Another day

The latest here is that I am back to work, living day to day, trying to figure out how to get back to the life I knew. Got some bad news from my mortgage company yesterday. Although a 90-day moratorium was placed on my mortgage payments, I will have to come up with that 90 days worth of payments as a lump sum at the end of the moratorium.

Our parent-company has offered a matching donation program for employees that contribute to Katrina efforts. They'll match up to $100,000 of contributions & have had a reasonable success response so far, but will continue until September 30th. Our little portion of the business has gotten numerour calls for monitoring equipment, & have sent about 30 monitors to Louisianna. Rob, call me sometime when you have a chance (@ work). (877)475-9006 & hopefully I'll get your call, but leave me a voicemail if I don't get you. I've got the phone stuck in my ear most of the time.

Thanks, Dan, but I think we'll be OK although that news was a bit of a setback. It will be a little tight for a time but we'll manage.

By the way, it is great to see you on the blog.

Hello,Rob!
I think I'm glad I don't have a 'mug-shot' to attach, as it'd scare away any viewers! Glad that you survived, & I hope everybody else's rebuilding process (physical & emotional) is speedy & complete. I haven't heard much lately about David or Janine's status - are they OK?
We'll be standing by & ready to help in any way we're able. Thanks for replying!

Dan -- Janine had some damage to her roof. There is a tarp over the holes so no water damage so far. There were multiple trees on her house so the thinking is that she's lucky there wasn't worse damage. Her great sadness is that her forest, as she calls it, is mostly gone. Just pickup sticks now. We stopped at her house on our way home from Georgia for a wonderful catfish dinner. David has six people living with him right now. He had many trees down in his yard, but no harm to his house. He was here yesterday and started cutting limbs off my tremendous pecan tree that completely covers my yard and my neighbor's yard. Thank goodness it had the grace and good will to softly lie down without hurting any building. Well, a little hurt to my gutters but considering the size of the tree, one of the largest in our town, we are very grateful. David hired a crew of itinerant Mexican workers yesterday and they're all coming today at 4:30 p.m. and will work till nightfall. I'm not sure why these people chose that time of day; maybe they're already contracted for another job this morning. Elizabeth's repair is progressing but there is a lot to do so they will probably not be moving back in for at least one month, possibly longer. Their contractor is a friend so we're all hoping that will count when it comes time to finish up the job. I don't know if there's any progress made, or if anyone has been hired, on Angela's roof. Part of her roof blew off and there was water in her house as a consequence, but I believe there was no harm to the interior. Robbie and Katie fared well, and Kevin took off for Trinidad last Thursday. This is his workplace for awhile. They have a contract with BP and he thinks this will be his place for the near future. Thankfully, they must follow British rules and after 30 days work, they must be sent home for 10 days. Christina and I are fine. My house looked soooooo good when I walked in Saturday night and my dogs spent fifteen minutes ripping and running through the rooms, yelping, squealing, and fighting. We were all so glad to be home, wonderful as it was at Sue's. And now here we go again with Rita. I immediately said I was not evacuating again and Christina said oh, yes, you are. So I repeat: here we go again. I am mightly glad I listened to them for Katrina though.

Incidentally, don't quote me on anything I've said above. I am always told afterwards that something I've said isn't correct. So take it all with a grain of salt -- but I think it's all basically true.

Aunt Ginnie,
All things considered, it sounds as though everybody was far luckier than it appeared you'd be when the first hurricaine news came. I'm glad to hear you've gotten to go home, even if it's for a short-stay until Rita goes away. The reports we're getting seems to indicate the path of Rita is Texas-bound, giving you the dirty side of the hurricaine & probably alot of rain. Once again our prayers will be sent for everyone in the pathway - direct or indirect. I hope the rain doesn't cause more flooding & levee problems just when there was beginning to be some light at the end of the tunnel. We'll be nervous, & anxious to hear from you once you're able to return after Rita's departure. One thing that has made me smile in spite of all of this, is the help that each of you gives to the other family members. It sounds like your whole family is as close as they can be, & I'm sorry I haven't been very much involved all along with news or just a quick hello, or a tidbit of humor, or whatever. I also thought it was pretty cool that you all went to church together, too (refugee picture from Sue's). I'll try to do better in the future. Life is too short, & getting shorter by the day now that I've entered my 2nd half-century! You probably remember all the goings-on of 50 years ago....
Please give my love & hugs to everyone, & I'll pray for a speedy return to the life you've all been forced to live without for these last weeks.