Question Quiet time

My, things are really quiet. *No* posted messages over the last night at all. It's not just this site, either -- the Fictionmania Hyperboard is the leanest I have ever seen.

It must be that pesky tax season. I understand that this week is final crunch time in the U.S.. In two weeks it will be the same down here (our tax season ends on April 30th, instead of April 15th). And this year my return has a few extra complications...

Add in things like the massive storm that's hitting the central US. I'm getting snowed in under a winter storm, so I'm in "hibernate and cuddle" mode.
That consists of baking goodies, and pretty much crawling under a giant comforter as we watch movies. And no fault of E.E. ...but the fact that this week wasn't a "Whateley" story, that might generate less discussion. I'm not much of a Star Wars fan, beyond watching the movies and series.

Yeah, I've checked here on and off. Right now I'm binge watching LIS on Netflix.

Taxes are worse for a lot of people this year (including me) because of the need to do loss calculations and such associated with our little rain event named Hurricane Harvey. It's a lot of confusion.

elrodw wrote: Taxes are worse for a lot of people this year (including me) because of the need to do loss calculations and such associated with our little rain event named Hurricane Harvey. It's a lot of confusion.

you would think that maybe the weather service would just name the darn things after names or places seldom said or sued or even seen??

I can see it now, A Jimmy Stewart marathon comes on the TV and the next movie is 'Harvey'

Next thing you know ElrodW and most of Texas is in the corner curled up rocking back and forth..."Wet...rain...rain...the cars...the car...sheetrock!...sheetrock!" is mumbled for hours!

lighttech wrote:

elrodw wrote: Taxes are worse for a lot of people this year (including me) because of the need to do loss calculations and such associated with our little rain event named Hurricane Harvey. It's a lot of confusion.

you would think that maybe the weather service would just name the darn things after names or places seldom said or sued or even seen??

I can see it now, A Jimmy Stewart marathon comes on the TV and the next movie is 'Harvey'

Next thing you know ElrodW and most of Texas is in the corner curled up rocking back and forth..."Wet...rain...rain...the cars...the car...sheetrock!...sheetrock!" is mumbled for hours!

You're not far off. Everyone - and I mean EVERYONE - gets a very nervous look in their eyes when it rains. Thunderstorm sets some people into a near panic. Harvey was an awful event to live through - watching the non-stop rain, and the water rising slowly and inexorably toward your neighborhood and house, and there's not a damned thing you can do. Knowing you were going to lose a LOT. Deciding whether to evac or not, figuring your resources, considering the pros and cons, wading through deep water to talk to the neighbors about what they were doing. And then the water went down and shell-shock set in. You look around the house helplessly and wonder - where to I start? How am I going to recover from this?

Fortunately, people came from all over the country to help. My own KofC council had people from 18 states, mostly Louisiana. The Cajun Navy - volunteers with boats - came in to help rescue people who were stranded. People from my office came in a swarm and gutted the inside of our house - which was fortunate because I'd just had rotator cuff surgery and couldn't do anything. Wife's office also had volunteers helping us.

The number of people going to counselors for dealing with the ongoing, non-stop stress of trying to put their lives back together is huge. Fortunately, there's a lot of financial and volunteer help so people who couldn't otherwise afford to talk to a counselor can get help.

elrodw wrote: Fortunately, people came from all over the country to help. My own KofC council had people from 18 states, mostly Louisiana. The Cajun Navy - volunteers with boats - came in to help rescue people who were stranded. People from my office came in a swarm and gutted the inside of our house - which was fortunate because I'd just had rotator cuff surgery and couldn't do anything. Wife's office also had volunteers helping us.

This is honestly the top thing that I really, really love about American culture.

We are sometimes total jerks to each other. We're constantly divided over really, really stupid issues. We're downright rude and mean...just because. Sometimes we go weeks, months, or even years without talking to our neighbors (depending on region). We're staunchly self-reliant most of the time.

"Pull oneself up by one's bootstraps."

But then things go horribly, horribly wrong. And they do. As far as I know, the US has more varieties of natural disasters than any other country. Wherever you are in the US, there's risk of something devastating. I think Limnic eruptions are the only ones we don't have. But when something overwhelming happens, we immediately offer whatever help we can offer. It's that outpouring of support during adversity that makes me proud.

Katssun wrote:

elrodw wrote: Fortunately, people came from all over the country to help. My own KofC council had people from 18 states, mostly Louisiana. The Cajun Navy - volunteers with boats - came in to help rescue people who were stranded. People from my office came in a swarm and gutted the inside of our house - which was fortunate because I'd just had rotator cuff surgery and couldn't do anything. Wife's office also had volunteers helping us.

This is honestly the top thing that I really, really love about American culture.

We are sometimes total jerks to each other. We're constantly divided over really, really stupid issues. We're downright rude and mean...just because. Sometimes we go weeks, months, or even years without talking to our neighbors (depending on region). We're staunchly self-reliant most of the time.

"Pull oneself up by one's bootstraps."

I think this is some curious mix of pride of self-reliance with a big shot of not wanting to be a burden to others. It's this concern for others - even in burdening them when you're in need - that seems to be a unique strength of American culture. In our (misguided) fascination with multiculturalism, it'd be a shame if these very positive characteristics of the culture were swept away and lost.

But then things go horribly, horribly wrong. And they do. As far as I know, the US has more varieties of natural disasters than any other country. Wherever you are in the US, there's risk of something devastating. I think Limnic eruptions are the only ones we don't have. But when something overwhelming happens, we immediately offer whatever help we can offer. It's that outpouring of support during adversity that makes me proud.

I've lived for over 50 years being one of the helpers, not the one needing help, so I'd taken things for granted. People need help, you help. Then in the hurricane, I saw how MUCH people help. In half a day, over 2 dozen people from my office gutted our house, getting the debris to the curb. My wife's office had large work parties come in twice to help do more sorting and tossing. During the flooding, several groups of people put themselves at risk checking to see if we were okay, including complete strangers from the Cajun Navy (our street was a waterway!). It's humbling to be on the receiving end for a change.

Charity is something a knee jerk response in Americans, so automatic as to be without thought. It's just what we do and one of the things that makes me most proud of our nation. It's quite flattering to see our mother nation recognize us as the most charitable nation on Earth.