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Microcap & Penny Stocks : NAMX -- North American Expl.-- Que Sera Sera! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob who wrote (4501)	11/8/1998 12:45:00 AM
From: cAPSLOCK	Respond to of 4736

Off topic cAPS' Mitch story. The first day was windy, but wonderful. We were in paradise as far as we were concerned. The resort (El Dorado) is 60 miles south of Cancun. Actually quite a bit south of Playa del Carmen. It is surrounded by the jungle on three sides, and the ocean borders the fourth. It is remote. It's very laid back. You feel more like you are staying at home with someone than at a big commercial resort. The grounds are simple, and very beautifully kept... Palm trees, vine arches, and comfortable beaches. The accommodations are apartment style buildings with six or eight units in each. Most are only two stories, and a few are three. The rooms are done in cool Mexican tile, and there's a hammock on each balcony/porch. We arrived Sunday night, rested, ate and went to bed. Monday morning we got up and spent our first (and only) day at this resort. All day long we could tell that the storm was headed our way, and I went back to the room to check the weather channel every couple of hours. By the late afternoon it was evident that there was a VERY good chance that 'the big one' was indeed headed our way. The highest strike probability was the next day - late morning - a few hundred miles south of us. Only problem was that this storm was HUGE at the time. Well past the "category 5" classification with winds over 185 miles an hour. Even though it wouldn't land directly at our paradise, if it did land as projected the damage would still be catastrophic. Around 5 PM we received a note under our door from the hotel staff saying that they planned to evacuate us first thing the next morning. Things began to progress more quickly than that though. After we received the note we had dinner, and then a few drinks at one of the outside bars. Many of the guests were talking about the storm, but no one seemed nervous yet. Actually most folks were denying the fact that the storm was headed our way. It was getting gustier by the minute, and the ocean, which normally (I was told) is quite placid, was beginning to look like the pacific. I foolishly walked out one of the piers, to get soaked. The water was covering it some of the time. A little later we went back to the room to relax, and enjoy the hammock (I REALLY liked that feature). I could tell the ocean was angry. About 10 PM I saw a very large wave forming about 100 meters out. I must have watched it coming in for almost a minute. When it hit it washed up all the way to the rooms. Just barely retreating before touching the buildings. This was quite worrisome to me. I went to the front desk in the lobby. I was informed I should not worry and we would be leaving as scheduled. The guests were getting restless now, and there were at least 30 of them in the lobby asking the same sort of questions. I did not really feel comfortable with the answer. The grounds were quite flat; as far as I could tell the peninsula was flat like this for miles and miles, and there was no sea wall at all. Nevertheless I went back to my room to watch the ocean from my hammock. The ocean repeated its previous performance four or five times before it got bored with simply teasing us. I had looked away for a few minutes, and when I looked back I saw a much bigger wave breaking. This one didn't stop. It went all the way through the first floor of the buildings. I heard plate glass doors shatter, and people were screaming. The ocean didn't let up, and within minutes the first floor rooms were getting very wet, and covered with sand. Thankfully we were on the second floor. I went back to the lobby. This time I was informed that the company that owned the hotel was working on getting busses for us now. We should each pack a small bag with a change of clothes, and anything valuable. We should place our remaining luggage in the bathtub. I waded back to the room and we did just that. The hotel staff still seemed not to be concerned (they had all seen this before) but I was getting a little nervous. Our hotel building was now IN the ocean. It was amazing to look out the porch window, and see only the ocean, and then look out the back of the room were the stairs are and STILL see ocean. The strong waves were now tearing down the palm umbrellas (weighing at least 200 pounds apiece) and throwing them into the hotel buildings. It was far too late for the staff to prepare any of the beaches. I saw one worker run out onto the beach when the tide recessed a little to try to get something. The water rushed in suddenly, and he had to climb a tree to keep from being overtaken by it. He ran away. Most of the (non lobby) staff were also now appearing quite nervous. Then the TVs went out. No more weather channel.... It was now a little after midnight. Lauri and I each took our small bag and headed for the lobby through the water (which was now mixing with sewage evidently). The lobby was also now being overtaken with an occasional storm surge from the ocean. It was an open air room with few walls to keep it from coming in. I realized that if the ocean indeed kept coming, which it would, we would have to walk up to the road and eventually into the jungle. There was no where else on the grounds further inland to go. We were losing our shelter. Where were the busses? -Part two follows-

To: bob who wrote (4501)	11/8/1998 1:14:00 AM
From: cAPSLOCK	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4736

Off topic cAPS' Mitch story. -Part Two- >>Where were the busses? This was exactly the question I asked the person who seemed to be in charge. He was calm but he looked upset when I asked the question. Several other folks had gathered around to hear his answer. "I didn't want to have to tell you this", he said, "but there has been a complication. The workers who are completing the road - I am sure you saw the construction on the way down... Well they are striking for better pay, and have blocked the roads with boulders, and their bulldozers, and other earth moving equipment. We are communicating with the Mexican government, and I assure you we will get the busses here as soon as we can, but for now it is not possible for them to pass." Needless to say I was in shock. The lives of 200 tourists, plus the hotel staff had just become bargaining chips in a strike negotiation. As I look back on it I can think of no better example of 'a rock and a hard place'. All we could do was wait. We didn't know if the storm had changed, but the last we heard, it was to make landfall in hours. The water continued to rise in the lobby as we, and most of the other guests simply waited. We were standing in a shin deep mixture of ocean and sewage, for hours. Storm surges continued to come, and stronger every time. About 5 AM the power went out. We heard hurried instructions to start to make our way to the road. I was reminded of a scene from the movie 'Titanic' (I had actually already been feeling like we were living a parallel story) as we walked up the very slight grade (unlike the sinking ship) towards the road. We had been told an hour before that the road was cleared, but now they were having a hard time finding drivers for the busses. The ones who were brave enough to be working were busy evacuating other areas. What would happen next? Would we eventually be forced to forge into the jungle to try to find shelter? Rain bands had been hitting (lightly thankfully) for quite a while and we were all soaked. In about an hour the busses arrived. We were taken to Merida which is a pretty large city on the western coast of the peninsula. It was a four hour bus ride. They found us hotel rooms, and for the first time in what seemed like days we were dry. Even in this city they were taping windows, and preparing for the storm. There's alot more to the story, but I will be suprised if anyone has actually read this far. I'll wrap it up. We stayed in Merida (in the same stinky clothes.. I had to buy some shoes as mine smelled like sewage) for three days. The storm had stopped sometime early Tuesday morning weakened, and headed south. The rest is history. I have spent some time praying for the poor Hondurans. They bussed us back to Cancun. And we spent a couple days there resting, and flew back to the states. In hindsight it proves out we had little to fear. But at the time I KNEW we were in grave peril. I had accepted that I could indeed be watching the unfolding drama of the end of my life. Fear was not the overwhelming emotion. It was a kind of helpless melancholy that I felt. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything (although I am working on getting a full refund ha ha) This deeply changed my perspective on life. I don't think we are far enough past it to fully realize the effect. Back home... the first morning I was here, I came down with a nasty Spanish speaking bacterial infection. Vomiting, diareah, 102 degree fever. I have still not fully recovered. They have me on an antibiotic. Next year I am gonna just stay home. :) cAPSLOCK