Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

I asked the boss if I could drain the rest of my sick days to take off the next week and focus on recovery.

He just arbitrarily granted me a week's paid vacation.

I think I'm still gonna do some pro-bono work for him. I believe the exact words I used in my reply were "eternal fealty."

It dawned on me that the massive power failures in New Orleans might be the thing that saves our cats. Electrocution in flood waters with downed power lines was one of my big fears.

I have no idea if any of this is realistic. I'll be honest, my hopes are still pretty grim, especially 'cause I have no idea how or who's gonna feed them even if they DID make it through.

This is exactly how 90% of the Internet's "sympathies" towards New Orleans are landing for me right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIwPhzT4Lb8

(That other 10%? That's YOU. You have been invaluable and give me a very reassuring and strengthing sense that Peg and I will not be left alone to founder in all this. <3 <3 <3 )

gonna have a nice dissociative stress wank to fend off the urge to kill myself

(i categorically will not actually harm myself. not as long as my mom and peggy walk this earth. but damn, does the idea of rage-quitting this stupid unfair game sound appealing right now)

Yeah, shit is really hitting the fan now that it looks like NOLA's electrical infrastructure took a massive hit.

I don't know if it'll even be possible, but I might have to get @anthracite out of there, hole up with her in Ohio for a while, and find someone to feed any remaining cats. (We have at least two strong maybes, which is a relief.)

I suspect I will not be able to fly home on Thursday. If I do, I have no idea how I'll even do my job.

We're definitely gonna need your assistance soon.

Still scared shitless but you know, I've had multiple people on Reddit and Twitter thank me for my efforts in correcting misinformation, debunking rumors, yelling at NOLA haters, and calming people the fuck down.

That feels really good. I can't pitch in more directly, but I can at least use my skills from here to help people get solid facts. I am so pissed off at the sheer irresponsibility of spreading bad info in the midst of something like THIS where people need to make major safety decisions based on it... >_____<

OK seriously, can anybody here make heads or tails out of the following sentence: "Please refer to the virologists that worked on the last COVID user Obama that used that analogy."

I'm not _just_ making fun of them. I genuinely have absolutely no fucking idea what they're saying. I have been tangling with this sentence for like 20 minutes. I'm stumped.

And they seemed so confident they were owning me. ?_?

Full context: https://twitter.com/BFT_Podcast/status/1432164389201788939

uncle is bitching about the cleveland "guardians" changing their name from the indians

go the fuck home jeff

this is a solemn fucking occasion for me and i can not take another fucking minute of chirpy boomer chitchat

i don't fucking care if lake ponchartrain is salt or fresh water

i don't care if those things you saw on a merry little vacation to my wife's doomed hometown were pumping stations

i don't care what the fuck you think about beignets, uncle jeff

i love you guys but fuck on home to your dry little suburb please

my aunt and uncle are visiting and are CHATTY about the hurricane and obnoxiously optimistic (read: "dismissive of my fears") about the cats and i am gonna fucking end them

There's some horrible, stoic, dark, bloody-minded part of me that's... almost glad that the world decided Nature decided to rip this bandaid off this fast. I was always scared this would happen-- to the cats, to our life in New Orleans, to everything we had down there.

If they're gone, we won't have to spend every day worrying about them. And if I ever make friends with an animal again, it'll be one we can protect better than this. Love you, cats. I don't want to say goodbye, but if this is it, it was a joy knowing you and a tragedy losing you.

Peg is just about 20 minutes outside of Hattiesburg, MS and should be safe in a hotel soon.

Meanwhile the eyewall (and the most destructive winds) are trending east, which would make for a direct hit on New Orleans. There is a rather high chance that not only will this be a Total Party Kill for our cats, but we will not have a place to inhabit when we get back.

It all depends on the tracks. If it doesn't budge the least bit further east we'll still get some pretty nasty stuff but not as bad as it could be.

I am very braced to have to write off the cats, and not even be able to return to NOLA for some time if ever.

We'll deal one way or the other. I need Peggy more than I need my stuff. And if we lose the cats, we will celebrate their lives. We'll need you-- for all of the above. We'll let you know. Thank you. Love you.

Peg has just been picked up by two local friends for evacuation. They have two hotels booked in different cities that should be out of Ida's path.

She had to make a very very difficult last minute decision not to rescue any of the cats. Sugarfoot was the only one around and travel for the little fusspot would be TORTURE for all including and especially her.

I feel guilty, of course. I am absolutely scared shitless for my friends. I am going to go off on the next person who gives me the lecture on how the cats will be fine-- I don't want to, because I know you have a point, but I can not afford to take on any false hopes right now.

I am in full stoic mode. I have already mourned for them and apologized to Bast and their little souls-- but we all knew this was the one thing we couldn't protect them from.

I will be overjoyed if they make it and destroyed if any don't. If the gods made bargains, and I know they don't, I'd offer up all my physical possessions to save them.

If they don't come through this, and/or if our place is uninhabitable beyond near-term repair, I will need TONS of emotional support and distractions. My most grateful appreciation in advance because I will probably not be functional enough to thank you properly then.

still worried for the cats but the latest "spaghetti" models are predicting much lower odds of a Cat 4 and now somewhat favor a Cat 3 or even maybe a 2

this is good news but it could shift back at any time

the other good news is peg has a confirmed offer to stay with friends in the area, might have already mentioned that, am so frazzled

so peg's gonna be fine regardless i think -- she feels guilty for leaving the cats but honestly unless this dips all the way back to a 2 or low 3 i don't see how that could be safe

Looks very likely to be a Cat 4 or higher.

Peg is seriously pondering bugging out of town.

There's basically not much we can do for the cats except leave them extra food and pray to Bast.

I might lose a lot in the coming 3-4 days.

I am gonna need some serious help keeping myself together as of now.

Getting some kind of reassurance from the Louisiana hurricane fatality statistics on Wikipedia: only 30 people died in Hurricane Laura last year, which hit west of NOLA as a Cat 4. Most of those were weird incidental things, like downed trees or monoxide poisoning from indoor gas generators.

That's what it's come to, though. Still scared shitless for the cats braced for bad news but cautiously optimistic that they can handle 1-2 days of hiding on high grounds and no food if Peg has to bail.

I have romanticized notions that they'll hang out with their cousins down the street and they'll all peacefully share the abandoned house together.

My inner Daoist Farmer keeps telling me for all I know, this is just me losing my REAL hurricane fear cherry good and hard. That maybe this is a potential act of mercy from the gods, and since I was so terrified about this possibility, they're getting it outta the way for me, with my hands tied, so I can see Peggy and the cats are gonna get through this fine...

I dunno. If anything bad happens I am gonna need you guys more than ever. Sunday and Monday are gonna be rough days no matter what.

Yup, looks like NOLA is going to take a Cat 2+, right around the anniversary of Katrina, while I'm stuck up here in Ohio.

I think Peg can handle a Cat 2 on her own. If it gets much worse, she's going to have to evacuate and I am scared shitless about what this is gonna mean for our cats. ;__;

Luckily if it stays at a 2, it's moving really fast and might not linger long enough to cause too much damage.

I dunno. I could really use some reassurance or something right now. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen if I left home for any length of time.

so naturally after i bump my flight to ohio back a week to avoid traveling during a storm that didn't amount to anything, a storm system pops up the day i do travel that's even got our local Elder Meteorologist concerned

it's ok. i checked the current tracks and they're not that bad for NOLA. but the potential for ironic doom here, especially close to the Katrina anniversary, is not doing my anxiety about being out of town any favors

uh not that i'm likely to be permitted any meals out while i'm visiting home, not with an italian mom who hasn't gotten to cook for anyone except my whiteass stepdad for a year and a half

holy shit

my shitty hometown somehow got itself an authentic and well-reviewed taqueria

i know, i know, authenticity is an overvalued neo-colonialist concept. but this is near akron ohio mind you

i would have been reasonable happy just to see they don't serve their tacos on wonder bread

they even have esquites and piña loca. huh. and there's a new thai place one town over. maybe my mom wasn't kidding about that local renaissance.