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PTINS

Burnt Ends
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  1. Brigette Bardot (Shalako) did for me when I was 12. ... and the Cheyenne Social Club is a Top 10 movie for me, James Stewart has always been a hero, "You must come from a part of Texas I ain't heard of." Pinocchio getting swallowed by the whale did it to me. For my kids, Twister. Both of my kids were born in Oklahoma, one in Enid, not to far from Wakita. I thought it would be a good idea to take them to see Twister at ages 6 & 8. Parenting grade? F-. Kids are still traumatized by thunderstorms. My son had a 7th grade swim party, after which ~ 20 kids stayed to watch The Exorcist. It start out with them laughing at the lines and making fun of they had heard on TV shows. After a while, it started getting quiet, to quiet. I went to check, and the kids were petrified, not talking, or moving, barely breathing. Some of the neighborhood kids insisted I walk them home, down the middle of the street instead of the sidewalks, on a well lit street in a gated community.
  2. It worked for me, (those accessories being the other Natural Gas Liquids).
  3. I played softball with a guy that worked for Playtex. He had a peculiar talent for identifying bra and cup sizes at a glance. Just standing and commenting as they walked by, 33C, 32B, 34D etc. The reactions he got were funny, shock, embarrassment, gratitude. Yeah the 34 D's and DD's knew they had it, and appreciated when others acknowledged that fact. I remember his comments on the right tits being in the wrong bra. Yeah, even back then I knew to stay in my lane before it was fashionable to do so.
  4. Fuck you Josh Pate! I watched the Godfather last night, w/ subtitles. Top 10 movie ever. I come to Surly, and we get two 5* within 10 minutes of reading... I immediately think, and I read some more, and you fuckers ruined it.
  5. and because I watch the Godfather last night ...
  6. To be clear, the elevation proximate to the river is a much bigger issue than the distance to the river. Google Earth screenshot near Hunt, TX, near the confluence of the North & South Forks of the Guadalupe River. The Guadalupe River is at a 1770' Elevations as shown by Yellow Point upstream (south) of Camp La Junta. The orange lines are at a 1791' Elevation, 21 feet above the "normal" S. Guadalupe River level. I used 21 level as that level is the approximate level that separates Camp La Junta from the surrounding hills to the east (1990' Elevation). This 21' increment is much lower that the rise in river levels that just flooded. Everything between the orange lines would have been under water at a minimum, including part of Hunt, TX. Note that Highway 39 would have been under water at Hunt, cutting off any access to Kerrville. Realistically, cutting of any access to anything, in or out. Screenshot of a wider area. Highway 39 from Hunt runs south and west, ending at Highway 83, 28 miles from Hunt. Kerrville's population is ~ 24,000; Bandera is less than 3,000 people. Not much else beyond that. There is not another town between Hunt and Highway 83. I looked for a ranch out here for 3 years before I bought mine, including the ranch where the Guadalupe River originates, and drove along the river all the way to Kerrville. Nothing but expensive (for me) vacation properties and second homes right on the river. This part of the Hill Country is among the most remote, the least populated, and the most scenic, surrounded by state parks and recreation areas, and private camps. I can look west across the Sabinal River valley, and not see any sign of civilization, other than radio towers on the horizon. We watched the 2004 Rose Bowl at a Mr. Gattis in Kerrville, and drove to Utopia via Hunt, past La Junta and Camp Mystic, and Vanderpool. I haven't been on that road since. Probably the most nauseous drive I've ever been on. Nothing but curvy roads going up the hills and down the valleys for 40 miles. This is Charlie Wilson's demographic, w/ 10% of the population.
  7. Both could be true.
  8. Re: Fema From what I remember from the Hurricane Katrina (2005) discussion about the timing of a Fed response, the timeline of events was some like this: Event is coming, Hurricane Katrina (2005), everyone (Louisiana) started flat footed, Hurricane Rita, 1 month later (Texas), The Good; National Guard on standby, supplies (food, water, gasoline) were pre-positioned at various locations (along major arteries) in anticipation of coming events.) The Bad; evacuate Houston, instead of just the low lying areas. Day 1. Hurricane Landfall, help is needed. The State petitions the Federal Government, the Fed is in motion (Best case, response is immediate. The levy failure and flooding of New Orleans did not happen immediately.) Day 1-2, Call up National Guard; National Guard ~ 24 hours to show up at rally point Day 2-3, National Guard begins acquiring necessary supplies and equipment, deploys to location Day 3-4, National Guard on site, responds to emergency. The takeaway from Katrina was that the Local and State responses were the critical first lines of support until Federal assistance showed up in force, which would still be at least 2-3 days after the event. It seams every "natural disaster", before and since, follows this same script. There is no substitute for the local governments (Volunteer Fire Departments, City & County) having some resources that can be called upon and deployed immediately, before the State and Federal resources can deployed in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, the demands that places on certain individuals and the skill sets necessary to effectively manage the situation are rarely in the same place at the same time.
  9. Rainfall totals, last 7 days.
  10. Thank you for your great and informative posts. This was tragic. No other way to frame it. I view this as a combination of "An Act of God", not reasonably within the control of an individual, and a series of decisions, that when combined, was catastrophic. Having read every post in this thread, the legacy of these camps, family ownership for 100 years, the multiple generations of kids that have gone to them, the personal experiences and contacts that so many of you have had over the years, those are the nuggets that make life special. Now, none of us will think about those wonderful times, or July 4th, without thinking of this tragedy, and I am sad for you. You are my people. My frame of reference as a camper is as BSA Scoutmaster. I was fortunate to have a 2:1 ratio of scouts/dads on our campouts, and a great group of boys who grew into young men, half of which became Eagle Scouts. Good or bad, most of the dads were engineers, geologists and IT guys. Say what you will about the Boy Scouts, but having a plan and being prepared was a given. Though the reasons for having 2 deep leadership was unfortunate, having 2 deep leadership worked. Working and growing up professionally in a culture of safety is something one appreciates, especially when you see others who don't embrace that ethic. It makes me angry that the young, and the innocents were the victims, and their friends and families have to carry the burden. When I go to the ranch, the phone is for my convenience, not for others to contact me. I am not saying this is smart, or reasonable, or respectful to my family, that is just the way it is. I go there to be unplugged. I try to check in every day to let them know I am ok, and I check the weather every day; in the evening, texts, emails, etc. If its is important, I respond, if not, it can wait. Two big differences. (1) the house is a higher elevation than the water has ever been. The summer we bought the ranch, our box canyon that drains through my ranch got 35" of rain in 2-3 days (500 year rain event). The house is ~ 10 feet above that level and sits on a shelf 300 ft wide. (2) I don't have 700 children sleeping on my ranch. Yes, when I saw the topography of the area, my first thought was the main Guadalupe River backing up and flooding the camps from the downstream side. I can't imagine anything worse than having floodwaters coming from both directions, in the dark and in unfamiliar surroundings. I had similar trauma in 1970, when I was 13. I never talked about it til 10 years ago, once, and until last month. The survivors will be scarred for life. Talk with them. Don't let, or make them carry that inside, alone.
  11. The dining hall is in the foreground. It looks like they partially covered the tennis courts. The cluster of buildings towards the NW/4 of the photo are the girls cabins. They are shown better in the screen shot below. I deleted the NY Times words and added my own. My updated screen shot based on information in this thread. (Same disclaimer, relying on Google Earth and info in this thread.) The map is inverted to match the pictures above. Up on the screen shot is facing almost due south. The orange polygon is the 1850' and below asl elevation, the older part of Camp Mystic that is the lower elevation. The South Fork of the Guadalupe River flows right to left along the bottom of the screen shot, with Cypress Creek entering from the top. Zoomed in w/o the 1850' polygon. All of the house icons are the girls cabins, I think. If the younger girls were in the cabin closest to the river (in elevation), that would be "Twins 1 & 2". These are the only cabins at or below the 1850' above sea level (asl) elevation, 20-25' higher than the normal river level, and ~ 370 ' from waters edge. The "Bug House" cabin is closer to the river, and the road and all the cabins in a line are higher than 1850' asl, +25' above waters edge. The "Twins 1&2" cabins are within sight of the office, adjacent to the other cabins, and close to the dining hall & rec center, all of which seem reasonable. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be an easy way to run uphill. It is hard to imagine the water rising that quickly, that there was not enough time to evacuate safely. So sad.
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