I have gotten a few e-mails from people around the country asking how I am doing and how it was to go through Hurricane Ike.
First of all I guess I should write about the day of the storm. I had the day off as my office was closed. I went to the grocery store and bought alot of canned foods, snacks, bottled water, dog food, etc. Not much, the bill was under 30 bucks. I sat at home looking at hurricane coverage on TV. First thing I noticed was that it was about 10 AM and it was already flooding in Galveston. That was an onimous sign already. But locally, not much was going on. Perfect sunny day with light winds. That changed around 2 or 3, the winds picked up bigtime. I went outside to catch a view of everything. Becoming partly cloudy, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Around 5, the winds were constantly high and gusting to out of the ordinary speeds. Little did I know on the other side of town lights were already going out. The rain in my area started late, around 11. I live about 90 miles from the coast, so I didn't think things would be bad. Well, around 12 the winds were tropical storm level and the rain was nonstop. Amazingly I still had power and cable TV was working fine. Everything stayed going until 2:30am, the lights went off for good after blinking a couple of times. I had a lantern, flashlight and radio, so I started listening to the local newstalk radio. They had people calling in giving updates from around the city. Some were scared crap-less, some were actually calling from outside, some were actually driving around the city during the storm.
I wasn't really scared, I didn't think the house would blow away, but I was worried about something hitting the windows or windows blowing out. So I kept away from the windows, but listened to the radio the entire time. From the hours of 4am to 6am we had the highest winds of the storm in my area. Could really feel the home standing up to the winds at that time. The rain continued north of Houston until 11AM. Most of the city stopped getting rain hours before. No damage to my house at all. But a week and a half later I still have no power at the the house with no real idea of when that will happen.
It was an intense night, but considering my house is still brand new I hoped it would last and it did.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Texans and Houston have a Power Failures - 9/23/2008
Remember all that playoff talk before the season? Remember when even coach Kubiak talked about the playoffs and how that was the goal this year? Well, that seems long, long ago, doesn't it? 2 games into the season and the only bright spot we have is rookie Steve Slatonwho ran for 100+ yards in the latest defeat against the Tennesee Titans. Nothing else has looked good so far this season. The defense has been as bad as they were in preseason, the O-line has regressed more than I could have ever imagined, receivers are dropping passes, QB is rattled, the kick return game is non-existent and that is just a handful of problems. One thing I have learned when watching football (and unfortunately bad teams) is that when a team has that many problems at once, the head coach is not getting the team ready to play. You might say that there is a special teams coach, a receivers coach, a QB coach and coordinators you can blame too, right? But the head coach doesn't seem to be getting on them enough to get the players playing. Last year Gary had to light a fire under some people's butts, seems he is going to have to do the same this year as well.
Chester Pitts recently said the fans don't know what the problems are, so they can't come up with a solution. Well, that is the same talk they were giving before the old regime got let go. Sometimes you don't have to be playing on the field to see what is broken. Unfortunately, everything seems to be broken on this team.
Of course the Texans played 2 very good teams to start the season. Titans are undefeated and the Steelers are 2-1 after getting manhandled by the Eagles this week. But if the Texans are supposed to be a playoff team, shouldn't they be beating some of the good teams in the league? If they are to be a playoff team or atleast go 8-8 again, things will have to get better.
Thankfully for the team, the city is dealing with bigger problems than an inept football team. But be assured on Oct. 5th againt the Colts, the fans at Reliant will be ready to vent all over the team if they come out with a performance like they have given the past 2 weeks.
Chester Pitts recently said the fans don't know what the problems are, so they can't come up with a solution. Well, that is the same talk they were giving before the old regime got let go. Sometimes you don't have to be playing on the field to see what is broken. Unfortunately, everything seems to be broken on this team.
Of course the Texans played 2 very good teams to start the season. Titans are undefeated and the Steelers are 2-1 after getting manhandled by the Eagles this week. But if the Texans are supposed to be a playoff team, shouldn't they be beating some of the good teams in the league? If they are to be a playoff team or atleast go 8-8 again, things will have to get better.
Thankfully for the team, the city is dealing with bigger problems than an inept football team. But be assured on Oct. 5th againt the Colts, the fans at Reliant will be ready to vent all over the team if they come out with a performance like they have given the past 2 weeks.
Hurricane Ike - 9/17/2008
I have just got to some power and able to write. I am fine, the house is fine, Petey is fine. Everyone in my family made it through it unscarred. The night of the storm may have been the most nervous I have been. I hesitate to use the word "scared". I thought my house would withstand the winds, but I was really nervous something would hit the windows and break them. Around 4:30AM the winds picked up to an amazing speed, the howling got incredibly loud. At that point I was ready for windows to blow out or something. It turns out that a tornado touched down not too far from my house and destroyed some trees in the front of my neighborhood. No houses were damaged, but many old trees are now uprooted.
At this point I have no power at the house. Today I cleaned out the fridge of decaying food and cleaned the fridge surface for germs. The neighborhood streets are full of kids riding bikes, playing games, etc. Reminded me of myself during the aftermath of Hurricane Alicia. Nothing to do but go out and play. A couple of night ago we had a street grill night. Everyone brought some food and we ate. It was cool to get to know your neighbors better. Even though in one case, we all wished that knowledge had kept itself hidden. The next day my parents got power, so I headed there with Petey. Been there every since. Not sure how long I will be here. I am hoping to get power soon at my house so I can go back to that building I have been paying monthly for. Nothing like sleeping in your own bed. Petey has loved this visit. He is getting all kinds of attention and loves the stairs here at my parents house. Though I do think he misses our house. Atleast I would like to think so.
At this point I have no power at the house. Today I cleaned out the fridge of decaying food and cleaned the fridge surface for germs. The neighborhood streets are full of kids riding bikes, playing games, etc. Reminded me of myself during the aftermath of Hurricane Alicia. Nothing to do but go out and play. A couple of night ago we had a street grill night. Everyone brought some food and we ate. It was cool to get to know your neighbors better. Even though in one case, we all wished that knowledge had kept itself hidden. The next day my parents got power, so I headed there with Petey. Been there every since. Not sure how long I will be here. I am hoping to get power soon at my house so I can go back to that building I have been paying monthly for. Nothing like sleeping in your own bed. Petey has loved this visit. He is getting all kinds of attention and loves the stairs here at my parents house. Though I do think he misses our house. Atleast I would like to think so.
Houston Sports loses innocence - 7/30/2008
So the Rockets made a splash yesterday by making a trade for Ron Artest. Rockets gave up over-the-hill PG Bobby Jackson, a 1st round pick next year and the rookie Donte Greene. Everyone is totally giddy about it, predicting championships, saying the Rockets are in the upper tier of the Western Conference, etc. Now this is a team that has not gotten out of the first round for 6 years straight. The same team that has 2 superstars who are oft-injured, no real point guard or back-up Center. But because of Artest the team is going to win a title? I don't think so.
The team have had injury problems galore for the past 3 years. Yao has never played a full season, so why do we think that after coming off the Olympics he will be fine this year? T-Mac seems to have a hard time deferring to anyone, so will he defer to Artest next season? But my bigger problem with all of this is the team getting Ron Artest at all. This guy is a creep. The same people calling sports talk today were calling Ron a piece of crap, everything wrong with sports today just a few months ago. This was after Ron beat up his gf. But now he is some sort of conquering hero? Let's look at the problems of Mr. Artest:
2003 - Suspended 3 games for destroying a TV camera
2003 - Suspended 4 games for confrontation with Pat Riley
2004 - Suspended from the Pacers for asking for a month off because he was "too tired" from promoting his R&B group
2004 - Detroit-Indiana "Brawl at the Palace", suspended 73 games
2007 - Arrested for domestic abuse when he beat up his gf in their home
2007 - Had dog moved into protective custody due to neglect
I am not even including all the ejections he has racked up.
I guess my point is that Ron is a bad man. A great player, but a guy that cannot stay out of trouble. So now have the Rockets taken on a "win at all costs" attitude? Would they sign Roy Tarpley if they could? I am not a big fan of this. Houston teams have always had class and not really dealt with this kind of player. I guess times are changing.
House=Money and new pics - 2/28/2008
First of all I finally have pics up of the completed home. You can go here to see them: http://picasaweb.google.com/derrick.hanna/CompletedHouse. You can see the kitchen, family room, and master bath. The rest of the house is not fit for photography as of yet. Boxes everwhere!!! Check out that cool ceiling fan I put up.
Secondly, moving into a house means spending alot of money. Now I could do the responsible thing and take my time. But then you look around the house knowing you have about 100 things to do. So I am trying my best to get the house to a reasonable state of function in the short-term. Let's see, what have a bought for the house: 4 ceiling fans, an outdoor fireplace, TV stand, desk, sectional couch with chaise, washer and dryer, fridge, 12 faux wood blinds of various sizes, bed, dresser, mop, broom, pots and pans, glasses, plates, area rug, light switch, door stopper, garage door opener, HDTV, 3 sets of door locks, tool set, and sprinklers. If I remember anything else, I will add it to this entry. I saved up enough money to pay for it all, but dayum my bank account has been hit and hit hard recently. Just means that I will have less to spend in the future, right? Well that is what I keep telling myself anyway.
Secondly, moving into a house means spending alot of money. Now I could do the responsible thing and take my time. But then you look around the house knowing you have about 100 things to do. So I am trying my best to get the house to a reasonable state of function in the short-term. Let's see, what have a bought for the house: 4 ceiling fans, an outdoor fireplace, TV stand, desk, sectional couch with chaise, washer and dryer, fridge, 12 faux wood blinds of various sizes, bed, dresser, mop, broom, pots and pans, glasses, plates, area rug, light switch, door stopper, garage door opener, HDTV, 3 sets of door locks, tool set, and sprinklers. If I remember anything else, I will add it to this entry. I saved up enough money to pay for it all, but dayum my bank account has been hit and hit hard recently. Just means that I will have less to spend in the future, right? Well that is what I keep telling myself anyway.
I am a Homeowner!!! - 2/15/2008
I know I haven't written much about the house lately. I started to get extremely frustrated with how long things were taking. I felt like I didn't see the sense of urgency that I should have seen from my salesman and my construction manager. So I made a deadline, dictating when the house needed to be finished or I was backing out. Well, that worked because I had never seen that many crews in my house at the same time. I also told my lender they needed to get busy as well. They did it. To explain how quickly things came together, on Monday I didn't have one appliance in the house, no access to my attic, no island, 3 holes in my walls, the bedroom was wired incorrectly, part of my fence was broken, no mirrors in the bathrooms, no shower door, no kitchen faucets, no water filtration, a hole in the wall in the garage, and no grass laid out front. While all that seems like small jobs, the issue has been getting people out to the house and materials. Well after a few well-placed e-mails to regional managers, magically things came together.
Because it came down to me threatening to back out of the deal to get it finished makes it kind of bittersweet. But I am happy it is done finally. Now since this kind of happened fast and I didn't think they would have it done, I am so far behind in getting phone service, cable, internet, etc. I also needed to get furniture, blinds, appliances, etc. in the house. I have gotten most of it taken care of. Though I do need to get a desk and garage door opener. I will be pretty much set then. I am happy with the house, I am seeing a few spots where the paint needs touching up and my garage windows need cleaning (there is paint all over the outside of them), but I am pleased with the home so far.
Pictures of the house will be upcoming. I don't have internet access there and I haven't gotten home with enough light to take pics of the outside yet. But soon you will see the house with appliances, TV stand, coffee table, office desk and etc.
Because it came down to me threatening to back out of the deal to get it finished makes it kind of bittersweet. But I am happy it is done finally. Now since this kind of happened fast and I didn't think they would have it done, I am so far behind in getting phone service, cable, internet, etc. I also needed to get furniture, blinds, appliances, etc. in the house. I have gotten most of it taken care of. Though I do need to get a desk and garage door opener. I will be pretty much set then. I am happy with the house, I am seeing a few spots where the paint needs touching up and my garage windows need cleaning (there is paint all over the outside of them), but I am pleased with the home so far.
Pictures of the house will be upcoming. I don't have internet access there and I haven't gotten home with enough light to take pics of the outside yet. But soon you will see the house with appliances, TV stand, coffee table, office desk and etc.
Texans season tickets...or not? - 1/25/2008
Other than obsessing about the house, I have been going back and forth about Texans season tickets for next season. The team finally has gone 8-8, looks like the team could be pretty good next year and I am thinking of backing out of the season tickets? Am I crazy? Maybe but let me explain myself. I am starting to get tired of getting up early and walking up the ramp and then driving all the way back home. Especially now with my house even further out from the stadium. I think I am more just burned out on it. I will still support the team and buy a few individual tickets, but I am really leaning towards not going for the entire season.
Funny as a couple of years ago I was pinching myself in disbelief I had season tickets to a NFL team. Now, I am so used to it and it isn't as special as it once was. Last year I went to a University of Houston game that had more fun than I had at a Texans game in years, plus it was alot cheaper. The atmosphere was alot more friendly and more enthusiasm in the crowd. For that reason, I am thinking of getting UH tickets instead. I haven't made my final decision though. But since my brother (who I had Texans tickets with in years prior) and a friend of mine who expressed wanting to get my brother's ticket in the past have decided to back out of the Texans tickets all together, the decision might be made for me.
Funny as a couple of years ago I was pinching myself in disbelief I had season tickets to a NFL team. Now, I am so used to it and it isn't as special as it once was. Last year I went to a University of Houston game that had more fun than I had at a Texans game in years, plus it was alot cheaper. The atmosphere was alot more friendly and more enthusiasm in the crowd. For that reason, I am thinking of getting UH tickets instead. I haven't made my final decision though. But since my brother (who I had Texans tickets with in years prior) and a friend of mine who expressed wanting to get my brother's ticket in the past have decided to back out of the Texans tickets all together, the decision might be made for me.
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