Gonna Actually write about something different today...

Okay, the title is Aquaman and the Kingdom of Atlantis. I actually thought that since I am a comic book nerd that by putting my favorite fictional character's name in the title, I'd write about the stories that I get the chance to read. I thought that by relaying information, that possible someone would go out and read an Aquaman comic book. It wasn't a huge leap, just one problem.
Aquaman is a King, a husband, and a father who has lost sons in the comics. He is ruler of 3/4 of the earth in the comics. The character is a powerful hero in DC Comics that people either love or hate. There aren't a lot of middle of the road Aqua-fans out there. The people who think that Aquaman is lame grew up with the Super Friends TV show. He was lame in the show, I'll admit that. But, in the comics...Aquaman has enjoyed a much different portrayal. He has been shown as powerful, stubborn, caring, and more. These are reasons that some enjoy the character. My reasons for liking and identifying with him are much different. Aquaman is an outcast. The character is misunderstood. Not only by fans, but as written in the comics, by other characters as well. He is a hot head, who believes in duty. Duty to others, duty to responsibility, and most of all, duty to family. I know it is dumb to identify with a comic character for reasons such as these. But, I do. When I was a kid, I was the outcast. I was different, I didn't care what others thought of me. I never tried to get other people to like me, they could take me or leave me for who I was. I didn't care and would tell people that. In my career field, I've never known when to keep quiet and "play the game." I'm not built that way. Growing up, my family was my priority. My mother, father and brothers were my world then. I would do anything that my parents are even my brothers would ask when I was younger. Heck, today it still holds true. My family priority has changed somewhat. My wife and children are my world now. My father and brothers are still very important to me, mom will always be as well.
Since I started doing this, Aquaman has only appeared in a handful of issues from DC Comics. It hasn't even been the Aquaman that I like. It has been a replacement character that DC came up with. Yeah, kinda like when the NFL went on strike in the 80's. They brought in replacement players...it worked out about like that. So, I haven't been able to let you know of any new stories involving Aquaman in a while. If you are interested, the only two appearances that I have found in the last 6 months have been in Superman/Batman #45, and Final Crisis #3. The Final Crisis issue was just a cameo, so that doesn't really count.
My favorite Aquaman images are those of Alex Ross:

I have started to try to find the Silver Age issues I'm missing. I am down to needing only 18 issues at this point. Not a lot of course, but these books were made between 35 and 45 years ago. They are not readily available. As I pick these up, I'll start letting you know. Thanks for reading this, and I promise more Aqua stuff will start appearing here. Let's just hope DC has some coming out as well.

Ike...I know but it is weighing on me quite a bit.

As the winds died down and the long night finally ended, those that decided to stay could finally sigh in relief at the ending of the storm. We left the safety of our homes to see a landscape which had changed from the violence of the storm preceding night. At first glance, things seemed as if they were inconveniences at worst. A limb down here, a shingle on the ground there, or even a fence which was downed due to the fury of the winds which had blown through so loudly. As I drove around the town which I call home, I saw mighty trees which had at last given in to the forces which had been exerted upon them. I recognized where buildings had once stood, now replaced by only a slab, piles of debris or remnants of twisted metal. Where roofs had once sheltered families from nature, the storm had placed a tree over (or in some cases in) the structures. It was as if nature was making the statement that no matter how invincible we feel,
nature would tower over all. Power lines were twisted and the poles which held them aloft were cracked and broken as if they were but popsicle sticks. The evidence of a horrible night experienced by those of us that stayed was visible at every turn. We could experience these images firsthand, but those were the only pictures to be seen. The power was out. We did not know the extent of the damage to our south, or even in other parts of our hometown. As the power returned, and newspapers brought scenes of the devastation, we began to realize how lucky we actually were.

to be continued

Baytown Centennial Square Apartment Residents

Nature

When I write, I usually do so to relax. I am usually able to coherently put together words into thought and convey the things that I am feeling. As I sit here today, it has been nearly two weeks since Hurricane Ike came through the Houston area and overturned countless lives. Some of our issues have been major while others have been almost inconsequential by comparison. Today though, I'd like to write about a group of people that I have come to care about a great deal. About two years ago, I started delivering goods to a retirement complex about a block from my store. The residents in the complex are not simply customers to me, instead they are people that I have taken great pleasure in helping over the last couple of years. Residents like Mrs. Peoples, Mrs. McCown, Mrs. McCartney(and Chico the feisty rat dog), Mr. Webber and Mrs. Williams are people that I have taken pride in being able to take care of by bringing them their scripts, a smile, or even their favorite ice cream if it was in stock. These people became my friends, and I like to think I have been a good friend to each of them.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Ike did not show these people the compassion that they deserve. The Hurricane pulled the roof off of the 4 story structure forcing the residents to relocate. I have tried to get information on my customers, with little success. I just hope that wherever these wonderful ladies and gentlemen end up, that someone takes the time to show them the respect that they deserve. I have had a couple of them call me already and let me know that they are okay.

So, if you are reading this make it a point to help someone tomorrow. Be it opening a door for someone with a full load, doing the little things that some of us take for granted or even just giving a smile to someone who is having a rough day. The impact you can make on them cannot be measured by words.

Hurricane Ike---getting back to normal

Well, it's been about ten days since the storm went through. Things seem to be returning to normal slowly. My staff at works seems to be adapting to the increased traffic in the store, and I am very proud of how each has handled themselves. We increased our normal sales last week by quite a bit and took care of more than twice as many customers as normal. All of this while under a city enforced curfew. I am not someone who really keeps opinions to myself very often, and this period has been no exception. A few of our group are trying to help out some of the newer people who have not been through storms before. We have been able to get everyone of the stores in our district open already. This number includes two stores on Galveston Island and one here in town that had significant roof damage. It makes me feel pretty good that some of the associates who only worked in my store for a day or two feel that they can call and ask me advice on procedures or for advice on how to deal with things like payroll. I feel as if I made an impact on them with how I treat co-workers.

I was able to take a day off today for the first time since the storm today. I had three goals:
1. Sleep In---it was accomplished because I woke up at 930AM--about 4 hours later than normal. Hey, I am a lazy bum, but I needed it.
2. Fix my Fence that was damaged in the storm so I could get my dogs off of chains.---my wife, who is more handy around the house than most( she actually was the one who boarded up most of the windows in preparation for the storm while I was at work), helped me take care of the fence in about three hours. It is a patch job, and not as neat as I'd like, but that's okay. When I get a weekend off, I'll probably work on it the right way.
3. Take my wife to lunch at her favorite restaurant. She loves Cafe' Adobe'. It is a Tex-Mex place which has a fried avocado which she loves, along with a Royal Margarita which is well worth the price. Three margaritas later and she was able to relax and get a nap this afternoon.

So, with my to-do list accomplished, I played Madden. A lot of Madden. So much Madden, that I increased the difficulty level, and got my butt kicked.
That's okay, tomorrow is another day.

Hurricane Ike

Here is the beginning of my IKE story:
The family and I are fine, we got power back today. Kim and the kids evacuated to her dad's house.First, let me start off by saying...A Category 2 Hurricane has sustained winds of up to 110 miles an hour. My house is built to withstand a cat. 3 according to the paperwork I have on the property when we bought it. The storm, up until 12 hours before it hit, was supposed to come in about Matagorda Bay, about 125 miles away. There were no mandatory evacuations issued for the area that we live in, it was really too late, in my opinion to get out. Hurricane Ike began to go through Baytown about 7 PM on Friday night. It started very slowly, some wind, some rain, no big deal. We were watching weather reports on the news. We started getting hit pretty hard around 11PM. Power was still on at around Midnight. Then, all hell broke loose.
Round 1
It was the first and last direct hit from a Hurricane that I will attempt to ride out. We made the kids put mattresses down in the hallway to sleep. When the winds started ramping up, it was like I had a freight train outside of my bedroom window. These winds continued from about mignight to around 3AM. Then, dead calm. I walked outside, looked up at the sky, and saw stars. There was no wind, no rain, there were no sounds. Nothing. The eye of the Hurricane was passing over Baytown, Texas. It was one of the most eerie feelings that you can imagine if you haven't been through it. My fence was gone. Blown every which way. Kids were still asleep, and the wife and I started clearing a little debris. We put it between the houses on my block to try to keep limbs from being blown into cars are homes. After we had fininshed with the minor clean-up, we tried to get a little sleep, in our own bed. About an hour later, the train came back.

Saturday:
The winds kept at hurricane force until about 8 am. That's when I went outside again. I started clearing branches from storm drains in the rain with lighter winds going on. The roads were under a little water, and I wanted to clear what I could. I helped where I could in the neighborhood by moving some branches. My neighborhood is in good shape in relative terms to the rest of Baytown. Baytown is in good shape relative to the areas south of us. On Saturday, I drove around the city to check on friends and my store. As some of you know, I manage a ... Pharmacy in Baytown and luckily enough, my store made it out in great shape. I had some awning damage and my signs are gone, but other than that, it is in great shape. Still no power in town. Saturday night was very warm in Texas, about 80-85 degrees overnight. The windows were kept open in the house, but we were all sweating.
Sunday
I finally convinced my wife to go to her dad's up north. Permission was given to check the store's out on the interior. I brought my drill to remove plywood and we checked all of our stores. Two were in good shape, one was not. I finished checking out the stores at 130 pm and by 2:15, we had a generator arrive to power a store. The electrician's got there shortly after, and just over 24 hours after the storm passed, the company I am quite proud to work for right now, we were able to open a store in a city devoid of power. Baytown staff started showing up to help. We were only able to stay open until 6PM because of a curfew in town, but it was a great start. A cool front blew in and I was able to sleep comfortably. I looked at the stars as I tried to sleep, but couldn't stop thinking about what we could do to help.
Monday:
I got to work at 7 AM. By 8AM, staff from all 3 of our stores were ready to work. We were able to fill scripts very quickly. We did little things like brew coffee to give to customers, put power strips out for our customers to charge cell phones, microwave some popcorn for kids(the only thing we asked for each of these services was a smile from a child or a chin up for a customer.) My staff and I have gotten hugs and thank yous from customers, we have had so many people come up and thanks us for being open, we have been called Saints and Angels, it has been amazing. Our Baytown staff has not asked for breaks or food or anything. Most refuse to leave work while we are open, simply because they want to help anyone they can. My store usually only checks out about 300 customers in a given day. From 8-530, we were able to check out 1000 people.

If you are still reading this, I apologize for rambling. I had one customer in particular who came in, it was her daughters birthday. She was upset, but we were able to get her a Warm Delight brownie microwaved for her daughter, so she was able to at least have a small birthday cake. We had another customer who told me that her child had not had a breathing treatment since Friday, we were able to plug up his machine and his mom knows to come find me twice a day, and I'll find him a spot in the store to sit and relax. There are times that I question whether what I do for a living makes a difference in people's lives, over the last couple of days I have been reminded that it is not what you do that makes a difference, but how you do it.

So, I want to thank the following people from Baytown stores who surely have made a difference in people's live over the last couple of days:
Rachel, TJ, Katelin, Chelsea, Gladys, Sylvia, Delores, Roger, Keitha, Linda, Kristy, Alvin, Joyce, Daniel, Douglas, Kevin, Lupe', Berling, Anil, Angelique, Yvette, Tandy, Rose and Kim.

Labor Day

When we think of Labor Day as a holiday, what comes to mind? Is it the Jerry Lewis telethon? Baseball? or Barbecue with the family? Labor Day is a day to relax with family, to contemplate days gone by and most of all, Labor Day is a day that most people rest. My Dad is not most people. This weekend, Hurricane Gustav chased my father and brother from their home in Vidor, Texas. They evacuated to spend a few days with my family while the storm arrived. Well, there was no sign of the Hurricane at my dad's home, much less my own. But, it does not mean there was no evidence of a Hurricane's aftermath in my front yard.

You see, while many were around the grill yesterday, my dad stated that he was bored. When my dad is bored, no one is bored! The yardwork projects which have been put off all summer long were tackled. Low hanging limbs were cut, weed trees were removed, a flower bed was beautified and a fence was fixed. What was left, was a pile of limbs and weeds 4 feet high. Growing up, Dad taught me about work ethic. He taught me, Jon and Brian that nothing feels as good as the feeling of accomplishment after a project is complete. He reminded me yesterday, and spread the message to my wife and kids as well. So, while the rest of the area breathed a sigh of relief yesterday afternoon, my family sighed in fatigue coupled with a sense of delight at a job well done.