Excellent Storm Tracker

[Bear]

http://www.stormpulse.com/

The Bear Family

[Dave H]

The Bear Family and the people of Texas are in our prayers! Once again, Florida got lucky!

Dave

[Bear]

If Ike hits were its currently predicted it will be within 35 miles of my home and we'll be on the wet side.  The current path shows it going over the top of my Mom's house.  Two years ago when Rita came we ran and after spending 10hrs going 110 miles we ended up going directly into Rita's path at my brothers house in Onalaska, Texas so this time we are being told to "shelter-in-place" and I think we will. 

Rita took down 1/4 of my fence and we were on the dry side of it so maybe I can get a new roof out of this one?  Insurance doesn't cover under $800.  Honey is pure panic and my only real concern is if we lose power, usually the water and gas stay on and I was smart enough to insist we buy a house with natural gas heat/cooking.

We went to the local Walmart and got there early enough to get a good supply, during Rita the stores shelves were bare by time I got off work to be able to go.

Oh Well.  HURRICATION!!!

The Bear Family

[Dave H]

Hey Bear,

I figure it is time to evacuate if we get a direct hit from a category 4 or 5 as my second floor will be gone! We got a new roof after Hurricane Wilma, but we paid $1500 after insurance. There had still been blue tarps on some roofs until a few months ago. Even if you had the money, finding a roofer was hard. They only wanted to work on big developments. Katrina  took most of the FEMA money, so the Feds downgraded Wilma and they didn't pay so much here. We didn't even get a free bottle FEMA water, let alone a Visa card! I always keep plenty of water and emergency supplies on hand.  I have a gas barbecue (with side burner) and a camping stove. I also have a small generator, which powers my neighbor's fridge, TV, and a few lights as well. I had to sacrifice buying other 'necessities' to get it!  No bling for me.   

Dave

[Bear]

During Rita I was mad because the illegals on both sides of me got Visa Cards worth $2000 and I couldn't get a loan.  But I learned - next time I let my wife apply!

The Bear Family

[Jeff S]

I guess you're the wrong color Bear.

[Dave H]

During Rita I was mad because the illegals on both sides of me got Visa Cards worth $2000 and I couldn't get a loan.  But I learned - next time I let my wife apply!

The Bear Family

Hey Bear,

Just make sure you have Honey check the 'Hispanic' box as well! Although a much bigger minority, being Asian doesn't seem to count for much in the US!

Do you have shutters or plywood for your windows?  Don't worry, one of your neighbors just bought some plywood.  It looks like he has more than he needs. He will probably sell you some for $100 a sheet. I just had my generator tuned up and carb rebuilt. The Latinos who now own the local small engine repair shop quoted me $65 and now are trying to charge me triple the price. Nothing like Hispanic honesty and integrity! I guess that must be the new Gringo price of the day. I bet they drop it when I go in to pick it up!  

Dave

[Bear]

Yeah I guess being Scottish, Italian and American Indian makes me a 3x loser to the liberals.  When I think of the billions wasted during that those 2 hurricanes my eyes shoot fire, at least theres no money on my pocket to catch fire!

The Bear Family

[Dave H]

Hey Bear,

I heard that some of your neighbors are going to dress in the ever popular car seat costume for Halloween this year. 

[Bear]

The newest track info has Ike hitting land on Galveston Island about 20 miles from miles from where we Live now.  I'm in a surge 4 area and its considered to be a surge 2 storm so I guess water-wise I'll be okay.  But we still have to worry about wind (80-100 mph) and loss of electricity which could literally take weeks to get back on.  Honey's been preparing foods we can eat should we lose power.  The evacuation route is a parking lot!  On IH 45 North towards a town called Conroe (the famous Woodlands area were they used to have the Shell open), the freeway goes from 4 lanes to 2 and its causing a 4+ hr delay and the speed only ups to about 35 after getting passed it.  I hear that there are similar problems on IH10 West to San Antonio  and East to New Orleans but not as bad.  Glad we "Shelter-in-place because I don't think a our 8 month old and our cocker spaniel could deal with such a tough trip.

The Bear Family

[Dave H]

Hey Bear,

Have any of your neighbors ever dressed their kids as human piñatas? Probably a bad idea as kids will try to break them open with sticks to get all of the candy! 

[Bear]

Ya know I could use that costume.  That way I could get away with spanking my kids and the liberals would stay out of it think we were illegals having a birthday party and breaking pinantas.

The Bear Family

[Dave H]

Hey Bear,

What is the common construction type there, CBS, wood frame? My house was built in 1990 (pre-Andrew). The second story (wood framed with stucco) does not meet the current code.  Do you have a safe room? I think under most circumstances...inland, high ground, safe room, it is probably best to stay in place. One thing for certain, when the wind stops blowing, the looting will start! In South Florida we take looting very seriously, and most home and business owners are armed to the teeth with everything from handguns to M60's. I'm sure most Texans feel the same way! After a few rounds from my Mossberg 590, I'm sure people scatter. I used my Mossberg 500 ATP 12 GA quite effectively during the Miami riots of the 80's and Hurricane Andrew. During the 1980 riots, my crew had to rescue people (often entire families) whose vehicles were being chased and shot up by armed thugs in pickups. Some 12 GA rounds fired off in rapid succession (8 + 1= 9 Round Capacity) usually did then trick and caused them to turn and flee.  I had armour piercing slugs just in case I needed to stop vehicles dead. My LT was using a MAC10 at first,which was hard to control and shooting all over the place! 

Dave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNsVDlLVwY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2nPFd6k-Uk

Mossberg 500 ATP 12 ga

[michaelb]

I just had my generator tuned up and carb rebuilt. The Latinos who now own the local small engine repair shop quoted me $65 and now are trying to charge me triple the price. Nothing like Hispanic honesty and integrity! I guess that must be the new Gringo price of the day. I bet they drop it when I go in to pick it up! 

Dave

Really? You must not have negotiated properly. A coupe of months ago I had a Latino owned shop (in Farmers Branch, of all places, if you follow the immigration news, you'll see the irony) put a new clutch in my Honda (car, not bike) for $280.00, they did a fine job and even had it ready 2 hours sooner than they said they would....my ex had paid $800 to have a, ahem, 'national franchise' put a clutch in her similar car a couple of weeks before (and boy was she pissed when she found out what I paid).

Speaking of hurricanes, I talked to my bro-in-law in Beaumont a few minutes ago and asked if they need a place in Dallas to crash, but they had already made arrangements to evacuate to a vacant house in Colorado that's in his father's side of the family. Said they're almost loaded and will be leaving in the morning. Taking 2 cars full of kids and pets, gonna be a long drive.  So, I'll call my Houston based Mexican (but legal, just in case anybody was wondering) truck driver friend and ask if they want to come. Last big storm, they all came in his Freightliner (just the cab, they left the trailer behind). The truck has a big sleeper, so they stayed in it, but we of course fed them and let them use our bath facilities. --- and Bear, I used to commute every weekend from Houston to Dallas, so I know that Conroe can cause a 4 hour traffic jam even without a hurricane.

[Dave H]

Really? You must not have negotiated properly.

Hey Michael,

That was the over the phone price. I will negotiate it way down when I pick it up. That is just the way business operates here now.  Cubans are well known for it! Unfortunately for them, I speak enough Spanish so they can't get anything past me when they talk among themselves. I will go in doing my best Haitian "One dollar...one dollar!" impersonation and we will end up back at $65 or less. They are not used to dealing with many Gringos at the shop (mostly Hispanic and Haitian customers) and don't know they have a ringer on their hands. 

Dave

[michaelb]

Go get'em, hee hee, show'em that they aren't dealing with a fool. And let me correct my clutch story, it was $280 labor and I had to provide the parts, $140, so my total cost was $420, still that was only a little more than 1/2 what the ex paid (her $800 included the parts). The real cost was that I didn't do it myself (I've done lots of clutch jobs, I used to work as a mechanic). Sure, I rationalized that the apartment complex won't let you work on your car in the parking lot and even if they did it isn't level enough to do it safely, but the real truth is that I could have done it in a friend's home garage, but now I'm just too old and lazy, and let me tell you it hurt to have to admit that to myself.

[Bear]

Unfortunately I don't own a gun.  Its one of those things I always intend to buy but end up getting the kids something instead.  But most of the people are afraid of me in this neighborhood since I made the big ruckus 3 years ago over the dog.  And every time I see a poloice man drive down the road I wave him down a chat for a few minutes. I may be stupid but one time in Germany a few of the locals were mad because I was flirting with this young girl who ended up being twelve (I was 19 - I just didn't know!) and thought they were gonna kick by bottomside.  I took a chance and charged them hitting two as hard as I could.  The other one I missed, he took off running and the other two were afraid to get up.  I explained I didn't know and apologized then helped them up and left.  Not sure if I'll ever be that lucky again or if that type of situation would ever present itself again but I know I have the guts to do it.
As for the bottleneck at Conroe, this one is bad and not normal because about 600,000 people are trying to get through it as quickly as possible and its just not reasonable to go around it (40-50 miles).  I just heard the mayor talking about it and said that there just was anything that could be done until the road consruction in that area was complete which would be another 14-16 months.  I think they should have warned people in advance so some could have made other plans.
As for Ike its now considered to be big for wind and rain but weak in storm surge.  The winds will be pretty strong (80-110 maintained after hitting land) and the rain massive (5" in 12 hours) but the storm surge about 20 feet (the height the water will maintain above normal for the period of the storm, which could be 8-10 hours).  This is less that hot it was originally predicted and the storm has move from hitting Corpus Christi two days ago (200 miles south) to direct on Galveston.  There is a 33% chance that the predicted landfall will move again but not more than 50 miles.  The last four moves were three north and the last south.  Rita did the same thing and hit Beaumont (about 20 miles east) at the last minute instead of Houston.

The Bear Family

[michaelb]

I'm not what folks call a 'gun nut', but I've got an old (made in 1895) Mauser that still works fine (and believe it or not, you can still get the ammunition, maybe not at Wally World, but at any decent hunting store) and a Mossberg 500B that doesn't look anything even like your 500 ATP. Mine holds 1 in the chamber and 5 in the magazine, 6 total, and has a conventional full length stock. I think yours was made especially for police work and is what both cops and gang-bangers refer to as a 'street sweeper'.

[Dave H]

Hi Michael,

My 500ATP (later called the 'Persuader') came with a wooden stock but I changed it to a folding stock to make it more maneuverable in tight quarters. It has a 20 inch barrel, while most cops at the time preferred an 18 inch barrel, with the gun mounted vertically on the transmission hump. The 18" was easier to manuever inside a squad car than the 20", because they were using a full length stock. I got an extra 2 rounds out of the 20", unless I was using 3" magnum shells.  The 590 is beefier, with less plastic parts and more durable for combat use. However, I have fired thousands of rounds through the 500 with no problems whatsoever!  I mainly bought it for the Cocaine Cowboys and kept it under the bench seat of my rescue truck when on duty. I never had to use it against them. But if I did, I could have put far more lethal projectiles in the air quicker than they could with their submachine guns. They put more bullets into walls than they ever did into people. I have seen people with just a few flesh wounds after having 30 rounds fired at them from a fairly close range, from a  MAC-10.

Dave

[Dave H]

The best thing about Hurricane Ike...watching Geraldo getting knocked on his azz!  I sure hope he does an encore! 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLZ7lK7-G_A

[Bob_S]

As for the bottleneck at Conroe, this one is bad and not normal because about 600,000 people are trying to get through it as quickly as possible and its just not reasonable to go around it (40-50 miles).  I just heard the mayor talking about it and said that there just was anything that could be done until the road consruction in that area was complete which would be another 14-16 months.  I think they should have warned people in advance so some could have made other plans.

When the last big one hit Galveston and you had the huge traffic jam heading out of the city, why didn't the governor just shut down south-bound traffic on the I-45 and open up both sides of the freeway to north-bound traffic only?  You block off all south-bound on-ramps and re-merge the traffic at the 610 and 10 when a lot of the traffic would have pealed off to head east or west.  People shouldn't be stuck out of gas on the freeway when the storm hits.

[leather neck]

Hey Bob_S

Now just stop it! There you go thinking and using the gray matter between your ears, and besides, your idea makes sense. How in the world is a politician or a bureaucrat supposed to come up with a sensible plan as that, you're ahead of them...they'll think of that only after the strom has long passed.

But, I wouldn't count on it...considering the traffic nightmare that happened the last big strom, you would think at least ONE bureaucrat would have noticed the south bound side was virtually empty after looking at all of the film footage of motorist headed north, and  proposed doing as you have mentioned.


Leatherneck

[leather neck]

Bear,

And the other posters in the Houston area or in the path of this huge storm...hope your departure is a safe one...but if you're staying, I guess honker down and hope for the best. See you on the other side of this storm!


Leatherneck

[Bear]

They didn't order a contraflow because it has to go all the way to a destination like Dallas or San Antonio.  They said it was more important to get supplies (gas and food) in for those being told to shelter in place (like us).  They ran out of those commodities also in the last evac and decided that this hurricane didn't warrant it comparison.

We are doing fine so far.  The first outer bands are getting to us now and the winds are about 40mph.  No power outages (i am on line if anyone wants to chat).

The Bear Family