Later Update - Thursday Night, 10:15

I left the Hospital around 9:00 PM. I hadn't even gotten home when I got a call from Sharon. She said I had missed Dr Baum by about 15 seconds. Looks like I went one way and Dr Baum came in from the other direction. She said that they indeed have cultured a substance in the lab that is a fungus. BUT, the one that has grown is one that COULD have come from the air in the lab. Sooooo, we still aren't sure what the results of that will be. Suppose we'll hear something from Dr Emerson tomorrow or Monday. Waiting is frustrating!

The real purpose of this late edition is, as I sit down to type this, the news makes it sound like the whole of Texas is going to bear the wrathe of Ike. Along the coast, that is likely true. We are a couple of hundred miles up the track of the storm after it makes landfall. What that means is that we will likely get a lot of rain and some mild winds - in the 30 to 40 MPH range, but will largely go unscathed. The major projected track presently show it going far enough to the east of us to place us in no danger, as long as we don't walk in the rain with our noses stuck straight up in the air! Those of you in normal hurricane territory know of which I speak. This is for those of you who have not had the pleasure of going through the real thing except through the eyes of the Weather news ala Jim Cantori or the Crisis News Network ala the ID 10 T's (read that word a couple of times and you'll finally see it!) who have to show how bad it is! (Even if it isn't!)

It does bode well that Sharon will stay in the hospital until next week. By Sunday, there won't likely be even any rain for her to get into coming out of the "Big House!" Wait! Wrong place! [:D]

Cheers!

Joe