Tree Huggers R Us
Well, today's been a tough day. I'm very mentally burned out. I didn't write last night because it was tough too. My neighbor was working in a house pulling up the floor when he was hit by a board and shattered all the bones in his face around his nose. He got out of the hospital late last night and has gone back to work because he needs money. He has his face all taped up and looks like "Jason" from the horror movies.
It's only 3pm and I feel like I've been wrung out. I have this one client, my "client from hell", a flower store owner, who drives me nuts and acts like I'm on this planet to be his personal computer tech and whipping boy. He's already paying a fraction of what he should for the internet services I provide, but that's never enough. He is having problems with one of his five e-mail accounts on my server and I've checked everything a hundred times and spent countless hours trying to help him, and he still constantly harasses me. Yesterday when I was working with the pet rescue folks when my "client from hell" called me up and demanded that I drive to Baton Rouge and help him with his computer. When I told him I was busy doing some Humane Society stuff, he left me voicmails and then sent an e-mail today demanding I stop everything and fix his computer (which isn't my job), saying, "I know saving the animals and hugging a pine tree is very important to you..." Well that was the last straw and I lost it. I told him I didn't want to hear from him unless it was to terminate his services, pay us what he owes, or apologize for being a total asshole. It's amazing how someone in the business of helping lift peoples' spirits can be such a self-absorbed, insensitive prick.
It's been a rough week and I'm burning out. Everybody around here is on edge. The craziness of the city and the people anxious about trying to make something out of the twisted wreckage is finally starting to get to me.
Today I ventured into Lakeview. That area is appropriately named because it's one big lake now. A festering cesspool of black ooze that smells like an oil-infused prehistoric peat bog. Veterans Blvd at the 17th street canal has become a four-lane boat launch. The water is still 6+ feet deep even at the edge of the area. It appears to have receded about 3-4 feet but you can pretty much write off EVERYTHING in the area.
Earlier in the week I remarked about how people, when confronted with a refrigerator in their homes that had been hot for a week, were opting to duct-tape the unit and drag it into the curb without even venturing within to see if there was anything salvageable. Well, if you live in Lakeview (and related areas), you might want to seriously consider the same approach with your house. I hate to say it, but I was getting nauseous just standing at the edge of this humongous septic tank which has swallowed the entire area. None of these homes will likely ever be habitable. They'll probably have to completely bulldoze everything. It's that bad.
I haven't been able to get in touch with my "Aunt Marilyn". Her home is smack in the middle of this mess, as is my bookeeper, Susan's and many other friends. It makes me recall the time when Marilyn moved into her neat new home in Lakeview and we had a celebratory dinner at Tony DiAngelos - also in the area; also destroyed... and I realized I still have pictures online from that event (http://www.mikeperrymedia.com/xib/200311-marilyn/Page2.html) The pictures are from about 2 years ago, and basically every place pictured, the restaurant and Marilyn's new house are gone.
Amidst all this toxic soup, you have a rag-tag group of animal rescue people, mostly women, who are bravely going into the neighborhoods with maps and addresses given to them by people who have reason to believe there may be animals trapped within. They're navigating streets like canals, donning hip-waders and respirators, risking their own lives just to make sure a cat or stray dog has a chance to make it.
When my client trivialized the entire operation, he didn't see what I saw. How brave these people are. Many of these people were also rescuing people, and now that they're out, they're going after pets. I saw crying broken women begging to be let on a boat so they could check to see if a pet they left behind was alive. When you look into the lake that is Lakeview now, it's probably not unlike watching people venture into Hiroshima after the bomb. Everybody is inherently aware of how totally dangerous the whole area is. One worker went so far in, that she couldn't get out before curfew and ended up sleeping in a small boat until morning so she could find her way back out. These people are amazing, and even the military guys have respect for what they're doing. When you see them come back with a scared, rescued animal, it's really a refreshing ray of light on this otherwise dark day.
The Humane Society has been having a hard time getting boats. I had a friend whose neighbor has one, but they won't let us use it because they're afraid the boat will be commandeered. We're still trying to secure more resources.
I've got some pictures of the area. I'll post a few more later.
http://www.mikeperrymedia.com/xib/20050912-kat/index.html
My webcam is now up and running here: Not that much to see but it's the best I can do right now. We plan to move it downtown but that'll be later.
http://webcam.icorp.net/
Yesterday I got all my credentials. A pass as part of the "Jumpstart Jefferson" project, and I also have a letter from the Governor's office authorizing me as a representative of the Public Utilities Commission to be granted full access at all checkpoints in the area. I have as much access as anybody now in the city, but unfortunately I don't have the desire to drive around. A friend got sick from the inoculations and I'm not keen on getting shots for Tetanus and Hepatitis. But at some point, probably tomorrow, I will venture downtown.
Power is starting to come in in lots of areas. Still not here, but at this point, it's no big deal. I've gotten used to living with no A/C. It's really not that bad at all. I used to look at those vintage pictures of New Orleans with people walking around in suits and think they must be nuts, but it makes sense now. You adapt. 90 degrees can be comfortable if that's what you're used to.
There's a series of very nasty, misleading e-mails trying to pin the blame for the Katrina disaster on Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Blanco. Snopes.com has all the details of this mean-spirited internet myth:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/katrina/nagin.asp
Worth revisiting: Scientific American ran a story last year on hurricanes and whether they can be controlled:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000593AE-704B-1151-B57F83414B7F0000
It's only 3pm and I feel like I've been wrung out. I have this one client, my "client from hell", a flower store owner, who drives me nuts and acts like I'm on this planet to be his personal computer tech and whipping boy. He's already paying a fraction of what he should for the internet services I provide, but that's never enough. He is having problems with one of his five e-mail accounts on my server and I've checked everything a hundred times and spent countless hours trying to help him, and he still constantly harasses me. Yesterday when I was working with the pet rescue folks when my "client from hell" called me up and demanded that I drive to Baton Rouge and help him with his computer. When I told him I was busy doing some Humane Society stuff, he left me voicmails and then sent an e-mail today demanding I stop everything and fix his computer (which isn't my job), saying, "I know saving the animals and hugging a pine tree is very important to you..." Well that was the last straw and I lost it. I told him I didn't want to hear from him unless it was to terminate his services, pay us what he owes, or apologize for being a total asshole. It's amazing how someone in the business of helping lift peoples' spirits can be such a self-absorbed, insensitive prick.
It's been a rough week and I'm burning out. Everybody around here is on edge. The craziness of the city and the people anxious about trying to make something out of the twisted wreckage is finally starting to get to me.
Today I ventured into Lakeview. That area is appropriately named because it's one big lake now. A festering cesspool of black ooze that smells like an oil-infused prehistoric peat bog. Veterans Blvd at the 17th street canal has become a four-lane boat launch. The water is still 6+ feet deep even at the edge of the area. It appears to have receded about 3-4 feet but you can pretty much write off EVERYTHING in the area.
Earlier in the week I remarked about how people, when confronted with a refrigerator in their homes that had been hot for a week, were opting to duct-tape the unit and drag it into the curb without even venturing within to see if there was anything salvageable. Well, if you live in Lakeview (and related areas), you might want to seriously consider the same approach with your house. I hate to say it, but I was getting nauseous just standing at the edge of this humongous septic tank which has swallowed the entire area. None of these homes will likely ever be habitable. They'll probably have to completely bulldoze everything. It's that bad.
I haven't been able to get in touch with my "Aunt Marilyn". Her home is smack in the middle of this mess, as is my bookeeper, Susan's and many other friends. It makes me recall the time when Marilyn moved into her neat new home in Lakeview and we had a celebratory dinner at Tony DiAngelos - also in the area; also destroyed... and I realized I still have pictures online from that event (http://www.mikeperrymedia.com/xib/200311-marilyn/Page2.html) The pictures are from about 2 years ago, and basically every place pictured, the restaurant and Marilyn's new house are gone.
Amidst all this toxic soup, you have a rag-tag group of animal rescue people, mostly women, who are bravely going into the neighborhoods with maps and addresses given to them by people who have reason to believe there may be animals trapped within. They're navigating streets like canals, donning hip-waders and respirators, risking their own lives just to make sure a cat or stray dog has a chance to make it.
When my client trivialized the entire operation, he didn't see what I saw. How brave these people are. Many of these people were also rescuing people, and now that they're out, they're going after pets. I saw crying broken women begging to be let on a boat so they could check to see if a pet they left behind was alive. When you look into the lake that is Lakeview now, it's probably not unlike watching people venture into Hiroshima after the bomb. Everybody is inherently aware of how totally dangerous the whole area is. One worker went so far in, that she couldn't get out before curfew and ended up sleeping in a small boat until morning so she could find her way back out. These people are amazing, and even the military guys have respect for what they're doing. When you see them come back with a scared, rescued animal, it's really a refreshing ray of light on this otherwise dark day.
The Humane Society has been having a hard time getting boats. I had a friend whose neighbor has one, but they won't let us use it because they're afraid the boat will be commandeered. We're still trying to secure more resources.
I've got some pictures of the area. I'll post a few more later.
http://www.mikeperrymedia.com/xib/20050912-kat/index.html
My webcam is now up and running here: Not that much to see but it's the best I can do right now. We plan to move it downtown but that'll be later.
http://webcam.icorp.net/
Yesterday I got all my credentials. A pass as part of the "Jumpstart Jefferson" project, and I also have a letter from the Governor's office authorizing me as a representative of the Public Utilities Commission to be granted full access at all checkpoints in the area. I have as much access as anybody now in the city, but unfortunately I don't have the desire to drive around. A friend got sick from the inoculations and I'm not keen on getting shots for Tetanus and Hepatitis. But at some point, probably tomorrow, I will venture downtown.
Power is starting to come in in lots of areas. Still not here, but at this point, it's no big deal. I've gotten used to living with no A/C. It's really not that bad at all. I used to look at those vintage pictures of New Orleans with people walking around in suits and think they must be nuts, but it makes sense now. You adapt. 90 degrees can be comfortable if that's what you're used to.
There's a series of very nasty, misleading e-mails trying to pin the blame for the Katrina disaster on Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Blanco. Snopes.com has all the details of this mean-spirited internet myth:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/katrina/nagin.asp
Worth revisiting: Scientific American ran a story last year on hurricanes and whether they can be controlled:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000593AE-704B-1151-B57F83414B7F0000
posted by Wisdom at 4:12 PM
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