Hey Goodman- You ok?

[chrisprickett]

With Katrina bearing down on your neck of the woods, are you safe?

[Brian G]

Pretty safe, thanks. I'm way inland, about 2/3rds of the way up the state. We could still have tornados and/or flooding, but it's bound to lose a lot of steam by the time it gets here.

I can't help thinking about Hurricane Camille though, back in the 60's somewhere (was I born yet?). It came along the same sort of path right up the state, did a helluva lot of damage and killed more than a few. Part of the reason for the high body count was the idiots who held hurricane parties at or just above the coast. Natural selection at work. [:-dunce]

This thing could be incredibly devasting to the coast, especially low-lying New Orleans. If I lived there I'd be on the move.

Brian G.

Praying for Those More in Harm's Way

[hausdok]

They were saying on the news today that a lot of the deaths during Camille were because the idiots who hung around and had hurricane parties were competing for dry ground with a whole lot of poisonous snakes. Sounds like fun!

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Paul MacLean]

I worked for the American Plywood Assn in 1969 out of Houston. APA sent a team into Biloxi and surrounds following Camille to access plywood performance during the storm. The pictures I saw showed total devastation. Of course APA liked to slow the slides of an entire roof sheathed with plywood still intact - the rest of the house was gone put the roof stayed together.

Brian and Scott are in for a good blow and lots of water. Best of luck to you both!

[Scottpat]

I am in the center of the state and they are projecting winds around 100 MPH later on in the day. Right now it just a little breeze outside with a few sprinkles, the eye of the storm is still 200 miles away. It should be a CAT 2 by the time it reaches me and a Tropical Storm or CAT 1 by the time it gets to Brian.

I just heard that the glass atrium at the N.O. Hilton (big hotel on the River Walk in NO)has collapsed. Part of the Supper Dome roof has been blown off and about 6-10 feet of water is in the downtown area of NO.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Scottpat

Part of the Supper Dome roof has been blown off....

Dammit! I really liked eating at the Supper Dome too... [:-dev3][][:-dev3]

Brian G.

Gimme a Heapin' Plate of Saints Football, Anytime [:-footbal

[Brian G]

It was a dark and stormy night...

Boy was it ever. We lost power several times and cable went out early and never came back. We lost half a dozen trees on our property and a couple of big ones fell over from the neighbors side. Two were blocking our shared driveway, but sometime in the wee hours they were cleared out by somebody with heavy equipment (had to be the county or the local power company). Power was on and cable restored when I got up this morning. How's that for service?!

There are messes to be dealt with, but all is well in Bri-Land. Best wishes to those with bigger problems.

Brian G.

The Chain Saw Kid [:-cyclops

[Les]

I don't care about you -how did the kid's mobile home do? I would not want to lose that wall covering!

[Brian G]

As I told President Bush this morning, the historic wallcoverings are unharmed. [^]

Your deep concerns for my personal safety are touching Les. [%|] []

Brian G.

President-for-Life of Bri-Land [:-tophat]

[Brian G]

Update:

Gawd, cutting firewood in August in MS isn't a lot fun. Now I remember why I wanted out of the manual labor market, skilled or not. [:-crazy]

My neighbor down the driveway came by while we cutting some of the stuff up. He told me the trees were cut and moved out of the way by a dirt contractor who lives about 1/2 mile down the road. He took his crew and lit out down the road at 6 this morning with a front-end loader, a backhoe, and a few big chain-saws, looking for people who needed help. He gets a dinner invitation or something when the dust settles from all of this. I love Mississippi.

I haven't seen a lot of footage today, but what I've seen looks terrible. It's our nature to take for granted how absurdly lucky we all are, to have so much and live so well in a world where so many have very little, until something like this comes along to remind us. What do you do when it's all suddenly gone overnight? Nothing left but what you ran away with, just gone. God help them carry on.

Brian G.

[kurt]

True words. It's very, very, VERY bad for a lot of folks right now. If you've ever seen what flood damage is, you know it's the worst of the worst.

Then again, there's those that didn't even make it through to this morning. Makes me sit still for a while & count my blessings.

[charlieb]

Update for the crossroads of the south (Jackson, MS)

Most of the city is without power. The local elec provider states almost all of their customers in central MS are without power. Hattiesburg & south is much worse. The infrastructure is gone. No roads, power lines, cell service etc. The news showed a casino (4-5 story) boat in a parking lot a ways inland. People were waiting up to 4 hours at one of the few gas stations. It was more like 1 or 2 hours at most places. I spoke to folks who had been waiting in line for 8 hours for a chance for a generator. Two of the three local (to me)Super Walmarts were open limited hours and only had water, ice and batteries for sale.

Camille is pailed by comparison. I for one am blessed. 25 gallon of gas in the garage (over $100 for that and my truck, a full tank to siphon out of the car, plenty food and water and my family is safe. I lost one of my two favorite trees on the lot. A huge Elm origonal to my wooded subdivision. I grabbed on of the four window A/C units Sams had.

My family and I went out today to help clean up our church school. It was gratifing to serve in some way.. Our generator has been passed around to friends to "pull down" their freezers. But tomorrow we are for hire! You cannot inspect well without lights so we get to work the area and help others. For a fee![:-slaphap

[Garcha]

Brian,

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Garcha

Brian,

Yeah?

Brian G.

I Hate These Long, Wandering Conversations [:-slaphap

[Brian G]

Wanna make a lotta money fast? Bring a tanker of regular unleaded down here, you can get a small fortune for it. On-hand supplies are running out all over, and I mean within 100 miles of here that I know of.

I talked briefly to my best friend who now lives down in Meridian (90 miles south). The eye passed much closer to them than us and kicked the crap out of the place. Nobody has power, water and phones are spotty, and they aren't sure when any of it will be back up. Hopefully days, not weeks. His Mom lives in Biloxi, but took a sudden interest in visiting north Florida last weekend. Her house survived with only marginal damage. Wow...that's luck.

I was watching the news this evening when a reporter interviewed some of the remaining residents of New Orleans on an empty interstate. They howled about how no one was doing anything for them, but the whole world would run right down to Florida whenever they got hit. The reporter lamented that no one was there to tell them where to go. I think I can help there... [:-irked]

Brian G.

Here's a Frickin' Clue...South and East are Poor Choices [:-dunce]

[Steven Hockstein]

We are always the first country to reach into our pockets, run, and help out everyone else around the world.

With a few exceptions, the silence of help from around the world is very obvious to me.

Brian, glad you are ok!

[hausdok]

Yeah,

I noticed that too. I think I heard some discussion of it last night. I had the set on in the living room and could hear it from my office. I think it was The O'Reilly Factor, Neil Cavutto or some show like that, and the guest commentator, who I seem to recall had a British accent, was commenting on how the overseas press, particularly the French, were saying that it's all the fault of global warming and we got what we deserved for not signing the Kyoto treaty. When I heard that, I paused and thought, "Uh huh. So, it's nature when it's someone else, but global warming and we must be at fault if it's us? Hmmm. Yeah, so what? Who needs their friggin help anyway? However, it would be nice if they at least offered to help and gave us the opportunity to graciously turn them down."

I've spent about 20% of my life overseas living and traveling in foreign countries. We had unleaded gasoline in the US going way back to 1970, but you couldn't get it in Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland or any of the eastern European countries, Russia, the Philippines or Korea until the late 90's. I had to re-tune my engines and remove catalytic converters on my cars three different times while in the military. Seems like everyone else was a tad late getting on board with that one, but we're to blame.

I read somewhere once that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to smog and greenhouse gases. If that's true, the French alone could peg the meter, let along the Chinese, where Chinese men seem to think that cigarettes are part of one's extremities.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[chrisprickett]

It was a German guy (interior minister, I think) not a French guy.

[Les]

Brian, do you know if any inspectors need ANYTHING at all? I believe we should take care of our "family" first and would be honored to be of any assistance.*

*NO you can't sleep in my hotel room in Ft Lauderdale or Vegas!

[Scottpat]

Hi all!

Yep, it is real bad in the Deep South. My wife was saying she felt guilty that we only lost power, shingles, and a tree. I told her not to feel guilty but fortunate!

On a side note about the gas shortage. I have canceled my appointments for the rest of this week and next week as I can not be assured of being able to get gas. I have heard that the gas shortage should get better. I have almost decided to scale down in size from an F-150 to a Vespa!

[charlieb]

Like Scott said----GAS! If any one has a connection I have the means to transport (legally) and store about 10,000 gallons. We need fuel to run trucks, clear roads, inspect pipelines (must be done before they can be used again). One tanker would make a world of difference. No charity just sell us some fuel. I have one client begging for 800 gallons of diesel fuel to run generators. I looked as far as Texas but no one has it to sell

Charlie Sessums

601-937-4142

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Les

Brian, do you know if any inspectors need ANYTHING at all? I believe we should take care of our "family" first and would be honored to be of any assistance.

Not that I know of Les, but all of the truly rough stuff is well south of here. Columbus was very lucky. If there are any such bretheren in need Scott or Charlie would be far more likely to know about it. Thanks anyway.

Strangely enough I'm getting a nice little spurt of business right now. It won't be long-lived if some gas doesn't show up soon though.

*NO you can't sleep in my hotel room in Ft Lauderdale or Vegas!

Com'on Les, be a brother! I won't snore, I promise. [:-yawn]

Brian G.

Wondering If My Truck Can Run on Really "Natural" Gas [:-yuck]