunderstorms and power outages Sunday. Of course, all of their power has been restored.
6 pm
Dad brought Arby’s home for supper!! Definitely a highlight of the past couple days.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
hurricane ike part two
i'm really not sure why i started this running timeline of hurricane ike. probably out of sheer boredom sunday evening. but, now that i'm online for a few minutes, i'll post it here for posterity. i'll split the timeline by each day and post them seperately. i started with friday evening / saturday, so keep scrolling until you find part one.
Sunday, 6:30 am
My parents start to leave for Trinity. We’re worried that the cows are out and that the RV is turned upside down. Or worse. Dad’s truck gets stuck in the backyard. I try to pull it out with my truck. No such luck.
8 am
My parents leave in my truck. I go back to bed. Not really tired, but what else is there to do?
10 am
Neighbor knocks on the door. We have water! I take a shower.
11 am
I decide to head to Tomball in my mom’s blazer… Again, what else is there to do? I throw my laptop in with me, hoping for power at Starbucks so that I can use their Wi-Fi. Target, Lowes, HEB, and Wal-Mart are the only places open. Water is really high on 2920 just before Tomball – but that’s not unusual when we get a ton of rain. Power seems to be out in most of Tomball. The signal lights are ripped down and hanging at some intersections. Can’t find Wi-Fi; not even in the hotel parking lot. Other than no power, Tomball seems to have fared well. Nothing interesting happening, so I head home the opposite way I came to check things out. Loooong line at the tool rental place; they must have generators left. Or people are renting bulldozers and such to clean up the mess.
Noon
Get home. Read some more. Finish my book. Take a nap. Listen to the radio – find out that Klein ISD won’t open until at least Thursday the 18th. I suspect it could be longer, but I guess it depends on how quickly power is restored.
3 pm
My parents get home. Amy and Glenn come over to pull my dad’s truck out of the mud. We stand around and chat. They leave as Kim and the kids pull up. We chat. After they leave, we warm up leftovers on the grill.
7 pm
Sit around and listen to the radio for awhile. I’m jealous of my friends that text and say “we have power!!” We still speculate that it will be a few days for us – there is nothing of priority around us to put us at the top of any “list”. No hospitals, schools, or shopping centers. Our food is definitely at the end of it’s life – even in the fridge and freezer. It’s not really cool in either one of those anymore.
8 pm
Head back to my room and my open window to read. Hoping that “cool” front the weathermen are promising hurries up!
Sunday, 6:30 am
My parents start to leave for Trinity. We’re worried that the cows are out and that the RV is turned upside down. Or worse. Dad’s truck gets stuck in the backyard. I try to pull it out with my truck. No such luck.
8 am
My parents leave in my truck. I go back to bed. Not really tired, but what else is there to do?
10 am
Neighbor knocks on the door. We have water! I take a shower.
11 am
I decide to head to Tomball in my mom’s blazer… Again, what else is there to do? I throw my laptop in with me, hoping for power at Starbucks so that I can use their Wi-Fi. Target, Lowes, HEB, and Wal-Mart are the only places open. Water is really high on 2920 just before Tomball – but that’s not unusual when we get a ton of rain. Power seems to be out in most of Tomball. The signal lights are ripped down and hanging at some intersections. Can’t find Wi-Fi; not even in the hotel parking lot. Other than no power, Tomball seems to have fared well. Nothing interesting happening, so I head home the opposite way I came to check things out. Loooong line at the tool rental place; they must have generators left. Or people are renting bulldozers and such to clean up the mess.
Noon
Get home. Read some more. Finish my book. Take a nap. Listen to the radio – find out that Klein ISD won’t open until at least Thursday the 18th. I suspect it could be longer, but I guess it depends on how quickly power is restored.
3 pm
My parents get home. Amy and Glenn come over to pull my dad’s truck out of the mud. We stand around and chat. They leave as Kim and the kids pull up. We chat. After they leave, we warm up leftovers on the grill.
7 pm
Sit around and listen to the radio for awhile. I’m jealous of my friends that text and say “we have power!!” We still speculate that it will be a few days for us – there is nothing of priority around us to put us at the top of any “list”. No hospitals, schools, or shopping centers. Our food is definitely at the end of it’s life – even in the fridge and freezer. It’s not really cool in either one of those anymore.
8 pm
Head back to my room and my open window to read. Hoping that “cool” front the weathermen are promising hurries up!
hurricane ike part one
i'm really not sure why i started this running timeline of hurricane ike. probably out of sheer boredom sunday morning. but, now that i'm online for a few minutes, i'll post it here for posterity. i'll split the timeline by each day and post them seperately. i'll start with friday evening / saturday:
Friday Evening
I watch Fox News all evening reporting live from Galveston. Geraldo is the main entertainment as he practically gets blown away by the wind. Finally a little after midnight, I shut down my laptop. I crawl in bed and watch Fox News until I fall asleep.
Saturday, 4 am
We lose electricity. I wake up because my fan turns off. I go back to sleep.
Saturday, 5:10 am
I’m fully awake now. The wind is pretty fierce.
Saturday, 5:20 am
Amanda texts me. We chat back and forth for a few minutes, deciding Hurricane Ike isn’t so great.
Saturday, 5:30 am
A tree falls in the front yard. But, it is way too dark to see exactly what happens. The wind is too fierce to open the door fully and look safely. So, we sit in the living room listening to the radio and the wind. This goes on for another couple hours.
Saturday, 6:30 am
I text Jamie. They are safe and they have electricity! Lucky ducks.
Saturday, 6:45
Daylight starts breaking through the rain and wind. We can see which tree is in the front yard now. It’s extremely close to the house and we’re lucky it didn’t break off further down the trunk. We discover 3 more trees down. Are pretty certain one has taken out part of the back fence.
Saturday, 7:30 am
I go back to bed for a couple hours.
Saturday, 9:30
I pick up a book and read by the window light. The hurricane winds are over. They have slowly ceased over the last few hours.
Saturday, noon
Dad and I decide to take out the Teryx and check out the neighborhood. We’re pretty sure we got the worst on our street. Probably small tornados were touching down around our house. Though one of our neighbors nearly had a tree in their bedroom – it stopped just short of that. Decker Prairie Rosehill Road is a mess. Several power lines down. Most of them have trees sitting on top of them. 2 houses have trees lying on their roofs. Allenwood has several trees uprooted and laid over. Amazingly no one seems to have a tree in their house, though.
The rest of the day:
Play dominoes, warm up fajita meat on the grill, read more, chat with neighbors in the yard, text friends to find out how they fared. My cell phone is not working well; calls in and out only go to voicemail. Texting works better, but I usually have to send the text 6 or 8 times before it goes through.
Friday Evening
I watch Fox News all evening reporting live from Galveston. Geraldo is the main entertainment as he practically gets blown away by the wind. Finally a little after midnight, I shut down my laptop. I crawl in bed and watch Fox News until I fall asleep.
Saturday, 4 am
We lose electricity. I wake up because my fan turns off. I go back to sleep.
Saturday, 5:10 am
I’m fully awake now. The wind is pretty fierce.
Saturday, 5:20 am
Amanda texts me. We chat back and forth for a few minutes, deciding Hurricane Ike isn’t so great.
Saturday, 5:30 am
A tree falls in the front yard. But, it is way too dark to see exactly what happens. The wind is too fierce to open the door fully and look safely. So, we sit in the living room listening to the radio and the wind. This goes on for another couple hours.
Saturday, 6:30 am
I text Jamie. They are safe and they have electricity! Lucky ducks.
Saturday, 6:45
Daylight starts breaking through the rain and wind. We can see which tree is in the front yard now. It’s extremely close to the house and we’re lucky it didn’t break off further down the trunk. We discover 3 more trees down. Are pretty certain one has taken out part of the back fence.
Saturday, 7:30 am
I go back to bed for a couple hours.
Saturday, 9:30
I pick up a book and read by the window light. The hurricane winds are over. They have slowly ceased over the last few hours.
Saturday, noon
Dad and I decide to take out the Teryx and check out the neighborhood. We’re pretty sure we got the worst on our street. Probably small tornados were touching down around our house. Though one of our neighbors nearly had a tree in their bedroom – it stopped just short of that. Decker Prairie Rosehill Road is a mess. Several power lines down. Most of them have trees sitting on top of them. 2 houses have trees lying on their roofs. Allenwood has several trees uprooted and laid over. Amazingly no one seems to have a tree in their house, though.
The rest of the day:
Play dominoes, warm up fajita meat on the grill, read more, chat with neighbors in the yard, text friends to find out how they fared. My cell phone is not working well; calls in and out only go to voicemail. Texting works better, but I usually have to send the text 6 or 8 times before it goes through.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
never forget...
quotes from president bush's statement in his address to the nation
september 11, 2001, 8:30 pm, edt
timeline and images on the morning of 9/11
9/11 remembrance video
september 11, 2001, 8:30 pm, edt
"Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded
with the best of America -- with the daring of our rescue workers, with the
caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way
they could. ""This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. "
timeline and images on the morning of 9/11
9/11 remembrance video
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
love this.
i really enjoy reading the confessions of a pioneer woman blog. i just absolutely love her. love. her. today's post was just a wonderful story. i have to share. i can't be the only one sniffling over here. maybe it's just pms... nah... this one is a great story.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
hmmm...
okay, seriously, i don't know if i can do this. but, i'll give it a shot because i've been tagged by courtney. is there really 6 interesting, random things about me?! oh and another thing... i don't have 6 blogging friends that will actually do this. oh well. i'm still game. except for the part where i started this entry 6 days ago and am just now coming back to it. but, i won't mention that.
here's the rules:
1. post the rules on your blog
2. write 6 random things about yourself
3. tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. if you are tagged, DO IT and pass it along
and here are my random things:
1. i have major issues with the misuse of grammar and the misuse of apostrophes. i know, strange. this is a random fact all in itself, because why in the world would i choose those two things to be picky about in the english language?! obviously, all lowercase letters don't bug me. ;) but, seriously -- when people use "good" when they should use "well" that just grates on my nerves. it's all i can do to not correct perfect strangers when they incorrectly use those words. and apostrophes! come on people. apostrophes are for contractions and to show possession. please, stop using them to make a word plural!! thank you.
2. i was born in chester, illinois, home of popeye the sailor man. it's true. elzie segar was born and raised in chester. he based his characters on real people that lived in the town with him. after he died, his son took over the strip and a few years ago created a dog for swee'pea named chester to commemorate the town. every year, the weekend after labor day i believe (hey! that's this weekend!), the town celebrates with the popeye picnic. popeye enthusiasts come from all over the world to participate. it's much more than bringing food to the local park and sitting on a blanket-- it's a full blown 3 day event with a huge agenda.
3. i have a good eye for layout and precision. when i'm making invitations, programs, newsletters, websites, etc, i will obsess over the slightest off center detail. and i can usually eyeball it exactly without the help of rulers and / or guidelines. i often notice these minute details in printed publications. they drive me crazy. typically no one notices it until i point it out to them.
4. i have an etsy shop. but i never sell anything, probably because i don't promote it to anyone. and i keep telling myself i'm going to go back and make the "shop" area creative and classy and cool, but i never do. so, it's totally uninteresting. oh, and i keep meaning to add more button magnets, becuase i think it's totally lame that there is only one set on there. i also have more ideas of projects to add. but, alas, there are not enough hours in the day.
5. i despise slow internet connections. which is exactly what is happening to me today at work. it just totally frustrates me and wears on my already thin patience.
6. i majored in marketing and minored in general business at sam houston state university (i have no school pride, by the way -- it's kinda sad. kinda). i was 6 hours (2 classes) from having a second minor in family consumer sciences. i never noticed this until about 3 years ago. it apparently slipped the attention of my advisor as well (thanks, dr. abshire. way to advise me). it's not even worth going back for now. but it sure would be nice to say that i had it. so, i kinda pretend that i do. after graduation, i went on a couple interviews, decided that wasn't what i wanted to do and subsequently entered the alternative certification program through region iv. i became certified in business and then this past spring break tested to become certified in family consumer sciences.
whew. six random facts! so, if you're still with me.... i tag:
~ kim
~ julie
~ teri rae
~ erin
~ random blog stalker
~ random blog stalker
{i know there are stalkers out there... ;)}
here's the rules:
1. post the rules on your blog
2. write 6 random things about yourself
3. tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. if you are tagged, DO IT and pass it along
and here are my random things:
1. i have major issues with the misuse of grammar and the misuse of apostrophes. i know, strange. this is a random fact all in itself, because why in the world would i choose those two things to be picky about in the english language?! obviously, all lowercase letters don't bug me. ;) but, seriously -- when people use "good" when they should use "well" that just grates on my nerves. it's all i can do to not correct perfect strangers when they incorrectly use those words. and apostrophes! come on people. apostrophes are for contractions and to show possession. please, stop using them to make a word plural!! thank you.
2. i was born in chester, illinois, home of popeye the sailor man. it's true. elzie segar was born and raised in chester. he based his characters on real people that lived in the town with him. after he died, his son took over the strip and a few years ago created a dog for swee'pea named chester to commemorate the town. every year, the weekend after labor day i believe (hey! that's this weekend!), the town celebrates with the popeye picnic. popeye enthusiasts come from all over the world to participate. it's much more than bringing food to the local park and sitting on a blanket-- it's a full blown 3 day event with a huge agenda.
3. i have a good eye for layout and precision. when i'm making invitations, programs, newsletters, websites, etc, i will obsess over the slightest off center detail. and i can usually eyeball it exactly without the help of rulers and / or guidelines. i often notice these minute details in printed publications. they drive me crazy. typically no one notices it until i point it out to them.
4. i have an etsy shop. but i never sell anything, probably because i don't promote it to anyone. and i keep telling myself i'm going to go back and make the "shop" area creative and classy and cool, but i never do. so, it's totally uninteresting. oh, and i keep meaning to add more button magnets, becuase i think it's totally lame that there is only one set on there. i also have more ideas of projects to add. but, alas, there are not enough hours in the day.
5. i despise slow internet connections. which is exactly what is happening to me today at work. it just totally frustrates me and wears on my already thin patience.
6. i majored in marketing and minored in general business at sam houston state university (i have no school pride, by the way -- it's kinda sad. kinda). i was 6 hours (2 classes) from having a second minor in family consumer sciences. i never noticed this until about 3 years ago. it apparently slipped the attention of my advisor as well (thanks, dr. abshire. way to advise me). it's not even worth going back for now. but it sure would be nice to say that i had it. so, i kinda pretend that i do. after graduation, i went on a couple interviews, decided that wasn't what i wanted to do and subsequently entered the alternative certification program through region iv. i became certified in business and then this past spring break tested to become certified in family consumer sciences.
whew. six random facts! so, if you're still with me.... i tag:
~ kim
~ julie
~ teri rae
~ erin
~ random blog stalker
~ random blog stalker
{i know there are stalkers out there... ;)}
Friday, August 22, 2008
rapping police officer
either we were all a little delirious after 5 days of inservice or this is truly funny. i'm going with a little of both. ;) we ended our last meeting this week with the video below. we all nearly died laughing so hard!! i think even those of you that don't teach will get a laugh out of this...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
