Anyway, about the r.c. water...
On my way home, seems I got caught up in a slow moving traffic jam. As we crawled forward, past the few blinking yellow lights, I wondered what the circus was about. Hillbilly's took it seriously when they announced that a non-working light meant 4-way stop and it would be enforced? Wreck? Rush hour worse than I remember? Escaped convict? Drivers license check? Turns out, me and my expired inspection sticker with the huge 8 08 was in a parade alright, all the way from downtown to the convention center and through the convention center parking lot, and these policemen directing traffic weren't taking no for an answer, they were dead serious. My radio decided that today was the day to blow a fuse, or perhaps I would be better informed.
I was in my first ever Red Cross water and ice give-a-way for the MS folks still without power, and there was no escape. I spent 40 minutes in a traffic circle, idled $2 worth of gas, and my LA tag and bad sticker wasn't helping. Only a couple of officers looked curious, but I must have looked desperate. I thankfully picked up my six bags of ice, and two cases of bottled water, and was finally on my way.
Seems the storm wreaked havoc on the city of Natchez, and it seemed especially bent on taking vengeance on the Eola Hotel once again.
(Click me pics)
I joked that's because we are a gambling town now as yet a third casino announced it's intentions to open its doors. http://natchezdemocrat.com/news/2007/jul/22/natchez-hitting-casino-jackpot/
There are some other local images here: natchezdemocrat.com/photos/galleries/2008/sep/01/hurricane
These pictures do nothing to show the actual work involved in a storm's aftermath, the 25x30 foot slab of mortar and stucco probably easily weighs over two tons, and all had to be picked up by hand. The window in the third picture was blown in, and is propped up with a 2x4 nailed to the floor. The guest in 710, that's the window seen next to the hole in the wall, said they heard and saw a twisting funnel that was spinning this slab in the air before it slammed back into the building and dropped to the ground. Not shown is the other hole that is punched below this larger one. As some of you know, we recently had a lay-off and as I am the only one left, this was somewhat dismaying. Curtis came and helped me pick this up. May God bless him and his good heart. I saw to it that he was paid a decent wage.
There are numerous leaks from the 15+ inches of rain that we have gotten, the insulation from this wall has plugged every roof and gutter drain and the water finds the weak spots, or it makes new ones. The damages inside are many. I have much to do, and here, my carport is still not unfinished, with tarps keeping off much of the rain, I have a large Bradford Pear limb down, and a lot of clean-up. Life is full of surprises, and we are thankful.
34 comments:
good grief.. more maybe just grief
The water brigade I have to laugh about. After two days of wet socks, boots, and fighting wind and rain, all I wanted to do was come home.
haahaahaaaa.
you didn't even know why traffic was slowing you down, turned out you were in the red cross line. may as well get a few bottles of water and some ice for the two hours you spent in line. i'm sure you could use it. anyway, the cops probably thought the only reason you cranked the ol' truck up with expired tags is you were desparate after the hurricane and it was the only thing you could get running. hahaha
i went yesterday to the campus and got an ice chest full fm the ice machine. it was fast melting but more than enough to fill my ice chest. came in very handy.
such a mess at the eola. lotta work. always seems to hit the eola. maybe bec it is soooooooooo tall, at six stories. the storms can't seem to miss it.
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moved it. try again.
thanks. i liked the view. sorry abt the damage tho.
Not a recent picture of the window, it's just for reference, so the view is nice.
oh man! having a job always has its down side.
Kay and I were married at 7:00PM yesterday 32 years ago, I am glad that I was able to be at home with her on our special day. She is the reason I get up in the morning and go back for more. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
That is too sweet!! Happy Anniversary.
Happy Anniversary!
that is the sweetest thing i think ive ever heard. she is a very good woman, and you are a very good man.
god bless you both.
Happy Anniversary. You got lucky, Dude. She's the best.
happy 32nd ya'll.
Thanks all.
I've corrected the title as I've learned today that this wasn't the Red Cross at all, instead, the water/ice line was actually FEMA. This was a joint effort by Homeland Defense and local authorities, which explains the abundance of law enforcement, fire fighters and EMS personnel on this managed detour. I just don't know how I can be so lucky all the time. Driving carefully to be as inconspicuous as I can be because of the expired sticker, here I am in a flat out police line-up. Today, I was a little late getting to work, but I have a bright shiny new sticker. Still no radio, it's either busted, or the broken ignition switch I have partially by-passed isn't giving it any power. I do miss my NPR :(
On the bright side, I now single-handedly have cleaned up the entire grounds, most of the roofs, gutters, and drains, and you can hardly tell there was a storm. This while still doing repairs, roof patching, and regular calls. I give much credit to Curtis, who came to help his Dad after a day-and-a-half, just from the goodness of his heart, and expecting no pay. I tried to tell him not to come, I didn't need anything, and there was a curfew that might leave him stranded, but he said he was still coming. Brought me food and dry socks too (dry socks!!!). We together removed all the debris from the courtyard in the driving wind and rain and repaired the elevator door that had been jamming every 1/2hour for 2 days. He is now my hero. I completely forgive him for not coming home Sunday to help us with the carport repairs because his girlfriend didn't want him to leave, he said. God bless Curtis and the wonderful perfect woman who created this child, I am forever indebted.
As a side note, one of the other supervisors called her boy in, he knew up front he was going to be paid, and while Curt and myself were unloading a drum of diesel I had picked up for the generator, he disappeared after only about 15 minutes of work. I have to admit, the task at hand looked daunting, but the moral support I received made my heart light and made it an easy task. After four short hours, we were done. Did I say Curtis is my new hero?
same here. but mine is in the wiring or speakers. i think the speakers just went out. the lights show it is working and bec it is one of those fancy radio and cd player upgrades it shows the "beat" or bass of volume or some such, but on the way back fm houston i kept getting buzzing in speakers and then they quit. i miss mine too.
God bless little curt. really good kids are hard to come by now a days. hardly able to find any willing to work. most of them too stinking shiftless and lazy anymore.
and thank-you curt for taking your daddy some dry socks. that was an admirable thought. did i say God bless little curt? :)
that elevator has been giving trouble for years even way back when i worked there in the moonflower. as i recall, this is not the first time you have had to do repair on that thing.
it's really nice to hear you speak of her like this. she deserves such praise fm you.
Don't think it was my genes do you?
I've been getting a lot of "Buenos días!" and "howdy Amigo! do you ever rest?" from the customers. I either have a good tan, or they recognize the work ethic of the migrant workers and think I surely must be one as I am driven.
I could certainly use a few of the foreign workers as there hasn't been a single local soul showing up to work here.
Ironically, a week or so ago the homeland defense stayed at our hotel while they were rounding up over 900 of these "bad guys" and deporting them. Everyone thought it was so funny. Everyone except me. I don't believe in Mexican hating. It's against my religion. Eject terrorists, invite workers. Fix it.
are you kidding! we're the ones that school and train the terrorist. and that wasn't a Bush initiation either.
i've got a terrific idea! why don't we just deport every America and American flag hater in the country and trade them off for some good hard working people that are dying to get here and love what America can do for them.
I think that's how the U.S. got it's start, no? That and escaping oppressionism.
My radio works fine, but does not pick up NPR. Well, maybe it would if I tuned to the right frequency. I think your radio just quit because it was sick of playing NPR.
Hooray FEMA And Homeland Security.
BTW, we are not required to have inspection stickers in Arkansas. And my tags & registration cost me only $26 a year. The last two times a policeman stopped me, he warned me and let me go. I was courteous, friendly, and appropriately intimidated. Plus, my tags, insurance,and registration were up to date.
God bless affordability, and Arkansas.
I was playing a CD, not npr.
My radio/cd player apologizes.
I found a cd of Mozart in the box of software from Lotus and thought I might enjoy this since I am getting more mellow in my elder years. Worst bunch of garbage I could imagine coming from my speakers. I will never be old enough. Give me back my talk radio NPR. I can send Chas the cd.
hahah i know what you mean.. it depends on how is performed..what instruments, etc.
Give me back my cd. I love mozart.
gladly!
Send it to Uncle Carroll. He's the long-hair music lover.
It sounds like a great name for a cat.
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