Thursday, August 28, 2008

Maybe We Should Sell Our Truck And Buy An Airboat

Well, it's been 22 days now since our truck broke down and we're still in Louisiana. It all started with our transmission basically "falling" out of the truck (while Ed was driving thank God). Between the truck repair, car rental, hotel room and dining out, we have spent $23,649.19 and that's just the beginning. The truck repair has been a big chunk of that figure as you might imagine ($18,936.08), but we've only been here three weeks and I think that's a record even for us.

The truck is still not fixed and I think tomorrow I might have to go into bitch mode; up until now, believe it or not, I've stayed pretty quiet. It seems as if Cletus, Bubba, Enos and the wife with no teeth "ain't never seen nuthin' like this before" and they're having a hell of a time figuring out what to do. I sort of feel as if I'm one soo-eee away from Deliverance.

Now, Gustav is on his way. It's only Thursday and the line of traffic leaving town has been growing. Home Depot is selling sheets of plywood, people are stocking up on water and canned food and the surrounding Parishes, including the city of New Orleans, have been broadcasing their evacuation plans on the local news. Greaaat.

Ed and I watched the local news tonight and on the break I looked over at him and said, "We should probably get some stuff tomorrow."


He said, "Yeah, it's not looking too good, huh?"

"Well, we have a half a gallon of water, a few Diet Cokes, a bag of Oreo cookies and a box of Fruit Loops. I think we should probably get some other stuff if we're going to ride out the storm."

So tomorrow it looks like we'll be buying another box of Fruit Loops and some other necessities. The hotel we're staying in is only five months old, so I'm assuming it's been built to a more stringent code and can withstand high winds, but I'm guessing I'll have to buy a flashlight and some batteries too since I found out today that the building not only doesn't have a basement, but it's not equipped with generators either.

By Tuesday, I might be a lot closer to swampland than I'd ever imagined.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard on the radio yesterday that it's Trucker Appreciation Week. Although it doesn't sound like that would impress Cletus and Bubba much.

Karen said...

I totally forgot it was Trucker Appreciation Wee. I read that on Monday.

Well, good luck with the storm. Can suggest some Vodka or Rum to go with that diet coke. While I haven't lived through a hurricane, the few blizzards (Nor'easters) that I have survived were made much better by presence of alcohol. :)

Decorina said...

Yah, man. Alcohol. I was just in NO this spring. Didn't see the skull sign (or did I? I don't remember) but it is totally cool.

Love, love, love those plates.

Amy said...

Ah man. I figured you'd be long gone by now.

Damn shame you didn't get stuck up here. We'd had some fun.

And you'd probably have a new pair of earrings by now.

I'm thinking good thoughts for you.
Both for the storm, and for not having to throw a smackdown on the Hillbilly Farkels.