A psychotherapist told me recently how the storm that brought people together is now dividing us.
Taking the bait, I asked, “How so?”
“People who didn’t flood want to get back to their normal lives. People who flooded can’t.”
“And?”
“The ones who didn’t flood just can’t fathom what it’s like for people who did. So they often say well-intentioned things that come off as insensitive.”
“Come in and make yourself right at home.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
So I asked friends who flooded. It’s true. Some want to scream inside even if they’re smiling on the outside.
One told me, “I belong to a community (that I never chose), of displaced, defeated, depressed people who have to figure out how to put their lives back together, both physically and emotionally.”
How would you react if you flooded and someone said to you…
“Don’t you get tired of only cooking with your microwave upstairs?”
A) “I love popcorn for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
B) “So come over and chop some fire wood for me.”
C) “It doesn’t get any better than Jimmy-Dean cuisine.”
D) “When I need variety, I bring my microwave downstairs.”
“Well, just think, you get to redecorate!”
A) “I hate decorating. I don’t like shopping. And I liked my home just the way it was.”
B) “Yes, I’m in luck. The second-hand shop is having a scratch-and-dent sale this weekend.”
C) “Unfortunately, at the moment, I have champaign taste on a beer budget.”
D) “I always aspired to that college-dorm-room look, but I’m going to have to settle for the deer-camp feel.”
“Without a kitchen, at least you don’t have to cook very much.”
A) “It’s convenient when you don’t have plates either.”
B) “We’ll just fly to New York for dinner tonight.”
C) “I needed to go on a diet anyway.”
D) “Whatatime I have at Whataburger!”
“You’re still living in your camper?”
A) “Yes, I turned down a weekend at Mar-a-lago so I could enjoy the freedom of the open driveway!”
B) “It’s roomier than a coffin.”
C) “My crew cab doesn’t have a shower.”
D) “Yes, we don’t have a choice. The raccoons have taken over the Port-o-let.”
“That was just ‘stuff.’ You are alive and you have your family.”
A) “I’ll trade you my weird cousin Izzy for some drywall.”
B) “True, but I could do with some matching shoes right about now.”
C) “Who needs hot water when you have each other?”
D) “Yes, living with four-people and a dog in a 276-square-foot camper has brought us closer together than ever.”
“Now you have a blank canvas…”
A) “…and an empty bank account.”
B) “If only I could afford the paint.”
C) “I always wanted to pay for my house a second time!”
D) “I’d look at the bright side, but all my Dale Carnegie books wound up in the dumpster.”
“How’s the house coming along?”
A) “They built the Empire State building in one year; why is my bathroom taking two?”
B) “Kind of like the Mueller investigation. No end in sight.”
C) “Great. I’m having an ATM installed by the front door.”
D) “I like paying top dollar for bargain basement service.”
“We just got back from (insert romantic destination here). You guys going anywhere?”
A) “About all I can afford is a wild weekend in Waller.”
B) “All my money is going into the house; we will not trek Everest this year.”
C) “Can you have a wild weekend in Waller?”
D) “I hear Waller has a good donut shop.”
“What can I do to help?”
A) “I can tell by your Gucci’s that that was a pro forma offer.”
B) “Mean it when you ask.”
C) “Start putting up some drywall.”
D) “Get the skunk out of the closet.”
“We redid our kitchen two years ago. What a nightmare! I know what you are going through!”
A) “I’m pretty sure the judge would call it justifiable homicide.”
B) “I look pretty good in orange jumpsuits.”
C) “You think they’ll give me time off for good behavior?”
D) “Where’s Al Queda when you really need them?”
Said with a wink and a smile. Really. If you heard yourself in any of the questions or responses, give yourself a perfect score. You are still a human being.
Posted by Bob Rehak, August 9, 2018
345 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-08-09 06:28:062018-08-09 23:36:06Harvey Brought Us Together; Now It Is Dividing Us
My wife and I were the first in line for early voting on the Count Flood Bond today. By 8:01, were were voting. By 8:02, the Harris County Flood Bond had surged out to a commanding 2-0 margin in the Kingwood area.
Even if your home didn’t flood, the perception that it might will affect your home’s value.
That’s why the Harris County flood bond is likely to be your best investment in your biggest investment – your home.
We need to show the world that we’re serious about fixing our drainage problems, not just pretending they don’t exist.
After Months of Successful Lobbying, Now is the Time to Vote
After months of successful lobbying, residents of the Lake Houston area managed to get key projects included in the Harris County Flood Bond that will reduce the likelihood and severity of flooding in our area. Now it’s time to seal the deal. Get out and vote FOR the bond.
More than 800 Lake Houston area residents submitted input on the bond. As a result, additional detention, dredging, and gates were added to the project list. They will reduce the input during a flood, increase the throughput, and speed up the output.
Please don’t take anything for granted. Get on the phone. Call all your neighbors, all your relatives, all your friends. Get them to vote for the bond. AND get them to contact all of their neighbors, relatives and friends, too. Especially those who did not flood.
Lake Houston Area Can Swing This Election
ONE FOURTH of the 3000 people county-wide that showed up at 23 watershed meetings with county officials were from the Lake Houston area. That’s huge, considering that we have only about ONE TWELFTH of the county’s population. Our voting power can swing this referendum one way or the other. Let’s use it. Vote FOR.
Early Voting Dates and Hours
Early voting started August 8, at the Kingwood Community Center and continues through 4:30 today. Here is the complete list of early voting dates and hours.
Wednesday, August 8, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 9, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Friday, August 10, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday, August 13, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 14, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 15, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 16, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday, August 17, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 18, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 19, 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Monday, August 20, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 21, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The final day for voting is August 25 at your normal polling place. If you wait until August 25 to vote, it will be at your normal polling place. To find your polling place, follow this link.
Posted by Bob Rehak, August 8, 2018
344 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-08-08 11:21:332018-08-08 11:34:28Your Best Investment in Your Biggest Investment: Vote FOR the Flood Bond
Yesterday, the final project list was released for the Harris County Flood Bond. There was only one change affecting the San Jacinto Watershed and it was positive. The number of homes covered by subdivision drainage improvements increased tenfold. Early voting starts tomorrow on the flood bond referendum and I hope to be one of the first people at Kingwood Community Center at 8 a.m. because the flood bond is getting my wholehearted endorsement.
Townhomes cut in half by Harvey’s floodwaters. North side of the west fork of the San Jacinto River in Forest Cove. Photo: September 14, 2017.
Additional detention will decrease the input during a flood. Additional dredging will increase the throughput. Additional gates will increase the output. Hopefully, all of that will reduce flooding.
The County has also included money to improve internal drainage ditches so water can get to the river faster.
Together, these measures should help get us back to the point where a 100-year storm produces a 100-year flood. That’s the goal. Over the years, siltation has reduced drainage capacity and upstream development has increased peak flows. Baseline assumptions have changed since most of us bought our homes. Measures in the flood bond should help our drainage systems respond to heavy rains the way they were intended to.
If we don’t address flooding, home values will not increase the way they normally would simply because of proximity to flooding. We must send a signal to the rest of the world that we are dealing with this problem.
For instance, bond money could help us get started on dredging the West Fork mouth bar which is not within the scope of the Army Corps’ current dredging project.
It will help protect homes, schools, businesses, and infrastructure, and make this entire area more secure and resilient.
Reasons to Vote Against are Weak
The main arguments that I have heard against the bond have to do with distrust of government; flexibility that allows officials to cancel or change projects; misplaced anger; and a tax increase.
Re: distrust:
I have had the opportunity to meet for hours with the County Judge, the County Engineer and the Director of Operations for the Flood Control District. I have been impressed by how open, candid and receptive they have all been. I’m just not getting a negative vibe.
We are holding them accountable for preventing another disaster, but without the money to do it, we’re tying their hands. That’s a prescription for another disaster.
Re: flexibility:
It’s true that projects on the list could be changed or cancelled. I may not like that flexibility because it could potentially result in cancellation of what I perceive to be key projects, but I get it. Officials have rushed to respond to an urgent need; preliminary engineering reports have yet to be started on most of these projects. Things will change. No one can tell exactly how every penny will be spent ten years from now. Officials need flexibility to ensure our money is well spent. Sometimes you just have to trust people to use their judgment and do the right thing. I trust these people.
Re: misplaced anger:
Some people are conflating the Harris County Flood Bond with the City of Houston Drainage Fee. Don’t. They’re from two different groups.
Re: a tax increase:
Some people have claimed the bond will double property taxes. Not true! You are NOT doubling your entire tax BILL. You would only double a tiny portion of it, the 1.4% that goes to flood control. Some people – depending on age, exemptions, and home value – won’t see any increase at all. See the typical examples provided by Bill Fowler at this link.
Any increase will be phased in over time as projects get ready to launch.
Yes, I might pay another $100 bucks a year. But it’s an investment in the security of my home – my biggest investment. It will pay me (or my heirs) back many times over. You wouldn’t hesitate to put a new coat of paint on your house if it needed it. Why would you vote against the one thing that might keep your neighborhood from flooding again?
Sleep Better, Look Better, Too
The biggest reason to vote for the bond is that you’ll sleep better. And maybe even look better. My wife keeps telling me that I look better without grocery bags under my eyes. That’s why the flood bond gets her endorsement, too.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 7, 2018
343 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-08-07 05:53:512018-08-07 23:36:20Endorsement of Harris County Flood Bond: I’m voting “For!”
Harvey Brought Us Together; Now It Is Dividing Us
A psychotherapist told me recently how the storm that brought people together is now dividing us.
Taking the bait, I asked, “How so?”
“People who didn’t flood want to get back to their normal lives. People who flooded can’t.”
“And?”
“The ones who didn’t flood just can’t fathom what it’s like for people who did. So they often say well-intentioned things that come off as insensitive.”
“Come in and make yourself right at home.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
So I asked friends who flooded. It’s true. Some want to scream inside even if they’re smiling on the outside.
One told me, “I belong to a community (that I never chose), of displaced, defeated, depressed people who have to figure out how to put their lives back together, both physically and emotionally.”
How would you react if you flooded and someone said to you…
“Don’t you get tired of only cooking with your microwave upstairs?”
A) “I love popcorn for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
B) “So come over and chop some fire wood for me.”
C) “It doesn’t get any better than Jimmy-Dean cuisine.”
D) “When I need variety, I bring my microwave downstairs.”
“Well, just think, you get to redecorate!”
A) “I hate decorating. I don’t like shopping. And I liked my home just the way it was.”
B) “Yes, I’m in luck. The second-hand shop is having a scratch-and-dent sale this weekend.”
C) “Unfortunately, at the moment, I have champaign taste on a beer budget.”
D) “I always aspired to that college-dorm-room look, but I’m going to have to settle for the deer-camp feel.”
“Without a kitchen, at least you don’t have to cook very much.”
A) “It’s convenient when you don’t have plates either.”
B) “We’ll just fly to New York for dinner tonight.”
C) “I needed to go on a diet anyway.”
D) “Whatatime I have at Whataburger!”
“You’re still living in your camper?”
A) “Yes, I turned down a weekend at Mar-a-lago so I could enjoy the freedom of the open driveway!”
B) “It’s roomier than a coffin.”
C) “My crew cab doesn’t have a shower.”
D) “Yes, we don’t have a choice. The raccoons have taken over the Port-o-let.”
“That was just ‘stuff.’ You are alive and you have your family.”
A) “I’ll trade you my weird cousin Izzy for some drywall.”
B) “True, but I could do with some matching shoes right about now.”
C) “Who needs hot water when you have each other?”
D) “Yes, living with four-people and a dog in a 276-square-foot camper has brought us closer together than ever.”
“Now you have a blank canvas…”
A) “…and an empty bank account.”
B) “If only I could afford the paint.”
C) “I always wanted to pay for my house a second time!”
D) “I’d look at the bright side, but all my Dale Carnegie books wound up in the dumpster.”
“How’s the house coming along?”
A) “They built the Empire State building in one year; why is my bathroom taking two?”
B) “Kind of like the Mueller investigation. No end in sight.”
C) “Great. I’m having an ATM installed by the front door.”
D) “I like paying top dollar for bargain basement service.”
“We just got back from (insert romantic destination here). You guys going anywhere?”
A) “About all I can afford is a wild weekend in Waller.”
B) “All my money is going into the house; we will not trek Everest this year.”
C) “Can you have a wild weekend in Waller?”
D) “I hear Waller has a good donut shop.”
“What can I do to help?”
A) “I can tell by your Gucci’s that that was a pro forma offer.”
B) “Mean it when you ask.”
C) “Start putting up some drywall.”
D) “Get the skunk out of the closet.”
“We redid our kitchen two years ago. What a nightmare! I know what you are going through!”
A) “I’m pretty sure the judge would call it justifiable homicide.”
B) “I look pretty good in orange jumpsuits.”
C) “You think they’ll give me time off for good behavior?”
D) “Where’s Al Queda when you really need them?”
Said with a wink and a smile. Really. If you heard yourself in any of the questions or responses, give yourself a perfect score. You are still a human being.
Posted by Bob Rehak, August 9, 2018
345 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Your Best Investment in Your Biggest Investment: Vote FOR the Flood Bond
My wife and I were the first in line for early voting on the Count Flood Bond today. By 8:01, were were voting. By 8:02, the Harris County Flood Bond had surged out to a commanding 2-0 margin in the Kingwood area.
Even if your home didn’t flood, the perception that it might will affect your home’s value.
We need to show the world that we’re serious about fixing our drainage problems, not just pretending they don’t exist.
After Months of Successful Lobbying, Now is the Time to Vote
After months of successful lobbying, residents of the Lake Houston area managed to get key projects included in the Harris County Flood Bond that will reduce the likelihood and severity of flooding in our area. Now it’s time to seal the deal. Get out and vote FOR the bond.
More than 800 Lake Houston area residents submitted input on the bond. As a result, additional detention, dredging, and gates were added to the project list. They will reduce the input during a flood, increase the throughput, and speed up the output.
We’ve all heard the arguments for and against the bond. We’ve learned what the impact of the bond will be on taxes. Now we just need to approve it.
If approved, the bond will provide vital money that provides the local match for critical projects, such as dredging the west fork mouth bar and the addition of ten new flood gates to the Lake Houston Dam.
Please don’t take anything for granted. Get on the phone. Call all your neighbors, all your relatives, all your friends. Get them to vote for the bond. AND get them to contact all of their neighbors, relatives and friends, too. Especially those who did not flood.
Lake Houston Area Can Swing This Election
ONE FOURTH of the 3000 people county-wide that showed up at 23 watershed meetings with county officials were from the Lake Houston area. That’s huge, considering that we have only about ONE TWELFTH of the county’s population. Our voting power can swing this referendum one way or the other. Let’s use it. Vote FOR.
Early Voting Dates and Hours
Early voting started August 8, at the Kingwood Community Center and continues through 4:30 today. Here is the complete list of early voting dates and hours.
Wednesday, August 8, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 9, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Friday, August 10, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday, August 13, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 14, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 15, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 16, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday, August 17, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 18, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 19, 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Monday, August 20, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 21, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The final day for voting is August 25 at your normal polling place. If you wait until August 25 to vote, it will be at your normal polling place. To find your polling place, follow this link.
Posted by Bob Rehak, August 8, 2018
344 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Endorsement of Harris County Flood Bond: I’m voting “For!”
Yesterday, the final project list was released for the Harris County Flood Bond. There was only one change affecting the San Jacinto Watershed and it was positive. The number of homes covered by subdivision drainage improvements increased tenfold. Early voting starts tomorrow on the flood bond referendum and I hope to be one of the first people at Kingwood Community Center at 8 a.m. because the flood bond is getting my wholehearted endorsement.
Townhomes cut in half by Harvey’s floodwaters. North side of the west fork of the San Jacinto River in Forest Cove. Photo: September 14, 2017.
Reasons to Vote “For” Are Numerous
I like this bond for many reasons:
Reasons to Vote Against are Weak
The main arguments that I have heard against the bond have to do with distrust of government; flexibility that allows officials to cancel or change projects; misplaced anger; and a tax increase.
Re: distrust:
Re: flexibility:
It’s true that projects on the list could be changed or cancelled. I may not like that flexibility because it could potentially result in cancellation of what I perceive to be key projects, but I get it. Officials have rushed to respond to an urgent need; preliminary engineering reports have yet to be started on most of these projects. Things will change. No one can tell exactly how every penny will be spent ten years from now. Officials need flexibility to ensure our money is well spent. Sometimes you just have to trust people to use their judgment and do the right thing. I trust these people.
Re: misplaced anger:
Some people are conflating the Harris County Flood Bond with the City of Houston Drainage Fee. Don’t. They’re from two different groups.
Re: a tax increase:
Sleep Better, Look Better, Too
The biggest reason to vote for the bond is that you’ll sleep better. And maybe even look better. My wife keeps telling me that I look better without grocery bags under my eyes. That’s why the flood bond gets her endorsement, too.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 7, 2018
343 Days since Hurricane Harvey