Brazoria, Monday, September 19, 6:15 pm

NEAL: The Weather Channel tells us that Hurricane Rita is headed straight for the Texas coast.   Time to implement The Plan (assuming we can decide which of our several plans is "The Plan").

Earlier in the summer, we attended a day-long seminar at the Lake Jackson Civic Center.   It was sponsored by the county, and featured speeches, demonstrations, and exhibits by representatives of county, state, and federal agencies.   The basic message: GET OUT!   They explained the evacuation plans in detail, and handed out copies of the evacuation map.

McCoy's, our local building supply place, gave a presentation about hurricane preparations before getting out.   They explained how to board up windows in brick houses, and demonstrated Plylox clips to support the plywood.

So today:

• I went over to McCoy's and spent $300 for eight 4x8 sheets of plywood, a bunch of 2x4s, and 80 Plylox clips.   The clips were the most expensive item: they cost $26 per package of 20 clips.
• Starting cutting one of 4x8 plywood sheets on the radial arm saw, which promptly went into thermal overload and shut itself off before I finished even one sheet.
• Finished cutting it with the circular saw.   Worked fine, although it was a bit difficult following a straight line because the saw shoe is so rusted (like every other exposed steel surface down here in the Texas Coastal Plain).
• Quit cutting and hauled everything into the garage because it was starting to rain (one of those almost-daily "sunshowers" we have down here, where a rain cloud passes overhead while the sun is still shining brightly).
• Came inside and created this blog.