Written Sunday, 31 August 2008, 8:45 AM

If Gustav hasn’t done anything else, it has brought me some perspective.  I was not here during Katrina so all my information has been second-hand, but now I see what this is all about.

I didn’t sleep too well last night (Saturday), but I did sleep better than I may have otherwise.  My family (Kim and K) are safely at my sister’s house in Georgia so as a husband and father I feel as though priority number one are taken care of.  I will head off to work so I can take care of the young men and women I’m in charge of - priority number two.  I have spent the better part of the morning taking care of things here in the house - a low priority.

My wife will be the first to tell you I love my gadgets, but preparing for this hurricane has caused me to put some things into perspective.  Yes, I have gone to some lengths to reasonably protect my personal property from the storm, but I didn’t go too far.  These things can be replaced, my stuff isn’t the most pressing matter at this time.

***Note - I did NOT do anything that would cause damage to any of my things.  That may sound crass at this time, but you would be surprised what some people will do to get over.

The bottom line is simple.  We don’t know how much damage this hurricane will do to the Gulf Coast and the state of Louisiana, but it seems like the emphasis has been placed on the most important thing: getting people to safety.  We can rebuild and replace everything else.