Riders on the Storm

We're going to ride this bitch out, the bitch named Rita. What a horrible name for a hurricane! Rita sounds like a chick you might catch a venereal disease from. (I apologize if your name is Rita, and I don't mean to imply you have VD.. but you might).

Looks like the worst is going to miss Houston, but it still isn't going to be pretty. We aren't in danger, whether from rising waters or wind. We've taken the necessary precautions, including stocking up on provisions and securing weaknesses in and around the house.

I'm afraid of the damage my house may take from flying debris and falling trees. Especially, the trees. Those tall, skinny, crappy kind you see in new subdivisions. They look like giant twigs, and I have a feeling they will snap like them, too. But it shouldn't be TOO bad, I think. Others aren't so lucky.

Our friend Chris lives in an evacuation area. He got out of there, and is staying with his parents in a part of Houston not too far from us. He will be fine, but as you can read for yourself, he's worried about his house. Maybe not as much the building itself, but the countless objects with emotional ties within it, (things that had to be left behind). All the links to the past that remind you where and what you have been through. The things that breathe fire into your mind and ignite the your memories to life.

We have two other friends fleeing the onslaught. They live near downtown, and there is a good chance their home will be flooded. They are staying with us during the storm, and I couldn't be happier. Nothing like good friends to see thru the bad shit with.

We even had a bit of a party last night, even Chris came by. We drank, played games, talked, and watched Rita bring her slutty ass in. (Slutty, because in the next 48 hours, she's going to blow millions of people. Houston 500 ain't nothing compared to ol' Rita). After a little more preparing this morning, we're about to start part two of the party.

Rita keeps on getting weaker. She started out strong, but then started to wimp out. Blowing millions of people is hard work, and she has to conserve energy if she wants to get all of them. Then again, I might eat my own words, and be slapped hard by some beaver tail.

I have to admit, I'm feeling good about staying, (so far). So many people on the road evacuating, many of them, not really needing to. This ends up making matter worse for those that actually need to leave the area. God only knows I wouldn't want to be in this shit on the side of the road, even if it was degraded to a tropical storm. And I know I wouldn't want to wait in a car without A/C in the horrible heat, staring at the gas gauge, hoping I can conserve enough gas until I get to where I am going.

Speaking of gas, Wednesday I made sure I had a full tank of gas in our car (in case we needed to leave town in a hurry). By the time the afternoon rolled around, many stations were sold out of gas, not to refuel until after the storm. My heart sank, though, I tried to stay calm. I was making my way back home when I saw a grocery store with gas pumps (that actually HAD gas). The line was insanely long, and I almost decided against staying. But as I was leaving, I saw there were multiple other lines, all shorter than the one I was in. Why people stayed in that line, instead of being more organized about it, is beyond me.

I waited and waited, turning my car off in intervals. Given the alternative, a thirty minute wait wasn't too bad. However, as I started looking around, I got VERY fucking angry. A few cars up, a guy was not only filling up his vehicle, but the king sized gas-powered generator in the back of his truck as well! Then I looked to my left and saw a HUMMER sitting in line. A little while later, I looked behind me and saw one of those mammoth RVs waiting for gas.

Why does this make me so sick? People are evacuating, and these assholes don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. I doubt that generator being filled up was for his mother's dialysis machine. I don't know how far that fucking Hummer thinks he is going to go in the bumper to bumper traffic that was stretching mind boggling lengths. And while an RV might be a nice convenience, now is not the time for a fucking vacation!

It makes me sad how impractical and oblivious some people can be. How screwed up their priorities can get, and how inconsiderate of their neighbors in a time of crisis they can be. You can see with your own eyes the lack of fuel in the area. You can see how many people are trying to fill up. But some people can't see (or care about) the problem of taking more resources for their luxury, while their neighbors need enough to survive.

At the time, we were still on the fence about leaving. Jules slowly started teetering towards leaving, while I was trying to convince her that we should stay. For a while, I thought I was loosing the battle. She was genuinely scared, the storm kept intensifying, and there were a lot of unknowns. Her logic was: why stay when there was little that could actually be done when the shit hit the fan? Why stay and be worried if you made a mistake, a mistake that might endanger you? Why go through this, and have to possibly be without power for days? Why not get out of Dodge while we could, and stay with her family?

My family and most of my friends live in Houston. I grew up here my whole life. I couldn't just leave, I felt like I was abandoning more than just my home. This isn't to say Jules doesn't have an attachment, too. And this isn't to say I didn't have my doubts, either. It was just a hard decision to make.

A lot of things were discussed and considered. We talked to many of the people we knew, and what their plans were. I think this whole process helped Jules. It helped to fill in some of the blanks, and settle her mind and nerves about staying, (and maybe myself, as well). Now looking at the path of the storm, it was good that we stayed put.

Now, we are just waiting and hoping for the best. I hope those still caught on the road find shelter soon. That they get to safety, wherever they are. I hope that they are as lucky as us, (and that we stay lucky ourselves). We'll brace for the worst, and hope for the best. Not sure what else can be done at this point.