Getting Prepared

So things just continue to be uncertain. A few things are good though. My grandmother had surgery yesterday but is doing well enough today to be out of the ICU and should go home this afternoon. Also R's family will be in town for the holiday weekend. And reservations have been finalized for our camping trip next weekend. Things were finally all falling into place and working out, BUT, (well of course there is a but, there is always a but, and this is one hell of a big but, sorry about that, the pun was not intended but it just fits) we now have to worry about Gustav. Have you heard about Gustav yet? Well he is a Tropical Storm who will soon develop into a Hurricane and has the potential to be pretty bad. He also has one of those foreign names that are kind of fun to say. You remember me talking about Edouardo from a couple of weeks ago right? Well apparently he didn't do a good enough job on the Gulf Coast so his big Brother Gustav is coming to try and finish things. And Gustav is pretty pissed. He might be starting out slow but he is making sure to hit everything he can along his path. He actually changed course just so he could skirt around Jamaica and dump enough rain on them to do some pretty good damage. And he is toying with us, because he is a very unpredictable storm. He could hit the Gulf Coast anywhere from Texas to Florida and that has everyone pretty worried. He might get enough protein from all those fish in the gulf to build up strength and be a Category 3 or 4 by the time he reaches land. And we do not know who pissed him off or where is is going. But so far most maps forecast that he will hit Louisiana, probably somewhere right around New Orleans, which could be devastating. Especially as slow as he is moving, he could bring all sorts of rain. Perhaps you heard about Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans? Yeah well in case you didn't know today is the 3 year anniversary of the day she hit NOLA. And honestly she was bad, but what really did people in was all the rains and the levees breaking and the flooding. NOLA has had 3 years to fix the levees and make them stronger so you would think they have it all under control by now, Right? Well, you would be wrong. There are still problems with the levees and the rain from Gustav could be absolutely devastating and ruin lots of lives all over again, some before they even finished rebuilding from Katrina. This makes me pretty sad because I like New Orleans, and I want the city to do well. I want everyone who received damage along the Gulf Coast from Katrina and her little sister Rita to be able to rebuild their lives. My family was lucky enough not to get any real damage from either of those storms, but I knew plenty of people who did. Gustav does make me worry though.

Take a look at this map and you will get a better idea of why:

The arrow pointing to Home is approximately in the middle of the two places I consider Home. I am originally from a little town just outside of Lafayette, Louisiana. I moved to Baton Rouge for College and that is where R owns a house. These two cities are only about 45 miles apart and they are separated by the Atchafalaya Basin which is a big swamp. Currently they are right in the path of the storm. While I know neither home will flood, I wonder about wind damage and power outages and traffic chaos. I am planning on going home for this Labor Day weekend because I would rather be with family who have generators and such rather than alone in Houston. Plus the storm could turn and come to Houston quite easily. They are already planning evacuations in NOLA and other parts of Louisiana if necessary. This could really hurt me trying to get back to Houston for work next week. But honestly I would rather be stuck at home with family. Then I was planning on going back home next weekend to go camping. I was going to go home on Wednesday night. I wonder if the storm will have passed by then and if they will even let me get back home to Baton Rouge. I cannot decide if it would be better for me to take a few extra days off and stay in LA or if it would be better for R to take the days off and come stay with me and we can leave for camping from Houston. Gustav is screwing up all my plans. It is also making rain for my vacation which I do not like, not one bit.

So I suppose I am just here to tell you that I might not post too much in the next week because I will be having fun with Gustav then hopefully having a good vacation. Do not worry about me too much, we are pretty well prepared. Just cross your fingers and do a little rain dance to make Gustav miss NOLA and keep my family safe. I really hope I have good traffic karma over the next week. I hope everyone is safe and sound.

P.S. I am really annoyed at Gustav because he made them move up the LSU football game from 4pm to 10am and it won't be on ESPN anymore it will be on ESPN Classic which is a channel we do not catch. And Baton Rouge takes LSU football seriously, that is why they moved the game, because they knew people would be going counter to the flow of evacuating traffic just to get to the game no matter what the weather. Because as they say, It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium!