Some photos

That is the remains of the park model trailer I had converted into my "HAM" Shack. I lost all of my radios and antennas.  AND my old 386 packet computer still running MS-DOS 6.22

After weeks of fighting with it, my boys and I FINALLY got the hood of my destroyed Suburban up.  And this is what we found.

When the storm came we couldn't get the Suburban started, the battery was dead and it wouldn't take a jump.

My bedroom taken from outside the broken window

That is the only one of my bookcases that is salvageable.

My living room looking towards the bathroom and the kid's 3 bedrooms.

The ceiling in the living room

The dining room looking into my bedroom and it's walk in closet.

The shared bathroom floor between two of my kid's rooms.

This was my youngest daughter's bedroom.

From the shared bathroom door into my twins son's bedroom.

The remains of my furnace/A/C unit.

My youngest son Malachi, standing in what USED to be our breakfast room, looking at the remains of our kitchen.

We walled off the family room and turned it into a fifth bedroom.  When you have SEVEN kids, that's what you do.

Tearing down all the ceilings and removing all the blown in insulation.  I HATE that stuff.  Give me batts anyday.

Looking from the family room turned bedroom turned tool room/worksop into the master bathroom.

That was my walk in closet.

The tub designed for two used to be there.  Unfortunately, I'm the only person who ever really used it.

The ceiling in my bedroom.

As you can see, I have to totally rebuild the inside of my house.  And I"m rapidly running out of money.  I'm having to pay my eldest daughters rent and car payment since she still can't return to work because of the injuries she sustained in the roll over.  And her lawyer is now not so keen on pursuing the case, since the cows that caused my daughter's accident happen to belong to one of the county Justice of the Peace.  I'm not going to name names now, but if it goes on much longer I may not have any choice.

I've got the county yelling at me, I've got a shyster trying to buy my property for less than 1/10th of it's value, and he happens to related to the county employee who is yelling at me about my property.  And I"m not the only person getting treated this way.

If you can help, I really would appreciate it.  If you can donate money you can send it one of two ways.

PayPal via the followng link: paypal.me/greylocke

Or Go Fund Me via this link: Fundraiser for Mark Anderson by Mary Louise Anderson : Help for Anderson Family

I'm trying to rebuild my house and fight of the county, all the while paying not just my bills but my kid's bills as well.  And I"m about completely tapped out.

Thank you to Samaritin's Purse for their help in gutting my house.  Without them and Reverend Billy Graham's assistance both physical and spiritual, I would be in a much worse place than I am now.

Helicopter view of the destruction after Hurricane Harvey

This video should be at 4:20 and at 4:20 to 4:26 you can see the destruction of my house, my ex-wife's house and my 2 neighbors my mom rents to, homes as well.

In the linked Washington Post below you can see my ex-wife and one of our sons as she sits on the remains of her 3 bedroom 14X70 trailer, and STILL FEMA hasn't helped her and they are still jacking me around for the rental assistance.  And yes, I am the "Ex-Husband" sleeping in a tent in the bakyard she is referring to.

With thousands still in shelters, FEMA’s caution about temporary housing hinders hurricane recovery - The Washington Post

PragerU - What Is the Alt-Right?

Julie Borowski - 10 Questions for Liberals

A couple of vids

Well I haven't had the chance to get any video that is interesting.  I've been spending most of my time laying on the air mattress because my neck and hip are screaming at me.  Thank our Creator for wireless keyboards, I can lay down and type his much better without twisting and contorting my body to do so.

I got the parts and pieces to fix the power pole/meter at the house ordered from Home Depot.  $232.08 and it's supposed to be ready for pickup tomorrow or Wednesday.  They are just waiting on the 200 Amp meter panel to come in.  When they line crews came through and removed my electric meter, they damaged my meter panel/box so it need to be replaced.  I called to complain but was told basically "Tough Ta Ta's"  so there went $55.00 for a new box.  At least they didn't damaged the 200 Amp main panel too badly although I did have to order some new connectors to replace the joins between the meter panel and the main panel.  They also cut the wire coming into the meter panel, meaning I'm out over $100.00 to replace the copper lines they cut.  They can run aluminum wire, but "I" have to run copper lines from their pole to my meter. And at $2.55 a foot for 45 feet of 2/0 thhn wire it runs about $114 plus tax.  At least I was able to get them to ship to store to save me the shipping costs.  I still have to run to Corpus almost 45 miles away to pick it up though.

Cell service is still spotty.  I was siting here and suddenly my phone popped up saying I had 3 voice mails.  I checked and they are from LAST week.  I didn't see nor hear of any missed calls and I didn't have any earlier today when I was trying to get in touch with my attorney.

I really don't like doing this, but I still need help financially.  So of you can spare some money it would be very much appreciated.

To send money through PayPal please use: paypal.me/greylocke

To donate through Go Fund Me, please use the page my daughter set up: Fundraiser for Mark Anderson by Mary Louise Anderson : Help for Anderson Family

It will be at least 3--4 weeks before I can move into the camping/rv trailer I got.  And many months before my house is livable again.

I am still trying to find a septic company to recertify my septic system, but until I get the electricity back on, no one will even come look at it.  Plus the least expensive septic company wants $250.00 just to come look at it   That's not including any repairs it might need.  nor pumping out the tanks.

So please if you can help, use the links above to donate.

Eating lunch/dinner - venting in a tent and Demonetized

A couple of pictures

Since a lot of readers donated money to help my family and I, I decided to post a few pictures so you can see just what the money that you have given to us has bought.

You can see my son Mitchell using the DR Trimmer/Mower I bought from Tractor Supply and you can see the bedrails of the 1996 Chevy K1500 I also bought.  That big RV/Camper is one that had been rolled over and a neighbor gave it to my other neighbor Bill.  Bill rents a pad from my mom so it's on my property until he can get it rebuilt.

This is the RV/Trailer I bought with funds donated.  The truck and the trailer together was $5,237.00   I used money that was donated plus money from FEMA to get both of them.  That total cost includes the cost of the gas to go get them, and the cost of getting the truck registered.  The table was found up in a tree, literally in a tree.  The chairs were given to me by a reader who actually drove several hundred miles to bring them to us, in addition to two ladders, an electric chainsaw which has gotten much use, and a small wheel barrow.

I've got the trailer running off a generator right now and I was charging up the chassis batteries.  My charger/starter was recovered from my house and while it no longer can start a vehicle it can still charge at the 2 amp rate.  I don't have the $119 to replace it right now.  Well I do, but I have other more important things I need to get.

A better shot of the trailer.  I still need an electrician to get my power pole and supply panel repaired.  I already purchased a supply panel specifically for this trailer, but again, I need an electrician to install it.  Every electrician I have called wants $600-$1000 when "I" am supplying all the materials.  It's only about a 2-3 hour job since  the boys and I are doing the majority of the work and they still want 600-1000 bucks! Then add in they told me it would be 2-3 weeks before they could get to my panel.

So I asked my mom to print out these two books.  The boys and I will three hole punch them and put them in binders and we will try to wire up what we can ourselves.  Then hopefully I can get an inspector to sign off on it.  Otherwise I need to find even more money.

I'm sorry to ask again, but if you can help you can either send us funds either through PayPal at: paypal.me/greylocke

Or you can donate at the Go Fund Me page my daughter set up: Fundraiser for Mark Anderson by Mary Louise Anderson : Help for Anderson Family

I'm not trying to scam anyone, unlike some people out there, I'm just trying to clean up my property and rebuild my home. I will be posting more pictures and my boys were given a small Vivitar Camera Drone, so I will try to post up some of the video they say they will take for me this weekend.

PragerU - The "Anti-Hate" Group That Is a Hate Group

Still in the Tent

I'm still living in a 6 person tent in my mom's back yard.  I'm trying to find an electrician to repair my electrical service panel and pole so I can move into the trailer I bought with the funds that were donated plus funds I got from FEMA.  I've shot some video of the trailer and the boys and I over at the house trying to clean up so we can reposition the trailer, however my phone recorded the video really weird and I can't figure out how to rotate it so I can upload it.

I'm also having to pay not just my bills but almost ALL the bills of my 2 oldest daughters.  The good news is that Sprog #2 now has a job as a music teacher up by Austin.  The bad news is I still had to make her car payment and help her with her rent/deposit and utilities for her new apartment.

My daughter Mary who had the car accident, well since the accident, they found out she had several fractured vertebrae and is on FMLA, but she isn't getting paid, so I'm helping her with her rent and utilities and car payment as well.

So I'm rapidly running out of money and I'm still trying to get my house repaired and everything else done.

I hate to keep asking like this, but if you can afford to send a little my way to help me take care of my obligations and get my home fixed, I would be eternally thankful.

To send me money through PayPal please use the following link: paypal.me/greylocke

To donate through the Go Fund Me page my daughter set up, please use the following link: Fundraiser for Mark Anderson by Mary Louise Anderson : Help for Anderson Family

As of right now, the boys are in school, my son Matthew is still staying with his elder sister Mary down in Corpus, but the other 3 are staying in my mother's house while I sleep out in the tent..  There is no room inside.  So I just go in to use the bathroom and clean up.

I'm hoping that as soon as I get the electrical hooked back up I can get my septic system inspected, then I can just hook the trailer up to the electrical panel and septic.  THEN I can move out of my mom's back yard and start really working on my house.

before and after overhead photos of my house

My house is the one at the top of the picture.  the one behind my house is my ex-wife's house, the other two are rental units.  the ones in the bottom right is my neighbor Jim and his wife Theresa.  Behind my ex's trailer home is my large shed/carport.

Now, on to the AFTER photo.

My house is severely damaged, my ex-wife's house is completely destroyed, my shed is still standing surprisingly.  The other 2 rentals trailers are also destroyed.

I finally got a small RV/Trailer, however I still have a long way to go to get it setup properly and to begin rebuilding my house.

I got a quote to fix my roof and it's more than FEMA gave me.  Everyone I've spoken too however is telling me to get at least 4 quotes, due to predatory contractors.

The money I've gotten from you, my readers has made it so much easier to try to rebuild our lives.

However I'm ashamed to say, I still need more.

I've gotten a trailer and halfway decent full size pickup truck, I've replaced tools that were lost/destroyed by the storm.  However I need to have a licensed electrician fix my service panel before the electric company will put my meter back in.  I also need to get a licensed and bonded septic service company to check my septic system.  Both of those are not cheap.  I'm still seeking bids but the lowest electrician bid was almost $1,000.00  The septic companies want between $600.00 to $1,100.00 to re-certify my septic system.

So again, I'm asking for your help.

If you can afford it you can either donate through the Go Fund Me page my daughter set up at: Fundraiser for Mark Anderson by Mary Louise Anderson : Help for Anderson Family

Or you can send me money directly through PayPal at: paypal.me/greylocke 

Anything you can spare will be greatly appreciated.  I'm still trying to get my mother's cable fixed so I can have hi-speed internet again and I can upload LOTS of pictures of what damage has been done, and what my family and I are doing to fix out house.

An update 9/28/2017

Well I had hoped to have really decent news here.  Alas it was not meant to be.

A reader, who is retired Navy had located 2 of the FEMA trailers for me, which I could purchase.  However the amount was higher than I could afford so he negotiated for me.  And he and I THOUGHT we had a good deal.  Come to find out that we didn't.  I and my kids had our hopes up a bit that we could get out from under my mother's roof and I could start gutting and rebuilding my house.

Well, now that I don't have the trailers to go on site, the help I was promised for gutting my house so I can start to rebuild it was pushed back 2-4 weeks.

I am trying not to get depressed, but you can only keep up your good spirits for so long before the well runs dry.

So I'm still looking for a roof to put over our heads so we can move out of my mom's house/yard and start the process of rebuilding.

I have a line on a 25' RV/Travel Trailer up by Houston, but I won't know until later if I can get it.

I'll post more as I find it.

An update on my family's situation - Hurricane Harvey

Well as you know, Hurricane Harvey wiped me out.  It destroyed my home, my main transportation,most of my belongings and those of my kids, then a week after Hurricane Harvey my daughter was in an accident, rolling her Ford Escape and getting banged up pretty bad.

Well since then many people have donated to help us,and FEMA gave me some money.  Not enough to rebuild and replace everything, but enough to start.

One of the things we HAD to replace was my daughters car.and as of Saturday evening we did that.  Using some of the money donated by family/friends/readers we had enough for the down payment to get her a 2013 Ford F-150 Crew Cab.

The paramedics said that if she had been in a car, she would have died.  And now my daughter knows why I like large vehicles, so she got a new/used truck that she can afford the monthly payments and insurance on.

Me and the rest of the kids are still at my mother's house three streets over from my wrecked house.

FEMA gave me enough money to gut my house but not enough to rebuild it, so I will have to buy a cheap camper for us to live in and a cheap used truck to haul us all around and haul materials in.  That will cost me about 5 grand with tax, title and license.  Then the boys and I will have to gut the house ourselves, walls, ceilings, and floors, and rebuild it ourselves.

I will also have to get the roof replaced first.  I hope I will have enough funds to replace the shingled roof with a metal roof and to install stronger hurricane straps between the roof and the walls.

Then I will have to replace all of the windows and the front and back doors.

I'm going to take a page from some of the other homes in the area and "Ferrocrete/Ferrocement" the exterior walls.  Think of concrete stucco.  Yes my house will look like a concrete block house, but I won't have to worry about any further hurricanes.  And the boys and I could do most of it ourselves.

I'm still not sure how much damage was done to my septic system, nor how much it is going to cost to repair.  The last time I had to have it repaired it cost me almost a thousand dollars.

It's going to be hard, especially as I have a totally screwed up spine and the boys are back in school.  So, I'm going to have to hire some help somehow on less than $1,200.00 a month income from Social Security

I know that I will need an extension ladder and some scaffolding about 20 feet max, where I'll get the money for those and everything else, I'm still not sure.

So if you wish to help out you can always donate to the Go Fund Me my daughter set up: https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-anderson-family

Or you can send me money through PayPal: paypal.me/greylocke

I'll try to post more updates as I can, however I'm still using my cruddy HP Netbook which continually locks up on me, and I'm having to use my cell phone to tether it as we still don't have phone or cable lines back up in my area.  I just switched to the all cable bundle to save myself over $200.00 a month, then a hurricane happens.

So if anyone has an old work station or desktop computer with at least 8 GB of ram and can run Windows Vista 64 Bit or Windows 7 64 Bit, please let me know by e-mailing me.  I can REALLY use a full size computer again.  This netbook is maxed out at 2 GB of RAM and is so slow it's driving me batty.  I also can't use it to edit photos or video, and I have over 28 GB of photos and video of the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey to edit and post.

One VERY good thing that did happen though is the Greener MK III that I ordered and finished paying for in March finally arrived and my FFL took it to his Sooper Sekrit Bunker to sit out the hurricane.  It's now in my safe with all of my other firearms.  It only took me 4 months to pay that shotgun off at $125.00 a month, I'm glad I didn't lose it to the hurricane as well.

When it rains it pours

Well you know from my previous post "Well that was fun"that I'm down my main vehicle.  Today my daughter picked me up and drove me to my pain management Dr's office and to the pharmacy to get my scrips refilled and the hardware store to pick up some things I need to help fix up what I can.

On her way home, she swerved to avoid hitting some cows in the road and rolled her Ford Escape several times.  She is currently in Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi getting X-rays and her vehicle is totaled.

So now my family is down 4 vehicles.

If anyone has some inexpensive vehicles that run decent please hit my e-mail  GreyLocke@gmail.com

I really need at LEAST 3 decent vehicles.  One for my daughter, one for my Ex-wife and one for myself.

Edited to add: photos of her car at the salvage yard.

According to the report, it rolled over 4 times with my daughter in it.  All because some cows got out and up on the main highway.

Well that was fun

We survived Hurricane Harvey.  My house was basically destroyed.  My Suburban was destroyed.  My main computer was destroyed.  I'm typing this on my netbook that I set up to make KTD drives since it wasn't really good enough or fast enough for anything else.  I doubt my house is repairable, I KNOW my Suburban isn't repairable.  When Salt Water Surge basically buries your car to the roof top, there is nothing salvageable in that.

I was able to recover my firearms.  If you have been watching my twitter feed you'll know that my youngest son and I tried to clean up 3 of my Mossberg 500 barrels.  However that is about impossible.  The salt water did too much damage.

My Beretta 71 also came very close to that state, however I was able to get to it sooner.  My sons didn't bury it in the bottom of the pile of stuff like they did my Mossberg 500 barrels.  It's slide however will need a re-blue in it's future.  Dozens of magazines however may be beyond all help I can give, which is slightly upsetting since Tokarev Magazines are a little hard to find.

I also have to deal with over a thousand 12 ga. shells with corroded bases.  That is going to be fun.

Now on to the pictures.  I won't be able to give proper descriptions as this netbook is acting real goofy about certain HTML coding.

back of the house taken from 1 street over.

see that pile of stuff in the fore ground?  That was my ex-wife's house and it's gone.

according to a neighbor, the flood water were to the top of my suburban

he said the only part of it he saw was the roof rack

the water blew out the back window of the suburban

it took 2 days before I could actually drive on my street.  Between the water still being 3-5 feet and the downed power lines

you can see some of the flood water which was still over my street in places.

I lost windows, siding, parts of the roof.  The ceilings fell down inside raining insulation everywhere.

I was standing in almost a foot of water taking this photo. 

That WAS my bathroom window

and I used to have a walkway and steps in front of my house.

My Rubbermaid shed that held parts of my solar setup is in pieces, 2 of my charge controllers and one inverter is just flat out gone.

So you can see, I'm in bad shape.  I need to replace my suburban and a whole bunch of other stuff.

I'm really concerned because I had to register my sons in the school district almost 25 miles away, and there is no bus service, and I can't have them ride in the bed of the S-10.

If you can help us, any help would be appreciated.

My PayPal quick link is paypal.me/greylocke

If someone has a real inexpensive minivan or a car big enough for 3 big teenagers my 21 year old son who has Aspergers, plus myself, I really really could use it as quickly as possible.

My boys need to get back to school.  For now we have a roof over my head, although sleeping on the couch and air mattresses on the floor isn't exactly comfortable, it's more than some people have.

My oldest daughter, you might know as Sprog #1 has started a Go Fund Me campaign to try to help, if you can help here is the link.  https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-anderson-family

The picture shown there is my Ex-Wife's trailer shoved against my storage shed.  My daughter took it from her car window as she still couldn't get out of her car because of the water in the driveway.

Please if you can help out, anything would be appreciated.

My kids and I and my Ex- Wife Michele, we have lost almost everything.  So if you have it to spare, please consider donating.

Thank you for reading my scribbles.