blogging Hurricane Ike (part VIII)

So here is what has sorta been happening today since I last posted.

Intertwined with all of this are phone calls from friend; those of us who stayed and decided to hunker down. Also, replying to e-mails from concerned friends and family members and checking FaceBook.

11:00a.m. CDT - Started doing laundry for two reasons. 1) If I lose power, not sure when I would be able to do laundry again. 2) Need some clean clothes when Anderson Cooper arrives to interview me and Calvin.

11:20a.m. CDT - Decided to run over to Subway because earlier in the day I saw employees waiting to get in. When I stepped outside it was getting breezy and cloudy. Earlier in the day it was calm and sunny. This made me start singing It's Too Late...you know that line, "You were light and breezy and I knew just what to do."

Got to Subway and they were closed but I noticed that Quiznos and Texasadelphia were open so I went to Quiznos to grab my last meal a sandwich. Also noticed that the Shell station on Memorial Drive is out of gas.

11:45a.m. CDT - Took Calvin for a walk. Lots of people out walking their dogs. Noticed that DePelchin Children's Center had secured their picnic tables which had me concerned. PROJECTILES!

1:05p.m. CDT - Cleaned out the bottom of one of the closets in case I need to use it to hide from breaking windows. Did a Hunker Down Drill with Calvin. Had to bribe him with peanut butter. He didn't want to leave the closet.

1:45p.m. CDT - Filled up the bathtub with water but I'm not sure why. Somebody told me to do that so I did.

1:50p.m. CDT - Jessica Willey on KTRK Channel 13 interviewed a guy that had to be rescued from West Beach (Galveston). His name is Joe and Joe said, "That is a nasty fat storm. That pig is huge." I wonder if that pig wears lipstick? Joe also said that where Joe Cantore is that is where the most damage will be. BTW...Joe lost his Corvette and his shoes.

2:04p.m. CDT - Erik Barrajas showed up for work.

2:05p.m. CDT - Break in the clouds and the sun shined. Coincidence?

2:06p.m. CDT - Andy Cerrota is in Freeport.

2:07p.m. CDT - Still looking for Anderson Cooper.

2:15p.m. CDT - Put batteries in portable radio/cd player so that I can play showtunes if I lose power. Found an old Sony Sports Cassette player (remember cassette tapes?) that also has a tv band, radio band and weather band. It still works.

2:25p.m. CDT - Found a fortune cookie and opened it. Fortune for today is He who grabs the last lettuce wrap is the least hungry. Got hungry again and wondered if P.F. Changs is open. Doubt it. They have good lettuce wraps.

2:30p.m. CDT - Water is rising in Galveston Bay. Not a good sign.

2:50p.m. CDT - Saw taped footage of Jeff Ranieri on Galveston Island. He saw a snake that was coiled and guessed it was at least 10 feet. Then he said he saw a porcupine. The MSNBC anchor told him it was a rat. Wondered if Jeff has ever been to a zoo?

3:00p.m. CDT - Michael Chertoff, Director of Homeland Security says 100,000 homes will be damaged by flooding. Let's hope he is wrong.

3:10p.m. CDT - Calvin is still asleep.

blogging Hurricane Ike (part VII)

I ended up falling asleep on the couch with The Calvinator. Had some dreams about evacuating to my alma mater and listening to newscasts from Houston.

When I woke up I had a big fur ball hanging off of my right ear. Ah, the joys of having a furry puppy.

So what to do?

I went to Memorial Park for a 3 mile run. It was sort of eery because there were very few cars on Memorial Drive. Normally at 730a CDT on a Friday it would be crowded with people heading into downtown.

There were a few people at the park. Most of the faces were Saturday morning faces. We all know there ain't going to be any running going on tomorrow morning at the park.

There are some people that need to get a clue. You see...

Yesterday Mayor Bill White announced that the City of Houston would be closed on Friday. This means city departments/offices.

This morning at the park I counted at least 5 people who walked up to the Tennis Center and tried to get in. Uh...City of Houston includes Parks & Recreation. Why would you think the Tennis Center would be open? LOL

The office was closed and I expected that to be the case. What I didn't expect was The Kolache Factory to be open or Smoothie King. So I grabbed a kolache, some coffee and CLIF Bars.

I went over to Valero to get some bean dip (an essential item for me) and picked up some Rock Stars and Starbucks canned drinks. Valero had gasoline only because they received some this morning. They were out of ice and so was the liquor store. It looks like Subway on Memorial Drive is going to open. I saw the employees waiting to get in.

Ike may make landfall as a cat. 2 but still has the potential to be a cat. 3.

I've switched over to KTRK-Channel 13 for awhile. Andy Cerota called in from Surfside, TX. Some yahoo won't leave his house and law enforcement was trying to get him out and couldn't do it.

I'm waiting for Erik Barrajas to come on the telly. This is probably his first time to cover a major storm like this.

OK. Need to consolidate all of my batteries, candles, etc.

Phrases of the day: Stay safe

Shelter in place

Hunker down