THE LIGHTS AREN’T ON, BUT SOMEBODY’S HOME

A cool breeze is wafting over Houston, which is a relief considering how many are without power. I am at a friend’s house uploading pics and charging my phone. I finally have full signal for my wireless card. If there’s any speed below dialup, that’s what I’ve had to this point.

The aftermath of Hurricane Ike is surreal. Towns along the coast are gone. Nothing is left. Galveston is still uninhabitable and who knows when it will return to “normal.” Thousands had to be rescued from homes deluged by storm surge. Windows were blown out of high rises in Houston and many places are still under water. Downed trees and power lines litter streets and yards. Traffic lights have yet to work.

All in all, I count myself blessed. I still don’t have power, and other than a little bit of water damage over my door, and a couple of scratches on my hood from where the fence landed on it, my biggest loss is a refrigerator full of groceries.

I was able to spend a couple nights at a friend’s house and I came home this morning. The hospitality I’m seeing and experiencing in Houston is a great encouragement and testament that when all is said and done Texans take care of Texans regardless of whether they were born or emigrated here.

I don’t know when I will go back to work. While the building I work at has power, it still cannot draw enough power to bring all the computer systems back up. So, it’s a day to day status of when we will be able to go back. I’m in no hurry. Since I have such limited vacation time as a first year newbie there, this is my first more than four days off in a row I’ve had since June of 2007.

Here are some pics of aftermath of Ike.

7:30 AM Saturday

A tree in my courtyard.

The leaves stuck to the windows until the next deluge of rain hit!

Sonic’s sign was one of many that was blown to bits by the wind. The flags were also shredded.

The only bit of water damage I had.

The reason we are still under a curfew through the weekend. Debris like this litters the streets everywhere.

Downed lines like this are everywhere, and this one is probably one of the reasons I don’t have power. The other reason might be the fact that the transformer behind the building blew when they tried to power it up yesterday.

I didn’t take this photo, but this is the park where my crazy friends play Frisbee, very close to downtown. I think we’ll be looking for a new location for a few weeks. The tree that stands alone usually sits just beyond the end zone.

That’s it for now. I am going to wait for my stuff to charge and hope beyond hope when I walk back across the street my hall light will be on, indicating I have power. I will update more as power allows.