The Ultimate GC Adventure

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Apr 5, 2004
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Pensacola & Vero Beach FL
Well, tomorrow is the big day. With the passage of Rita, the military is allowing its evacuated personnel to begin trickling back to New Orleans. I've been gone from the city since almost a week before the storm and am now re-assigned with several of our units to NAS Atlanta.

Tomorrow morning, I've been authorized to begin a three day return to NOLA to recover what personal property I can. Word from down there has been pretty dire, with a very high percentage of the quarters suffering devastating wind, water, and subsequent mold damage.

So, what's the real prize I'll be looking for??? Yup, that's right, the 75 or so quarts of GC I had stashed in a closet in my room. You think I'm driving 500 miles, one way, for a bunch of underwear and socks??? No way, I'm on a quest for the Green (sure, it would be nice to recover my computer stuff, Bowflex, uniforms, and such too, but hey, priorities!).

Well, I'll be on the road when the sun comes up. I'll be signing off now, but I'll report back to all you GC faithful on the fate of the stash. I hope the news is good as the loss of 75 qts of GC all at one time might throw the world economy into chaos. Wish me well.
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ekpolk,

I really do wish you the best possible outcome on your return to NOLA. You're on the road as I write this and I hope to hear a favorable update when you can get back to us.

Thanks for being a part of BITOG.
 
Jackpot! It's all back in my custody and after I log a couple hours of sleep, drink some triple strength coffee, and watch the sun rise, it will be on its way home. Of course, now all my stash will be in one place, but I'll just think positive for now.

This was definitely the high point of the day. Halfway down, I failed to notice a parking bumper and got to spend the next 45 min duct taping my air dam back on. So now, the poor car looks ghetto. . . At least it has GC in its crankcase.

Getting into NOLA is a real pain, for any of you who are considering it. I-10 from the east is a no-go, literally. You have to go up to Mandeville, and come down the causeway (23 miles over water!). I-10 is flooded again downtown, so you have to then go back east about five miles, and pick your way through surface streets to rejoin 10 near the now-infamous Superdome.

This place is like nothing I've seen; it's amazing. While it's dry in lots of places now, you can see the waterlines on everything, amazingly high, and virtually everything, houses, cars, trees, tricycles, you name it, it's damaged or destroyed. Not that this place was exactly pristine before Kat, but it's orders of magnitude worse now. My first thought was, "unreal," but then it sank in -- very real.
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quote:

Originally posted by LT4 Vette:
Ekpolk,

Was your home totally destroyed ??


Thank goodness, no. I did eight years of active duty back from 83-91, and then joined the reserve. Three years ago, I got recalled. My home is in Pensacola, I had had a senior office suite in the "Q" in NOLA. I commute there for the work week -- or I used to... So thankfully, I just lost the stuff that's vulnerable to mold. Also thankfully, GC bottles aren't
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. Thanks for your concern; many were not so fortunate.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
Glad to hear the GC is safe and sound and dry!
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During the "recovery operation," I had one of those "GC moments" that only we true believers can appreciate. In the days after the storm when base personnel were doing immediate damage control, they had swept through the rooms on my side of the building and haphazardly removed all belongings, stuffing most in big trash bags, and then piling everything in store rooms on the other side, which had sustained far less damage.

My boxes and cases of GC were at least stacked together amidst the mayhem, but two boxes that had been on the floor were molding badly and pretty wet. The stench was beyond description. So there I am, a Marine Colonel in uniform, on my hands and knees with some Lysol disinfecting wipes and and an old towel, lovingly cleaning my bottles of green gold and carefully drying each before repackaging, when a Navy Petty Officer comes in looking for some of his stuff. The look on his face was hilarious. I'm sure he was wondering what would happen to an E-5 who calls out the straight jacket team on an O-6. Ah, I pity the young fool -- not evenly dimly aware of the green side of the force. . .
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