Volcano delays

We have held a few shipments to northern European destinations for a while, until flights have resumed. I'm sure there will be a backlog of shipments that will take a while to clear, and it seems best to wait a bit until things have settled down a bit.

Rhode Island flooding

Things are a mess in our poor state, but we've been lucky: no damage either at work or at home -- though we did have to set up a portable pump in a low point in the basement to keep things under control. When the water started coming up from the floor in an area where we'd never had problems before, my first thought was to check the downspouts and to consider putting in a second French drain on that side of the house. Then I took a closer look, and realized that underground drains were immaterial, once the soil became saturated all the way to the surface! Wet enough to drown a worm.

Our kids' schools have remained open, too, though some after-school activities were cancelled. Just as well, considering all the additional traffic as people try to find their way around road closures. We drove up to Boston for a lunch date yesterday, and the traffic delays were all manageable. Ended up giving a friend a ride back to Providence, however, after he found himself unable to get a train from Boston -- though we later found out that service was restored in time for the end-of-day commute.