After a day back at work, the rumor mill is going at a pretty good clip. I do not attest to the accuracy of any of these; they’re unconfirmed, and given my resources, may remain so.

• The current police cadet class has been on “lockdown” or mandatory duty like the rest of the officers; only not having graduated yet, they aren’t being assigned to any duties. In other words, they’re sitting around twiddling their thumbs or studying. Meanwhile POD’s are going without people to man them. Paging Chief Hurtt….
• The city was looking for volunteers among employees to man POD’s, tomorrow they’re just going to assign people to them.
• “Go ahead, write me a ticket for gouging. The fine is $10,000, I’ll make half a million today.” The gouge: $5.00/gal. gasoline. Not the smartest thing to say to the officer when the person behind him has the Attorney General’s office on speed-dial. The station was shut down within fifteen minutes. (Texaco somewhere on East Fwy, I’m told.) Oh, and the fine is $250,000 if the victim is elderly. I don’t believe that profit, not at $5 a gallon, unless we’re talking truck-stop sized tanks. One or more of these numbers is wrong…
• I’m not sure what’s up with 311. As I noted earlier, people were pulled from other branches of Public Works to assist. Then they apparently went offline?
• Parts of the city website are down. The city’s intranet is down. E-mail was down until midday. Voice mail is iffy. Word is, some emergency generators have failed, but this may include county and other organizations.
• Long lines at gas stations today; I saw two stations with lines blocks long. Also, too many police are being tied up keeping an eye on them.
• Did the state really screw up the response, or is White trying to look like Giuilani? I can’t find any information other than from local media; given Wayne’s performance the other day, I don’t trust any of them on this score.
• Not a rumor: some evacuees complaining about limited hospitality in Austin.

Update: I saw a Texaco on the East Freeway that was shut down this morning, and it was a truck stop, albeit a small one.