My boss in NY bcc'ed us on his e-mail to our foreign HQ, announcing that he had arranged for the Houston office to cover orders placed for New Orleans because our employees there had been evacuated. Guess he didn't tell us here in Houston about this plan prior to announcing it since we might have pointed out how it's ridiculous; no international trading vessels will be stopping in New Orleans for a very, very long time. *rolls eyes* Good to know he's shining up his, "I'm a fabulous director" credentials, though I can't imagine what he could be doing there that would be helpful.

On to better news: I'm happy that they'll be bringing at least some of the New Orleans evacuees to Houston. After 9/11 and the tsunami, it was horrible to sit by, unable to help beyond sending money to the Red Cross. This is a tragedy where I will be able to pitch in physically, which helps to dispel that sense of being a victim of the fates.

After all the help we in Houston received following the 500+-year flood event of Allison, where 22 people died and we got as much as 37 inches of rain, it feels good to be able to return the favor.

ETA: Just got the ( official Houston how-to-help e-mail. )

For some reason, the Houston Firemarshall's Office has decided to deny access to some official buses arriving here at the Astrodome. Asked for comment, they *refuse* to answer questions until 10 a.m. tomorrow. Un-fucking-believable.

News reports are that they've managed to run out of towels and food inside the Astrodome. Huh? If you're expecting 25,000 and you've got something less than half, then how can you run out of supplies?

I'm incredulous.