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

blogging Hurricane Ike (part VI) (cocktails)

Had this waiting for me in the inbox.

CONE OF UNCERTAINTY
1 oz. cinnamon schnapps
1 sugar cone
Pour the schnapps into the sugar cone. Every time you hear a TV weathermansay, "cone of uncertainty ," bite off the end of the cone and down the shot. Ifyou hear Jim Cantore say it, drink two shots consecutively.(they should change this to the "Cantore Zone"... dang him.Have you ever noticed that, despite all the cone of probability talk, if Cantore is parked in front of your house you are toast?)

FEEDER BAND
2 oz. Midori
2 oz. rum
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
After your home loses power, combine Midori and rum in a cocktail glass.
Add a scoop of the vanilla ice cream that is melting in your freezer.
Stir, and drink through a straw.

MANDATORY EVACUATION
1 1/2 oz. Absolute Ruby Red vodka
1/2 oz. vermouth
Clamato
Prune juice
Combine vodka and vermouth in cocktail glass. Fill remainder of glass with equalparts Clamato and prune juice. Stir. Drink. Ask next-door neighbor whose ficus tree blew over and crashed onto your roof -- even though you'd warned him for months to uproot it -- if you can use his bathroom. Repeat.

CATEGORY 5
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. tequila
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. gin
Sweet-and-sour mix
Splash of fruit juice
Combine vodka, tequila, rum, bourbon and gin in a tall glass.
Fill remainder of glass with sweet-and-sour mix and splash of juice.
Stir, then garnish with an inverted drink umbrella.
Drink during peak storm hours, and vow not to believe anyone who tries to tellyou the hurricane that flooded your garage and destroyed your shed was just a Category 1

BEACH EROSION
1 1/2 oz. Goldschlager
1 1/2 oz. apple brandy
1 pack Sugar in the Raw
Combine Goldschlager, apple brandy and sugar in cocktail glass.As you drink, seriously contemplate moving your Yankee backside back to NewJersey where it belongs.

DOWNED POWER LINE
1 1/2 oz. rum
5 oz. Jolt Cola
Combine ingredients in a cocktail glass.
Drink while trying to figure out how the heck you're supposed to go two freakin'weeks without TV and AC

FLOOD ZONE
2 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. Baileys Irish cream
4 oz. rum
Serve in a 6-ounce glass and laugh-cry deliriously as the mess spills all overthe counter top.

COLD SHOWER
2 oz. Blue Aftershock
4 oz. Sprite
Combine in a cocktail glass with crushed ice you received after waiting in line for three hours at a mall parking lot. Take a deep breath, sip and scream like a little girl when the cold beverage hits your tongue. Repeat.

LOOTERS WILL BE SHOT
1 oz. Jack Daniel's
Splash of sarsaparilla
Rock salt
Load both barrels of a shotgun with rock salt. Climb to the roof of your house with gun, bottle of Jack Daniel's and can of sarsaparilla.
Fill shot glass with Jack and splash of sarsaparilla.
Watch for looters.When you spot one, blast his backside with rock salt.Drink shot. Repeat.

THE CHAIN SAW
1 oz. Goldschlager
1 oz. Rumplemintz
3 oz. Jim Beam
Splash of vermouth
Combine Goldschlager, Rumplemintz and Jim Beam in an empty soup can.
Add splash of vermouth. Drink. Remove chain saw from garage and attempt to cutup fallen tree limbs in yard.
Ask neighbor to drive you to hospital when it all goes horribly wrong

FOUR-WAY STOP
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. vodka and Midori
1 1/2 oz. vodka and Galliano
1 1/2 oz. vodka and grenadine
Pour each ingredient into a separate shot glass.
Serve one to yourself and to three other people.
The person with the clear shot of vodka drinks first.
The person to his right drinks the Midori shot, and so on.
If somebody drinks out of order, develop a quick case of road rage and slap him silly

BLUE TARP
1 1/2 oz. Curacao
2 oz. pineapple juice
Splash of lime
Combine ingredients in a leaky paper cup and serve.
Wait six to eight months for someone to repair the cup.
If you're impatient, hire an unlicensed, out-of-state contractor to do the jobfor an exorbitant sum and pray he doesn't hurt himself in the process.

FEMA FIZZLE
1 oz. Southern Comfort
2 oz. sloe gin
Tonic water
One week after the storm has passed and your neighborhood is still in ruins with no sign of help on the way, combine Southern Comfort and gin in a cocktail glass.
Fill remainder with tonic and add a dash of Angostura bitters.
Serve with a nut brownie. Before drinking, raise the glass and say the toast,"Doing a helluva job, Brownie!"

blogging Hurricane Ike (part V)

Had a dream that my boss walked into the office and said the storm had changed direction and was heading toward New Orleans so everybody get back to work.

That woke me up at 354a CDT. Went to the living room to turn on the telly to see if the dream was true and it wasn't. Ike is still going to hit us. If Tina can take punches from Ike, so can we.

On the telly at this early hour are Lauren Freeman & Owen Conflenti along with Jonathan Novack at Channel 2: Your Education Station. Normally they're broadcasting at 500a CDT. Anthony Yanez is missing.

Speaking of missing people, where is Ryan Korsgard? Didn't see him on the 1000p CDT news last night.

I realized something a few minutes ago. Going to Ft. Worth isn't going to do much good because once Ike makes landfall and goes limp, his remnants will probably dowse the Ft. Worth-Dallas area.

OK. So, I'm wide awake. Should I do laundry? Go for a run? Try to go back to sleep? Too early to walk Calvin.

blogging Hurricane Ike (IV) (aka we are disaster worthy of Anderson Cooper)

Calvin and I returned to NoRO this evening. A group of us met at AttyHou's house to help him put away things that could become projectile and fly over the fence and land on me and Calvin.

I called Joe & Helen in Ft. Worth and told them that I am staying. I gave them my reasons why and reminded them of what happened during the evacuation of Hurricane Rita. You see...

As of 900p CDT, the contraflow lanes out of Houston have not been opened. News reports are saying that traffic is very heavy on I-10 west (going to San Antonio) and I-45 north (going toward Dallas). Been there. Done that. Not doing it again.

Also, in 2005 when The Calvinator and I left Houston, Rita was approaching Category 5 status. It later dropped to a three or so but to see a cat. 5 coming at you is quite disturbing...and then it turned.

I went to JAX for my last supper and did take-away. One of the local gas stations is already closed. Some restaurants were closed. To look at SOMA and Max's Wine Dive you'd never know we're waiting for a hurricane.

I've been checking my water supply. Trying to catch up on stuff and sorta wondering what's going to happen.

While I was watching last night's episode of Project Runway the phone rang and it was alnhouston. I answered, "Did you see Anderson Cooper?" because I knew that alnhouston was out running around town today and thought he had seen him. What I didn't know is that Anderson Cooper was on the telly broadcasting live from Houston! I am watching him right now and cannot figure out where he is in the city.

Calvin is ready for his Anderson Cooper close-up.

blogging Hurricane Ike (part III)

Calvin is here with me at the office. The schedule at the groomer was a bit askew and I needed to meet with my boss today. She is cool with him being here. We came to the conclusion that he needs some diversity training.

Received a call from New Orleans Lisa (NOL). They are getting the outerbands already. It has been intermittently cloudy and windy in NOLA. We are seeing something similar but not to the extent that NOL is seeing it.

She asked if I was going to evacuate and I told her that at this point it is too late. Please remember, Houston is the U.S. 4th largest city. We proved in 2005 that a mass evacuation can actually be more dangerous than sheltering in place. NOL and I both agreed that this storm can turn at the last minute and completely miss Houston-Galveston. That's what I keep telling myself.

The maintenance guys have found the plywood to board some of the windows & doors here at our building. A guy is arriving in a bit to cut down a tree that has the potential of falling over and landing on one of our buildings.

I was asked if the houses are stable enough to withstand wind gusts of up to 100 mph. These structures have been around for a long time. I'm sure they'll be OK.

Will be heading home in a bit so that I can get caught up in the media frenzy on the telly. Will be looking for Jeff Ranieri, Sam Champion and Jim Cantori to make an appearance in Houston to cover Ike.

blogging Hurricane Ike (part II)

So I just returned from a quick jaunt to Walgreen's on Almeda & Southmore. Finally found out where the Buffalo Soldiers Museum is located. Will have to visit some time.

Anywho. Bunch of people at Walgreen's but not a mob scene. Further down the street at the Chevron station it was a mob scene.

I had to cross over Hwy 288 and traffic is crawling north. These are the folks coming out of Brazoria County.

In case you're wondering why folks are filing up with gas, here is my thought process. If the electricity goes out, those gas pumps aren't going to work. So if you do want to leave after the storm, let's say you have no electricity or water for days and you want to leave town, you won't be able to get any gas. Just ask Brettcajun about the lack of utilities due to a hurricane.