In the wake of Ike, a refreshing visit to small-town Texas

"Want to take a roadie?" I was asked yesterday at work.

With those words, I got a chance to leave my cubicle and see yet a little more of what the hurricane left behind. After taking the keys to a company van loaded with bottled water and ice, I set out towards one of my employer's nursing homes out in the woods of east Texas.

While listening to radio talk show hosts bemoaning the Astros' stumble at the brink of catching the other playoff contenders, I surveyed more scenes of destruction and recovery. Ditches cradled overturned trailer homes. Convoys of power company trucks cruised to their next destination. A tree branch sprouted through the windshield of an otherwise sharp-looking Chevy 2500HD pickup truck. Billboards and road signs were ripped apart. In fact, I could swear that I didn't see a single speed limit sign standing on a certain eighty-mile stretch of interstate highway. Convenient, eh?

A bit more than two hours later, I rolled the van into the nursing home driveway. Last weekend, employees and patient family members alike had sheltered for the night on the building floor as Hurricane Ike sailed through town. The facility lost power in the early morning hours and only regained it a few days ago. I find it slightly ironic now that a van full of even more H-two-O would be welcome after a hurricane, but it was. Just as back in Houston, many of the employees here were still waiting for electric current to flow in their homes again.

After unloading the ice and water, I attended to the other task for which I was sent. I installed a router that would temporarily connect the facility to the Internet via the Verizon Wireless network until the local ISP gets the flow of bits and bytes going again. Then I turned for home.

As I was heading out of town, I was craving something to drink. (In hindsight, I should have kept one of the water bottles for myself!) I attempted to stop at the local McDonald's and Sonic Drive-In, but both were already closed for the evening, despite appearing to have power.

When fast-food restaurants on the "main drag" of a town aren't open for business at 6 p.m. on a Friday, I'd say things aren't quite back to normal.