Even though Jeanne is gone, it isn't over quite yet...

My work day didn't happen. I took the bus to the call centre, only to find out that because of a power outage which had been resolved shortly before I arrived, the decision had been made to close for the first shift. The IT geek types have a number of systems to deal with and insure they are functioning OK before allowing anyone to use them, considering we have several departments within our centre (Credit/Collections, Deposits, Error Processing, High Toll). That, as you may understand, will take several hours, so it is expected that our centre will be open for it's second shift at 4PM.

Looking for a place to eat and a few groceries this morning, US98 looked like Dale Mabry Highway at rush hour, for those of you Tampa folks who know that experience. And this is LAKELAND, for gawd's sake! Several restaurants usually open during the morning were still closed, and those that were open had long lines for seating or service. IHOP at 98 near I-4 had up to an hour's wait for a booth. McDonald's across the street had a 15 minute line for an order, and they ran out of muffins for breakfast sandwiches. Most of the convenience stores did very steady business with rushes on gas and snack sandwiches.

And kudos to the people at Bright House Networks Tampa Bay. After the electricity came back on last night, the cable/internet went down. I didn't worry about it until this morning, and when I called and let them know that my apartment complex was affected, it wasn't long before we were back up and running.