My family's restaurant was robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning. My father and sister are OK, but the jackass got the money bag. At this point, the police have suspects, but no hard evidence.

Some catch-the-SOB-with-concrete-evidence~ma would be appreciated.

I just received a note from our New Orleans tour guide Lloyd Sensat:

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Sun Oak in Exile...

Dear friends,

I am sure that Lloyd Sensat has already let you know that we are still alive and kicking. Lloyd and I left about midnight on Aug 27,2005 after the Head of the State Police said "Folks this is the big one and there is little traffic at this moment"

We quickly packed and headed for Baton Rouge. There we stayed with one of my former students, Phil Boggan who directs the State Main Street Program for the Division of Historic Preservation. We would soon be joined by two other former students, their two year daughter, mother in law and 5 dogs.After two days there Lloyd and I left for Pineville, La. where my sister lives in a big old historic house on a hill. I had to have an operation that was supposed to be outpatient but ended up staying in Rapides Medical Center. for a week, then two week recuperating and back to Baton Rouge and my telephone and e- mail contact through Phil. I am trying to complete a book that I have been working on for a year; it is way over due thanks to illness and Katrina-Rita, but it shall be done with a conclusion that praises the old Creole houses of Louisiana. (its subject ) for their strength and resiliency.

Gene Cizek

We return home...

Miraculously, our beloved Sun Oak survived completely intact and our ancient oak tree,too! There was wind damage...a dormer window blown out, trees uprooted in the garden, maggots in the refrigerator but no water ever in the house. We credit Blessed Father Seelos for protecting the place. It was a miracle for us. Now he is certainly destined for sainthood! We have returned home to live. I just checked in our first Bed & Breakfast guest since Katrina & Rita. and look forward to the return of our historic city.

Lloyd Sensat

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Photos by Erin E. Christman of Sun Oak after Katrina

Surber Barber Choate Hertlein Architects, Inc.

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(if someone can host the pictures just drop me a note and I'll forward them to you)

Job~ma at 11am EST tomorrow please. I have a job interview.

I have been accepted into the Kaplan Teacher Development Program. I think this means I am awesome, but I would appreciate more awesome-ma so that they actually let me teach classes and make money and pay my bills.

The interview went well. I am supposed to hear back by Thursday.

Yay, sj!

Memo to Bay Area peeps

I've got two signings, back to back, tomorrow at M is for Mystery in San Mateo, then Thursday at Bonanza Books, the Walnut Creek store near the BART station. Each one begins at 7 PM.

Come on along!

I am FedExing a resume tomorrow (Thursday) morning. The possible job looks fun and exciting and is located near family and buffistas, but I mostly really like where I am. I know, sucks to be me. Still, I would really appreciate any spare job ~ma, decision-making ~ma, and perhaps some FedEx ~ma since it's notoriously difficult to get stuff out of here in a timely fashion.

I'm looking for a doctor recommendation for a friend. No really.

This friend, who lives in a part of the US where the doctors don't seem to be so great, has a nasty yeast infection. The not-so-great doctors have been unable to deal with it and it's gotten worse, spreading to her mouth and other unpleasant areas of her body. She finally got medication that is stopping it from getting worse, but it's not going away and it's still quite uncomfortable. She asked me if I knew of any doctors who might be experts in this problem, and so I come to the Hive Mind. She's willing to travel and stay in NYC, Boston, or DC for an extended time if there's a doctor who can see her. If anyone has any recs, please email me at my profile address.

I got the job! I start training tomorrow. Releasing the job~ma.

My dad had his umpteenth fall yesterday, and his stuntman-like luck finally ran out—he broke at least one rib after landing on a table corner on his way down. Cat scans at the ER last night showed no internal bleeding or serious injuries beyond the break and surface abrasions, but he's looking at 6-12 weeks of recovery with no treatment possible besides meds for the pain. Any health-ma you can spare would be greatly appreciated.