Here's a space bag update. When you pull the air out of the bags with a vac, the bags and contents wrinkle up like a prune. The pictures on the box show the bag laying flat, but that is hard to do. I tried to hold the corners while I used the vac but that didn't work, so now I am going to get some thin plywood and put on top of the bag, then hold it down to see if the bags stay a little flatter while I use the vac. The contents do take up a lot less space when in the bag, but when you put the bags in a storage container, it is like filling the container with a bunch of basketballs with half the air out of them. The air pockets cancel out the air removed from the bags...so you are able to get inside the container only the same amount of stuff that came from the container originally. If you are going to stack the bags on a shelf in the closet, no problem. But to put the bags in a container--disappointing. I can't use a rolling pin to remove the air because most of my bags are bigger than a rolling pin. I may try the wooded pole in my closet that will fit all the way across them. Maybe it is a practice-makes-perfect thing. At any rate, electronics in space bags--I'm standing by that idea...you won't be stacking your printer on top of your computer, and then on top of your scanner. So the bags may be great for our office stuff if we do have another storm somewhere.

I'm checking it every time there is an update, on the NHC site and on http://www.wunderground.com, which I consider the best hurricane site out there. I just saw the 2 AM track, and it looks like it is crossing the Yucatan Peninsula a little lower than originally thought. That should weaken it so that it makes final landfall as a Cat 3 rather than a Cat 4 or 5. Good news for Texas, but we still need to pray for those folks down there and be ready to help in whatever way we can.

I'm happy this forum is dead right now. Hope it stays that way the rest of the summer.

According to my interpretation of comments by my weather guru, Dr. Jeff Masters, co-founder of The Weather Underground (where I get all my spaghetti maps during hurricane season), we can start to breathe a little easier. The waters won't start cooling off as fast as they would in an El Nino year, but they are getting cooler, which usually means we see decreasing activity.

According to info on http://www.wunderground.com, Jeff wrote much of the software that ingests and formats the raw NWS data. He knows a lot about hurricanes, but all I know is...when I go to his site, I can find whatever I need for anything out there that has a name or number...and I can follow it till it gets to my front door if it comes to that. And while I realize there is nothing I can personally do to make it go away, it does make me feel like I have some control in the situation...which of course we all do...we can control how prepared we are for a storm. I'm just happy I did not have to prepare for anything this year. I hope we finish out this year without any major weather disasters of any kind on the Gulf Coast or anywhere else.

So it's October 2007 and I can only say, "That's two down."

We were lucky this year despite all of the predictions for a record breaking year.

I always have to remember that people in the paths of these things at least have some notice to pack a few things and get out. Unlike a tornado or an earthquake, at least you know where your kids are when it hits.

Sometimes, like with Katrina, you can't prepare for all the surprises. Even a small one like Rita has it's aggravations--when it passed thru Houston right after Katrina missed us, a huge tree fell over on someone's house...a tree from their neighbor's yard. I'm sure that frustration lingered long after the damage was fixed. So even the smaller ones can be more involved than just missing work and cleaning up the debris in the yard when it's over.

Anyway, all I have to worry about for the next six months is whether or not my apartment will turn the heat on BEFORE the temperature drops into the 30's. Now our friends up north have to start worrying about the snow storms and having supplies in their car if they get trapped in one. Mother Nature is always trying to catch us off guard. And she's pretty dang good at it, too.

Darlene I've still dealing with my wind storm carrier related to Rita. In 2004 the last tenant fell asleep with a cigarette. Once the place was rehabbed with a new roof Rita came along an really ruined my day.

Having to fight with the insurance company after a major loss is just adding insult to injury, I guess. It has to be especially distressing to have something happen AFTER a rehab.

Darlene you can't imagine the half of it. Being an absentee owner, having a decade old relationship with a property manager and finding out when I'm on the ground that the work isn't the way it was represented. I flew in with one home sold based on pictures emailed to me only to find things like the exterior of some doors were painted but the interiors were not painted. The central a/c was repaired but not cosmetically appealing even though I paid well above market for quick work.

No fun firing someone when you don't have a ready replacement and your plan was to salsa with Consquayla and her seester not talk to lying contractors with no insurance or bonds. Can't tell you how many times I went out to my rental car because if I staying in the home I would have done bad things to the contractor giving me a bid. When they knew I was from California and had a plane to catch most of those guys couldn't spend my money fast enough. They truly didn't understand I grew up in Texas and would have paid someone to clean up what I fixed up on them before I let them steal my hard earned money...

I paid $39K just to get things going only to have morons try to take advantage of the fact that I wasn't local. Don't get me started about the insurance companies. The problem is that most of those guys shoot quail together, golf together so you have to way out to find competent legal representation. Its a friggin nightmare.

Darlene B,

This is storm-related but not Gulf Coast-related. May I chime in anyway? I'm wondering how it is for y'all down there...

Here on the NC oceanfront the hurricane seasons have been relatively quiet lately (except for Isabel) but historically it's the off-season storms that sneak up on us (strangely--often on holidays) that can really chew up our coastline, dump torrents of rain, cause storm surge from ocean and soundside, and cause damage.

The winter and spring nor-easters can be almost worse that the hurricanes because we can plan for the hurricanes (evacuation is mandatory for vacationers, etc.) but we never know when an "unnamed hurricane" is bearing down on us until it hits.

One happened about three springs ago that brought 110mph winds and significant soundside flooding on Ocracoke Island--it was during a big fishing tournament so tons of non-locals were in town and about 200 vehicles were ruined. It was bad!

How's Gulf Coast weather in the winter and spring?

I was just reading BayAreaTexan's storm--with his proprty management situation. It is so hard to find someone you trust these days. I know a lady who does property management and trust me, she could not care less. It's just getting worse, it seems. BayAreaTexas, you need someone who will quake in their boots when they see your name on caller I.D. Those people are usually conscientious. They don't like disappointing their boss. An individual may be more loyal than a property management company, but how do you even know. Craigslist, I guess, should be your next stop. You have my sympathy. It is rough out there...real estate is hot right now, but still...no excuse to not do what you promised someone. This is just another reason why I say that real estate is not for the faint hearted. I hope people appreciate what risks some people take in this business. It is just not something most could handle. I am waaaaay past having the nerve for some of this stuff, that's for sure. It takes a lot of focus. If you want me to find a few property managers for you to check out, let me know. I don't know any, but I could pass on their emails and/or phone numbers to you after I chat with them a few minutes to see if they claim to meet your requirements.
Trush, I spent three vacations in New Bern, where I had friends who lived in a small trailer near the Trent & Brice Rivers (that's correct, right???) All I remember is the fun we had, crabbing and watching the kids jump off the small pier. Every time you folks have a storm up there, I hate to watch it on TV. I always thought North Carolina was the most beautiful state I had ever been in. Sorry, my fellow Texans...but if you haven't been, you can't argue with me. It's really God's Country. And unless things have changed in the last 20 years, the people there are very warm and friendly. A great place to visit or live, in my opinion.

Trush, nice web site. I clicked on a few things and saw that NO TITLE COMPANIES ARE IN YOUR AREA--YOU USE ATTORNEYS. We would be like fish out of water if we switched jobs. Ha, ha.

I forgot to answer your question. Gulf Coast in the winter is slightly cooler than the spring. And it rains sometimes. And it's warm in the daytime and cool in the evenings, so we always take a light jacket. Sometimes it gets cold. In short, nothing much going on in the weather area except the anxiety of knowing hurricane season is around the corner.

Hey Darlene B--thanks for the kind words. We're about 3 hours northeast of New Bern, driving around by inland or by ferries.

The site is bigtoe's realm, I just work the leads and do the selling.

At least y'all get a break of sorts during the winter. I hope you have a happy remainder of winter and spring, and a completely uneventful hurricane season '08!

I couldn't ask for a better wish, that's for sure. Right back at you on the good weather thoughts. Tonight it's 33 & windy here, and we are going to be gripping about it thru spring. Ha, ha.

Here it is...three days to prepare but it will be mild compared to Rita and definitely to Katrina. My guru, Jeff Masters, is at wwww.wunderground.com, has all the great maps. I hope your local TV station has available hurricane information without having to fill out your personal information first, then confirming it, then...I do understand them requiring that data to get non-emergency information, but I was surprised they would put a banner up for the lastest on Edouard and then require that. One click and I was off their site and onto www.wunderground.com to see the maps you don't even get on the Hurricane Center site.

Anyway, we'll see how the new builder homes along the coast hold up to minimal hurricane winds. In all fairness, this one may spawn a few tornados, so I'll wait till I know for sure what caused the damage before I post about this topic.

Don't leave anything out that might blow away or cause damage. Good luck...hope nobody floods or loses their electricity for too long.

One more quick item...I bought rolling plastic trash cans, then put two trash bags inside them as a double liner. Then put stuff in them, put on the lid, and have another liner ready to cover them just in case we lose the roof. I am not expecting anything like this with this one, but this was a trial run. My apartments did lose a roof during Rita, so it's not always flooding that ruins your personal property. It's easy to do if you have no shelf space to put things up. If your home floods, this is a great option...$15 or so for rolling carts at Home Depot, plus grab a couple of sacks of trash bags. This is definitely overkill for this storm (hopefully) but it was a trial run.