How to survive a hurricane

Lots of stories are coming out about people who decided to ride out Hurricane Ike and survived. (I personally think the people on Boliva and Galvaston who didn't evacuate were idiots.. but that's my take on it). One story reported on Yahoo news tells about Michael Ray Kujawa who tried to evacuate with his pet lion. Yes an actual African Lion! They got stranded and headed into a church. You can read it and other survival stories here: SURVIVAL STORIES

It doesn't take a hurricane to create massive destructive powers on the high seas. Here's an exceptional photo display of SHIPS BATTLING HEAVY SEAS

This photo shows a condo in Galveston that Mel (the man who took us to Tennessee and Spain to do real estate auctions) Giller sold several years ago. This video shows the damage that Hurricane Ike did to the front side:





This video shows a lot of the rampage that Galveston took. Pay attention at time code 3:23 to see the back side of the Breakers Condo project :

Hurricane Ike

April and I have been watching the videos coming out of Southeast Texas and showing the destruction from Hurricane Ike. If you haven't seen it up close check out some of these from the weather channel:

Ikes waves over road

Raw footage of destruction in Galveston

Windows blown out

Our prayers are with our dear friends in the Beaumont Stake, especially our friends and neighbors in the Woodville area. We know some of you evacuated to outlying areas and others stayed at home to ride out the storm. The reports we have heard make us feel blessed that we weren't there to experience this but we are saddened that we cannot be there to help and assist everyone with their after-storm needs.

April's mother was in the nursing home in Woodville and she reports they were without power for 2 days (until Monday afternoon). She didn't know if it was temporary or whether it would last. Meals for the residents were served cold with little variation from breakfast, lunch and supper during that time. She is fine however (other than being a little frazzled and nervous).

We pray for a speedy recovery from this devastation.

Here's some photos taken from the NY Times:

Be a Follower

I've added a "follower" gadgit to the sidebar of this blog. So far April is the only one to click on it as a avid follower of the blog and since she uses the same photo on her genealogy blog as I use on this one it's funny to have only that one pic there... so this is an open invitation to all my loyal family to click on the link there and add your name to the list. I will reciprocate on your blogs when you add that gadgit. Deal?

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's off to work we go!

I've been a little worried lately. Okay that's a lie. I've been a lot worried lately. Worried about our finances. Life was tough in Texas and the job in Spain was supposed to set us up financially for a good long time. When it fell through we had no home to return to and no income to sustain our "rich" lifestyle. One of the reasons we decided to return to Salt Lake was that we felt it would be easier to find good employment here than in Chester, TX (pop. 254-2).

One of the first things I did when we got into town last month was visit my old friends at eBay. I inquired about the possibility of getting back on and everyone was excited that I was returning. But the department I wanted to get into didn't have any openings. I needed to reapply and go through the hiring process as though it was my first time there. Luckily they had about 30 openings in another department and we starting the application process the very next day.

I went in and met with the recruiters and had a first interview. They called me back for a second interview the next day. Then they told me to just wait. I've been waiting for about 3 weeks but yesterday I finally got the phone call I was waiting for... a job offer!

I start on September 22nd. The job is a step down from where I was when I left 3 years ago but I know ALL of the managers and supervisors and have been told I can move up fast once I get in. I'm so ready to get back to work. Life on the farm was good but it never felt secure and we never had any health benefits, etc. We feel blessed to be "employed" again. Thanks for all your prayers - we know they made a difference.