Dry those tears, world

I'm back- and alive.
I know you missed me.

After my prolonged absense from, everything, I shall provide brief update:

Monday, October 24, 2005. Wilma. You know all the details I am sure.
The storm itself wasn't so bad. Loud. But we mostly slept through it. I think our building is pretty sturdy- not such a bad pick after all.
Afterwards- surveying the damage- was when it started to seem crazy.
The entire region was devestated. I swear there is hardly a tree left in S. Florida, people lost their homes, property damage, etc. But the kicker- no power- anywhere. No water, no food, no lights, no phones, no gas. We were stuck. Luckily we had enough candles stocked up- and I had just bought RISK- always good for hours and hours of good family fun. However- when you only plan water and food for maximum 3 days or so- when you hear from your car radio that it could be 3 weeks before you get power back- you start to worry.

We ended up getting our power back after just a few days-- convenient location= Bonus! This meant my cell phone worked again- so I could make those all important "Don't worry, I'm alive" phone calls. Some people were quite worried- example. ;)

However- my office building's power was not put back on until yesterday- so that meant a week and a half of no work, no place to go, nothing to do. Good thing I had a new puppy to entertain me! ;) --Well, and my boyfriend. ;)

Bonus: we did get to know our neighbors a lot better. The lady next door is getting to be a shisha pro- and we got to sample some Argentinian-beef BBQ and some Boomers toss-outs from various other complex-mates. Good times.

There are two kinds of people in situations like this: (1) those who make the best of it and band together to help out and get through a tough time, (2) those that take advantage of it- e.g. stealing generators or gas, looting businesses without power, etc. and I guess we should add a third- (3) those who whine a lot or get really crabby. They are no fun either.

But I guess everyone has their breaking point.

Anyway- back to work today- that feels good- lots to catch up on- but at somewhat of a standstill since schools are closed until monday. There is always SOMETHING to do though.

I just really hope they fix the street lights soon- I think I have complained about FL drivers before- imagine that without street lights- yikes.

For all of you in the Broward/Dade/Monroe area: be sure to make it home before curfew!