Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Do you want to work from home in your pajamas?

Want to work from home? Want to work part-time, flexible hours around a current job or school schedule? Are you available to go to Austin for a meeting or two beforehand? Then I have a job for you! Bazaarvoice is hiring!! Yes this is for real, no it's not a scam. They are even hiring seasonal help if you only want something temporary. I have worked over a year for them and have several friends who have just been hired. If you are interested the best way to get hired is to let me know you are interested and there is a certain procedure we follow to submit referrals. They prefer to hire this way rather than just random people showing up so your odds of being called back are much better. :-) Just let me know and I will talk you through the process.

Lessons Learned During and After the Storm

Someone wrote this forward I don't know who but it just about sums everything up!!!! :)


> Lessons Learned During and After the Storm
>
>
>>
>>
>> Subject: Lessons Learned During and After the Storm
>>
>>
>>> No matter how many times you flick the switch, lights don't work
>>> without electricity.
>>>
>>> Vienna sausages only appear on the food pyramid during hurricane
>>> season.
>>>
>>> Gas mileage is recalculated based on miles per fume.
>>>
>>> Lovebugs do not disappear in 80mph wind gusts.
>>>
>>> Disasters can cancel Texans football game.
>>>
>>> Despite protests, kids can re-live their parents' youth when there
>>> were only
>>> 3 tv channels!
>>>
>>> Cats are even more irritating without power.
>>>
>>> Houston without traffic lights resembles Mexico City , Rome , Los
>>> Angeles and New York City all rolled into a single snarl.
>>>
>>> There are/were a lot of really big trees around here!
>>>
>>> Just because you're 18 doesn't mean you can stay out as late as you
>>> want.
>>> Mayor White meant busine ss when he said curfew.
>>>
>>> People will get into a line that has already formed without having
>>> any idea what the line is for.
>>>
>>> Calories consumed during a hurricane or power outage do not count.
>>>
>>> Telemarketers function no matter what the weather is doing.
>>> New Delhi does
>>> not check the weather report in Houston .
>>>
>>> Most popular text message after September 11: do u hve pwr
>>>
>>> Twenty-seven of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer
>>> than you, and they are quick to point that out!
>>>
>>> Crickets and cicadas can increase their volume to overcome the sound
>>> of 14 generators.
>>>
>>> Dirty clothes in an unsupervised hamper multiply at an exponential
>>> rate.
>>>
>>> Coffee, spaghetti and frozen pizzas can be made on a grill.
>>>
>>>
>>> He who has the biggest generator wins.
>>>
>>> Tree service companies are under-appreciated, except after
>>> hurricanes.
>>>
>>> Water will fill the I-10 & SW Freeway.
>>>
>>> There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.
>>>
>>> If you owned a store that sold only ice, chain saws, gas and
>>> generators, you would be rich
>>>
>>> With only a small amount of guilt Houstionians can collectively pray
>>> a second hurricane to landfall in another state or country.
>>>
>>> And so to our friends and families, some who are still without power
>>> and&n bsp; others who have endured great personal loss, you are in
>>> our prayers. Hang in there, we are making progress. Thank you to all
>>> our first responders, healthcare professionals, service technicians,
>>> teachers, police officers, small business owners, and more who join
>>> with the thousands of individuals sharing their time and talent to
>>> help restore our community to wholeness.
>>>
>>> The most important lesson of all learned from Ike in the last week
>>> is that the human spirit has an amazing resilience that even a
>>> hurricane cannot bend. Through God's love and amazing grace we can
>>> endure all things.
>>

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Psalm 61

I was thinking of some friends today and remembered this passage. It seems appropriate for a lot of things I know going on right now.


Psalm 61

1Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

2From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

4I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

5For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.

6Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations.

7He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.

8So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

Friday, September 26, 2008

After 13 days....

Our power is back on again!! How heavenly to use a hair dryer today! I'm so grateful to all the people who came from out of town to help get Houston back up and running again.

Now if we can just get the cable company on the ball...

Thursday, September 18, 2008

More damages

Here are two more pics I snapped on my way around town. Things are ever so slowly trying to get back to normal but there is still much left to be done as far as cleanup and restoration goes. If you go to centerpointenergy.com you can see a map of the area and the red indicates outages. It still covers most of Harris county although there are pockets of power and businesses open but you have to know where. Our zip code is not expected to get power until after next Monday so we are in it for the long haul. :(


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

108+ hours with no power

Today, thanks to my great aunt, Circuit City came by and brought lots of ice, water and some neat backpacks with MREs, whistles, glo sticks, and first aid kits. They asked if there was anything else we needed but we are doing well. Ice was our only concern as the fridge was gone (nothing like a hurricane to make you deep clean your fridge!) and the deep freeze is not frozen all the way anymore. I also found some gas and filled up.
We are surviving and it's a pretty cool ride to see how God works. According to the latest projections we won't be getting power until after Monday so this thing ain't over yet.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

72 hours with no electricity

Since there is only so much one can do without lights one resorts to finding amusement in anything.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Coping with no electricity

After 48 hours of no electricity: Did you know if you boil a pot of water and run it through the basket of your electric coffee maker that it makes something very similar to the beverage you usually drink? So similar that with creamer and splenda you can hardly taste the difference!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Hurricane updates

We are alive. Power is still out for most of the area (the power company estimates still 81%). Here are pictures of the tree that landed on our house and one that was across the street.


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Hurricane party @ my house on Friday & Saturday! :-)

Well as we have watched today it just seems that Ike is getting closer and closer to coming straight through my back yard. I have a hard time balancing my multiple personality self about it. For several years, I would guess from when I was 8 to age 14 I diligently listened to my weather radio for every update and plugged the coordinates into the simple computer program I had. Then for awhile I used a computer program that would simply download the coordinates for me and I'd watch the animation as it plotted the storm across the ocean. I had such a great time studying storms of all kinds and even went to Weather Camp at the Weather Museum in Houston. Seeing the complexity of the storms always amazed me at God's handiwork and yet I have a healthy respect for what these things can do. I've always wanted to be a meteorologist and a storm chaser, following storm systems and observing them and yet keeping a healthy distance. I think one of the things that I love about storms is that they are predictable and yet unpredictable all at the same time.

As I think about the hurricane coming one side of me is excited to actually live through one, to experience it first hand (to completely fulfill this dream I would like to stand outside in the middle of the eye and watch the sun shine down and see the eye wall coming). And yet knowing the power that could be packed into this one, knowing of the destruction that would be caused I feel almost dread at what could be around the corner for many people I love. Storms are part of God's creation just as the flowers, a mountain, even a volcano. In a storm you can see God's power and glory that he could create such an intricate thing that seems to almost have life, to even 'breathe' and respond to the forces around it. So while I am concerned I am excited that I will possibly have a front row seat to one of God's most amazing creations.

Monday, September 8, 2008