Reddick Family Web

Nobility, Humility, Loyalty

Archives for September 2008

Captive of ignorance

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Wednesday night. We know nothing further.

We had been told Dr. Gombos’ office would call. And so we waited “patiently” (?) part of the day Wednesday to hear from Anderson. Then at 12:20 I left a voicemail for my advocate. She called back, apologetically, at 4:31 p.m. and said Dr. Gombos’ PA (Megan) would call in three minutes.

Note: Power was out in the hotel again; they were changing generators.

I walked all over the hotel parking lot looking for a spot with a reasonable signal so that I wouldn’t drop the call. (Nancy followed me every step.) The call didn’t come in three minutes. Or thirty. I tried calling, but, but after 5 p.m. they answer only to emergencies.

By this time they had the new generator back online at the hotel, so we headed back up to the room. At 5:24 p.m. one of those calls with ID blocked (Anderson?) came in, but it dropped as I answered. No follow-up. So we know nothing more, and we remain a captive of ignorance in a city in the early stages of recovery from a devastating storm.

Note to self

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Next time bring hiking boots and shorts. If the woman comes along, you don’t need a compass or GPS; she can find any Ross store or Target within five miles unaided.

More seriously, MD Anderson will resume “regular operation” Wednesday. I heard from my patient advocate at MD Anderson Tuesday morning that my scans were read last week before Ike arrived, and that someone from Dr. Gombos’ office should be contacting me Wednesday. That gives me hope that we might get some resolution this week … unless the second reading concludes I need a liver biopsy. That would mean another round of tests and analyses, which we are hoping to be done with.

Even though the hotel is running on a standby generator, they opened the restaurant on a minimal basis this evening. Nancy and I had $10 cheeseburgers (that included chips and soft drinks) as a way of saying “thank you” to a staff and manager who have just been golden during the Ike ordeal.

Storm recovery

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Tonight we walked more than five miles to find a decent restaurant “nearby” that was open. It is really bizarre to stand within a Graham Harrell or Mark Sanchez pass of Burger King and Pizza Hut and not be able to see either one at night. Block after block is still dark.

Tree limbs and litter lined up Monday for city pickup.
Tree limbs and litter lined up Monday for city pickup.

So we set out toward the Bellaire district about 5:30 p.m. Still dark all the way down Holcombe to where it becomes Bellaire and beyond. I knew there were plenty of restaurants down at Rice Village, and guessed that they would have electricity. So we started down Kirby. Before we got to University, we were encouraged to see that traffic lights, even though they were mostly just flashing red, were illuminated.

It was difficult to resist the temptation to jump into the first open restaurant we found. But we found several. In many cases, there were lines. Found a nice little Chinese (Hunan) place called “Cafe Chino.” Then we walked back past the old Rice Stadium to Main and then back to the hotel.

Today’s News: MD Anderson is still on an “emergency only” basis — as are most hospitals and clinics —  until Wednesday. I am not an emergency (yet). Houston Hobby Airport and Southwest were scheduled to start “limited” service today. We have decided to wait until we hear SOME thing from MD Anderson before we move along.

Three days after Ike, scenes like this were common.
Three days after Ike, scenes like this were common.

I wrote a piece for KOHM news about the aftermath of Ike. You can read it and see some of my photos here.

We got power to our room late Sunday (47 hours after we lost it) and air conditioning back late Monday afternnon. Nancy has finished reading one book (Robin Cook thing) and has started on Michener’s Alaska. It’s funny what being without TV will force you to do. Because the hotel is running on a borrowed standby generator, we don’t have TV. Don’t have ice either. That means Nancy is without two of her best creature comforts.

Downpour

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Lubbock received 8 inches of rain on Thursday! Yes, 8 inches in one 24 hour period.  Thats a record for Lubbock, and probably doubles our total rainfall for the year.  Our rain is coming from the Pacific not Ike.

Jones-ATT reflection pool after downpour
Jones-ATT reflection pool after downpour

The city mayor and county sheriff both declared Lubbock (City and County) in a state of emergency. The school district’s superintendent then decided to cancel all classes for Friday.

It has been rainy here for the past couple of weeks, and just before school started Aiden commented, “I wish it would rain so hard that they would cancel school.”  Friday morning when I woke him up and explained the school cancelation He exclaimed, “My dream really did come true!”

Hunkering down

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They just declared a curfew in Houston. County Judge, Sheriff and other law enforcement folks just spoke at a news conference, reminding folks that “we respect other people’s property.” News anchor on ABC affiliate following that conference and a brief one from the governor’s office said “There, you’ve heard it. We don’t have looting in Texas.” Co-anchor responded, and if we do, we take care of it quickly.

The first rain bands are coming on shore at Galveston, and we are seeing clouds that look like rain is not far behind. So Nancy and I will be taking a walk before curfew, and then we will hunker down for the storm. We expect to lose power and cell phone service. Hotel phone is 713-528-7744, and we are in room 504. We will maintain contact as best we can. But we will survive. Just ask my Scouts.

Jenni, please ask Kenneth to text to me scores as they happen in the Tech and the USC games. USC is playing Ohio State — airing on ABC at 7 p.m. Central time Saturday. I am expecting the local station will pre-empt.  Text messages have a good chance of getting through.

Love and peace to all.