Update

Hmmm, the police are walking around the building across the lawn from me, I wonder what is going on?

The woman across from my parents who's house flooded during the storm came back from where ever she evacuated to yesterday, and I spent the day helping her boyfriend move furniture and rip up carpet (since there were no other men for most of the day, and I am strong, even with my RA). My working washer and dryer were put to use morning until bedtime, and I have one more load going this morning. Mostly clothes, but also one load of stuffed toys that were soaked, but very important to her little girls. She has lost a lot, but we also managed to salvage a lot. My experience as a mold investigator years ago came in very handy yesterday. Unfortunately, she leases the house from a couple that lives in Singapore, so some of the clean up has to wait until she hears from their insurance company.

This morning I'm off to my parents house to help them clean up the debris in their front and back yard.

I did manage to get in touch with the accounting officer at my work yesterday. Cell phones still aren't working for the most part. I got her husband at home in the morning, and then talked to her in the late afternoon. A group went in yesterday to consolidate our specimens into a single freezer to conserve on gas in the generator, since gas is still hard to find and there are long, long lines at the very few places that have gas. In any case, I told her I would wait for a call from someone to know when I should report back to work. We agreed that until the power is back, there's nothing anyone can do. I'm frustrated that no plan was in place for a crisis like this. I've tried the home phone number for the guy that works for me (the woman that had worked for me resigned two weeks ago), but never got an answer; so many people don't have old fashioned lands lines any more.

I also got to one of the open grocery stores around here yesterday. You wait in a line outside, and they let you in after two shoppers have come out. The stores are on generator power, so it's pretty dark inside. No dairy, no meats, no bread, no frozen foods, and only a handful of produce (a few melons, strawberries, and potatoes, which luckily everyone was walking past, so I was able to get some fresh). Since going on a grain-free, 'paleo' diet, fresh veggies are the mainstay of my diet - canned veggies now.

So, that's the scoop for now. We're all showing signs of stress, including all the dogs. Maybe after the first push of getting things done, we'll have a bit of a breather before going back to work. Holly and Mikey missed their morning walk yesterday when I got the call that the woman with the flooded house was back. I'm going to make sure they get their walk every morning from here out, if possible, since I think exercise/normal routine should help their stress levels.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.