Saturday, September 20, 2008

Saturday Update

Still no internet at home, but I tried to make this as close to an ordinary day as possible. I had to do my long run on campus, which meant starting after the sun was up. This made it hard to go as long as I wanted because I ran out of time before I needed to be home getting ready for us to go have lunch. I ended up only doing fourteen miles, but I'll consider that a success for now. Memorial Park was out of the question since it still doesn't have lights, so running circles there posed no benefit over running circles at home. The bayous all stink, so anything involving bayou trails wasn't a good option, either.

We do what we can.

Our Indian restaurant was open today - yay! I had hoped to get some more destructo-pics on my first outing since the storm, but I didn't see as much damage as I expected. Everyone has been very busy cleaning up and the biggest evidence now of last week's storm is the cut trees and piles of branches in front of nearly every inner loop home, and the open windows marking who still doesn't have power.

I wonder what will happen to all that wood? I hope the cut up trees will be shipped north for people challenged by high fuel oil prices this winter. It would be a nice way to bring something good out of the disaster.

We were very lucky to get power restored when we did. As it turns out, we're on the same grid as part of the university and not where I showed the picture a few days ago of the damaged box and lines. The university was considered a priority and the area behind our back fence didn't have trees to damage the lines, so they brought it on much faster than the rest of our neighborhood, which is still dark. For those of us whose back yards abut the university, though, we're up and running.

Except for internet. I know I shouldn't complain when so many still don't even have lights but if Comcast could just give us a real estimate, that would be a big help. Instead we get canned answers about "crews working in your area." Right. Haven't seen a single one. Given that Comcast's call center is probably in India, I'm sure it's a reasonable answer to them, but Houston metro area is the size of a small country! "In your area" could mean anything.

But I have the university and for that I'm grateful. I have to be careful coming and going after dark, but I carry nothing of value with me and so far the only danger I've encountered is nearly being run down by some dorm rats playing a game that looked like a version of flag football where a stolen pylon was being used in place of a ball. I could've sworn I was safely out of bounds, but I was a dorm rat once myself and I can vouch for the fact that these late-night games have very flexible rules, all of them made up on the fly.

And speaking of being out after dark, it's after 9:00 and I need to think about wrapping things up here and going home. I have some "lessons learned" posts I'm working on and that I will copy and paste over the coming week, so be prepared for some prep lists and recommendations.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

man I've been away for a while and just catching up - so glad you guys are ok - what a horrid storm. I'm glad you have electricity and hope you get your inet soon.

great idea for the wood

the Bag Lady said...

I'm glad things are slowly getting back to normal for you. Hopefully, internet service will be restored soon by those "crews working in your area"!
And I think that's a great idea for the wood...think they'd send it this far north?! 'Cause we use a woodstove all winter to heat our living room.....

d. moll, l.ac. said...

That's good your restaurant is open, civilzation is creeping back, albeit more slowly than possible....Looking forward to your lists and recs, living in earthquake country as we do.......

Thomma Lyn said...

Yay, I'm glad your Indian restaurant is open, and I'll be looking forward to your prep lists and recommendations! I hope you get your internet back soon, and I'm glad things, overall, and moving back to normal for you. :)

Thomma Lyn said...

ACK, I meant to say ...I'm glad things, overall, are moving back to normal. :)

Crabby McSlacker said...

Wow, still no internet, huh? But it's good you're looking on the bright side after all that's happened. Glad things are gradually getting back on track. Hooray for Indian food!

RG said...

Bayous ?? Oh I see. Houston is not too far from the coast - especially that big bay - and I guess it is pretty low-lying land? Is there a big River right through Houston? I can't tell from my Atlas page ... Texas is one cluttered up map!!!

Anonymous said...

Too bad you couldn't get as many destructo pics as you had hoped for, but at least it means there wasn't much damage overall. Phew!

Yay for the Indian restaurant. I love spicy food!!

Jill said...

Being next to a large important place seems to be helpful in these type of situations. That is one reason I like living so close to the medical center - even though it might not make that much difference - I feel like it does!!

So what Indian restaurant do you do to? I haven't been to many in Houston, but would like to try some. I usually end up at Thai or Middle Eastern places.