03/27/09 VIDEO: North Dakota Flood 2009

Wish I were there to help with the flood preparations. My thoughts are with all of you sandbagging day & night, fighting not only water but also sore muscles that can't keep working forever.

You've done what you can, our prayers are behind you. It's ND - those who's efforts weren't enough will have our help when it's over.

03/24/09 Flood at the Clay Station? (PICS)

So, it's spring in North Dakota and it's time for our second or third 100-year-flood in only a decade. lol. I'm in a new house this year, so a little unsure of what to expect in my basement.

From what neighbors have told me, between the old cistern below the basement floor and the submersible sump pump in it, I should only have to worry about a little water that seeps over/through the walls. As of last night, there's some water seeping in behind the wood paneling on the walls near a window, but since the basement isn't a finished living space, let 'er weep!

My "Clay Station" is being set up down there in the basement. Thankfully, clay is a messy thing anyway and I'm not too worried! I just lifted a rug off the floor, stacked the laundry tubs and it should be good to go.


Fargo and other communities along the Red River (of the North) are in the middle of another frenzy to fill sandbags. Thank God for the students who go out to help...they're a huge chunk of the workforce. One county has 85% of its roads under water. Schools have closed because of lift station issues, and those that are open have opted not to send out buses on these flooded roads.

And we're supposed to get snow tonight! lol. Really, ND is NOT for the faint of heart, is it?

I've posted a couple pics I had taken of the Sheyenne River in Lisbon near the dam in 1997, the last Big Flood. In one you can see the ice around a tree after the water level dropped. Some of you might remember national coverage of the flooding in Grand Forks, ND that year.


For those of you fighting with flooding, I wish you the best and take comfort from a community that rallies around each other in times of need.

03/10/09 The Blizzard Stomp

Alrighty! I knew it was gonna be a nasty storm when a meteorologist friend mentioned "Armageddon on Tuesday" in his Facebook status. I've also been predicting it for months. It's my birthday tomorrow - it always storms the week of my birthday! lol.

But this is ridiculous. I know the Post Office has that splendid motto (you know how it goes), but when the higher-ups make us postal employees go out in a currently-raging blizzard where the snow is 3 feet deep in front of your door...THAT'S RIDICULOUS.

And the funny thing is, there isn't even any mail today. They just want the P.O. box barcodes scanned and sent in on time. The postmaster in Hope went in the ditch trying to get to her post in a 4x4!

I walked so I wouldn't get stuck. Snow almost to your knees the whole way with ice under your feet is an interesting walk. On the way I saw a couple using one 4x4 to pull their other 4x4 out of the snow....in-town...IN THE MIDDLE OF A STREET! lol.

I think we need a new, more realistic motto. At least for P.O.s in the upper midwest! Come on, everyone already knows it's a freaking tundra up here...pretty sure the Postmaster General himself would say "You went to work? What's wrong with you?"

So, here I sit in the store. It's closed. There's no mail. Just waitin' to hear from the postmaster in nearby Hope. I figured I'd get confirmation that my scans went through because there is NO WAY I'm making this trek a second time! lol.

STAY HOME, EVERYONE!!!!! :-P