I was without power for a week. That was a long week... but it is already over and feels like a distant memory.
Now I am using my tivo, tv, and computer all at once to watch the VP debates and chime in on Twitter. Best moment so far: Palin calling her opponent "Obiden."
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
On Being Powerless
It has been a trying few days. As my blog name implies I am in Houston, the country’s most recent site of a national disaster. I am lucky that there are a good number of miles between myself and the coast, because without that buffer my story of Hurricane Ike would probably be drastically different. I am sorry that Galveston has been so horribly damaged and that so many people will have their lives changed forever. My story is merely one of inconvenience and emotional turmoil… I am thankful that my situation is temporary.
It’s strange to comprehend that this storm actually hit and that there will be repercussions on my area for weeks and months to come. I was here for Rita in 2005 and short of a lot of nervousness and temporary displacement (we slept in the dining hall at Jones) nothing really came of it. I knew that areas to the east were affected, mostly because of a friend from Beaumont, but Houston clearly got off easy.
I was nervous last Thursday, but panic never set in. I considered my options, and my previous experience with Rita helped me understand that a hurricane is not the end of the world. I prepared. I waited.
Sleeping on the floor of Tom’s room, there was a moment when I was truly terrified. I heard some kind of knocking, like the blinds on the window in the kitchen were rattling on the inside. I couldn’t figure out how that was happening, and had to convince myself to stay put. I put on my Ipod and eventually drifted off to sleep. I woke up several times in the night, stiff from sleeping on the floor and uncomfortable from the lack of air conditioning, but in those moments that I was awake the terror had passed.
I checked my Ipod to find that it was already 8:30. The four of us had been sleeping for 9 or 10 hours, the darkness outside confusing the hour. I got up, knowing the worst of the storm had passed us, and looked outside. The street outside looked damp, and the sky was cloudy but not ominous. I was suddenly cheerful… we made it through the storm, none of my windows had broken. We were all okay! My conclusions changed as I got a wider scope on the situation.
As everyone else started to wake up and circulate through the apartment, we chatted and snacked, and waited. What do you do after a hurricane?
Sofia and Tom wanted to check on their cars, they had parked them at the building next door. Tired of staying inside, we all went to see. What we found was the first sign that things would be just slightly messed up for days to come.
The ceiling had come down on Sofia and Tom’s cars. Large ceiling tiles, metal scraps, and insulation had rained down with varying results. Tom’s car looked dirty but relatively unharmed. Little Red (Sofia’s car) had suffered cracks in the windshield and a major dent. By many accounts they both were lucky, but nevertheless the hurricane had left its mark.
Back at our apartment, I realized my own car had been narrowly spared. A fence had come down where I park, luckily the SUV and minivan on my right and left were high up and protected my car from impact.
After processing our car situation, we loaded up in Little Red to see what had happened at Sofia and Terri’s place. This trip, and further investigation over the next few days helped me to realize the actual impact of Hurricane Ike. The top of a gas station ripped off and crumbled nearby, on top of a van. Traffic lights sitting on intersection medians. Trees split in half. Brick siding blown off buildings. The damage was unreal.
When we got to Terri and Sofia’s we noticed the wet carpet before we saw what the real problem was. Inside they poke around, noticing strange wet spots in their bedrooms, living room, and bathroom. They also realized they had power!
The wetness was a mystery we preferred to leave unsolved in light of the humidity and heat, so we hauled food and clothes and computers over to their house to set up yet another hurricane sleepover. It was later in the day that we figured out what exactly had happened to let water into their house.
The smokestack of the chimney on their building had been ripped off leaving a gaping hole in the roof. The rainwater had gotten into the unit above them, and slowly seeped down into their unit.
We got to see the leaking in action the following morning when more rain let more water in. In case you were wondering, water that soaks through carpet, insulation, flooring/walls drips down a disgusting brown color. We could see it collected in pots and trashcans.
Also their electricity went out in the middle of the night.
So we were on the move again. Back to my apartment this time abandoning the contents of the fridge, giving up on hundreds of dollars of food, like so many others.
And the situation hasn’t changed much since then. My apartment has been without power since 9:30pm on Friday. Tonight will be six days, tomorrow a whole week without power. And the pun I intended with my blog title is only too fitting. There is nothing to do but wait. Every night I resign myself to go home and sit in the dark. Every morning I flip my bathroom light with the half-optimistic, half-desperate thought that maybe something is different.
And I know too well that I am lucky, but living without electricity in an apartment completely centered on that exact resource is nothing short of miserable. Someone hit the pause button and crippled my ability to live my life the way I would like to.
CenterPoint is working tirelessly to get the lights on all over Houston, and I can only assume that eventually I will have power once again… but not knowing and being entirely unable to do anything about the situation is maddening.
I need to be thankful when I have electricity, because it is something that I absolutely took for granted. There are so many conveniences in my life that I expect, and hardly acknowledge. A refrigerator, traffic lights, fully stocked grocery stores, accessible gasoline. All of these things have been disrupted in Houston, and I am trying my best to wait it out, realize it is temporary, and continue on until things are back to normal.
It’s strange to comprehend that this storm actually hit and that there will be repercussions on my area for weeks and months to come. I was here for Rita in 2005 and short of a lot of nervousness and temporary displacement (we slept in the dining hall at Jones) nothing really came of it. I knew that areas to the east were affected, mostly because of a friend from Beaumont, but Houston clearly got off easy.
I was nervous last Thursday, but panic never set in. I considered my options, and my previous experience with Rita helped me understand that a hurricane is not the end of the world. I prepared. I waited.
Sleeping on the floor of Tom’s room, there was a moment when I was truly terrified. I heard some kind of knocking, like the blinds on the window in the kitchen were rattling on the inside. I couldn’t figure out how that was happening, and had to convince myself to stay put. I put on my Ipod and eventually drifted off to sleep. I woke up several times in the night, stiff from sleeping on the floor and uncomfortable from the lack of air conditioning, but in those moments that I was awake the terror had passed.
I checked my Ipod to find that it was already 8:30. The four of us had been sleeping for 9 or 10 hours, the darkness outside confusing the hour. I got up, knowing the worst of the storm had passed us, and looked outside. The street outside looked damp, and the sky was cloudy but not ominous. I was suddenly cheerful… we made it through the storm, none of my windows had broken. We were all okay! My conclusions changed as I got a wider scope on the situation.
As everyone else started to wake up and circulate through the apartment, we chatted and snacked, and waited. What do you do after a hurricane?
Sofia and Tom wanted to check on their cars, they had parked them at the building next door. Tired of staying inside, we all went to see. What we found was the first sign that things would be just slightly messed up for days to come.
The ceiling had come down on Sofia and Tom’s cars. Large ceiling tiles, metal scraps, and insulation had rained down with varying results. Tom’s car looked dirty but relatively unharmed. Little Red (Sofia’s car) had suffered cracks in the windshield and a major dent. By many accounts they both were lucky, but nevertheless the hurricane had left its mark.
Back at our apartment, I realized my own car had been narrowly spared. A fence had come down where I park, luckily the SUV and minivan on my right and left were high up and protected my car from impact.
After processing our car situation, we loaded up in Little Red to see what had happened at Sofia and Terri’s place. This trip, and further investigation over the next few days helped me to realize the actual impact of Hurricane Ike. The top of a gas station ripped off and crumbled nearby, on top of a van. Traffic lights sitting on intersection medians. Trees split in half. Brick siding blown off buildings. The damage was unreal.
When we got to Terri and Sofia’s we noticed the wet carpet before we saw what the real problem was. Inside they poke around, noticing strange wet spots in their bedrooms, living room, and bathroom. They also realized they had power!
The wetness was a mystery we preferred to leave unsolved in light of the humidity and heat, so we hauled food and clothes and computers over to their house to set up yet another hurricane sleepover. It was later in the day that we figured out what exactly had happened to let water into their house.
The smokestack of the chimney on their building had been ripped off leaving a gaping hole in the roof. The rainwater had gotten into the unit above them, and slowly seeped down into their unit.
We got to see the leaking in action the following morning when more rain let more water in. In case you were wondering, water that soaks through carpet, insulation, flooring/walls drips down a disgusting brown color. We could see it collected in pots and trashcans.
Also their electricity went out in the middle of the night.
So we were on the move again. Back to my apartment this time abandoning the contents of the fridge, giving up on hundreds of dollars of food, like so many others.
And the situation hasn’t changed much since then. My apartment has been without power since 9:30pm on Friday. Tonight will be six days, tomorrow a whole week without power. And the pun I intended with my blog title is only too fitting. There is nothing to do but wait. Every night I resign myself to go home and sit in the dark. Every morning I flip my bathroom light with the half-optimistic, half-desperate thought that maybe something is different.
And I know too well that I am lucky, but living without electricity in an apartment completely centered on that exact resource is nothing short of miserable. Someone hit the pause button and crippled my ability to live my life the way I would like to.
CenterPoint is working tirelessly to get the lights on all over Houston, and I can only assume that eventually I will have power once again… but not knowing and being entirely unable to do anything about the situation is maddening.
I need to be thankful when I have electricity, because it is something that I absolutely took for granted. There are so many conveniences in my life that I expect, and hardly acknowledge. A refrigerator, traffic lights, fully stocked grocery stores, accessible gasoline. All of these things have been disrupted in Houston, and I am trying my best to wait it out, realize it is temporary, and continue on until things are back to normal.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Separation Anxiety
My dad came this weekend and took care of a wonderful list of things that it seems only dads can handle. First, he drove over 1,000 miles from Chicago to Houston to bring me my new car. If that weren't amazing enough, he also installed a new showerhead, replaced more bulbs around the apartment with CFLs, and listened to me blather about my life and everything over fajitas and Coronas. He yelled at a mechanic who was probably trying to rip us off, and took care of a couple other automotive things (at a different garage). We got new tires, and a full service car wash. I can hardly express how great it was for my dad to get these things in order. He's at the airport, flying back to SC today... I got to see him for roughly 24 hours, but I was grateful for his visit.
Now that he's leaving I'm more than a little bummed. I feel homesick. I was just in SC in May, and it's not really a place I ever considered home, but I guess it snuck up on me. I can't deny that it's where I go for holidays, to be with my family. I didn't grow up there but it's still home, and I miss it. I won't be back until December and while the last few months have sped by, December feels like an incredibly long way off.
I'm trying to pinpoint what is making me sad. Obviously it's fine to miss my dad, but this is just a bit much. Of course it's a mixture of things. Yesterday was hectic and the visit was rushed. I'm dealing with a brutal headache that I woke up with, so that has put a damper on the morning and afternoon. But I wonder if my dad's visit was a much needed relief... a hiatus from taking care of myself. At this point in my life, when everything is a giant question mark and the reality and responsibility of adulthood is starting to take hold, it was nice to have a day when I could let someone else figure it all out. My dad confidently and happily took care of everything, and perhaps that is what I don't want to assume that responsibility again.
There's a lot to parse out here, because I am no stranger to taking care of myself. If I consider going away to school as the start of my independence, then I've been partially on my own since 2001, and jeez was that a frickin' long time ago... But high school and college don't really count because there's always been an assumed and real reliance on my parents in that time. What's silly is that I will never really lose that support. Graduation wasn't a complete cut-off, but my parents do have certain expectations for how our relationship will change (as it should).
I have to start making decisions for myself and there's no plotted course. I have all the necessary resources, but that in some ways compounds my frustration. Everything has been positioned to allow for my success and yet I feel like I'm failing.
Now that he's leaving I'm more than a little bummed. I feel homesick. I was just in SC in May, and it's not really a place I ever considered home, but I guess it snuck up on me. I can't deny that it's where I go for holidays, to be with my family. I didn't grow up there but it's still home, and I miss it. I won't be back until December and while the last few months have sped by, December feels like an incredibly long way off.
I'm trying to pinpoint what is making me sad. Obviously it's fine to miss my dad, but this is just a bit much. Of course it's a mixture of things. Yesterday was hectic and the visit was rushed. I'm dealing with a brutal headache that I woke up with, so that has put a damper on the morning and afternoon. But I wonder if my dad's visit was a much needed relief... a hiatus from taking care of myself. At this point in my life, when everything is a giant question mark and the reality and responsibility of adulthood is starting to take hold, it was nice to have a day when I could let someone else figure it all out. My dad confidently and happily took care of everything, and perhaps that is what I don't want to assume that responsibility again.
There's a lot to parse out here, because I am no stranger to taking care of myself. If I consider going away to school as the start of my independence, then I've been partially on my own since 2001, and jeez was that a frickin' long time ago... But high school and college don't really count because there's always been an assumed and real reliance on my parents in that time. What's silly is that I will never really lose that support. Graduation wasn't a complete cut-off, but my parents do have certain expectations for how our relationship will change (as it should).
I have to start making decisions for myself and there's no plotted course. I have all the necessary resources, but that in some ways compounds my frustration. Everything has been positioned to allow for my success and yet I feel like I'm failing.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
On Apartment Hunting in Houston
So I spent a lot of time searching for housing. A lot, a lot. What was hard was that aside from personal recommendations, the Rice OC housing guide, and the regular Houston housing guide, I didn't have much to go on. (That might sound like a lot, but it wasn't enough). Over time I pulled together what I needed and eventually found a great place! Below I've edited an email I sent to a friend that has some of what I found and some helpful links.
Here are a few websites mostly for houses and townhouses: www.greatlandlords.com and www.har.com.
The apartment I'm renting is a two bedroom condo and I found it on www.har.com (it's the Houston Association of Realtors). It's mostly properties for sale, but also a few for lease. You can also use real estate websites (like remax.com) to look for lease listings as well.
Other than that www.apartments.com and www.apartmentratings.com are solid sites for rent info, floor plans, and reviews.
www.everyaptmapped.com is pretty handy, less for the rent info (which appears to be outdated) but more for the ability to see where ALL the apartment complexes are in an area.
Finally, browsing www.craigslist.com is tedious but might eventually show something worthwhile.
A few complexes that have three bedrooms and might work for you guys: Brompton Court, The Maroneal, The Providence, or the Promenade.
I really like the Maroneal. It's a very nice complex that I can't afford as a two bedroom. A three bedroom is somewhere between 1745-1785, or a little less than 600 per person. But for a washer and dryer in the apartment, a pool with wi-fi, and a fitness center it seems like a good deal.
Park Lakes and Meyergrove (or Meyer Oaks) are further away but less expensive. That's the usual trade off. I also know that the AMLI Medical Center and the Archstone Medical Center have three bedrooms that are more economical, but I wouldn't live at either of them since I didn't really want to be that close to Reliant and I've heard about safety problems.
I also have a really nice realtor helping me lease the condo and if you'd like I could give you her info but she would look more for houses, townhomes and condos, not apartments. (Using a realtor is a service free to you.)
Here are a few websites mostly for houses and townhouses: www.greatlandlords.com and www.har.com.
The apartment I'm renting is a two bedroom condo and I found it on www.har.com (it's the Houston Association of Realtors). It's mostly properties for sale, but also a few for lease. You can also use real estate websites (like remax.com) to look for lease listings as well.
Other than that www.apartments.com and www.apartmentratings.com are solid sites for rent info, floor plans, and reviews.
www.everyaptmapped.com is pretty handy, less for the rent info (which appears to be outdated) but more for the ability to see where ALL the apartment complexes are in an area.
Finally, browsing www.craigslist.com is tedious but might eventually show something worthwhile.
A few complexes that have three bedrooms and might work for you guys: Brompton Court, The Maroneal, The Providence, or the Promenade.
I really like the Maroneal. It's a very nice complex that I can't afford as a two bedroom. A three bedroom is somewhere between 1745-1785, or a little less than 600 per person. But for a washer and dryer in the apartment, a pool with wi-fi, and a fitness center it seems like a good deal.
Park Lakes and Meyergrove (or Meyer Oaks) are further away but less expensive. That's the usual trade off. I also know that the AMLI Medical Center and the Archstone Medical Center have three bedrooms that are more economical, but I wouldn't live at either of them since I didn't really want to be that close to Reliant and I've heard about safety problems.
I also have a really nice realtor helping me lease the condo and if you'd like I could give you her info but she would look more for houses, townhomes and condos, not apartments. (Using a realtor is a service free to you.)
Renting Books
Things are going well. I'm still sifting through a lot of thoughts and feelings, and I'm pretty sure the angst of being directionless in my twenties will take a few years (perhaps until my thirties?) to subside. But I'm going to go ahead and say that I like how things are going. This is not an open invitation to God/fate/aliens to totally screw everything up... but I'm working with what I've got.
The economy, to put it shortly, is not good... the cost of gas is up, consumer spending is down. Complete financial ruin for the country is imminent (or so CNN would have me believe). I listen and read enough news to get the general gist of our troubles (and wish I had suffered through an Econ class at Rice). In spite of these problems I think I'm going to be okay. I'm trying to think of things that make me happy, which are free.
This brings me to renting books. One unfortunate soul seems to have never been exposed to the joys of a library. I, on the other hand, having been raised by a book-slave, am in some ways drawn to libraries. (Yes, it is on the shortlist for potential long-term careers, along with author, editor, and Mary Poppins).
Last summer, in search of cookbooks, I got a Houston Public Library card and used it sporadically. Still flush with cash from babysitting and working, I had no problem dropping $30 at Borders every few weeks to expand my personal library. This summer, with bills, bills, BILLS, and you know... eating, I have less money to throw at books. I've returned to the HPL with a new sense of vigor (read:desperation). But the best part is, I'm really impressed and satisfied with the system. The library's collection is extensive and through their website it's easy to put books on hold. You can even select the location where you'd like to pick up the books. There's a library up the street from my office, and it makes book pickup a convenient stop on my way home from work.
I'm mostly a fiction-reader. So I'm drawn to a variety of novels, some popular, some more "literary," but a lot of the books I'm checking out from the library at the moment are non-fiction. Maybe I'm subconciously trying to create a readinglist for a course titled: Adult Life, or maybe I just don't invest money in non-fiction because I don't feel I'm as likely to re-read it. Anyway here's a list of the books I have checked out at the moment:
The Great Derangement by Matt Taibbi (interviewed on the Daily Show)
Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan (in lieu of Econ 211)
20 something, 20 everything by Christine Hassler (ok... this is kind of self-helpy, but this is my quarter-life crisis! I can read a book (or two) that helps me release my inner butterfly if I want.)
And books that are on hold, and will eventually be delievered to the library down the street from my office:
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (Jenny recommended this two years ago)
Quiet, Please by Scott Douglas (Librarian memoir, to help solidify the aforementioned short-list)
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (This is a YA series that I love and I'm proud of this hold because I'm number 12 on the list so when it's released in August I will get it just about as soon as if I were to buy it for myself.)
Enough for now. Time to read a book.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The Angst
Here I am. I made it to the other side. I haven't done much writing of any kind lately, just because I feel like I've hardly been sitting still. Graduation was four weeks and a lifetime ago. In roughly a month I was in Chicago, Seattle, and South Carolina. The trips were all good, but they made last month go by swiftly.
Now I'm in my new apartment, with a "new" roommate and working my "new" job. Although totally unprepared to start an adult schedule, I got up successfully every morning this week. After several trips to Target, a couple lucky furniture acquisitions, and lots of unpacking I'm pretty well settled into my apartment.
Objectively, I recognize that things are going well. My ducks are more or less in a row. I'll even be getting a new car fairly soon. Food, shelter, gainful employment, friends... all those bases are covered. And yet, I can't shake the angst.
The mother of one family I babysit for recently quit her job to stay home full-time. She had previously worked from a home office, but when I saw her last week she had just mailed back her work computer and was officially unemployed. She spoke to me about how the change had caught her off guard. The phone didn't ring as much, her list of things to do had significantly shrunk. The changes had left her feeling agitated and aimless.
It was funny to talk to her about it, because although our situations are essentially reversed, I've been going through the same feelings. Without school, work, babysitting, and Jones combined my life has this eerie calm to it these days. It's boiled down to just work and babysitting, and without homework those things are pretty manageable on their own. The challenges of adulthood, like the endless paperwork, including bills, are definitely present in my life, but the immediate affect to my stress level doesn't compare to my student days.
So now I have leftover anxiety with nowhere to focus it. In the past few weeks I have found myself overreacting countless times. (Some people could argue I tend to overreact anyway, but to me there is a noticeable difference).
I crave a schedule and take that whole "creature of habit" thing to a boring degree, so I'm just waiting for now to become the new normal. And now has a lot of good things. I have free time! I have a kitchen where I cook! I have friends who also have free time! Presumably in a few weeks I will be paid with money! I read things because I want to!
I have a few aspirations for what the next weeks and months will hold for me. The long term has yet to come into focus but surprisingly I'm not worried about it at the moment.
Now I'm in my new apartment, with a "new" roommate and working my "new" job. Although totally unprepared to start an adult schedule, I got up successfully every morning this week. After several trips to Target, a couple lucky furniture acquisitions, and lots of unpacking I'm pretty well settled into my apartment.
Objectively, I recognize that things are going well. My ducks are more or less in a row. I'll even be getting a new car fairly soon. Food, shelter, gainful employment, friends... all those bases are covered. And yet, I can't shake the angst.
The mother of one family I babysit for recently quit her job to stay home full-time. She had previously worked from a home office, but when I saw her last week she had just mailed back her work computer and was officially unemployed. She spoke to me about how the change had caught her off guard. The phone didn't ring as much, her list of things to do had significantly shrunk. The changes had left her feeling agitated and aimless.
It was funny to talk to her about it, because although our situations are essentially reversed, I've been going through the same feelings. Without school, work, babysitting, and Jones combined my life has this eerie calm to it these days. It's boiled down to just work and babysitting, and without homework those things are pretty manageable on their own. The challenges of adulthood, like the endless paperwork, including bills, are definitely present in my life, but the immediate affect to my stress level doesn't compare to my student days.
So now I have leftover anxiety with nowhere to focus it. In the past few weeks I have found myself overreacting countless times. (Some people could argue I tend to overreact anyway, but to me there is a noticeable difference).
I crave a schedule and take that whole "creature of habit" thing to a boring degree, so I'm just waiting for now to become the new normal. And now has a lot of good things. I have free time! I have a kitchen where I cook! I have friends who also have free time! Presumably in a few weeks I will be paid with money! I read things because I want to!
I have a few aspirations for what the next weeks and months will hold for me. The long term has yet to come into focus but surprisingly I'm not worried about it at the moment.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
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