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Glad we could help ease your trip Heidi!! Happy to hear that you are all home safe!

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"it's the neck, it creaks under the weight of too much heavy thinking."

Ok as promised some pics

This one is coming home Tuesday I think...Little White Ford Ranger looked well loaded...this was typical of how most of our vehicles looked, unfortunately some of the first night's pics didn't turn out:#(



houston attached this image:


"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Here is the news we were watching when we got outside of Shreveportafter I was ready to strangle the lady at the first hotel for not letting me go to the b/r, couldn't help it, but it shows what we saw Wednesday night...



houston attached this image:


"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Ok this is a pic, that struck me in a sad sort of way...there were 8 of the vans labeled like this if memory serves correctly or a few more...they were all pulled over to the side of the road, still don't know for sure what happened...but, i feel it is worth documenting--no this isn't the van that caught fire, that was another highway, and it was a bus...

houston attached this image:


"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I do believe this guy was ready for anything don't you? I figure we road beside this boat, being pulled by what we figure was the wife and child in a suburban, the father was on a motorcycle infront of them...now the question is: "when they got to their destination, did he have any shoe left?" For the few hours we were traveling beside each other he basically dragged his left foot/toe...Anyways figured at the rate we were traveling having them next to us might be a good idea





houston attached this image:


"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

And the last one for now...see how sweet she can be? It wasn't so some of the trip but here is a good one



houston attached this image:


"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Thanks Kitten! I hope they get out of there safely... and without getting too anxious in the car...

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best of luck

heidi I just saw the news here, really hope you are ok and can get away if you need to.

You are certainly in my thoughts and prayers.

Love GFG

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Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

if it stays in the gulf it won't die until sometime in november, assuming the ocean cools off enough to dissipate the storm best bet is for it to turn north and hit land as soon as possible before it gets too strong. but here's hoping it does as little damage as possible and just brings buckets and buckets of rain to the afflicted areas.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

I'll be thinking of you Heidi. Stay safe.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Heidi,
It is now a category 5. Pack what you can and get out. You might be able to take some of your fish (Wal-Mart has gallon plastic jugs) and any furry creatures you might have.
I had an Aunt who used to live in Houson, and I have been there on two occasions - that Washburn Tunnel really stinks! It's been years since I last visited as the Aunt moved to Granbury in 1976, and has since passed away. I have seen the bridge going to Galvaston Island - easily covered in water during a storm serge.
I experienced Hurrican Fran (NC) can't remember the exact year, but it was not something I want to see again any time soom.
I was still in elementary school when Carla hit in 1961. It moved my parents house three inches off it's foundation and they lived sixty miles south of Dallas!
My Mom and sister, another Aunt, and numerous cousins still live there and it looks like this will be going straight up through the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Do what you need to do and be safe!
P.S. My sister is a teacher for the Dallas, TX ISD.

Be safe Heidi!

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OK I feel like I'm a skipping record here, but for the last time:#( I was able to make it home, though they are no longer allowing people into my part of town, you may exit, or exit...they are beginning the mandatory evacuation at 6 am, we're leaving now...it's been decided my truck will stay here, we're taking leslie's car...we're heading NorthEast to Nashville...I'll try to correspond as best I can...Love ya'll, until we're safe again...heidi michelle laird

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Be safe Heidi

Hopefully things will come out all right for you.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

i hope u'll b ok,
u and everyone else in that area will be in my prayers..

its me sk8freak20...i need to get premie so i can change my name back

Be safe Heidi and Leslie. I will be thinking of you. Hope you get back to normal soon.

Susan

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

Update on Heidi... she's on the way to Tennesee on 59 heading northbound. In two hours, she's gone 27 miles. The past five miles have taken an hour. "And everyone and their flipping brother is on this stupid road." One of her buddies from Galveston left home at 1 pm, and is just now north of downtown Houston. Heidi is driving with Leslie, including five year old Sheila and the two pugs, Stanley and Mimi.

Cleo (otherwise known as the Psycho Cat), decided she did NOT want to evacuate and left heidi with a torn and bleeding hand as proof of her intentions to stay behind. She's been left plenty of food and water and an open closet to climb up into if things get wet.

I know Heidi moved her betta tanks to a more secure/protected location, but was not able to find anything in the way of extra air pumps or battery operated equipment to put on the other tanks. I was on the phone with her as she battled her way through Walmart... nothing was left in the way of flashlights, batteries, camping gear... people are preparing for the worst.

She told me she was on her way out of town and was moving so slow, the speedometer didn't even register; she guessed at 5mph. It never makes any sense to me... everyone is going the same direction, everyone wants to get there fast, yet traffic is nearly at a standstill.

Heidi requests something to relieve cramps while driving... yay for hitting the brakes all the time.

Every store they pass is closed.

Heidi says that you do not play slug bug or out-of-state license plates while driving that slow.

They're hungry!

In any case, I'll keep y'all updated until Heidi can get back online.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Ok with that said, here is the latest

I'm sitting in my classroom and have got a million things running through my mind...For those that don't know Galveston, Texas (south of Houston) is being evacuated, no choices in the manner, as are many other areas. Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte, Baytown (I know none of these towns mean diddly to most of you) are being encouraged to evacuate, though it is not mandatory at this time.

Houston ISD has decided that it is time to cancel school for the rest of the week, though we haven't told the kiddos yet. I am still sitting here trying to "think of a plan that I will be able to stick to come hell or high water". The best I have come up with is, if she turns into a Level 5 and is going to come visit the fair city of Houston, I will be leaving, no ifs, and or butts about it. Now if she's a large 4 heading straight at Houston, I will probably leave as well...other than that, I'm sitting and thinking, what do I need to do in order to get out

I'll probably not leave until morning, and Leslie (pugperson) has plans to head to Tennessee to visit her son-in-law; her daughter is in New Orleans helping with casualty clean-up...though I suspect she will be being shipped back out

I'll try to keep ya'll who care informed, but there are no guarantees. I've got Kitten's cell and house phone so I can keep in touch with her, assuming I can keep the cell from dying on mepast time for a new one

Until laters, keep us in your thoughts, and maybe the heifer will decide she doesn't like Houston traffic anymore than the rest of us, and go back into the Gulf of Mexico and die there...

Heidi

ps as for Tanker, I haven't gotten ahold of him, but he is on the NorthEastern (?) side of Houston, so he isn't as close to the water front as pug and i are...hml

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

traffic is at a standstill because those roads weren't designed to evacuate 10-12 million people all at once. not to mention houston's freeway system has been under construction for the better part of 6 decades but hopefully the storm will do minimal damage despite the size and strength of it.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

please keep us updated good luck to everyone

OH TOLEEDY!

Yeah, good luck
Hope everything turns out well

Goodluck to all of you &amp; take care.


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Good luck to you and everyone else in Houston!

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

Kitten, if you get to talk to them again please tell them Jorge and I are thinking of them and we wish them the best. Stay safe Heidi and Leslie Can't wait to see you both back.

I'll make sure to pass along everyone's well-wishings.

I was on the phone with heidi well into the early morning ... 3AM arrived and I was still talking to her in an attempt to keep her awake behind the wheel. Last reports had her in the car for five hours and having gone a great grand total of 32 miles, I believe.

Needless to say, everyone had full bladders and cramping legs. ...To the point where any bushes that might have appeared would have looked like a godsend. Apparently, however, Texas doesn't have bushes. I kept telling her that traffic was so slow, they could just get out and walk alongside the car to stretch their legs... The speedometer hardly moved above 5 mph for most of the time I talked to her. We had to laugh because Hurricane Rita was moving faster than they were!

To keep herself amused, Heidi was looking at out-of-state license plates. She found out the Louisiana has a new, quite pretty plate... looked like a heron or a similar bird (long legs, long beak) standing in the middle of the bayou. Sounded cool to me.

Uh... oh, the things people will take with them! Several people had one or more big screen TVs packed up. One guy seemed to have nothing BUT a big screen in his truck. Heidi laughed over that, said it seemed like he didn't even have a suitcase or anything with him. One guy had what looked like ALL of his posessions with him... Heidi said it looked like he wasn't coming back.

Another truck had a cooler in the back. With what Heidi thought looked like an airline coming out of it. You know you're a fish person when you assume that a cooler has fish in it.

However, I think the most amusing thing seen last night was the vehicle with the pregnant goat in it. All haltered and leashed and stuff.

Oh... people walking on the side of the road... One person walking TOWARDS Houston.

One vehicle pulled a U-turn over the center median and started going southbound instead of fighting to go northbound? Not sure where they thought they were going...

Here's for Heidi...

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~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

*hugs for all*



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Heidi IM'ed me briefly at around 10 AM today.

By then they were 14 hours on the road and made about 70 miles.

She was about to pull into a gas station.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

*More Hugs*

That is moving slowly, I would probably be losing my temper/sanity at that rate. I just wanted to say that I hope things turn out well for all of you and that Cleo will be ok at home. It must have been hard for you to leave her (and everything else) behind, as evil as she is.

When you get to TN, I hope you all have some hot tea, some chocolate and a comfy bed to collapse in. I'm not a religious person but I'll say a few prayers for you guys, it can't hurt.

Thanks also to those keeping us updated.

i heard today that people are pushing their cars in traffic so that they don't waste gas.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Heidi Update as of 3:44 PM East Coast:

wonderful news. we are in woodville made good time 4 a bit now slow again . . .still better than most

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club