I know we're fucked, because Jim Cantore is in Seabrook.
First of all, thanks to everyone who offered well wishes, especially those of you I've never actually met. It means a lot.
Second, I have no idea where this beast is going to hit, or how strong it's going to be, but I advise getting the fuck out. Basshole, I know you're not in a flood prone area, but I hope you'll reconsider. TTTWLAM, please tell me you're going to see that special lady.
We bugged out about 1:30 PM yesterday. I boarded up the windows while The Wife packed and took pictures. Granted, not all the wood I was able to lay hands on fit perfectly (our place looks like Pete's House of Irregular Plywood), but better that than nothing. Unless a 90-foot pine falls on us, I guess.
It took about 90 minutes to get from our place (north Loop area) to Conroe. Once we cleared that, it was pretty clear sailing. We made Lubbock around 11 PM, and The Mom was kind enough to have procured some beer for The Wife and some Jameson for yours truly.
The ride up was largely uneventful (except for She Who Shall Not Be Named's projectile vomiting episode around Arlington which necessitated the patented White Trash Shower in a gas station parking lot with a jug of water and a bottle of Dawn). And quick. I counted at least 50 DPS cars headed south as we went the opposite direction, which offered an excellent opportunity for The Wife to floor it from Ft. Worth to Lubbock. The result? 300 miles in less than four hours.
At this point, I have no illusions about the aftermath of Rita. I'm a pessimist, so I don't expect there to be anything left upon our return. The Wife is an optimist, and sees this as an opportunity to remodel. My neighbor is retuning to the neighborhood from Weimar late Saturday to repel looters, and promises an update on the state of our homes.
To all who are electing to stay (including the Chron's citizen journalists, I offer my sincere hopes that y'all stay safe through this. As for us, we're going to take the kid to the park tomorrow and try not to stay glued to the Weather Channel.
Which reminds me, any weather "personality" who describes this as "a great show" can eat fuck. I'm looking at you, Dave Schwartz. Get your bug-eyed ass down here and tell everyone waiting on I-45 for twelve hours to go ten miles what a "show" this is.
--Michael, Posting for Pete
Our thoughts are with y'all. Take care. Of course with Jim Cantore's remarkable record of being no where near the worst part of the storm, (or the storm itself that matter) you might look at the bright side. " Waiting for the storm to hit the gulf coast, from Weehawken, NJ, this is...."
Much love to Homie Pete, and big ups to you and your shorties of both the matrimonial and offspring varities. Since I got a shout-out, here's the dilly-o on The Thing-dog...
Instead of fleeing like the proverbial rats I mentioned earlier, I'm going to bunker down at the office. No, I'm not a simpering corporate drone; instead, I'm a cunning opportunist whose resourcefulness would shame even the most hardened post-apocalyptic Mad-Maxian mutant. Or, to quote the glorious Captain Lincoln F. Sternn, "I've got an angle."
See, I volunteered to act as selfless guardian of our NORAD-esque data center, to valiantly stand fast against the full wrath of Mother Earth. Technically, this means that I'll be stuck at work...but not only will I rack up mucho lickspittle points from The Suits, but I'll also be ensconced in the (theoretically) only place for miles around with the juice. And let me tell you, as a scarred veteran who suffered through the nightmarish post-Alicia hell of twelve consecutive electricity-less days in fetid summertime Houston, there is no more valuable commodity than sweet, sweet refrigerated air. Forget food, water, and stroke mags--AC is, truly, the staff of life.
(It also doesn't hurt that I got 'em to pay me DOUBLE overtime, continuous from clock-in Thursday to clock-out Monday, for having what will amount to a 4-day straight slumber party.)
So, don't worry about me, because I'll be blithely painting my toenails, braiding my hair, talking on the phone about boys, and blasting Playstation zombies, all while splayed nude in the CEO's leather chair.
(And apologies to our host Michael for going overboard on the bandwidth, but you shamed me by calling attention to the atypical dryness of my previous musings. "Overcompensation," thy name is...um...me.)
Pete, no matter what happens, just let us know if you need any help when you return to your casa. I have vacation time and we are always willing to pitch in. Take care, hope for a strike east of Galveston/Houston, drink some Jameson for me, and give your wife and daughter a big hug.
Another update, courtesy of the Houston Chronicle site...
--*--
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/3364562
Freeway Traffic Flow To Be Reversed to Aid Evacuation
"With many of the primary evacuation routes from Hurricane Rita looking like parking lots this morning, preparations began to reverse the flow of inbound lanes of I-45, I-10 and U.S. 290.
Traffic reporters were reporting predawn drive times ranging as long as 13 hours from Friendswood to Conroe as mandatory evacuations in Galveston, the Clear Lake area and neighborhoods along the Houston Ship Channel put hundreds of thousands of motorists on Houston's freeways.
Avoiding the main evacuation routes was only somewhat helpful.
One Clear Lake evacuee reported sitting in traffic for over an hour on the Sam Houston Tollway heading into Pasadena...I-45 was worse: The freeway, which runs from Galveston through Houston and on toward Dallas, slows to a crawl beginning just inside the tollway, through downtown and past Interstate 610 on the north side. Even the Hardy Toll Road, usually a relief valve from I-45 was barely creeping along, according to Transtar reports.
It took Tiffany Heikkila seven hours to drive from Sugar Land to U.S. 71 and Interstate 10. Hotel parking lots were full, she said, and lines at gas stations [those that aren't outright closed from sell-outs, that is --TTTWLAM] were backed up all the way to the exit ramps."
Like you, Thing, I'm staying in town. My wife and kids are on the road as I write, but I'm going to remain in place to Protect the Hive [tm].
Best of luck to everybody; stay safe.
thing that walks et cetera, pete, basshole (best to stay drunk, i suppose) and HWRNMNBSOL... godspeed. best of luck to all, and may your homes all be standing (and relatively unscathed) when this shitstorm passes.
Glad you,the Mrs. and She Who shall not be named is out and safe. You guys are in my thoughts. Now where's my bloody drink....
glad u made it out safely....you are still smart, all these years after high school.
Godspeed
Pete, I'm glad to hear you're out of immediate danger. I hope that the damage to the homestead is minimal.
As to those of you staying in H-town, yer all better men than I am. I don't pray (not a believer), but y'all have my best wishes that y'all come through everything safe and sound.
Thing: if I have shamed you my work here is done. I can't decide if your Double-Secret Overtime is gouging or looting, but more power to you either way.
Just remember, there's nothing of any value in the basement during a flood.
Pete, I'm glad you and yours are safe. Basshole, to quote Tina Turner, "We don't need another hero." This motha is a monster! Get out while the gettin's good.
Oh, and TTTWLAM, HWRNetc. and anyone else even entertaining the idea of riding this monster out, "What are you thinkin'???!!!" Bricks and mortar are NOT worth dying for.
Good luck to those staying, and hoping your neighborhood has minimal damage Pete.
"300 miles in less than four hours"
That's 80 mph at best, barring bottlenecks. I do better than that without hurricanes bearing down my back.
All kidding aside...you don't know me all that much, but I went to grad school with Mudge and enjoy your blog immensely. Good luck to you and your family, and I certainly hope Rita spares your house.
Thank goodness for the Cantore effect. As Jimmy C was in Seabrook waiting for the storm to slam into Galveston, he has again repelled yet another storm and it is, as of 7 am EST, Sept 23, expected to turn east and make landfall more toward Port Arthur. Amazing... Still makes sense to be gone from H-town though. "Live from Weehawken NJ, waiting for Rita..."
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and yours. My advice would be to stay drunk.
*sending good vibes from higher elevations*
(it works better that way)
So it's finally getting windy around here. Just a tad beyond breezy, but fairly non-stop.
We went and threw around of disc golf at TC Jester and 34th an hour or so ago, and between here and there saw almost nothing open except a liquor store, a convenience store (with virtually nothing on the shelves), ONE gas station (not very busy, either), and of course, an ice house; plenty of cops all over the roads, VERY little traffic (you could've strolled across I-10), and all range of preparations (some houses boarded up completely, lots of masking tape on windows, and lots of people who haven't even brought in the lawn chairs). The latest forecast looks pretty good for Houston (one station estimated an average of 4" rain west of I-45), and sustained wind in the 60s for a few hours.
We have a pool going on length of power outage; I'll keep you posted, but right now the odds are leaning to "brief."
Check out this hour-by-hour forecast (our zip is 77007):
http://www.weather.com/activities/other/other/weather/fcst-hrly.html?locid=77007&from=36hr_topnav_undeclared
Thing...I can't decide if your Double-Secret Overtime is gouging or looting....
Posted by Michael at September 22, 2005 11:58 AM
Silly Michael.
You know damn well that white people don't loot.
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Oh, and TTTWLAM, HWRNetc. and anyone else even entertaining the idea of riding this monster out, "What are you thinkin'???!!!" Bricks and mortar are NOT worth dying for.
Posted by Baby Jane at September 22, 2005 05:31 PM
True, but 48-72 hours of non-stop double overtime is.
(Yes, I can be bought; fortunately, I reconciled with that personal failing long ago.)
Thang: Yeah, but you could just be passing as white.
I wouldn't think less of anyone who chose to leave -- especially where there are infants and toddlers to think about -- but it's hardly the end of the world, here. We might break some windows, but probably not. We'll probably lose power, but might not. More than that, I'm not worried. Keep your heads down, stay safe, stay smart, we'll see you when it's over.
We were flooded in our Meyerland home in by Allison in June 2001. We were nearly flooded in November of 2003. We had options this time: north or west. She wanted to go north, me west and north it would be.
My wife and I set a six hour deadline to pack 50 years of memories, papers and most important of all, the PC, software, music and alot of stuff into our SUV and Toyota. The two girls were able to take most of what they wanted.
You really test the relationships of the family in the hours before you leave your home perhaps the last time. Funny how unimportant most of your stuff is.
We pulled out of Meyerland at 20:00 and headed for Ft. Worth. We had no problem with traffic until we headed northeast on Hi-Way 290. Being raised in the 1960 area, I hoped to go cross country. I turned right on Antoine to 249 to Telge, left on Spring Cypress and then on FM 2920. After a quick pitstop for gas and assurance from a guy with no more than three teeth we traveled perhaps 10 miles,turned right and headed west on 290 again at Waller. We saved nearly two hours this way and were able to top off the tank as well. The gridlock lasted all the way to Hi-Way 6 when we out smarted all but a handfull of fellow motorists and headed north to Navasota and through Bryan-College Station. By now it was midnight or a bit later. We drove 70 MPH through Waco and into Ft Worth at 04:30.
Who knows what will happen. It is looking better for Meyerland and points south toward the coast.
Good luck everyone. I've evacuated to NE Texas, at my parents', where they're predicting the possiblity of 20 inches of rain. Whee.
There's a debate going on at SciGuy over whether or not the dangers of Hurricane Rita were overhyped (by the......
| --Posted to Off the Kuff on Sep 23, 2005 6:17 PM:. |
I'm in Meyerland (or close enough for gubmint work), and so far this is cake. Some wind, no rain. We'll see what happens in about 8 hours though.
Hey basshole, tell me when you're discing next and I'll join you. I have a trunk full of discs, and it's been years since I played the TC Jester course. So many trees!
So many trees, but really a nice little 9-hole (not like the humiliation that is Memorial). Yeah, sorta windy here, but so far rather uneventful. We'll see how breakfast is...
It's a ghost-town out there. Like, nothing. I live right off of Memorial and minutes go by without a car passing. Hang in there.
I'm glad everyone's safe and sound. That was a close one! Nature loves to toy with us puny mortals.
Pete emailed me this entry and asked me to post it. Here's his status.