Well, obviously that's a damned lie.

 

I will spare the recap; either you know or you or you don't.  If you don't:

 

Vidalia was in the direct path of the hurricane.  The hurricane spun off a number of tornadoes across the Four Rivers Area, or about three counties.  My neighborhood was visited by one of them, and it became my unwelcome house guest.

 

There.  If you did not know before, well now you do.

 

Some of you may recall me grousing about the way-too-lightweight and way-too-nice pick-up that my family chipped in and bought me back in March.  Well I won't be doing that anymore, because I don't own it anymore.  The insurance company sent over some guy with a couple of spatulas who peeled it off the ground, rolled it into a carry sack,  tossed it on a rollback, and drove away, with my way-too-nice truck flapping in the breeze behind him.

 

Out of eleven motorcycles, six survived.  The dead include one of my beloved Valkyries.  I am down to three Valkyries again.    The silver lining is that my favorite one-  the one with over 700k on the odo- is one of the survivors (though there is some damage to each fender.    ).

 

The house had nine old-growth Georgia pines through, on, and inside of it.  The front looks awful and the back is on the ground- both stories.

 

Our friend Chris Goodwin has a few pictures taken after a few days of chainsaw work.  I am sure he would not mind sharing them if asked (using my G-drive from my phone is a hillarious exercise in futility and frustration).

 

Family is okay.  Wife and kids have Been chased out of town to stay with her sister.  Unfortunately, mother-in-law lived through it, too, and won't leave town.

 

Yeah; yeah; yeah.  Mother-in-Law jokes.  Old hat.  Tired and worn thin.  And before I had one, I didn't realize how insanely accurate the jokes were or how insanely insane the mother-in-laws are.

 

Actually, that's not fair.  With the exception of my wife, every woman on her mother's side is bat-stuff crazy- from the oldest to the thirteen-year-old youngest.  My wife, fortunately takes after her father's people, every one of whom I absolutely adore.

 

Doesn't help that mother-in-law failed her first dementia test a couple of years ago, and two more since.  She is slowly losing it, which is terrifying when you happen to factually know how little she started out with.

 

Anyway, she is staying with her last surviving sister, and they are crazying at each other all day, and about at wit's end with one another, and I think I may have convinced my wife's aunt that if she would just give in to the urge, everyone would understand, and that she would actually be doing God's work....

 

Her preacher disagrees with me, but I suspect that is _only_ because he has never met my mother-in-law.

 

I have been staying in my smashed house.  It is convenient to work, keeps me mostly on site against looters,   and I can spend my free time cleaning out the debris, the trees, and a lot of things we should have tossed twenty years ago.

 

At my age, shotputting a 38 cubic foot freezer up into a roll-off bin isn't as easy as it used to be, but I got all three of them (well, two and an over-priced fridge) in.  Yeah, at sixty-four, I am half or less of the guy I used to be, but lucky for me, that guy was a hell of a man. 

 

seriously though:

 

I drilled a shallow well in the back yard (Through the shed floor, so the city doesn't see it.  Shhhh!  It's a secret!).  I was raised in Circle, Alaska.  I lived on well water (artesian, but what the heck), and I was thirteen the first time I saw an electric light that wasn't part of a car or a tractor.  Trust me:  I am good where I am, and will be for months if the need arrises.  Besides, I have eighty tons of firewood tossed all around (and inside of) my house.  Great for cooking; great for heating.

 

The  situation could be _so much_ worse.

 

i have to say that this has surprised me:  I have been deeply touched by the number of people offering comfort and offering assistance, either directly with the work or with a bit of money to help with expenses.

 

now I hate to repeat myself, but one of the first people to offer assistance was from right here on this board, and the response I typed to him best sums up everything I could say on the subject, so if everyone (including him) will forgive me plagarizing myself to prevent another two hours of thumb typing....

 

Thank you, [redacted, as it was a sincere and private offer].  I apologize for the delay, but the next couple of counties have been without internet for a couple of weeks.  It is coming back here and there, but is still spotty..

 

What really kills is the insurance companies, FEMA, etc, all telling us "got to this website..."

 

It does not seem to occur to any of them that the the internet is the _worst_ form of emergency communication as, unlike any other method, it relies on the successful functioning of _multiple_ other bits of infrastructure, concurrently:

 

The electrical grid, the phone grid, the cable grid, and the cellular grid.  Any one of those goes tits up, and the internet is useless.

 

Yet all of these alleged emergency-prepared organizations could not stop telling us to go to this website or that.....

 

 

 

Sorry.  It's a tangent, to be sure, but you cannot believe how frustrating this extremely popular decision-- based entirely on human ignorance and refusal to think about the ramifications-- actually is....

 

 

At any rate, [redacted]:

 

Thank you.  That is far and away above the call, and it is very much appreciated.  As a semi-Luddite, I dont even know what most of the things you mentioned actually are.  Mostly, however, if you know me, then you know that I absolutely cannot accept, Sir.

 

Understand, please:

 

This is not pride or misplaced shame or anything else.  It is the knowledge that my family and I are okay, and that while I am old and aggravated, and the road ahead is not going to be particularly easy, I know that I have the skills,  patience, and the will to get us through it.

 

Moreover, though, it is because I know so many people who came through this so much worse than my family and I did.  Nine dead in my part of Georgia, last I heard.  Asheville, NC, will probably never be the same.  Hundreds dead along the storm's path, many seniors and assisted-living types displaced--

 

I know those people are out there, and are in far worse positions that my family and I are.  If you really feel pulled to help, Sir, I would ask that you contribute to one of the many funds that are helping those people.  Go through your clothes and if it doesn't fit anymore, give it to a drive of some sort.

 

Again, [redacted], and with the most heartfelt of sincerity, I thank you for thinking of us, and I both deeply appreciate your concern, and am profoundly moved by it.

 

But please, I cannot in good conscience accept help until everyone worse off than us has the help that they need.

 

Thank you, though, Sir.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.  Your concern means a lot, my friend.

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2024Oct 30 by Duke Bushido
Typos. Millions of them.

hey bud, you're old enough to remember the song.

Mother in law, sent from down below, Satan should be her name, they're about the same. 

CES

Geez, Better Days to you Duke, and may they be better soon. You're a tougher nut to crack than I'll ever be.

Yeah, I am in awe. And thankful that nothing even *remotely* as bad has ever happened to me. <knocks wood> Thank you for the update.

 

And thank you again for getting me off my duff to make a charitable donation to Helene relief. It's not a big donation; I am not rich; but I have a roof over my head, and so many people have so much less. Here's hoping you, your family, and your neighbors can get through this without further hardship.

 

Dean Shomshak

9 hours ago, csyphrett said:

hey bud, you're old enough to remember the song.

 

 

Yes, Sir; I certainly am.   

 

 

8 hours ago, Hermit said:

 You're a tougher nut to crack than I'll ever be.

 

 

Not at all, Sir.  Anyone can endure anything, so long as they are honest with themselves.  When you deceive yourself into thinking things are better or simpler or easier than they actually are, you are setting yourself up for disappointment,which leads to frustration and failure.

 

Be honest with yourself, and break any challenge down into things that you know you can do.  Then start doing, and pay attention to how each step is an achievement, and how it improves your situation.

 

At one point, we climbed from trees to the forest floor and moved on to conquer the grassy plains, create tools, master fire, and create society.  Those were not exceptional beings.  Those were ordinary humans, who broke each goal into achievable steps.  None of us is any better or any worse at it than they were.  There success, however, has caused a lot of us to forget what we can endure.

 

It is in all of us.

 

 

I have friends relocating to Florida going to Winter Garden and the hurricanes have not put them off.

 

But all my best to you Duke.

The Southeast needs to go subterranean...in terms of vital utilities, I mean. Hell, most if not all of the US should have power, gas, water, et cetera, funneled below the surface.

Go more than two feet deep and you're in water here; itgets worse the further south and east you go.

 

No one argues underground utilities are not superior, iti s just that on these parts,the are extremely high maintenance due to water intrusion.

 

 

I'm wishing all the best for you and yours, Duke.  Even though you point out that others have suffered worse, it still sounds like a heavy blow.  Please take care, and I'll keep hoping you see a speedy return to something closer to normalcy!

Not really sure if this or the cranky thread is the best place for my latest misadventure, but as it is tangentially related to our post-hurricane situation, I figure this is the better-suited thread.

 

One of the most notable and lingering effects of the hurricane is the staggering loss of forestation.  My first day back to work and I passed a bit of property that just two days before was screened by a thick patch of woods and,brush now stood bare except for an old polebarn that had apparently lived an immaculate life and was spared.  Underneath it was what appeared to be an early 2000s or possibly a late 90s Kawaki EN 800.  Great bike, and a rare sweet spot for frame size and engine size.  Running and in decent condition, they can sell for three grand or so; four to four-and-a-half for a newer one.

 

Anyway, I noted how far away from the house and driveway it was.  I watched it for several days, and noticed that it did not move.

 

I asked around at work: any of you guys know who lives over there?

 

No.  Why?

 

I am interested in that bike parked out under his polebarn.  I am thinking about stopping on the way home and asking about it-

 

"No!  No, Mister Duke!  You don't _never_ do that!"

 

What are you talking about?

 

You see a bike or a boat or a truck or whatever and it's been just sittin' around someone's property for a few months or years or whatever,you do _not_ just roll up and ask them about it!

 

Well then how do I find out of it is for sale?

 

You figure out who owns the land, dig up their phone number, find a pay phone or a burner phone and then call, but you don't never _ever_ just roll up, introduce yourself, and ask about it; you do _not_ do that, Mister Duke!  Somethin' bad gonna happen every single time!

 

 

So....

 

It hasnt moves in weeks now, so three nights ago, on the way home, I stopped and asked about it.  I liked _most_ of what I heard, but unfortunately, I also heard "but to be straight wif' ya, I ain't so sure I'm ready ta sell it."

 

So I struck out.  Oh well.  It happens. I left my name and contact info in case he changed his mind.

 

So yesterday morning, I was at work for about two hours when I get a phone call (not that unusual) that I was needed back at my desk.

 

Short version?  Two deputies looking for me and wanting to ask me a load of questions.

 

Why?

 

Because the night after I asked about the bike, someone stole it.

 

Guess who became suspect number one just because he was hoping to quick-flip a bike for a little Christmas money?

 

And who got to listen to an entire day's worth of "we _told_ you not to talk to them people!"  And "we told you it was just going to cause trouble!"  And on and on....

 

The number of deputies who have walked up on me the last 24 hours-  my house, my flop, my storage locker, even my brother's place in Brunswick- I am _literally_ being followed with the hopes of leading them to my secret stolen motorcycle warehouse....

 

 

You know: because it's easier than looking for clues.

 

Personally?  I have a nasty suspicion the owner decided to pull a little insurance fraud on a bike that needed more work than he was willing or able to put into it, and figured with all the other problems Insurance companies have here right now, he had a good shot at getting away with it.  Frankly, if the deputies keep tailing me instead of doing literally _anything_ else, he probably _does_ have a good shot at getting away with it.

 

😕

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2024Dec 8 by Duke Bushido