- Dec 28, 2000
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An on the scene report from ODwire.org Member Dr Allan Panzer...
"Been through lots of storms living all my life in Houston. Been a while since one got a direct hit on us. Really wasn't too bad. That translates to a lot of wind, not too very much rain. Rain is something you get used to in Houston. This was 5-10 inches and didn't even fill up the street in front of the house.
On the other hand, it came down sideways and did get through my front windows. I was fortunately awake hearing the pitter patter of little drops on the window sill and put some towels down.
I had my tree in the front yard and back yard trimmed two weeks ago, so I only had to contend with the neighbors leaves in my yard.
Power going out was a bit of a hassle ...it went out the night of the storm, so being awake was no big deal. It was the next night without power that was a bit of a difficulty.
The first morning after the storm I went to the office...no power. Down the walkway the guys at the health food place had a refrigerator truck full of food that they needed to get rid of...no gasoline to refuel the truck with. So, I called Fox news and offered to bring food...they were a bit perplexed, but thought it had to be better than peanut butter and jelly and granola bars. So off we all went to the TV station to deliver food to the workers...
I'll probably get some additional stories about my office after that bit of genius.
As some of you might or might not know, I have severe sleep apnea..yep, without my machine, I sort of die! (literally, not figuratively) and so I never go "camping".
So, to get power, I got an "inverter" from a friend and slept in my daughter's Ford Exploder...93 degrees is what the gage said it was outside...probably a tad warmer inside...but you got to breathe. Slept about two hours at a time...finally gave up at 7:00am and went out to survey the damage.
I had parked the other two cars in an office building garage. Keep that in mind if you ever endure the torrential rain we do here...lots of folks with the same idea.
So off I go in the exploder...kind of quiet the morning after the "big" one.
Darned if the first corner what do I see.......A doughnut shop open!
Apparently the light company wanted doughnuts...( Amazingly, there wasn't anyone there but ten employees..they knew what was coming.
So, I grab a quick dozen and go home....I thought, now, I know something no one else knows..well, for a while. Word about doughnuts travels fast and I think that there is probably still a line out the door..they were cooking and selling as fast as was humanly possible. I told George the owner that this was surely as close to Xmas as it came for a shop owner.
Once again, I called Fox and asked if they wanted Doughnuts...pretty shocked, they said..its you again..
Back I went, but this time, there was a huge line...someone had let the cat out of the bag! Darn!
So, I took four dozen to the station...I really think that they like me even more now..
That afternoon, we decided that another night sleeping in the car might not be that good...so off we went to beautiful downtown Lockhart Texas...got a room at the world famous Plum Creek Inn....their specialty it seems is a shower without hot water...if you like a refreshing morning, you'll want to frequent the Plum Creek...but they did have air conditioning and best of all...wireless internet!
For one night...it was fine.
Today...got a call at three o'clock that the power was back on...so much as I enjoy ice cold showers...I somehow found my way back to Houston.
Hit a bottleneck and so I asked my GPS for a back way...uuuuugggghhhhh!
Got home and forgot that there was now a Curfew in the Big H...so a quick trip to anywhere was a waste of time....Back home to actually prepare food. What a novel idea????
And so now you have heard the whole story...not much of it is there.
Tomorrow...well, we can just hope that they get my electricity working at the office. Dow Down 500 points today...but Houston will lose even more.
Apparently according to Gov "Good Hair" Rick Perry...Houston contributes a mere 10% of the State's entire income...so Houston without power is not good for the economy. And he seems to think (silly politician) that what's bad for Houston, is in turn bad for the whole country...we'll see...
Good night everyone out there who was kind enough to call and see if I was alive or dead...
I am still alive, but I am not sure just how much bad news the practice can take. If you see the Fox news with an Optometrist on the corner with a sign..
"Will check eyes for Food" and of course the obligatory..."G-d Bless"...you'll know it aint so good in Houston.
Never short on words...
Allan"
Thank you for the update Allan. Our thoughts are with you.
"Been through lots of storms living all my life in Houston. Been a while since one got a direct hit on us. Really wasn't too bad. That translates to a lot of wind, not too very much rain. Rain is something you get used to in Houston. This was 5-10 inches and didn't even fill up the street in front of the house.
On the other hand, it came down sideways and did get through my front windows. I was fortunately awake hearing the pitter patter of little drops on the window sill and put some towels down.
I had my tree in the front yard and back yard trimmed two weeks ago, so I only had to contend with the neighbors leaves in my yard.
Power going out was a bit of a hassle ...it went out the night of the storm, so being awake was no big deal. It was the next night without power that was a bit of a difficulty.
The first morning after the storm I went to the office...no power. Down the walkway the guys at the health food place had a refrigerator truck full of food that they needed to get rid of...no gasoline to refuel the truck with. So, I called Fox news and offered to bring food...they were a bit perplexed, but thought it had to be better than peanut butter and jelly and granola bars. So off we all went to the TV station to deliver food to the workers...
I'll probably get some additional stories about my office after that bit of genius.
As some of you might or might not know, I have severe sleep apnea..yep, without my machine, I sort of die! (literally, not figuratively) and so I never go "camping".
So, to get power, I got an "inverter" from a friend and slept in my daughter's Ford Exploder...93 degrees is what the gage said it was outside...probably a tad warmer inside...but you got to breathe. Slept about two hours at a time...finally gave up at 7:00am and went out to survey the damage.
I had parked the other two cars in an office building garage. Keep that in mind if you ever endure the torrential rain we do here...lots of folks with the same idea.
So off I go in the exploder...kind of quiet the morning after the "big" one.
Darned if the first corner what do I see.......A doughnut shop open!
Apparently the light company wanted doughnuts...( Amazingly, there wasn't anyone there but ten employees..they knew what was coming.
So, I grab a quick dozen and go home....I thought, now, I know something no one else knows..well, for a while. Word about doughnuts travels fast and I think that there is probably still a line out the door..they were cooking and selling as fast as was humanly possible. I told George the owner that this was surely as close to Xmas as it came for a shop owner.
Once again, I called Fox and asked if they wanted Doughnuts...pretty shocked, they said..its you again..
Back I went, but this time, there was a huge line...someone had let the cat out of the bag! Darn!
So, I took four dozen to the station...I really think that they like me even more now..
That afternoon, we decided that another night sleeping in the car might not be that good...so off we went to beautiful downtown Lockhart Texas...got a room at the world famous Plum Creek Inn....their specialty it seems is a shower without hot water...if you like a refreshing morning, you'll want to frequent the Plum Creek...but they did have air conditioning and best of all...wireless internet!
For one night...it was fine.
Today...got a call at three o'clock that the power was back on...so much as I enjoy ice cold showers...I somehow found my way back to Houston.
Hit a bottleneck and so I asked my GPS for a back way...uuuuugggghhhhh!
Got home and forgot that there was now a Curfew in the Big H...so a quick trip to anywhere was a waste of time....Back home to actually prepare food. What a novel idea????
And so now you have heard the whole story...not much of it is there.
Tomorrow...well, we can just hope that they get my electricity working at the office. Dow Down 500 points today...but Houston will lose even more.
Apparently according to Gov "Good Hair" Rick Perry...Houston contributes a mere 10% of the State's entire income...so Houston without power is not good for the economy. And he seems to think (silly politician) that what's bad for Houston, is in turn bad for the whole country...we'll see...
Good night everyone out there who was kind enough to call and see if I was alive or dead...
I am still alive, but I am not sure just how much bad news the practice can take. If you see the Fox news with an Optometrist on the corner with a sign..
"Will check eyes for Food" and of course the obligatory..."G-d Bless"...you'll know it aint so good in Houston.
Never short on words...
Allan"
Thank you for the update Allan. Our thoughts are with you.