Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Wilma is gone.....But is everywhere.
Wilma is out to sea....
There are no lights anywhere except for the hospital a block away. Very quite. I am looking out off the patio. I can see thousands of stars. Extremely rare down here. Reminds me of when I lived in that big house on the west side of Cincinnati. You could always look up and see beauty in the sky. Enough of this....I am hungry. I grabbed a few things and headed down by the pool. Everyone that I knew was meeting down there to cook on the grills.
We grilled up chicken and had some fruit. Cocktails were starting to flow again. People were just having a good time blowing off some steam. I don't think anyone really knew how bad the surrounding area was damaged. People were sharing food, water and beer. Seemed like a typical party. Seems like the neighborly thing to do. However, after a few days of being without power, and no running water.....It was time to put a halt to that.
You could always meet people down by the pool for dinner time. I hope those propane tanks don't run dry. More and more people were coming down to use the grills. The word was spreading. Thank goodness they lasted.
A few of us decided to walk to the beach. It is only a mile away and under normal circumstance it would take 20-30 mins. This day was different. Dodging down trees and power lines always makes for an interesting walk. We finally made it to the beach. There is sand everywhere and many buildings have taken on a lot of damage. There are many people out walking today. The weather is simply beautiful. No humidity and not a cloud in the sky. It had to be right around 80. We stopped by a few bars....They were serving beers out of big coolers. Just wanted to take in the scene. I am not sure I was comprehending all of the damage around me, but people were cleaning up and ready to open their business again right here on the Hollywood Broadwalk.
Just listened to the radio, they said they do not anticipate power being back on until Nov 8th. I just looked at my friend Gina in dis-belief. This is no longer going to be a few days of camping in South Florida. This was real. I think survival mode starts kicking in. I can't tell you how many times I counted my bottled water, chicken noodle soup and snacks of all sorts. Do I have enough???????
Gina and I heard the FEMA trucks were going to be at the Hollywood dog track. We decided we were going to go. Jumped in the car and pulled up and could not believe the amount of people in line. Hundreds.......Its 10 am and I am in line. Gina hears a place is serving breakfast a few blocks away. She goes....I stay in line. God I wish I put on sunscreen. I can already feel the sun on the back of my legs. Gina is back and brings me a coffee and a bagel. I never new something so trivial could taste so good. I am looking around at all these people thinking to myself. Last year at this time I was back in Cincinnati watching the TV seeing people in line for food and water. Poor bastards..... Now I am the poor bastard. How quickly your life can change. Three hours later we are at the front of the line getting water, ice and MRE's. This stuff is heavy. I just feel weak right now.
Thursday morning...... I am tired. Tired of going up and down five flights of stairs. I think I have gone up and down 50 times already. Up and down everyday with a flashlight. This is paradise.....Good workout out on the legs. Seriously thinking about catching a flight out of here. I want a hot meal and a hot shower. My cell phone is down to one bar. People are charging their phones in their cars. I plugged my charger in and in blew a fuse. I am done.... Later in the day, we hear the mall is open. A few of us went. I am looking forward to eating and finding a charger for the phone. I am at the Verizon store and a woman keeps interrupting me and the sales rep. He explains nicely that he will be with her after he finishes up with me. After she interrupts me another time, its now time for me to step in. I chewed this woman a new one. All my stress is coming to a head. It is not like me to get like this but I could not take it anymore. It is amazing when your life gets turned upside down people tend to snap. Gina and I talked about that and we determined we would not go down that path. We needed to stick together and get through this. We did.......
Is that a light I see on? We have Power................ We decide to all meet down by the grills again. Everyone is very happy. We were all exhausted. You could see how Wilma beat the hell out of everyone. I slept over 12 hours. I needed it.
The best and worse came out of many people. Sometimes you really get a feel of who people are and what they are all about. It is re-assuring and comforting to know there are a few people down here I can count on. A few I call friends.
That is all....
Steven
There are no lights anywhere except for the hospital a block away. Very quite. I am looking out off the patio. I can see thousands of stars. Extremely rare down here. Reminds me of when I lived in that big house on the west side of Cincinnati. You could always look up and see beauty in the sky. Enough of this....I am hungry. I grabbed a few things and headed down by the pool. Everyone that I knew was meeting down there to cook on the grills.
We grilled up chicken and had some fruit. Cocktails were starting to flow again. People were just having a good time blowing off some steam. I don't think anyone really knew how bad the surrounding area was damaged. People were sharing food, water and beer. Seemed like a typical party. Seems like the neighborly thing to do. However, after a few days of being without power, and no running water.....It was time to put a halt to that.
You could always meet people down by the pool for dinner time. I hope those propane tanks don't run dry. More and more people were coming down to use the grills. The word was spreading. Thank goodness they lasted.
A few of us decided to walk to the beach. It is only a mile away and under normal circumstance it would take 20-30 mins. This day was different. Dodging down trees and power lines always makes for an interesting walk. We finally made it to the beach. There is sand everywhere and many buildings have taken on a lot of damage. There are many people out walking today. The weather is simply beautiful. No humidity and not a cloud in the sky. It had to be right around 80. We stopped by a few bars....They were serving beers out of big coolers. Just wanted to take in the scene. I am not sure I was comprehending all of the damage around me, but people were cleaning up and ready to open their business again right here on the Hollywood Broadwalk.
Just listened to the radio, they said they do not anticipate power being back on until Nov 8th. I just looked at my friend Gina in dis-belief. This is no longer going to be a few days of camping in South Florida. This was real. I think survival mode starts kicking in. I can't tell you how many times I counted my bottled water, chicken noodle soup and snacks of all sorts. Do I have enough???????
Gina and I heard the FEMA trucks were going to be at the Hollywood dog track. We decided we were going to go. Jumped in the car and pulled up and could not believe the amount of people in line. Hundreds.......Its 10 am and I am in line. Gina hears a place is serving breakfast a few blocks away. She goes....I stay in line. God I wish I put on sunscreen. I can already feel the sun on the back of my legs. Gina is back and brings me a coffee and a bagel. I never new something so trivial could taste so good. I am looking around at all these people thinking to myself. Last year at this time I was back in Cincinnati watching the TV seeing people in line for food and water. Poor bastards..... Now I am the poor bastard. How quickly your life can change. Three hours later we are at the front of the line getting water, ice and MRE's. This stuff is heavy. I just feel weak right now.
Thursday morning...... I am tired. Tired of going up and down five flights of stairs. I think I have gone up and down 50 times already. Up and down everyday with a flashlight. This is paradise.....Good workout out on the legs. Seriously thinking about catching a flight out of here. I want a hot meal and a hot shower. My cell phone is down to one bar. People are charging their phones in their cars. I plugged my charger in and in blew a fuse. I am done.... Later in the day, we hear the mall is open. A few of us went. I am looking forward to eating and finding a charger for the phone. I am at the Verizon store and a woman keeps interrupting me and the sales rep. He explains nicely that he will be with her after he finishes up with me. After she interrupts me another time, its now time for me to step in. I chewed this woman a new one. All my stress is coming to a head. It is not like me to get like this but I could not take it anymore. It is amazing when your life gets turned upside down people tend to snap. Gina and I talked about that and we determined we would not go down that path. We needed to stick together and get through this. We did.......
Is that a light I see on? We have Power................ We decide to all meet down by the grills again. Everyone is very happy. We were all exhausted. You could see how Wilma beat the hell out of everyone. I slept over 12 hours. I needed it.
The best and worse came out of many people. Sometimes you really get a feel of who people are and what they are all about. It is re-assuring and comforting to know there are a few people down here I can count on. A few I call friends.
That is all....
Steven
# posted by Hollywood Humph @ 9:47 AM 
