The first and last images use my most requested post processing methods, and they're also my favorite to apply since they're a mic of my Faux Polaroid and good ol' Cross-Processing techniques.

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Oh yeah — a lot of people don't know their iPhone can take screen shots of the active screen (hold the Home button while clicking the Power button). Here's a shot of my 3 main screens:

HOLY CRAP. There's a person down the hall from me at work, and for some reason, he calls people, then leans over the phone and talks to them via the speaker. WHY OH WHY?!? Why must everyone else in the office have to hear your conversation? PICK UP THE HANDSET!

That said, I don't mind speaker phones in cars as much because it really is safer to not be bothering with a cell phone while steering.

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Speaking of stupid things humans do, this is another one that takes the cake: smoking at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Are you people for real? So you walk out the Hospital's main entrance, you're surrounded with people hooked-up to CVCs or IVs, people hooked-up to oxygen, people in poor general health — and you light-up a cigarette right next to them?! That clicking you hear is God's finger tapping the Smite Button, you know. Thankfully, we're usually inside when one of these buffoons lights-up — but the second someone does while we're out there, there's going to be a "situation."

Humans will never cease to make me feel sorry for us.

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Ike-Stink won over our refrigerator, so we bought a new one. :shakes fist in frustration:

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I wonder when our church will replace the "B" we lost in the hurricane. We've been " razospointe" for a couple of weeks now.

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Jenny Lewis' new album isn't as good as I hoped it would be. She should have dropped about 4 songs and released an EP instead — then she should have come to my house and put on a concert for everyone in town.

Get it now!

First off, Dad was scheduled for his 4th chemo cycle last Thursday (the 18th), and he was dreading it because he was feeling so bad, and we were 3 hours away from MD Anderson due ot the evacuation. With the previous cycles, after a few days, Dad's breathing would get worse — and even though we have oxygen, we were all concerned about him having some type of breathing issue that would require another visit to the ER — thus, us not loving the idea of being so far away from MD Anderson.

So we drive to the appt, leaving Cedar Creek at around 4:00am, do the blood work, the bandage change, then finally see the Doc. After hearing from and seeing Dad, the Doc says chemo is a no-go for now because he wants to fix this breathing issue. Chemo was to be scheduled next week, which — at that point — was when we were hearing our power would be back on. If the schedules panned-out, Dad would be back home in the security of his own house and with power — and we'd only be 50 minutes from MD Anderson, not 3 hours in case of an emergency.

This was a massive answer to prayer!

Second, Dad's begun to experience neuropathy in his left foot, which is a potential side effect of chemo, and one that can turn out to be quite serious. It's basically nerve damage that could result in loss of feeling in an appendage. When they saw this, they immediately knew what to do (of course), which will be to lower the dose of one of the chemo drugs during the next cycle. And just to be safe, we'll be seeing a neuro-oncologist today for a complete nerve examination to ensure everything will return to normal. So, another answer to prayer regarding Dad's foot, because they seem to know exactly what's causing it — and how to fix it.

Third, our main Doc called-in a favor to MD's top pulmonary Doc, and got Dad a visit with him to get an opinion on his lungs. This Doc feels 100% certain that Dad's breathing issue IS NOT asbestosis or anything new — he feels it's just inflammation from either some kind of virus or a reaction to the chemo drugs. THANK YOU, GOD! This guy thinks the main culprit is the Rituxan, and says that when normal lungs — which have near 100% capacity — get Rituxan, capacity can drop to 85%. BUT, normal lungs don't notice the drop. So you take Dad with his asbestosis scarring and a lung capacity of 45% to 50% and drop him 15% — he's going to feel it big time.

So dadgummit, it looks like we know for sure what's going on — or at least that it's not his asbestosis or something new cropping up. And if this pans-out, his breathing WILL get back to where it was. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, GOD!!

Lastly, I was crazy worried about us having to go home to no AC or electricity because of Dad's health. All I saw was a Pandora's box of problems waiting to jump out — but we just had to get back to LJ. So, we spent Saturday buying all kinds of stuff — and we even got a couple of window AC units to setup at Mom and Dad's so he'd be able to breath cool air. We had a game plan, I hated it, and all I did was pray and pray that God would let us go home to power. We called all day, but no answering machines ever picked up.

Right before going to bed, at 10:30 Saturday night, I called Mom and Dad's house one last time for the day — and after a few rings, I heard my Mom say "This is the McCown residence, please leave a message after the beep." I called 3 times, then called our house — and our power was restored, too.

This happened just minutes after I stood pleading and crying in the bathroom for God to give us power at Dad's so that he didn't have to deal with all the potential headaches, so that he could go home and relax in his own house, so that he could easily see in the dark without carrying a flashlight while trying to walk on a messed-up foot, so that Mom would have electricity while she watched my sister's baby while all of us were at work, and so on and so on. God answered in perfect timing.

GOD IS GOOD.

We pretty much have everything back to normal. Karen's been busting it doing 10 days worth of laundry and all that fun stuff, and we're both hoping the odor will leave our refrigerator soon so that we can restock it.

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I never shave on vacation, and even though our evacuation wasn't really a vacation — I still didn't shave. That said, I'm growing back the much-maligned beard my wife and Mother hate. Karen mainly hates the growing-in period since, I admit, that intermediate time looks pretty wily. But she'll get used to it eventually...

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For Ike catch-up, I have to build 8 io Super Distortions, 5 TUA Metalcore Distortions, 3 Peach Custom Fuzzes, and 3 PURE Boosts, and 6 Pulse Tap-Tempos. Ugh. I was able to get in touch with all the buyers and explain the situation, and all are cool with the delay. But — I have a feeling I'll be going blind right before I get carpel tunnel syndrome...

Outside of this, I have to reschedule 16 photo shoots, which is going to be a massive pain on all kinds of levels. Some of the clients are wanting to take advantage of debris, though, so that should be cool — and I may have to reinstitute my Model Release so I can post some pics here (or on my Flickr page).

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My Taylor K-14c acoustic cussed me out up one side and down the other for not taking it with me when we evacuated. He's jealous of the Gretsch, since she's so much prettier. Guitars, no?

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I just found out that someone I grew up with is working on the new JJ Abrams show, Fringe. I'm already hitting her up for spoilers, but she may be the type to actually adheres to those pesky NDAs.

I have a story to tell, but no time right now — so stay tuned...

Nevertheless, it's getting really tiresome for the McCowns. We've confirmed that Dad's MD Anderson appointments and treatment are still on schedule for Thursday, and he's dreading the 3 hour drive to Houston from Bastrop — and then repeating the same drive the next day, 24 hours later, for his Neulasta shot. Couple that with there being some connection between Dad's chemo rounds and his shortness of breath, and he's really dreading being so far away from the hospital — and we doubt they'll agree to hospitalize him just to be safe. So, Dad's looking forward to spending over 12 hours in transit.

I really hope we get our power on, so that we can go home tomorrow. I don't care about my house or my sister's — I just want Mom and Dad to be able to get back to their environment, and have Dad closer to MD Anderson. I know that there are people in far worse situations than we are, but that doesn't mean I don't wish things were better for us. And considering Dad's condition, it wold be really, really great for us to get him back home ASAP.

This sucks — and I can't wait to see how it all turns out okay, and how all of us were freaking out and worrying for no reason.

If you're the praying type, feel free to send a few for Dad.

Thank the Maker!

Power is still out in most of the city though, and so is the sewer. We're now praying and hoping those will get fixed ASAP so we can get Dad back home and into his own house (he's in the middle chemo treatments and not doing as well as we'd like). We also pray and hope our company gets power and internet ASAP so that we can get up and running without having to work from Bastrop. And another issue is that Dad's scheduled for his 4th chemo cycle this coming Thursday — and he has to be there. He may also have to stay overnight — so we just need some grace to let all these schedules and repairs fall into place so nothing ends up lacking.

We are getting reports from the Mayor at 10am, 2pm and 6pm daily — and I'm calling our houses and business every so often to see if an answering machine will pick up. Hopefully we'll hear some great news, soon and very soon.

Intermittent power will begin to flick about the city tomorrow and Monday, and there's a good chance the city will start letting people come home. HOWEVER, full power won't come online for a week or two — and a lot of stores will NOT be open. We're playing it by ear, as we don't want to head home without full sewer, electricity, and water due to my Dad's health. We're working on a couple of leads to try and get closer to home, though.

One of the local churches lost its steeple, which then fell through the stained glass of the main worship area. Hopefully there wasn't too much water damage.

My cigars have been getting warmer and warmer since Friday evening. It'll stink to lose $300 worth of stogies if they all get ruined...

So it seems that the brunt of the damage really was sustained mostly by the coastal and inlet towns. We have no flooding in Lake Jackson or Clute, which is a relief. I only hope our windows stayed intact, and that the 4 trees in our front yard are still firmly rooted in the ground — and not in my house.

So we wait some more, and hope power gets restored in our area soon — because if we don't have power, we can't run the company and get payroll for our satellite offices. That will mean we will have to stay here in Bastrop rather go back to our homes — and that totally sucks. But, at least we seem to have fared well, and that's an answer to prayer.

More later...