...drkipper's Enterprises, Ltd...

...ikedate saga again...

9/21/08 04:47 pm - ...ikedate saga again...

Yesterday we got moved to my brother's house in League City. He has electricity. I now have a Verizon broadband aircard so no matter who or where we get moved to, I don't have to keep trying to redo the wireless connection. Also I have a new PC TV card so when we get back I can get news even if the cable is out. The room I am in was painted the day we arrived for use as my new nephew's nursery...he won't need it until sometime in November. I have a blowup bed and bought a sheetset today. There is a great fishtank and chuy is adjusting pretty well.

We didn't make it to the island today. Now we will try Monday. I am at peace with whatever I will find. If I got 6 in of water that means new sheetrock at least halfway up & flooring, new fridge, freezer, wine chillers, wii, ps3, couch, bed, almost all furniture, maybe new kitchen & bathroom cabinets, all new clothes, a loss of many books. Anything that was near the floor has to be thrown out when hit with that type of floodwater. All cloth in the house after this long will be mildewed & unsavagable. It's a chance for a huge new start with many new items...again.

25 years ago, I had a similar re-boot with Hurricane Alicia. 25 years ago I learned that stuff is just stuff. This will be much easier. Pictures are on saved computers, lessons learned are remembered.

Mom & Dad had to leave 2 cars & lost both. Todd & Dad's boats are both ruined. My pool & Dad's unfinished pools are trashed. We know all this without getting there yet. Insurance claims have been started & EVERYTHING was insured. Dad is even excited with getting a new car & boat already.

We are all in high spirits - we are all together & safe!

9/21/08 11:21 pm (UTC) - rminct

Your optimism is an inspiration! I'm glad the excitement over getting new stuff outweighs any sense of loss. You know what is important in life, your friends and family, and they are safe.

9/22/08 12:48 am (UTC) - swimjew

9/22/08 01:02 pm (UTC) - dr_kipper

You face this every year on a farm. My Dad grew up helping his uncles who were all farmers. Some years are great and some years are bad. But the work is the same either way and you have to have the same even temperament to survive.

We will try again today to get on the island, I talked to a police buddy of mine & he told me exactly what to say to get on. All we wanna do today is go look so we know how many crew to bring to get started on day one.

9/22/08 12:58 pm (UTC) - dr_kipper

Granted I am still scared to death at what I will find and all this bravery is theoretical so far... But even when I can name off things that I would be sure are ruined by 6 inches of water, I can't think of even one (or all) that would devastate me.

I have your 40th birthday present to me in a safe dry place well out of harms way; I moved it from the office where it's on my desk every day & put it way up high in the kitchen china cabinet - Things like that would be real losses, and I don't think I will have any of those.

9/21/08 11:24 pm (UTC) - czarrie

You know, if I want, I can find Jim Cantore and make him hurt.

Just saying.

9/22/08 01:11 pm (UTC) - dr_kipper

LOL. Actually, this is not all bad. Shaking things up to their very foundations & rearranging everything known is something most adults do not do once their lives are "set". This will make me reevaluate alot & it's brought my family back to a closeness we haven't had for awhile...all living our separate lives in different homes.

On a community level, The majority of the homes lost in Galveston to the water were older homes (not historical) that were not well maintained & not particularly well built. The ones that were, are still there. (Bolivar had no chance...it was simply wiped clean & I can't begin to fathom that level of pain & this statement does not apply to them). Galveston will rebuild better than it was because the best still remains and we can replace what should have been replaced piecemeal all at once now. That may sound callous, but it's one good thing to find out of what Jim Cantore has brought....lol

9/22/08 01:54 am (UTC) - oshkindt

Together & safe - that's the biggest thing. Hope the destructions are not so bad. Anyway starting from the scratch is not a bad idea.

9/22/08 01:24 pm (UTC) - dr_kipper

Nope. I have grand ideas on what I would do if I get to do it all over again. I never got to redo the bathrooms, this may be my chance. Several windows needed replacing before, now maybe I can get those as well. The pool deck was next on my list anyway, as well as a revamp of the AC systems.

Galveston itself gets to start with a relatively clean slate now as well. I am content with all the work being done infrastructure-wise to bring us back quickly. And the Bolivar peninsula to our east is a really clean slate.

9/22/08 04:07 am (UTC) - incu_jess

Thank heavens you were fortunate to have insurance! Road signs all around here keep saying Galveston Island Closed to the Public, so hope you can get on and see what happened! Keeping my fingers crossed!

9/22/08 01:34 pm (UTC) - dr_kipper

Living on Galveston without insurance is like scubadiving without an air tank.

I talked to my police buddy & I know what to say to get through the checkpoints today. All we wanna do is confirm what we have been told on M&D's & my personal homes & then leave. We aren't going to go look at any of their rental properties, my rental property, the office, their shopping center, their boats, etc. Others have had good access to those & reported back enough that we didn't want to be in the way of the amazing amounts of progress that they are making getting the infrastructure back up & running. (we might have power, sewer & water behind the seawall by wed!?) Before our crews start removing floors & fridges full of rotting food (ugh) we need to get whatever small CAN be saved out and take pics for the insurance guys...We ahve filed but they haven't called...it seems they might be a bit busy...lol

9/22/08 09:43 pm (UTC) - lakeguy

yeah for now it will be good just to look at what needs to be done and what needs to be replaced.. so you can at least start getting that stuff started.. I am sure it will be hard when you do get there but as you said before all the important stuff is saved..

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