Second One.

Well, as you can see, I didn't report after my second day, I was pretty much exhausted. I spent my 12 hour shift and then had to go downtown as well to take care of a few things at my "regular" assignment, lol. I got home at about noon and fell immediately to sleep. It sure made for a looooooong night last night, too.

Things are actually getting better if you can believe it. The Astrodome / Reliant complex still houses upwards of 18,000 or so, but the population of our little "city" has been moved around a bit so there is more room for everyone. The "Reliant Center" building has about half of the "evacuees" now, with the Houston Police Department handling that building, we have about half in the dome, Sheriff's Office taking that, and the "Reliant Arena" building is housing those with the greatest medical needs short of hospitalization. So the work load has been evened out you could say.

So far I've met Oprah, Harry Koenig, Jr., and Katy Couric from Good Morning America. It's been interesting, but they mostly just tie up resources...lol. I know it does some good for the morale though, so it's understandable when someone like Harry Koenig shows up and sings them a song or two. That was about 10 or 11 pm last night, which was odd. But anyway, so far it's not been complicated too much by celebrity. The only problem is I usually haven't gotten my camera out, or have already put it up, when they arrive...sheesh.

The people are getting along pretty well. There are a few things we've seen them do that can't really be talked about, but hey, they're only human, right? At least they've been somewhat circumspect and only got caught because we're checking every nook and cranny of the place constantly to ensure everyone's safety. It can be funny though.

My second night I went to the center of the dome roof with the Emergency Response Team. That was some trip. I took a couple of pictures from up there of the dome floor and I'll try to get those up on a web page soon. It was rather strenuous getting up there, and getting down, and my legs are sore as hell since. I also got a Tetanus shot and my damn arm is sore as well. Sheesh..... Where’s that young guy I USED to be?????? LOL. One small compensation was that one of the ERT boys, a younger member of the team, couldn't go all the way out as the height got to him....hehehehe. I didn't rub that in at ALL either....LOL.

The view from dead center of the Astrodome ceiling.

On the way back down. It was so steep you had to turn around and go backwards to keep your footing on the metal grillwork.

If you look closely, you'll see the metal grill walkway we used to get out to the middle. Looks different with the lights on.

Today, when Katy was interviewing our County Judge, Judge Echols, they chatted and laughed and traded quips while sitting right on the railing of the 6th level. There were several of us up there providing them some security while they were broadcasting and when the two of them sat up on the railing you could see every one of us lean forward as if to grab them off of there and prevent their dumb asses from falling over...sheesh. Just the mother hen syndrome I guess... but, neither of them fell. After the interview Judge Echols introduced us to Katy and said "This Astrodome Complex is now being called 'The safest city in America' and these guys are the reason why." Man, is it ever good to be appreciated or WHAT???? We're trying, that's for sure.

I've walked my butt off the past three days now. There are nine levels of the Astrodome and I've walked every level several times a night. As the population of the dome itself has gone down we've moved more and more "evacuees" from the upper floors down to the main floor. Consolidating the population makes it much easier to get services to them, to find individuals when necessary and to keep track of things going on, so we are all for it. I led a team of about 24 deputies and 20 Texas Army National Guard up to the fourth floor last night to remove the remaining "evacuees" that didn't want to move. The Red Cross volunteers had already assisted those that would move voluntarily and we went to encourage the rest to move on down. It went very well and we had the floor cleared in about 20 minutes. We encountered no major resistance and everyone cooperated. Could be there were enough of us it brooked no resistance, eh? LOL. I have to give my guys and gals kudos, they were excellent. Extremely professional while at the same time accepting no guff either. Firm but fair, that's our motto.

So, as you can see, it's actually going quite well. Better than I expected actually, I'll admit. Now, I've not turned on the news since I got up either, so it could have gone to hell in a hand basket for all I know while I slept...lol. I don't think so though.

Thanks to everyone for all the kind words and support. Wish I had time to answer every one of your posts, but I've got to eat something and put together a clean uniform for my shift tonight. 9pm to 9am, sheesh, who thought that one up???? LOL. It's been 15 years since I worked nights, I'm having to get used to it all over again.

Take care all, I'll write again when I can.

Mac