Customer purchases have definitely been shifting from survival to cleanup. Mold control in particular has been in high demand. On one hand, it's quite amusing to have to demonstrate a mop with a twist-to-wring mechanism to a woman who declared said mop to be newfangled and complicated. On the other, I met a couple trying to save the hardwood floors of the house they've lived in for over twenty years, and a man looking for supplies to pull up all the carpeting on the ground floor.

I saw the woman I wrote about last week, the one who was so overwhelmed she started crying. Her eyes were so, so sad. I hope she's okay.

I heard a story on the radio that made me nearly cry.  There's a 10-year-old boy who has a football signed by the Giants players Nicks and Cruz.  Most adults around here would pay through their nose to have that ball.  And this kid is selling it, so he can give the money to his neighbors so they can fix their houses.  A 10-year-old kid!  Part of me is hoping this somehow makes its way to the players and the kid gets another ball.

Finally...I saw a picture of the aftermath today that I hadn't seen before.  It was a photograph from Hoboken showing floodwaters surrounding a fire station.  And THEN it finally really started to hit me.  My area is in fairly good shape.  But that fire station...I used to walk past it.  And I saw it out the window a lot going to different sports meets.  I KNOW how far away from the water that building is.  And it was flooded.  A couple feet deep.  It just doesn't hit you until it's something you're used to.