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| Cars floating up garage on 3,600,000 gallons of Hudson River |
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| My Lobby |
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| On Corner Near Sommers |
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| A Much Needed Kiss From My Two Girls |
Linda and I have made it as comfortable as possible here in Clifton, NJ. With little gas in the car we did our shopping for food and other necessities buying towels and bedclothes, er, couch clothes, at Target.
| I remembered to give the Shell station a call. He had miraculously gotten an unexpected delivery when one station tanks became filled. He was the lucky recipient. He told me though that he would not open up because he did not want to run out on the people who would line up. "Only for friends," he said, "Come on by." |
This storm brings out the best and worst in people. There are silver linings in all cloudy skies. I believe many survivors will appreciate so many things often taken for granted- electricity, water, shelter and, most of all, friends and family who have given their homes and hearts to help.
Another unexpected benefit, though my wife would disagree, is the amount of work I am getting done living in the office. The tremendous lows of this storm (I personally witnessed a man drown outside my window) on the heels of the roller coaster highs of an amazingly successful Los Angeles Textile show. Now I am working night and weekend to fill orders and sample requests.
One other cool story- Yesterday, at noon, I made the decision to drive back to our apartment to try and retrieve as many important items left behind (including one TIVO!). The gasoline range in my car was about 40 miles-enough to get there and back. Before I got into my car I remembered a story from over a decade ago. Sommers vehicles were filled up at a local Shell station where we had an account. For months, we stopped getting invoices. Even after numerous phone calls to reach the owners, no bills came. It was decided that we should not continue to take advantage of this situation and we stopped going. Two or three years later, an elderly woman stopped by our office unannounced. She claimed she was the owner of the Shell station and her husband had been ill, finally dying from cancer. She told us we owed for gas. The total was over $5,000!
Needless to say, Sommers paid the woman back. That was almost 10 years ago.
Yesterday. I stopped at the station ducking under the yellow police tape and signs saying NO GAS. The manager remembered me but told me he had no gas, no phone calls or emails as to when he would get his delivery. I asked him for his cell phone thinking I would take a chance and call every now and then.
We reached our apartment with two empty suitcases and a cooler. I had tapped into the hallway outlet that was on generator power before we evacuated. This allowed us to keep the fridge cold and hydroponic Aerogardens pumping. The building management escorted everyone to their apartments for exactly seven minutes. It was like Supermarket Sweepstakes. I did the best I could and got back into the car to head "home" to Sommers. But first I went to vote at the City Hall.
On the way back, I remembered to give the Shell station a call. The manager told me he had miraculously gotten an unexpected delivery when another station's tanks became filled. He was the lucky recipient of the excess. Though he would not open up because he did not want to run out on people lined up. "Only for friends," he said, "Come on by." With lines miles long all over the place I casually slipped under the yellow tape and filled up. Then I returned with the Sommers' van for 25 gallons that could be siphoned out for any employees making it to work on Monday.
Karma Gas
