It's such a tough week in Connecticut and the storm brought home how dependant we are on power for nearly everything we do every day.
 I was at an office yesterday where a woman went into the bathroom and said she was going to use it because she wanted "to go where there's light" before she headed home to a house where except for daylight she had been in the dark since Irene wreaked havoc on so many lives.
She was upbeat about it because she had plenty of gas in her grill and loves board games.
I have to admit I have some 'survivor's guilt' at this point because despite what turned out to be part of a tree hitting my house, there was no damage and the  power came on again almost right away. I was not home at the time as we were covering Irene, and my husband chopped it up enough to get most of it cleaned up so far. The other big tree that fell from our neighbor's yard into mine can wait.
The phone was off for a couple days and the phone company told me Monday is would be eight days before they could come and fix it, but in fact they came yesterday and it's fixed. The cable went back on quickly too.
But who cares about my cable or phone when so many people in the state are suffering real hardship because so much of the electrical grid is still out.
Irene, you really stank.
From from this Helen Irene, to the monster Irene: Many people are helping each other and I think that shows the true Connecticut spirit you could not break.
If I can help anyone tell their story of Irene and it's aftermath, please let me know.