The 100 Year Flood

As usual, there is lots of excitement here at Madge and a Half. Last Wednesday night our little suburb of Houston received 8 inches of rain in an hour and a half. Madgette had PraiseKids practice at church during this little rain. By the time we headed home, we passed several stalled vehicles and Julie says "It's like we a motor-boat!" because the roads were flooding. I was getting a little concerned (even in my Yukon) when we turned on our street. By the time we got to the stop sign about 100 feet from our house, I knew we were in trouble. The entire street was flooded and our neighbor's trash can was floating down the middle of the street.

I really love my Yukon and did not want to kill it, so I parked us in the elementary school parking lot across the street (which is higher than the street). Julie, Madgette and I had to wade across the street to get into our home! We put Madgette in the middle and Julie and I each held a hand. The water was at least 3 feet deep, and it was still raining- we finally made it to our front door and laughed so hard we almost fell down. A few hours later we looked outside and the water was all gone. So we made it home safe and sound.



EXCEPT... that the Razorback was in his Wednesday night class, and being the wonderful student that he is, he had his cellphone ringer off so I could not let him know what was going on with the roads. He left class about 9 p.m. headed home and discovered that parts of Beltway 8 were flooded but not yet closed. By the time he realized that the water was to deep for him to go through, it was too late. He was trying to pull off the road and into the new NTB (National Tire and Battery) when his camry died. He had the front end out of the water, but the trunk was floating! The wonderful employees at NTB pulled his car out of the water and into the parking lot. They also rescued as many people as they could from stalled cars. I am so grateful to this store and their employees- they stayed open ALL NIGHT with all the stranded drivers, let them watch TV, made them coffee, and even made the trek about a quarter of a mile across a muddy field to pick up pizzas for all the stranded drivers. If you live in the Humble area, please give the new NTB on the Beltway your business- they deserve it! Anyway, about 5 a.m. the Razorback calls to tell me he was able to get out and catch a ride with an off duty police officer to a local Wal-mart. I got up, woke Julie to let her know what was going on, and went to pick him up.



The insurance company has totaled the car, which has made the Razorback very sad- he loved his Toyota Camry. Needless to say, we have been looking for an inexpensive car all weekend. We decided the best thing we could do was to pay cash for a little junker run around town car for him to drive back and forth to class. We really didn't need the car payment and it was a burden anyway. So this may have been a blessing in disguise.



Today we went to a public auto auction. We went early so we could examine the cars and make a list of the ones we thought we could afford. We picked out a Toyota Avalon, and a couple other cars. We sat there for about 3 hours before any of the cars we were interested in drove onto the auction block. The Avalon was driven in, and we were quickly outbid. The same thing happened with the other cars on our list. I was very discouraged and began reading a book. The Razorback was getting a little desperate so I look up and he is bidding on this black car that was not on our list. It turns out that we did not look at it earlier because someone had written "SOLD" on the windshield. Well dear readers, the Razorback did purchase this little black car for $850. By the time we added all the buyer premiums, and other fees the total came to $1600. I am looking at him asking, "What did you just buy?" to which his response was "Honey, we now own a Benz."



What a hoot! We have bought a car without checking the engine and inspecting it thoroughly. So we have either made a good buy, or the worst mistake of our life. All I can hope is that it will stick together for about a year until he finishes school. The entire purchase price of this car is about the equivalent of 4 months car payment on the camry- and we will not owe anything on it.

So here is a hip, hip, hooray for the one hundred year flood and the thought of being rid of some debt!



Below is a picture the Razorback found like the car we have bought. It is the same style, model, and color. Ours is just missing the little Benz hood ornament... hmmm, do I see a stocking stuffer for the Razorback in our future?