Interesting Times

I'm saying that a lot lately. For years I've seen people in natural disasters waiting in line for water, ice, gas and I've always thought to myself that you must need it pretty bad to be sitting in those lines for hours. What I have discovered is that it's not that you need it right now, it's that you may need it tomorrow or somewhere down the line. Survival instincts kick in and waiting in line seems a small price to pay for a case of water that you may desperately need in a week or two. Another reason one doesn't mind waiting in line is that there is absolutely nothing else left to do. It's too hot to crochet, too hot to attempt to practice to knit, too hot to cross stitch, too hot to read, no tv. It's just too flippin' hot period. So waiting in line is something to do that gets you out of the house. It also puts you near people who may know something you don't.

Our county emergency commission is crap. It's been 3 or 4 days since Ivan hit our area and they can't seem to get information out to the people of this county. It's messed up. We managed to get home from Panama City the Thursday afternoon after the storm. We have been able to get back and forth to the county next to us. No one can convince me that all our county commissioners are trapped in the same area of the county with no communciation, trees blocking the doors to their homes. Our local radio station has thought that it is more important to play U2 songs and run commercials instead of giving out a constant stream of info. Apparently they are under the delusion that we all are listening to them and have nothing else to do. Yet they refer to this as the continuing coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan. It's a joke. There are no functioning gas stations in our whole county. People in my county have to carefully plan their trips over to Ft Walton Beach. If we had some decent information from local authorities it might help us make those decisions. Do I use the gas in my car to sit in line for ice or do I drive over to Ft Walton Beach and find a gas station and buy ice? Maybe if someone would tell us what's open, where things are available it might help. You hear about areas north of us in the county but nothing in our part of the county. We haven't seen a newspaper since Wednesday. We did attempt to purchase a paper at a local convenient store while on a run to Ft Walton Beach on Saturday, the dates had been cut off the papers and customers were buying them thinking they were new papers. I'm not kidding. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that I had bought those exact same two papers on Wednesday and recognized theh headlines. Someone took an exacto knife and cut the strip of the paper with the date on it off the front page of the paper. That is messed up!

Line Cutters

Ok this is to the person in the corvette, when you pull up to a gas station and you see a long line of cars, just because you are turning left into the gas station and not right does not mean that you get to go to the head of the line. You must drive your sorry ass to the end of the line and make a U-turn and get into the line. YOU HAVE TO WAIT JUST LIKE THE REST OF US! Yes, I'm talking to you. You cannot cut line because you think you are smarter than us. Nope, you are not a VIP you are a someone who needs gas just like the rest of us and your needs are not any more important than the rest of ours are.

Also, when someone lets someone out of a side road in the middle of a long line it's not to let you into the line in front of everyone, it's because you led them to believe you were crossing the highway or making a left hand turn. Yes, "we know you" you are a sorry ass line cutter. What were you thinking, if I loop around this way and come out the side road near the front of the line it's ok for me to cut in front of people who have been waiting two hours for gas? Are you flippin' nuts? Take your butt to the back of the line and wait your turn. You are not special, your needs are no more important than the rest of ours.

These are the people that create bad scenes during these hard times. People who think they are special, people who think they are smarter than everyone else. Everyone else is getting along, waiting their turn. It's damn hot but hey we are waiting, why do you have to come along and push buttons, intentionally get people riled up? It makes no sense whatsoever. Just wait your turn, go to the back of the line. Other people aren't the jerks, you are. We're working hard to get along, not piss each other off, but nope you come along and jump line, then people get upset.

Oh and to the backerupper, when someone tells you what gas pump to use, use that one. Don't back up into another pump heading in the wrong direction because you just don't want to use that other pump. You screwed up the line. You were supposed to use pump 2, heading forward, not pump 8 backing in. Why the heck do you think people are there to tell you what pump to use? Do you think they like standing in the heat telling us all which way the lines flow? Because you are an idiot you backed up the line for another 15 minutes, because they had to then get you out of the parking lot but you were facing the wrong way because you backed in! Was it that horrible to wait for the lady at pump 8 to finish like the man told you to do? Did you have to get gas that fast, I mean they said it wasn't running out? Good grief man! Don't be a backer-upper, it just messes the whole system up. Use your brain.

Thanks to DH's Employers...

We now have a borrowed generator. It's working great and GO BRIGGS & STRATTON! My next big purchase is one of these bad boys. It's been so nice to be able to connect again. In this day and age of instant info to be utterly cut off is disconcerting to say the least. I mean we went for several days with no information at all. As neighbors started heading back home we'd hear news like Hurricane Ivan is making a U turn. Surely that's a joke? Also heard that Karl may be headed this way.

Heads Up Local Radio Station:

If people don't have power they can't go to websites. It's useless, take a few minutes and read the updates. Why does that cause you all such a problem. Sure it's not Outkast but we need the flippin' information. We don't have power, give us the info!

Blessed

I do know that my family is blessed and the above rants are little things. We have our home, we have each other and we have the things we need. We are so lucky. So many people lost everything.

When you live along the coast this is the price you pay. I fully expected to come home to nothing after hearing how bad our area was hit. To come home to a house without one shingle missing, no windows broken, loss of power seems minimal.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. This has been a rough time but fortunately not as bad as it could have been.