Leaving Texas

It looks like my time here in Beaumont is coming to a close. Unexpectedly I am being pulled back to DC. I'm really happy to be heading home to Sonia and Daniel, but I'm a little sad about leaving my home town so soon. I feel like I wasn't here long enough. I got to hang out with my cousin Becky and my friend Ginger, and I'll have dinner with my brother Pancho tonight. But I didn't get a chance to see my buddy Troy (In case you're googling Troy Soileau, all of the rumors about the chickens are damned lies). And I still haven't gotten to Lumberton at all. I'll have to see if I can pull through there before I go.

"The House That Ike Broke"

My Brother just sent us pictures of the house I grew up in in Lumberton. Ike dropped a tree on it (Rita dropped a tree on the same house in 2005). This inspired me to write a little poem:

"The House that Ike Broke"

This is the House that Ike broke

This is the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

This is the Tree
That lay on the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

This is the the Contractor
That removed the Tree
That lay on the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

This is the Check
That paid off the Contractor
That removed the Tree
That lay on the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

This is the Agency
That wrote the Check
That paid off the Contractor
That removed the Tree
That lay on the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

This is the Son
Who works for the Agency
That wrote the Check
That paid off the Contractor
That removed the Tree
That lay on the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

These are the Taxes
That pay the Son
Who works for the Agency
That wrote the Check
That paid off the Contractor
That removed the Tree
That lay on the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

These are the Bills
That ate up the Paycheck
Of the Son
Who works for the Agency
That wrote the Check
That paid off the Contractor
That removed the Tree
That lay on the Roof
Of the House that Ike broke

(Next year I'll write another one called "This is the House that Ida broke" or something like that)

Geek stuff: running Infocom games to work on Windows XP

Okay, Ike didn't cause the world to collapse. It was a very expensive, huge storm that caused a lot of damage, but it didn't kill many people. My brother in Beaumont was fine. I feel vaguely foolish for having gotten so wound up about him being there. Meh.

Anyway, I found an old CD with Infocom games on it ("Lost Treasures of Infocom"). These were the old text-based games that are now called "Interactive Fiction": Zork, The Lurking Horror, Infidel... This was all very magical to me when I was a kid. I wanted to become a computer programmer because of this kind of game. So I got my CompSci degree at the Academy and after the Marines I taught Seychellois people to use computers and... somehow I ended up working for FEMA. Go figure.

The trouble is that when I went to start up Zork, I got odd characters on the screen. This killed my eighties buzz. I vaguely remembered that these weird characters were the program's attempt to talk to ANSI.SYS. This was the way programs used to do super advanced graphics like dark letters on a light background (WOW!). I understand that Al Gore invented ANSI.SYS.

Okay, here's how you fix this:

1. Start up a command prompt (Start->Run->CMD)
2. Edit your CONFIG.NT file (notepad %systemroot%\system32\config.nt)
3. Add a reference to ANSI.SYS at the end of CONFIG.NT (add this line: device=%SystemRoot%\system32\ansi.sys)

Now ZORK and company should start up correctly and not give you any weird characters. XYZZY.

Actually going home

Okay, I didn't go home. I called my brother in Texas. It's not even raining in Beaumont, just some pretty high winds. It was reassuring to hear his voice. Okay, now I really am going home.

Still don't like Ike.

Ike paralysis

I'm still at work. I am experiencing some kind of weird Ike paralysis. Like somehow as long as I stay at work, the storm won't actually hit. And my brother will be okay.

Guess I'd better head home. Long day tomorrow.

I don't like Ike

I don't like Ike.

You know, I came to FEMA to help the disaster victim. But I'd be just fine if I never really got to do my job. Ike looks really bad. It's probably going to hit my old hometown in Lumberton, Texas, where folks are still talking about Rita. And my eldest brother is sticking it out near there in Beaumont. He'll probably be okay. Probably.

I'm set to work the weekend. Hey, maybe it'll fizzle out. Yeah, that could happen.

The National Weather Service says, "PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH".

I don't like Ike.

(By the way, these kickass storm graphics come from http://www.stormpulse.com/.)