I've got it (relatively) good.
Dawson and I felt like poo on wednesday night, so we opted for an aimless, unstructured ride with no boundaries. We ended up heading northwest of E-ville, and saw the sky go from bright and sunny to dark and ominous in a matter of minutes. By the time we found a road to take us home the winds had picked up tremendously and allowed us to head south at 34mph with minimal effort. That is, until they became 40mph gusting crosswinds. Since Matt was borrowing my airfoil of a giant fork, he was having a harder time in the crosswinds than I. We made it back to town just as the power flickered off. I rode home among lightning and tornado sirens. Crazy fun. B's power was off all night, so I had to help her pack for her trip with flashlights and candles. Dinner by candlelight isn't as romantic when it's stifling hot in the house and there's no ventilation. Still fun, but not the same.
As I headed west to work on Thursday I found out that Granite City had it pretty bad. We have huge backup generators at work, but since I'm a bastard child there, we don't get any of that backup power in the trailer. I was heading out to go drive around and gps some things when we got the call to help evacuate a nursing home that had over 100 residents in wheelchairs and no power. We have several types of buses that can hold lots of people, but when those people can't leave their wheelchairs we can only take four people at a time. The residents were taken to a location in Granite City that had air conditioning so that they wouldn't have such a hard time. They had already had to go the previous night without power, and three residents had gone to the hospital. It must have been as confusing and exhausting of an ordeal for them as it was for us.
By the time we finshed evacuating the nursing home the driver I was with got a call to pick up a disabled person and take her to a local cooling station. Usually are services begin at their front door and end at the door of their destination. Thus we call it a 'door-to-door' service. This lady was severely immobile and could barely get out of bed. She lived alone and did have visiting nurses that came by for a few hours at a time, but they would have been of little use in an emergency. The reality of the situation was that this lady probably shouldn't be living alone anymore and would be better off in an assisted living situation. I can imagine it would be a hard hit to the pride to give up your independence at home, but when you're already relying on others to take care of you all the time, why not make it a little easier on those that are helping you. It's easy for me to say that t hough, because I'm not in her situation. I'm sure I'll be just as stubborn when my time comes. Hell, look at Steve Hall now.
It was a miserable ride last night. I came home and passed out as soon as I crammed some burrito down my gullet. But I was able to pass out in the cold a/c while watching Floyd Landis put his man stamp on everybody at the tour. Which means I've got it good. However, there were no virgins feeding me grapes and fanning me with palm leaves while I lay there, so the goodness is only relative. It could be better.
As I headed west to work on Thursday I found out that Granite City had it pretty bad. We have huge backup generators at work, but since I'm a bastard child there, we don't get any of that backup power in the trailer. I was heading out to go drive around and gps some things when we got the call to help evacuate a nursing home that had over 100 residents in wheelchairs and no power. We have several types of buses that can hold lots of people, but when those people can't leave their wheelchairs we can only take four people at a time. The residents were taken to a location in Granite City that had air conditioning so that they wouldn't have such a hard time. They had already had to go the previous night without power, and three residents had gone to the hospital. It must have been as confusing and exhausting of an ordeal for them as it was for us.
By the time we finshed evacuating the nursing home the driver I was with got a call to pick up a disabled person and take her to a local cooling station. Usually are services begin at their front door and end at the door of their destination. Thus we call it a 'door-to-door' service. This lady was severely immobile and could barely get out of bed. She lived alone and did have visiting nurses that came by for a few hours at a time, but they would have been of little use in an emergency. The reality of the situation was that this lady probably shouldn't be living alone anymore and would be better off in an assisted living situation. I can imagine it would be a hard hit to the pride to give up your independence at home, but when you're already relying on others to take care of you all the time, why not make it a little easier on those that are helping you. It's easy for me to say that t hough, because I'm not in her situation. I'm sure I'll be just as stubborn when my time comes. Hell, look at Steve Hall now.
It was a miserable ride last night. I came home and passed out as soon as I crammed some burrito down my gullet. But I was able to pass out in the cold a/c while watching Floyd Landis put his man stamp on everybody at the tour. Which means I've got it good. However, there were no virgins feeding me grapes and fanning me with palm leaves while I lay there, so the goodness is only relative. It could be better.
posted by Pigpen at 7:05 AM
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