If you were stuck in Superstorm Sandy. What would you drive?
11-04-12, 01:15 AM
#31
Out of Warranty
Good goin' Och, I think you've got the positive attitude that will see you through this challenge in fine style. When you are reduced to living on the basics, you find how much of the glitz and glam is really unnecessary. I think it changes all of us. Oddly enough, it's not about the car - except to get you where you absolutely have to be. We usually keep a few gas cans in the garage for such emergencies as these, and as it turned out we didn't need most of them. Although power failed in our neighborhood, a mile away, gas stations had brought in emergency generators and were still pumping gas - at almost-reasonable prices. We used the cars more to charge batteries than anything else.
One thing we learn time and again in hurricanes down here, is that nothing brings a community together like a good storm. For two weeks we lived on our patios and under our carports, sheltered from the blistering heat that follows Gulf hurricanes. We shared food and conversation with our neighbors, cleaned up our yards, fitted mosquito nets to windows that hadn't had screens since air conditioning was invented. We carpooled to the few stores that were open, hauled ice and dry ice to our neighbors, checked in with our more elderly friends who were having difficulty coping, and made sure all were fed and as comfortable as possible during our two-week camp-out. Breakfast around a camp stove is still a pretty nice way to start the day - even if the coffee's boiled, you learn the real meaning of DRY cereal when it's washed down with hobo coffee, and all your remaining breakfast meat is Spam.
We really didn't suffer - with a cookout every night. I recalled some of my old Boy Scout skills, broke out the Dutch Oven that had been rusting away in the attic for years, and turned out some pretty impressive biscuits and even a pineapple upside-down cake on a charcoal fire. Amazing what you find when you've been hoarding a pantry full of food for a couple years!
We had movie nights in the Lexus from our DVD collection and watched local TV news by MacGyvering, the tuner from a 12v TV to two 5" battery powered color monitors. We played cards and board games, once again teaching my wife never to challenge me in Trivial Pursuit. There's and advantage to having experienced a lot of the old stuff. I've also learned not to challenge her OR my daughter on music or old movies. We played late into the night because we had to shift our sleeping hours to about 3am till noon to coincide with the heat gain and loss in the house during the day. It was too hot to sleep until very late, but at least we could sleep in.
Streets were fairly passable after the whole neighborhood pitched in with axes and chainsaws, log chains and 4WD vehicles to pull trees out of the street. I kept the business running by loading my disc duplicator, laptop and printer into the RX and finding a friend a couple miles away who had power. Working out of the tailgate, I could have used the inverter to get 110vac, but I needed to make a couple hundred DVDs for a client and wasn't sure I had enough battery to do it. Thankfully cell phones and FedEx were still working - I shipped a box of discs and library cases across town overnight and our business never missed a beat.
My semi-crazy neighbor to the West said it well when the lights came back on at dusk on Day 15, "Gee, I'm kinda sad it's over!" Yeah, we understand. Even though it was a pain, it was like the last day of summer camp as we all packed up and retreated back into our air-conditioned homes with a trace of reluctance.
I feel sorry for so many folks in Sandy's wake who are suffering through this experience. I know it's difficult, and in some cases, even tragic - but it's critical to keep your chin up. If I could offer any practical advice at all it would be to try to treat this as an adventure. Work together with your neighbors, share, pool your knowledge and experience, and above all, smile. Look for the small nuggets of fun in this time of uncertainty and need. Your cars can be replaced, your home can be repaired, and this time next year you won't remember most of the things that worry you today. This too shall pass and one day you'll be telling your grandkids about how you survived the Frankenstorm.
One thing we learn time and again in hurricanes down here, is that nothing brings a community together like a good storm. For two weeks we lived on our patios and under our carports, sheltered from the blistering heat that follows Gulf hurricanes. We shared food and conversation with our neighbors, cleaned up our yards, fitted mosquito nets to windows that hadn't had screens since air conditioning was invented. We carpooled to the few stores that were open, hauled ice and dry ice to our neighbors, checked in with our more elderly friends who were having difficulty coping, and made sure all were fed and as comfortable as possible during our two-week camp-out. Breakfast around a camp stove is still a pretty nice way to start the day - even if the coffee's boiled, you learn the real meaning of DRY cereal when it's washed down with hobo coffee, and all your remaining breakfast meat is Spam.
We really didn't suffer - with a cookout every night. I recalled some of my old Boy Scout skills, broke out the Dutch Oven that had been rusting away in the attic for years, and turned out some pretty impressive biscuits and even a pineapple upside-down cake on a charcoal fire. Amazing what you find when you've been hoarding a pantry full of food for a couple years!
We had movie nights in the Lexus from our DVD collection and watched local TV news by MacGyvering, the tuner from a 12v TV to two 5" battery powered color monitors. We played cards and board games, once again teaching my wife never to challenge me in Trivial Pursuit. There's and advantage to having experienced a lot of the old stuff. I've also learned not to challenge her OR my daughter on music or old movies. We played late into the night because we had to shift our sleeping hours to about 3am till noon to coincide with the heat gain and loss in the house during the day. It was too hot to sleep until very late, but at least we could sleep in.
Streets were fairly passable after the whole neighborhood pitched in with axes and chainsaws, log chains and 4WD vehicles to pull trees out of the street. I kept the business running by loading my disc duplicator, laptop and printer into the RX and finding a friend a couple miles away who had power. Working out of the tailgate, I could have used the inverter to get 110vac, but I needed to make a couple hundred DVDs for a client and wasn't sure I had enough battery to do it. Thankfully cell phones and FedEx were still working - I shipped a box of discs and library cases across town overnight and our business never missed a beat.
My semi-crazy neighbor to the West said it well when the lights came back on at dusk on Day 15, "Gee, I'm kinda sad it's over!" Yeah, we understand. Even though it was a pain, it was like the last day of summer camp as we all packed up and retreated back into our air-conditioned homes with a trace of reluctance.
I feel sorry for so many folks in Sandy's wake who are suffering through this experience. I know it's difficult, and in some cases, even tragic - but it's critical to keep your chin up. If I could offer any practical advice at all it would be to try to treat this as an adventure. Work together with your neighbors, share, pool your knowledge and experience, and above all, smile. Look for the small nuggets of fun in this time of uncertainty and need. Your cars can be replaced, your home can be repaired, and this time next year you won't remember most of the things that worry you today. This too shall pass and one day you'll be telling your grandkids about how you survived the Frankenstorm.
Last edited by Lil4X; 11-04-12 at 01:04 AM.
11-04-12, 05:29 AM
#32
you can buy some of these M923 trucks as low as $6000. Friend got a tan one recently for that price. Fully repainted, refurb, new tires ones are around 12-15k. They are street legal, 10 mpg, 81 gallon diesel tank, you might need a Class A license depending on your state.
Last edited by 4TehNguyen; 11-04-12 at 05:33 AM.
11-04-12, 03:16 PM
#34
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
wow, amazing pics Och and GREAT info. thanks for some 'reality' in this thread.
your ford e350 van is indeed perfect for the situation you and many others have been in and are still in.
glad you've got your folks nearby, and glad you're keeping a good outlook. looking at the staten island video on tv is just mind-boggling and very very sad. looks worse than katrina in a lot of ways. new orleans would have been basically ok had the levies not broken and when they did it was essentially a slow water rise that flooded chunks of the city. of course your area got a giant storm surge of water which causes MUCH more damage and no 'warning'.
your ford e350 van is indeed perfect for the situation you and many others have been in and are still in.
glad you've got your folks nearby, and glad you're keeping a good outlook. looking at the staten island video on tv is just mind-boggling and very very sad. looks worse than katrina in a lot of ways. new orleans would have been basically ok had the levies not broken and when they did it was essentially a slow water rise that flooded chunks of the city. of course your area got a giant storm surge of water which causes MUCH more damage and no 'warning'.
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