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Shave And A Haircut...

So I am here in Houston. The wife is back from Africa, as of this morning.

Just went to the Avalon Barber Shop to get my scruffly and scraggly beardlet cut off, and my scruffly and scraggly mop trimmed up, so I can be presentable for this wedding on Friday in Baton Rouge.

Houston Mayor Bill White (the mostly bald one) was there, as well, getting his scraggly and scruffly quasi-mop trimmed. I've been hard on him in the past, but I've admired his efforts over the past few weeks. Earlier today, when I saw him on TV this morning, splitscreen, with him on the left, the hurricane radar map on the right, I told my wife, "If he's trying to bore the hurricane to death, he's sure succeeding."

While I was there at the barber shop, News2Houston (the local NBC affiliate) was on the tube with Rita coverage. Mayor White came on the television screen about 6 times in the 15 minutes he was there. He said something like, "ugh... wow, I needed a hair cut," at least twice. Said something about it having been 5 weeks since his last cut. I am watching him live right now, and he looks pretty much the same as earlier this morning.

Before he left, he walked around as a politician does, and I told him that I hadn't voted for him, but I didn't vote against him, either. And that he's doing a good job. Keep up the good work. Something like that.

I felt like telling him that I was glad he was calm and cool and collected. I wanted to tell him, "don't pull a Nagin on us."

But I limited my antics to the "..didn't vote for..." line.

So, freshly shaved, I went to get some gas. I have 3/4 of a tank right now, but I wanted to top it off for the drive tomorrow. Nope. Every gas station in my immediate area was out of gasoline. These are stations with dozens of pumps. Big stations. All out.

So then I went to Walgreens pharmacy. And there was a run on certain items, especially fluids. Every last drop of fluid. Water. Juice. Gatorade. Everything, except for one six-pack of Fruit Punch Gatorade (which I purchased). Was gone. And the ice was all gone.

So I got some cash back. And walked over the 100+ degree street to the bank across the street. Got some more cash. Hundreds, just to be safe. Then went to the Kroger grocery store across the other street. Same thing as the Walgreens. Picked over. People scrambling to buy up all the batteries and toilet paper and chips and nuts and crackers, but most of all, fluids. Nearly every drop of fluid, gone.

But I grabbed some duct tape to finish taping up my windows, and grabbed some pre-made orange and strawberry JELL-O packs. MMM. Gel.

So yeah, we're going to leave for Louisiana (of all places) early Thursday morning. And we'll play it by ear in terms of returning or skedaddling in the other direction for a bit. There are a ton of possibilities that could arise, so we're not committing to anything just yet.

We're not going to panic. But posting may be slim for the next few days.

Posted by Will Franklin · 21 September 2005 03:23 PM

Comments

Posted by: Hoodlumman at September 21, 2005 03:42 PM

Posted by: Bellman at September 21, 2005 04:23 PM

Posted by: Rob B. at September 21, 2005 04:57 PM

Posted by: Brandon at September 21, 2005 05:49 PM

Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at September 21, 2005 05:50 PM

Posted by: Giacomo at September 21, 2005 06:27 PM

Posted by: Zsa Zsa at September 22, 2005 12:38 PM

Posted by: Zsa Zsa at September 22, 2005 06:46 PM