Guess who's back

After 27 hours of grueling sun, spoiling food, and a runny nose, I got my power back last night at 11 pm. No way is Miami back to normal: the southern half of the county's under water, most of the traffic signals within a five-mile radius are not working, about 450,000 people remain without power (including my parents and most of my pals), and people are acting polite and friendly at the supermarkets. To those in Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle bracing themselves for Hurricane Katerina, I salute thee.

I plan to knock a few back at my buddy Hatzel's party tonight, at which I will engage in the badinage from which a bad cold and a meddlesome tropical system have kept me from participating.