Waiting game

So now myself and millions of other Gulf Coast residents have to endure Hurricane Rita eating away the lining of our stomachs as well as threaten our homes. Sometimes waiting for something can be almost as punishing as the thing itself.

I originally hail from California, which is, of course, earthquake central. I went through the 'quake in 1989 and watched in horror as entire sections of freeways collapsed and a rift opened up on the Bay Bridge. I doubt anyone in the Bay Area can forget the footage of several cars that couldn't stop in time and were swallowed whole by the breech, plunging down into the waters of the Bay far below. Driving over the bridge today, you can still see a patch where the rift occurred. But at least earthquakes don't last that long: 30 seconds and boom, it's all over.

A impending hurricane, however, is like slow torture. So now the freeways are converted to one direction (out) but still jammed, everyone's low on gas, and running scared. We were lucky enough to get out yesterday, but now we just have more time to ponder our fate. The hurricane appears to have tacked further north. Will the eye pass to the east of Houston, sparing us from the "dirty side" of the hurricane? Will that matter? Only questions now, no answers.