Being located at ground zero for landfall of hurricane Frances, the Coast Guard has closed the port for our floating casinos since Wednesday. Wow, what a great excuse to evacuate to Biloxi. Thursday both floaters left port. Hopefully they'll sail into the Devil's Triangle and never be seen again. But before leavin' for the land of the 24 hr. double downs we have to secure the homestead for 145mph winds and a 20 ft. storm surge. Geezus, how in the world do you do that? First of all I gotta have money. The Atms are all out of money and the lines to the tellers stretch out the front door. After an hour wait I was told I could only withdraw $300 at a time, the teller seemed unmoved by explicative deletions, and now I have drawn the attention of 2 security guards. So after giving both guards my best Phil Helmuth snarl I'm off to Home Depot. Whoa! The line there is wrapped around the shopping center. After a 2hr wait in line we we're told they were out of plywood. But trucks were on their way from Tampa. I stay around long enough to watch a couple of rounds between 2 trailer trash macho types. I try to get some action on the biker with no front teeth without any luck so I head home for some damage prevention. First I decide to stop for gas. More unbelievable lines. A pick up truck and a Mercedes run into each other trying to get to the pump. I try to get action on the pickup but there are no takers, so I continued home. I spend the rest of the day moving everything of valuable into the attic or at least 6 feet above the floor. The $100,000 Caesars Invitational trophy takes precedence over the wedding picture. Oh well, sleeping on the couch again. After 2 more trips back to Home Depot I finally score 12 sheets of plywood Thursday morning. I make two extra trips around the parking lot just to piss off the others in the marathon length line. The media is telling us we have a mandatory evacuation starting at noon but I'm cutting plywood singing, "I'm here for the party, and I ain't leaving till the throw me out". I must be getting on my neighboor's nerves, cause he's yelling "Shut the hell up, Gretchen". I respond with a 1 finger salutation, I got to learn to turn the Skill saw off the next time I do that. My boarding up is completed by 6:00pm. 6 hrs after the mandatory evacuation. The cops have discontinued their patrols trying to get me to leave. The gas stations have long been closed due to empty pumps. The TV are showing that the interstate and turnpike are at a stand still. No hotels left in the state. Called Disney looking for a room they've got one for $288/night, 3 day minimum. I gave them instructions of how they should get Mickey neutered. Looks like I'm riding this thing out. At 11:00 pm I decide to drive down the beach. It reminds you of a Twilight Zone episode. There is no one here. Errrriiieee.... I did pass one couple. One of them looked like a ZZ Topp album cover and she was the one wearing the dress. Maybe this is the Twilight Zone! Got to go home and do something about this sunburn. This is ironic. I've got first degree burns preparing for a hurricane. Friday morning my dog falls into river chasing a boat with 3 dogs aboard. He probably sensed the impending doom and tried to jump aboard in an effort to escape. After I fished him out of the river he looked at me with that "what are you nuts for staying here looks". Well in lieu of live action I'll be relegated to my simulator in anticipation of the up coming Beau Rivage "Flying Asses" BJ tournament. Hope you all see me there. This is scarier than doubling a hard 19. I'll send you updates as long as we have power. So long from the swamp, IG
Wishing good luck to you and Tahoe Been thinking about both of you and any others of the group having to make last minute preparations. Having been through Andrew personally, I know that it can be very stressful just waiting....especially after you have done all that you can to be ready. My sister just left me a message that she and hubby took my niece to Grandma's and they were off to play poker at Hard Rock (they were still open in Hollywood, FL). I guess that's one way to pass the time! I'm just hoping for all of your sakes that Frances continues to weaken.
It's good to see the stress hasn't killed your sense of humor! We'll all be thinking of you. Hang in there!
Frances WOW! The sun is out, a nice breeze is blowing and the dog's asleep.....you'd never know what hell's about to break loose. Speaking of Tahoe, he's closer to the storm than we are. Hope he got out ok. I know he didn't go to the Bahamas. Speaking of Hard Rock, we went to the one in Tampa. Go for the poker but stay away from the machines. The slot machines are tied into a mini bingo game which you have to win before you can be eligible to collect your winnings from your spin. Your bingo game wins about 25-30% of the time, so tie that in to an 85% payback and that makes you a big loser. But the place was packed. People are obviously obsessed with the possibilities without figuring the probabilities. Thanks to everyone for all the good thoughts, IG
