(I realize it's somewhat banal to "live blog" something that's really not going to have a big effect on me, but I'm at home and I'm restless because I still have a slight fever with this cold...)

Still just rain. They've downgraded the level of wind that we are supposed to get which is a huge relief. I had cleaned up my bathroom really well (including scrubbing the floor clean enough, that, if I needed to, I could make up a pallet and sleep THERE tonight...the bathroom, in my house, is that "windowless interior room" that people are counseled to go to in cases of high wind.

At least I'm getting a clean bathroom out of it.)

It does look like a couple people died in Galveston but not the massive horrible deaths that were expected. One guy was swept off a pier when he went to look at the waves, and I think another was killed by a falling tree.

They're also saying "no reports of looting in Houston," which, if true, is a VERY good thing indeed. I tend to regard people who go in and do stuff like that - loot the houses of citizens who've evacuated - as a rung or two below pond scum on the Scala Natura.

They're sending the "Disaster Relief" trucks in; I hope the drivers don't encounter high winds on the way.

It does look like Ike was not as bad as anticipated; the storm surge was about half of the worst-case scenario. But the fact that it was still classed as a hurricane nearly 50 miles inland is just creepy.

One thing I will say - perhaps not being a "party person" - is that the concept of the "hurricane party" strikes me a bit odd. They interviewed a couple people on Channel 8 (with their Houston link-up) about the hurricane and they were all like "We didn't expect this to be so big; we were all downtown at a hurricane party." And I remember a friend of mine in grad school who used to live in Florida talked about hurricane parties - where everyone would go to one person's house, they'd bring food, get a couple kegs and some wine, and sit and watch the 'cane come in.

I suppose the "being with one's fellow man" aspect of it is a good thing, but I do hope that only sub-intoxicating levels of beer were consumed (though considering my friend, I doubt it). Because, you know? What do you do if you have to get the heck out of there on short notice and you're impaired? But whatever.