Hell on Earth

There hasn't been anything important going on in my life lately. Pretty much every night I've came home and watched the Hurricane Katrina coverage that has been going on. The hurricane hit Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi the hardest, and then devastated New Orleans when the levees broke and flooded the city. It is really like a disaster area down there, and my thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims down there.

My friend Eric and I were just down there over Memorial Day weekend. My cousin lives in Biloxi and we went to to visit with him and play some poker. I'm gonna post a few pictures that I took when we were down there, and then I'll post some of the pictures I got from the internet that were taken after the storm hit. It doesn't even look like the same placee, and it's going to take the whole Gulf Coast years to rebuild. Hopefully they'll decide to rebuild everything that was there and continue to provide jobs and income to everyone who worked there.

The Air Force base that my cousin was stationed at is 95% destroyed. His house is still standing, but a neighbor's tree fell on top of the garage and crushed it. That's actually good compared to what happened to most of the houses in Biloxi. He was smart and went to Alabama before the storm hit so he didn't have to worry about staying alive. I think he's coming back to Ohio for awhile because there isn't really anything left for him down there. I'm pretty sure he was planning on getting out of the Air Force anyways, so this pretty much just seals the deal I would think.

These are some pictures that I took of the nicest casino down there, the Beau Rivage. It's part of the MGM Mirage corporation. It was really a beautiful place, but I heard it suffered substantial damage in the storm. But it is still standing, which is more than can be said for most of the casinos.
This is a picture of the palace casino that was picked up and thrown by the storm. It is amazing what a storm with that kind of power can do...mother nature is an amazing force.

I forgot to mention that my friend Eric who went down the Biloxi with me is a member of the National Guard. He was called on Thursday night to go to Mississippi to provide support to the other troops who are contributing to the relief effort in the Gulf Coast. So good luck Eric, take care of yourself and get back so we can play some poker and gin.

The storm has also increased our gas prices because 30% of the country. Gas has gotten as high as $3.09 around here, and there have been reports of $6.00 gas in Atlanta. If that isn't price gouging, I don't know what is!

This is another picture of a building that was ripped from it's foundation and thrown by the 175 mph winds. It's amazing to see these pictures, but I couldn't imagine what it's like to see these things in person. Surreal I imagine.

Well that's pretty much all I have for now. I had some poker stuff, but it just doesn't seem all that important right now, so I'll save it for later.

" Success is knowing what you are made up of, in spite of what occurs to you. Greatness is a function of who you are and what you have. The difference between you and your place of glory is an event. Great men have dreams; great dreams rule the world. You are only a thought away from your dream and a step away from your greatness. Take a walk Sir!"