Little did I know when I started this blog that the title would expand, requiring me to ask this question of so many new situations in my life....

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Over the river and through the woods......

..not to grandmother's house but....to the beach. The beach is my healing place and I'm so looking forward to a whole week of just relaxing, being with family, discovering new restaurants, shopping in funky little shops, walking the beach at sunrise and sunset and inbetween, and just being there. :)

So to everyone 'out there'....be good, eat well, laugh lots, hug those you love, give what you want to receive, and all that kind of stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Scumbags!

Pardon my French, but.... Hearing of what's going on causes me to ponder the meaning of evil. Evil exists and it can be startling to realize it can be found so close to home.

In New Orleans....national guardsmen and FEMA contractors arrested for looting homes they are 'supposedly' helping to clear out.

In Baton Rouge....Two FEMA contractors (one from Arkansas and one from Florida -- both high level contractors, one was head of a team helping family members find dead loved ones) arrested in one of our local parks for soliciting sex from undercover police officers. The thing that really gets me about this is -- how in the hell did these out-of-staters find out about this park so quickly??

7 (and counting) BR police and sherrif deputies resigning for falsifying documents to collect Red Cross/FEMA money.


And that my friends, is (hopefully) my last post on the negative aspects of life. At least for the holiday season.... There is enough good going on to fill my mind with. It's just that when crap happens so close to home, sometimes you just have to acknowledge it and then get on with life.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Just the facts ma'am, just the facts......

Lately, I sometimes feel as if I'm living a double life. When talking to some of my friends we discuss what's going on in our city, what the plan might end up being for the region we're living in, who is trying to do what and why they might want to do it, if we want to stay in the area.... The conversation (along with a bottle..or two of wine, a pot..or two of coffee, or a plate of spicy food) often goes on and on and on with theorizing, what if's, maybe's....all the usual twists and turns of a conversation about the unknown.

But....when talking to other friends, friends who are in the rebuilding process or those still trying to decide whether or not to rebuild, the conversation is quite different. These friends only have time for a quick glass of wine, cup of coffee, or a little bite of something sweet. Each word spoken needs to be useful to them in some way, they just don't have time for anything unnecessary. One such friend asked me if I knew of the Shaw group. I said, yes, and started talking about some gossip-y details that I'd heard about this business. At that point I could see my friend's eyes glazing over. He didn't care about any details. He just wanted to know what they wanted and what they were going to do for NOLA. He just wanted the facts, ma'am, just the facts. ....And, he wondered if they might be able to get him some sheetrock.

Friday, November 04, 2005

The new look in town......

I could make a list of many of the things that have changed in this city, but some of them are not so easy to identify. Some of the changes you just..feel. A story on last night's local news helped me clarify something I've been noticing around town yet hadn't been able to put my finger on. This particular news segment was on how all income levels had been impacted by Katrina in similar ways. One of the ways being that everyone left their homes with few personal belongings -- thinking, of course, that they would return in a couple of days. So naturally leaving home in August you wouldn't bring any warm clothes with you. And last week it was pretty chilly down here. Which means there were many people tying to stretch their already dwindling resources even further to find warm clothes for themselves and their families.

An Old Navy store in an unscale location opened its doors last night to many teenage Katrina evacuees and gave each teen $100 dollars to spend. What fun, huh? Give a teenage girl a $100 limit and turn her lose in a fun store. Wouldn't you expect lots of squealing, laughing, smiling.... But that's not what I saw on tv last night. I saw young people who didn't seem to have the energy to be excited at the prospect of picking out new clothes. One girl told about how the family had kidded her brother about bringing almost everything he owned when they evacuated. Now, they said, he was the lucky one.

Then it struck me. I realized what it was I'd been seeing around town on childrens' faces, in their eyes -- the look that makes you do a double take yet can't quite put your finger on what's wrong. What's wrong, I realized, it that we have too many children here who are old before their time.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Even if you build it....they just might NOT come..

Son #2 (J) worked in pre-Katrina New Orleans. He and some friends did event set-up. Since New Orleans hasn't been having many events lately, he's pretty much been out of work. But, a couple of weeks ago he and the rest of the guys got some FEMA work. Yes, some locals actually got some FEMA work! ....You'd have to be a local to understand that.

Seems as if FEMA finally got some trailers set up on some land north of Baton Rouge and were ready to move some of the Katrina evacuees into them. These evacuees had been staying at our convention center in downtown BR and, by law?? at least I think it's a law, this center could only operate for so long. Anywho....there was to be a big news event with the FEMA people welcoming all these people to their new trailers and J and coworkers were hired to design/build the official FEMA tent. So, similing, gainfully (marginally) employed, and feeling as if he was contributing once more, off he went.

Upon arrival they started busily setting things up and eventually began talking with the FEMA employees (who the guys described as being, on the whole, caring capable individuals). There are people coming down here to LA and MS under the guise of wanting to help and they are found stealing from deserted homes/businesses and homes/businesses they are 'repairing'. But, I pray, those are few and far between. I still wonder about allllllll the sensitive paperwork that's lying around. But, that's another problem for another day....

Back to FEMA City. J and coworkers are setting up and talking with FEMA workers and learn that only 40 or so evacuees out of the 500 or so still at the convention center have agreed to come live in these trailer. Now..there are 600 trailers set up, waiting. No one knows what's going to happen, except that the center in downtown BR is closing and the people left will have to go somewhere else.

The next evening, local news showed FEMA employees welcoming two different families to their new trailers.

Odd situation in an odd time. I know these FEMA trailer parks are in a rural area, and I know most of the evacuees are urban people -- used to walking to the corner store, catching a bus to get to work and other places they needed to go. Even though there are supposedly shuttle busses running for shopping and such, it's not the same. And add to that the local good ole boys standing guard along the perimeter with shotguns in hands. So many people faced with so many lifestyle changes.


As a postscript, it seems people have been moving into the trailers. I'm not sure who or how many but the questions now are whether or not FEMA trailer residents can own firearms. Local police said 'no' but later had to reverse that decision. Local police also wanted access to FEMA crimanal records of the trailer residents, but so far that's a no-go.

On an up note, New Orleans no longer has the nation's highest murder rate. ....There's that. But that only means the people who helped the city earn that 'distinction' have moved elsewhere. Lots of police forces on the lookout around the country.