Tired of the Water Now..

But it ain't going away. Now it seems my folks are going to get flooded a second time.
I've talked to some people and made it more clear that I really really need to go. I must have gotten the right person because it is more possible now, though still contingent on getting proper housing for the kid.

The kid is excited about tomorrow being the last day of school. I remember the joy of the last day of school. I could use some of that now.

My day at work was weirdly bi-polar too. I had a personnel issue to deal with before I even got into the office, and then when I got back someone flagged me down and made me take free food and eat cake. I like a bit of cake. I ended up getting home late but due to free sliced roast beef (sorry Laurie!), free swiss cheese, free hoagie buns, free lettuce, and free other stuff; I had a reasonably appealing meal on the table in 10 minutes! Just put the meat on buns, real cheese on Jake's, fake cheese on mine, put under broiler, tear up lettuce, add dressing, get the sliced watermelon out of the fridge, pull the melted sandwiches out of the oven and voila.
Honestly, I was impressed and very very grateful for the free food (I didn't bring any cake home...that seemed like a bit much and my cooler was full of the slightly less unhealthy crap).

So, the flood. I can't imagine how emotionally wrung out my sister, father and everyone there must be and now they have to watch the water come up AGAIN. Not as high as before but still. These people won't be having "post" traumatic stress, they will be having "mid-trauma-traumatic" stress. Parkersburg and New Hartford just had people killed in tornadoes that took out much of their housing base. Now they are flooded. I just read that New Hartford is having evacuations. A levee in or near Cedar Rapids broke and they can't tell exactly how high the water is or how fast it's going because the USGS watergauge was swept downstream by the flood.

Ange: I hope your aunt from Decorah is doing OK and that your mom can still get around Dubuque. If I remember right, Casa Gulick is on a bluff and back from the edge of said bluff so hopefully is OK.

My Aunt Billie who lives outside Elkader is fine. Today is her birthday so I called. She isn't going into town or anywhere and is "trapped" but her kids and grandkids and greatgrandkids are making it in and out so I asked what was up. She said the main road is pretty well wiped out (the water is down and it took the road to town with it) and she doesn't like the back way (which is not in great shape...it too was under water). She's 76 today so she can do whatever the hell she wants.

I should totally put a picture of her here. Let me see if I can....hold please....(sing your own hold music)..... ......


And here it is! Billie is in the white tank top and Aunt Sara (also known as Sara Lynn to avoid confusion with her neice/my cousin "Sara Jane")









This is the picture that my thoughtful and kind sister sent when I lamented that now in my gall-free life, I can eat anything and am gaining weight. The caption was "Room for one more on the porch. have another donut"
Billie is 76 and Sara Lynn must be 70 or more. Fred is the baby of the family and he turns 68 this summer. Billie looks good for 76. She says she doesn't feel a day over 75 1/2.
This picture also reminds me that I really want a muumuu. Doesn't Sara look comfee? It was a hot day and Sara was probably the only one not chafing.

Anyway, I must try to get some sleep now. Pam told me about www.hulu.com where you can watch NBC shows and movies from one of the affiliated studios. Pretty cool. I'm watching old Mary Tyler Moore now. I watched recent "The Office" last week. Good pre-bed stuff and you can stop anytime.

Come Hell or High Water.

Well, there is high water in Iowa. In my folks' yard. Probably in the basement by now. They live in Waverly, Iowa and it's flooding. I wasn't really aware how bad the problem was until I got my sister's message this morning that she was going sandbagging.

I did giggle because I remembered the "Sex and the City" episode about 'tea bagging' which is totally different and now I feel bad.

Back on topic, it's flooding in Iowa.

With their usual midwestern protestant practical approach to life. A bunch of relatives showed up, with some non-relatives, and helped move stuff (including the furnace, hot water heater, freezer(s)) out of the basement. I guess the big stuff lives in the kitchen now. The smaller stuff on the second floor. My brother, Stan, had brought a generator to run the pump brought by a friend. He also drove many of the helpers there.

By the time my sister and her spousal-equivalent got done bagging (heh heh) the bridge back to their part of town was closed. She said it would be like 25miles to go around and get there.

They are probably spending the night with Pam's boss and family because she has extra bedrooms with a bathroom. Pam and Rob (the s-e) had, in their practical way, packed overnight bags for just such an eventuality.

Still, it must super suck to have to stay somewhere because you CAN'T get to your house, not because you want to stay there.

Fred (my father) will be staying at the house even when the area is evacuated because pumps and generators take some babysitting. Once, during another flood, the pump ran too long, emptying the basement of too much water so the outside pressure of the water made the floor heave. The house tried to float. Some posts or something were compromised, but, Stan arrived on scene with wood and floor jack in hand and had things sorted out pretty quickly.

I wonder what rich people with no skills do. The blue collar types are taking care of their own problems.

Pam said that the Red Cross never even showed up with water (the water has been shut off to that part of town already...they drove to the gas station to pee). They were too overwhelmed with demand to do a water run. This is not normal.

This part of the world just suffered some serious tornadoes and some of the same areas are getting flooded now. People are going to physically and emotionally exhausted.

I'm going to the Mennonite Disaster Service and donate. After a tornado hit my aunt and uncle's place years ago, the Mennonites seemed to be particularly helpful (setting up a machine shed for my uncle's equipment that had survived and doing other very good, practical things without asking for so much as a sandwich...my aunt eventually forced them to have coffee with her because she told them it was unkind for them to give so much and not let her give back. It left her in too much debt. She didn't have much, but she could have them in for coffee and cookies. So they came in.)

Stormy Weather

I have been watching the reports of storm damage around the midwest after the weekend tornadoes. Very sad. Where will all the people of Parkersburg live now? Will they leave?
That much damage could be the end of the town.

It makes me feel very lucky to have 2 decent (by my standards) homes. If one gets ruined, I still have another. That probably means I have too much. I'll narrow it down to one home once I know if I have the boy for the long term or not. That way I can pick a location.