First Funny Story From Our Hurricane Adventure

When we got to my son's house here in Alvin after driving 14 hours from my brother's house in Arkansas, we kind of lost track of what my sister Bonnie's cocker spaniel was up to. After we got the cars unpacked, Bonnie shouted from the living room, "Cory! Come quick, I think Baxter has a mouse in his mouth!"

At this point, all of the women freaked out and took two steps backward while Cory went in for the extraction. Jamie quietly said, "I won't be able to sleep here again, ever."

As Cory got closer to Baxter, he grabbed from Baxter's mouth what Bonnie thought was a tail and pulled out...a tampon.

A Brief Update

I just spoke to Wang Chi. He's back in Beaumont and cooking breakfast and being a good little boy scout. My dad is also still in Beaumont and has taken the screens off his windows so mom is picturing all the critters he's sharing the house with.

Regarding our trip in last night, have you ever driven in Houston traffic...at night...to a place you've never been before to drop your aunt off at her daughter's house...with three cars following you...trying to not get killed by people driving 90 miles an hour and at the same time not lose everyone? That's why I kissed my car. My legs were shaking when we got to my cousin's house in The Woodlands but we made it safely. That's what counts. Then, we had to drive another hour to my son's house here in Alvin.

By the way, the survivalists are right. I'll post more on this later but for now, take heed. If there is ever a disaster in your area (of the bombing, terrorist sort), just start running. Believe me, your car will be useless and you will be stuck in traffic about ten feet from your driveway. Our evacuation here was staggered and there is no way anyone would have gotten out alive if everyone had to (or tried to) leave at once .

On another note, I won't be checking in on all of your blogs while I'm staying at my son's because my son has dial-up and I don't want to tie up his phone so I'll only get online to do some posting.

Love to everyone and peace out.

Have You Ever Kissed Your Car

After 14 more hours in the car, we are finally back in Alvin, Texas with my son and daughter-in-law. Latest estimates on being allowed back into Beaumont is 3 - 4 weeks. When we got here, I kissed my car, bugs and all. We are going to try to get back into Beaumont this weekend to pick up some of my bills that need to be paid and clean out my refrigerator but we're still not sure if we can get back in.

Adventure of the Day

Today, my cousin went riding in the neighborhood here in Arkansas and us flatlanders aren't used to all the hills. My mom and other cousin had to go rescue him because he was at the bottom of the hill with a flat tire and didn't have the energy to walk back here. Hahahah!

We will be heading back to Houston tomorrow to stay with my son and his wife for a while. The latest estimates on having electricity restored in Beaumont range from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. When I first heard 2 weeks, I thought, "No, way!!" Now, since I've heard estimates of 6 weeks, I'm praying for 2 weeks.

I just spoke to my dad again and he said that just a couple of little pieces of siding on the back of my house are peeled back. I pictured the whole back side of my house being bare. So, that was good news.

I'll try to update again later. To quote the girlfriend in Shaun of the Dead, "Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye!"

Re: House Damage

On my previous post, I was in a hurry. It's my sister Bonnie's house that has no shingles and no carport, I am missing some back siding, my mom's fence fell down and part of her patio roof is gone. I neglected to give the status of my sister Terry's house. My dad, the rebel, who has gone back to Beaumont against the president's wishes, says that Terry's house has a tree limb on it but no other damage. So, we're in good shape. I'll post more tomorrow.

Thanks for all your good wishes. Hopefully, we'll be home soon.

House Update

My sister's house has no shingles, my house is missing some siding on the back and my mom's house is okay except for some missing fence. Seems like we fared very well indeed. Gotta go. Will try to post more later.

Thanks First United Methodists

Since we've been here, people from my brother's church, First United Methodist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, and their neighbors and soccer friends have brought us food for every meal. I will be sure to 'pay it forward.' Thanks, everyone!

We Made It, How About You?

We left Beaumont at 3:30 a.m. yesterday morning and made it to Bella Vista, Arkansas (Northwest corner of Arkansas) at 7:30 p.m. Thank God for the Texas Department of Public Transportation which was giving free gas so we were able to gas up on the way out (we had used most of our gas in gridlock the day before and had to drive home after 7 hours of traveling 20 miles because we couldn't get anywhere). Thank God we turned back though because from what I hear, a lot of those people had to be transported to Houston or points north on buses because they were still stuck on the road the next day (yesterday).

I drove one of the cars (mine) the whole way and I never want to get in a car again. We made it safely though and were only in gridlock a few times. The problem now is how will we get home (more gridlock? gas?), when will we go home and what will we go home to?

My dad stayed in Silsbee with some of my sister's in-laws and we haven't heard from him, yet. My sister-in-law's mother just called from Jasper and two trees have hit their house (one hit while they were on the phone). I don't know if they crashed through it or what. My sister, Terry and some of her other in-laws are in Nacogdoches and they should be getting hit right now but we haven't heard from her, yet, either. I also have family in Lafayette that we haven't heard from, yet.

So far, the news doesn't look nearly as bad as it could have been. We're still watching. Thanks for your concern everyone and I'll keep you posted. I swear I have some funny stories out of all of this but my notes are in the car (just like a true reporter).

Peace out and I'll check back in later.

F**k Me Running

I'm back at my dad's with my mom, my son, my daughter-in-law, my two aunts, my sister, four dogs and two of my cousins. After spending 6 hours on the road to drive 50 miles, some guy impersonating an officer was turning people back 10 miles before our turn north. We drove from 12:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. and it would have been another hour before we would have made the turn north anyway. There was no way I could have driven another 5 hours to stay God knows where. After we would have made the north turn, we would have been 50 miles further west than we intended to be but the DPS wouldn't let us turn right when we first tried to get out of Beaumont.

So, we turned around and headed back toward Beaumont where a real policeman in Sour Lake (10 miles from Beaumont) told us they weren't letting people back in Beaumont. I had a panic attack, Jamie (my daughter-in-law) called the DPS and she said we could indeed go back to Beaumont and there are places where the Texas Department of Public Safety will give us gas since we've used up half a tank of gas to go virtually nowhere.

Tomorrow morning (3:00 a.m.) we shall try again. Dammit!

One Last Post

One last post before I leave. We're going to BellaVista Arkansas to stay with my brother. The closest hotel rooms were in Oklahoma City so what the hell. Hasta La Vista, Baby!

(Trying to) Get the Hell Out of Dodge

My son and his wife left Alvin to come to Beaumont to escape from Hurricane Rita at 8:00 p.m. tonight thinking they would miss most of the Galveston traffic trying to evacuate. I just spoke to him (3:00 a.m.) and they haven't even made it to Baytown which is thirty minutes from their house. When they do finally make it to Baytown, it's another hour drive to get here to Beaumont.

The latest on the storm says it has taken the northerly turn earlier then expected and Galveston is now the target. So, tomorrow, we might be evacuating from Beaumont with the rest of the family which will be bad since we've already been up all night.

So, if you don't hear from me until Sunday, don't be shocked. We'll probably be with relatives in Lafayette.

(By the way, since I started blogging in October of last year, I haven't missed a single day of posting something even if it was just a cartoon. I sure hate to break my streak. Stupid storm.)

Alligator on the Streets of New Orleans

I have been getting e-mails (and a lot of hits on my stat counter) saying that this is a picture of an alligator on the streets of New Orleans.

First of all, it's a crocodile and secondly, it was found in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo on the night of July 5, 2003.

I posted about this back in August with more pictures and the whole story about the Pointe-Noire crocodile.

Weird Fortune - Part Two

As you will recall, last week I got a very unusual fortune in a fortune cookie. It said 'Something unusual will happen at work next week.' At the time, I assumed the guy flipping his car over right outside our building was the weirdness even if it was a week early. However, I was mistaken.

This week has been quite unusual because of the hurricane threat to the Gulf Coast including my little corner of Southeast Texas. Some of the more excitable types at work have been losing their shit since Monday before the storm even hit the Florida Keys. Those same women are now losing their shit, not only for themselves, but also for those of us who refuse to lose our shit until the last possible moment.

I make this promise to you. If I ever get that fortune in a cookie again, I'm burning that bastard.

Love in An Elevator

This morning as I was waiting alone for the elevator to take me up to paradise, I mean work, the first few bars of Barry White's I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby began to play over the speakers in the elevator lobby. You know the groove...boomba boomba booooom, ba boo-oo-oom.

It was so out of place and so, somehow, inappropriate. What a naughty way to start the day. I got on the elevator and did a little secret dirty dancing all by myself.