Regularly Scheduled Programming
Post-Ike reality (all your normal neighborhood streets and shopping centers bathed in pitch-blackness by nightfall until you turn the corner and are greeted by an oasis of headlights, as a snake of automobiles - could be 100 of them, easily - creeps toward the generator-powered gas pumps) has more or less returned to Pre-Ike reality. Sure, there are still gaping holes in roofs (now covered by blue tarps - they're everywhere!) and sure, plenty of businesses lost signs, and yeah, there are still tons of people without electricity, but MOST grocery stores are open and running, MOST gas stations have no lines at all, and MOST of the people I know have power and are back to zombifying themselves in front of the TV.
Ike was good for me. Do you know how many of my neighbors I met through cleaning up our street? Do you know how much TV I've watched since we got power back? Do you know how many pages I've read in the last week? Answers: quite a few, none, thousands. When I lived in Sweden, I really embraced some aspects of European life - reduced consumption of, well, everything (including TV, junk food, needless shopping, etc...) and making time to appreciate the simple things in life - dinner with friends, sitting outside with a book and a cup of coffee, long walks...you know what I mean. I moved back to the States, and well, it was easy to slip back into old habits. Ike gave me a good jolt, and reminded me that it shouldn't take a freakin' hurricane to get me to turn off the TV, grab a book and sit outside in the fresh air. Or to take a walk to get where I'm going when I have the time.
Ike also gave me a chance to be proud of Texas. When disaster struck us, we helped each other out, and most importantly, we helped ourselves. I'm not drawing a comparison between Texas and any other state that's been hurricane stricken. I'm just saying that Texas makes me proud, because we've handled this so well.
Well, enough talk about Ike. That's all you hear about on the radio right now, and I'm positive that if I turned on the TV, I'd hear about it there, too. I'm back at work, and speaking of work, I'd better get back to it.
/Monica
P.S. I need to buy some batteries for my camera, but when I do, I'll post some pictures/video of the storm and its um, visual effect on Houston.
Ike was good for me. Do you know how many of my neighbors I met through cleaning up our street? Do you know how much TV I've watched since we got power back? Do you know how many pages I've read in the last week? Answers: quite a few, none, thousands. When I lived in Sweden, I really embraced some aspects of European life - reduced consumption of, well, everything (including TV, junk food, needless shopping, etc...) and making time to appreciate the simple things in life - dinner with friends, sitting outside with a book and a cup of coffee, long walks...you know what I mean. I moved back to the States, and well, it was easy to slip back into old habits. Ike gave me a good jolt, and reminded me that it shouldn't take a freakin' hurricane to get me to turn off the TV, grab a book and sit outside in the fresh air. Or to take a walk to get where I'm going when I have the time.
Ike also gave me a chance to be proud of Texas. When disaster struck us, we helped each other out, and most importantly, we helped ourselves. I'm not drawing a comparison between Texas and any other state that's been hurricane stricken. I'm just saying that Texas makes me proud, because we've handled this so well.
Well, enough talk about Ike. That's all you hear about on the radio right now, and I'm positive that if I turned on the TV, I'd hear about it there, too. I'm back at work, and speaking of work, I'd better get back to it.
/Monica
P.S. I need to buy some batteries for my camera, but when I do, I'll post some pictures/video of the storm and its um, visual effect on Houston.