Nomen Est Omen

Slide Show

Don't worry, this isn't the typical, "Here are slides of our vacation including a segment with people we know but that you will never meet so the photos are completely boring to you but we're going to subject you to them anyway because we can't grab a clue" kind of show.

Below are the photos I took of the aftermath of hurricane Wilma the day after she came through. All of these photos are within a 3 block radius of my home but the destruction was far and wide and quite severe in several areas.

Let's begin:

Notice the hanging "walk/don't walk" sign.

Those aren't exactly light planters up on that patio.

I don't know if you can tell because of the angle I was compared to the street light but the wind was so strong it bent the lamp.

Do you know palm trees? They are extremely strong and it takes a hell of a lot to uproot the damn things.

This is the street I parked my car on before "hunkering down" for the storm. I tried to find the best location for my car so it would not get damaged and I chose this street because the storm was coming from the west. This street is to the east of the bay but one block from the ocean. I parked away from any street lights that may fall, away from trees and had only a half height brick wall nearby. My car still got damaged because an awning, with sharp, metal poles came crashing off of an apartment building and landed exactly behind my car. The metal poles scratched a little bit on the bumper of my car but nothing major. The worst thing that happened to my car was that the hurricane, coming up this street like in a wind tunnel, ripped off the passenger side mirror, ripped of the car emblem that was on the back of the car to the right and loosened up the...trim on the right side of the car. However, seeing the pic above, I know I got lucky. Also, where I live, people in condominiums were apparently looking out their window during the storm and saw cars being flipped around, flung on top of each other and totally smashed up. They called into one of the local radio stations to talk about it. So I got really lucky.

Same street just about two car lengths up.

Same street, other side.

The parking lot of the local Publix I shop at. The store did open the day after but for cash carrying people only and the line was enormously long. They were letting people in a few at a time, almost like at an amusement park, and they had only a certain amount of time to go in and grab what they could. The store did not have power for almost a week and for a few days after they got power they still didn't have any refridgerated or frozen items. I never realized how much I depended on refrigerated and frozen food until I went in there about 10 days after the storm and couldn't find a damn thing to eat.

The sidewalk just across from the beach. Everyone always shows the big damage but they never show the endless debris. I thought it would be interesting to show that it's not just trees and power lines that have to be cleaned up, it's all this little debris that collects everywhere.

This is my walkway to the beach. Looking kinda messy.

Another palm tree uprooted. Again, that isn't easy to do.

This is the back fence of a hotel at the beach..completely knocked over.

As you can clearly see, this was no light breeze.

No trick of the camera, the winds were so strong, those traffic lights are stuck in that position. Well, they've been fixed now but they were stuck then.

More of the little debris stuff.

Part of a tree at the back of my apartment building. Oh, and pieces of the roof from my apartment building. In the video you can see those pieces flying around all over the dang place.

Where that part of the tree came from. You may remember photos after Katrina where this tree had split....well, Wilma finished it off. Also please note how the downstairs idiots left their ghetto furniture outside to be blown around. Fucking morons. That is a dresser, a very large dresser, that they left, upright, before the storm...because they are geniuses...sheer, fucking geniuses. Thankfully the stupid thing only fell over and drawers didn't come out and fly around. Assholes. I think they must be mentally retarded. There's no other explanation for the way they act.

That's all the room I had on my camera. I did take photos of the car damage should I decide to make an insurance claim but the mirror and emblem will only cost me $100 plus tax and the scratches aren't too bad. In December I will take the car in to be looked at, (get an oil change as well), and see if there is more damage than I know. So far it's running pretty good but you never know.

I'm finally just now starting to get back to a normal sleeping schedule. It's been a month since the damn thing came through. My cupboards and fridge are finally full again...after a month of being stark empty. Hurricanes are not only exhausting, they are expensive even if you don't have any damage or only minimal damage. You lose a lot and it takes some money to rebuild the supplies and get things back in order. You don't have to be rich, it just takes awhile.

I'll get to work on the video. I had cut it down to 10 minutes but I think I need to cut it down a little more before presenting it. I'll probably do that tomorrow...if I feel like it.

Don't eat too much turkey.

And We're Back

I finally have internet access again. Before I begin I'd like to take a moment to express my gratitude, how you moved me to tears with the outpouring of concern; the comments, the emails, the phone calls wondering how I was doing. Oh, wait, that didn't happen. Thank you for that.

For the three who do actually give a damn, I have photos, video and a lot of writing to share with you. It's just a matter of getting it done now. I know I shouldn't have an excuse as I had all this time to write it out at least in a Word document, but realize that I've also worked a lot of overtime this past month. We've been really busy and did not go to work for three days after the storm and the head cheeses keep trying to use the hurricane as the excuse to make us work longer.

"We're still seeing the affects of Wilma so everyone will be required to work three extra hours before or after their shifts, on the weekends and on their schedule days off."

Naturally we rebelled and they started to lighten up a bit but we still had to work a lot of overtime. Granted my paycheck was phat but I would rather have the rest and relaxation at home.

My other excuse is that I finally told "Not The Pacific Ocean, The Other One" Broadband to kiss my ass and canceled my account with them. You may remember how I had been fighting with them since May about my connection being intermittent and basically annoying and they kept telling me, at first, that it was my modem, I bit back and said no it wasn't, they sent out a tech, admitted it was THEIR stuff but since August, had done nothing about it. So I waited patiently after the hurricane as was requested but then two weeks went by and I was getting pissed because it was just a matter of coming out and reconnecting wires and called them up and they said I needed to set an appointment and I asked, incredulous, what they hell they meant, they asked us to have patience and wait, that they were very aware of what areas were down and now those bastards are telling me I need an appointment and a whole lot of bad attitudes and we can't help you until the 14th of November and me saying like hell, I've been waiting since May, and me calling to cancel the account and having one girl beg and plead for me to stay on, she would give me a deal, she would have them out there two days from now, I would get my bill cut in half for the next six months because I'm such a good customer and have been so patient, (all true), and she did indeed send out techs and they came out Friday yet those assholes didn't listen to me about having to get into the complex next door, the gated complex next door, the one they have known about since mother fucking AUGUST gottdamnit and here they are, calling me for the entry code yet again even though I have repeatedly told them I don't fucking live there, I don't have a code to get in, why does it take them three months to figure this out and them leaving without fixing a damn thing that day because they don't listen and me calling Saturday and canceling my account, fuck this, I gave them that one more chance due to the customer service rep who really tried her best to keep me on and did an outstanding job of convincing me to give them one last shot, if only that company had more like her, and the person I canceled with on Saturday not caring, just like I had accused the company of in the past; of not caring about the clients which they admantly denied yet their actions speak louder than words and then those bitches having the audacity to come out on Monday, fix the shit and knock on my door to tell me it was fixed, give it a try, and me telling them, "Tha hell? I canceled my account, I'm done" and them having the nerve, the fucking nerve to look at me with disgust and lecture me about being patient after a storm and me using all I had in me not to strangle that asshole to death before spitting out that I had been quite patient, thank you very much asshole, I've been waiting since fucking MAY for this, been telling them since August that they needed an entry code to that complex and that if anyone, just one person would have actually done their damn job, as they did today, so many months ago, we wouldn't be having this conversation and I would be happy with this company as it only took them 20 minutes to fix the fucking signal problem that had been plaguing me for 6 fucking months and the very last thing he wants to be doing right now is standing at my front door telling me to be patient.

In other words, I went back to dial up for the time being. So it's going to take a little bit for the pictures to load. And I don't feel like doing it right now.

I'll be back...you three who care. The rest of them probably won't even notice anyway so who cares about them.

Ciao