Wilsons Sandbox

This is the last report of on planned KLR Evac from New Orleans. On Sunday night I decided to ride out the storm here in New Orleans. Why? The news reports were that the storm would not be so bad for New Orleans, and there was no danger of the levees being overrun by the tidal surge. So, it was almost safe so stay. Why not simply run? I'll tell you why at the end of this post. On Sunday night, I stayed up to 2 AM watching movies. The storm was slated to hit at about noon on Monday. I got up Monday at about 9:30 AM and had no power, no AC, no TV. Crap. I sat on my covered porch until about noon, the height of the storm. All that I got in the Mid City area of N.O. was wind, no real rain. The wind could not have been more than about 80 MPH. I got bored and took a nap. I got up again at about 4 PM. No major damage, a light pole on the corner fell down, and a tree in the next block toppled over. On Tuesday, the day was overcast with rain, still no power. I sat around and read National Geo, and the newspaper from a few days ago. We got lucky in that for the last two days we have been overcast. No AC and in the tropical summer sun is a drag. They are telling us that it might be up to 9 days with no power! Gulp! Today, Wednesday, at about noon it seems that people began to come out and the city is starting to come back to life. A few bars are open, and I had lunch at the Port O' Call, the best burgers in NO. I found a coffee shop with internet to get this message out. I was a prisoner in New Orleans, I could not leave the city, and can only move around before 6 PM, then curfew starts. Just a few hours ago it was announced that citizens would be allowed to re-enter N.O. So by Thursday, we will all be sweating in our homes, counting the hours until power returns. It was surreal being able to ride around on the KLR and I did not see another soul. I did not see or talk to anyone for almost 2 days! Mostly, I sat around and watched the rain, read and napped. Yesterday I was armed with a 9mm Glock. Today, I am armed with a Plunger. The TV says that the sewer system is backed up and we are not to shower or flush, for fear of the toilets backing up. Like I said, I am armed with a Plunger. Some stores are opening so I will not starve to death. Just in time, I had 1-2 days of food left - and was out of Martel and cigars. Now, should you ask, why not simply evacuate and not run the risk? I may be a prisoner in the city, if I left the city the cops wouldn't let me back in. The cops were not letting anyone back in to NO until a little while ago. Those who evacuated are in hotels or cramped into shelters, some are sleeping in cars on the side of the road. So I figured that I would stay here and rough it out. Money was not really an issue, I could afford to leave, but I will only leave if staying is simply too dangerous, and this storm was not too overly unsafe for N.O. If I had left, I would find myself in a hotel in God knows where for a few days, or in a shelter. Given the choices, I'd rather tough it out here, AC or not. Plus the city's population will return AC or not. Lastly, my plans were not perfect, but would have worked. My intent was to watch the weather to the last second, then run on my KLR if I had to. The only glitches are that I needed more candles for nighttime. A little more food would be OK, and one of those flashlights that is built into a headband, beats having to hold the flashlight with one hand all the time. OH, and silly me, I forgot to get an AM FM radio! So I had nothing to listen to for updates. I was able to call out on my cell for updates. The crisis is over for now. All that I lack is some AC and TV, up to 9 long freaken days away. Thankfully, the storm did not make a major impact on N.O. I hope that I never have to deploy my KLR Evac Plans, but at least I had a plan. Eddie (03' KLR "la poderosa")

Russia and Germany invaded Poland so many times that Poland definitely has a sovereign right to have whatever missiles it wants on its soil. OK Shallow Hal? Jeffrey speaking of provoking a war do yall think that Russia setting up defensive missiles near our borders would be considered provocative behavior. I wonder what our reaction would be? I believe that we can predict what their reaction will be as we sent missile to Poland. for defense only of course we and the world can always trust our government hal2006