HURRICANE KATRINA
Thursday, October 27, 2005.
The whole family has been sick for the last few days. Madeline evidently brought it home from daycare, and we all got some form of the plague. I got it the worst, and last night I ran a fever and thought that the chickens were out to get me. We don't even have chickens. Go figure.
This week has been pretty normal except for the bloodthirsty chickens. I've got the rest of the front yard at the street nearly totally clean. I need to put down some grass seed next spring. Yard of the Month it's not.
We've started putting out Halloween decorations, and on Saturday we're going to have a get together with friends and family for the kids to carve pumpkins. We're grilling burgers and renting a Spacewalk. Should be fun.
We got a check from the insurance company yesterday, and I was pretty surprised to see a check that fast. The problem is that according to the adjuster's report, we've got over $26,000 worth of losses, and the check the insurance company sent is for $132. There's definitely a disconnect somewhere. Of course, I haven't been able to get the insurance company to call me back, and there isn't any explanation in the envelope, just a check with a bunch of codes on it that don't mean anything to a human being. I'm sure that a computer somewhere understands what it means.
I suppose I should consider myself lucky that we don't have AllState insurance. They aren't sending out checks at all...
I have a suspicion that this one is supposed to be for personal property, because the mortgage company isn't on it. I expect that the damage check will be made out to the mortgage company and us, not just us. We'll have to see what happens in the coming days. I need to get a roof on the house as soon as possible, and if I can just get enough to do that and suffer the rest out of my own pocket, I'll consider myself lucky to have gotten off so cheap.
Heck, some folks haven't even seen an adjuster yet.
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Pictures of the day.
Helen sent me this one, with the following information:
Hurricane Rita was not funny, but if you prepare properly you can get through these storms with what is important. It's all about priorities....
Hurricane Survival Kit
Toilet Paper...........................................check
Bud Light..............................................check
Keystone Ice...........................................check
Budweiser..............................................check
Red Dog................................................check
Misc. other bottles of alcohol.........................check
Piece of plywood to float your old lady and booze on...check
Next time let's all be more prepared.
This is a little nicer than most folks are to looters. (From Florida)
In the Halloween spirit, this person has turned their ruined fridge into a coffin with the aid of a plastic skeleton. Very creative.
Haz-Mat Girls Gone Wild!
If you don't know why that's funny, ask an adult.
Just reminding myself to 1: Have a Car, 2: Get out before we have to stand in line for 3 days waiting for a bus with the rest of the people who weren't clever enough to follow rules 1 and 2. This is at I-10 and Causeway, not very far from where I work.
Now, here are some interesting pictures. I got these in an email just today. This is the pumping station at the lake, the day after Katrina. What you are looking at is the intake side. Notice that the water is flowing the wrong way because:
1. The pumps are off.
2. The backflow valves aren't closed.
You have three guesses as to who is to blame for this. The first two don't count.
The breech in the 17th Street Canal levee very soon after
it occurred.
There's something interesting to see.
Notice that the wall isn't' just knocked over. Look at both pictures, and you can see that part of the wall is still standing, but it's MOVED into the neighborhood. The levee didn't 'fail' by washing away, a section of it actually moved.
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Here's a good article: http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_4_new_orleans.html
It's kind of long, but well done and makes sense.
