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Any Gulf Coast folks?

Calliecake said:
Yikes! Mean girl fighting on facebook..... greeeeaaaat. She needs to go home.
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I think this woman needs to go to therapy!!! Who needs more drama than a hurricane???

Yay on the kids going back to school @whitewave[/QUOTE]

Yes! Got the call that school is on tomorrow! It is misting, but I think the rain is nearly over.

The water has risen in my yard. This is about 3/4 an acre back. This is high. No denying it. I have seen it higher and will keep an eye on it. This is the flood plain but it only gets this high when things are rough.


My neighbor next to the bayou probably has 3/4 his property flooded.

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At this point how could they possible know? Donations are coming in--some earmarked for Harvey and some into the general fund. The Red Cross doesn't know yet what's been donated and where the money will be needed the most. It's reasonable to me that they can't commit to a dollar amount or percentage.
 
@ceg, read about your drama-loving house guest and ... wow ... :rolleyes:.

Then read this! :lol-2: :lol-2: :lol-2:

ceg said:
I am afraid I am about to say to her, "well bless your heart! "
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You're a kind person.
I hope that your friends are able to return to the comfort of their own home very soon. ;)2
 
My thoughts are with all of you affected by this disaster.

Its heartwarming to see the overwhelming kindness of people helping each other.
 
swingirl said:
At this point how could they possible know? Donations are coming in--some earmarked for Harvey and some into the general fund. The Red Cross doesn't know yet what's been donated and where the money will be needed the most. It's reasonable to me that they can't commit to a dollar amount or percentage.
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I agree in the fact that when I donate to a disaster, to me it doesn't matter if it goes straight to the disaster or in the bank for the next one.

The issue is they won't say how much does NOT go to disaser relief but to the administrative (exceptionally high salaries) costs of the organization. "Facebook" says the CEO gets nearly a million in salary. (On facebook, so it must be true, right....).

Still, this guy has no "visibility" so apparently they are not transparent and to me that is a red flag.


Anyway, I wanted to follow up with a mainstream link.
 
I made donations earlier in the week and called our local churches that are known for helping in emergency situations to find out about clothing donation. I was told to contact the Red Cross. When I spoke to the Red Cross they asked that I please call back in a week or possibly two. They said right now they were waiting to hear from their people who are in Houston what they need. It doesn't sound strange to me that they don't know exactly what they have and what is going to Hurricane victims. There is a lot of money being donated very quickly by people all over the country. My guess is they are in crisis mode and will know more once this settles down in the coming weeks.

I thought of you last night @whitewave . My husband works for a company with a large office in Houston. His boss sent a letter out to his employees that the roads leading to his home were now drivable and anyone needing a place to live is more than welcome to come stay with his family. He received a note back immediately from an employee saying that although this employee's home is fine he woundered if he could send his three small children to their house. He was concerned about how many times his wife would hear "can we go out and play and can we go to the park?" before she completely loses her mind. The boss laughed and said "I will put you in touch with my daughter who is an excellent babysitter but added her hourly rates are high!"
 
The email from the school said the schools will not open until at least Sept 11.

The words "at least" have me concerned that it could be later obviously. Wow, my kids are over it too and really want to go back at this point.
 
Calliecake said:
I made donations earlier in the week and called our local churches that are known for helping in emergency situations to find out about clothing donation. I was told to contact the Red Cross. When I spoke to the Red Cross they asked that I please call back in a week or possibly two. They said right now they were waiting to hear from their people who are in Houston what they need. It doesn't sound strange to me that they don't know exactly what they have and what is going to Hurricane victims. There is a lot of money being donated very quickly by people all over the country. My guess is they are in crisis mode and will know more once this settles down in the coming weeks.

I thought of you last night @whitewave . My husband works for a company with a large office in Houston. His boss sent a letter out to his employees that the roads leading to his home were now drivable and anyone needing a place to live is more than welcome to come stay with his family. He received a note back immediately from an employee saying that although this employee's home is fine he woundered if he could send his three small children to their house. He was concerned about how many times his wife would hear "can we go out and play and can we go to the park?" before she completely loses her mind. The boss laughed and said "I will put you in touch with my daughter who is an excellent babysitter but added her hourly rates are high!"
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Tooo funny! I don't blame him for asking one bit!! :mrgreen:
 
ceg said:
The email from the school said the schools will not open until at least Sept 11.

The words "at least" have me concerned that it could be later obviously. Wow, my kids are over it too and really want to go back at this point.
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That's bad!!
 
The company my husband works for sent a letter out today saying the Houston office would not be reopening until Sept 11 at the earliest. I remember hearing on the news that all buildings would have to be checked for structural damage before opening. I would imagine mold would be a huge issue as well.

@ceg Too funny that the kids are already over it and want to get back to school.
 
The just had a picture on the news of someone who went back to their home today and were greeted by a 10 foot alligator in their living room. Yikes!
 
So Irma is who we need to pay attention to over the next 7 days. Lets all hope it petters out to nothing.
 
whitewave said:
I agree in the fact that when I donate to a disaster, to me it doesn't matter if it goes straight to the disaster or in the bank for the next one.
The issue is they won't say how much does NOT go to disaser relief but to the administrative (exceptionally high salaries) costs of the organization. "Facebook" says the CEO gets nearly a million in salary. (On facebook, so it must be true, right....).
Still, this guy has no "visibility" so apparently they are not transparent and to me that is a red flag.
Anyway, I wanted to follow up with a mainstream link.
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As a general FYI: you can find out the compensation of the CEO & the other highest paid/key employees (compensation encompasses more than salary, includes benefits) of any Federal tax-exempt charity/nonprofit that files a 990 tax return with the IRS. The 990 also requires the outfit to report on a wealth of other info, such as expenses paid out for fundraisers & how much money those fundraisers brought in; the instruction booklet for the full-blown 990 is nearly 100 pages of small, single-spaced text.

The 990s are the major source of data that inform Charity Navigator's and Guidestar's "scorecards." Here's Charity Navigator's main page for the American Red Cross; Ms. McGovern's compensation -- as defined by Charity Navigator, which excludes deferred comp payments & the like -- for Fiscal Year 2015 was $517,364. Which doesn't seem excessive to me for a CEO with 10 years in the position & where the annual budget is more than $2,500,000,000
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3277
To put her compensation in some local context:
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/04/29/their-pay-grows-some-texas-university-leaders-beco/

Still, I've personally divvied up my own monetary contributions this week between
* the Mennonite Disaster Service:
https://www.mds.mennonite.net
They were a valued presence here in the metro NYC area after Hurricane Sandy
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/...nonite-disaster-service-helps-to-rebuild.html
And I like their disaster relief philosophy and MO; this Emergency Management magazine article does a nice job of summarizing-describing it:
http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Mennonite-Disaster-Service-Long-Term-Recovery.html
and
* Farm Aid's Family Farmer Disaster Fund
https://www.farmaid.org/blog/hurricane-harveys-impact-farmers-ranchers/
 
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@ceg supposedly Carnival is giving away cabins on tomorrow's sailing from Galveston for free-- port charges only. You should look into that!!
 
Give your friend a present and put her on while you watch her dog!!! @ceg
 
Calliecake said:
@ceg Do you still have house guests??
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They left this morning and I am exhausted! Started the laundry and trying to get everything back in neat freak order, lol! My friend did apologize for dragging the drama into my house. I guess she read my body language and realized I was uncomfortable. I was very grateful that she caught on without my having to say much. One night when she was ranting about my other friends I just said I was tired and was going to bed. Lol, pretty big hint I didn't want any part of it!

It's all good here. Cleanup has begun and ready to face tomorrow after a long nap tonight!
 
ceg said:
It's all good here. Cleanup has begun and ready to face tomorrow after a long nap tonight!
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You've earned your angel wings and halo. I hope the worst is behind you and that good things come your way soon.
 
@Matata - thank you! What a sweet thing to say. Wonder if there is a bling fairy who will visit me! ;)
 
My housekeeper found a snake with the bulldogs in their room this morning :o:-o. It was small. She scooped it up with a broom and took it outside.
 
School finally started today!!! YAY!!! We are the lucky ones though. Lots of schools still out, a few indefinitely. I am praying for all those who have been affected by this horrible weather. Texas, Florida, George, Louisiana. Oh my, this is more than enough for one year.
 
Do they just set up temporary schools somewhere when this happens @ceg ? You can't keep kids out if school for months. My husband was supposed to go to Houston this week on business. I was so happy when they cancelled the trip.
 
Calliecake said:
Do they just set up temporary schools somewhere when this happens @ceg ? You can't keep kids out if school for months. My husband was supposed to go to Houston this week on business. I was so happy when they cancelled the trip.
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I think they send kids to other area schools that weren't damaged. I saw on the news that one school in Kingwood (NW Houston) flooded so bad that the 2nd story was damaged from flood waters from the ground!!! The water on the 1st floor reached the ceiling! It is still a mess lots of places in Houston but I am so fortunate that my little area in the suburbs is relatively back to normal. One neighborhood next to mine had lots of damage to homes. There is a shop that has been set up with supplies and clothes (similar to Goodwill) and I am going to start volunteering there on Friday. Lol, it will get me off ps so I will stop spending money too!!!:D
 
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