Harvey!

[Ranch Dog]

Or, we could just drop a rattlebug down their drawers...

rattle_bug.jpg

Twice a year, I have some fellows clear my fence lines and the edges of the roads and senderos. Rattlesnakes have been everywhere the last couple of days.

[Ranch Dog]

Just went into town. Fuel $2.05 to $2.49. Bought fuel at $2.05, no lines or waiting.

[jdl447]

Remnants of Harvey moving out of Northern Ohio tonight. Had a high temp of 59 today. Gas went up .60 cents a gallon last week just because..?

[GasGuzzler]

Went up a dollar here.

[alphalimafoxtrot]

Well, here in Virginia my wife and I were buying dog food and such at our local favorite pet store, and found out they were arranging for a truck to head down your way with donations for pets.

We went home and cleared out our good stuff that we have gathered over the years, but no longer use, such as collapsible small and large dog crates, freshly washed & nearly new "Kong" brand crate pads, canned foods, unused toys (we are dog people, so it's like having kids I swear!) and so on.

I was reading about how when the Katrina disaster struck, what made it even worse back then for survivors was that most often, pets were not allowed on the rescues and some older folks stayed put - and died with their pets - rather than leave.
Now, the policies are much more focused on the realization of how much pets can impact survivors of disasters such as Harvey and I'm sure (if you have pets or any animals) you know this is so important.

This got me thinking, especially in terms of the flooded areas of Texas and Louisiana, just how are the farmers/ranchers with livestock coping with all this?

Are any of you Texans here on Michael's websites dealing with these issues? Or your neighbors? When I was a kid, my family had a farm in rural Virginia and I just can't imagine what we would've done if we had been flooded out.

My students and I have you in our thoughts and prayers!

Be well
Adam

[GasGuzzler]

I'm far away from the flood damage but there are refugees here and we're very low on gasoline.

[daboone]

This is what I know about my kids in Sugar Land which isn't much. They didn't fair well. The downstairs got about a foot of flooding. No flood insurance as they were informed it wasn't in any real flood zone. This is going to wipe out their saving and add to debt. The decisions they have to make are difficult. Starting with where to live while they recover. For the time being they are living upstairs. The grandkids are going to move in with my son's family here in Phoenix. They rented a van and filled it up with rented fans and are driving over from Phoenix to exchange the kids for fans up as I type this. My son will stay for awhile to help.  Tim, my SIL, has already mucked the place out,  started removing the drywall to start the drying out process.  Even getting a dumpster for the cleanup mess isn't easy.  Surprisingly they are in good spirits and the entire neighborhood is helping one another.
I volunteered to help but got told no because I'm old and still dealing with the loss of my right eye and the use a cane to judge distances. As they put it cheerfully "We don't need to be worried about you old man." My other daughter made me move in with her over in Burbank CA to keep me from being a "helping hindrance".  To be honest I think my other kids and and I are freaking out more than they are.

[RBHarter]

"As they put it cheerfully "We don't need to be worried about you old man." My other daughter made me move in with her over in Burbank CA to keep me from being a "helping hindrance". To be honest I think my other kids and and I are freaking out more than they are."

I think we did a fine job on the kids . Mine act the same way . My oldest daughter would be having a hard time with me retiring to relocate and start all over if she wasn't up to her eyes in wedding plans and freaking out over her big brother being in Iraq .

Everything I keep seeing is everyone pulling together in the affected region to mop up and resume life .

As for gas prices it looks like the locals jumped from 2.78 reg 2.82 Diesel to 2.999 and 3.03 over the weekend which means the Shell and Chevron are probably 3.29-39 and 3 1/2 .
They may just be gouging the Burning Man traffic .

[Ranch Dog]

Glad to hear a report from your kids Daboone and honestly, their advice is the best advice.

Texas is a different kind of place, and the one thing we know how to do is get a situation handled; get it handled by offering a neighbor a hand and getting the same in return. Daboone, it sounds like your kids fit this to a "T." A no whining policy about the problems you face and know that it is an experience that will make you a better, tougher person.

As far as what the ranch country does with livestock is cut fences and worry about the sort later. That's why you still brand or tag livestock.You treat livestock, any livestock, like your own. This goes with floods or fires. In that I have the high ground, I told my neighbors where I have gates to open them when needed, and I checked the other fences daily to see if there was any need to cut them.

I did have fences down, large oaks across them, and set to obtaining a crew I use to get the trees off and the wire back up. I didn't know that I had another stretch of fence on the other side of the place with the same issue that a neighbor was handling. We all talk on the phone, too busy to visit in person, and just tell each other what is going on and have the fencing operators split the billing and direct bill us. An easy way to get things back to normal as soon as possible. If you see something, assume you are the first to see it and handle, while you let those involved that it is being handled. This mindset saves a lot of resources.

As a note concerning livestock brands, we register the brand images once a decade on the fifth year of the decade. Right before my grandkids moved to VA, they went to the courthouse with me to do such. I wanted them to see it first hand; the old leather bound volumes of drawn brands down in the basement. It is also not uncommon when a local business lays new concrete to ask the local ranches to bring in a brand to emboss the fresh concrete. As I walk through the door of my bank, I see my brand front and center and I made sure the grandkids understand that represents us, the family, so they need to keep themselves squared away in life just like that block of concrete.

[Old Scribe]

The same thing applies here in Jefferson. Right now it's not too much water but all the wildfires and intense smoke. Aside from the USFS and Cal Fire personnel it's neighbor helping neighbor.