Surviving Irma

Didn’t decide for sure to go to Macon until late Sunday morning, though I had gotten the idea on Saturday night. My parents didn’t really want to leave their comfort zone. I knew they were saying they would be ok on their own, but if anything had happened there wouldn’t have been a way to get to them for several hours at the earliest – perhaps much longer if at all. I knew if I had told them I was coming they would’ve said not to. I drove down because it was the right thing to do.

Traffic on the way down was a breeze. There were few cars headed northbound as well. When I got to Macon I gassed up. I took the large spaghetti casserole that Ceil had made for lunch, and it was still warm when I made it to Macon. Watched a couple episodes of Walker Texas Ranger, and it wasn’t too bad.

We watched the news Monday morning. I checked email and made a few calls for work, and tried to keep all my email accounts current. Was unsubscribing from emails and posting items on eBay when the power went out around 2 pm. The bulk of the high winds and rain were hitting between 11 am and 3 pm, before slowly tapering off after that. I tried to stay off my phone to save battery life. There wasn’t much to do except lay on the couch. Might’ve dozed off for a little bit.

Warmed up the casserole for supper, finishing before it got completely dark. Finally checked my laptop before bed. The Forest Hills neighborhood not far away had got hit hard, which could’ve been the cause of the power outage.

Middle Georgia had over 100,000 without power, and over 150,000 in metro Atlanta. Ceil said they were ok, but trees were down in Roswell. Lights are out on Johnson Ferry. Seemed like the east side of Atlanta was the hardest hit. Coworkers in Lawrenceville were without power. Anna was without power. UGA was closed Monday and Tuesday. M went to work at Whole Foods yesterday afternoon, but they sent him home early.

Woke up this morning at 5 am. The power was still out, and I hated to leave. Torn, missing most of our 30th wedding anniversary. Got ready in the dark (couldn’t find my razor until I was packing) and left for work at 5:30. Hardly any traffic until 675. Southbound 75 was constant the whole way from Atlanta to 475 – heavier even than holiday traffic. Made it to work just after 7 am.

Our Tampa warehouse is sending out trucks to deliver today. The Jacksonville office has power. Here all of our trucks are out to deliver to north Georgia, but none of the southbound trucks went out for the second straight day. So our business is taking a hit in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Houston. Several vendors have issues. But my customer is back working today.

Fred O and Cindy Pitts weathered the storm down in St. Augustine, and Jennifer and Rose Johnson survived in the Tampa area.

Back in 82 I was still in Chapel Choir, but of course not Revelation. I think I stayed in Chapel Choir until after the 1983 choir tour. Back then SPdL was doing a lot with FBC Duluth. Dock was the pastor there for a while, you know.

This weekend I came across the old choir tour book from 1984. Tour went to the old church in New England that SPdL was modeled after…Providence R.I., right?. Also Boston’s Old North Church and Washington DC for a photo with the US Representative or senator. I didn’t go, but John had me write up activities for the bus. One day two pieces of paper were handed out – one to write their parents and one to write Dave Murphy. That may have been the senior year for Kelly Curran, Stephanie Dukes, and Tracy Taylor. Glenn Cowart, Carroll Glover, Heather Gudger and Dianne Durrett were on that trip as well.

Every time I almost get caught up good at work something happens to get my behind again. After last Friday I was nice and halfway caught up, so being off on Monday wasn’t too bad, especially with my customer not working. I could’ve made even more headway had I been here yesterday, but it was not to be. I also missed yesterday’s lunch meeting, with Mellow Mushroom pizza on the menu.

After raising over $135,000.00 for charity, Duck Commander Jase Robertson shaved his trademark beard. Looks like Willie was trimmed his up as well.