The internet is back!

Due to Hurricane Ike, we have been without the internet all week at the museum. Thankfully, we've had power though!

The internet returned a few minutes ago, and the whole staff is thrilled!

It is amazing how much you rely on the internet for so many things. For example:

• My graphic design program relies on the internet to get clip art (so I wasn't able to finish text panels for A Doll's World)
  
• New PowerPoint templates are online (I'm glad I had saved some that I liked on my hard drive, so I could create some new programs)
  
• All of Lynette's animal supply sites are bookmarked for her to easily place orders
• A media contact wanted a photo of the Monument emailed
• Staff meeting minutes had to be printed and copied instead of emailed
• As I was compiling my OAHSM program "Celebrating and Noting Historical Anniversaries," I needed photos from Chris -- we had to save them on a flash drive instead of emailing them like we usually do
• No email! Split Rock had sent requests, someone wanted a program, and there was a research question when I finally was able to check
• Without power at home, Joyce was unable to send the membership list to our mailer to send out the postcards for the opening of A Doll's World
• Press releases could not be sent via email
• AND MUCH MORE!

Of course, we were thankful to at least be open, so our visitors could still come. We had power, and certainly no damage to our building, like those hardest hit areas in the Gulf Coast. And we all found ways around the problems we faced without the internet. Whatever we couldn't do, simply had to wait.

We did lose large parts of a few big, old trees on our grounds, and Steve (who was already overworked with projects in Discover World, the Keller Gallery, and the building overall) had to spend several days cleaning up outside, which I'm sure has put him behind schedule for some of his projects.

But as I said, we are thankful that no one was hurt, and that our museum fared far better than many places around town. Many schools were closed, and even the Football Hall of Fame, which is literally down the street from us, didn't have power.

In other news...

• We are all set for the Soup at Six program tonight on "Presidential Funerals." It is SOLD OUT!
• There are only 12 spots left for our next Soup at Six program, "An Armchair Walking Tour of West Lawn Cemetery."
• I've finished writing the text panels for A Doll's World, and will begin object labels later this afternoon.
• We had our first participant in Stories of a Life on Monday.
• My program "Celebrating and Noting Historical Anniversaries" is DONE. (Very excited about that -- I think conference participants will enjoy it and will get a lot of ideas from everything we did last year to celebrating the 100th anniversary of the McKinley National Memorial!)

It's nice to be back in the "virtual reality" of the internet!