Chaotic

I have some stories for you.

The first is about some relatives. I have an aunt and uncle and two cousins who live in a suburb of Houston. Two weeks ago when Ike was approaching, they decided to buckle down, boarding up their house and prepping for some very close family time. (From my understanding of family hearsay, they missed the window to leave and decided they should -- and could -- stay put.)

The winds blew, the rain fell, and the lights went out. For a couple of days, they stayed huddled in the house.

When it passed, they came out to discover that the only real damage they had was a small leak by their chimney, some damaged fence, and a couple of missing shingles. They were very, very lucky.

A week later, they still didn't have power, but all was well. Things are mostly back to normal now, aside from some remaining cleanup. I suspect it may be awhile before that's finished.

Meanwhile, I had a friend up here who had to oil his hardwood floors. Since this is a two- or three-day event and covers most of his ground floor, he voluntarily moved into his garage for the weekend. He's kind of an oddity.

Back west, out by good ol' RC, another friend was downsized. As a matter of fact, her entire office was downsized. Seems their parent company is faltering right now and they're cutting staff as part of a massive restructure. They were given the choice to interview for their jobs -- she's taking that option and interviewing for another position as well. If she gets her old job, she has to move (particularly frustrating since she's only been out there for a few months); if she gets the other, she can stay where she is.

I have to admit, all of this is making me thankful that my only real anxiety right now is if I look at the standings of my 401(k). Egads. I'm also thankful that I rent and that bad weather hasn't hit us (yet -- who knows what the winter will hold).

Our world is a crazy, crazy place. I suspect that it won't be getting any less crazy -- I mean, that's the rule with entropy, right? It can only get more chaotic.

That's a statement completely lacking in optimism.

But then, I, like the rest of you, am witnessing the battle to be the next President. And can I just say that I am not looking forward to voting in November? Not even a little bit.

*Sigh.* What a year this is turning out to be.