Sandy Aftermath- longing for that normal routine...

While chilling in the sun here in Miami I am starting to process the past few days. I have actually been pretty lucky as I did not actually have to stay in the apartment without water and power but just kept moving around with few outfits. But at least I kept warm and never lost connectivity. Many of my friends and colleagues have not been as lucky and are still battling the consequences of this storm that really was nothing like Irene... As I type these words most manhattan inhabitants are back with electricity and hot water but they know there are less fortunate people especially in Queens and Long Island as well as Jersey and other coastal areas. So an unprecedented move to volunteer is taking place which is great. There are also plenty of ways to help from afar: simply donate to red cross or the mayor's fund for Sandy victims...

Personally I still haven't heard whether my office will be reopen on Monday - I sure hope so. It's weird how all this time without normal routine makes you want your regular routine so badly. What was very moving though was the amount of people, family, friends and even people I have not been in touch for a long time who called, emailed, facebooked etc etc in order to find out if I was doing fine. Thank you all for that - it means a lot. I think professionally this experience has been very good for me (and continues to be so) as I am experiencing first hand what we otherwise just write about and you can relate a little more to the victims of natural catastrophes and how all they crave is a little bit of normalcy...
Have to say I have not been very impressed with the way my building handled the whole situation - my gym has been providing more updates than that freaking management company. Actually I can't wait to get back to my gym :-)
They finally decided to cancel the marathon - probably too late as quite a few people had already flown in by the time they announced it on Friday afternoon but they do have a valid point in deploying the vast number of volunteers and police forces for a better cause.
Too bad I can't participate in the whole relief efforts this weekend as I have to lie in the sun here in Miami ;-) kidding, I really will try to help as soon as I am back next week.
One thing is for sure Sandy did remind us to not take things for granted and not to underestimate the forces of nature...