Belle

The Highway, the pictures I saw on the news did not look like secured sleeping areas. They looked like wooden stalls built with shoddy wood and unsanitary, not to mention extremely uncomfortable. Those kids probably couldn't stretch out completely inside the cages and they surely couldn't stand up in them. Agreed that the media only tells you what makes for sensationalism, but I think something's amiss in this situation.

You got a deal, Ron! Can't wait for y'all to get here! Will Andrew help stir the ice cream maker, too? We could have homemade ice cream for dessert.

David, I LOVE IT!! Stay "punchy" ;)--> We've got quite a bit of talent on here. I'm a much better stage hand than writer or performer, so I'll just keep y'all plied with mint juleps when Oenphile goes on break. :D-->

Thank you for correcting the mistakes in the e-mail, WordWolf. Normally I check those things, but in the high emotions of the situation, I didn't this time. I really appreciate your keeping the facts straight for us. :)--> Here's a link to a news report from one of my friends who was lucky enough to have her home spared in the disaster and is now home to almost 20 friends and families. http://www.wimp.com/orleans/ I'm the first one to stand up for and defend the police and fire departments anywhere, but this one is hard to find anything positive to say about. :(-->

David, Does that mean you're coming???? :D--> Please say YES!!!! My comfort foods won't be surprising to anyone: Fried Okra Scalloped potatoes Squash Cassarole Pulled Pork Fried Catfish Sausage on the grill Grilled Cheese squished so flat it looks like a sheet of paper and of course, Pepper Cheese Steak Po Boy from Oby's with Ranch Dressing on the Side That's not an "if" but "when" decision on every trip I make home. :D-->

I don't have the coffee, but the servers did leave me some awfully nice muchies should some new people arrive. Please know that the bottom of the tables is reserved for MY bubblegum, though. ;)-->

Last I heard Wanda was living there with her daughter Laurie, Laurie's husband and their son Donnie. They had originally moved in to take care of Mrs. W, but they most likely have stayed in the home.

Welcome, Dori! One of my best friends growing up was named Dori. First time I've ever met another Dori. :)--> Pirate, you're right. There are tons more people going through much more than I can even imagine. Like I said earlier, I feel bad for feeling bad, but that only adds to the frustration, depression and extremely hard time I'm facing. I know I'm not the only one, that's why I asked how others are handling the same emotional rollercoaster I think many of us are experiencing right now.

Is there a one person limit? ;)-->

Awwwww, shucks! :o--> Thanks, y'all! Mama will be on, I'm sure. She's a full time volunteer and not very familiar with forums like this, so it may take her a little while to get online, but I will forward your welcomes to her. Y'all are awesome! Thank you!

So close! So much excitement! So much happiness for the two of you!! :D-->

From my aunt in Madison, MS - 200+ miles north of the coast. Hey y'all, Just wanted to let everyone know we survived the storm. Received plenty of wind and lots of debris in the yard. Prayers helped as a tree nearly fell on the house, but didn't. Thank ya'll for that. Have been without power until yesterday when I had to go to work and it came on while I was at work. It's the little things like no coffee in the mornings that really get you! My office has power and local phones (no long distance service), but can't access the internet. We've got people coming to our office to work from our home office in Gulfport. These people have lost everything and we'll be spreading them out between the employees here. Most people in my office are wondering how they will get to work today or next week as they don't have gasoline. Mike said he heard yesterday they will start rationing gasoline today. The lines are terribly long and almost always block traffic trying to get past. I traded my gas guzzling jeep two weeks ago for a VW Jetta (diesel engine). I think that was the smartest thing I have ever done. Right now I'm down to half a tank but can probably get to work for a week or more on that, but will try to top off my tank sometime over the weekend. The lines at grocery stores are long too. It's awfully hot and people are already tired of the extra people in our area getting supplies and gas. There are police cars at every gas station with gas. Soon they'll be needed at grocery stores too. Yesterday I stopped at Brookshires to get milk and coffee and the parking lot was full and people were very rude and pushy. It's getting tough out there. Delmer and his girlfriend and her two children are fine. They got power back on Wednesday. Mike's office is in Canton and he has had power all week, and says the insurance claims that have come in have been minor compared to what they could have been with so many trees down and such. My phone is working and I have called numerous people successfully in the local area, but haven't been able to call long distance with it saying, "all circuits are busy". I know most of you are also facing long lines at the gas stations too. I wonder what things are going to look like in the months to come. Will keep all of you in prayer. Love ya,

Hi to all, Thank you for your concern and prayers. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Here is the latest in the hurricane Katrina saga. We left TN on Tuesday afternoon to MS( a 8 hr trip) to take Ashley, Will and Sarah Grace home. They had been with us for a week and a half. That was a wonderful distraction in this stressful time. We always love every moment with our babies. We slept for a few hours then headed for NO. Normally a 3 hour trip turned into a 6 hour one with bumper to bumper traffic the last 50 miles. There was huge conveys of military, emergency, police, etc from all over the country. All heading into the city to take control of all the horror that has been going on. It is hard to believe that this is our country. When we arrived on our street, it was under water. It had gone done in the last few days and we were able to drive in, in Larry's jeep. He walked in ahead in waders. Our home had gotten about 6 to 8 " of water. We pulled up carpets, rugs, and tried to deal with the mess. The smell was horrible. It is amazing how such a small amount of water ( black stinky sludge ) can do such damage. Black mold was growing everywhere. Most will be lost, but hopefully the important things will be ok. We took all of our pictures, papers, computer, etc. loaded the cars and left. I was able to get my car out. Just heartbreaking, but we had to leave and wait for 2 or more weeks before we can return. Am sure the upstairs will be covered with mold by then. No one allowed back in the city for 2 weeks, while they get all the infastructure back up and running. We are lucky, some of our friends lost everything, homes underwater totally. And we are blessed to have our home in the mountains and Larry his work in TN. They have moved their operation to Knoxville and have brought about 40 people there. So those families have jobs and a place to live. Another 5 hour trip back to Ashley for us, then Larry slept a few hours and headed back to Knoxville. I will drive back tomorrow. We will stay in touch. Again thank you all for all your love and concern. Our new address is our cabin: ... Always love to hear from you. Love, Here are the pictures of the bear & the results. For those of you who haven't heard the story yet...my Dad was sitting on the porch at the cabin last Tuesday talking on the phone, he felt the bear's nose on his arm (never heard him coming) & he flipped. He jumped sky high, threw the chair & came running into the house. It was kind of funny at first, until we realized that he had gotten clawed pretty bad. So anyway, he is fine and I just thought that I would share the pictures with you. Please say a prayer for my parents...they are going to check out their house in New Orleans today. I am praticularly concerned about my Dad's leg in that nasty water, but he is going to wrap it up EXTRA good and hopefully he will be okay. Talk to all of you soon.

My whole family is from MS and LA as most of you know. E-mails like this are heartening and always good to read because it's not media propoganda and it doesn't focus on all the negative with no hope for the future. I'll post a few of my recent e-mails as well. Here's one: Mark Flemmings works for Modern Communications in Cleveland , Ms and is working down on the coast in the recovery. This is the story from his eyes. ( a little long but well worth the read ) Makes you appreciate what you have! WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI O.K. I'll make an attempt to tell what's going on down here right now. It's hard to do for several reasons. First, because there is so much, it's hard to talk about. Let's try to focus on the positive. You're right to be sick about New Orleans. They've turned into a bunch of animals over there. The idiots are shooting at the people who are trying to help them???? I think for the most part it's due to the frustration caused by the lack of response by their State Government....I mean, an SOS call? Give me a break. Everybody is so focused on what's going on in the Superdome, the Mississippi story is going un-reported. It's one of the bright things that are happening here now. We are NOT leaving our people to wallow and starve in their own filth ,and the cadavers of loved ones. Were finding the live ones and getting them north as fast a possible. Most of the hundreds showing up here have at least had a meal, and a bath. Haley Barbour the Governor and his administration will come out as true heroes in this disaster once the total story is told. The differences between the Louisiana and Mississippi responses are truly startling. Haley and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared disaster areas TWO DAYS before Katrina hit......What does that mean? A lot........ It means we had a two day head start on recovery. It means we had pre-positioned response teams...FULLY EQUIPPED ! It means we already had supplies being loaded on trucks to go to the coast while the hurricane was still going on. It means Federal representatives from FEMA were already IN State when it hit. Which means somebody on the Satellite Phone moving troops and aid our way while Louisiana was still trying to get ....... . We have been dealing with looters a little differently on the coast. Once you shoot a few and leave their bodies laying in front of the store with their arms full of booty, the rest get the idea pretty quickly. Hasn't been a big problem. In the case of breaking in to get survival supplies...food and water. The police have shot the locks off the doors and helped take the stuff to distribution points. School buses to haul refuges to shelters north, an idea Louisiana JUST figured out by the way, have been running shuttle since Wednesday morning. They are pouring in here by the hundreds. Red Cross has been doing a GREAT job on setting up relief shelters in our area. The local Governments have opened all of the convention centers and school auditoriums to them. I know it's hard to believe, but the local Friday night Football games have ALL been canceled this week. Our efforts are going elsewhere this weekend. My daughter is the editor for the local University newspaper. She asked me what she could do for these folks, and I told her" The main thing they need right now is bottled water". So she made a few phone calls and set it up with her newspaper and the local T.V. stations....in 24 hours they had collected over 600 gallons. This story is typical and is happening all over this part of the state. Pulpwood haulers (lumberjacks to you Yankees) who showed up at Interstates and main feeder hi-ways heading south. Started cutting up the downed trees with their own chainsaws, and loading them up with their hydraulic boom hauling trucks. Opening the way south for our relief effort...nobody called them....they just showed up and started doing what had to be done. Welcome to Mississippi. The local churches are jumping in too. Emmanuel Baptist has been cooking and serving three meals a day for 1500 people at the shelter there since Wednesday. Where is the food coming from? Strangers are just showing up at the convention center and dropping it off. Red Cross is providing some of it, but the majority is just showing up....from people who aren't seeking and never will be recognized. It's happening all over the state. again and again. Welcome to Mississippi. Our local hotels are full of people here from New Orleans.....most are starting to run out of money, so we have begun collecting for their hotel bills and providing them with meals at the shelters. Quite a few in town have taken them in to their own homes...knowing they may be there for months. I filled up one guy's tank at the gas station Tuesday because he only had enough money for a few gallons. Welcome to Mississippi. Just stopped and put an antenna on one of our E.O.C. Trucks headed south to Ocean Springs. Their headed down to do a fuel supply run. While here, my daughter came in with another 300 gallons of bottled water, asking where she could store it. I said" How 'bout the back of this truck?" :)-->)) This is how it works, over and over and over... Sorry if this E-mail seems a little jumpy, I've been adding to it all day. As I get a minute and as thoughts occur to me. Things are happening all around me, and it's hard to sort it all out while "in the moment". I think that's the way this story will be told.....later.It's going to take a while. While I'm thinking about it.....BIG thank you to Motorola. I'm almost as proud of being a Motorolan as I am a Mississippian. You guys may not know about it yet, but Motorola has put on a Herculean support effort. I was involved on the fringes for a while, but the effort to send radios and infrastructure has been nothing short of phenomenal! My guys on the coast called with a SEVERE need for repeaters and W.T's. They had a few towers and antennas still standing, but the repeaters were in about three feet of water. After a few phone calls around the campus there in Schaumburg, I was given the Bridge call number for the emergency request line. Made a call back to my guys and passed it on. I'll be sheep dipped if Motorola didn't have equipment THERE the NEXT DAY!!!!!! HOT DANG!!! That's the way you do it.:)-->)) Mississippians have loooong memories. This one will NOT be forgotten. Anybody see Jim Geary up there....kiss him for me. Lord knows I won't.:)-->)) And anybody else that you know was involved in Motorola's support effort. Tell them Mississippi gives a heartfelt "God Bless You"' Most of us cry at least once a day. You can't deal with the hundreds we have coming in here everyday and not be affected. I've seen big bears break down and just fall apart. Mostly blaming themselves for not getting out in time. That choice cost him a wife, child or in some cases both. They all usually say the same things. "I didn't think it would get that bad." All you can do is listen and try to comfort. Sometimes you see guys just staring into the sunset....not saying anything....but you see those jaw muscles working hard to hold it in. I had one tell me yesterday "We had to choose,Stay in the attic and drown,or climb on the roof into a 150 mile an hour wind. She was screaming my name as she flew away." How do you respond to that? You don't.....you just cry with him and listen.... Loose children who don't know where Mamma or Daddy are, or even if their alive. Ten year olds, trying to be "mama" or "daddy" to a little sister or brother......it will tear your heart out. Most also know there is NOTHING to go home to. The house is gone, and in most cases the job too. They show up here with the clothes on their back, and that's it. It's all they have left. It's hard, just too hard for words.................you do what you can, but.......... FORGET about Mississippi burning. That was our dark, distant past. Watch us NOW. This is Mississippi today. We've opened our Homes,Hearts and wallets to strangers in need. We don't care if their White, Black, Brown or Polka -dot. Were going to be O.K., It will take years, but we're dealing with it. We will deal with it the way only a true southerner can...one day at a time. We're out of gasoline today. All the local stations have run out. My phones are still acting squirrelly on out of state calls and my cell phone has been a paper weight since Tuesday. But I did sleep in my own bed last night, and took a hot shower this morning. There is food in my house, and I know where all my family is. You take these things for granted, until they're gone....... Forward as you see fit....

I wonder how long it would have taken them to notify everyone of Mrs. W's passing if it hadn't been posted on here in such a timely manner. Many "innies" received condolences from GSpot friends before it had even been announced within TWI. Look at how long it took them to post anything on their site about her. I imagine they probably had not planned to post anything until it was mentioned here otherwise they would have already prepared and word-smithed what they planned to put on the site prior to her death.

The fact of the matter is that there WERE more black people than white people left behind who were depending on the government to help them. They were sadly abandoned by the lack of preparation on the part of their elected officials. The county high school where I grew up was 90% black. It's hard to cry racism when most of the yearbook pictures are of the black students. It's hard to cry racism when most of the students in detention or included in the drop out rate or teen pregnancy numbers are black. OF COURSE THEY ARE! They are the majority of the population in the school. It's the same thing in New Orleans right now, but opportunists are taking advantage of that and trying to stir the racist pot of hatred. National Geographic wrote an article on this type of disaster last year and everything happened as they said it would because the New Orleans Politicians never made preparations such a priority. I don't have the link handy or I would post it. Here's an interesting e-mail I received on the racial aspect of this tragedy:

The title changes based on the number of posts. There are some funny ones. Others, well, not my kind of humor, but it's not my site, so I just stick gum under the tables in silent rebellion.

Thank you all very much! I know that I have it so much better than so very many others and I suppose I feel guilty that I feel as bad as I do considering how much stress and emotional trauma others are going through and how it's much worse than anything I can even imagine. Losing lifelong friends that I've only just reconnected with since getting out of TWI and that being the first time I've had anyone so near and dear to me die, it's a very new and unsettling experience. Here I am at 36 and I've been so fortunate to have never had to face death. I'm having a hard time concentrating and I really just want to crawl into bed for about a month, but I don't have that many days off left and I need to save at least two of them for the weenie roast. :D-->

Should we start a thread for gc since this one turned out so well? I really hope she checks in soon! I think sometimes people don't realize how much they touch our lives on here. Even though we may not be "good friends" or even chat/talk or visit "offline" most of us have become very endeared to one another....at least in my little world. There are so many of you that I really care about even though we've never even exchanged the first e-mail or private message. Maybe it would be a good time to do that. :)-->

papajohn, I don't know where you are, but there is a massive effort here in the Orlando area to find homes for many displaced animals. My dog walker left me a note yesterday, but I don't have it with me. I'll post what information he provided when I get home tonight.

My Mama used to say: When we were having our own little pity party - "If you want sympathy you can find it between s-h-1-t and syphilis in the dictionary." When we were being picked on at school or suffering from low self-esteem: "Don't you worry about them; their farts stink too." When the whole family would be singing at the top of our lungs to the radio: "We can't carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on it."

'scuse me..... :o--> You probably call it a "grocery" store.

Hurricane/Block Parties are traditionally held in my garage since I'm the only one in the neighborhood who can actually use my garage to park my car. :D--> Everyone brings whatever snack food and alcohol they have and we deplete the supplies so that we can re-stock for the next hurricane. There's always plenty of room, so come join us! I'm in the North Orlando area.

I'll be there Monday morning, but leaving kinda early since I'll have to drive to Lexington to catch my flight. I plan to stop at the grunchy store on my way to the park. Somebody just tell me what to bring and I'll be happy to oblige. :D--> It's my first Weenie Roast, so I'm not too sure what's needed.

Well.....it always works at the monster truck shows. If those are redneck military men it's probably: "Hey Y'all Watch This!"