Prepared In Every Way

September 28, 2008 -  Here’s what’s left of the beach house in Bolivar.   Denise packed a lunch and they sat on the foundation that used to be under their beach house.   This picture says a lot to me.  I can’t quite put it into words, but maybe I’ll be able to later on.  The grass is covered with sand.  They scoured for blocks looking for something that belonged to them.  They found their headboard wrapped around a pole several blocks away.  Amazingly, the kids’ buckets and shovels for the beach were still in their back yard.  The boat trailer was still connected to the pylons, but the boat was gone.

They talked to a lot of people who were there searching, too.   One of their neighbors worked at UTMB and had come home on Thursday, September 11th, to board up the house before evacuating.  She expected to come back and clean up the next day, but never imagined that everything she owned would be gone.  Another couple had just retired and moved all their belongings to Bolivar just two weeks prior to the hurricane.  Now everything they owned is gone.  A builder on the peninsula, who lived in the next block, had built a few homes on his street and decided to brave out the storm.  He survived and I’d love to hear his stories of what took place.  When the first response team came in to look for survivors, he got his movie camera out so he could document the looting that was taking place.  Very unfortunate that those who were sent to help were hauling out anything of value. 

Here’s what they lost:

Here’s the exterior of the beach house.  Of course what you can’t see are the contents or the memories made here.

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September 25, 2008 - Some of our friends finally had power restored yesterday, but we still know others who are without power.    We’ve been moving our generator from home to home as people get power.

Our daughter and her husband are headed to Bolivar tomorrow to ”look and leave.”  Finally, they will be able to go to their property and see if there’s even a shred of their beach house left.

I got an email from a friend in Kentucky today.  Seems that Ike even shut her power down for 6 days!  And we thought we suffered alone here in Texas.   

Humor has helped me get through some pretty difficult situations in my life.  I was glad to get this today.  I hope it makes you chuckle.

Hurricane Education: What I’ve learned during Ike. . .
 
1. Coffee and frozen pizzas can be made on a BBQ grill.
2. No matter how many times you flick the switch, lights don’t work without electricity.
3. My car gets 23.21675 miles per gallon, EXACTLY (you can ask the people in line who helped me push it).
4. Kids can survive 4 days or longer without a video game controller in their hand.
5. Running water is truly a blessing from God.
6. He who has the biggest generator wins.
7. Buy bread and water as soon as a storm has cleared Cuba, if not the shelves will be empty of everything but Ding Dongs.
8. A new method of non-lethal torture – showers without hot water.
9. There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.
10. TV is an addiction and the withdrawal symptoms are painful.
11. A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6-12 oz Budweiser’s to a drinkable temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14 lb. turkey frozen for 8 more hours.
12. Regardless of what it looks like driving around the city, there are a lot of dang trees around and in Houston.
13. Floodplane drawings on some mortgage documents are seriously wrong..
14. Vinyl siding or HardiPlank, while esthetically pleasing, is definitely not required.
15. Crickets can increase their volume to overcome the sound of 14 generators.
16. People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for.
17. When required, a Lincoln Continental will float, doesn’t steer well but floats just the same.
18. Tele-marketers function no matter what the weather is doing.
19. Cell phones work when land lines are down, but only as long as the battery remains charged.
20. Landlines work when nothing else does, but only if you have one of those “old school” telephones that doesn’t require electricity.
21. 27 of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer than you and they are quick to point that out!
22. Hampers were not made to contain such a volume.
23. If I owned a store that sold only ice, chainsaws, gas and generators… I’d be rich this week.
24. You can’t siphon gas from any vehicle made after 1990, but you can siphon gas from a motorcycle or lawnmower.
25. Price of a can of soup rises 200% in a storm.
26. Your water front property can quickly become someone else’s fishing hole.
27. Tree service companies are under appreciated.
28. MATH 101: 30 days in month, minus 8 days without power equals 30% higher electric bill ?????
29. Drywall is a compound word, take away the “dry” part and it’s worthless.
30. I can walk a lot farther in 90 degree heat and humidity than I thought.
31. I can do the work of a lumber jack in 90 degree heat and humidity and not die.
32. He or she who discovers a process to power a home by capturing the energy of the munching little jaws of a gazillion mosquitos could retire a billionaire.
33. Pop Tarts:  They’re not just for breakfast anymore.
34. Wow, I have some really nice neighbors!

Here’s another:

We loaned our generators to others today.  So many are still without power.

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September 18, 2008 – I thought I was through cooking for other people, but last night a friend of ours showed up about 6:30 and wanted to know if our offer to loan him our generator was still good.  I was cooking dinner at the time and asked if they had eaten dinner yet.  I offered to send some home with him.  He said the family was waiting in the car, so I told him to go get them.  One of our employees was just finishing his shift, so we invited him, too.  We had just a small group of six for this meal. 

I guess now is a good time to plug my daughter’s website, http://www.freezersmarts.com/  On a recent visit to Houston, 18 of my friends wanted her to teach one of her classes.  For $60, they left with a week’s worth of meals for 6 people (or 4 very hungry people!).   We’ve been using those meals through the hurricane, and last night was no exception.   We had the chicken enchiladas and everyone loved them.   I guess we are just a preparedness family!!

It’s the 6th day after Ike hit and we’re still getting local television coverage all day long.  We discovered a site that will let you see updated satellite pictures.   I’ve located where our daughter’s house SHOULD be.   http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/ike/IKE0000.HTM

One nice, unexpected blessing from this hurricane is that our ice maker in our home refrigerator now works!  It stopped making ice a few months ago and we’ve just been getting ice from our commercial ice maker.  The other day we noticed that the ice bin was full.  Apparently there was ice clogging the line, and when it thawed during the power outage, it cleaned it out!  That saved me the cost of a service bill!

Today my washer/dryer is in demand.  Two of the missionaries came by to take me up on my offer to use them, but my daughter had beat them to it!   They’re coming back after one of their afternoon appointments … hmmmm….does that mean they’ll be here for dinner?

I almost forgot to mention that today is my niece Andrea’s birthday!  Happy Birthday, Andrea!

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September 17, 2008 – The pile is growing.  This is my 6 year old granddaughter, Savannah, standing in front of it. Standing at the front of the pile, you can barely see Savannah at the back.  (Notice the wrong date on the photo!!)

 

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September 17, 2008 – It’s downright chilly here today.  What a wonderful blessing for all those who have been suffering without electricity and air conditioning. 

We had 8 missionaries working here all day yesterday.  We cooked hot dogs for them for lunch and when they were still here at 5 pm, I started dinner.  Some days I don’t know what the two of us are going to eat for dinner, but the Lord has sure provided.  Last week I bought two packages of pork briskets.  I’ve never heard of a pork brisket before, but it looked interesting, so I bought it.  I pulled it out of the freezer yesterday thinking I would cook it and take half of it to a friend.  Well, ended up that there were 10 of these little briskets in the package (each about the size of a large chicken breast), so that was JUST the right number for us.  My daughter had also brought me 5 huge potatoes during the day, so I cut them up and added three cans of green beans.  I couldn’t help think of Christ with the loaves and fishes.  On this day,  He provided for us so that we could share this meal with others.  I also made lemon bars and those kids scarfed them up!  They were wishing that those treats would have multiplied, I’m sure!

We keep watching for coverage of Bolivar Peninsula.   We think the beach house is gone, but they don’t get cameras in there where we recognize anything.  Maybe that’s because nothing is the same.  I heard a man talking this morning about how he and his wife went to the attic to get away from the water.  The hurricane picked up his house and dropped it down.  There was nothing left but the roof and the framing for the attic.  The rest of the house was gone.  They are so fortunate to have survived … and crazy not to have evacuated.  They have lost everything, including their business, and aren’t allowed to go back and try to salvage anything.  

Thinking of Bolivar, we have spent so many lovely weekends there with our daughter and kids.  Just wonderful times and memories.  Those kids have grown up on that beach.  They’re little fish and have been swimming in the Gulf since they were babies.   We won’t be able to go back to that beach or any other Gulf beach for a long time.  Now we’re regretting that we didn’t take more pictures of the house.   We just always thought it would be there.

We’re still handing out ice, so that means there are still friends without electricity to keep their food cold.  We have offered to open our house for a place to sit, a place to do laundry, a place to eat, but no one is accepting.  People do have their pride, and they don’t want to leave their homes.  I suppose they don’t want to impose, either.

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September 16, 2008 – Last night it felt so nice to sleep on clean sheets and have air conditioning.  I especially enjoyed a long shower, too, after working outside all day.  It was a wonderful end to a busy day.

I have a list of things to do today:

Call the insurance company and file a claim on our damages.  We have shingles off our roof and a leak in one bedroom.  Our business sign in front got busted.  I want to see how to file for loss of income.  I was pleased to find out that we do have the coverage for loss of income.  Now I just need to find out what they need for us to be reimbursed.  Of course everything has a deductible!

I called a roofer and got my name on the waiting list.  Our damage is minor, but the insurance company wanted us to at least request a tarp to prevent further damage.  I am not allowing my crazy husband to climb up there and do it himself.  I watched him take a satellite dish off of our two-story house a couple of years ago and it scared me to death.  I stood at the bottom of the ladder wondering what to do if he started to fall.  Do I try to break the fall, or get out of his way?  One of his friends told me I should run and dial 911.

I needed to go to the bank, so I grabbed the scanty deposits and headed down the street.  I was shocked to discover the drive-thru was all torn up and inoperable.  The front door was locked.  The bank is closed.  Fortunately, I was able to call and transfer some money to get us thru the next few days.

Called RCI about the vacation we’re supposed to be on this week!  I called several times last week asking, “what if..” because Ike was not only headed our way but to our vacation destination!!   Someone at the resort actually told me that even if they evacuated, that didn’t mean we had to leave.  Is that crazy or what?  I asked her why in the world we would want to be there if the people who operated the resort were all gone?   As Glenn Beck likes to say, that was enough to make blood shoot out of my eyes!   Fortunately, today, AFTER the hurricane, they were a bit more sympathetic.  They agreed to credit our account for the money we’d already paid, and allowed us to book another time at any destination as long as we did it by October 31st.  That was a great way to start the day!  

Have to call AT&T to get them to check on our phone line.  We have one phone line for the business that works, but our home phone line doesn’t.  At least we have cell phones and access to a land line.  And…there’s always Skype.  I love Skype and have used it when I’m travling to call people when the cell wouldn’t work.  I just have to have a headset with a microphone.  I’ve learned that it’s fairly easy to do a 3-way call, and you can have quite a few people on that call.  I think I paid $29 for a year’s service, and feel like it’s at least been worth that.

We have 8 missionaries here working today.  That means more food!  Our daughter called from Costco and asked if we needed anything.  We had her pick up hot dogs and buns since they were out of hamburger and buns.  There was no bread.  Kroger had a sign up saying they had no refrigerated items, so we also had her get milk and eggs at Costco, too.   She also picked up a 20# bag of potatoes that we could split.  

My task master friend, Susan, who whipped us all into shape yesterday, came by this morning and wanted to look at our nets.  She’s under the impression that she can mend them for us.  The problem is that most of them are old and fragile anyway.  The other problem is that we need a lift to get them down for repair.  It’s a wonderful idea, and knowing her, she will find someone with a lift and make it happen.  I sure hope she does!!  She says people have nothing to do at night anyway, they might as well be mending our nets and talking.   I can’t wait to see the look on people’s faces when she approaches them with that idea.

         

Susan’s husband told me about their experience during the hurricane.  Susan got bored and wanted to quilt.  Keep in mind that it was probably 90 degrees in their house.  The thought of draping fabric over your lap to sew just makes me have a hot flash.  Larry, trying to avoid quilting, reminded her that they didn’t have electricity for a sewing machine.  She said that was okay, they could do it by hand.  So they started quilting, but after awhile Susan needed to press the fabric.  Of course they couldn’t use an electric iron, but Larry happened to remember that he had his mother’s old flat iron.  They put the iron on the burner of their gas stove and heated it up so they could press the fabric.  Now how’s that for ingenuity?  

I think I’ll have to ask all of my friends to send me their “what I did during Hurricane Ike” stories!

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September 15, 2008 -  It’s cooler today, thank heavens.  We called people we knew from church and told them we were going to have a work party over here, starting at 9 am.  We were out there before then, picking up branches and limbs.  We had a few couples, a few singles, and a few of the youth show up.   I learned in about 5 minutes that my friend, Susan, is the one we should have called to organize the work party.  She had everyone shaped up and following orders in no time.  We started out telling everyone to just grab what they could pick up – anything with wood attached to it – and throw it in a pile.  From there, we just kept making more piles.  We figure we must have had about 300 piles before the end of the day.  Eddie hooked a trailer up to one of our Joyner carts (plug for http://www.wildridemotorsports.com) and we threw the debris on the back.  I will try to post a picture of what we gathered up.  I want to extend a HUGE Texas THANK YOU to all those who gave of their time today to help us.

My son designated me as the “hydrating girl,” which I thought was much nicer than “beer girl,” – especially since we don’t drink or serve beer.  My job was to make sure everyone had enough Gatorade and water to keep working!  In between making rounds, I was picking up limbs with everyone else and giving directions.  About noon, I stopped to cook lunch.  Remember that we don’t have electricity, but in our pro shop we have a pizza oven.  There was one extension cord with power, and I plugged the oven into it.  I cooked about 20 beef and cheese chimichangas, wrapped them in napkins and foil, and delivered them to our band of workers.  Of course they needed more drinks to get them down, and everyone thought they were delicious.  Funny how food tastes so much better when your selections are limited!

Around 1 pm, our power was restored!  Hallaleujah!  We were close to running out of fuel and would have had to go searching for it if the electricity hadn’t come on.  My sister told me today that crews from her company, Kansas City Power & Light were coming to Houston to help restore power.  THANK YOU, KCP&L 

About 2 pm, six missionaries from our area, from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, showed up to help us.  These young kids are always hungry, and they’d been without power OR running water since Friday night.   I cooked three pizzas and another 5 chimichangas and delivered them to these good people.  They were so appreciative.  

I called my daughter, who lives just 2 miles away, to tell her our power was on.  Hers is still off, and she’s been without internet this whole time.  I told her she could come over and do laundry if she wanted, and could use the computer.   They still don’t have any word on their beach house, so she wanted to see if she could file a claim with FEMA.  I filed ours for the business early this morning.  Now I have to submit supporting documents before they actually do anything.  She arrived with two laundry baskets of clothes and stayed until they were done.

We appreciated the help of all those who came to our aid today.  The missionaries told us they would stay as long as necessary because they didn’t want to go back to their hot apartments.  We offered to cook dinner for them and give them a place to cool off for awhile.  As I helped my daughter load her things back into her car, we saw the missionaries huddled together in prayer.  It really touched my heart.    I fixed spaghetti and meatballs for all of us and they ate it like they were starving – even though they’d just eaten pizza and chimichangas about 3 hours earlier!  Those boys (and girls) were hungry.

We just feel so fortunate.  We have had it much easier than some people.  We didn’t lose everything in the storm.  We had plenty of food and water.  The generator was a real blessing.  After living through this storm WITH a generator, I’d never want to be without one again.   So many people have had to deal with the heat, no television to watch the coverage, and no internet to stay in touch with family and friends.  While our home phone still doesn’t work, we had cell phones.  They didn’t always perform like they should, but they were a way to stay in touch.  We were advised to text instead of talk.  Calls would come in and go directly to voice mail instead of ringing, but if you watched for calls, you knew someone had tried!

Some people have complained that FEMA or some other agency hasn’t done more for them.   At midnight last night it was 72 hours since Ike hit land.  As soon as hurricane season arrives, we are told that we should have enough food, water and ice in our homes to sustain life for at least 72 hours.  When you think about it, FEMA and the Red Cross, or any other number of agencies, can’t come into the area until AFTER the storm has hit.  What good would it do for them to arrive just prior to the hurricane and risk losing all their supplies?  So, generally they are on their way, waiting to come in and provide help asap.  In many instances, they can’t get into the areas.  Bolivar is one example.  There are two ways in or out.  You either take the ferry from Galveston and take Hwy 87 into town, or you drive the other direction on Hwy 87 to Winnie.  Highway 87 has been flooded and the ferry isn’t running.  They aren’t letting anyone into Galveston.   It took a couple of days before helicopters could even fly over Bolivar. 

They key here, folks, is to BE PREPARED.  Have a 72 hour kit.  You just can’t always depend on someone else to help you.

 

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September 14, 2008 – I forgot to mention in yesterday’s notes that if you lived in a mandatory evacuation area and did NOT evacuate, you were told to write your social security number on your arm with a pen or permanent marker.  The message was that they might not be able to identify your body otherwise.

They cancelled church today.  When you’re used to going to church every Sunday, it’s really weird not to be there, but with everything else going on, it just seems like another day.  Unfortunately.  

We’ve been waiting for news about Bolivar Peninsula.  Our daughter and husband own a beach house on Bolivar and it’s a wonderful place to get away.  Late last night we saw reports that the peninsula was gone.  Everything is under water.  Houses may still be standing, but they’re totally immersed and most likely will have to be rebuilt.  It makes me sad to think about it.  We’ve had such wonderful times in that little beach house.  Their kids have grown up knowing that beach.  At least they are among the fortunate who own a house elsewhere.  

We are getting by just fine, thanks to the generator.  We don’t have air conditioning, but we’re very thankful for fans.  We also have television so we can stay updated on the effects of the storm.  

I did cook tacos on the camp stove last night.  It worked out great, and the food tasted better than when cooked inside.  I guess it’s because I’m even more thankful to have food.

This morning we started calling friends to see how they were doing.   Without any way to cool their homes, they are really struggling with the heat.  We loaded up some ice in the back of the truck and made a few deliveries.  It felt good to be prepared and be able to share with others.  We have an ice maker at our business, so as long as it’s hooked up to the generator, we can keep producing. 

We drove by our local Ace Hardware today and saw a long line of people waiting to go inside.  Ace has no electricity, but probably have a generator to take care of the cash registers.  They’re only letting a few people inside at a time so they can control the crowds.  You can’t even see the front door – it’s at the extreme left.  I took a picture, but boy, was I glad I didn’t have to get in that line! 

It’s interesting to me that  even though we were all warned about this hurricane a week ahead of time, many people are not prepared.  They don’t have food, water, or ice.  Some are waiting for someone else to come in and take care of them.  There are over 2 million people without power and we all just have to wait our turn.  They are focusing on fixing whatever they can to get power on for the largest amount of people.  Some people will probably have to do without electricity for a week or more.  The entire island of Galveston is without power.  We just have to do what we can to conserve energy and get by.  I’m just so grateful that we are safe and have enough to get by for awhile.  When I think of the devastation I see on tv, it just makes me see that we have been very blessed throughout this ordeal.  We may be inconvenienced, but we are safe.  That’s all that matters.

One of the outlet malls on the outskirts of town is open today.  My daughter, the shopper, decided to go there to get out of the house.  At least they have air conditioning and fast food.   I’m sure the mall is packed with other people anxious to get out.

They are encouraging us to stay home if we don’t have to get out, though.  There’s more flooding today than yesterday, and the emergency response people have enough to deal with.  If I go out and get stuck, I’m just one more person adding to their load.

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September 13, 2008 – About midnight we lost power.  Instead of cranking up the generator, we decided to just go to bed.  We’ve spent days watching coverage of the storm, so it was a welcome relief to turn off the tv!  Besides, I was tired of watching Geraldo Rivera trying to stand on the shore bracing himself in the wind.   I don’t need to see a newscaster IN the hurricane to know it’s there.   The temperature in the house was still cool enough that I didn’t have any trouble falling asleep.   My husband, Eddie, and I woke up at 4 am to the howling, groaning, eerie sound of the hurricane.  It was like nothing I’ve ever heard before.  Just downright spooky.  They often say a tornado sounds like a train’s coming through, and now I can understand why.  It’s just a sound you don’t expect to hear while in your house.  Although we have inside shutters on our bedroom windows, I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid a cow would come flying through the window.  (Ever see one of those tornado documentaries where they show the flying cow?)  I wanted to go to the only place in the house that had no windows, and that is the kitchen.  I wanted to look outside, but I was afraid to get that close to the windows.  Flying cows, you know!  About 5 am, my husband said he was going to get up and get dressed … just in case.  In our fearful imaginations, I guess we figured if the worst happened, at least we’d have clothes and shoes on.  If glass started shattering, we’d be wearing shoes.  At the time it made sense.  We got up and sat on the couch just to wait. He seemed calm but I’m sure it was just an act.  I didn’t mind admitting that I was scared.  I decided all I had going for me at this point (after doing my own preparations) was to pray.  I began to pray for comfort and safety, and before long, I felt much more peaceful.  So peaceful, in fact, that I drifted off to sleep.  I woke up at 7 am when Eddie said he was going back to bed.  I peeked out the window and everything was just gray.   The wind was still blowing and the rain was coming down.  I was guessing that after 3 hours of wind, maybe we were on the south side of the storm, but it was still ugly.  We slept until about 8:00 and then the phone started ringing.  People were calling to see if we survived the storm.  At this point, we still didn’t have the generator hooked up, so we didn’t have any television coverage.  We got our information from friends and family in other cities.

About 10 am, Eddie, my husband, hooked up the generator.  It won’t run the A/C, which is fine with me, and we can’t use the stove.  Oh, darn!  We do have fans and light, though, and computers with internet access.  We made a few phone calls to local friends to see if they were okay. I offered ice to those who needed to preserve the food in their refrigerators and freezers.  All declined, saying they were fine. 

We both drink protein shakes for breakfast, so there was no cooking involved.  For lunch, I had Star Kist “meals on the go” and made a double batch of tuna salad.  We also had some hummus and pita bread.  It all tasted good to me, didn’t require real cooking, and I was enjoying the feeling of camping out in my own home.

The rain lasted until after noon but we were curious about the damage to our golf course.  We donned raincoats and boots and ventured outside.   It breaks my heart to see nets and poles down, trees split and broken, lots of debris everywhere, and swollen lakes that make you wonder where the lakes end and the golf course begins.   I took lots of pictures and enjoyed being outside, even in the rain.    I came inside and uploaded them to snapfish so our concerned friends and family could see.  It’s just impossible to describe how things look … and even more impossible to describe how it felt to go through the storm.

This is one of many pictures I took.  Looks more like a swamp than a golf course.  You can see branches and limbs in the water.   So sad.

We discovered one leak in the house in the spare bedroom/playroom.  I stuck a pan under the leak to hold the water, and in six hours there’s only about an inch or two of water.  Now that the rain has stopped, there shouldn’t be any more.  We will have to find someone to patch it until it can be fixed.

The mayor is telling us to boil our water for at least a minute if we’re in a municipal water district.  We are not – we are on well.  Apparently the levels are low enough that they’re worried about contamination.  They don’t have any proof that the city water is contaminated, but they just don’t want anyone to get sick.  They’re also warning us to be sure our generators are outside and not in the house, “or there could be problems.”  Yeah – you could die!

I think for dinner I can rig up tacos!  I can use the microwave because it takes less amperage than the stove.  Tomorrow is Sunday, and I’ve got a roast I can cook in the crockpot.  I wonder how long this adventure is going to be fun.   Right now they estimate that over 2 million people are without power.  How long will it take for power to be restored?  That’s the big question of the day.  Fortunately, cell phones are working, and I’m keeping mine charged.   Authorities are asking us to TEXT instead of using the phone.  I remember when Tropical Storm Allison hit here back in 2001 (I believe).  Cell phone towers were out for days.

I’ll have to say that the city did a wonderful job of evacuating people.  This time, unlike the disaster with Hurricane Rita, where motorists ran out of gas and were stranded, people were told to evacuate by zip code.  All others were encouraged to just stay home and “hunker down.”  I love that phrase – hunker down.   For days prior to the hurricane, they told people to get out.  Still, some decided to “ride it out.”  Later, people expected to be rescued.  At the end, all emergency personnel  were called in because it was just too dangerous for them to be out there. 

We’re going to turn off the generator as soon as I finish this.  We don’t know how long we’ll have to use it, and while we do have extra fuel to keep it going, we need to make sure we have enough to get us through until we can buy more gas.  Maybe now that the immediate danger is over, gas will be available again.

Everything is closed today.  I see traffic, and you might think it’s like any other day, but it’s not.   This is definitely not a day like any other day I’ve ever experienced.

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September 12, 2008 – We decided to get out in the car and go to our local sporting goods store.  Want to make sure we have enough ammunition!  Did you ever see the news clip from Katrina with the police taking guns away from people in New Orleans?   People were left in their homes with no way to defend themselves or their property from looters and thieves.  I do believe the 2nd Amendment allows us to bear arms, but apparently those in charge at the time didn’t care.  Oh, well.  This isn’t about gun control.

I did notice, while we were out, that almost all businesses were closed and many of them were boarded up.  Our bank was closed, and even greedy Wal-Mart!  

At 7 am the air was still, but around noon the wind started to blow.  It’s getting stronger, and the skies are getting darker.  It’s still another 9 hours before Ike reaches land.   

I haven’t accomplished much of anything today.  Lots of wonderful friends have called or emailed to see if we’re okay.  Thank you all for that.  It’s nice to know you have people out there who care!   Since we’re finished with our preparations, I think it would be a good idea to take a nap.  It could be a very long night!

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September 12, 2008 -  We have plywood cut and ready to install over our windows today.  We need to get it done early before the strong winds hit the area.  

Our daughter has family staying with them over the weekend because this other family lived in an area that had mandatory evacuation.  Our son has another family staying with him, too.   Glad to see they’ve opened their homes to others.  

We live at our business, which is a golf course.  We don’t have a garage for our cars, so I woke up this morning thinking about the best place to park them.  Our daughter’s camper is also in our parking lot.  With winds up to 100 mph, we need to think of everything.

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September 11, 2008 – Let us never forget those brave men and women who lost their lives on this day in 2001.  Let us remember those who continue to serve and protect our lives and our freedoms.  I hung my flag outside today.  It’s a brand new flag.  A brand new day. 

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September 11, 2008 – Hurricane Ike.  Looks like it’s headed our direction here in Texas.    We’re prepared, but there’s always more to do.

1.  Went to Costco yesterday and there was a whole aisle of generators.  We bought ours after Hurricane Katrina and have it wired and ready to go.  We will make sure we have plenty of gasoline to operate it.

2.  Costco also had a huge display of bottled water.  I’d imagine that by today they are having to restock!  Water is one of the first things to go.

3.   Groceries?  We have enough to get us by for at least a week.  Some of it will need to be prepared, but we also have canned tuna, chicken, roast beef, and can eat it straight from the can if we have to.

4.  Extra clothes.  I do laundry about every day, anyway, but this morning I’m making sure everything is clean just in case we lose power.  We do have the generator, but if I had to choose between power for the fridge or the washer, I’d choose the fridge.

5.  Cars filled up.  Cars are full of gas and if we had to evacuate, we’d be ready to go.   I think we will choose to stay here and ride out the storm.  We’re not on the coast, so more than likely we will have high winds and heavy rain with possible flooding.  I sure don’t want to get stranded if I do have to leave.  If we lose power in the area, that means many gas stations will have to shut down because they need power to pump. 

6.  Small bills and change.   If stores don’t have generators and lose power, they won’t be able to use the cash registers.  If you have $1 bills and change, you may be able to purchase products you need.  You’d hate to pay $20 for a loaf of bread – assuming there’s bread on the shelves.

7.  Propane and alternative sources of fuel.   Propane tanks for the gas grill and the camp stove are filled and ready to go.  If necessary, we can cook outside. 

8.  Ice.  We’ve been bagging our ice – just in case.  If we don’t need it, we may have to share with our neighbors who are not as prepared as we are.

9.  Medications.   Fortunately, we don’t take any prescription medications, but for those who do, it is recommended that you have a two week supply on hand at any time.

10.  Pets and babies.  Make sure you have a supply of products that are necessary for pets and babies.  Dog food, formula, diapers, wipes, and anything special your child or pet requires.   People fleeing Hurricane Katrina had to leave their pets behind.

That’s it for now.   Be safe. 

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The Staff of Life

I bagged up 50 lbs of bread flour today.  It’s been a year since I bought my last 50# bag and it was much easier and faster this time.  Over the past year I’ve saved plastic containers with screw on lids, so I filled all of them with flour.  These are clear containers that had contained cashews, rice, protein powders, and other foods.  Last year, I made bags with my Food Saver, and as I emptied the flour, I saved those bags.  Did you know you can wash and re-use these expensive bags (as long as you didn’t store meat in them!).  Having those bags and containers available really made a difference.

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