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I have yet to see this guy (the white suv) at work park in between the lines. He always has one wheel over the line.

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My brown shoes I owned where a size 10.5 and way too small for me. Today I finally got fed up with my feet being squished. Went to Super Target across the highway and picked up some new shoes.
The 12’s (yes, I were a 12 now and the old ones were 10.5) were a teeny bit too tight, but they didn’t have any 12.5’s. So I grabbed a size 13. Nice and comfy even though they are a tiny bit big around the heel.

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Who’s got ‘em? I think I need a sparks or something.
But it’s a 4 day work week followed by a 4 day weekend. Woohoo.

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(You might wanna get some coffee or a Sparks for this one ;-)

Today marks the one year anniversary of Donna’s and my evacuate from New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina.

It was August 27, Saturday morning. I checked my hiptop and noticed an email from Jaka asking what we doing about the storm. I really didn’t think much of the storm thus far because tracks had it going to Florida. Boy, was I wrong.

After gassing up the Mazda, Donna and I loaded up the car, picked up our nephew and headed east to Bay Saint Louis, MS.

Everything was all fine and dandy, until Katrina decided to jump to category 5 status and pretty much aim right for NOLA and us. So on Sunday, August 28, we packed up the car again and set a course for Birmingham, AL.

Well, traffic ended up giving us the big FU to our plans, and we ended up in a Radisson hotel in Mobile, AL. We were on the 12th floor and it was here where we rode out the storm. (2) (3)

We lost power mid-day on the 29th and it was still off the following morning. Luckily we had water for using the bathroom. Taking a cold shower by the flashlight is always fun.

With no power, no hot water, and no food, the hotel basically said “You gotta leave. We can’t accomodate you, so if you stay you’re kinda on your own.” So we left, continuing on to Birmingham.

Once again, change of plans. We found a Best Western in Greensville, AL during a stop at a Super Wal-mart. We opted for no more driving and pitched a tent (err, got a room). It was here I had my first experience with a coin operated laundro-mat. What fun that was. :)

Back home in New Orleans and Bay Saint Louis, things were a mess. Half of New Orleans was under 10ft of water, Gulfport south of I-10 was wiped out and Bay Saint Louis was practically gone. Jefferson Parish (where we lived) officials were telling the media the city could be under lockdown for months not letting residents return. It wasn’t looking too good.

After a few boring days in a hotel, sleebus graciously offered Donna and me a cozy guest room to hang out in while we waited to see what was gonna happen back home. So on September 2, Donna and I once again packed up the car and headed west on a 13hr drive to Houston via I-20. It was like walking into heaven when we saw our “own room” at the Smith residence.

Donna and I didn’t return home until 3 weeks later on September 17.

After living at the Smiths’ for another few weeks, dealing with the joys of FEMA, and riding out another Hurricane (Rita), Donna and I flew back to New Orleans (thanks to G for the ride) on October 6, 2005. We packed upall our crap in a Penske truck and officially relocated to Texas (but not after a few hiccups).

The rest is pretty much history. We have to give my thanks to the Smiths for being so gracious and letting Donna and me live at their house for almost 6 weeks. Without them, we really don’t know where we’d be today.

Also a huge thanks to all our friends and associates at SKHolla, hiptop.com, and Danger for their generosity and their donations to us. Those donations really helped us get back on our feet with some new clothes, furniture, groceries and more.

It’s been a crazy year and I still just can’t fathom all that’s changed, not only to us but to our families in New Orleans and Bay Saint Louis, MS.

Before this gets even longer, I’ll wrap it up. Again, thanks to everyone out there in cyberspace who helped us recover. We can’t thank y’all enough, and you’ll always have a place in our hearts for reaching out with a helping hand.

God bless (everyone but myr ;-),
S & D

Photo Gallery: http://gallery.sodh.net/katrina

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Doesn’t look like a fun weekend next week.

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Tried to turn from a narrow two-lane road onto another narrow two-lane road and ended up putting his trailer into the ditch. Blocked the entire road too.

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New electric chassis arrived today. Dropping the nitro car for a simplier electric setup. With the Mamba Max 5700 motor I have enroute for it, it should perform just as well as a nitro. Woohoo!

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Free food, drinks (including beer), and even entertaiment. Hurray.

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Just a couple pics, wallpaper, and a Samurai Champloo rastorbated image so far.

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