What do you do when it’s coming your way?

Prepare. That’s all you can do. The panic got the best of me yesterday but I awoke today with calm. Maybe it is the calm before the panic, like the calm before the storm, but regardless, I can’t do a damn thing about the bitch coming, so its time to sit back and let Her guide this monstrosity through the state.
Our landlord called our neighbor and asked him to deliver some good news - there are storm shutters in our attic. I just wish we had known this yesterday, so we had plenty of time to prepare. But, what’s done is done and when I leave work this morning I am going to spend the day putting those things up. It will make me feel a lot better.

As for the storm itself. It’s slow, rainy and could cause flooding throughout Florida. I was told this morning that there is a possibility of us not getting power back for over a week, depending upon the conditions of the lines. I am going to be working throughout the recovery process at Pershing, dispatching my water guys throughout Orlando to repair breaks. Initally, they are going to be errand boys for electric, running supplies to and fro so the power can get back on. But outside contractors are on standby and preperations have been made. Some of the contractors, heading home, turned around and just came back.

My trip to Miami next weekend is looking pretty shitty.

On a good note, the cell phones work great. My laptop is fully powered and the fence is up. So, it could be a lot worse.

There are several guys I work with who still have severe damage to their homes from Charley, but they can’t do anything about it 24 hours away from a major storm. So, they are sleeping at the office or holing up with someone from work. I have to say, working for a utility is an interesting experience during a catastrophic event. Day care has been set up for those who need it, there is a shelter specifically for the emergency crews (police, fire, utilities, etc) and a group of employees has been mobilized to aid people with house damage. If my house (goddess forbid) gets pounded and there is damage, I can call my boss and he will have someone come down to help out with the house. This place takes care of their own. It goes from the top all the way down. I have the personal cell numbers for several guys who implored me to call them if we needed help. This is a family, albeit dysfuctional. But there is love here, none the less.

I will post again from home. but as for now it looks like the storm is going to hit south of us, but we are still going to get some pretty impressive winds. Prepare and pray. That’s all we can do.