MHS, LHS & CHS - Class of '64

George Richards still above flood water in Australia

Our classmate, George Richards, residing in Ballina, Australia, reported, "We ok mate 100 clicks South of Brizzy." The folks in and around Brisbane weren't so lucky.

George forwards this link to a video of some of the flooding the residents of Toowoomba experienced on January 10, 2011. Using Brisbane as the reference point, Toowoomba appears to be about 126 clicks by highway West of Brizzy according to this Google Map.

The photographer is in an office building overlooking what appears to be a drainage ditch. The ditch soon becomes a raging river that removes, shuffles and sorts the cars in the parking lot. Click to go directly to the Youtube video.

The Midland Savings Building

Remember the Midland Savings Building in downtown Midland?  The turquoise one?  It was built in 1959, so it was there while we attended high school.  As part of a downtown revitalization program that building came down Saturday, 11/8/08.

A and R Demolition was in charge, and a team of explosive experts from Dykon Explosive Demolition carefully placed charges in strategic locations throughout the building.  And early Saturday morning the switch was thrown.   Boom, boom, boom boom -- pause --- boom.  Then the building began to collapse into a cloud of dust.

A series of 50 photos beginning around the time of the first "boom" until the dust filled the streets can be seen at Sleepless in Midland.  Click to see them.