The Sneak Report.
OK, so we didn't have to sneak. As it turns out, the authorities decided to open the area up to residents to inspect their properties, gather a few items, and leave. My wife's parents have made the trip. In fact, when I left for work this morning, my father-in-law was on the roof with tar paper at minimum. This was after he video taped the premises and took pictures.
My father, mother, and I plan on making a run this Monday. My wife may come, but I'm unsure. She doesn't want to face the disaster yet, but given that we already have an appraisal of the damage from her family, she may be prepared to make the trip after all.
It appears that the addition, the newest section of house, had some sort of collapse. I don't believe it's as drastic as that sounds. I think the roofing was removed and some sheetrock came down. The sheetrock was holding the insulation in, so on the add-on side of the house there is this layer of paper insulation crap and water. We'll need new sheetrock and some roofing done at least. My car speakers that had never made it into my Corolla are toast. They were nice speakers too. Hopefully I will get some good replacement value on them. I'll probably post some pictures later.
Can The Living Marry The Dead?
Tim Burton's latest piece, The Corpse Bride, is at once masterful. It is at once both beautiful and repulsive. Fans of Burton will want to see the film, and its music is enchantingly breath-taking. Danny Elfman always seems to meet the opportunities that Burton provides him. Every brushstroke seems placed perfectly until almost the very end.
It is at that very end when the film seems to resemble a common occurrence: A new shirt is bought and all is well until a loose thread is seen. Despite the beauty, one cannot help but to be continually drawn to the thread. Years of experience teach that pulling the thread is the last thing to do, but the taint of the thread seems strong that in the end, the thread is pulled in the vain hope that the thread will break instead of unraveling.
It always unravels. And so does The Corpse Bride. Its weak end seems to somehow strike a discordant note and leave the viewer wondering how the right effect could have been achieved.
That is not to say that fans of either Elfman or Burton will not enjoy the film; they will, but they will not leave the theater professing a newfound Burton favorite. It is difficult to say whether Elfman's fans will find a new favorite as the movie's weaknesses obscure the prowess the composer displays.
Sneaking into Port Arthur.
I have it on authority that it is completely possible to sneak into the region. I'd like to make that trip myself, if for no other reason than to grab my remaining clothes, our computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I'd also love to get some photos.
Work turned out better than expected.
I worked a good deal, but I was surprised to see that M. D. Anderson was operating very smoothly. The main house power and air-conditioning never did go out. I can't help wonder whether this had more to do with the fact that the storm turned towards Beaumont or whether it was structural changes since Allison. I think it must be more the first.
Moving In With My Parents
Well, it turns out that most of the Port Arthur to Beaumont area will be refugees for a longer period of time than Houstonians. After pulling 28 hours of overtime, I purchased gas, spent the evening lodging with my parents, and the following morning driving 5 and a half hours to Longview where my wife's entire extended family was located.
My wife was almost ready at once to return, but I insisted on staying atleast one day. After spending a day with her family I was too quite ready to return. We had to drop someone off in Cleveland Texas but even still made pretty good time.
Once re-united with my own family, I was told that my place of employment was making people fill out questionaires that determined how many hours they would be paid for; they were discounting sleep time. I think I might fudge my numbers as I really was working and what ever sleep I got was desperate. We will see what happens.
Rita claims lives before she even reaches land.
It would seem that the first casualties are 24 people who boarded a bus evacuating a nursing home. Reports are that the bus caught fire which caused the senior citizens oxygen tanks to rupture creating an inferno. It is one of those events that is so sad, the shock of it makes you give a nervous laugh because it seems like a caricature. Sadly it isn't.
[Update 10-7-2005: I've discovered that I have a work acqaintance whose mother died in this fire. They are planning on legal action. I don't blame them; I would too. ]
On the good news front is the Rita seems to have weakened to a Category 3 storm. Most sites are now predicting her being a category 2 storm or very close to being a 2. Landfall as a 2 would lighten the stress of many. One of the explanations I read was that drier air around the landmass is being mixed in with a weakening effect. Any chance the Arizona drink company can bottle their air and import it over here? Texas is hardly known for dry air.
A touch disheveled, but otherwise good.
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has become one giant employee camp out. Between the general lack of a place to get fuel, the chance of getting stuck home, and the fact that what a better way to ride out a storm than getting paid overtime while sitting in as close to a fortress as exists these days, many employees chose to spend the night last night. This night will not be optional. The gates close at noon and will not be reopened anytime soon.
Last minute Wal-Mart trip.
I thought I would pick up a few last minute essentials at Wal-Mart last night as I drove from work to my parents house where I'll be riding out the storm until the inevitable happens- getting stranded at work or I'm cleared to rejoin my family. Into my cart I placed two ten dollar movies, a case of cherry cokes, a large bag of pistachios, and a thing of windshield washer fluid, so my idea of last minute essentials is a bit off. I braved the long line, placed the cokes on the belt-driven counter, and realized that they were leaking. I said never mind and went without any last minute "needs". Unfortunately, at that point, my route to my parents house converged with evacuee traffic. In what should have been a 5 minute drive, I noted that it took at least 20 minutes. It's times like these that audio books come in handy as I am not one who can listen to a music station forego music to talk incessantly over the obvious. The drive into work proved interesting. Going the opposite direction as the evacuees, I must have seen at least 10 miles of cars either standing still or very near to it.
Rita hits Category 5.
I have the unlucky designation of "essential personnel" at M.D. Anderson. This means that while middle and high-level managers ride out the storm, in the location and acquaintances of their own dictation, I will be sitting at my desk working as if there was no storm at all until the inevitable happens.
Having worked during a previous weather event, I can predict some of the events that will likely occur assuming no changes have been made to infrastructures previously:
- The house power will go down.
- The emergency power will stay up.
- Air conditioning will be on house power.
- Emergency air conditioning systems for the computer systems will simply keep the air from rising beyond bathroom hand dryer conditions.
- I will end up working my own replacements shifts.
While impact to myself seems to be otherwise minimal, my family is preparing to exodus in mass to Longview. They are lucky that my wife's parents, and indeed even her other extended families, are RV people. They, at a minimum, have modest accommodations although I fully expect tempers to rise. Their tempers are sometimes bubbling even without extremely cramped accommodations.
Lamar University promptly cleared all class schedules for Thursday and Friday. Cheeky classmates inquired as to whether the geology field trip to the beach was reschedule so that we could visit the beach this weekend.
Personally, I feel quite safe inside a modern building. It's better than a house anyway, although I wish I could be evacuated with my family. My situation isn't that uncommon however. I happen to know an EMT that is not allowed to leave either. So be it. Bring it on.
Going insane.
OK, I know it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind, but if my wife changes her mind once more on whether the dog stays or goes, I will literally lose my mind.
This whole situation is compounded by the fact that my wife does not make telephone calls. This already places controntation because I'd prefer not talking to strange people either, but I am capable of doing so. So when she decided that the dog was going to the Humane Society, naturally, I had to call. The lady answering said that they generally have a waiting list for admittance, but because it was a Chihuahua they could find space for a small dog. I know enough to infer that they are taking the dog for the very reason my wife originally wanted it; everyone wants a small dog. The instructions were simple. Arrive with the dog "before 4 p.m." Simple enough.
Well, at this point things are apparently rolling too smoothly. I arrive home no later than 20 minutes after arranging to deliver the dog and also no fewer than 25 minutes from her instructing me to arrange things with the shelter. My wife is on the phone with her brother's wife asking her if they would like the dog. Just about to my horror they do.
It isn't that I dislike the dog. It's quite the opposite to tell the truth, but training her has proved something that neither my wife or I are adept at. When she fiddled back and forth about keeping our new "Pixie", I simply stepped back and said I would support her either way, but I want her to make a decision quickly because it makes it harder on both the dog and us.
So at this final capitulation, I was upset. I asked her to call the shelter and inform them of the decision. She refused and said it'll be fine.
I ended up calling the Humane Society myself.
[Editorial note: My wife complained to me I've made her sound like a real witch. She of course isn't. She also adds that she was unaware of the effforts that the shelter might undertake. I'm certain this is true, but I don't think she was attempting to think about the consequences of her actions --which is precisely why I was irritated.]
Jadyn gets a puppy.
In what was supposed to be my wife's anniversary present yielded frustration when our precious daughter took right away to the little menace. My wife and I are completely foreign to the world of puppy training and immediately realized that it was probably a mistake to adopt such a bundle of energy. It was also immediately apparent that Pixie was a very fitting name. Even though Pixie does not fly, she does accomplish amazing feats such as scaling the baby barriers that were placed at each of the entrances of the carpeted areas in our home. It seems that the barriers slow our entry more than our new puppy. I have never heard of a dog climbing a "fence" like that. It is this particular ability that almost placed the dog outside our home. We even went so far as to place a free ad in a local internet site. We even received several calls that very same day. Ultimately, however, we could not bear to take away something that our daughter had grown attached to -does that make our daughter spoiled?-- and the chihuahua stays.
Thanks to P-Rat for the Learning Profile Quiz.
I spent time I should have used to do some collegiate reading. I even took it a second time to see if the results were different. They were very much opposite, but I expected that because I was re-examining the questions. It does provide an interesting profile though.
