Bigger and better

Well, Florida remains one of the worst states I have ever had the misfortune of visiting.  I had a decent time when I went for a meeting and added a day to go to epcot but that was the week before my dad died so I don’t count that.  New Jersey beats it as the top (or bottom) contender. Just a real armpit of a state.

 

Milton was a big bust as far as emergency management goes.  Good for them, sucks for us.  I got there Wednesday and we were demobilized Sunday and flew home.  While we were getting on the plane we got a message from our green suiter not to unpack because it looked like we might be turning right back around.  Sure enough Monday we got the call that we needed to book flights to the Virgin Islands asap.  I was on a plan at 7 the next morning.  So far I love it here.  I am having a little anxiety driving on the left side of the road, a lot of anxiety when it’s dark.  The roads are narrow and steep and the on-coming led headlights make it terrible to see.  I had a little bit of a melt down yesterday when I was blinded by lights as I was going down the mountain.  I know muscle memory is going to have me swerve right into traffic.  Not that going to the ‘shoulder’ is much of a better option as it is just the side of the mountain.  We made it safely, but my heart was in my throat. 

 

Back to the Florida mess.  We flew into Pensacola, our staging area was in a town, aptly named Milton, and we stayed in Destin.  The drive to the airfield took an hour so we had to leave at 0600 and didn’t get back until 8:30pm and it made the day excruciating.  Not to mention we were staged at the generator storage yard so there was only a mobile command trailer and nowhere to wait except in fold out chairs or cars.  We just sat around and went over procedures waiting for the storm to come.  The hotel was a terrible budget Hilton with a 4 inch foam pad as a mattress made for families so it was LOUD.  As you walked in the door to my roo there were bunk beds where the entry should be.  I couldn’t get the tv to turn off on the main bed and was too tired to fuck with it, so I just slept on the bunk bed.  Tuesday afternoon they told us we were going to convoy to Orlando and stage in the Disneyworld parking lot.  However, the amount of money they wanted was astronomical so they wanted to make sure we were needed.  Milton hit the next day and we were in a holding pattern to see what the need was.    We just sat around waiting for the dipshit governor to see if they would request help.  One thing I can say about FL, it is pretty self sufficient when it comes to emergency services.  We got word Friday night we were demobing asap and to start booking flights.  Me and another coworker got flights at 6:40 the next morning.  We would have to leave the hotel by 3:30 but I was ready to get the fuq out of there.  I was home before noon.   Dennis and I stopped for lunch and I went home and cuddled with my baby Olive and Bai.  I didn’t even take my suitcase out of the car. 

 

We got the word about going back out but no word on where so I just kind of chilled.  I did absolutely nothing on Sunday.  It was everything I remembered, lol.  Monday was a holiday so I decided to get a pedicure and massage because my feet and shins were tore up from walking around in steel toed boots all week.  It was amazing.  I had planned on taking Tuesday morning off but we got a text to call in on Monday evening to a call.  We got the word to mobilize asap to St. Thomas!  I got out on a flight at 7 am on Tuesday and landed at 1900.  We are staying at Margaritaville resort, and I have a margarita machine, an ice machine, small kitchen, and a washer and dryer in my room.  I am going to say this is my favorite deployment ever.  It is gorgeous here and much more affordable than Maui.  It is also so stupid hot!  It has rained everyday for about 10 minutes and turns into a sauna.  The water is also warm, unlike Maui. 

 

The storm was supposed to come in today, but the sun is shining, and the humidity is 175%.  I have come to the conclusion that this is an exercise to test out a new team concept.  We are the first of a team that is very scaled down and I think they want to test it out before they have a real life situation.  The storm never developed into a tropical depression, let alone a tropical storm/hurricane.  That’s the theory I am going with anyway.  My duties shifted a little here, I am doing reports at the joint office with fema and other emergency support personnel and they are a little confused as well.  The FEMA guys that are local are not happy with all of us being here in the least.  There are 9 generators on the island to support critical infrastructure and the contractor did a dry run for the hospital.  The generator storage base (GSB) is co occupied by the airport and FEMA guys keep saying we are going to ruin the relationship with the airport by asking them to vacate their portion.  They also couldn’t find the keys for one of the big boy gens and they told the contractor to cut the lock.  They were like nah, you can come out and do that.  They weren’t happy about that either.  It is definitely a vibe.  Island life.

 

We are just kind of sitting around waiting for them to send us home.  I don’t want to go home yet but even if they send us home, I will stay another day.  Flights are scarce so we might be here anyway (fingers crossed).  Tonight, me and the Cpt are going to eat at Margaritaville at the hotel and hang out at the swim up bar. 

 

I have made a few friends at the hotel.  I named the black cat spooky.  We had a little margarita party in my room the other night and invited him in to join but he noped out.  Most of the cats are very friendly except for a mama cat and her kitten.  I want to take them all home with me.  At least they are tipped so looks like they have a community cat program.

 

So we wait for them to tell us what to do.  It could be so much worse.  At least I am in a relatively a/c’ed office and not at the GSB this time!