OK, so I feel a little guilty over my recent hurricane rant. The boobs on local TV news are still idiots but I do feels sorry for the people devastated by Katrina; especially for New Orleans. I love The Big Easy and hope they make it back from this as quickly as possible. Same thing goes for Mobile; my second favorite gulf city. It’s heartbreaking to see streets I was wandering just a few months ago looking like rivers. The barstool I used at Napoleon’s must now be floating through the French Quarter. Canal Street is now a real canal.

My prevailing thought is how damned lucky we were last year. For all the inconvenience of not having power and some of the damage which was done around here, at least I had a home standing. Only a small portion of buildings here were damaged not the wholesale destruction we’re seeing. To see the suffering going on there almost brings me to tears as I watch the news.

To watch society break down as quickly as it has is also frightening. I understand that you have to do anything necessary to eat and shelter yourself but to see the violence erupting as it has and plummeting the French Quarter into a “Lord of the Flies” situation is scary. While the destruction here last year was a drop in the bucket, people in this area drew closer and were more helpful, patient and understanding with everyone around them.

The whole mobilization problem really has me troubled. At first, I was siding with the government. Few civilians realize the logistics that go into mounting such an effort and one that was in such flux as it went from a simple hurricane recovery to the massive flooding seen in New Orleans. Now, after five days, it is bordering on the ridiculous and obscene that more has not been done. We had troops in Kuwait faster 11 years ago. I’m sure there will be Congressional Hearings on this in the future.

Not that it was planned, but I seem to be living through some of the same post-hurricane conditions vicariously as my air conditioning is still on the fritz; something about an $800 compressor. My landlord gave me two window units to help make it bearable inside my trailer. Still not the meat locker temperatures I prefer and one of the units sounds like an old Studabaker. Still, I’m looking forward to a great three-day weekend with The Boy.