We went to Scotland for a week in June and our friends Howard and Betty, 82, who are in our couples group at church went to England, Wales and Scotland the last two weeks of August so they could see Tattoo, which we missed since it only performs in late summer.
"How was the vacation?" "Oh it was wonderful!" Except. . .
Howard had his wallet stolen with their credit cards and cash early in the trip. People on the tour offered them money to tide them over, but they watched every penny, bought no souvenirs, and made do with the cash Betty had. His wallet was in a zippered leg pocket with a Velcro strip and he never felt the hand that took it until dinner.
Returning to the USA from Heathrow they boarded the plane to fly home, via Houston, and no one mentioned the Hurricane. They were told it was raining.
Theirs was the last plane in and then the airport was closed, and they had to find a hotel in a strange city because none of them would take the vouchers United provided.
Betty is being treated for a serious illness and had no more medicine left by the time they got to the US, and what she did have needed to be refrigerated.
When they finally found one by using Howard's I-pad to make a reservation and using the United van, it was a suite, with a refrigerator, but there were no cooking utensils or dishes. And there was no way to get food anyway, since they couldn't leave the hotel, and even if they could, everything was closed. The hotel experienced some leaking, but not in their room and it was on the second floor which was good because the elevator was no longer working. The hotel was still serving breakfast, which got smaller each day since no supplies were coming in.
Howard became extremely ill while they were in the hotel, and they had to go to the ER, in a strange city, with almost everything closed. Before the trip he had photocopied all their medical cards, credit cards, passport, etc.
Betty told the clerk at the desk, who had only been working a day or two their dilemma, and she knew of a hospital open in her neighborhood and offered to drive them there after her shift. (There are angels out there). Because he had the photocopies, he was able to get through the paper work even with having had his wallet stolen.
Howard was treated in the ER, and given a prescription for an antibiotic, but the city was on lock down after 8 p.m. to prevent looting and they couldn't get it filled.
Meanwhile their daughter got them reservations on the first flight out of Houston to Chicago when the rain and storm let up and they were able to get out of town 3 days sooner than what they thought.
Neither one is quite well yet, but for 82, that isn't bad.
But it was a wonderful trip, with enough stories to last a lifetime.
Showing posts with label Hurricane Harvey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hurricane Harvey. Show all posts
Sunday, October 01, 2017
Saturday, September 09, 2017
Irma, Harvey and Climate Change
Has climate change created fewer hurricanes? Something to think about. Things have been historically quiet since Katrina, when it was predicted that we were in for terrible storms. I’m watching TV with non-stop coverage, and they still don’t know where Irma will go even with deserted streets and hunkered down people who aren’t leaving. So why do these climate mystics and gurus think they know what will happen next month or next year or in 2030? We even have better technology, and drones, since 2005 and they still have computer models that look like a plate of spaghetti on the floor. They should look backwards. Last week I was walking on the shores of Lake Erie, the shoreline of 10,000 years ago on 6th street. Absolutely climate change exists.
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/despite-hurricanes-harvey-irma-science-has-no-idea-climate-change-causing
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/despite-hurricanes-harvey-irma-science-has-no-idea-climate-change-causing
“What ensued [after Katrina] was an historically unprecedented 12-year absence of major (category 3 or higher) hurricanes making landfall in the United States, until Harvey, which ties for 14th-most intense hurricane since 1851. The events after 2005 were “consistent with” some projections, but any other events would have been as well.The long absence of landfalling hurricanes also points to another problem when opinion writers connect GHGs [greenhouse gases] to extreme weather. Science needs to be concerned not only with conspicuous things that happened, but with things that conspicuously didn’t happen. Like the famous dog in the Sherlock Holmes story, the bark that doesn’t happen can be the most important of all.
It is natural to consider a hurricane a disruptive event that demands an explanation. It is much more difficult to imagine nice weather as a disruption to bad weather that somehow never happened.”
Monday, September 04, 2017
A Harvey rescue of a Chihuahua Rescue
Many people support the rescue services of specific dog breeds, especially when one breed becomes popular and then people lose interest and discover a Great Dane doesn't work well in a one bedroom apartment. I don't know the source of this photo, but it looks like this Good Sam has picked up a boat load from a Chihuahua Rescue. (Website of a California rescue.) There are some "deer heads" (like our little Abby), "apple heads" (sort of a pug nose), long hair, short hair, and mixed breed. All sizes. But bless this guy who apparently took them out of the rain and flooding--and I'm sure they are grateful, but shivering more than usual. In 2005 was blogging about Jinky The Hollywood Dog who was a long hair Chihuahua mix rescue with a lot of personality.
Sunday, September 03, 2017
It's what real men do; the Harvey hurricane and flood
This has gone viral. Can't find the original source. I've seen it combined with video of a redneck monster (huge tires) car pulling a submerged military vehicle out of the muck.
"Let this sink in for a minute.....Hundreds and hundreds of small boats pulled by countless pickups and SUVs from across the South are headed for Houston. ...Almost all of them driven by men. They're using their own property, sacrificing their own time, spending their own money, and risking their own lives for one reason: to help total strangers in desperate need.
Most of them are by themselves. Most are dressed like the redneck duck hunters and bass fisherman they are. Many are veterans. Most are wearing well-used gimme-hats, t-shirts, and jeans; and there's a preponderance of camo. Most are probably gun owners, and most probably voted for Trump.
These are the people the Left loves to hate, the ones Maddow mocks. The ones Maher and Olbermann just *know* they're so much better than.
These are The Quiet Ones. They don't wear masks and tear down statues. They don't, as a rule, march and demonstrate. And most have probably never been in a Whole Foods.
But they'll spend the next several days wading in cold, dirty water; dodging gators and water moccasins and fire ants; eating whatever meager rations are available; and sleeping wherever they can in dirty, damp clothes. Their reward is the tears and the hugs and the smiles from the terrified people they help. They'll deliver one boatload, and then go back for more.
When disaster strikes, it's what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they'll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they've never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.
And the next time they hear someone talk about "the patriarchy", or "male privilege", they'll snort, turn off the TV and go to bed.
In the meantime, they'll likely be up again before dawn. To do it again. Until the helpless are rescued. And the work's done.
They're unlikely to be reimbursed. There won't be medals. They won't care. They're heroes. And it's what they do."
"Let this sink in for a minute.....Hundreds and hundreds of small boats pulled by countless pickups and SUVs from across the South are headed for Houston. ...Almost all of them driven by men. They're using their own property, sacrificing their own time, spending their own money, and risking their own lives for one reason: to help total strangers in desperate need.
Most of them are by themselves. Most are dressed like the redneck duck hunters and bass fisherman they are. Many are veterans. Most are wearing well-used gimme-hats, t-shirts, and jeans; and there's a preponderance of camo. Most are probably gun owners, and most probably voted for Trump.
These are the people the Left loves to hate, the ones Maddow mocks. The ones Maher and Olbermann just *know* they're so much better than.
These are The Quiet Ones. They don't wear masks and tear down statues. They don't, as a rule, march and demonstrate. And most have probably never been in a Whole Foods.
But they'll spend the next several days wading in cold, dirty water; dodging gators and water moccasins and fire ants; eating whatever meager rations are available; and sleeping wherever they can in dirty, damp clothes. Their reward is the tears and the hugs and the smiles from the terrified people they help. They'll deliver one boatload, and then go back for more.
When disaster strikes, it's what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they'll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they've never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.
And the next time they hear someone talk about "the patriarchy", or "male privilege", they'll snort, turn off the TV and go to bed.
In the meantime, they'll likely be up again before dawn. To do it again. Until the helpless are rescued. And the work's done.
They're unlikely to be reimbursed. There won't be medals. They won't care. They're heroes. And it's what they do."
Saturday, September 02, 2017
Disaster reports by CRS
Congressional Research reports on national disasters the last 5 years (through Obama's second term) via beSpacific Research.
Although I look at her site every day, she is politically to the left in what she selects to show, although that seems to be the standard for government and civil liberties research. Still I always find something worth investigating further in her research. She keeps her editorializing at a minimum. All information, all library collections and all librarians have a filter, and that's where information restriction begins.
- Hurricane Harvey and Army Corps: Background for Flood Response and Recovery, CRS Insight, August 29, 2017
- Oil and Chemical Spills: Federal Emergency Response Framework, August 29, 2017
- Introduction to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), July 25, 2017 Federal Disaster Assistance Response and Recovery Programs: Brief Summaries, July 18, 2017
- Private Flood Insurance in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), CRS Insight, June 2, 2017
- Federal Disaster Assistance: The National Flood Insurance Program and Other Federal Disaster Assistance Programs Available to Individuals and Households After a Flood, April 6, 2017
- Major Disaster Assistance from the Disaster Relief Fund: State Profiles, March 29, 2017
- Dam Safety: Federal Programs and Authorities, CRS In Focus, February 23, 2017
- FEMA Disaster Housing: The Individuals and Households Program–Implementation and Potential Issues for Congress, September 2, 2016
- Congressional Primer on Responding to Major Disasters and Emergencies, May 19, 2015
- Deployable Federal Assets Supporting Domestic Disaster Response Operations: Summary and Considerations for Congress, May 13, 2015
- FEMA’s Disaster Declaration Process: A Primer, November 12, 2014
- FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund: Overview and Selected Issues, May 7, 2014
- FEMA Disaster Cost-Shares: Evolution and Analysis, April 4, 2013
- FY2013 Supplemental Funding for Disaster Relief, February 19, 2013
- Federal Involvement in Flood Response and Flood Infrastructure Repair: Storm Sandy Recovery, October 31, 2012
Although I look at her site every day, she is politically to the left in what she selects to show, although that seems to be the standard for government and civil liberties research. Still I always find something worth investigating further in her research. She keeps her editorializing at a minimum. All information, all library collections and all librarians have a filter, and that's where information restriction begins.
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