Journal Entries
From the Storm Zone after Ike
Posted Sep 17, 2008
I returned to the family compound early Saturday afternoon while tropical storm winds were still blowing. I was fairly confident that our buildings would be able to withstand a high Cat. 2 storm. We're about a mile from the Western shore of Galveston Bay. I refused to believe the media's predictions of 20 to 25 foot storm surges along this side of the bay. According to local sources Eagle Point in San Leon to my South measured a maximum of 11 feet. That's bad news for large portions of San Leon and one of my friends did lose his home. He lived very near to Eagle Point in a rather decrepit house that was only about 8 feet above sea level. Other friends who live right on the water on the back side of San Leon along Dickinson Bayou got 6 feet of water in their downstairs area. Their house was built for this so the bottom floor is basically sacrificial. They lost a lot of stuff that was stored down there but no real damage to their living quarters. Most of my other friends have faired well with minimal structural damage. My supervisor though did lose his roof as the attic vents tore loose leaving some large gaping holes.
I did have to call a close friend and give him bad news. He evacuated to his dad's ranch near Waco. I had to tell him that his home on Dickinson Bayou was still standing despite the high water. His home looks like it barely survived, the balconies are at various angles, the eaves are sagging, the roof is damaged and the yard is full of debris. So it looks almost the same as it did when he left it. He was really hoping for a hurricane like this one to level his house which would hide the damage caused by years of neglect. He definitely got at least 3 feet of water in the garage, probably more and his neighbor's tree is now on his roof. He suggested that I hook a chain to some posts and give it another tug.
Our property is at 18 feet so I was never really worried about the storm surge. We rode out hurricane Alicia in 1983 and the water rose to the foundation but only because of bad drainage. Saturday night following the hurricane we got 4.6 inches of rain. I woke up and found the water again rising to the foundations but I knew what it was this time. I put on my swim trunks, grabbed a garden hoe and rode my bike down the road and cleared the culverts along both sided of the street. Within minutes the water was dropping fast. If I'd gotten up a bit earlier I probably could have saved some neighbors from further damage. But I was sleeping in the comfort of my generator powered air conditioned bedroom.
We still have no power on my block. The power has been restored to the main street and a few blocks. I did have power very briefly Sunday afternoon as they were powering up the lines to determine which transformers were damaged. I heard small explosions as some transformers were popping blocks away. Seeing the motel next door with power is a bit frustrating as I know we could get service restored tomorrow or it might take a month.
The family compound didn't receive any significant damage. My father's tin cover for his camper/trailer was torn away, flew over their house and landed in the front yard on the fence. It left half of its frame on my parents bedroom roof and did some minor damage to the shingles and ridge vent and also tore up some of the gutters. There are a couple of holes punched through the vinyl siding on my garage apartment but we had no broken windows. We had the roofs replaced three years ago following some damage from hurricane Rita and the new roofs are much tougher than the previous ones. My biggest worry was the large pecan tree. If it had gotten uprooted it would destroy the car cover/shed and probably take out the balcony and kitchen of my apartment. The wind did "top it out" taking out the two large main branches which landed on top of the car port but it took the weight. For all I know the extra weight may have anchored the tin sheets saving the car port. So all in all the damage we took is absolutely inconsequential. It'll take a few weeks to clean up and repair but we still have fully enclosed homes.
The weather cooled down significantly Monday so if we get our power back up we won't have to suffer in the heat and humidity like we did following Alicia in '83. That was miserable. We were out of power for two weeks and didn't have lovely wonderful generators back then. My father and I both have 2000 watt super quiet Honda Generators. If we need a lot of juice these can be connected together in tandem for 4000 watts. I used mine to power their refrigerator and freezer until they returned today. Now that their back, mine is on my balcony currently powering a fan, this computer, my HDTV and satellite receiver and I've got beer cooling in the fridge. This thing will run at least 8 hours on a gallon of gas. If we don't get power returned before it heats up again this weekend I'll be running my bedroom A/C with it.
We know how to prepare for a hurricane.
Discuss this Journal entry [15]
Latest reply: Sep 17, 2008
Barratry
Posted Sep 4, 2008
OK... I got a ticket a couple of weeks back for an overdue inspection sticker on my motorcycle. No biggie. I was pulled over for not completely stopping at a stop sign. That would have been more serious and expensive, but still, not a big deal. The local policy for this ticket is as long as I get the vehicle inspected and pay a $10 court cost before I'm due to see the judge, it's dropped. DONE!
But it's not done. Since then I have received two junk mail envelopes from Lawyers/Abrogados promising cheap legal fees, as low as $50. The first one I just thew away but when I got the second one I was curious as to why I was suddenly getting these. I opened it up and there it was spelled out plain as day. "Public records for Harris County Pct. 17 indicate that you have recently been given a citation..."
ing bastards. 
I wonder how much junk mail I'll end up getting because of this. At the very least I'll probably get several similar letters, but what if these lawyers then go on to add my address to some other junk mail lists? 
I think I'll save all the rest of these letters and forward them on to the local bar association.
Discuss this Journal entry [6]
Latest reply: Sep 4, 2008
Musicosis: ABBA edition
Posted Jul 22, 2008
GRRRR!!!!! 
Nearly every morning for weeks as I ride to work I hear about 4 stanzas of Dancing Queen run on endless loop through my brain. Right now, I'm listening to The Propeller Heads as they do battle to kick those stanzas out.
I think I know what it is now... tomorrow I should know for sure.
It's NPR!
At some point between 6:30 am and 7:00 am, they play a Musak version of that song as an intro to some segment. I'm not hearing the original version, it's definitely a Musak version and once I notice the tune in my head I add the words. This, of course, entrenches the tune and nothing but brute force musical replacement can dislodge it. Of course I'm nearly helpless until I get to work and put on a CD.
Tomorrow I'll be listening for it. I know it's gotta be somewhere in the morning program. I'm not sure if it's NPR proper or the local affiliate.
Before I switched to NPR I would get advertising jingles stuck in my head, particularly the local newspapers insipid song.
I'm obviously very susceptible to musicosis during my first hour of waking. I am in a zombie-like trance state at that time.
Getting musicosis just makes me a grumpy zombie when I get to work.
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Latest reply: Jul 22, 2008
Replacing vinyl
Posted Feb 14, 2008
So, I'm listening to a CD I just bought. I have this album already but on vinyl and since I no longer have a turntable it's been a while since I've listened to it.
It was recorded live "at Mothers, Birmingham & Manchester College of Commerce, June 1969".
Can you guess the album? The Artist?
I'll give one more hint. The original sleeve design and photography is by Hipgnosis.
I bought a couple of other CDs yesterday as well.
Frank Zappa: Sheik Yerbouti
Texas: Southside
I've never listened to Texas, all I know is that they're Scottish.
This is one of the joys of buying used. Serendipity.
Discuss this Journal entry [13]
Latest reply: Feb 14, 2008
"Person of Interest"
Posted Feb 1, 2008
"A nationwide manhunt is on for Mullis, who is considered a person of interest in the boy's death." (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22948430)
This is a case of a 3 month old baby, literally tossed by the side of the road... In its car seat.
What the happened to calling them "SUSPECTS"?
I am just so insanely tired of hearing the phrase "Person of Interest". This case puts me over the top.
The day after this child was discovered near a utility pole along a lonely stretch of road in Galveston, the "possible" mother identified a photo of the body as being her son and reported that "its baby-daddy"[my phrasing] was the last person she knew of being with the child.
Well, in my mind they are both "S U S P E C T S".
It's a good word. It does not indicate guilt, it indicates suspicion. "Person of Interest" indicates to me that the speaker is a soft-willed cretin who has been beaten into submission by political correctness.
(Oh, by the way, I refer to myself as being "Differently Normal".)
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Latest reply: Feb 1, 2008
Baron Grim
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