September 12, 2008:
10.00 AM: This morning I went to Target to buy supplies for the hurricane preparation with a good friend of mine, Dennis. We bought basic survival stuffs like water, candle, lighter, and extra food in case the electricity went out for some time. A lot of ready-to-eat food couldn't be found.
07.00 PM: I'm preparing my kitchen as my shelter to the hurricane. I guess it's enough to contain dangerously flying debris, if small. I'll just spend the night here I guess huhu...
11.00 PM: Two of my friends, Makka and Laura, accompanied me through the worst of the hurricane. Thank you guys, you're the best! I just knew that during the hurricane, there wasn't any rain at all. Just a very, very high-speed wind. Occasionally, you'll hear something like stone throwing out to your window. A couple of times, the light in my kitchen blinked.
September 13, 2008:
03.15 AM: Suddenly the electricity went out. I lost my internet connection. I turned on my candle. I layed in the kitchen floor in the darkness, listening all of those sound that the wind could create. Sometimes you can hear the sound of high speed wind for 15 seconds until it dissappeared, and reappear one minute later. I turned my laptop on with the mp3 played so I wouldn't be too scared.
05.30 AM: The rain started to drop.
09.30 AM: Heavy rain outside. It's still dark because of the dark cloud. But the wind has stopped, so I moved to my bedroom. What I didn't realize is the after-effect of an hurricane. That day, electricity and water both stopped. And the things that I prepared turned out to be the things that I would needed most, like: drinking water, tap water for taking a bath, scenty candle (yeah, it's scenty because I couldn't find any regular candle, satisfied now Laura? :)). The worst thing in that day is I couldn't flush the toilet. Because I collected tap water just for taking bath and fearing that the water could be out for days, so I saved my tap water. It stinks you know! T_T
September 14 - 15, 2008:
I tried to save the energy left in my devices. I have turned off the laptop since that hurricane, turned off the handphone and occasionally turned it on to receive text message, and played just a couple songs in ipod to accompany me throughout the nights. My beloved camera, who has been with me throughout this years suddenly died that night. I have taken almost 8,000 pictures with it. And this is the last image it took, capturing Houston in total darkness.
I spend most of my life in bed! During the day, I read my favorite book "WarCraft: War of the Ancients". And during the night, because I couldn't really do anything, I opened my window a bit to let the cold wind coming into my room, and watched the full moon outside. I stayed watching the nature around me for two or three hours. It's so... quiet. Only the sound of trees occasionally blew by the soft wind could be heard. It's very peaceful.
The water has been restored that day. I took a bath in delight. You'll feel amazing and can be really thankful for everyday's life that we often took for granted, like being able to take a bath, flush the toilet, clean the dish, a cup of warm noodle, having a nice warm tea, one glass of cold water, one candle in the darkness, the bright of the full moon, the cold of the night wind, and the freshness of trees around you.
September 16, 2008:
My friend, Dennis, banged my door in the morning. He asked me if I wanted to go to his friend's hotel which does have electricity. Owww I'm so glad. I brought all of my devices there to be charged. After that, we went to Frys, a large electronic store here. I bought a new camera and an external tv tuner. Back in the hotel, I heard news that the electricity on my area has been restored. And it is! I came home with all light has switched on. And tomorrow, or perhaps the day after, will be the first day in the office after the hurricane. So life has coming back now...
My baby has arrived! She is from California. She's so fat that it took 5 Mexican guys to pick her up through stairs. Eventhough she's so fat and heavy, she's very beautiful and I love her. Her sound is amazing, just the way I like. I love to touch and play with her. She's now staying with me in my apartment.
