This Just Keeps Going and Going and Going...

School is out for the rest of the week. Power still out in many places in the district, damage to some of the facilities, the inability to get gas for the buses and for employees, the inability to restock the cafeterias in the schools just yet since they do not all have power, not to mention damage to any students or employees own homes...It looks like we will go to school until July! There will be another announcement Friday to tell us IF we will be able to start next Monday.

Seriously, I wonder how we will make these days up. We missed 4 days with Rita in '05. We had 2 weather days, used those up, and then took two inservice days and made them into classroom days for the kids and the teachers had to get time equivalency to make them up. This year we have 2 weather days, but we don't have any extra inservice days to use like last time.

I wonder if I can find really cheap airfare to Chicago. Maybe Chris and I will just take in a Cubs game! It's only 3:00 PM but I think I need a beer!

Pioneer Days

Doing dishes by hand, only 3 stations on TV to watch, no air conditioning...this is how mom and dad lived long ago and far away!

9:20PM Saturday night - we are still without power but we had nothing better to do today (well we could have started cleaning up the yard, but...) so I called up my brother in Wimberly and we met him in Luling to borrow his generator. Back home by 7:00PM.

So right now we have the deep freeze and the two fridges back online and cold. Beer, white wine and other assorted beverages!!! Saved the meat in the freezers, too. Only lost 2 cartons of Blue Bell and ice. Got the TV on the generator as well, but cable is still out. So we watch the little analog TV right now. Router and modem are on a battery pack, charging on the generator.

Should have stopped at Walmart along I-10 to buy a couple box fans, though, but did not think of it till we were back here. We were lucky here. Seems like the most damage here in far west Houston is uprooted trees and downed limbs. They all seemed to miss going through windows around here too, falling to the side instead. As much as I hate making the days up, I really hope school is cancelled Monday.

I added some more photos to the slideshow as well. We drove around the subdivision earlier this afternoon. More tomorrow if there is anything to talk about.

What To Do, What To Do?

7:45 PM- Ike we are patiently waiting for you. We have some fermented hops and barley, and a lovely concoction of Bacardi, lime, and mint, tons of food, and no party! Where are you? I know, I know, you are taking your time getting here, gathering strength, making some great displays of waves hitting the seawall in Galveston.

I do wish you would hurry and get here, though. Dump your rain and move on. Oh and thanks for dumping Geraldo on his keister!

Is Ike One of the Lehman Brothers?

I added some links over to the side. I'll add more as I find them.

• Storm Pulse so you can track the hurricane.
• Gary's Buoy is a buoy out in the gulf that is over a pipeline platform he installed last year - fun to watch the wave height as long possible.
• Houston Wind by Zip Code allows you to see what the different areas around town are expecting.

And of course I'll take pics and post as I can.

The grocery store was stocked back up again this morning. Some water and some bread, etc. No ice though. I went back because all I needed was oregano - forgot it last night so we can make Italian Beef. Picked up a large package of bolio rolls (kind of like hoagie rolls but crustier), a loaf of fresh white bread (smelled so good it called my name!) and an additional case of water.

We put most of the water in the freezer so that when the power goes out we can keep the freezers and fridges cold still. I am also emptying the ice maker regularly, into ziploc bags and storing them in the freezer. Will most likely make one more Randall's run since we also forgot the most important thing for "hunkering down"! Corona! How could I forget that?

Anyway - 10:30 AM and the sun is still shining, it is hot and breezy here. Looks like a typical August day. Weird feeling though, remembering that everyone else is going about their daily routine wherever they are, while we are scurrying about making preps for the storm. Lehman Brothers is falling, Merril Lynch is down over 17 points, and the world keeps turning.

Gentlemen - Start Your Engines!

Let the hype begin! Twenty four hour coverage that actually began yesterday.

A reporter standing next to the beach where a large 4x8 was laying, looking rather weathered, saying "This was a art of someone's house." Then a few minutes later another reporter in a different location standing on a pier that has already been partly swept away by the increasing waves, pointing out the missing part that had 4x8's looking suspiciously like the one shown earlier.

Galveston is already getting flooded as water goes into the bay and can not get out, flooding from back to front. Looks like about 6-12 inches of water on the roads on the bayside of the island. Seawall Blvd still looks fine, waves are looking spectacular, crashing in. I could get some great photos! And if you are on the island at this point, you are there to stay.

Models have the track going right up I-45 as it makes landfall, so - Michelle - get ready for some rain!

Have You Ever Seen Rain?

I should make a play list of rain songs for this weekend. Suggestions? CCR - have You Ever Seen Rain, REO - Riding the Storm Out, Doors - Riders On the Storm, Jackson Browne - You Love the Thunder...I need suggestions. Just no (c)rap. I need something to do instead of lalundry or grading papers.

Most of the districts around the Houston area have cancelled school for tomorrow, heeding the request of Mayor White. It most likely will start raining fairly hard around the early afternoon, which could make getting kids home difficult. Not to mention, lots of parents will most likely just keep kids home anyway, and that is bad for us in terms of average daily attendance and federal money.

So now we sit and watch to see if Ike pulls a Rita. Three years ago, Hurricane Rita was threatening the area, and there was a mass exodus of EVERYONE in Galveston and Houston, and even some people in San Antonio and Austin. Schools were closed for 4 days - 2 days before the hurricane, 1 day of hurricane, and 1 day after hurricane. Rita did not even come close to Houston and we had to make up all 4 days of missed school. So far this year, however, most of the predictions about 24 hours out have been pretty much accurate. So we shall see what the 10PM update shows and go from there.

We really don't need to leave though. We are far enough inland and high enough above sea level that we won't see any storm surge flooding at all. We will get good hard rain, winds about 60-70 mph, most likely, and power outages. When Alicia hit in '83 power was out for about 10-12 hours. This time we have a gas stove and a gas grill, so we can still eat real food! Gary got an extra tank today for the grill, along with some batteries. Groceries are OK already, having just restocked from our return from Beijing, and we will put all the water bottles in the freezer so the freezers stay cold even if power goes out. Cars have full tanks of gas (I had to drive around a bit to find some,and the station started closing pumps just after I finished.) and all we need to do next is make sure the battery back ups for the TV's are OK.

So that is all for now. More later! Stay dry!