One week ago, I was making the last preparations for Hurricane Ike. Looking back, I think I did ok. I should have bought more batteries for the radio and flashlight. I should have bought some bags of ice. Not filling up the car didn’t have any consequences. I still have water from last week and though I lost what was in the fridge and I could eat up all of the humus I made before it went bad, I’ve been ok food-wise.
Losing power for this long and all of the generator drama were not things I had anticipated. But now, the generator has been running fine and even the neighbors across the street have hooked up as of this afternoon (they had left and just came back).
On one hand, I’m not yet mentally prepared to go back to work, but on the other hand, going back to work may help me feel a little more certain about all this uncertainty in life right now.
I can’t wait until everything is back to normal. In the meantime, I’ll keep making do. The pups are a great source of help, security and joy.
calle viena 
Finally got the Internets back here! See ya tomorrow!
YaY!
My laptop died and I was offline for a few days- wow, I’m really dependent on this thing.
Are the outside cats OK?
The generator neighbor sounds a little scary – if the dogs are talking to him he may be schizophrenic (auditory hallucinations and paranoia are common symptoms -I’d be paranoid too if I heard voices that other people “pretended” not to). I’d be polite, but not too familiar. I had an acquaintence who was schizophrenic, she was very isolated and sad, not dangerous at all -but you should be careful.
I was wondering what had happened to you! Sorry about your laptop. I burned out a motherboard and had to get a new one just in August. I feel like my laptop is my right arm — talk about dependent . . .
The outside kittens are great. At around 4 a.m., when the winds were strongest and I had been pacing for hours, I heard one of them. I went to the side door and opened it. (Dumb thing to do in hindsight.) She was under the house and wouldn’t come out and get in the utility room. The other one jumped off the neighbor’s roof onto the fence in the raging wind, but he wouldn’t come in either. After the store had passed, I went out looking for them and they came out from around the garage. I still can’t believe they both made it.
I haven’t interacted with the generator-neighbor since Thursday. I hadn’t thought about it, but your description seems to fit given my limited but intense dealings with him. I’ve got two neighbors plugged into my generator and no problems at all — except that the damned thing is loud as hell.
And another update on your godpuppy — he is no worse for wear — just happy yappy sometimes very sleepy puppy boy. I need to get some more pics up of him so you can see what a handsome boy he is growing into!
My outside cats (Guinness, Houdini and Kim Chee) come up on the porch for lovin’ and look in the open door, but refuse to actually cross the threshold no matter how I coax them. We’ll see what happens when the snow starts.
ANy damage to the house of garden, or did you come through completely intact? Funny how fast Ike disappeared from the national news. Have you heard the financial system is in meltdown despite deregulation? Who ever wuld have predicted such a thing? Has to be Clinton’s fault.
Junebug — the little girl outside cat can get in through a hole in the utility room. Before the storm, she used to come inside so often that I worried that she might surprise one of the dogs and . . . it would be bad. I think she would have come in but for the water. I hope yours will come in out of the cold.
My little Orchid tree in the front yard may not make it. It’s a beautiful tree and I will do what I can to save it. (The insurance adjuster had his doubts this morning.) The roof is toast and I had a couple of leaks. The return air on the A/C fell out down along with part of the ceiling, and the ceiling is falling in my bedroom. The garage lost part of its tin roof.
The power is still off and the generator is getting to me tonight for some reason. My neighbor wants to watch tv until late but doesn’t want to turn off the generator when he’s done. He suggested that we just let it run until itis out of gas. I’m going to try to stay up until about 2 am and then go shut it off. I’ve been up since 6 this morning, so I hope I can make it.
Sorry for the rant, it’s been a difficult day on top of a difficult week — today seems to have been my breaking point.
As far as the local media — it’s still all Ike all the time. From what little tv I’ve watched, the local stations are still focusing on Ike and the aftermath.
I check memeorandum and have been following the financial stuff. I also comment on the Houston Chronicle blog — the DC journo’s blog — and have been trying to beat back the idiots who resent that people have been getting food ice and water for free while not even batting an eye at the money the feds are throwing at private companies.
I even heard Gov. Perry complain about people driving past open grocery stores to get FEMA ice and water. Living in a state run mostly (but not completely) by Republicans can test one’s patience. Thankfully, I live in Houston and Mayor White (a Democrat) is really pushing the power companies and FEMA and the country.
I hope things get back to normal or something like it soon.