Back home with a funny story to tell...



Today was one of those days. After the crap yesterday with the power being back on, loading up to head home, and then figuring out the power was still out, and having to return back to the parents house, I was ready for a few things to go my way. We got up this morning and after breakfast, I helped my Dad with a few things around his house. When we got that all squared away, Shelly and I loaded Jonathan up and headed to town to her parents house to borrow their generator to keep our freezer going another day. Pretty much everything in the refrigerator was junk, but the freezers were fine with a couple of hours of generator usage each day.



SO, we got there, loaded the generator up, and headed home to run it. I unlocked the front door, and as I was walking through the kitchen, I noticed the fan in the kitchen was running. Woo HOO!!!, the power was on at our house. The phone service also came on a couple of hours later. It looks like we're back in business. I'm thankful for that, although there are a few grocery items like milk, eggs, and butter that we had to throw out and won't be able to get replaced for a few days. Oh, well, I'm not going to complain too loudly over that when there are lots of people in much worse shape.

Ok, now for the funny story...

As it happens, living in the 4th largest city in the USA, you take things for granted. I can now tell you that Houston this week is like living in a third world country. You pretty much live in a hut with no electricity or other services and no availability of any supplies. The only real difference is that our huts are a little more plush, but they are not set up to operate without electricity.

Part of the deal is that employers need to get things up and running, but the schools have basically shut down for the week. Our daycare has closed through Wednesday. What to do? The in-laws own a veterinary clinic, and they are doing what they can to get that business up and running again. My Grandfather has had 2 carotid artery surgeries in the last month, and he rotator cuff surgery last week, so my mother is keeping him this week.

I mentioned to my parents this morning that they might need to be our daycare if Shelly and I both have to go back to work this week before the daycare opens. My Dad reminded me that my Mom sort of has her plate full with Grandaddy. I told him she was pretty tough and efficient, and I was sure she could handle all of them. He told me to think again, that Grandaddy can't even pull up his pants by himself. I answered that surely he could take care of that duty on his own.

Just as I finished saying that, Grandaddy walked into the living room, completely oblivious to our conversation. His right arm was in his sling, and he was holding up his pants with his left hand. He walked towards where I was sitting and told me I needed to get up and help him buckle his pants. Nothing but laughter from the kitchen (My Dad, Shelly, and Staci). Point proven... (Grandaddy is hard of hearing and had no way of knowing what we had just been talking about)

Luckily, Shelly called into her office and was told to take care of the family first and come back when she can. The company I work for is sort of a small company, and consequently, everyone there is pretty much considered a "key employee". I'm supposed to call in first thing in the morning to see if our office is up and running. I could use a little more time around the house to get things squared away, but at the same time, If my office isn't running, we're not making money. We HAVE to get running in the next day or so, from my kitchen if we have to, to keep things going. I guess we'll see if the power is back on at the office tomorrow morning.