Mass Hysteria

[eggwards]

Well, the hysteria over Hurricane Rita is growing here. I have a worker who's getting so hysterical that she's updating us every ten minutes about the storm, and she's been asking us about when the company is going to let people go to evacuate. I have to keep telling her that the company doesn't work that quickly, and if she wants to leave early, she'll have to take a vacation day.

Still, the word at the moment is that we will be closed on Friday and letting our way understaffed Denver office finally use the disaster recovery plan. I can't wait to see what disaster that we'll come back to.

Rita is a category 4 storm and seems to be heading for somewhere just west of Galveston, putting Houston on the "dirty" side of the storm. It should be coming in sometime early Saturday. Since I was already going to be bugging out to go to what now should be a very wet Austin City Limits Festival, I'll be fighting the traffic going to Austin on Thursday night. I hope the company doesn't make me go to the Austin recovery site.

Right now I'm trying to figure out if there's items I should carry with me to Austin. I may pack up the computer and a few items. I was going to pack a small bag, but now I'm going to carry extra clothing just to be sure. My apartment complex is pretty new and my apartment is on the third floor, facing northwest, so things should be OK, but we'll just have to see. If nothing else I'm going to move things away from the windows and unplug the electronics.

Still, it's a hurricane, and we have warning, things can be prepared for and there's no need to go into fits. I've started playing with my associate since she's annoying everyone with her antics. Should we be concerned, yes, but when I asked if she had a plan for what to do if she was allowed to leave, she said no.

She's going to need therapy.

Comments

[jefferzephyr.livejournal.com]

*hug

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hopefully everything will be fine.

Evil! EVIL!

[jrjarrett.livejournal.com]

I've started playing with my associate since she's annoying everyone with her antics.

Michael, you're so bad.

I love it.

So is there anything you or your apt complex can do to protect the buildings? Storm shutters? Do you need to cover the windows?

Re: Evil! EVIL!

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Well, I couldn't get to most of the windows if I tried. I'm on the third floor. Still, I'm a little disappointed that my apartment's management pretty much up and runs.

I may have been evil, but when it got down to it, I told her to leave town. I think that was good advice.

[f--k.livejournal.com]

Funny, I had a dream last night that it was flooded to the point where you basically had a lakeside apartment.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Well, that might not be too out of the question. Buffalo Bayou isn't that far away. it doesn't normally flood, but this isn't a normal occurrence.

[redcub.livejournal.com]

In your list of things to pack, be sure to take any legal documents you may be in possession of. Certainly things like Birth Certificate, Social Security Card and such.

Also make sure your car has some emergency supplies; jumper cables at the very least.

To have even more fun with this, buy a tote box and start assembling your emergency gear (flashlights, batteries, radio, first aid kit) at work in full view of your hysterical coworker. This will give you very efficient dual satisfaction.

Have a Happy Evacuation!

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Yes, i've been packing tonight, and will take off tomorow morning. It should be fun, as the trips have been taking people hours.

I couldn't take care of the emergency gear, but i told her about the idea, and she really doesn't like you right now!

[furrbear.livejournal.com]

Facing north you should be OK, unless the winds get REALLY bad and does more tornadic type damage instead of a hurricane's regular straigh-line winds.

I've started playing with my associate since she's annoying everyone with her antics.

**snicker** Tell her that you you heard, "On the Internet^TM", that the storm is increasing its westward speed. That should torque her into high gear.

When I worked at the InfoMart in Dallas, We had a chinese guy that would do much the same thing everytime snow was predicted. George, my fellow "SysAdmin in Crime®", and I told him to leave us alone or we would dump him under the server farm raised floor and leave him.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

We've done all sorts of things, like unrealistic storm surges and wind speeds...or so we thought. This one's a monster.

Hopefully the apartment will be OK.

[redgtbear.livejournal.com]

Good Luck! *hugz*

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[sftekbear.livejournal.com]

I've been through a couple of these. Make sure you have...

- All personal identification (Driver's license, school ID, Passport, birth certificate)
- checkbook
- lease
- insurance documents
- receipts for items that you may want to file a claim for
- an inventory and approximate purchase cost of everything in your apartment
- if you don't have a laptop that you could carry, back up your HD to CD or remove the hard drive and take it with you.
- condoms and lube (hey, it couldn't hurt)

Also, take photos of the inside of your apartment. If you have damage that is not catistrophic but worthy of filing a claim, it will make life a little easier if the claims rep sees the apartment the way it used to look.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Strangely, condoms and lube are on my list, only because of all of the great guys who will be in Austin. All of those other things are getting taken care of tonight.

[keanubear.livejournal.com]

Evil!

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Really, it was all in fun, and I was trying to help all of the other people loosen up, since she was just making the others tense. she was still trying to decide what to do today, and I told her to leave. A single, hysterical woman shouldn't try to ride it out.

[barak.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of people are taking hurricanes much more seriously now, after Katrina, and are unsettled by the first major storm after it.

[eggwards.livejournal.com]

Katrina has spooked everyone into action, which probably isn't the worst idea.