"Certain Death"

The weather reporters are truly in their element. They're so dramatic as they stand on the seawall watching the waves crash as they report that the national weather service has issued a warning that anyone staying within Hurricane Ike's path faces "certain death".

Now the reporters safe in the studios in Houston are telling the reporters on the seawall to report this, but can you imagine the conversation going on off-camera? "Okay Rick, we want you to go stand out on the seawall and report on this "certain death" warning."
"Um, Greg, you know I'M still out here, right? I think I'll load up the camera truck and get out while I still can!"We love watching Fox News and the local news.

They are displaying "Darwinism" at its best. They are broadcasting on the internet) from the Poop Deck (a beach-front bar in Galveston) where the web cam shows a bunch of scantily clad women (and some men) drinking and chatting on their cell phones. The Fox News anchor spoke to the bartender, who says they'll be open today until the curfew is enforced or the Sheriff shuts them down. The anchor asked the bartender to convey to the partiers the message from the weather service about “certain death” and she replied that they “hope” that won’t happen. I really think they aren’t giving that statement much concern.

Michael Chertoff has now announced that Hurricane Ike is a "worst case scenario". We're howling with laughter, from Neil Cavuto reporting that Chertoff has told everyone riding out the storm to grab a permanent marker and write your social security number on your arm now, so your body can be identitified later. Apparently 220 people have requested rescuing already - and the storm doesn't make landfall until 1-2 a.m. tonight. The real danger with this storm is the surge of water, not necessarily the winds. Though, I might change my mind after 3 a.m. when we’ve experienced the winds.

Here in Missouri City we have a good breeze, it's hot, and it just started sprinkling. We grilled the steaks and the pork chops, and some of the guys are outside enjoying the quiet (the kids are so loud) and getting started on a good buzz. (Yeah, they've popped open the beers.)

Evacuated

We're safe at Mom and Dad's house. They have a two-story, no big trees, and no danger of flooding or storm surge. Ike has now turned a little more to the east, placing the eye directly over our house. It appears that the storm surge will be the worst we've had in recent memory - is this comparable to Alicia in 1983 or Carla in 1961? The news is non-stop live footage of Galveston west end being inundated, Harborside is flooding, Kemah Boardwalk is taking on water. And the outer bands aren't expected for another 3-4 hours.

Our house is on the edge of the storm surge warning. Models predict water on our street only in a Cat 4-Cat 5 storm. I'm really concerned about the wind and the trees. There's nothing to do but wait and the not knowing is definitely the hardest part.

We had very little traffic coming into Missouri City, though there were very long lines for gasoline and several stations were out of gas. Ft. Bend schools were open yesterday and we had dinner at our regular Mexican restaurant. This morning we took the girls for a 2+ mile walk around the neighborhood. We're waiting for the rest of the family to arrive; there will be 17 here tonight.

Ike Likes Us More....

Yesterday Ike returned to his original path and puts us squarely in the bullseye. We're closing up the house and heading to my parents house to ride it out. This just might put us right in the eye of the storm, but they have fewer trees, a second story, and we're pretty sure we can get there on one tank of gas in under 14 hours. When it's all over, we'll be able to get back to the house to check on the damage. Our neighbors are riding out the storm at home and will keep an eye on the house for us. At best I'm expecting a lot of tree limbs down, maybe a broken window or two, and possibly some roof damage.

While writing this I just found out our zip code is now under a mandatory evacuation mainly because of the storm surge. Bryan left for the office this morning and after 90 minutes on the road was just now arriving; he says the roads are getting bad. He'll get organized and head back home within the hour.

I'll have to blog again when we get settled. We have a lot of work to do now.
Please pray for all our safety - for those evacuating and those riding it out.

We like Ike...

...especially when it's heading for the King Ranch!

Yesterday all the talk was whether Galveston/Houston would evacuate for Hurricane Ike. Last night the 5-day track lined us up for a direct hit.

We started discussing our options since we live in a mandatory evacuation zone. Naturally, no one wants a repeat of the Rita Evacuation Fiasco. The girls asked me about Ike during dinner last night and I calmly explained that if the hurricane comes here we'll leave. Cameron became very upset over the idea of losing her personal things in the hurricane. (I'm still not entirely sure where she got the idea that the house would be completely destroyed.)

Brenna quietly watched me dealing with Cameron. After I sent Cameron to take her shower, Brenna looked at me and stated very matter-of-factly. "Don't worry Mom, I said a prayer about it." I smiled at her, because this is not my "religious" child. For her saying Grace is something that "has" to be done and Mass is a boring event to barely be endured.

This morning Bryan and I awoke to the news that Ike has continued in a westerly direction and now it appears to be headed for the King Ranch area of Texas. Immediately I remembered Brenna's words at the dinner table the night before.

When she woke up, I showed her the news and told her that Prayer is very powerful - even from a little girl. God hears all our prayers and she should always turn to Him when she is worried or feels small or needs help. Bryan receives a subscription to the Upper Room devotional and it cannot be coincidence that today's message is God Knows Us. Your Father knows what you need before you ask. -Matthew 6:8 (NRSV)

Birthdays

Sunday after returning from SBR and SF, we gathered at Lisa's house to celebrate the girls' birthdays. We had a hot dogs, cake, and they opened their presents from the family.

(Lisa I had to use this photo because I was going through them and saw this look on Ashley's face and I could not stop laughing. I'm not even sure what was going on at the time with her.)

I'm told that Cameron spent the entire time at the ranch taking care of Megan (4 mos). Tonight in the car coming back from dinner Cameron worked herself into tears begging me to have another baby.

Since we missed Brenna's birthday we let her open presents on Monday morning.

She got a 2-wheel Razor scooter just like Camerons. She loved it, if you couldn't tell from the expression on her face. We've had it in the garage for months now, just waiting.

Cameron begged to open her presents on Monday night, before her birthday Tuesday. So we let her open one then, and the other Tuesday night. She got a little manicure set and a really nice matching brown pants and hoodie. There's something to be said for having birthdays right after the "back to school" sales.

Gustav wreaks havoc

Wreaks havoc in the Archives that is! While away in San Francisco, Hurricane Gustav threatened the Gulf Coast. Even though it ultimately landed east of us in Lousiana, on Friday mid-day no one knew exactly where it would go. So the university initiated our hurricane plan. In the Archives that means moving items out of the workroom (the only room with a window), covering computers and equipment and the stacks with plastic to prevent potential water leaking from the ceiling. My co-worker had to do this on her own, with quite a bit of help from other librarians in Technical Services.


This is what I found when I returned to work on Tuesday.

Thankfully, we had some help getting it all down and rolled back up. (It's in the storeroom until we know about Ike... and hopefully we'll leave it there until Dec 1, the end of hurricane season.) We finished just in time for my 10 a.m. meeting with a donor family.

Catching up the week

Yikes, lest anyone think we're still in San Francisco, we're home!

I spent day four in sessions all morning, with the Certified Archivists business meeting in the evening followed by a reception. Bryan and I snuck away during the afternoon to hop the ferry to Alcatraz and take the audio tour. This is an impressive island, with many historical layers of construction. We climbed the hill to the cell block and actually it was smaller than I expected. The cells are only 5 feet x 9 feet and the two long sides are concrete - very claustraphobic. The audio tour includes the sounds and noises that were common while the prison was active, and the tour guide is a retired guard, with commentary from other former guides and inmates. I could do an entire, lengthy, post about all that we learned on Alcatraz. It's a "must-see" if you visit SF.

In the gift shop, there was a former inmate (1959-1963, for bank robbery) signing copies of his autobiography. (Of course I bought it!)

Friday morning we watched McCain announce the fantastic news that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be his running mate. It appears to have shocked everyone, but I was thrilled! I had noticed her a few weeks before in an article of possible women. She wasn't high on the "considered" list, but I thought she had everything McCain needed to get people excited about this election. You really couldn't hear me screaming from San Francisco?

I had arranged to meet a friend, Gerri, from 10-noon to visit before our section meeting. Gerri moved from San Antonio to Maryland last year. Traditionally we buddy up as roommates at conferences, but we haven't for the last two so we haven't caught up. She wanted to get out of the hotel, so we hopped a cab and rode to Golden Gate Park. The cabbie dropped us off at the DeYoung and we wanted to see the Pacific, so we started walking and talking. An hour later, we absolutely had to go back to the hotel, but were still deep in the Eucalyptus. So we called the cabby and left Bryan with the camera to find the Pacific, which he did and then he took the bus back.

Section meetings and sessions again all afternoon. Then Bryan and I headed out to the Oakland A's game by taking the BART underground. The stadium is nothing special to look at from the outside, and while older, still perfectly functional inside. We had fantastic seats in the bottom level, row 17. Unfortunately we appear to be a jinx to the MLB home team. The A's lost to the Twins 2-12. I shot a quick video of Jack Cust at bat (since his bobblehead was the giveaway that night) and he hit a homerun, bringing in the guy on 1st; their only score of the entire evening.

Saturday was a long travel day, and then we came home to an empty house, since Mom and Dad took the girls to SBR for the weekend. This was the first time we have been away from one of the girls on their birthday - even though we skipped the last day of sessions to fly home on Saturday for Brenna, she wasn't here! We'd just spent the last week walking all over SF, and Sat. we just sat on the plane, so we thought we'd get out and bike to our favorite place. We quickly discovered why you can't walk or bike comfortably in Houston. Humidity, Heat, and Mosquitos.

Got the girls on Sunday. Let Brenna open her presents on Monday. Went back to work Tuesday. Celebrated Cameron's 9th birthday. And here it is the end of another exhausting week. Brenna's birthday party is tomorrow afternoon.

So there - all caught up? If I ever upload the photos I'll be sure to post a link.