So... I came down to my Grandma's place in Houston to help her prep for Hurricane Ike.  We spent all day getting last minute items, doing laundry, storing stuff in the garage, and boarding up her windows.  Everyone in this part of the neighborhood seems to be riding out the storm, and if it gets too bad we'll probably go to a shelter. 

Nonetheless, I realize that my British friends don't usually get to see stuff like this... so I'll try and post pictures (Actually, I'm going to text the photos to my folks, and they'll put them on here).  Ike is not supposed to hit for another 12 hours or so, but I have some pictures of houses and the clouds starting to roll in.  It won't hit until the dead of night, so I might not even be able to get any good shots or videos.  However, it's a big ass storm, so it may still be rockin' when the sun comes up. 

Wish me luck!  Hurricane Party '08!!

We're about 12 hours out.  Here's the VERY outskirts of the storm.
Neighbor's house.

We're now about 6-7 hours away... I've got a countdown going.  The winds are picking up and raccoons are going nuts.  Poor things.

Photos are pretty poor quality... camera phone.