Tropical Storm Edouard... A Welcome Respite for some

Monday began with a flurry of news of the impending Tropical Storm "Edouard." We heard that JSC had a senior staff meeting at 9am to discuss the option of suspending operations. Edouard was expected to develop into a Category 1 hurricane by Tuesday afternoon with sustained winds of up to 70 miles per hour. However, the storm wasn't the first thing on my mind...I had a TON to do yesterday. I was simultaneously checking my analysis, updating a report, getting margin summaries on my hardware for a flight analysis, and putting together summary charts to give to Safety. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but it started sounding like JSC was going to shut down before the end of the day. I told my coworkers that I thought Boeing would be less conservative than NASA about shutting down, and I continued to scramble to get everything done. My parents are coming to town this week and I was supposed to have MER (Mission Evaluation Room) training on Wednesday, so I was definitely hoping Boeing would keep the doors open for at least the rest of the day so I could finish my work!

As you can imagine, everybody in the office was thrilled at the thought of getting to leave early... except me. I don't know why I was so put out by the prospect of getting kicked out! Part of it was that I knew I wouldn't get anything done this week if they sent us home Monday and Tuesday (when the storm was scheduled to hit). I knew I wouldn't get much time in on Wednesday before my parents were to arrive... and I am taking off Thursday and Friday to spend with them... so there goes the week! I kept getting interrupted with updates about JSC. I found out the secret to looking busy is to keep your headset on your head even when you're not on the phone... then people are less likely to stop by and talk to you.

Really, it wasn't a big deal to me - I knew I'd survive in the face of my looming deadlines and the pressure to finish. I knew that even if Boeing suspended operations, my deadlines would wait until our return.... But for some reason it just irked me that everyone seemed to be up in arms over a tropical storm! It was a perfect, blue-sky day! Winds were only projected to get to 70 mph... so we're not talking about a big storm, here! Gosh people! ;)

Naw, I can't complain... it's a free day off work... Granted, Bay Area (the street my building is on) floods during most heavy rainstorms... so getting to work could be a problem on Tuesday. In the interest of safety, JSC decided at 11am to shut down at noon. At 12:07pm, an email went out at Boeing that our operations would be suspended as well for the rest of the day and tomorrow (Tuesday). With thunderous applause and shouts of joy, my teammates packed up and started heading out. Only one was still protesting...

After I made my final calls / emails to let my teammates in Huntington Beach know that I'd be out until Wednesday, I packed up and walked out to the car.

...only to find a traffic jam in the parking lot! It took me 15 minutes to get out! I bet we all looked pretty silly evacuating the building on a perfect day!

I went to lunch with 2 coworkers and then home. I "hurricane-proofed" my balcony by bringing all the plants inside and turning the big, plastic table upside down. When I started to prepare, I realized that I was scaring myself a little bit. I wasn't a bit worried until I started rearranging things. Then all the "what ifs" started running through my head. It was an eerily calm night. Blue sky turned into clear night with sparkling stars. Maybe we would have a storm tomorrow, maybe not.

I slept perfectly through the night and woke up to light rain about 9 in the morning. "Not a big deal at all," I thought. I kept waiting for the storm to pick up. Monday, the weather channels were predicting landfall at 1pm to 2pm. However, as I watched the news today, it seemed like everybody was trying to make a bigger deal out of it than it was. One newscaster was talking about a palm branch that blew down...not a tree... a branch.... wow. Another was standing in half inch watcher... shocking. There seemed to be some places in Houston where the highways were covered with water - but that happens during any big storm. Throughout the day, I heard no lightening or thunder. Just a soft, steady rain. The flowers were very happy! About 3pm I started to feel confident that the storm had passed entirely. It hasn't rained a drop in a few hours now. The sun is shining.

I moved my plants back outside. Looks like I was right yesterday, but I am thankful for the 1.5 days that Boeing paid us all to go home and watch TV. :)

As you can see in the picture above, my apartment got a little water on the volleyball court.

I think it's very common that when we worry and over-prepare, things don't end up being that bad. Likewise, disasters occur when we least expect them. It's good to take hurricane threats seriously, but I'd recommend that when facing a tropical storm that may turn into a cat 1 hurricane, we should all remain calm. After some of the big storms we have faced, I think Houstonians would have panicked a little less for this one.

Here are my happy plants: