Gustav

[buddy_fuentes]

Thanks to all of you for your prayers. We sustained very little damage (maybe $1,000 to $2,000) and the water is not high enough to worry about. It is in my yard, but not by very much. The slight turn (land fall) to the left made a Hugh difference to my area.

We were fortunate to have our power restored last night, they had just told us that it would be fourteen to twenty-one days. I have a large generator, but gasoline is tough to get.

Hank, sorry for your misfortune. If there is any way I can help please call or e-mail me. Chuck, Curtis, Jim, the same goes for you. If I can help in any way, let me know.

Thanks again for the prayers.

Buddy

[BayouSlide]

Glad everyone is safe and sound and property are the only casualties. Gas is now available in most places in town and milk is on the shelves of the local grocery store again. As I type I'm watching tree trimming crews in my back yard take out every tree trunk or branch our back property line that's within 10 feet of a power line...we've traded the sound of generators for the buzz of chainsaws and we're the lucky ones. IIRC, around a 1/2 million homes and businesses in Louisiana are still without power.

For those who haven't experienced the aftermath of a hurricane...I'm an early eighties Louisiana transplant I've just about lost count...hassle, discomfort and worry are only part of the story. Found out an elderly lady in our neighborhood passed away during the evac.

Something new, this time, though. As soon as evac started, I saw two different groups of shady looking types begin scoping out the neighborhood. One of these guys was on foot, with a tape measure on his belt. Don't know if it was because he thought it made him look like a contractor or he was trying to measure to see what size TV would fit in his house. Around one o'clock the morning of the hurricane, I awoke to what sounded like small caliber gunfire...two shots. Seems a neighbor two houses down surprised a couple of burgulars in the process of ripping off stuff from her carport. Apparently she shot one round into the ground and two (the ones I heard) into the air to scare them off. I think another neighbor, a deputy with the sheriff's department who responded, politely informed her the consequences of gravity on high altitude lead...at least I hope he did

Apparently lowlives throughout town were taking advantage of the power outage and the local sheriff came down hard in days to come with anyone violating the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m curfew.

Time for little more cleanup and catch up on some sleep...and check on the path of Hurricane Ike

Curtis

EDITED: because I hate typos!...corrected power outage figure

Edited September 7, 2008 by BayouSlide

[BayouSlide]

Hank, forgot to mention, if you need a Glock and some gear and ammo to shoot the Gator Classic, just let me know...just don't beat me with my own gun, alright

[Hank Ellis]

Hank, forgot to mention, if you need a Glock and some gear and ammo to shoot the Gator Classic, just let me know...just don't beat me with my own gun, alright

A Glock! You really want me to place last don't you. If I can dig out the ammo from the shed I'll have something for the Gator Classic. All else fails I'll shoot the XD-9 Service (the car gun) with CCI Blazer. Not well but I'll shoot it. Thanks y'all for the offers.

Update. The tree is off the house and the roof has been tarped. Very generous neighbor loaned us his 5th wheel to live in till the insurance trailer comes in. Just this morning I got with the electrictions to set the temp utility pole. At least now I have a cool, dry place to sleep and hot food and water. Yesterday I set up our window air conditioning unit for a friend of ours who didn't have one. Won't be needing it for a while and she needs it more than we do.

Things are set in motion but it will still be a long haul. Gotta go and do some more paperwork.

Couple of photos.

[BayouSlide]

Hank, forgot to mention, if you need a Glock and some gear and ammo to shoot the Gator Classic, just let me know...just don't beat me with my own gun, alright

A Glock! You really want me to place last don't you.

Not true, Hank...actually I thought it was your choice of pistols that was holding you back

More seriously, hope life is back to normal for you sooner rather than later, buddy.

Curtis

[revchuck]

Dang - That oak did a number on your house! I had a native pine about the same size fall on mine during Rita.

Glad things are looking up for you!

[Hank Ellis]

Update: The temporary housing is onsite. Electricity is a go. Strung 120' of 1" sched 40 to a operating water facet for water. Monday the porta potty bunch will drop off a 250 gallon holding tank for the sewage. Then we can move in for the long haul. Had the adjuster and contractor do the walk through and I have a good feeling that we'll be taken care of.

Cleared off enough debris to at least take a look at the reloading bench. Dillon press looks good. MEC press is rusting. Bullets under the bench are still in the boxes. None of the shelving or the bench collapsed. A lot less damage than I expected. I'll have to build new shelving as what was there is all warped but it is salvagable. The other side of the building is another story. Buried under there is a deep freeze that hasn't had power for nearly two weeks. Not opening that pandoras box.

Wife has been a trooper beyond belief. Being a legal secretary she can multi task and keep track of all of it. I can't do that. Give me one task. I finish that to the best job I can do then it's off to the next task.

We have a new saying that keeps us going. Today is just a little bit better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.

Later guys.

[revchuck]

Hank - Glad to hear things are looking up for you!

I'm just waiting for Ike's shoe to drop.

[JKSNIPER]

Hope you will make out ok Hank.

That is some tree in the pictures man!

You'll have firewood for 2 seasons there.

I think the coffee table idea is excellent.

Definitely a conversation piece to pass on to your kids one day.

Good luck with your restoration and I hope Ike will not do more damage to you guys down south.

Theres something to be said for living up where it gets cold.

Last bad hurricane here was Gloria in the 80's.

Lost power for 8 days and lots of trees down on the roads/power lines but that was about it for us.

JK

[Hank Ellis]

Hope you will make out ok Hank.

That is some tree in the pictures man!

You'll have firewood for 2 seasons there.

I think the coffee table idea is excellent.

Stayed at an extended familys house last night to ride out Ike. Didn't want to do it in a travel trailer. At least I have internet available. Thanks for the good words. We're doing fine compared to many we know. Wife just got a call from a friend of ours who was all excited that the line crew is getting to her house. The subdivision has gone two weeks without power and she lives smack in the middle of Baton Rouge. My buddys in New Orleans tell me that this will define you from now on. Everything will be pre or post-storm and you will look at things in a different light. All in a positive way. All of them seize the day and laugh more than they did before.

We had a tree guy out just 2 months ago to take out a couple junk gumball trees, trim up and evaluate the big red oak, and trim up the trees in the front. The red oak took a lightning hit in Katrina and we wanted to make sure it was healthy for this season. He assured us it was. Wrong. The center was totally ate up with termite and black ant damage. There wasn't enough good wood at the trunk to make the coffee table. Since we won't be in the house by winter we had it all hauled off. Leftover firewood attracts termites so it's not a good idea to have it hanging it around.

Whether the insurance company wants to take action against the tree guy is up to them.

Gotta go. Breakfast is ready and it doesn't involve a MRE heater.

[Hank Ellis]

We've got our new reality going.

The demolition crew cleared off the debris and finally got in the storage building to check out the reloading bench. Except for rusting presses and dies I didn't see much else that is trashed. All the ammo is dry more or less and should be good. Except for a few pieces nearly everything in the shed is good and nothing but a little cleanup to make it like it was. A bit odd to have a good number of your possessions in the middle of the back yard under a tarp though.

I'm back at work and now the rebuilding process is under way. Woke up this morning to have the tearout crew ready to gut the sheetrock and wood floor. Couple of hours later the electriction came by to disconnect the house from the meter pan so the demolition crew can finish.

My project over the weekend is to draw up rough plans for the additions to the house. Since I've got to rebuild anyway may as well build it how we really want it. Over double the storage space. Redo the kitchen like the missus wants it. Run cables and do the home theater the way it should be done. Not the way I kinda half way did it. Yeah, it will be some bucks out of pocket but in the long run it will cost a lot less than remodeling an undamaged home. And it will give me a chance to clean out a bunch of junk I should have gotten rid of long ago.

Amazing what a few days can do. Reading my previous posts it hit me just how far I've come in 14 days. All of it is just a blur.

Thanks for the good words. It does mean a lot. So, I've been kicked square in the 'nads but I'm not one to give up easily. Pressing forward. Till later.

[Hank Ellis]

Been a month since the last update. I'll give you the Cliff notes.

Framing is completed. The roof is on. From a mental health standpoint it's a positive move. It's looking like a house again.

The next step is electrical and plumbing. The challenge here is to figure out what wire went where. The tree took out the main power bundle from the meter pan to the sub panel so we're not exactly sure what goes where. Bone the electrictian will figure it out.

Meanwhile my day is doing what I can to reduce costs and doing quality control with the subs. Today is finishing relocating a couple electrical outlets, repairing and stringing telephone outlets.

Last weekend the wife and I took a trip to the Redneck Riviera (Alabama Gulf coast) for our anniversary and R&R. Big bed. Hot water that doesn't run out. Room to rattle around in. You can't help but relax to the sounds of the surf hitting the beach. Excellent decompression time. We needed it.

[Hank Ellis]

Geez. Two months since the last update. Time flies.

We have electricity! Just a week ago the power company hooked us up to to the meter pan. They had to remove some damanged underground wiring and splice in some new. The scraps are still in the yard. Copper prices being what they are I'm saving it and going to turn it in to the scrap metal place. I see at least a couple cases of beer there. Bone the one-eyed electrictian goofed somewhere. When the main breaker was set fire and sparks blew out of one panel so says my general contractor. A bit of warranty work was done and so far everything works. We'll see once the rest of the fixtures are installed. At least we can do laundry now.

The HVAC guy is here as I write finishing up the last of the heating and air conditioning details.

Painter will be here later today to stain the cabinets and finish up the last of the trim work.

Flooring dude was here yesterday to measure and scope out the job. Flooring should go in sometime between Christmas and New Years.

The cool part. The contents adjuster is a third party hired by the insurance company to replace the big stuff. Apparently they buy in bulk and get a major price break which drops the cost to the insurance company. The adjuster must be a shooter. The conversation went something like this.

Him: I see that your reloading equipment was damaged. We are a Dillon and MEC dealer and we'll get that on it's way.

Me: Yeah, but I really need to get the major appliances going.

Him: The appliances are easy. Let's get to the important stuff. Your reloading equipment can be sent anytime. Just say when.

Me: Now is as good as time as any. Make it happen.

Him: Good. Call me tomorrow on the exact make and model of major appliances and I'll start working on that.

Fridge and stove. Minor details. Reloading equipment. Top priority. Love it.

Move it date has been pushed to third week of January. Plan is to have enough of the house up and running so we can enjoy Super Bowl Sunday on the flat screen. Man I can't wait. This camper living has worn out it's welcome. Burned out. Oh yeah.

I'm keeping my eye on the prize. It will be worth it.

We have our moments where if you don't laugh you'll cry. From the "What I Love" forum.

[revchuck]

Hank - Glad to see it's starting to come together for y'all. We did the FEMA trailer for a long time after Rita, so I know how you feel. Merry Christmas! It's a shame there isn't room for the Dillon in the trailer, or you might've been able to set it up there.

[Hank Ellis]

Move it date has been pushed to third week of January. Plan is to have enough of the house up and running so we can enjoy Super Bowl Sunday on the flat screen.

Woohoo! We're back in the house! And in a couple of hours it's the Super Bowl on the new flatscreen.

The camper that has been 'home' for the last 5 months is scheduled to go tomorrow. I'll be standing in the driveway applauding. Good riddance. Still have a bit of work for the contractors but it's just taking care of a few last details.

Granted there is still stuff in boxes all over the place. The stove and reloading equipment haven't arrived yet. Fridge just got delivered yesterday. Fired up the home computer for the first time since the storm an hour ago. Still looking at a lot of work. I won't be bored for the next few months.

As soon as the reloading equipment shows up and I get caught up with that then I'll be back at the range throwing Mikes and No-Shoots like before.

[6-shot]

Congrats on getting back into the house. Crack a beer and enjoy the game , you deserve it.

Scott

[hopalong]

Lotsaluckhank !