You can have wealth and fame, all I want is POWER!

Really, we had it very good. Our home held up through the storm (unlike the included picture). We had ample food and water. We had transportation. Our cell phones worked reasonably well. Compared to the pioneers, we had it great.

But it was really uncomfortable being without power. No AC, no lights at night, no electronic gadgets... as well as the uncertainty of when we might get power back with the possibility of being without power for 2-4 weeks.

As it turned out, we were extremely fortunate and were only out of power from Friday evening of the storm until about Monday afternoon.

Our Experience with Hurricane Ike

Thanks everyone for your prayers.

We fared quite well from the storm. We are physically well, and our house has no damage that I've found yet. Our fences did take a beating and we lost a section of the back fence.

I'm grateful for the camping and emergency preparedness items that we have. We have two hand crank radios, and it was nice to have some contact, albeit one-way, with the outside world. Headlamps are great for keeping your hands available. I'm also grateful for the storm shutters that came with our house. Having ample bottled water and a backup filter that we didn't need to use. A spray bottle and battery powered fan were also great in the heat.

Things that would have been helpful.

A more powerful power inverter to keep the fridge running (use your car as a generator).

A generator

Grill with lots of charcoal (we had gas still, but it heats up the house unnecessarily)

Adapter to charge our cell phone from our hand crank items, and to have the car charger available (I found it the day after we got power).

And a special thanks to the Cox's in our ward, who opened their lovely home (with power) to us for a couple of days.

Prepping for Hurricane Ike

Well, we've got our first real hurricane headed towards us. Gustav just didn't get us worked up all that much. But Ike had a chance to be the real deal. It did have the possibility to get to Category 4. That's about where we would have decided to evacuate. As it is it should be getting here in the middle of the night. We've boarded up and stocked up so that we could hunker down.

Here's my current favorite website for checking out hurricanes (thanks, Elena).

I feel like I've had some bad luck with hurricanes. Last time they cancelled work in August on a day I was getting off anyways. This time, most people got today off, but I had to work until about 11:30 because I was post-call. Yesterday, I did get to go home for the afternoon to start boarding up the house though.

I'm not looking forward to the power going out and losing water and internet... but I'll keep bravely posting as long as I'm able. ;)

(I stole this idea from Afton, to try to encourage come commentary and feedback...)
What do you like to do on a rainy day?
What's the worst catastrophe/natural disaster you've been through?

Physics Exam

Today was the 1st of my three board examinations in Radiology. The subject was physics. I've had people ask me why I have to know any physics as a radiologist. I've sometimes asked the same question while studying.

It's important to know how each of the different 'imaging modalities' (x-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, MRI, fluoroscopy, PET scans, and other nuclear imaging studies) work. That way you know what the limitations of the exams are, what 'artifacts' (messed up images) are present, and how to fix things when they go wrong. We also learn about the harmful effects of radiation, and what the most likely risk is (very small).

The test went fine. I was glad there were no random numbers I should have memorized or bizarre equations to use. It'll take a while to get my results back though. If I pass, then I'll be 1/3rd a radiologist.

Are you the kind of person who's curious about how things work?
Do you feel like knowing the basics behind things at your job make you better at it?
Are you excited about the new large hadron collider?

New Calling

During the week, we got a request for Elena and I to meet with the Bishop before church. One of my favorite things to do is to ponder what might happen with our callings, Elena says that's bad of me to do. I don't make predictions on what I want to happen, or what I think should happen, but on what could happen. I figure as long as I'm not judgmental about it, I'm alright.

Anyways....I'm staying in my calling in the nursery. I'm glad of it. I'm enjoying it. Nobody else appreciates their teachers in church as much as nursery kids...usually. Elena's new calling is as a counselor in the young womens. She's excited and overwhelmed.

What's the favorite calling you've ever had?
Do you ever covet a calling?
Do you like to guess about callings also?