I only THOUGHT I needed to remodel my laundry room

What I really need is hurricane shutters. Or impact-resistant windows. Or maybe a new roof -- I am still waiting to find out how well mine survived the storm.

I wonder how many other SPI residents are reaching the same conclusion this morning.

I am posting this entry from the VIP Club in Rome Fiumicino airport while awaiting my flight to Bari. Four thousand miles away from Blackbeards, the wide-screened TV is tuned to CNN International where I am treated to the totally surreal vision of my beloved island - battered and under water - over and over again in the news loop.

It is hard to believe that just a few days ago Dolly didn’t exist as anything more than a name on a list.

Since it is the middle of the night in Texas, I can only imagine what my once-lovely backyard now looks like. Did my windows sprout leaks? Did my shingles fly away? Did the renters upstairs (yes! I had renters!) regret their decision to come in spite of the predictions?

I won’t be back home again until Aug. 8th and so will not get to see first hand the worst of what Dolly did to my island -- in this respect I am like so many other absent property owners who I am sure are sharing my frustration.

But I am seeing it on TV - over and over again - and it just makes me want to cry.