(no subject)

After a weekend spent at least half the time without power, and most of the time without a computer, I'm back at my place where I have both. Some amusing wildlife anecdotes and more thoughts later. For now, finishing the meme I started yesterday:

( the rest of the questions )

(no subject)

So....

I go home to my parents' place last Saturday after work. Usually I get done by 2 pm or so, no problem. This time around I didn't get out until nearly 4. Damn people sending samples in late in the day and making me wait. *grumble* At least I get paid.

So I get in the car and it's already too late to call. I usually call to let them know when I start so they know when to expect me. But almost 4 pm, nope, they'll have left for church already. So I head on out. On the way I run into a little thunderstorm. Then I run into a big one. I mean, going across Lake of the Pines, the wind was blowing rain across the bridge. I mean, going 35-40 mph, windshield wipers at maximum, visibility about a yard, if that. I mean, water over the road in places. My saving grace was this white sedan that was in front of me. I watched it go through every bit of water, reasoning that if it could get through without being washed away, my Explorer, so much heavier, could make it. Pea size hail. It was so bad I almost stopped a couple of times. But as long as that sedan could keep going, I knew I could. And eventually, I drove out of the other side of the storm.

So I get to my parents'. It's drizzling a bit, the tail end of the storm. There's a note left saying that the power was out and we'll go out to dinner if it isn't on by the time they get back. The power is still out. So I drop my things, wrap some Christmas presents I'd gotten, feed the hummingbirds, walk through the garden, and end up on the front porch, catching the last of the sunlight and reading, when they pull up. We go to dinner and come home. By the light of one candle, we sat in the living room until 9, talking. It's not often I get to have that kind of conversation with my folks. Very nice.

Sometime about 1 am the power comes back. We shut the windows, turn the air conditioner back on, and go back to sleep. About 5:30, I get up and use my dad's computer to check LJ and the weather, being well aware that Katrina is coming and it might even be heading straight for us (at that point, still very possible). When I'm done, I turn it over to my dad and he does his thing. I must point out here that my dad's computer crashed last week. The hard drive. This is the second hard drive that's been in that machine. But he seemed to have it working.

Then he got off and shut down the computer. The three of us had breakfast, went through some stuff, did some more stuff, and had lunch. After lunch, I went to get back on the computer. And the hard drive crashed again. Cue some more phone calls to Dell on my dad's part. Cue wailing and gnashing of teeth and some very appropriate expletives on his part. I really don't blame him a bit. The long and short of it is, my Dad decides to sell the piece of junk for what he can get and get a new computer. Then, shortly after supper, the power goes out again.

I suppose I should mention here that we'd had Katrina coverage on the TV for most of the day, on one channel or another. Anyway, there was a storm to the north of us that, while it didn't hit us, did for the power. So we spent another evening sitting talking by the light of a candle. This time, however, the power came back on before midnight. An improvement, of sorts.

So today, we spent the morning dealing with some last minute stuff and watching Katrina. Then we decamped for Longview, sold the old system, did some computer pricing and comparison shopping, and ended up here, where I still had a working computer that could go online. Finally, my dad managed to work his way through the last Gateway screen and into a new system. Which will hopefully arrive soon.

Now, it's raining out there. Probably part of Katrina. We've been seeing her clouds all day. It's something that's difficult to get off my mind. I mean, it's horrible, the damage and loss of life. Hearing that the Superdome lost part of its roof and hoping those 10,000+ people will survive. Worrying about all those who decided to evacuate New Orleans and go EAST, right into the path of Katrina. At the same time, it's been so godawful dry around here, that we *need* a hurricane--at least some of the outer rain bands--to stave off drought and fire hazards.

Praying for a hurricane's moisture but praying for people not to be hurt, for property not to be damaged. A dichotomy, of sorts. And guilty as sin, of course.