Zoe: Uh huh. River, honey? He's putting the hair away now. River: It'll still be there... waiting.

'Jaynestown'


Natter .38 Special  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Dana - Aug 29, 2005 11:13:13 pm PDT #2412 of 10002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

And this is where we got married.

Tom Roche, owner of the Elms Mansion reception hall on St. Charles Avenue, bicycled above the flooded Carrollton exchange on the interstate. He and his three sons rode out Katrina on the sixth floor of Baptist Memorial hospital, where his wife works as a nurse.

“She convinced me to stay at the hospital,” he said. “I usually stay at the Elms.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Roche was relieved to find his business largely intact. “It was fine,” he said. “We boarded it up well. There was a little roof damage, a little water in the basement, but no structural damage.”


dw - Aug 29, 2005 11:14:57 pm PDT #2413 of 10002
Silence means security silence means approval

I'm going to bed. I'm weather-geeked out, and all I can think about is Gilbert White, the patron saint of floodplain management.

"The broad problem of flood-loss reduction is that the rate at which flood losses are being eliminated by construction of engineering or land-treatment works is of about the same magnitude as the rate at which new property is being subjected to damage."

In English, the problem with building levees and flood-control systems is that people move into the floodplain, so that when the flood-control system fails you get far, far more damage than if you hadn't built the flood-control system in the first place.

I really should have paid attention more in my hydrology class.


Cass - Aug 29, 2005 11:17:30 pm PDT #2414 of 10002
Bob's learned to live with tragedy, but he knows that this tragedy is one that won't ever leave him or get better.

I'm not sure the exact locations that FPL serves but this is surprisingly good for a timeline on getting electricity back.

As of Monday, more than 70 percent of the 1 million homes and businesses left in the dark by the storm had regained power. FPL said last week that, by today, 90 percent of its powerless customers would be back on the grid, and the rest by Friday.

The 200 ft. break in the levee holding back Lake Pontchartrain is frightening. I worry that there is so much potential damage to property and people that can occur from flooding and then water damage and water-bourne illnesses.


Dana - Aug 29, 2005 11:21:06 pm PDT #2415 of 10002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

My stomach hurts.

I think I'm going to turn on the TV and try to fall asleep on the couch.

Cass, I sort of skimmed past earlier Natter posts, but I hope you're feeling better. I would personally not mind a little flexeril myself right now, wink wink, nudge nudge.


Cass - Aug 29, 2005 11:23:14 pm PDT #2416 of 10002
Bob's learned to live with tragedy, but he knows that this tragedy is one that won't ever leave him or get better.

In English, the problem with building levees and flood-control systems is that people move into the floodplain, so that when the flood-control system fails you get far, far more damage than if you hadn't built the flood-control system in the first place.
I have lived in many places where areas that were consistantly destroyed by flash floods went from being left alone, to being made into golf courses (because they are easily rebuilt and actual property isn't destroyed when the flash floods come as they always do), to now having homes built there. And then people are shocked when it is all washed away. Or killed when they are washed away too.


Cass - Aug 29, 2005 11:27:48 pm PDT #2417 of 10002
Bob's learned to live with tragedy, but he knows that this tragedy is one that won't ever leave him or get better.

I think I'm going to turn on the TV and try to fall asleep on the couch.
This, when I can't make my mind quiet, is often what I try. And it works a lot of the time. I actually slept with the news on last night and through my naps earlier today.

I sort of skimmed past earlier Natter posts, but I hope you're feeling better. I would personally not mind a little flexeril myself right now
My back is actually getting a lot better. I might even go back to work tomorrow. Friday freaked me out as I felt better from the meds and managed to just make a mess of things, muscularly. I just hate when something doesn't fix Right Now once I address it.

If you were nearby, I would share the flex. One. I'm giving but not crazy. Especially if you get the vera vera sleepy side-effect.

Get some rest, Dana...


Volans - Aug 29, 2005 11:50:41 pm PDT #2418 of 10002
move out and draw fire

Board games! Anyone played a good one lately?

I've gotten my butt kicked at War of the Ring repeatedly, but I like the game. Also, we just taught Yahtzee to a Moldovan.

Re: floodplain management. This is why California keeps trying to stop development in the Sacramento floodplain. It'll be extra bad when it goes. There are just some places that people shouldn't live, unless they expect to be wiped out periodically.

Which doesn't mean I'm unsympathetic to NOLA. Do we know the status of Fauborg Marigny? My friends there evacuated, but I worry about their homes (although one of them said "Well, it's only my pied-a-terre," so I learned that that phrase is specific to a second home).


Sue - Aug 30, 2005 3:09:35 am PDT #2419 of 10002
hip deep in pie

Is anyone else having problems with Google and Gmail?


billytea - Aug 30, 2005 3:18:23 am PDT #2420 of 10002
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

I've gotten my butt kicked at War of the Ring repeatedly, but I like the game. Also, we just taught Yahtzee to a Moldovan.

Ah, I bought War of the Ring a couple of months ago on the back of some rave reviews on boardgamegeek. Haven't had the chance to play it yet, though. I like the idea of twin tracks to victory for both sides, so you can simultaneously be on the brink of victory and the verge of defeat.

Have you tried Puerto Rico? That's currently their top-rated game, and this one I can vouch for personally


Sheryl - Aug 30, 2005 3:41:07 am PDT #2421 of 10002
Fandom means never having to say "But where would I wear that?"

Timelies all!

Apropos of games, there is a new Munchkin varient out: Super Munchkin. This time the theme is superheroes. I need to play this soon...