Rita Update

All of my Houston-area-based family members seem to be relatively unscathed after Rita’s passing, but my Dad’s place — ironically the location where my brother and his family decamped to, to escape the storm — is still without electricity. He’s making do with generator power which, at current gas prices, isn’t cheap. He’s lucky, though, in that he still has water. A friend from another part of town says her area doesn’t have electricity or water. And they’re at least 3 hours from the coast.