Houstonians @ MindSay

If there's anything I learned from Hurricane Katrina, after saying and thinking "Pssh, I would've just evacuated if I were them", it's actually NOT THAT EASY! Now that Hurricane Rita is on her way here, this is what I learned and I would like to share it with everyone:

Evacuation is easier said than done!

Don't get me wrong, I thank you all who suggested for me to leave Houston. Thank you very much. Missouri City, Stafford, Sugarland, Alief, Meadows City, Richmond, Rosenberg and Southwest Houston is still under voluntary evacuation. UNLESS it was made MANDATORY, I HAVE A SURVIVAL / EVACUATION GEAR and I'm READY for evacuation at any time, carrying the most important belongings with me.



Call me crazy, or call me Roger, but my family has been here in America for 13 years of struggle and hardship to just watch our home get smaller in our rearview mirrors. I have made a decision to stand my my family's side during these fearful times. The home we live in now, which is a fruit of our labor from the day we came to the US, if it goes down, I WILL GO DOWN WITH IT.

You guys KNOW I don't have a job, I don't have any cash for gasoline, motel, and food. Unlike many of the Houston evacuees, I don't really have much choice. The mayor of Houston emphasized to use our common senses. That's exactly what I'm doing.



With half a tank of gas and no cash, I think I'll use MY common sense.

Just so you guys know, I'll be ok. I'm a survivor. We are currently working on securing everything indoors and outdoors and we have enough food and water supply for the weekend. A power outage is a GIVEN and I might just miss a few days of blogging. Expect delays in my response to your comments and replies. Please don't worry about me. I'll be just fine. :D

This just in: My son and his mother just arrived at the Dallas / Fort Worth area. I spoke to my son and his mother last night and told them that we will be riding the storm. I promised my son that I will be finishing our unfinished business of our lightsaber duel next week. I have something to look forward to so, survival is NOT an option. I spoke to Meina, my son's mother, and told her "God bless you, our son and your family." She said the same to me in a much sincere manner I haven't heard since we were together.

My Fellow Houstonians: If you have already evacuated, you did the right thing and I'm very happy for you guys. For those who are riding the storm; Godspeed, GOD BLESS YOU and take good care. By next week, I expect to hear from the following Houstonians in my network:

• Myclette


• Claudia


• Pricilla


• Vanessa


• Roxie (Pasadena, TX)
• J0hnny P Nguyen (Alief Hurricane Rider, Houston, TX! Fcuk ya dude! ALIEF REPRESENT!!! :D)
  


• ...and for those Houstonians I have not met yet (comment so I know) God bless you all!

I will be back later on to post personal pictures of our preparation for the storm. Greenie will be taking over the 90's Song of the Day while I'm working through this. I might assign a few people to run this blog while I ride Rita... wait, that sounded bad.. lol

All day long, we were preparing ourselves for Hurricane Rita, turning our home into a fortress. And we're still not done. But as far as stocking up on food and water supply, we got that covered.



Hurricane Rita has been downgraded to a Category 4 as she takes a "sudden" turn towards East of Houston, East of Texas, and is still currently changing. From previous posts, I mentioned that I was located East of Rita's path, also known as "The Dirty Side" of the hurricane. Not anymore! We are now West of Miss Rita's reach, meaning we are considered to be at "The Clean Side".

But still, we are NOT lowering our defenses. We're ensuring our safety and our survival. We are still within her reach and we will still be experiencing winds traveling over 100MpH. Rita seems to change her mind a lot... sounds familiar.. ;)




For now, I wanna share some pics of what we have been doing here at home in Missouri City, TX.




If they don't order a mandatory evacuation in our area by 9:00am, that means any kind of evacuation is NOT an option. We will be taking care of some last minute reinforcements and preparations. Houston will be feeling Miss Rita's touches by tomorrow afternoon.

My Fellow Houstonians (and Mindsayers): There is no doubt that we will be experiencing a long power failure. In case you want to know how I am doing, visit http://kuyaroger.blogspot.com. I will be sending text message entries (moblogs) to THAT blog to let you guys know how I'm doing.

As Hurricane Rita approaches the Texas / Louisiana Gulf Coast, people who are here in the Houston area can feel her fingertips reaching us. I woke up this morning and stepped out to stretch my arms in the middle of my street and I felt Miss Rita's whispers. The morning sunshine was worth taking a picture of, as we won't be seeing the same sunshine for at least the next 48 hours or so...




Galveston, TX is now a ghost town. As I was watching the news, they mentioned that Miss Rita relaxed a bit and downgraded to Category 3. But the footages that they are showing in the news dudn't look too good. The sea wall is now battling the waves. It reminded me of a picture I took over there 10 years ago:



(Yes, I like sitting on daring high edges with my guitar, like my userpic. ;))

All day long, we did the hardest move-around of our stuff, no matter how dirty we got. Now, I can assure you guys that I am well prepared and everything "should" be just fine.

WHEN THE POWER FAILURE TAKES PLACE: I will be "moblogging" entries at http://kuyaroger.blogspot.com. They are entries with less than 100 characters sent using my cell phone. I already have a "moblogged" entry posted there so you will get an idea of how I'm doing. At around 11:00pm Central Time (12:00am EST); I will post a short update to let you know how Rita is like. If I don't, that means the power is out.

My Mindsay Network: Please be patient and expect delays on my replies to your comments and replies to our current threads. Some of you are getting all upset and all because I have not replied to you or responded your comments. Please, just understand. Thanks.

My Fellow Houstonians (Harris County, Fort Bend County, and others): I know that many of you are riding the storm. Saddle up, Texan Cowboys and Cowgirls! It's only a few more hours before 9:00pm. Stay indoors and think of safety first. I'm assuming all you hurricane riders know what to do. Take good care and God Bless Y'ALL! YEEHAWW!!!

From sometime around 6:00pm until 6:00am, we are NOT allowed to leave our homes. And at any hour now, we are expecting the inevitable "power failure" that would prevent me to blog about my "front row" experience of hurricane Rita.

We can here the Rita's loud whispers on our windows. We can feel her fingers slighly nudging our walls. We're trying to keep calm at the moment, as we keep our eyes on the news.

Here are some pics that I took this afternoon:




I took these pics before sunset and the winds were pushing me out of balance. But yeah. I'm gonna be unplugging the computer after posting this entry, to avoid strong power surges when the power failure takes place. It's only a few more hours until her eyes reach landfall and I'm trying to avoid falling asleep. The last thing I want is for things to be breaking and stuff while sleeping. More coffee for me!

I'm ALIVE and thirsty for BEER!!!!!! Oops, umm... I'm back, y'all!

The Inevitable and Expected Power Failure:

The inevitable power failure occured at around 1:00am (flickering) or 2:30am (complete power failure. The songs Miss Rita was singing wasn't only heard, but felt. From flashlights to battery operated radios, we had it on upstairs and downstairs. Fear was in the midst, though my family chose to ignore it.

By this time, my cell phone is fully charged while it is set on PwrSaver. Myclette sent a text message at 12:19am, but I didn't get to reply until 2:57am I sent two moblogs to my personal blog using my cell phone and it went like this:

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Hurricane RITA Update: Power is completely out now. It is total darkness outside along with chaotic winds. It's crazy.
posted by Roger @ 2:56 AM

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Hurricane RITA Update: Rita made land fall 30 minutes ago.
posted by Roger @ 3:03 AM

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There were three things available for my listening pleasure during the storm:

• Miss Rita knocking and beating on our garage door, front door, walls, chimney and glass windows. It wasn't a very pleasing sound, trust me.


• My mom, my sister and I; debating over "Spaghetti-O vs. Ravioli" and which one to open first. I would've voted for Ramen, but the microwave was out.


• Newsradio AM 740 KTRH upstairs and downstairs. Funny how I actually listened to AM radio.

Rita's Hypnotic Lullaby:

We made a decision to turn off the flashlights and resort to candles instead, to save battery power. Mom lit up a candle on the dinner table, which was considerably nearest to the center of the whole house. I opened up one of those Starkist Lunch-To-Go thingies and ate it right by candle light.

The radio kept mentioning that Miss Rita was tip-toeing around the Beaumont / Port Arthur, TX area all the way to Lake Charles, LA. To me, that only meant that Miss Rita's song can't get any louder and stronger than how it has been for the past two hours. It was dark outside and the view of the neighborhood from a peep through the window seems to be quite haunted. But so far, no damages at home have been spotted and I felt like it was safe to just relocate myself in my bedroom upstairs.

At around 4:30am, I was getting really tired. The hypnotic song Miss Rita was singing gave off that "rainy-night vibe" that was draining my soul. My eyes were shutting, pulling me to my bed. Her strong voice was a chaotic and wicked lullaby that had me laying down half-assed nap. I felt helpless and tired.

The Morning After Sunsine over MOcity, TX:

I woke up with my eyes directly pointed to my clock radio. It was 9:30am. It didn't click to me that the power was back until I took a second look at my clock radio, which was brightly displaying the time. I got up and grabbed my camera as I ran downstairs, inhaling the brewing scent of coffee being made. My sister joined me outside, thinking I was gonna smoke a cigarette. I just wanted to take pictures, and I left my cigarettes upstairs, so I looted one from her. ;)



Not too long after that picture was taken, I was already endulging on my morning cup of coffee until the morning sunshine creeped into our windows.




Though it is already shinier and less "wet" outside, the wind remains strong and pushy like yesterday. Only this time, it's blowing the other direction, which is Eastward. But we are NOT lowering our defenses at this point. The duct tape on our glass windows will remain there until our common senses give us a signal. Our emergency kits will be ready and available in every room just in case. Hurricane Rita is alive and still lurking the borders of Texas and Louisiana and forecasts tells us that she might stall and turn back around, as a worst case scenario. We ain't takin' our chances. Power is still fluctuating here in parts of Fort Bend and many other cities near Galveston.

Thanks and prayers:

My family would like to thank everyone for your prayers and good wishes that spared our lives and our homes here in Houston, TX. Our prayers are turned to the people at the borders of TX and LA (Beaumont / Port Arthur to Lake Charles, LA) and who are now and will be in Miss Rita's path, Good luck, take good care, and God bless y'all! (Don't forget to pray for the Astros, they just lost against the Cubs yesterday.)

For the Houstonians and Galvestonians who were ordered mandatory evacuations and for those who voluntary evacuated the city to find shelter out of Hurricane Rita's reach, your struggles and sense of urgency "paid" off. Good job! Over 90% of you, rest assured, your property is safe and sound, and may we all learn from this experience and make future evacuations easier than the recent attempt. WELCOME HOME Y'ALL!!!!!!

Our prayers also goes out to the people who suffered and even died while evacuating out of the city. Condolences to the families who had relatives that died in the bus that burned trying to save themselves. May God be with you.

For the Houstonians who saddled up and rode Miss Rita like Texan cowboys and cowgirls (in the areas under voluntary evacuations), OUR courage proved the bravery which probably scared Miss Rita away. Our inner-strenght did not only saved our souls, but also our fuels, money, food, and energy. God blessed us all, while we stayed put under Rita's embrace throughout the night, awake or half asleep. But make no mistake, if our turn comes and we are called for mandatory evacuations in the future, take your courage on the road with you and haul-ass outta dodge! We'll eat Austin and DFW outta house and home! ;)

For those mutherfuckers who attempted to give Houstonians a BAD NAME by LOOTING unconsumable merchandise (or anything for that matter), may Billy-Joe-Bobby-Sue and some guy named Bubba enjoy your stupid asses in prison! You're not a Houstonian, and get the fuck out of town.

If you are from the Houston Area (Harris County, Fort Bend County, Brazoria County, Wharton County, etc.), here's your roll call! Let me know you made it through the Hurricane or if you have returned to your homes. I know Myclette is 100% safe and probably about to celebrate. (and if any of you have beer left in the fridge, hook me up! I'll drive there! ;))

Once again, thank you all for your prayers. We appreciate your blessings. Please turn your prayers to those who are in Rita's path.

(Now I gotta clean up Rita's crap...I'll be back later if power remains stable).

See y'all later, Space City Cowboys and Cowgirls! YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!! GOD BLESS TEXAS!!!