Rita: Saturday late AM

Well, the water pressure has dropped, probably because without the power on, the pump stations for the city water stations are down. Oh well. We listened to the crank-up radio and apparently 550,000 - 700,000 people are w/o power, depending on who you ask. And they estimate up to two weeks for full restoration. WHAT? TWO weeks? I'm sorry, but that's abysmal considering the Houston city limits were only grazed by the storm. I think they are overestimating so they look good later on.

The radio also claims that the rain and wind have stopped in North Harris County (where we are)...um, I don't think so, and that was over an hour ago.

Anyway, thanks to a gas stove we had wonderful chili-steak omelets (steak left over from last night on the gas grill) and beer for breakfast. The stuff in the refrigerator has got to go before it goes bad! Beer before breakfast, as the MBGC (of which I am a member) slogan goes!

We have tunes, thanks to a battery-powered XM satellite radio, phew. The laptop battery started to go down to 5%, but the battery pack (rechargeable in the car) and inverter come to the rescue!