Hurrication

I don't know if you've heard, but there's a hurricane heading directly for Houston. His name is Ike. We are no longer merely in the "cone of possibility"; at the moment it seems we will be directly in the line of fire. We closed the opera offices at noon today, after a morning of being completely unable to focus on anything other than the hurricane (if you happen to also be obsessed with tracking Ike, I highly recommend this website to suck your time). There will be no work Friday, no work Saturday, no work Sunday. You know what that means… hurrication.

Now, I don't want you to think that I don't take hurricanes seriously. I am fully aware of all the people who lose their homes, their possessions, and their lives as a direct result of hurricanes. I am crossing my fingers that Ike doesn't do any more damage than he already has (he was a real bastard in Haiti). And I'm also taking the threat to Houston as a real problem. CameraMan, the Bossy Cat, and I are planning to "hunker down" at Little Ms. Hardcore's apartment, which just happens to be above the garage of BritBossMan, who just happens to have a generator. So when the power goes out, and all the neighbors are reduced to roasting weenies on sticks in the fireplace? We'll be watching it on TV.

While I was at work this morning, CM picked up some supplies. He fueled up his car, stocked up on water and candles, and, best of all, bought a Wii. No, you won't find it on any emergency preparation list, and it sure won't do us any good in a power outage, but it's quite possible that it's the most fun way to spend the many hours stuck inside (well, almost). Already we have foregone going to the gym today (it's probably closed, anyway) in favor of playing virtual tennis, golf, bowling, and an incredibly addictive/frustrating driving game. Even while I write this, CM is in front of me feinting left and right, throwing killer punches, and shouting curses that would make you blush—he's boxing, of course.

So, as you watch the news, and Houston and our archnemesis Ike are splashed across the headlines, don't worry about Little Ms. Bossy. She's being taken care of by her friends and her CameraMan, staying safe, being smart…and getting her virtual a** kicked.