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from a distance
June 17, 2008
I feel so helpless.
My hometown and environs, a place where I still have family, is in the process of being wiped out by the Cedar, the Iowa, and the Mississippi. It�s heartbreaking. I can�t really write about it�I can�t form the words. But I wanted to put something down�go on record that I am paying attention. Watching and hoping and praying and crying.
Strange�there is horrible flooding here in Wisconsin, too. And nearby in northern Illinois. And it just doesn�t make the impact on me like the Iowa flooding. I feel really guilty about that. But the truth is, this has never been home. Home is something you have to feel, and this, despite being �the place I live� for most of the last twenty-nine years, has just never felt like home.
I really have my little brother on my mind. I don�t know what Sammy wants, but he won�t quit riding my bumper today, that�s for sure. I went over and lit a candle for him; maybe he just needs some attention. I don�t know�maybe he�s upset about the flooding, too. His ashes are buried across the river from town�that could be the problem. Or maybe he just wants me to call my folks. So I think I'll go do that.
Later.
Well, they're doing well, and they had just gotten done talking to both my older brothers, who are coping fairly well. Bub is staying with Buck for now--he can't get home from Muscatine. He went up to work yesterday by driving all the way down to Burlington, crossing the Mississippi, driving all the way back north, and crossing at Muscatine. Then the levee broke at Gulfport, and they had to close the bridge at Burlington. And the bridge at Ft. Madison. So Bub can't get back south.
My sister-in-law, and her sister, were at their cabins on the Iowa tonight, according to Mom. They got about 7 inches of water in there, but the river has crested there now and is receding. So the girls were ripping out carpet. It's what you do.
Change the subject.
Spouse had his check in with the orthopedist today; stitches out and things looking fairly good�considering the overall diagnosis for that knee. He went back to work last night, and when I talked to him, he seemed to be doing okay. He called around nine to talk about the latest flooding news, and since he was reading it off the Internet I�m pretty sure he was taking it easy. I just don�t want him to go back into his usual �bullmoose� mode and screw himself up again. It isn�t healed by a long shot, and he still needs to nurse it a bit.
It seems the Illinois Tollway had a spot of bother over the last couple of years, with their I-Pass system. First off, they had a problem with an upgrade that resulted in no violation notices going out for several months. And also, when they coded the automated record search, they neglected to take into account a difference in verbiage between Wisconsin records and Illinois records, causing the system to fail to recognize Wisconsin passenger cars. So if the transponder didn�t get picked up by their system, the computerized toll-booth camera system would capture an image of a Wisconsin plate and run it through a verification system that was seeking to link it with a "passenger" registration, rather than "automobile." And not find one, of course, since Wisconsin calls it an automobile registration.
Yeah, I got a violation notice yesterday. Four violations, from early 2007, for a total of $86.00 ($20 fine, $1.50 toll, per occurrence).
And while their customer service line was seriously over loaded (17 attempts to call resulted in a busy signal, and the 18th attempt resulted in a 22-minute wait on hold), I have to say that the customer service I received was excellent. Thanks, Mary! She just took care of dismissing the violations, and that was that. I didn�t have to beg, plead, cajole, argue, threaten, or cry. Actually, I didn�t even have to ask. She just did it. And she even took care of updating my phone number, saving me the headache of doing it online (their website is a pile o�crap). What terrific CS rep.
Reading: "The Hanging in the Hotel", by Simon Brett.
Beading: Silver and crystal bracelets.
Surfing: more Flood coverage.. That�s where I grew up, down there in the flood country.
Listening: Steve Goodman, Jimmy Buffett, Gordon Lightfoot. I�m in the mood for a story�
At Random: click here
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