Ike's Post Script

The above pictures were taken at Houston , Clear Lake , and Galveston .

Rosebud called me just a little whole ago . She is my daughter that lives in Houston . She posted on her blog her experience of Hurricane Ike . Thought you might want to read her " eye wittiness " account of what happened to her and her husband .

Some 14 oil refiners were shut down due to Hurricane Ike and 1 in Louisianan was still closed because of a slow recovery from Hurricane Gustav that hit that state recently , reports Reuters news service . The price of oil is already on the steep rise even though President Bush had asked everyone to report any price gouging of petrol .

Ike is currently wearing his self out heading up the state of Texas toward the state of Arkansas CNN reports . The National Geographic News service tells us just HOW lucky Galveston and Houston got the very last minute as Ike had a change of heart and made a sharp turn to the right of the island as it made it's way inland , saving many lives in the process.

Hot , Hurrican Ike , And Too Much Ramadan !

Spoke to some of my family in Houston last night before Hurricane Ike hit .They had batten down the hatches so to speak . I have spoken to my daughter and son in law this morning and they are ok .Thank Allah !The National Hurricane Center said that Ike was roughly 600 miles across . That is the same distance from Houston, Texas all the way to Panama City , Florida , 6 states apart .

Many of the rivers, creeks, and bayous that lacy their way all through out the Houston area have flooded . Galveston Island and the low lands north of the island getting the worse of course .Still not a lot of news coming out of there yet since many of the telephone and electric lines are down as well as internet too . So maybe until later today or even tomorrow before I hear from the rest of the family there .

On the other hand , I have have had enough of HOT , STICKY , HUMID Tripoli today !!! The fan quit working last night . I have the air conditioner going full blast and it is still hot in the house .I take a shower and before I even dry off , I am sweating all over again ! I wish it would get cool and maybe have some rain .It's raining ever where else in the world , why not here ???

And .... Allah forgive me , I have had enough of Ramadan today ! It is one of those days when you feel like this has gone on way too long . I am not hungry or thirsty , just tired of the whole thing . Maybe it is worrying over my family that is making me feel all out of sorts , or maybe it is the full moon coming up . I don't know . I think I will go back to bed ...... until it is all over !

Libyan Blogroll

Libyan Blogroll

http://on-the-edge-of-something.blogspot.com/

Thank You & News

I just wanted to thank all of you for the Happy Birthday wishes . It was a exciting day . A good friend came over with balloons , chips , beer ( non alchoalic kind ) and candles . No we didn't set the place on fire , lol ! We did have a lot of fun though with those balloons .

Ramadan has finally settled down into it's retuine now . I am abale to get more than a meal cooked these days .Have done some reading of the Quran that I had wanted to do . A little visiting , and managed not to burn or otherwise , destroy a meal .That's big progress because for a while there it was pretty touch and go whether or not any of these things would happen .

My daughters called me on my birthday and I didn't even have the time to really talk to them and that made me feel so bad . I miss them and look forward to their calls when they get the chance to call .

I kicked Moe out of the house after he had started to grow roots into the floor in front of the TV the other night . I told him it was Ramadan and he HAD to go outside after dinner and talk to the " Jahmah " ( the group) and have some "Joe " ( weather or your state of mind ) because I was tired of having him under my feet 24/7 .

Just read where the IMF ( International Monetary Fund) organization is suggesting that Libya slow down it's public spending and decide which programs are the most important to support because of possible rising inflation from government investments outside Libya .For more on that story go to this link by Reuters .

More on the new ambassador .....A US Senate committee has decided to postpone the diplomat Gene Cert's appointment as the new ambassador to Libya because of US concerns that Libya still hasn't deposited the funds agreed upon for the victims of terrorist acts. Libya admitted to set up a account set aside for that propose . Read the rest of that story here .

One last article I found reports Gaddafi LOVES Condoleeza Rice after her visit last week to Tripoli . How the American the oil companies want this settlement deal to be finalized and finished with so " business as usual " can continue on a more secure footing than now; with a more completive edge against the European oil companies .

Hurricaines

Coming from the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, I have a very healthy respect for hurricanes .Went through several and lived to tell the tale but I have seen first hand the extreme damage that they can do to man and earth alike . If there was ever any doubt about heeding a hurricane warning , I hope that people remember the most recent Infant Terrible " Katrina" that had a terrible temper tantrum and almost destroyed a whole way of life three years ago on the southern coast of America from New Orleans to Alabama .

In 1900 another such killer struck and did destroy a island , Galveston Island , Texas .This hurricane was a category 5 and hit the island with a tidal wave that cleared everything in it's path .The people of Galveston raised the height of the island by 17 feet and built a sea wall to help prevent another such disaster from ever happening again , but after seeing the way Hurricane Ike scaled a five story apartment building in Cuba with a surge of sea water taller than the building ( and they aren't calling it a tsunami just a sea surge ) I wonder will a sea wall do any good.

Now Hurricane Ike is fore casted to hit anywhere from the Louisiana coast to maybe as far south as Mexico . It seems as of now ,the mid Texas coast ,the Corpus Christi area ,might be it's next target . Where ever it goes it will most likely be the cause of much damage because it will have a good chance to suck up tons of warm water from the Gulf Of Mexico and build it's strength back up to a full blown monster by land fall later this week . Remember that old saying ... " Don't mess with Mother Nature " ? Well , I want to add to that saying .... " Get out of Her way when She is having a fit " ! If you are living in the projected path of this storm , for goodness sakes evacuate . Evacuate from any hurricane , because you will never know which one will be the next Katrina , until it is way too late .

Who Is Ahead Now

Well it looks like Sarah "Who" Palin just might pull the rabbit out of the magic hat for Senator McCain . The very latest polls show a narrow margin with McCain ahead of Senator Obama .

I heard a news commentator say that Rush Limbaugh was so excited about her nomination as running mate for McCain that he was quoted as saying ," Hot damn ! Guns , babies , and Jesus what more does America want ?" I am not saying this is TRUE but it does make you ask yourself is this really all the American voters think about ?

They say that Senator Obama isn't qualified because of his lack of foreign policy experience but he does have Senator Joe Biden who is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the US senate .This is the balance the Democratic ticket needs . Sarah "WHO" Palin doesn't bring experience of this caliber to the Republican party at all . What if she does happened to become the president through default of McCain's demise , will she really be able to lead the US through the hard times ahead for that nation ?

Hell Has Finally Frozen Over

USA Secretary Of State Condoleeeza Rice is visiting Libya today to meet with Gaddafi , so reports Reuters news service . So , I guess this means that Hell has finally frozen over ! I am wondering where she will stay . There isn't an "Official" embassy here for America YET . I have even heard a rumor that Sheila Might be on call for her just in CASE !

There are all sorts of rumors of a embassy opening with a actual ambassador to go in it ... soon . That's the what we have been told . It will be a full service embassy , that means women like me , married to a Libyan national will be able to get service too , not just the mainland US citizens that are working here for American companies .

This will be a exciting improvement over the past , after the way we have been treated , like a step child hidden in the attic . If you can picture happy dancing , then you see many of the American women married to Libyans happy to know maybe now we be counted as a citizen again by our own country ... even though we live here in Libya .

Ramadan hasn't been going as smoothly as I thought it would this year. Our daughter in law , along with our grandson was staying with us all last week . That was a adjustment in it’s self since Haroun is into every little thing now , lol . They went back to their home last night and the house is sooo quite now . LOL ! Amazing how much life a toddler can infuse into a place !! He said his first real word the other day and it was the Libyan word " hickey " , which "means like that ". Like if he was into something he wasn't supposed to be doing , his mother would say to him ... hickey ? I guess he hears that word a lot , lol .

Tomorrow I will be a year older . I am getting into this being older thing . I am finding out that being a older person has it's own advantages , such as just doing whatever I want now . I speak my mind more often and voice my opinion to the dismay of many , lol . When there are protest , I smile and say , " hey I am old now and can say that ". People let me sit down in their seats . Allow me to go first through the door , and are patient when I am moving slowly through the check out line . Ah yes , old isn't so bad after all .

http://www.topix.net/content/reuters/2008/09/rice-to-visit-libya-in-landmark-trip
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice

Test : How Well Do you Know McCain Or Obama

Click on both of these links to participate in the quizzes testing your knowledge of McCain and Obama . Might surprise yourself with the results .

And once again , the people from REAL CLEAR POLITICS has a poll for you that shows Obama ahead as of August 31 , 2008 .