Hello,
I’m a long time reader of your blog and books. I live in Philadelphia. We have a house in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, which was devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
Please look at Seven Mile Island Times and Stone Harbor on Facebook for an idea of our situation there. The whole island was underwater. Our docks washed away and our boat is on the sidewalk, still chained to the trailer.
We lucked out, the house is fine and built high. We still have electricity and water in Philly. What I took away from this experience can be seen in this HuffPo article.
We were prepared: I filled the tub with water, and topped off all our [vehicle] gas [tanks] prior. A buddy of mine lost power and has no water (pump to well died). His new generator is useless because there is no gas available anywhere. He couldn’t even drive to work. Thousands are in line to buy gas all across the region, cans in hand. Stations are either empty and can’t rely on distribution, or their pumps are down because of power outages. A family member left NYC this morning to drive to the house in Jersey to see the damage. Despite his full tank, he didn’t have enough gas and after reaching a line of cars a mile and a half long had to turn back to NY. We have our vehicles filled up and a few cans topped off. I’m the only one that can get there to see the damage first hand, going Friday myself. Things are bad, but this gas situation shocked me and I heard about it all day from friends and co workers who were in a bad way because of it. Many here were caught with nothing. No power, no water, no gas. Thanks to our preps and luck, we’re fairing well. Point being, take this type of disaster seriously and encourage people you know to prepare ahead of time. Fill those fuel tanks and stabilize them! Best, – T.H.
Good Morning,
We live just north of Philadelphia in a suburban area. Because of a house fire we are living in a recreational vehicle (RV) on our property during the [insurance] settlement and restoration of our house. Prior to the storm, the RV was parked close to our apple trees (we have several acres and are blessed with a large garden and fruit trees) and so decided that for the hurricane we should move it to the driveway where it could sit on a hard surface. About the time that it looked like we should head west to our retreat area instead of waiting out the storm…the roads were closed for all high profile vehicles, trailers, etc. so we couldn’t leave. As a side note, our retreat area was dealing with high winds and snow. So having said all that, here are some of the results and my thoughts:
1) Had this been a true emergency (G.O.O.D.) we would have been in real trouble as we couldn’t get the RV out of the yard (she is older, 37 ft. long and 20,000 lbs. loaded). We had to call a towing service to winch her out and fortunately did so several days before the storm hit. The point? Make sure if you are using an RV as a bug out vehicle that it can actually move. Parking it off to the side somewhere might be convenient but not do so well if you need to get it out fast. The ground was solid when we originally situated her but soft when we went to move her due to recent rain and cloudy days not drying things out. Also, make sure you start all of your systems regularly as they are no different than any other piece of equipment. Heat, air, truck engine, generator, batteries, all need to be maintained and started monthly to ensure that they will work for you when you need them. Tires crack and get dry rot when not taken care of or used.
2) Because of the weight of the vehicle we had very little movement of the RV during the high winds. A couple of scary moments when gusts reached 70 mph but over all, pretty good. My complaint of how much gas she uses over the road because of her weight is no longer a complaint as the weight kept the RV grounded. We put the stabilizers down just enough to support and level but not enough to take the RV off of her tires. I keep the gas tank topped off and stabilized just in case, so always have 75 gal. of gas for driving and generator use but in a bug out situation she will only go about 400 miles on that tank. Our retreat area is 650 miles away…so we would have to carry extra gas. Another consideration is, what if gas is used for generator power before bugging out.
3) We had heat, electricity(generator), water, food and septic when everyone around us was in darkness so things stayed normal for us. We ended up putting the RV right next to the neighbors house so we could use the RV generator to keep his septic pump, sump pumps and our freezer working (he has been so kind as to allow us to put our fully loaded freezer in his garage since the fire). Although we had over 125 gal of gas, 2- 100 lb propane tanks and kerosene, had this been of long duration we would be hoofing it out on foot after a few weeks or in a real rough camping environment. Also, our food stores are in a storage unit for the time being and would have to be left behind if we had to leave. Reality is a sobering thought.
4) If you are bugging out, get out before the roads are closed. That one is a hard decision to make as before a storm or an emergency everything seems normal and you have no idea how bad things will get or good they will be. So when do you leave? Good question and one that we are discussing for the future. We waited too long in this case and had it been catastrophic for this area we would have been part of the catastrophe. Even though we have 2 years of food and our beans, bullets and band aids in order.
5) I went to our storage unit a few hours before the storm was to start to get a couple of buckets of grain and my grain grinder, along with other supplies. While there, decided to pay the unit rent early. Inside the office the young man behind the desk was fielding calls from other storage facilities as to what to do to prepare their properties for the storm. He responded that he had no clue and told me that there wasn’t anything in their manual on how to handle this sort of situation. I asked him if he had any personal supplies, he responded that he some canned food. I then asked him if he had a non electric can opener to open his cans with and he didn’t think so. WOW… For those who have supplies in storage units, check to see what provisions they have in place for security in grid down scenario and for goodness sake don’t let anyone know that you have food stored there. Our storage unit is a mile away and I realized that in a serious situation we would have to move those supplies quickly and quietly.
6) We were able to stay in communications with the children who live in our retreat area through texting when the phones and cell service were spotty. I was able to use my hotspot intermittently for e-mails, news and weather. We also have a hand cranked weather radio that works very well had we needed it.
7) This is off topic but I have a years supply of my blood pressure medicine. I was able to get it through an online pharmacy in Canada. They require a hand written script and communication with your physician but I get six months of name brand prescriptions for what it costs for one month here in the States. I can reorder as often as I feel the need. Just thought that might help some folks out there that are having trouble getting more than a couple of months of their medicines.
I will close this by saying that we were very blessed! This area is pretty much back online with electricity being restored, roads open, shops opening and things getting back to normal. Yes, there were/are trees down and power outages but compared to our neighboring states we fared very well. As for as our personal conversations are concerned…we thought we were reasonably prepared but realized that in spite of our preparations we are still very vulnerable and our way of life, very fragile. I don’t know what conclusions will come out of our discussions but I do know that adjustments will be made.
I have really appreciated this blog and the information it contains, which I check daily. It has inspired us and educated us so that we can be a part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
God’s Blessings to all, – Lynda H.
Dear Sir,
I am an resident of New York City and a long-time reader of your web site. I endured Hurricane Sandy without incident, but frankly, the storm poked a few holes in my urban preparedness model. Rather than provide a play-by-play account of my experiences, I want to share some of the valuable lessons I gained from this exercise in survival.
* For starters, I will acknowledge that a densely packed urban environment situated on an island (aka Manhattan) is the worst place to endure any crisis. I am surrounded by millions, many of whom would have no issue with taking from me by force, largely because they remain entirely dependent on government handouts and have little concept of independence and self-reliance. Political commentary aside, that is a real threat to my safety. That threat, coupled with the uphill battle to legally possess a firearm in the city, puts me at a strategic disadvantage should the situation degrade beyond a certain point. New York City, by its very nature, requires a vast and steady influx of resources via bridge, tunnel, and air. Cripple this transport infrastructure and the city is left helpless without provisions. Take home lesson: some locations are better are inherently superior for a survival situation – this city is not one of them.
* Fight or flight. When the reality of the storm hitting New York was largely certain, I had to make my first major decision: I either stay put and ride it out, or flee the city in advance of the storm. After careful consideration, weighing factors such as the size of the storm, my transportation options, where I could go, family and work obligations, and others, I decided to ride it out. Immediately, and without hesitation, once I committed to staying put, I was “all in” – there was no downtime at that point until I was satisfied with my planning and execution. That said, one of my next projects in my preparedness practice will be to flesh out just what my options are in leaving this city in a pinch.
* Checklists are essential. In the past, I have scoffed at maintaining a preparedness checklist on the basis that I could pretty much rattle off the items on such a checklist without much thought. But in crisis mode where my stress levels were elevated, doubt crept in. I found myself Googling various web sites for preparedness checklists since I was now second-guessing myself. Granted, I had most of what was on these lists, but I wasted valuable time and introduced doubt into my planning. Not a good start. So lesson learned, have a list, periodically review it, and refine as needed.
* If you use up any of your supplies or preps, replace them ASAP. I had no water reserves going into this storm. I had used up my water supply cache some months ago when our water filter was malfunctioning, and never replaced it. Never again. I took a three prong approach: first, I filled used water bottles, canteens, sealed containers and such and put them in the fridge. Made sense to me to use what I had first, rather than attempt to seek it out at stores. Second, I ordered some Chinese food for lunch and had them bring me several liters of water with my meal. I am not trying to sound flippant here; I was hungry, busy with final pre-storm prep work, and needed water – so I leveraged a delivery service to help me on all counts. Expanding on this point, most people flock to stores to buy water, only to scavenge the shelves bare very quickly. Restaurants, especially takeout places have generous bottled water supplies for sale, and most people wouldn’t think of is this avenue for a last ditch prepping effort, but I did. Lastly, I did venture out to a store once done with all my at-home work to literally walk among the sheep and serve as a reminder to myself to never be in this situation again.
* Beans, Band-Aids, bullets – and batteries. I was somewhat surprised when a friend of mine told me that the stores had run out of batteries. Who doesn’t stock up on batteries, I wondered. I was well stocked, and furthermore have a whole kit dedicated to small-device charging. I cannot tell you the number of people whose mobile phones were without charge and this was shortly after losing power! There are battery packs, solar chargers, adapters for charging through a laptop or car. Not to mention the basic premise of keeping your phone or other devices charged in the first place. I guess this mirrors the principle of always keeping your gas tank at least half full. Lastly, I counseled several friends of mine who were without batteries to purchase cheap consumer electronics that came with batteries – there were plenty of these sitting on shelves.
* Be prepared to leave. Everyone and their cousin has a Bug Out Bag today. Filled with survival gear, emergency rations, weapons, and the like. What about valuable and irreplaceable documents (passport, birth certificate, titles, deeds, business papers, etc.), irreplaceable computer files, cherished possessions (including cash, jewelry, precious metals). All of these are resources that may not help you survive during the actual crisis, but will certainly help you thrive after the crisis has ended. While holed up in my apartment, I went over several scenarios where I would be forced to leave. Regardless of why I would have to leave, I posed the question: assuming I had to flee with 5 minutes notice and the apartment was later destroyed, looted, or whatever – what items would allow me to rebuild my life? What was essential, and what wasn’t? I find these questions to be of great value, not only in a weather emergency, but also when applied to other, greater threat scenarios. It really forces the individual to distill their thinking to what’s vital, and what’s not. In my case, much, but certainly not all of what I would need to rebuild my life is largely portable and small. The deficiency in my case was computer backups – not portable by any practical measure, nor weather proof. This is now being rectified.
* Communication is crucial. Ahead of the storm, I contacted the important people in my life, told them I was going to stay put, and that there was a real chance the grid could go down and I could lose communications. This contact put my mind at ease, which of course makes any survival situation more endurable. Furthermore, during the storm and its aftermath, cell phone and internet service was largely disrupted. It’s an important question to answer: how do you communicate with the important people in your life when the telecom networks are degraded or down? Small things, like utilizing text messaging (or SMS) more than voice calls. An SMS will use less bandwidth than a voice call, and will never arrive garbled. Mind you, it may never arrive at all, but I found the use of SMS to be more useful than having to deal with spotty, hard-to-decipher voice calls. Technical issues aside, brevity and clarity are key. During and right after a storm are not the time to talk at length.
* Emotional health is vitally important. I had food, water, shelter, not to mention power, TV, and Internet. I was not lacking materially in any way. But while holed up at home during the storm, I was anxious, feeling unsettled, and had difficulty sleeping at night. Uncertainty, doubt, fear of the unknown – these were all forces I was battling with. Granted, this is normal as the city I live in was being battered. In truth, I thought with all my provisions and creature comforts, I would not be upset or agitated in the slightest. Reminding myself that I had taken good precautions and was well-supplied helped to assuage my concerns. Prayer or meditation may have been helpful as well, but I engaged in neither.
* Start small. My preparedness model was premised on a 3-day survival situation in a grid-down situation. It was uncomfortable mentally to fathom a prolonged disaster situation, and my role in it. I now see that burying my head in the sand is hardly the answer, and the only way to feel safe will be to expand and refine my survival model. I am now looking into preparing for incidents of greater severity and duration, one variable at time.
Sincerely, – M.D.A.
Jim:
I live in Princeton, NJ with my wife and daughters, and my mother resides in our family home on the beach block in Margate, NJ (i.e., the Shore – Atlantic City area). I put together two updates for our friends. Thought they might be of interest to your readers – though I apologize for the clipped writing style.
Update # 1 – Wednesday morning. I finally slept a fair bit last night (Tuesday) and as the electronics have charged from the generator, here’s the scoop. Make no mistake Mother Nature still rules. You are going to lose the head on collision, so best to lightly sidestep her dominion whenever possible.
I prepared my family and house in Princeton, and was still surprised. I think a lot of people were, especially at the Shore. There aren’t a lot of locals left who can remember the 1944 Hurricane, and there was a much different population for the 1962 storm. From the little I have heard from my Shore friends, those who stayed regretted the decision. The Shore got crushed, power will be out for a week or more and the drinking water is compromised – there is a boil alert as well as filtration. That’s assuming they get the news. Generators are great, but few folks had them, and those that did, well let’s just say that six feet of storm surge pretty much kills your genny… as you are unlikely to have it placed much higher on the property.
Let’s come back to Princeton for the moment. I had the house pretty well fixed. Outside stuff stowed and roped, and I put two little giant pumps on the floor of the basement and rigged their hoses 75 feet out one of the basement windows. If the power went early, I had the portable gasoline driven genny on the front porch… sheltered enough to run and ventilate. Many people don’t know that your typical portable genny is not designed to operate in significant rain – though many will last for a while – there is a good chance of shorting the electrical systems and in getting shocked. I also had two 100 foot extensions cords through the front window to the basement for each. Short story – we thankfully didn’t get as much rain as was forecast. No real issue in basement.
On Monday afternoon, before any of the heavy storm impact hit, we were surprised by a knock on the door. Our neighbor lost part of his roof and is looking for tarps, caulk, tape, rope, etc. I was able to help with these items and also the contact info for our home contractor who had put out an e-mail earlier advising they were available for emergency repairs. This neighbor has a wife and three children – good family – bad sign to lose the roof before the real storm winds arrived. Told him our house is open and to let me know if he needs anything else.
While we had the utilities working, my kids were fine. Though by about 6:30 pm, the winds began to escalate dramatically. Even with the games and TV, they were nervous. It was dark and loud outside – things were flying by and the power had been flickering. At 7:00 pm power failed. By 7:30 pm, we made the decision to go down to the basement. The wind was roaring at 60-70 mph plus sustained and higher gusts in the 80’s – learned this later. So we set up an area with sleeping bags, pillows, lanterns and snacks. Our basement is unfinished – cold concrete floor – but does have shelves, storage bins, etc. I was not prepared for the fear in my kids’ eyes, nor was I expecting the knot in my chest as we could hear the house shutter and pipes rattle with the faster wind bursts.
So with all my readiness… I was still humbled and doing my best to reassure the kids that we were fine. Best decision was to give each of them a chocolate bar and burn through the charge on my wife’s laptop watching episodes of Psych – a funny detective show on TV. We had the occasional trip upstairs to go to the bathroom – no flushing without the power. We are on well water. I had water in the bathtub ready for this, but not during the height of the winds. The flashlight showed trees down, fencing gone, stuff flying and I was worried about one of our old growth trees hitting the house. No detours – bathroom and then back to the basement.
After midnight, when the winds had settled at more like 30 to 40 mph, we moved to the first floor guest bedroom. The kids nodded off with my wife and I went outside to start the genny. The temperature was dropping – though we had ample blankets for that – it was more to avoid food spoilage in the refrigerator. Most refrigerators will give you 4-6 hours unopened of decent cold. You can extend it a bit by turning the temp down pre-storm (which I did on both refrigerator and freezer), but after that… food will spoil. Freezers are better – probably 2 to 3 days if not opened – possibly more, and especially if full of food or home-made ice bags to take up the empty space.
So, in the wind and rain, and with a hat to protect against flying branches and lantern, I repositioned the genny near our exterior hard-line hookup. This is where we plug the genny into the house systems and I use the man-high garage door as the rain shield. Exhaust vents outside. Again, never run a genny in a closed garage or home – the fumes will penetrate and kill. I had just serviced and tested our genny before the storm – you need to know how these things work. Choke on, first pull and she kicked in with a reassuring hum. By 1:00 am we had power to the systems. I had to unplug items that were power drains which I forgot, but essentially as I flipped the breakers in the basement on the genny auxiliary panel and we had heat, water and power to the refrigerators/freezers. I spent the night on the living room sofa waking up every hour to walk the house looking for leaks, broken windows, and checking the genny (overheating, gas leaks, oil, venting, etc.).
Yesterday (Tuesday) is a bit of a blur. Mid-morning, I discovered that our neighbors had sheltered in their basements as well. Trees were down everywhere, roads were closed, flooding by the river, no power. Anyone without a working genny was leaving for friends and family that had one. Temps are getting colder this entire week, and then there’s food and water. I made fresh coffee for folks, offered food and then began assessing damage and clean-up. I always keep the chain saw oiled and ready from the last use, and so I put on my Kevlar chaps and began cutting trees.
Around mid-day I refueled the genny. This means shutting everything down, then pouring in the gasoline, then restart, then circuits. If you don’t, you can blow the systems starting the genny with a full electric load. I heard from one neighbor that there was access to Highway 206 via one road, and I thought about gasoline. Between chain saw and genny… it was a priority. The kids played games, saw another show on the laptop which was charged as were phones, and we had another knock on the door from another neighbor friend – April. After she got hot apple cider, food and good company she walked back to her home.
At about 3:00 pm, and before daylight sank further, I headed out for gasoline. Got about four miles, passed two police roadblocks, all traffic lights out and roads closed, and after passing my 3rd gas station that was closed with a no fuel sign, I called it a day. What was I thinking? This was a surprise to me, but should not have been. Everyone else was burning gas like crazy too. The stations were out until roads opened for refueling, and even then, the rest of NJ is in deep, so who knows how long that will take.
Returning home, I hit my emergency gasoline supply under the tarps outside – the five gallon steel safety cans had been there since last summer, but I had put Sta-Bil in the gas to keep it good beyond the usual 3 months. There are commercial grade versions that will give you years, but I don’t have access to that stuff… at least, not yet. Short story, the gasoline went into the genny and is just fine. This means I am good to go for several days with 24-hour genny use. I’ll venture out tomorrow to see if any of the gas stations are open with fuel.
Back to the Shore… I hopped onto Facebook for a few minutes. It is not easy using your mobile phone for Internet access on some web sites. On a serious note, the Shore is a mess. I was able to find out that our home still stands, but that in all likelihood has been flooded out. Our basement would be a swimming pool with all systems killed. There is 3 to 4 feet of beach sand filling the entire length of the street and from every home. High tides are still bringing in flooding, but not nearly as much as the full-moon tide on Monday. People were evacuated by chopper, the island was cut-off with all roads impassable, and clean-up will take weeks. People had live wires in their yards, short circuits in homes as water flooded, natural gas lines that need to be secured, trees down, windows broken, etc. Numerous homes, though elevated, have been hit with 2 to 4 feet of ocean water (this means mold), overnight temperatures are headed to the 30’s and 40’s this week, and they do not have any systems to boil water, etc. My mom is still evacuated, not sure when she can return. Have not heard anyone mention looting in Margate, but I did see one report in Atlantic City (though I cannot tell credibility of source). Let’s see what happens the next few days.
Going to start the day now… there’s work to be done, kids need breakfast, no school until maybe Friday, Halloween cancelled, and my wife (who is now standing beside me) says her throat is swollen and sore.
Thanks for checking in with us… I’ll send another update when I have a free moment. Internet access is spotty, but I have to say I am grateful for our Verizon portable secured 4 G Wi-fi device. It is no bigger than a cell phone and has about a six to eight hour charge capacity. But it lets us access the Net with multiple devices from anywhere. The data package is expensive for this, but in emergencies that’s not my first concern.
Storm Update #2:
Thursday morning. Yesterday, Halloween was cancelled by executive order, but I spent the day doing more clean-up anyway. Chain saw cutting, and stacking some wood for the fireplace even though green. Helped neighbors across the street who had a rental genny. Offered showers and heat as their genny is only extension cords for refrigerator and small appliances. My girls had a bit of cabin fever and it doesn’t help that my wife is not feeling good. Made tea, soup and fresh wholesome food left in the refrigerator. Also, we still have lots of kale, onions, scallions, leeks and herbs in the garden. These are my winter hardy plants that last well into the cold weather. They survived the storm winds being low to the ground and well rooted. The girls are also helping with the hand washing of the dishes… not fun.
Also took some time to walk the dog… Aslan needed a romp for his mental exercise. Spent an hour fixing the back fence so Aslan could be let outside without a leash and deer could be kept out. The fence will probably need total replacement, but at the moment, there are no gaping holes. The power drill and deck screws worked like a charm. Lots of periodic sirens – I’m guessing medical and fires related to generators/space heaters failures and accidents.
The girls don’t have school this week. We got word that power was restored late yesterday to the school, but that the roads were still impassable. There is an order from the Governor to stay off the roads unless essential travel only. It gets dark early, so by 3:30 pm things are winding down and the lanterns are on for reading and general action around the living room. I have rechargeable lanterns and battery throw away… no issue for now.
The temperature all day yesterday was cool and very chilly by evening. People without power were warming themselves in their cars. On Aslan’s evening walk, I could see the car headlights in various driveways. I think it also let people charge cell phones. This brings up the glaring problem for the moment – gasoline. Our genny is doing very well on gas consumption… but between it and the chain saw, we are burning a fair amount. Same with the neighbors, and especially the ones using the cars for heaters. The town has opened the Rec/Senior centers for temporary warmth and water – but not after 8:00pm. Don’t know how many people are driving to use these facilities. Anyway, back to gas. While I used on/off shutdowns for the genny for a few hours of the time to save gas – I had the living room fireplace raging yesterday – this is not optimal especially for the refrigerators. Yesterday, I heard from two neighbors that they had found open gas stations with ridiculous lines and rationing. As it was getting late, I opted to stay home and deal with it today.
Woke up today (Thursday) at 6:30 am, and headed out with 4 five gallon safety cans looking for open gas stations. The Traffic lights were still out and only the main artery roads are dependable to be open. I was lucky to find two gas stations within 5 miles of the house. Gas stations that were open yesterday were now empty of gas. As to these two that were open, they already had lines of cars 50 deep. They also had police officers enforcing the lines, gas rationing (10 gallon maximum per person) and general traffic flow order. It took me and hour plus, and it was cash only as I expected, but I started home with 20 gallons of gas. I thought about coffee on the way, and pulled into our main shopping center with a Thomas Sweet, or in the alternative, a Dunkin Donuts in the ShopRite Supermarket. The entire center was closed. ShopRite was open with minimal lighting and I had hope, but when I got to the door, there was a sign saying they only had non-perishable items for sale. The mini-Dunkin Donut stand was closed. By the way, we are hearing from other supermarkets… same story. They cooked what they could, donated to soup kitchens and have thrown out the rest of the spoiled food. At this point, I think Whole Foods on Route 1 may be our best bet for fresh food. As you guys know, I have plenty of non-perishables. And yes, I do have organic coffee at the house, so I am enjoying a cup as I type. I just have to unplug other stuff to brew it.
I am breaking to refill our genny with gas. Next agenda once things warm up is to get the fireplace going, and then I will rig up extension cords so that we can do laundry for the first time since Sunday morning. Bear in mind, my genny is only hard-wired into the home for critical systems, and that didn’t include the washer and dryer. So I will need to power them and the house water system – should be fine – but they are energy hogs.
We also got word that five nuclear power plants had issues during the storm, and that Salem actually had a “controlled” emergency steam release and pump failures. Nice. I’m sure it was only safe levels of radiation, no harm to the public. Right. Oyster Creek was offline anyway, but had cooling issues with the spent fuel pool. I’m assuming that the state and Federal folks are on top of this. Hopefully.
The update on the Shore is pretty dim. We still don’t have good onsite intel. Island access is closed and the residents are upset/trapped. On the positive side, there are parts of Margate with power. There is limited non-perishable food and no fresh items, and water remains contaminated. Some areas are still flooded – though its draining. Ventnor City which is right next to Margate, is sealed off due to city septic failure and more than 1,000 homes with moderate to severe damage. We have received limited pictures of our home from locals and a Sheriff friend. The sand is piled against the house three feet deep which means the six feet of water on top of that probably got into the entire first floor and basement. All critical systems will be trashed. We are beginning the process of talking to contractors and getting mom situated at a nearby hotel to make daily trips to the home to coordinate. She’s upset, but holding up – tough nut.
Cheers. I mean that: single malt whiskey does not need refrigeration, is good for brushing teeth and warms the soul. – Bill H.