My brother in New Orleans

Ouch, I'm having a hard time getting as excited about work today. My brother Gary and his family live in a suburb of New Orleans, which of course was hit by a terrible hurricane.

This photo (from Wikipedia) is from the area near downtown that I know well from my many visits to him. It's also the site of several Microsoft worldwide sales conferences I've attended over the years. I always volunteered to attend various events in New Orleans so I could visit my brother, and I even stayed there for Christmas last year. He doesn't know the status of his house (he lives in Kenner) but assumes everything is lost. Fortunately he brought his family with him on a business trip to Houston this week so they are all safe, but I feel so sorry for him and everyone else there who is obviously devastated by this disaster.