Fri-YAY

sparklepants41 · September 2017

What's up everyone? Happy Friday!! That Pats game last night was atrocious. But I'm on Cloud 9-3/4 today because Babypants slept 6 hours in a row last night!!!

Tomorrow two of our nieces (2 of H's oldest brother's 3 girls)!are coming over to meet the baby. H's sister and her 2 daughters are also coming over to hang out sometime this weekend.

What's on tap for you all this weekend?

I hope all all of our Knotties in Irma's path are in a safe place!!

charlotte989875 · September 2017

As a Bills fan I loved watching Stephon Gilmore get burned by Hill last night @sparklepants41. And Kareem Hunt (a Toledo grad!) got me 44 points in fantasy. But I stayed up too late and I'm dragging today.

We dropped the price on our house last week. We've had some good feedback but no offers so hopefully this will help.

Not too much planned this weekend; cookout with the in-laws and football Sunday. It's my favorite time of the year!

mrsconn23 · September 2017

As a Colts fan, waking up the news that the Pats lost was so sweet. #sorrynotsorry

I have no idea what this weekend holds for us. We should do some cleaning and organizing. We also needs to get football snacks (and beer!) for Sunday.

Work is ramping up with the hurricanes and cancellations. I'm half-hoping for some OT hours to be offered.

kimmiinthemitten · September 2017

I have oral surgery (a gum graft) in a couple hours. Why did I agree to this (aside from fear of losing a tooth) and why didn't I google it sooner?

Dentist: it's NBD.
Interwebs: you can't drink, you can't eat, you can't use a straw, you can't lie flat and don't even think about lookin at it.

Dude, I hav zero cold, soft foods in this house. Zero. What am I going to do. Ugh. And there's prescriptions. Why didn't I know this. This does not help my existing dental anxiety.

Who had fam in Jupiter? They're in a warning zone now so I hope they GTFO. Irma's down to a CAT-4 but that's still 150 mph winds and she's moved west again.

mrsconn23 · September 2017

Good luck @kimmiinthemitten. I think that you should get yourself a Frosty afterward. You eat it with a spoon and it's cold and soft.

I'm curious about your experience. I may need to have a gum-graft done because my frenulum (sp?) is tight that it's pulling on my gum, especially on one tooth. I'm going to get it clipped (which gives me the heebies), but it may not be enough to save the affected tooth.

kimmiinthemitten · September 2017

mrsconn23 said:

Good luck @kimmiinthemitten. I think that you should get yourself a Frosty afterward. You eat it with a spoon and it's cold and soft.

I'm curious about your experience. I may need to have a gum-graft done because my frenulum (sp?) is tight that it's pulling on my gum, especially on one tooth. I'm going to get it clipped (which gives me the heebies), but it may not be enough to save the affected tooth.

Good call on the Frosty!! I'll let you know how it is. Hopefully I'm building it up to be worse than it is. We've been talking about this procedure for years; my front lowers are crowded and this tooth was pushed out to where the gum has receded badly. Next is braces. Thanks for nothing wisdom teeth!

banana468 · September 2017

I have an eye doc appt today. We have no plans for the weekend but the weather is looking great. I hope it brings us at least one trip on the boat.

A local town is having their food fest. I'd love to walk around the tent area to just get out of the house. WFH is great but I NEEEEED to GTFO.

southernbelle0915 · September 2017

@sparklepants41 yayyyyyyyyyyyyy for sleep! I took sleep so much for granted until babybelle and now I just praise the Jesus for every full night. In my land of (unrealistic) hopes and dreams, babybelle 2.0 will be one of those "oh my baby slept through the night at 2 months old!"

I have to get my bridesmaid dress altered this weekend for my SIL's wedding. Woof. I waited this long because I wasn't sure how much I'd be showing - it's not much at this point, I just look thick... so um, yay?

We have a fundraiser tonight. They do online bidding now vs. silent auction with paper, so I already know what's available and I have my eye on several items. The opening bids on a few of them have H all huffy about "well it's re-doing the bathroom or these things." LOL! He's (mostly) the financially conservative one where I see no problem with the treat yo'self mantra.

CharmedPam · September 2017

@sparklepants41, yes!! 6 hours of sleep. That's what I get sans baby. LOL
@kimmiinthemitten, frosty is good but do you have a smoothie place nearby? We actually lack good smoothie places but some can add in peanut butter (to keep you full) and shots and vitamins and stuff. Could be an actual meal! Sorry for the upcoming pain though. Never fun. Also, thanks for the Jupiter heads up. H's biological kids live there and when he last asked about them on Monday or Tuesday, his ex said they were staying for the time being, but hopefully that's changed?

Last night H and I had a date night. Stir Crazy make your own stir fry (SO good) and then we went to see IT. It was "OK". I think they tried to make it scary and it was over kill on the 'trying' part. And we have to see it again because we told some friends we would see it with them too (but I couldn't wait!). We got gourmet donuts from a donut shop near the theater, but they tasted to healthy and bland to me. I need Dunkin's fried donuts!!!

No plans for the weekend. Just hanging out with the H when he's not working and catching up with shameless this weekend.

OliveOilsMom · September 2017

Kimmi - Raising hand and waving it around - I have a gum graft! Had it done Junior year of high school when my bottom gums receded in the front so much my roots were becoming exposed. The most painful part was the graft they took from the roof of my mouth, which they don't do anymore (at least my periodontist doesn't) - they use some lab grown gums. Yay for technology! But I do know I couldn't use a straw for a while, just like when my wisdom teeth came out. Has to do with the stitches. You can eat, you can drink, you can lay down (WTF about that one!), and I looked at mine after a few days. Stop reading Dr. Google! You don't need only cold foods, but soft foods are easiest. Don't dare eat anything crunchy for a while! Lastly, while I as given a pain medicine prescription, I didn't use it. I did take extra Tylenol or motrin (not sure what they advised at the time), but I did not need the prescription. So you do you, when it comes to the pain management. I'm also happy to answer any questions! Same offer to you MrsConn! I've had gum scalings done and also there was talk of cutting off excess gum, but it ended up receding on its own.

Sparkle - Yay for sleep! That first long sleep is both wonderful and terrifying! I remember waking up and say OMG! I HAVE TO FEED MY BABY! LOL!

Southern - My baby did start sleeping through around 3 months. It was and still is amazing. I've been contemplating being OAD just because she has been such a good baby! I don't want to jinx us!

Last night was good. Got home and H said he only got home a bit before me. H was working on dinner and DD was in her PNP. I grabbed her and got her ready for dinner. Fed her half of the carrots and she wanted more. Gave her some cereal and then Mum Mums. Not long after that, I ended up giving her a bottle too. My mom apparently fed her like crazy at lunch time too. She must be getting ready for a growth spurt!

After dinner, I took DD on my Target run. Again, they were out of barley cereal for her. I just need to get through all her grains please and thank you! She had so much fun just looking around at everything. Once I got home it was a bath for DD and bedtime. The rest of the night was just relaxing.

This weekend is yoga on Saturday morning and church later. H has some small projects he wants to do around the house. But nothing exciting this weekend for us!

sparklepants41 · September 2017

kimmiinthemitten said:

I have oral surgery (a gum graft) in a couple hours. Why did I agree to this (aside from fear of losing a tooth) and why didn't I google it sooner?

Dentist: it's NBD.
Interwebs: you can't drink, you can't eat, you can't use a straw, you can't lie flat and don't even think about lookin at it.

Dude, I hav zero cold, soft foods in this house. Zero. What am I going to do. Ugh. And there's prescriptions. Why didn't I know this. This does not help my existing dental anxiety.

Who had fam in Jupiter? They're in a warning zone now so I hope they GTFO. Irma's down to a CAT-4 but that's still 150 mph winds and she's moved west again.

Good luck with surgery!! Make sure you don't eat ice cream or sherbet because dairy can make any antibiotics you may be prescribed ineffective or less effective. That was a tip my surgeon gave me when I had my tonsils out a few years ago.

ETA: @OliveOilsMom yes my boobs woke me up urgently telling me it was TIME TO FEED BABYPANTS!!!

6fsn · September 2017

My parents are down the street for a funeral so we're meeting for lunch. I'm at the zoo with max today. It's my favorite tone here- not many out of towers and schools aren't on field trips yet.

Tomorrow my boss has two funerals also down the street so I'm working via phone with him while he drives the two hrs.

All 3 kids have soccer games tomorrow. Sunday the whole family is going to a crew game. It's a perfect weekend for soccer.

short+sassy · September 2017

@kimmiinthemitten, good luck on the surgery and I am anxious to hear how it goes. If I can be really nosy, how much is it going to be? I have absolutely horrible gums. Partially because I lack some immunity and partially because I have Type I Diabetes.

But my periodontist scared the s**t out of me about it! The cost of $6K-$8K was a big part of the scare. I mean...pfft...sure I have dental insurance. But the max cost they'll cover per year is $1K. I've been stupidly sticking my head in the sand and pretending everything is fine. She also told me I would need to have my gums scaled twice a year for the rest of my life...that is in addition to my 2x/year normal cleaning. That's a lot of pain and cost...every year. Though I could probably manage 1 scaling a year. Maybe that would at least be something to get by with, along with the surgery.

Seriously. Her only other option was to have all my teeth pulled and get dentures. But I'm only 43 and that just seems extreme!!! I know, I know that bad gums are a big factor for heart disease. But I just can't bring myself to have all my teeth pulled out either. I have pockets with all my teeth...many of them are deep...but not all of them.

I didn't mean to hijack your gum surgery post! It just brought to the surface all my scaries and worries on the same subject.

---------------------------------------------------

I had mentioned in a previous post I had a cousin in Jupiter. They headed to our Gainesville cousin yesterday morning. But didn't make it yet. It took them all day just to get to Orlando, which is about the halfway point. So they stopped there and are planning to stay 1-2 days, in hopes the traffic gets better as supposedly the majority have already evacuated. (Shrug), my jaw dropped on that. I think they are kidding themselves and should just keep it moving. But, they're call.

As an aside, my H and I evacuated for Katrina much later than the rest of the city. Not trying to avoid traffic. We just initially weren't planning to leave. We went to bed on Sat. and it was a Cat. 3. We woke up on Sunday and, overnight, it had strengthened to a Cat. 5 :O. Definitely time to GTFO. The majority of the city had left the day before or first thing that morning. And most people from my area go west. We left mid-day and went east. But it still took us 9 hours to get to Hattiesburg, MS. Which is normally less than 2 hours. Ha, coincidently, probably about the distance between Jupiter and Orlando. And the distance between Orlando and Gainesville.

6fsn · September 2017

This is now how I work. When the router buttons light up he'll start attacking it.

short+sassy · September 2017

6fsn said:

This is now how I work. When the router buttons light up he'll start attacking it.

Your "manager" seems really fuzzy. And with extra pointy ears. But he's a real cutie .

Lol, I just love how regal and authoritative cats look. Even when they're just sitting there, chillin'. He's trying to make sure the "evil" router button doesn't attack you.

kvruns · September 2017

Agree with the others on the first good night of sleep, waking up in that panic of uh oh did I miss the monitor going off.

Feel like I'm on edge with hurricane Irma because of my grandparents and knowing that my grandpa doesn't want to evacuate to anywhere. They're inland but if it goes up the middle like some predictions then it would come right towards them.

sparklepants41 · September 2017

I was watching CNN earlier & the reporter was on location in Miami interviewing hurricane experts and various locals. One guy he interviewed was out with his young (5? 6? y.o.) son and he said he and his family weren't going to leave because they lived on the 11th floor of their building, which had just gotten new storm windows, and they had bottled water and batteries. The reporter kept trying to convince the guy that staying was a bad idea - even telling him that Miami would be cut off for days after the storm, to which the guy replied "what am I going to need in a few days?" UM. How about medical treatment?! I understand that people have ridden previous hurricanes out before but this storm is the size of Texas and is worse than any prior storm. The reporter even offered to have CNN get the guy and his family to a shelter so they'd be safe and the guy just shrugged that off.

southernbelle0915 · September 2017

sparklepants41 said:

I was watching CNN earlier & the reporter was on location in Miami interviewing hurricane experts and various locals. One guy he interviewed was out with his young (5? 6? y.o.) son and he said he and his family weren't going to leave because they lived on the 11th floor of their building, which had just gotten new storm windows, and they had bottled water and batteries. The reporter kept trying to convince the guy that staying was a bad idea - even telling him that Miami would be cut off for days after the storm, to which the guy replied "what am I going to need in a few days?" UM. How about medical treatment?! I understand that people have ridden previous hurricanes out before but this storm is the size of Texas and is worse than any prior storm. The reporter even offered to have CNN get the guy and his family to a shelter so they'd be safe and the guy just shrugged that off.

I mean, I completely understand people who CAN'T leave - as in, they have no where to go; and/or no resources to go anywhere; and/or a physical disability and no support which prevents you from evacuating; and/or a mental disability and no support which prevents you from understanding the severity of the storm, etc.

But it does break my heart when people with dependent children who CAN evacuate make questionable decisions to stay. I really hope they come out unscathed.

VarunaTT · September 2017

I'm soooo tired. I stayed up way too late, drinking my fine scotch and watching TV and now ragweed is super high and I feel like poo. But YAY tonight is home with K. I'm looking forward to snuggles and I'm not usually a big snuggler. Sleeping w/out her has been more lonely that I thought it would be. My GF has turned me into a softie, y'all.

K has a show tonight and no other plans for the weekend except for a festival for fun on Sunday.

sparklepants41 · September 2017

southernbelle0915 said:

sparklepants41 said:

I was watching CNN earlier & the reporter was on location in Miami interviewing hurricane experts and various locals. One guy he interviewed was out with his young (5? 6? y.o.) son and he said he and his family weren't going to leave because they lived on the 11th floor of their building, which had just gotten new storm windows, and they had bottled water and batteries. The reporter kept trying to convince the guy that staying was a bad idea - even telling him that Miami would be cut off for days after the storm, to which the guy replied "what am I going to need in a few days?" UM. How about medical treatment?! I understand that people have ridden previous hurricanes out before but this storm is the size of Texas and is worse than any prior storm. The reporter even offered to have CNN get the guy and his family to a shelter so they'd be safe and the guy just shrugged that off.

I mean, I completely understand people who CAN'T leave - as in, they have no where to go; and/or no resources to go anywhere; and/or a physical disability and no support which prevents you from evacuating; and/or a mental disability and no support which prevents you from understanding the severity of the storm, etc.

But it does break my heart when people with dependent children who CAN evacuate make questionable decisions to stay. I really hope they come out unscathed.

I completely agree - if you can't evacuate because you have a disability, are elderly or infirm, or if you can't afford the means with which to evacuate, I totally get it. But yes - this guy just wanted to stay with his wife and two small kids and he seemed unfazed by how dangerous the situation is.

OliveOilsMom · September 2017

S+S - I've been getting my teeth cleaned 3 times per year for a decade now. I alternate between my OON periodontist and an IN dentist. I've had only had the scaling done twice and my periodontist restricts it to certain quadrants that need it. Obviously you have the diabetes as an extra factor over me, but I would potentially get a 2nd opinion. To start, getting your teeth cleaned more often may help prevent getting the scaling done. My dental insurance will pay for up to 4 cleanings per year - 2 with a regular dentist and 2 with the periodontist. Can you try that for a while to see how your gums respond?

As you mentioned about insurance and scalings, some restrict how often you have it done. I think mine limits it to each quadrant scaled every 2 years. So I could get my whole mouth scaled and covered every other year. So I would potentially be paying for a full scaling every other year, if I were in your shoes.

Scalings also aren't as bad as they sound. My periodontist will do half of the mouth at the same time, leaving you the other half for eating if you need your full mouth done. They numb you up something fierce. So the down side is you would have to go twice to have your whole mouth done.

I've always had teeth issues. My gum swelled badly while I wore my braces, I think they may have had some nickel in them to get as bad as it was. But even after, they stayed all crazy. I was surprised I didn't have more issues during pregnancy with my gums, as its common.

bleve0821 · September 2017

I have the migraine from hell, I can't see for shit because my eyes are dilated, and I'm pretty sure I failed the vision exam for the first time in my life. When did "Better 1? Better 2?" become such an impossible question to answer?

TGIF...

short+sassy · September 2017

sparklepants41 said:

southernbelle0915 said:

sparklepants41 said:

I was watching CNN earlier & the reporter was on location in Miami interviewing hurricane experts and various locals. One guy he interviewed was out with his young (5? 6? y.o.) son and he said he and his family weren't going to leave because they lived on the 11th floor of their building, which had just gotten new storm windows, and they had bottled water and batteries. The reporter kept trying to convince the guy that staying was a bad idea - even telling him that Miami would be cut off for days after the storm, to which the guy replied "what am I going to need in a few days?" UM. How about medical treatment?! I understand that people have ridden previous hurricanes out before but this storm is the size of Texas and is worse than any prior storm. The reporter even offered to have CNN get the guy and his family to a shelter so they'd be safe and the guy just shrugged that off.

I mean, I completely understand people who CAN'T leave - as in, they have no where to go; and/or no resources to go anywhere; and/or a physical disability and no support which prevents you from evacuating; and/or a mental disability and no support which prevents you from understanding the severity of the storm, etc.

But it does break my heart when people with dependent children who CAN evacuate make questionable decisions to stay. I really hope they come out unscathed.

I completely agree - if you can't evacuate because you have a disability, are elderly or infirm, or if you can't afford the means with which to evacuate, I totally get it. But yes - this guy just wanted to stay with his wife and two small kids and he seemed unfazed by how dangerous the situation is.

If a person has a disability or is infirm, there are typically all kinds of resources they can access to safely be evacuated. In fact, those are the people who are usually evacuated, way in advance. When it is even just a "might" an area will be evacuated.

The "means" to evacuate are a totally different story. It's a serious problem. I've evacuated 4x, since moving to NOLA 18 years ago. Oddly enough, all four of them were in the first 8 years. It IS expensive. It's really expensive. It's gas, it's hotel rooms, it's food. And maybe you're going home to a shorted paycheck because you were out of work for X days during the evacuation. Even if you go to a shelter, it's still gas and probably some food.

But at least I've always had a car. Because if you don't or don't have friends/family with access to car, you can't get out of town even if you desperately want to. I think Miami has buses that will take people out. But smaller cities won't have that. NOLA is a medium-sized. They didn't have busses taking people out before Katrina. They scrounged some up in the aftermath, but had to wait for the waters to recede in order to get to the big shelters, like the Superdome.

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But, to use that man and his family as an example, I can't explain it. At all. But you see that attitude. ALL the time, during evacuations. But especially with young children. Even something as simple as his kid tripping and breaking his arm. SOL, buddy. Better splint that as best you can because nobody can help you for days. And your little one will be subjected to horrific, never ending pain for days.

No law enforcement either. And do you know who else doesn't evacuate? Looters and thieves. Looking for the all kinds of easy pickings in all those empty houses and apartments. Hopefully no one will target your fancy high rise apartment. Or at least be too lazy to walk up 21 flights of stairs.

I can't help but wonder if he has ever lived without electricity for over a week. Because I have. Twice. One of those times was Hurricane Wilma...in Miami (no evacuation ordered there). Where we had evacuated to from Katrina. It's awful for grown adults and I'm sure even worse for kids. Even if you're stocked up, canned food...that you can't heat...gets really old. Really fast. It's also probably still hot AF in Miami. No a/c for days on end is torturous.

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My last example on "omg, just be safe and evacuate", because you just never know. There is one Katrina victim I didn't know personally, but knew tangentially. She was the neighbor of my friend's parents. She was an elderly lady who absolutely refused to evacuate. She had family galore begging her to leave with them. My friend's parents begged her to leave and offered for her to evacuate with them. She absolutely refused. Her attitude was, "She'd lived through Betsy. She'd lived through Camille. She wasn't leaving." Tragically, she didn't live through Katrina. She drowned inside her own home.

GBCK · September 2017

I am still trying to talk my ILs from heading down to their vacation home in the gulf, leaving here tomorrow.

I don't know why nomrally intelligent people think they should still leave tomorrow to go to Missisipi, but, really, waiting 3 extra days seems wise, no?

southernbelle0915 · September 2017

short+sassy said:
I can't help but wonder if he has ever lived without electricity for over a week...It's also probably still hot AF in Miami. No a/c for days on end is torturous.

This is what I was thinking too. Like, dude, you are on the 11th floor of an apartment building in MIAMI. In the summer. With no A/C. and no electricity for fans. And windows you can't open. And the whole building is closed up.

I just....ugh.

OurWildKingdom · September 2017

I talked to my family in Florida last night. One aunt and uncle are on the coast and are evacuating today to South Carolina. My other aunt and uncle and my cousins are further inland, but they're prepared to evacuate if they have to.

I also have a cousin in Washington, and there are wildfires in their part of the state. Some kids started the fire playing with fireworks in the forest.

And people say human-created climate change isn't real. Seriously?

On a happier note, the big boss is on a plane to Ireland to take her daughter to college, and my quasi-boss is at court all day, so I've been sneaking in wedding stuff when I can.

Tonight Housemate #1 and I are going to visit our friend who had knee surgery, then going to our usual meeting. Tomorrow I'm going to cook lunch at a fire station, then after that, I'm going to Staples to get the invitations and directions cards printed. Later I'll meet with my sponsor and go to my writing group. Sunday, my mom, FW, and I are going shopping for craft stuff for the wedding. I'm probably going to be making a few AW posts in the near future. In the evening, we'll address the invitations.

kimmiinthemitten · September 2017

Thanks for the well wishes, I'm on my phone so I can't remember who said what but I'll try and update/answer questions.

Cost: about $1,500 ($650 out of pocket). They did remove the tissue from the roof of my mouth and place it over one tooth in the front bottom gum. It may be more or less. They said they'd submit to insurance first and then bill me the rest.

Pain: not bad now. The shots were the worst part (thankfully I had the gas too). However one area started to come back during the procedure and that was not nice. It also led to more pain after than I'd probably experience otherwise. If you can, get your scripts filled first. By the time my pharmacy filled mine, my locals were fading fast. I did take a norco but that is why. Otherwise, my Dr said you can take the ibuprofen first.

During: it's weird. The weirdest part if when they're seeing you back up because the thread for the sutures is kind of chilling on your face.

After: also weird because you're aware of the stitches. I'm still bleeding a little from the roof of my mouth which is normal, but feels off because you can taste it. Cold soft food for 24 hours (so the sutures etc can dry) and then you can add in warm soft food. But all soft. Oh and no alcohol or carbonated beverages. Damn you mouth! I go back next week to have the sutures removed.

kimmiinthemitten · September 2017

My sister said a lot of life-long Floridians are very much in the ride it out camp. They say the media hypes it up and it's never that bad. Except you know when it is. To her, even if her house is saved, what is her neighborhood like? WIll she have power, be able to drive, have stores with food etc? One of the greatest threats to my sisters area (Clearwater) are the bridges being damaged. So if she stayed she runs the risk of not being able to leave her peninsula at all or at least have horrendous drives to move around. Her husband travels the bridge everyday for work.

That guy in Miami is crazy though. And it's sad that he's willing to put innocent children's lives at risk. Will his windows withstand 150mph winds? Debris flying at 150 mph? How will his children leave if needed? Down 11 floors with no power and almost guaranteed flooding? What a dick.

For or most people who aren't in an evac zone they should be fine, but I'm glad my sister didn't bet on should be.

banana468 · September 2017

short+sassy said:

sparklepants41 said:

southernbelle0915 said:

sparklepants41 said:

I was watching CNN earlier & the reporter was on location in Miami interviewing hurricane experts and various locals. One guy he interviewed was out with his young (5? 6? y.o.) son and he said he and his family weren't going to leave because they lived on the 11th floor of their building, which had just gotten new storm windows, and they had bottled water and batteries. The reporter kept trying to convince the guy that staying was a bad idea - even telling him that Miami would be cut off for days after the storm, to which the guy replied "what am I going to need in a few days?" UM. How about medical treatment?! I understand that people have ridden previous hurricanes out before but this storm is the size of Texas and is worse than any prior storm. The reporter even offered to have CNN get the guy and his family to a shelter so they'd be safe and the guy just shrugged that off.

I mean, I completely understand people who CAN'T leave - as in, they have no where to go; and/or no resources to go anywhere; and/or a physical disability and no support which prevents you from evacuating; and/or a mental disability and no support which prevents you from understanding the severity of the storm, etc.

But it does break my heart when people with dependent children who CAN evacuate make questionable decisions to stay. I really hope they come out unscathed.

I completely agree - if you can't evacuate because you have a disability, are elderly or infirm, or if you can't afford the means with which to evacuate, I totally get it. But yes - this guy just wanted to stay with his wife and two small kids and he seemed unfazed by how dangerous the situation is.

If a person has a disability or is infirm, there are typically all kinds of resources they can access to safely be evacuated. In fact, those are the people who are usually evacuated, way in advance. When it is even just a "might" an area will be evacuated.
The "means" to evacuate are a totally different story. It's a serious problem. I've evacuated 4x, since moving to NOLA 18 years ago. Oddly enough, all four of them were in the first 8 years. It IS expensive. It's really expensive. It's gas, it's hotel rooms, it's food. And maybe you're going home to a shorted paycheck because you were out of work for X days during the evacuation. Even if you go to a shelter, it's still gas and probably some food.
But at least I've always had a car. Because if you don't or don't have friends/family with access to car, you can't get out of town even if you desperately want to. I think Miami has buses that will take people out. But smaller cities won't have that. NOLA is a medium-sized. They didn't have busses taking people out before Katrina. They scrounged some up in the aftermath, but had to wait for the waters to recede in order to get to the big shelters, like the Superdome.
---------------------------------------------------------------
But, to use that man and his family as an example, I can't explain it. At all. But you see that attitude. ALL the time, during evacuations. But especially with young children. Even something as simple as his kid tripping and breaking his arm. SOL, buddy. Better splint that as best you can because nobody can help you for days. And your little one will be subjected to horrific, never ending pain for days.
No law enforcement either. And do you know who else doesn't evacuate? Looters and thieves. Looking for the all kinds of easy pickings in all those empty houses and apartments. Hopefully no one will target your fancy high rise apartment. Or at least be too lazy to walk up 21 flights of stairs.
I can't help but wonder if he has ever lived without electricity for over a week. Because I have. Twice. One of those times was Hurricane Wilma...in Miami (no evacuation ordered there). Where we had evacuated to from Katrina. It's awful for grown adults and I'm sure even worse for kids. Even if you're stocked up, canned food...that you can't heat...gets really old. Really fast. It's also probably still hot AF in Miami. No a/c for days on end is torturous.
-------------------------------------------------------------
My last example on "omg, just be safe and evacuate", because you just never know. There is one Katrina victim I didn't know personally, but knew tangentially. She was the neighbor of my friend's parents. She was an elderly lady who absolutely refused to evacuate. She had family galore begging her to leave with them. My friend's parents begged her to leave and offered for her to evacuate with them. She absolutely refused. Her attitude was, "She'd lived through Betsy. She'd lived through Camille. She wasn't leaving." Tragically, she didn't live through Katrina. She drowned inside her own home.

I remember 5 years ago when we dealt with Sandy. We weren't in an evacuation area of town (the streets closer to LI Sound did) but we did have no power from Monday night until Saturday. We did have a generator so we used that to be able to heat food, run the fridge and shower.

We turned that off at night and slept without heat. Luckily it was just cool enough that it wasn't a big deal.

But plenty of people reported that their generators were stolen by looters. We locked ours inside at night. Others weren't so lucky.

OurWildKingdom · September 2017

Sending healing vibes for you, @kimmiinthemitten!

WinstonsGirl · September 2017

Heal fast @kimmiinthemitten . I believe the no straws is cos they create a vacuum in your mouth which can pull the stitches out (according to the Dentist who took out my Wisdom teeth).

Yay for more sleep @sparklepants41!!

Count me in for not understanding people who don't evacuate during natural disasters. If you want to stay and live through it, that's one thing, but you're now putting emergency services at risk and potentially taking up their time and energy which could be better spent doing something more useful.

We had a massive wildfire last summer in the northern part of the province. The entire city of Ft. McMurray was evacuated and several neighbourhoods were lost. One guy was interviewed saying that he was going to stay and try to save his house (probably with his garden hose). Emergency services (fire fighters, EMT's, police) then responded that they would be staying in the city to look out for those staying behind. What a waste of manpower who could instead be helping to stop the fire or evacuating others who need help, who are now having to babysit some guy to make sure he doesn't die in the wildfire.

Fri-YAY

Re: Fri-YAY

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