I’ve found that blogging only works if you have Internet access. Go figure.

The catastrophe has been averted. Rita is gone. We’re all fine.

Someday, when I actually have time, I’ll get my family to give me their evacuation stories to share with you. Mine are very boring… stuck in a hotel with very little to do except wait for the hurricane.

Thanx, all, for your good wishes and prayers.

There is something incredibly surreal about my life right now. I am sitting in an all-but-vacant building, working on communicating with our customers and employees, working out a plan “just in case” the worst happens… alone (sort of). I’m watching the continuing news coverage of the hurricane. I’m listening to stories about people running out of gas on the highway before they even get out of Houston. I’m not leaving.

I still haven’t heard from Criscella and her gang, and I haven’t heard anything about Dad. That means that they are still on the road somewhere. Evacuating.

Jessica tells me, in one of her calls from Dallas, of the people who keep calling her, on the road to Dallas, stuck in traffic, worried and scared. Jess, Omar and Mom left last night, so it only took 11 hours to get to Dallas (normally a five-hour trip), and they actually found a hotel room (which took an act of God, almost). Everyone else seems to be winging it, and they all left at 2 or 3 a.m. today, which seems to make all the difference in the world. (People on the news are talking about only gettng 47 miles in 10 hours.)

A couple of hours ago I did the early hotel registration thing, and asked what the hurricane plan is there. I haven’t slept, I barely packed anything in my car and am worried about the possibility of losing all my worldly possessions. (Pasadena is a storm surge area for a category 3 hurricane, Rita vascillates between a 4 and a 5.)

I think I’m too sleep-deprived to really feel fear right now. I’m sure it will hit me later.

Jessica, Omar and Mom have checked in. They’ve arrived in Dallas and are resting now, waiting to see what path the hurricane decides to take.

Criscella, Julio and the kids are en route to Dallas as well, on their way to an out-of-state location.

Dad was evacuated in the wee hours of the night… to Dallas. So, that looks like the place to be right now.

I am at work, in my office, getting prepared. One of maybe a handful of people in the building.

The good news is that I have internet access and a laptop that’s still available.

So, that’s where we are.

As of right now, cell phones are not accepting or placing calls, so I don’t know where anyone is. I’m at work, where I’ll be tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. The rest have fled (or are fleeing), I hope. I assume, since I haven’t been able to contact anyone and haven’t heard anything to the contrary. Even Dad is being moved out of the city.

Assuming that we keep electricity running and I can access the Web, I will try to keep posting these “still here” notes from downtown Houston. Of course, with a category 4 (almost 5) hurricane about to make landfall in this city, the odds of keeping things humming without interruption are not good.

Talk to all of you soon.

I was quoted in Ex Libris, a library newsletter with a very devoted following, about the Library’s efforts for Hurricane Katrina evacuees:

Sandra Fernandez, Public Relations Manager for HPL, says that they’ve been operating an impromptu “branch” library on site at the convention center since Saturday, September 3. She says, “We have Library staff there, as well as volunteers. We don’t have a circulating library at that location. The materials are all either donated recently for that library or provided by the Friends of the Houston Public Library — which means that when something is “checked out” at that library, they can keep the materials. We have (as of yesterday) approximately 16 computers there, with internet access, games and reading materials for all ages. We are holding storytimes throughout the day as well. The GRB [convention center] is just a mile or two from the Central Library, and we are offering temporary library cards to all evacuees which then can then be used at all library locations.”

The quote then got picked up by librarian.net. No, it’s not the Houston Chronicle, but still nice to see.