"Sitting on the Front Porch"

[Miss Mary]

Jeremy - no, we're to the east of that area. Close but not close enough, thankfully. That could have been a very frightening situation. Getting to work via 275, to 471 was a long commute my hubby said. He was at a standstill just trying to merge onto the highway, here in Anderson Twp. Before he even crossed the river!

Mary

[pojo]

I get to see my family before I go over to the desert!!! I just booked my tickets to fly home for a couple of days that way they can properly wish me off. Plus, I'm stopping at my former elementary school to talk with students there (I had this particular teacher and she is willing to let me stop for a visit). Third grade students... this should be interesting.

As you can tell I'm quite happy. No I'm not taking leave, I'm sneaking home for a couple of days on my days off prior to leaving for the desert...Everyone else is going it. Why not I? Its over the weekend, and I have phone numbers just in case I need to reach anyone.

[therock1811]

Jeremy - no, we're to the east of that area. Close but not close enough, thankfully. That could have been a very frightening situation. Getting to work via 275, to 471 was a long commute my hubby said. He was at a standstill just trying to merge onto the highway, here in Anderson Twp. Before he even crossed the river!

Mary

I know...I was going to NKU this morning via 275 eastbound...when I hit Wilder, it got backed up in the left lane of 275 getting onto 471. Expect the same tomorrow morning.

[streetsoldier]

Well, Southeast Missouri has seen the last of Katrina's wrath...she left sporadic 45-mph gusts, my yard is full of LARGE broken tree limbs, and the drainage ditches are at capacity...nothing at all, compared to our brothers and sisters in LA, MI, and AL...but I'm glad its over and done with.

[pojo]

this stinks and its not the filth of LA, MS and AL. I found out a couple of hours ago that my flight was bumped up 11 days... so there goes the flight home to see everyone. (It was canceled well within the 24 hour window) Our rotator flight out of BWI was moved from 25 Aug to 14 Sept now to 3 Sept. Make up your mind!

Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper right now.

[vbhoutex]

Miss Mary, in answer to your question about my future DIL's P's. They are back together. Very long story here, but the father is an alcoholic, yet holds down a hig paying job at Hewlett Packard. They haven't been "close" for years according to the kids. Rumors of another woman involved which may have actually been his own overactive imagination. Not really sure, but they are back together for now.
Meanwhile my wife is the one helping the future DIL do all the planning since her mom "doesn't have time". She had time to give her a budget(low by todays standards but easily doable). She even had the temerity to tell her daughter that anything over that budget had to be paid half by us!!!! AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!! They have a lot more resources than we do, but we will be sure that they do have a proper wedding no matter what. And as you have stated, THIS ALL PALES INTO NOTHINGNESS IN COMPARISON TO WHAT IS HAPPENING ACROSS THE MS/LA GULF COAST.
Houston has grown by 100,000 population in a matter of 3 days and they are still pouring in and I am not talking the busses to the dome. I fear we will have some strife due to the total helplessness many feel. Already having confrontations between authorities at the Astrodome and refugess trying to get in who are not coming over by bus from NO. REALLY A SAD SITUATION all the way around without any reall good answers. I AM PROUD TO SAY HOUSTONIANS were at the dome last night when the busses started rolling in holding up signs welcoming our "neighbors" and those are not the 100's of volunteers hastily assembled to set everything up.

[therock1811]

David, you should be very proud of your city. I know I'm extremely proud of Cincinnatians. There's been an enormous outpouring of support for the people down there. Last time I checked, a phone bank being run by WLWT-TV NBC 5 had raised somewhere around $77,000! And that was last night at 11pm, and they re-opened it for another day which had not been planned until about noon yesterday! So it's probably well over $100k at this point. What's more, 4 semis full of supplies are headed south courtesy of the Butler County, Ohio Sheriff's Office, and more will be on the way, courtesy of the Infiniti Broadcasting radio stations in this area who are running a donation station all day today. It's just amazing...we're something like 800 miles north, and the entire Tri-State is helping out.

[vbhoutex]

Jeremy, I am beaming with pride at my city!!! Literally millions has been raised by different fund drives. We are housing, in different shelters etc. all over the metropolitan area probably close to 100,000 refugees and the citizens, churches, even karate groups are coming out in droves to assist. My daughters office has given them a day off with pay to go help where they can. This is really an incredible city.

[Miss Mary]

You should be proud of your city David! I think everyone is looking to Houston, to offer rays of hope and sanity in sea of despair.

Mary

[therock1811]

I know I am.

Cincinnati continues to make this native proud. Within 1 hour during a telethon, folks had raised almost $92,000! And that was from 7-8...I don't have figures since that hour, but it's got to be well over $100k. And tomorrow, I'm going to kick in all of the $15 I have in my pocket to help out. It's not much, but it will help.

[therock1811]

The total for yesterday's telethon, according to final figures released late last night, was $322,671! That's going to help a LOT of people down there. This in addition to almost $720,000 raised in 3 DAYS by the NBC station. That's simply amazing. As I said yesterday, I am going to kick in a few bucks today. It's not much, but I'm doing what I can.

[Miss Mary]

Any amount, greatly helps. I wanted to contribute to the telethon but lines were jammed. I will still donate to the Red Cross. We were very proud of our fellow Tri-Stater's/Cincinnatians for coming together like this.

Jeremy - did you see Rich Apuzzo manning the phones? I thought we'd see him, he is such a people kinda guy. He hypes his wx forecasts but sure seems very nice.

Mary

[therock1811]

I did see Apuzzo! Great guy...too bad Steve H. was on vacation still...I'm sure he'd have been out there too.

[Miss Mary]

Oh Steve H. would have been there! It was nice to see so many local anchors volunteering their time.

Seems there isn't anyone not contributing now. And that is such a good thing.

Mary

[Miss Mary]

Hey all - taking a break from here. I'm one of the many addicted to S2K, I'll admit it. But this past week has been such a tragically sad time for our country. Your mind is reeling from one sad story to another. And now my heart is breaking from all the pet stories and how owners had either no choice but to leave them behind or stay behind with their pets. Let it be known right now, I don't want the Porch Topic to split into two camps, just b/c I brought up abandoned pets - to save the people or the pets. How about both? We have that going on elsewhere, who said what, to whom, who's to blame, not to blame, etc. So many other topics over at the Aftermath Forum, someone's blasting the media, or pointing fingers. The whole thing is so tragic! Why or why can't we say let's right a wrong and help now, and keep the help coming? I dunno........

I have a crazy week coming up, saw 3 good job ads in the paper, need to work on them. I will be needed two days this week to drive my disabled BIL to a law seminar and take his assistance dog to the Vet. What else...working all day Friday for the company my husband runs (and co-owns with his sister). They have lots of work right now so I offered to help. We do have extra bills this year (college tuition, chaching).

And I want to do my part in helping our Southern neighbors. Sometimes an hour goes by at this computer and I often wonder if manning a phone somewhere or collecting donations might be a better choice of time? I just don't have the heart to keep reading topics here or posting on a few, only to have someone criticize it. I think S2K will survive but it's not going to be a pretty place for a while.

And then again, this temporary leave may last mere hours, not days....who knows. I am one of the addicted ones!!!!

Now, if Lindaloo or sunny/Cindy log on - I'm back, in a flash!

Mary

[Miss Mary]

So much for staying away....just made two posts (this is now my third). I did lurk though.....I just hope we can all remain polite to each other, even if we disagree at times.

Please let me know if Linda or sunny/Cindy return!

Mary

[weathermom]

Mary,
You can't stay away, and I am not talking about your addiction to this board, I am talking about this board needing you and your level headed posts!

I understand some of your feelings, especially concerning all that has happened in the Gulf states. It makes the bickering here seem more childish and petty that it would normally seem. I guess one of the hard parts of events like this is that everyone deals with things differently. Some have a need to help, some need to analyze what happened, some need to analyze what went wrong, everyone has their own way. It is often hard for each type to understand the other type. I personally worry for the children. I am haunted by the image of a beautiful little girl I saw on TV waiting to get into the superdome before the storm and wondering what happened to her.

Back to your taking a break. If all the level headed people on this board run and hide, the "Henny Penny's" will take over and this place will never be the same.

Stick around so that when some of the regulars get things together enough to make it back, they will feel as though they are "coming home".
L.

[Miss Mary]

wxmom - awww, thanks for appreciating me!!! Level headed posts huh.....well, I am a very practical person!!!! LOL

And did you see, sunny posted!!!! So I'm back on two accounts, your very nice reply to me here. And sunny is back!!!!

Still very sad over the aftermath of Katrina but happy to be among family and friends here. We will weather this too......pun intended....bad one at that!!!!

Mary

PS - laughed myself silly at the Henny Penny comment......too funny!

[pojo]

hello from the Middle East!

Yes, its me... S2K isn't blocked! Anyways, its been an adventure and I'm proud to say I'm loving it! I'm in an Air Conditioned building (outside at times to visit the cadillac, to go for lunch and to help out the incoming passengers with their baggage). Now, you are probably thinking... cadillac, a car? nope, here the cadillacs are the latrines (restrooms). In coalition compound we have everything... fast food, our BX, pool, theater, the bra (its our nightly drinking place) amongst the dining halls. Qatar is the 'resort' base of the middle east. We are the only place that is allowed alcohol. Surprisingly, I've been dry since I've been here... I really don't have an urge to drink or party. I work 12 hour days 9am-9pm every single day!

[Miss Mary]

Hey all - attended Parent Weekend at our daughter Nina's college. The time we spent with her just flew by but it was so good to see her. She won't be home for 2 months though....I'll adjust, don't worry..... I'm actually handling all of this quite well. She's in the habit now of emailing us a lot and once a week, we're going to hopefully choose a convenient time for all, to talk on the phone. She's having a good college experience so far and we're very impressed with her school - Western Kentucky University.

You will all get a laugh out of this, maybe. As we were saying how nice Western is and Bowling Green, KY as well, Jim asked her if she knew she was living very close to a major faultline - the look on her face was disbelief. She even said something - come on, you're joking right? I know she was thinking, oh this only happens out in California. We both said no, we're not joking, explaining where the New Madrid fault line is located. Her eyes got bigger - really? We didn't want to freak her out and just said don't be surprised if that region experiences a mild earthquake.

Nina picked out $10 worth of bound carpet remnants from several local carpet stores. All plush, some multi colored. But all different colors. Some the large common pieces, but some were smaller ones, 1' by 1'. She got her design all picked out, between her bed and her roommate's bed, in their dorm room. Then flipped the pieces over and taped all the seams togther with duct tape. You just flip this back over for a cool rug! The size she ended up with was a 8' by 8' square. It looks really neat. She got this idea while on a walking tour at another college campus. The tour guide said - don't buy expensive rugs, just get samples and tape them together. Several dorm neighbors have come into their room, saying how cool it looked.

So there's my Martha-like decorating tip of the day - for $10 you can't beat that. And she ended up with a few large remnants left over, one went under her desk the other she gave to her roommate. Now she wants more of the small ones, at only 50 cents each. I do think this girl wants to run around barefoot all year long and would love that room completely carpetted!

Have a good week everyone.

Mary