Leaks, Missing Electricians, & Locks

The day began at 1:00 AM. The storm was loud. There was almost continuous lightening (which didn't wake me up, but did keep me up). The thunder was so loud it shook the trailer. The wind was trying to send me to the next county. And I think it hailed some too. In addition to all that, the weather alert radio was going off about every 20 min. It had three messages; Storm Alert: storms with heavy rain, high wind speeds, and possible hail (DUH! I'm in the middle of it, I don't need an alert!), Flood Warning: possible flooding along the coast from Pascagoula to the Louisiana coast (I don't remember which city it was), and lastly Tornado Warning: possibility of tornadoes in the area. I had the radio on in case a tornado actually touched (which apparently some did, but not near us.) I finally fell [lightly] asleep around 4:30. I got up to help the breakfast crew at 6. They were doing fine on their own so I showered. Jen and I went into the office to discover...a leak...directly over the computer. So we spent a while mopping up the floor and spreading out all the paperwork so it could dry out. The computer we mailed overnight to Louisville. Meanwhile they are mailing a "loaner" to us which should arrive tomorrow morning. Luckly a couple staff from Project Homecoming came and fixed the roof.

Then we were informed of a blown fuse in one of the dorm rooms. It requires the attention of an electrician. Leslie called to tell us one would be arriving around lunch time. We called him at 2:40, but he didn't answer, so we waited a little longer and at 3:20 we left for the house dedication.

The dedication was very nice. There were a lot of volunteers that came. The homeowners made food for everyone. Jen and I left a little early so we'd be back to help the dinner crew if they needed it. By the time dinner was ready, only one group (the one cooking) was left. Everyone else had gone out...but only one group had told us they were planning to. So we cooked for 45, but only had 15 (counting me and Jen). So that was a little bit of a bummer, but we figure that will be Sunday dinner (since we have to cook that night), so not a total loss.

The last mishap of the day was a locked door. The pantry door got closed and it locked itself. So we spent a while trying to pick the lock then gave up on diplomacy and ripped the durn thing off. Jen went at it with a screwdriver and managed to pry the cover plate off. A volunteer somehow opened the door and then we removed the lock completely. (There are pictures on Jen's camara which I will be stealing at some point, so you can look forward to that.)

It's supposed to storm again tonight, but hopefully I'll be so tired I'll sleep soundly. Also, Jen and I are staying up until 11 to see off the Seattle girls. Currently we are laughing at the Village Manager manual and policies on evacuation. Many things are mis-spelled and most of it is just ridiculous. So we've had a lot of good laughs today. Now Jen is telling me to hurry up so we can play Nertz, so I'm going to go and pray for a better day tomorrow!