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Houston and Surrounding Areas Hurricane Ike (Peace Be Not Upon Him) Ping List ping!

As near as I can reckon, about four minutes after I added RedWhiteBlue to the ping list, we got knocked offline. Power went out in our zip code right at seven Friday night.

Ike came rollin' through our neck of the woods about two Saturday morning. Man, that was some hard-core wind! The trees outside our upstairs window were not visible.

About six-forty that morning, nature (and Michelob) called upon me, and I got up to go to the upstairs bathroom. I walked through the doorway and was hit in the face with a sheet of water.

I hollered, "Jesus Christ!" and Xena's Guy came to see what was up. His diagnosis was that the bathroom skylight, which we already suspected was of subpar design, was letting rain through in the high wind.

I said, "So honey, why is the witch ball moving?" (There used to be a witch ball hanging in the skylight.)

He saw the essential force of the argument contained in my question, and went to get the broom, with which he ascertained that the skylight was in fact GONE.

Hijinks ensued, in which Xena's Guy spent a lot of time with one foot in the bathroom sink and the other on a ladderback chair, trying to a) nail or b) staple a c) tarp or a d) Hefty bag over the opening. Then he gave up on that, as having the potential to retain water, and nailed a huge piece of Styrofoam over the opening.

That proving unsatisfactory, he waited until the rain elapsed a teensy bit - eight our time, so barely daylight - climbed ON TOP OF THE DAMN ROOF, and found the skylight hanging on by a screw. He reattached it, firmer than before, and all is now well.

We got power back about six Sunday night ... then lost it again at eight.

Now it's back on, and our Internet is too! Doing laundry and dishes right now. It's surprising how much mess two adults can make in less than 72 hours.

Everyone else come through okay?