Excerpts from an email from another NOLA-based friend (her house is okay so far - when she moved she insisted on the high ground, so it's on a 4' foundation, 4 feet above sea level).
250 million of the funds allocated for levee repair and pumps got diverted to Iraq. That and tax cuts. The Times-Picayune ran eight or nine stories on the funding shortfall in the last two years.
So I wonder if Bush will work that into his speeches?
I go back and forth between pissed and sad, but the number of NOLA vampires suddenly discovering a new meaning for "running water" is almost amusing. Actually that'd make a pretty interesting horror survival game if you got to play the poor soggy vampire, especially as the food supply gets evacuated.
250 million of the funds allocated for levee repair and pumps got diverted to Iraq. That and tax cuts. The Times-Picayune ran eight or nine stories on the funding shortfall in the last two years.
Fuck.
Timelies!
It's rainy/humid and ick here. I was sweating in my pajamas, and now that I've showered and dressed for work, it's only a matter of minutes before I get all sweaty again.
Dana, I am so glad your family got in touch with you, and Heather, that all your people are still okay. I wish -t would check in again, but I know her Beep Me posts said she was in Houston, so she's okay.
It feels particularly cruel that there was this feeling of we dodged the bullet, when all that really happened was the bullet was coming from another sniper. The pictures and news out of Biloxi, Gulfport, et al are beyond belief.
Trudy, you conveyed what I think is a universal truth in your post about your family making it through after the fire took your home. I think the same thing you said--that we just keep going--is how we handle all our tragedies, big and small, material and emotional. Thank you so much for posting it.
a group calling itself Columbia Christians for Life alerts us to the fact that a satellite image of Hurricane Katrina as it hit the Gulf Coast Monday looks just like a six-week old fetus.
Perhaps next they'll explain why the eye went over liberal bastions like the state of Mississippi, which just last fall voted by more than a 6-1 margin to spit on families like mine.
I have done Alexandria-to-Boston in 7.5 hours, but my foot is like unto lead, and also, they weren't enforcing the limit on the Garden State Parkway back then. Ed has reported of late that the Tappan Zee traffic is pretty bad, although I don't know in which direction (or both).
I am like unto Nutty with the lead-footedness, but I have to say that even I'm impressed by that time. It's the southbound side of the Tappan Zee that's usually the big problem, as they funnel the eight lanes of traffic from NYC and New England, plus a couple of side roads, down to just three or four depending on time of day.
Timelies all!
All the Katrina news just boggles my mind. Not that it's happening, but just the extent....
On more shallow news, tonight I fly to Chicago to attend Bouchercon(mystery convention named after Anthony Boucher). Let's see how many books I come home with...
It's rainy/humid and ick here. I was sweating in my pajamas, and now that I've showered and dressed for work, it's only a matter of minutes before I get all sweaty again.
I had the fan on all night - I woke up cold this morning. Today we have a high of 79, which is the average for this time of year.
So, has the French Quarter been flooded by now?
eta:
He said the historic French Quarter, the hallmark of New Orleans and the main draw for its huge tourist industry, should escape with only minor flooding because it sits five feet above sea level.
Oh. Good.
I read the most charming article the other day about the US Open -- going through the fact that the Williams sisters will play early, if they play at all, and talking about the lights on the women's side.
The men's side, they said, was Federer and 127 other guys.
I love this game.
Oh, speaking of the tennis, did I really see ads on tv last night about how Andy Roddick's mojo was out partying, which is why he lost?
