(no subject)
Whew, it's been a while since I posted. But that's what this is for anyway, so I can post when I feel like it.
I moved into my grandpa's house without too much hassle, although trying to mocve 30 boxes was a pain, even with my parents and brother helping out. Since it was my stuff, I did the most work, but it left me fatigued and ached. Now I just have to get things organized (which, according to someone I know, Frosti) is impossible for me. But hey, I usually claim to have at least an organized mess (similar objects are always kept in the same drawer, for instance). In any case, at least I'll have an extra $570 per month now :) I'm going to use that to buy myself a t-shirt from www.bungie.net that costs $20, 3/4 of which is going to the Red Cross by Bungie (the company who made Halo 2). As the site reasoned, I bought the game, and this is cheaper and more important. Maybe I'll get my siblings some as well.
As always with such things, I'm torn between two emotions regarding the hurricane 'victims.' On one hand, everyone feels sorry for someone who's had everything literally blown away, and my heart goes out to them. (Since several thousand of them are going to be coming to Dallas, I am going to see what I can do to help volunteer.) On the other hand, however, I have limited sympathy for them. If you live on the coast, especially in an area known for such weather, as well as being at or below sea level (interestingly, the French Quarter, a restaurant area, was spared much flood damage due to being a mere 3 feet above sea level), you can't really whine too hard (although I myself probably would for a while anyway). But in any case, plaintive or not, you should eventually learn to live with it and move on. I've resolved myself to the possibility of something cataclysmic happening to me, and if it does, I am prepared mentally to battle it. It's a war inside your head, and you have to win it on your own. There's no cavalry or medivac here, it's all just a raw, down-and-dirty spiritual battle against your own despair. That's why I keep my gun, that's why I've kept all my military gear that they didn't take back (and plan on getting more). If something happens, I at least have something to keep me warm and dry. Now that I have a better money flow, I can also get some MREs and save them (those things are designed to last several years before going bad). Those people had nothing, no preparations were made, no contingency plans or methods of escape (am thinking of getting a life preserver as well - there has been minor flooding here before from rainfall), no food or water stored up - I imagine no one even had any water filtration devices (they come cheap and small nowadays), which is why so many people were sick and needed hospital care, which was hard to get.
So anyways, while I feel compassionate towards these people, they can't expect too much from me, because if I have the means to prepare myself for such a thing, so can anyone else.
Also, now that the gas prices are around $3 per gallon, it still really doesn't hurt me that much because I have a Geo. It only costs about $18 for one fillup, and while that's nearly double what I was paying before, it's still not nearly what these others are paying. And one fillup usually lasts me more than a week.
Big trucks and cars used to be the figurative kings of the hill, but when they are unable to even make it up the hill, I'll be sitting on top with the other Geo owners laughing.
I moved into my grandpa's house without too much hassle, although trying to mocve 30 boxes was a pain, even with my parents and brother helping out. Since it was my stuff, I did the most work, but it left me fatigued and ached. Now I just have to get things organized (which, according to someone I know, Frosti) is impossible for me. But hey, I usually claim to have at least an organized mess (similar objects are always kept in the same drawer, for instance). In any case, at least I'll have an extra $570 per month now :) I'm going to use that to buy myself a t-shirt from www.bungie.net that costs $20, 3/4 of which is going to the Red Cross by Bungie (the company who made Halo 2). As the site reasoned, I bought the game, and this is cheaper and more important. Maybe I'll get my siblings some as well.
As always with such things, I'm torn between two emotions regarding the hurricane 'victims.' On one hand, everyone feels sorry for someone who's had everything literally blown away, and my heart goes out to them. (Since several thousand of them are going to be coming to Dallas, I am going to see what I can do to help volunteer.) On the other hand, however, I have limited sympathy for them. If you live on the coast, especially in an area known for such weather, as well as being at or below sea level (interestingly, the French Quarter, a restaurant area, was spared much flood damage due to being a mere 3 feet above sea level), you can't really whine too hard (although I myself probably would for a while anyway). But in any case, plaintive or not, you should eventually learn to live with it and move on. I've resolved myself to the possibility of something cataclysmic happening to me, and if it does, I am prepared mentally to battle it. It's a war inside your head, and you have to win it on your own. There's no cavalry or medivac here, it's all just a raw, down-and-dirty spiritual battle against your own despair. That's why I keep my gun, that's why I've kept all my military gear that they didn't take back (and plan on getting more). If something happens, I at least have something to keep me warm and dry. Now that I have a better money flow, I can also get some MREs and save them (those things are designed to last several years before going bad). Those people had nothing, no preparations were made, no contingency plans or methods of escape (am thinking of getting a life preserver as well - there has been minor flooding here before from rainfall), no food or water stored up - I imagine no one even had any water filtration devices (they come cheap and small nowadays), which is why so many people were sick and needed hospital care, which was hard to get.
So anyways, while I feel compassionate towards these people, they can't expect too much from me, because if I have the means to prepare myself for such a thing, so can anyone else.
Also, now that the gas prices are around $3 per gallon, it still really doesn't hurt me that much because I have a Geo. It only costs about $18 for one fillup, and while that's nearly double what I was paying before, it's still not nearly what these others are paying. And one fillup usually lasts me more than a week.
Big trucks and cars used to be the figurative kings of the hill, but when they are unable to even make it up the hill, I'll be sitting on top with the other Geo owners laughing.