Coffee and frozen pizzas can be made on a BBQ grill.
Hot pockets taste pretty good deep fried on the outdoor cooker!
My car gets 23.21675 miles per gallon, EXACTLY (you can ask the people in line who helped me push it).
He who has the biggest generator wins.
A new method of non-lethal torture - showers without hot water.
There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.
TV is an addiction and the withdrawal symptoms are painful.
A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6-12 oz Budweisers to a drinkable temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14 lb. turkey frozen for 8 more hours.
There are a lot of dang trees around here.
Flood plain drawings on some mortgage documents were seriously wrong..
People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for.
Cell phones work when land lines are down, but only as long as the battery remains charged.
Hampers were not made to contain such a volume.
If my store sold only ice, chainsaws, gas and generators... I'd be rich.
Waterfront property can quickly become someone else's fishing hole.
Tree service companies are underappreciated.
I learned what happens when you make fun of another states' blackout.
MATH 101: 30 days in month, minus 12 days without power (and counting) equals 30% higher electric bill ?????
Drywall is a compound word; take away the 'dry' part and it's worthless.
I can walk a lot farther than I thought.
A MUST for all blackouts with kids... GLOWSTICKS! Cheap, fun, no mess!
A skateboard and a sheet make a great "sailboat" before the rain starts.
It is a great time to teach the children the fine art of gambling (penny ante poker) card playing.
You can never have too many gas cans!
If you fill the bathtubs with water, the water will not go off.
7 dogs that do not normally live together still do not get along during a hurricane…they have no comprehension of sharing.
5 gallons of sweetened iced tea a day is not enough for 9 teenagers.
Neighbors are much more sociable when they are sharing a generator.
Two-year-old canned beets taste better than you'd think.
Just because it is dark and you are in the privacy of your bedroom doesn't mean we can't hear what you are doing in there because our windows are open too.
What looks acceptable by candlelight in your bathroom will scare you when you look at yourself in the mirror at the office.
Coffee is possible without Starbucks.
Rather than campfires, you find families huddled about tiny battery-operated televisions to watch The Simpsons.
Peanut butter and jelly is a perfectly acceptable meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same day.
Don't shun those who use Tylenol PM or Advil PM to get through 11-hour nights.
That neighbor who knows how to use a chainsaw is your new best friend.
Ice is a form of currency.
It's OK to let the kids keep their stick fort until the debris-pickup crews start rolling in.
Coming home from work with a pizza and a charged-up laptop so the kids can watch a DVD makes you a hero.
You run out of things to barbecue after Day 2.
We don't want to hear rehashes of ball games we missed or be reminded that we may miss the season premiere of Dexter at 8 p.m. Sunday on Showtime.
Hair can dry without a blow dryer, but it may not look the way you planned.
The storm treasures your kids are finding really belong to your neighbors.
When George Noory's Coast to Coast AM returns to KTRH's late-night lineup, we sleep better.
Baseball caps go with any post-hurricane ensemble.
Grapes taste better in the dark.
You can't train yourself not to flip on light switches when entering a room.
Lukewarm is the new cold.
You have neighbors.
It's easier to ignore a dirty floor when you can't see it.
A new opening phrase when seeing someone: "Got lights yet?"
:: 10/2/2008 7:47:13 AM http://www.oovoo.com/ ooVoo is an IM client that is centered around webcams. I tried it with my sister this past weekend and it's pretty damn cool... I think this is going to beat MSN and AIM and the likes of those. very cool... add me if you know me.
For those following it's day 7 and still no power. One of my colleagues got power back yesterday so I am going to hopefully get his generator today. Also I sent Angie and Dade to stay with friends in Dallas. The humidity returning, the mosquito's, some heat coming back and the lack of power and hot water was just to much. I felt as though I was having to keep them comfortable as best I could, coupled with clean up and extended work hours was just proving to be to much. Now I know they are up there in comfort and eating at Sheridans it makes me feel much much better about things.
I also want to say thank you to all of you have offered to help and a place to stay and everything it means so much to have good friends at times like these.
For those that asked... I have not done a full inventory but I got my paper prop box out last night and there is some minor minor water damage to my Drawing of Rose from Titanic and on the cover of my Wampa Indy Grail Diary but neither is bad. I did have some major water damage to my Time Bandits Map but as I stated before it's supposed to be weathered and even though I wanted to frame this one and keep it pristine I guess it's now going to get a full on weathering job so the "damage" is just start of the weathering process... it's hanging out right now trying to dry out, hopefully it does not ruin it.
One tree tops out and hits the house in the front... scrapes down not big deal... then tree number 1 falls on the house with a large boom. Again no penetration, scary but so far so good. Things are just getting started… then the big boom comes... by now I'm used to it, Angie is not... she jumps up... why is there a breeze? and why does it smell piney fresh?!?!
Oh theres a hole in the wall... will you look at that... hmm better check the attic... hey there a tree in here! That's not supposed to be there!
So every time the wind blows hard the roof is heaving and caving in... mind you all of the rafters are just shattered and the major spine of the roof line is cracked up. I better brace this up before it comes through the house. I go out in the height of the 1st part of the storm to the garage, where are the framing nails... damn it!!!! Every kind of nail and screw under the sun except framing nails. I go back up in the attic and fashion some bracing that is dubious at best. I am sure that the tree is eventually going to cave in the rest of the way but I've done the best I can with what I have. Now on to the room... water is pouring in by the bucket loads and this is where all my props are! Get everything out I can... throw down a a drop cloth we had handy and start putting tubs in place to catch the water.(dumping those every 20 minutes sucked!)
As I go downstairs I see light shining from across the street... it's a neighbor shining a light into the darkness trying to get a view of the storm... mind you the storm is at full roar at this point... I decide to chance it and run out 4 doors down to his house to see if they have nails. THEY DO!!! Back to the house and I am able to fabricate a frame work to keep the roof caving in further. Lucky!!
Once the eye hits I see the damage from the out side and wonder just how good the frame I built will hold up... it eventually started to give way but held out just long enough to get us through the storm. Afterwards we were lucky enough to know someone who can help get the tree off the house, but in doing do we managed to sheer off the natural gas meter sending a plume of natural gas in the air. We had to pick up the meter restab it in to the pipe and turn the valve. It stopped the flow after a few tense minutes. Right now it's propped against the house to keep the flow off.
:: 10/22/2008 1:24:28 PM