NOW IS THE TIME.
Turn off the coverage of Gustav, get off your ass and get out now.
If you decide to stay, I don't want to see your happy ass on CNN whining about how you didn't know it would be so bad, or that you didn't know it was coming.
STFU.
And if your house and all your shit blows away, remember that YOU were the one that decided to live in a coastal region and bought a house constructed of kleenex and spit. Congrats on that low house payment.
Quote from yours Yours Truly in 1995 : "I don't care where the house is, as long as it's made of concrete block."
TBG out-
4 comments:
Easy, TBG! Watch where you're slinging that paintbrush!
Not all houses in coastal regions are constructed badly, and not all of us who live in them expect a handout when it goes to shit. During the eight hurricanes we survived in the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons while living aboard in Key West, we never asked for a dime from anyone for the damage to our boat (our home), or for reimbursement for five weeks of income lost. Nor did we bitch about it (well, maybe a little bit - very quietly), even while many around us gloated over checks they weasled from FEMA for stuff that was trash before the storm.
YES - if Hanna comes our way, my dog and I will be staying in our well-built (although not CBS) townhouse, a mile inland from the harbor and 8 miles inland from the ocean, and above the flood plain, on James Island, SC, while my husband risks his life at his job as a tugboat captain, pushing on a ship or barge at the dock during the storm in order to keep the lines from parting so it doesn't careen into the Cooper River Bridge, or someone's house, or place of work.
South Carolinians are a tough, self-sufficient bunch, and for the most part, we believe only fools and those "from off" build ON the beaches. They DO deserve what they get.
By the way, don't YOU live in a coastal region, too? Don't get any "paint" on you!
Anyway, you know I love ya. :)
Darling Annie-
You MUST know the target of my comments are intended for the ne'er-do-wells who think the Gimmint needs to do everything for them. You know- the Entitlement Morons.
These were the people who whined long and loud on CNN after the storm hit, about how GWB did nothing while the storm was on the way. No one warned them, and no one came to get them, to move them out of the path of the storm. The same people who sacked and looted the corpse of New Orleans...
(Including the NOPD and NOFD).
As for the upcoming storm and moving into the future:
If you decide to stay in an area that will get hit by a storm, you are responsible for your own (and your family's) safety, sustenance, and security.
After a major storm you need to evaluate:
Did your home survive the storm, or did you take significant damage?
Did it survive because your neighborhood wasn't a "direct hit" from a particularly bad storm cell?
Lucky you. Count your blessings. Now, go help your neighbors.
Did all your neighbor's get hit hard but your place survived without significant damage?
Why was that? The divine hand of Budda? No? Was it because your were prepared? Shuttered your windows? Had your house and property in good repair? Didn't lose your roof because you had that repair job done last year? Did you trim that tree that had the big semi-rotten branch that overhung your house?
Good move. Go to the head of the class.
Did your home take a lot of damage while there was considerably less destruction in the neighborhood?
Did you fix your roof when it needed it? Did you bite the bullet and buy shutters when your didn't need them? No?... Oh well.
Did you go stand in line at Home Depot and get plywood as the storm was approaching and board your place up as the wind was increasing?
What? You were waiting for GWB and the National Guard to come and help you?
Dumbass.
And what of the aftermath?
Will you sit on your doorstep with your hand out?
Will you take for FEMA debitcard and buy non-perishable food and water, or will you buy booze, dances at a strip club? Perhaps a Prada handbag?
http://www.snopes.com/katrina/charity/debitcard.asp
A year and a half later, I drove through New Orleans (not the Quarter) and saw people living in a FEMA trailer in the driveway in front of a (still) trashed house... Still untouched as yet, no repairs even started...
But there is a brand-new Escalade or Hummer parked next to the trailer.
...And not just one instance of this- Block after block of just this type abuse.
CNN doesn't show the block after block of responsible people cleaning up and fixing up... They want news- they want the dirty laundry...
That means shooting footage of the 80 year-old woman sitting in knee deep water in front of a trashed house, with the wailing and gnashing of teeth that no one will help her.
96 hours out before Katerina, where was Ray Nagin? I'll give you a hint... It wasn't in his disaster-preparedness HQ, making sure his city was ready.
(Apparently HE thought it was GWB's job to cover HIS ass too.)
This time he actually took a leadership position...
Amazing.
Annie- Yes, I live at the beach.
(In a CBS house.)
In the highest part of the beach.
I have hurricane shutters for each window on my house.
(Because I wanted to spend that $4,000 out-of-pocket.)
I bite that bullet every year paying that additional premium for hurricane insurance.
And as a matter of fact I spent the entire day yesterday re-roofing my shed in the back yard ($800) because I wanted to make sure my tools and other household goods are safe from any storm that comes along.
Choices:
I know the risks, as you do, of living in an area that would be classified as a storm risk. But it's my choice- and part of that choice is to be prepared.
It's also the choice of deciding to stay or flee in the teeth of the storm. Lots of decisions there.
Family members, pets, job duties, where to go?
Decisions decisions, eh?
The key is making the correct decisions for the different variables.
Annie- I think most of what I outlined is the same philosophy that you and Buddy have. Take care of you and yours, help your neighbors, do your duty to your self, your family, your self-assumed responsibilities (jobs) as much as possible.
And don't do damage to an already-screwed-up system by defrauding the insurance companies or the federal aid system.
(I do hope that Karma comes around to those who abuse the system...but I ain't holding my breath.)
Time to knuckle down... Hanna and Ike are coming. Got room for you down here if you need a safe harbor.
My best to all...
TBG
I know, I know. I knew, in my heart, that you weren't aiming at us reponsible folks. I just wanted to make sure there was a distinction. You are absolutely correct in everything you said. But you are so forceful in your articulation that one can't help but pay attention to you and take what you say to heart! Buddy laughed at me because he knew you weren't talking to US.
We, too, get highly annoyed at people who won't help themselves (in all aspects of life, not just this) and are continually amazed and disgusted at the difference in attitudes between the "entitlement morons" and the rest of us. There's a bunch of them on the news right now, as I type this, crying and carrying on because they have to use outside portable "facilities" at the shelter where they were welcomed with open arms and GIVEN for free. What do they expect -- the Hilton? Spare me. They should be grateful to be alive and in one piece. Beats the alternative.
Thank you for the offer of shelter. Although we may someday take you up on it, if need be, we'll be fine here this time. I might go to my mother-in-law's horse-boarding farm a few miles from here to help with the horses while Buddy's working on the tugs during Hanna, or Ike, or whichever one behind them has "The Holy City" in its sights.
Our townhouse is remarkably strong and sheltered. Other than readying the sandbags, scouting around outside for potential projectiles, clearing the patios, securing the bbq, taking important things in the downstairs level upstairs, fueling the trucks, filling the fridge, replacing the propane bottle, and double-checking the after-storm supplies (which were in place by June), there is very little to do.
Y'all be safe down there, my friend, you're in the cone, too. We'll talk to you on the other side.
There is a humorous aspect to all this hurricane bizniz. The highly trained geniuses at USTA, who managed to spend $270 million on an obsolete tennis stadium, in the middle of one of the worst slums in NYC, with no roof, are about to have their semi-finals and finals rained out!
TMS - Enjoying my first Labor Day holiday since 1987 NOT at Flushing Meadows.
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