Ike came, destroyed my roof and left.I have significant roof damage which led to significant leaks throughout my house. Kendall’s closet is a wreck as the carpet is soaked and the door jam is leaking like crazy so it is ruined. I have leaks in my kitchen ceiling, hallways, master bedroom, garage ceiling and master bathroom ceiling.In fact the master bathroom is the biggest problem as of this morning. I have been placing rubbermaid storage containers in the attic in an effort to save the ceiling but this morning I lost the battle of the master bathroom. See below…I spent two hours cleaning the insulation out of the tub this am. The speckles in the picture are from all of the insulation particulate in the air…The kitchen ceiling is the next one I am trying to save… wish me luck…So if you are keeping score that is two sheet rock panels gone (master bath and garage) and I am trying to keep the score from being Ike 3, Brendan 0. The other major salvage effort is the wood floors. I am trying to keep water off those floors to keep them from warping but I think I have lost that battle in one area near the living room window.Tomorrow Julie’s family is headed up to help me put tarps on the roof and plywood up the holes in my ceiling.So hear I sit. All things are not horrible as Julie’s uncle David left me one of his generators and some fuel so I am able to keep the refrigerators running, a fan and my TV… but the networks are only showing aftermath coverage and I am WAY sick of that!!! What I wouldn’t give for some mindless football action.The kids are safe and with their grandparents who have power while I battle with the Ike. My family all made it ok as well…. no damage just no power. So I am actually thankful and I have to repeatedly remind myself that I am actually pretty lucky.Until next post…Yay God!Brendan

Sensationalism example:

You will note in the graphic below that we are expected to experience sustained winds today of about 30 to 50 mph. Then tomorrow the sustained wind measurements move to a sustained speed of “Ike” then they drop back down to 10 to 20 mph the next day.

Can someone please tell me when “Ike” became a quantifiable number in our numeric system? 81, 82, 83, 84, Ike, 85, 86… Someday I hope to be “Ike” years old! Ummmm… NO! ABC news Fail.

Our news stations blow worse than the pending storm!

-Brendan

Well I have opened the Lyons Hurricane evacuation shelter to Julie’s Uncle, wife and two kids in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Eisenhower (Ike if you’re nasty). Since my house is on the NW side of Houston storm surge and flooding is really not an issue. The biggest concern is wind and power going out. So we have a generator with 20 gallons of gas on hand to keep the refrigerators, some fans and the TV (the essentials as college football is tomorrow) running. If the power goes out and is out for any period of time what so ever I will be headed to San Antonio to my uncle’s house with my parents.

We spent yesterday preparing the house as I pulled in all of the outdoor toys, patio furniture, grill, potted plants etc… David and family got here yesterday about 2 and we all went out to dinner last night. Now we are just waiting. I am going to try and get the kids outside for just a little bit so that the cabin fever does not set in too quickly.

So here we sit, watching ridiculous coverage by the media. They are giddy with excitement, repeating themselves and the sensationalism is palpable. I will update as we move through this ordeal provided the power issue does not prevent access to the internets!!!

Say a prayer for all who are in the immediate path.

Yay God.

Brendan