Now for something a little lighter

Now for something a little lighter

You know those joke emails? I just got this ...

You Live On The Gulf Coast If

1. You have FEMA's number on your speed dialer.


2. You have more than 300 'C' and 'D' batteries in your kitchen drawer.


3. Your pantry contains more than 20 cans of Spaghetti Os.


4. You are thinking of repainting your house to match the plywood covering your windows.


5. When describing your house to a prospective buyer, you say it has three bedrooms, two baths, and one safe hallway.


6. Your SSN isn't a secret, it's written in Sharpie on your arms.


7. You are on a first-name basis with the cashier at Home Depot.


8. You are delighted to pay $3 for a gallon of regular unleaded.


9. The road leading to your house has been declared a 'No-Wake' Zone.


10. You decide that your patio furniture looks better on the bottom of the pool.


11. You own more than three large coolers.


12. You can wish that other people get hit by a hurricane and not feel the least bit guilty about it.


13. You rationalize helping a friend board up by thinking, "It'll only take a gallon of gas to get there and back."


14. You have 2-liter coke bottles and milk jugs filled with water in your freezer.


15. Three months ago you couldn't hang a shower curtain; today you can assemble a portable generator by candlelight.


16. You catch a 13-pound redfish - in your driveway.


17. You can recite from memory whole portions of your homeowner's insurance policy.


18. At cocktail parties, women are attracted to the guy with the biggest chainsaw.


19. You have had tuna fish more than 5 days in a row.


20. There is a roll of tarpaper in your garage.


21. You can rattle off the names of three or more meteorologists who work at the Weather Channel and every single newscaster and reporter at all of the major stations in town.


22. Someone comes to your door to tell you they found your roof.


23. Ice is a valid topic of conversation.


24. Your "drive-thru" meal consists of MRE's and bottled water.


25. Relocating to South Dakota does not seem like such a crazy idea.


26. You spend more time on your roof then in your living room.


27. You've been laughed at over the phone by a roofer, fence builder, or a tree worker.


28. You don't worry about relatives wanting to visit during the summer.


29. Your child's first words are "hunker down" and you didn't go to Ole Miss!


30. Having a tree in your living room does not necessarily mean it's Christmas.


31. You know the difference between the "good side" of a storm and the "bad side."


32. Your kids start school in August and finish in July.


33. You go to work early and stay late just to enjoy the air conditioning.


34. You get phone calls from family members saying they've found bread at a store 6 miles away... and you hurry to get there.


35. You wait in line for 45 minutes for a loaf of bread and don't mind because at least you have bread.


36. A battery powered TV is considered a home entertainment center.
    

Wow - words fail me.

Words fail me.

While the world concentrated on New Orleans, Mississippi rolled up its sleeves

If you haven't seen any of the aerial photographs taken right after Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, these pictures from the Sun Herald tell a harrowing tale.

http://www.sunherald.com/multimedia/sunherald/KRT_packages/archive/katrina/090205_katrina_aerials/index.htm


The link leads to a large Flash movie containing a photo slideshow and comments. Please be patient while it downloads.

The gas stations are just taking the P155!!

The gas stations are just taking the P155!!

Quit with the stupid games and show us your prices!

The day before Katrina hit, all the gas stations locally took down their prices from those huge big signs they have in the forecourt. Now, a month later, most of them (well, of the few that have reopened) are still not showing the price they plan to sell their fuel at.

I could be cynical and say they were trying to hide big price rises so they could stick one over the evacuees as they left town before the storm.

Or I could be charitable, and assume that they just were being cautious and were making sure their precious numbers did not blow away when the high winds arrived.

Either is possible.



But why, a full month after the storm, are they still not showing their gas prices?

It's an interesting game ... do I want to join the line (queue for us Brits) and take a risk on waiting 10 or 20 minutes just to discover some outrageous price? Or shall I drive on to the next place to see if they are going to admit to their price.

Fortunately the lines are shorter now than they were ... actually they are almost completely gone. But at one stage people were forced to wait in line for several hours - in 95-100 degree temperatures - and would have paid any price.

I thought there were laws that required retailers to clearly show their prices. Maybe they think they are serving the letter of the law by showing the price in the little window of the pump, but they are certainly not serving he spirit of the law.

In Gulfport there are maybe three or four gas stations showing a price, ranging form $2.45 to $2.79. As far as I can tell this is a lot cheaper than in most other places in the USA, but of course most places are not showing any price at all.

Maybe they are charging high prices, and maybe they are not. I have no idea what they are charging, and you can be assured I won't know until they display their prices again.

Why?

Because there is no way I will be going into the forecourt before they quit playing games and start to show their prices. I just wish a few more people would do the same ...

It's not as if they have had the courtesy to improve our skyline by removing the hideous big signs proclaiming that they are there to sell us fuel!

If you are a local and you read this, I would be grateful to hear from you if you know anything of the legality of not showing prices like this. Just click the Comments link below and follow the instructions.