fritz Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I'm about as ready for you as I can be. There ain't much more to do except wait and see. In case you didn't catch the news, Hurricane Rita is expected to hit the central Texas coast early Sat. That's my territory. Claudette came through here dead center 2 years ago, albeit a cat. 1, then cat. 2 as it hit land (she did the female thing of changing her mind). The eye went over me, and I survived. This lady (if you can call a hurricane a lady) is expected to be cat. 3 or cat. 4 when it hits Texas. Just our luck that the damned high that has been sitting over us for the last month, is expected to move out of the area (thus letting Rita in). I got my chain saw running, the generator checked out, and gas in reserve. Fallen trees on my livestock fences are my biggest concern. Claudette did a lot of that tree damage (maybe all the weak trees are fallen now?). Ha! I may lose mrs fritz for a few days as the state is planning to move her office to San Antonio for the duration of the storm. I believe that Katrina has caused a lot of officials to be very cautious this time. She has vaccine and medical supplies in the local office, and the state don't want that lost to a coastal hit. Maybe New Orleans taught them a lesson. Tomorrow I'll stock up on beer and the few staples that I may need to ride out another storm. I was afraid I'd have to buy a new chain saw, but I got the old Shindawa running again. It could go just about anywhere on the coast at this time (she is still near Florida), but one forecaster put the landfall at Port Lavaca, about 40 miles from me. Maybe she will go to New Orleans instead, there ain't much left there to destroy. fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwistJG26 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Good luck and have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Fritz, Do you really think we'll have a Cat 4 strike us this year? I'm skeptical and hoping not. Luckly, I'm a little over 200 miles from the coast so I don't think I'll catch any direct damage from the storm. However, I am concerned that my lights will be out for a while due to all those BA East Texas pine trees and our electric companies' depleted labor pool caused by storm repair to along the eastern gulf coast. I just got off the phone with my mother who offered to fly me up to Pittsburgh for the weekend; I declined. I don't fancy the thought of my trailer being thrashed and me not being around for it. If anything terrible comes to pass, I've got arrangements to go visit a friend a mile away who lives in a steel and concrete reinforced house. I figure I'll pack up my guns, camera, and money and saunter down the road if things start to come apart. One of my main concerns is our short term petroleum supply. At the rate we're going with all these damned hurricanes, we're not going to have any refineries or drilling rigs left. If we have many more storms like we've had already, rebuilding and re-equipping may become a very serious problem for everyone. Be safe! Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Good luck, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 No more drought, eh Fritz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Well, she's cat. 5 now (as bad as they get) and still heading for my town. There is a voluntary evacuation out now, by tomorrow morning it may be mandatory. I have done all I can do, I may lose everything I have on the ranch. It won't kill me (even though I may not evacuate) because I'm 50+ miles from the coast. But it may leave me with nothing around me to salvage (except the rifles, they are in a vault). Gotta think of the priorities here. If you don't hear from me again, at least for a few days, pray for me and mrs fritz. That is all that is important anyway. fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamp_thing Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 fritz, sounds like you have the priorities in order, Mrs. fritz and the guns. Me and mine will pray that things don't turn out badly for you and those around you. Take care of yourselves and know that many folks here will be thinking of you and praying for your well being. swamp thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Fritz, If you do feel the need to get out of Dodge this weekend, I have a spare sleeper sofa. You know where I live. I'm 200+ miles from the coast. If you think you might need to, let me know and I'll shoot you a phone number in case my power goes out too. Since I'm sort of out in the sticks, I rather expect that to happen. ------------------ I just got back from Wal-Mart; it was surreal. They had no bread, water, or ice. Nacogdoches is preparing for the worst and for the flood of evacuees. We've already got people in town from as far away as Alabama and my personal feeling is, especially since this one is hitting so close to home, "yall come on." We're opening several shelters and Angelina county (directly to the south of us) has closed all the schools to house people. Let's all pray that this passes as quickly and painlessly as possible and ends... Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothmog Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Good luck, Fritz ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Jason, Thanks for the invite, but I have my son's place in Austin to go if I have to. Mrs fritz is already making plans to do that, as they gave the mandatory order for tomorrow morning. I guess I'll go along with her advise and get the hell out of Dodge, just hope there will be be something left to come back to. My brother-in-law (who is on oxygen with breathing problems) is leaving tomorrow for San Antonio. I guess I may just shut down everything here (electricity, gas, etc) and leave for Austin. It will be nice to relax in my son's swimming pool while I have enough Bud Lights to forget about what is happening to all I have built up in my 62 years here. You know, if I was 20 years younger, this wouldn't be such a worry. But life comes at you from all directions. And I was fortunate up to now, during 'nam, etc. Maybe it's time to test the metal. Like I said earlier, COME ON RITA! fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Do you need to head up here to stay? We have 3 spare rooms. Seriously. I heard the storm may well weaken to cat.3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Fritz, Good luck my friend. I'll pray for you. No matter what happens, be safe. Let's have a Fritz to come back to, even if he has live by the pool in Austin for a couple weeks. Take care Amigo. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlunity Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 good luck...prayers your way. Karl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Thamks guys, Now you see the reason I use my sign-off line. fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_sphingta_* Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 good luck. I went through a cat 2 hurricane when i was much younger on long beach island in new jersey. I will never again wait one out. When the ocean and bay meet and stuff is flying everywhere and the house is moving several inches to a foot because its on pilings its scary. Especially when your 11 years old. Any way best of luck to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 fritz,I've got room for ya'll too! After seeing what Katrina did to Biloxi last week and how far it went inshore,you need to get the hell outa there.If you need anything,help after it blows through,just holler.I may have a weak mind,but I have a strong back,and,unless you have a metal roof,I can't see how you can get by without some roof damage.God,I hope you get by ok.I'm going to send you an email with my phone number.I can roof,chase cows,and build fences,and have 2 chain saws.Just let me know.I'm so glad your going to Austin.Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Not getting much sleep tonight, in fact mrs fritz is fixing breakfast now and planning to go into work to get as much done before the moving truck comes to her office in the morning. The plan is to take the goodies to San Antonio unless thje storm turns north. That northerly turn could halt our mandatory evacuation for Goliad. And the latest images do seem to indicate a slight turn to the north. What was originally Brownsville to the La. border has now become Corpus Christi to some place further into La.. That puts it further away from me, as the latest computer projection puts the center now around Galveston. And since she has slowed down from 13 to 9 mph, the projected landfall has been pushed back a few hours. fritz may not have to leave the tepee afterall. I was always figuring that this thing would start a northerly swing when it came closer, and now it appears that is occuring. But it can always wobble, and that may change. But the general pattern is for the northerly turn as it approaches land. That means hoards of people leaving Houston for points inland (probably Austin where I would go). Wish I had accomodations west of Austin instead. It's beginning to look like the Valley may be the place to go. How about a reverse flow of Texans to Mexico? Wouldn't that set a precedent? At 8 AM there is to be a meeting of all the big shots in Goliad, and they will decide if and when to evacuate. I'm sure many will not leave, but I probably will unless the turn to the north continues. I can always use a few days of leisure while I await the inevitable. And that is something I do not want to think of right now. Thanks to those who have expressed concerns for my safety. I'll make it, mrs fritz demands it. The mrs always knows best, and I am in good hands. fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwistJG26 Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 God be with you. May his hand shield your farm from Rita's fury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flaco Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Hoping everything will be okay with you and yours, fritz. Actually, I'm pretty confident it will. Please, though, try and stay online; what would we do without The Further Adventures of Fritz? flaco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Well, the phone rang this morning with a reverse 911 message saying to be on a bus at no later than 3PM, unless you had your own transportation. I repeat, a mandatory evacuation has been issued for Goliad county. Well, I don't take too much stock in that message, because everybody in emergency management is scared shitless after Katrina. mrs fritz who is a member of the team gives me the straight facts. There was a meeting at 8AM, then another one planned for 3PM. This would give them time to see what the path of the storm was. I saw that before 4AM on the Weather Channel, the turn to the north while still way out in the gulf. That would steer it further north, as any sensible person should realize. Sure enough, at the 3PM meeting, they gave the all-clear and said that all we would get would be 20 plus mph north winds (not even a good blue norther). And very little rain. The people around Houston are coming through here like rats leaving a ship (and if you ever lived in Houston, you would realize that it is a ship full of rats). Too many rats for the ship to hold (and for the evacuation to happen orderly). Just too many people in one place, the same as New Orleans. We have no more gas here in Goliad, they used it all. And the ones heading on the interstate to San Antonio are running out of gas and having to abandon their vehicles on the side of the road. One station here still had a few gallons, and there was a line streching almost to the La Bahia fort that our town is famous for (remember Col. Fannin's massacre). Some poor souls were pushing their cars ahead in the long line, completely out of gas. I guess Houston to Goliad is about a tankfull for the gas guzzling suvs that were lined up. These souls were heading west, toward Beeville or points around there. US 183 north was sparsely traveled, as most had already got out of Corpus Christi (on a mandatory order that was a total miscalculation). The only refineries still operating are in Corpus, and I hope they will get gas here before they send it further away to Houston. But the squeaky wheel gets the grease! And the rats in Houston are going to squeak up first. Enough for now. I'm fine, and I learned a thing or two from this ordeal. fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerfive Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 Hope you get this in time. The reports I've heard say possibly 2 feet of rain , that's 24" of rain. Just consider this if you are in low country. My best wishes for you and all in Rita's path Tinker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted September 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 Tinker, That would be for Jason in east Texas, and indeed it is expected to be that much or more. Here in the south, they have removed all rain chances for at least another week. So the drought continues. But a drought is easier to deal with than what the fellows are possibly (and I say possibly, not positively) going to have to deal with. My only problem came an hour or so ago when a wheel bearing went out on my truck, but I was only about a mile from my sister's ranch. I limped in to her place, and had both a neighbor and mrs fritz on the way to get me. But the damned cell phone coverage here is terrible. I could not tell if she heard me or not, so I called a neighbor. It seems that they could hear me, but they could not communicate with me. Singular sucks! Raising the bar commercials must pertain to the bars like a beer joint (and I know a few of them). My sister is in San Antonio on evacuation, but my old Dodge truck can just sit in her driveway until I get around to fixing it. Hell, I was planning to buy a new one anyway (maybe not a Dodge this time). Jason, by all means get the hell out of a mobile home (I'm sure you already have). They are not safe in this thing, even though you are 200 miles from the coast. All may be just fine, but why take chances? I was prepared to follow mrs fritz (who knows best) out of here before the storm changed course. Schitt, now the weather channel says we may get rain after all. You can't believe anything you see anymore. Trust your best judgement, and go from there. Everyone I've met here has good judgement, and that is more than can be said for a lot of folks in this country. We'll all make it, fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 fritz,is it a front or rear wheel bearing?Since we're not going to get any rain here this weekend,I'm going to change the front wheel bearings on my old Ford pee-cup.I was thinking about just repacking them,but at 240,000 miles,reckon I'll change them.Me and my buddies at work were talking about rain,and I told them I feel like we had just a regular,dry,hot,Texas summer,but it's lasted about a month longer than usual.Most years it rains hard right about when wheat needs to be combined,doesn't rain again until the school boys start football pratice and the opening day of dove season.We're nearly a month past that and still no rain.Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 They decided to put put us on telephonic standby. Beats having to sleep on a guerney. My boss is arrogant and pushy. I've had to bite my tongue on a few occassion, but I speak my mind most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 The funding New Orleans did receive was often diverted by the city's Levee Board to other projects. For example, the Board spent $2.4 million of levee funding on a Mardi Gras fountain near Lake Pontchartrain, and $15 million more on overpasses to riverboat casinos. All the while, a big storm was on the horizon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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