Remembering 9/11; First all-nighter

First, I'd like to take a moment and remember 9/11 and all those whose lives were touched by it, and all of the brave people who risked, and gave, their lives trying to rescue those trapped in the towers.

Cindy and I just started our first overnight shift. So far the phones have been pretty slow... but we expect them to pick up, especially with Ike looming. We were at Wal-mart earlier to pick up some overnight supplies (coffee creamer for me- to add to the gallons of coffee I'll be needing...) and the lines were SUPER long. I guess everyone was stocking up in case Ike turns and people need supplies to get by.

I've gotten a few calls so far from people evacuating from the path of Ike, looking for shelter here in Baton Rouge. So far it looks like this would be a safe place to be... though there are still a lot of people in the shelters here from Gustav... and the hotels are pretty much booked until the end of October. So it'll be interesting to see how many people end up coming here, and how it all turns out. Especially since we may still see quite strong storms from Ike, even though Baton Rouge isn't in its direct path.

One small adventure so far... last night Cindy and I planned to stay up pretty late to prepare for our overnight shift tonight... and at about 1:30 am we got an express check-out notice under our door. Turns out there was a misunderstanding about when we'd be checking out... they thought it would be this morning... we thought it would be Tuesday. So we decided to just go to bed, get up early and figure out what to do from there. So come morning, we got breakfast and called Sue, our contact here. She told me she'd make a couple phone calls then call me back. So Cindy and I watched a tribute to 9/11 on the History Channel for a little while, then Sue called back letting us know we had the room for at least one more night (tonight). Hopefully we'll be able to work things out tomorrow... but we have been assured a place to sleep... even if we have to crash on someone's couch. I'm really not concerned... it's all part of the adventure.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try and update toward the end of the shift... if there's anything more to report... and I'm not delirious from lack of sleep.

Good night everyone!!