Man…

I know things slow down here in the summer. It’s hot, it’s humid and all that. Folks from elsewhere make fun of Southerners for moving so slow until they come down here — then they learn why: it’s just hot, okay? Years ago, the city of Houston spent untold thousands of dollars to hire a PR firm to come up with a slogan for some international event being hosted. This quick-thinking think-tank came up with “Houston’s HOT!” I wanted to add, “…and humid too.” But I digress….

…so business has SERIOUSLY slowed down on Magazine St. and elsewhere. No wonder so many places simply close their doors for a month or so or wind up curtailing hours. We’re cutting back a bit ourselves, though we’ve discovered it’s better to remain open and reduce hours than to simply close down for two days a week. The lack of cash flow was having a larger effect than I thought it might, so lesson learned.

I note here ^[1] that there are plenty of folks taking some time these days to give back to the flood-stricken areas of the Midwest (forgive me, but I’m still getting used to the updated site. It seems every freaking site has its own rules anymore and I’m just old enough and cantankerous enough and busy enough that I refuse to learn them all. Oh, and — get off my lawn). Lord knows so many people we never met were so good to us after Katrina that there is really no way we could possibly repay or even try to balance things out. If you can’t actually go up there, I’d suggest contributing whatever you can to the American Red Cross. I know I am.

Of course we don’t wish this kinda thing on anyone. But I gotta say it’s heartening to see someone else getting pissed off at FEMA and the Corps and the false promises and the levee situations and the insurance companies and all the other crap that’s going to take, um, years to even begin to iron out. And, in a lot of the areas, it’s the same as Katrina — the water came up and it’s still there. It just sits there and stews in the hot sun, day after day.

God bless the latest round of flood victims. We’re with you more than you know. On a whole lot of levels.