Sunday afternoon

From all reports it seems Gustav will miss us. Sadly it will still come ashore disrupting peoples' lives. We have cancelled our hotel reservations - and took a break from monitoring it by going bowling. Much more fun than evacuating!

Sunday update

I find myself checking the computer frequently to track Gustav.

From my expert opinion and interpretation of tracking chart (which is not much). It looks like the hurricane has sped up and shifted east. We are barely in the tropical storm warning area - which means we will get rain and not the high winds or storm surge. No one from the area is being ordered to evacuate - though the cities seem very prepared should the storm take a dramatic shift. Everyone is going about things quite normally, but with an air of caution.

Right now I am praying for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi - I cannot imagine the anxiety they must be feeling evacuating again. So many have barely begun to rebuild. Some were just regaining hope. There was a story on the news of a single dad and his child planning to move back to New Orleans this weekend. He needed to be out of his apartment by Friday in Houston. His home was being rebuilt in New Orleans. He was at a loss of what to do. I think of him and the thousands of stories like his - where they don't know what to do and pray that God will open doors of welcome, peace and protection for them.

For us - we will just monitor our computer today. Maybe begin bringing in a few items should rains be heavy, and think of something fun to do other than worry about hurricanes.

Labor Day Weekend - OR Gustav is coming!

When we lived in San Diego our biggest concern for Labor Day weekend was if it was going to be too hot, or the weather a little "too dry", what we should BarBQ and if we had all our school supplies ready. Our first labor day in Houston was spent sweating in the back of a tractor trailer handing out supplies to Katrina victims. Once of the most worthwhile weekends of my life. Three years later we are watching the Gulf again, seeing if Gustav will make up its mind.

Since moving here I adapted the philosophy that before panicking, see how the natives are handling it. With Rita - they panicked. With Gustav - not much is happening. Maybe more people buying gas for fear the oil companies will find an excuse to raise prices. Some here are preparing their homes and work for a hurricane -mainly because they are leaving town for the weekend and won't be able to come back in time to make any necessary preparations.

What are we doing? Well we did book a hotel. Last time we were burned by booking the only hotel available that (key words here) "looked nice on the Internet", only to find it next to a double freeway with roadkill on the way to the pool. Our room then was so small would couldn't open the door once the foldaway bed was put up - the word "deathtrap" kind of came to mind. So this time - waaaayyyy before I needed to I booked a room that would accommodate us, Kristal, her boyfriend if needed, and our dog. I will hope we don't have to use it because rooms that size are not cheap - but worth it if you need it.

Today I am going to try to find my insurance policy and continue to video the house room by room for the records. Every time there is a storm I say I need it - I figured I might as well do it! So that's it - if anything changes I will keep you posted.

These are some websites to check out for yourself that we use:
http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/
www.khou.com
www.abc13.com
http://www.noaa.gov/

Customer Service?

So I'm at Target, armed with my list for school supplies. The shelves look like I just missed either a Tornado, or the best sale ever! To my dismay I find all but a few items and head off to check out.

I'm greeted by an OVERLY friendly associate (OFA) who quickly starts processing my order. The women in line behind me spots my composition notebook and asks where I found it. I told her it was the last one and was about to give her a suggestion of where she could find it when:

OFA: "Oh, if you haven't found it, good luck. Maybe in two weeks if you're lucky stores will restock"

Trying to help the now shell shocked woman. I suggest she try Kroger's or CVS Pharmacy who often carry supplies. Cheerfully interrupted again:

OFA: "Nope, you're not gonna find it there. I worked at CVS last year at this time and they had nothing. All the school supplies were gone. Maybe if you can find some out of the way small grocery store they MAY have some, but probably not"

With this I kept silent and gave a sympathetic smile to my line mate. So as I traveled to Office Depot, Michaels, HEB and CVS Pharmacy for my other errands and saw stacks of composition notebooks, I wished I had the woman's cell phone to give her the heads up. It also made me realize that "helpful advise" that is discouraging, is no help at all....even if you're cheerful.

Tuesdays with Edouard

A thought about Tropical Storm Edouard: It's name is very hard to pronounce. Everyone reporting on the news pauses so they can say it right. One website stating its closure even spelled it wrong. Note to National Hurricane Center - pick names easy to pronounce and spell.

Fortunately it did not turn into a hurricane and the storm moved a little more East than it was predicted. Good news for us. Today it is just a very rainy windy day. Most businesses are closed today so it feels like a Saturday. Everyone is staying inside. At our house it is currently 77 degrees 63% humidity (shouldn't it be 100% if its raining?) 6 mph wind (Robert just knocked our wind gauge which was registering 0 - so not sure if the wind reading is right)

So today is consisting of watching the news. Doing stuff on the laptop. There is a Risk game going on in the dining room and I spent about 45 minutes putting my new rain gauge together (my old one blew into the pool during the Mother's Day storm and for some reason stopped working). So I am happy to report that since 10:47 a.m. we have received .12 inch of rain. We have emptied the pool already a few times, so we are guessing we've had 2-3 inches since it started raining about 6 a.m. this morning

Edouard - Monday afternoon

All my tasks are done. There isn't a cloud in the sky. No wind. My thermometer outside reads 103.8 with 48% humidity. (It is in the direct sun right now - can you tell?) Some businesses are closing early today and tomorrow. Mainly school districts, NASA and their contractors. The good news is now my garage is straightened - though filled with patio chairs. I however, am a sweaty mess. We better not lose power.

Edouard - or how I am spending my Monday

Nothing can put a crimp in your plans like a "surprise" tropical depression/storm that "might" turn into a low grade hurricane by Tuesday morning. Though I have lived in Houston a few years, and evacuated from Rita, I am still a Californian at heart. Which means all I heard was ""surprise"..........hurricane.......Tuesday morning"

So what does that mean? Coming from the land of earthquakes and fire where you don't have any warning you just deal with it, I want to be a good Texan and take care of the appropriate things. Or at least what I feel will help

1. Don't panic - it will probably miss us and I will look silly. Plus my kids are reading me for my reactions. Actually I am feeling quite calm. I've already done wind (though probably not as strong) and lots of rain. So far we've stayed dry. Another new adventure. sigh!
2. Make Ice - no its not on the hurricane preparedness list but it just seems like a good idea
   
3. Cool the house down well - In these energy conservation times we have been running our indoor air on the "okay" level of comfort. If we lose power, I want to make sure the house has a way to go before it becomes stifling.
   
4. Double check batteries - my California days prepared us well. I always have batteries and water and a well stocked pantry. I just wish I'd bought more Pop Tarts yesterday at the store.
   
5. Pull "all loose articles into garage" This of course means I have to clear out and straighten the garage so I can fit those items in.
   
6. Finish laundry. Again not on the list, but if we loose power we will need all the clean clothes we can get to wear.
   
   All I can do now is watch the weather updates - and worry "a little" that my son is coming in from San Antonio late tonight from Fiesta Texas with our youth group.
   
   I'll keep you posted.