Monday, December 26, 2005
Thanks for Everything Nebraska
About 3 AM we plan on leaving Nebraska and driving back to New Orleans. Inside our car will be four people, two dogs, 1 sugar glider, and tons of stuff. Most of the stuff includes Christmas presents, clothes, and things we collected in just four short months. Our families, friends, and pretty much everybody in Nebraska have been very helpful while we were misplaced. Thanks.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Oot the Sugar Glider's Last Leg?
We came home tonight after our 6th of 7 Christmases, and Oot the Sugar Glider is either very sick or hibernating. More later...
It's later now, and Oot seems fine. I guess Nebraska winters are too much for his tropical blood.
Update: Oot recovered and he's doing great now that he is back in Louisiana.
It's later now, and Oot seems fine. I guess Nebraska winters are too much for his tropical blood.
Update: Oot recovered and he's doing great now that he is back in Louisiana.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Detective Needed! One Bear, One Boat Motor, and Some Lingerie
I was on Xavier's campus December 11th helping students and their families get personal stuff out of their dorms. After this, on my walk home, I saw many amazing things brought about by the hurricane and flood waters that ravaged New Orleans. But one thing that I saw amazed and bedaffled me like I had never been bedaffled before. It was this amazing sight.
As you can see, it was a large teddy bear, wearing lingerie, and just to the right of this saucy stuffed animal was a small outboard boat engine. I have several theories about what happened prior to this moment, but I need you, the readers of this blog, to play detective and give me your theories about what happened just before that bizarre and fateful moment when this bear, wearing this lingerie, came to rest next to this boat motor. I should also add that the concrete you see on the top is the canal that runs by Xavier. This same canal further to the north is the infamous 17th street canal that breached. So have at it detectives.
As you can see, it was a large teddy bear, wearing lingerie, and just to the right of this saucy stuffed animal was a small outboard boat engine. I have several theories about what happened prior to this moment, but I need you, the readers of this blog, to play detective and give me your theories about what happened just before that bizarre and fateful moment when this bear, wearing this lingerie, came to rest next to this boat motor. I should also add that the concrete you see on the top is the canal that runs by Xavier. This same canal further to the north is the infamous 17th street canal that breached. So have at it detectives.
Glasses and Wal-Mart
I woke up yesterday morning and to my horror my glasses were broken. Here in Omaha where we set up our refugee camp, I don't have a night stand and so I sleep with my glasses under my pillow. But that morning, they were snapped in two, broken right on the nose bridge.
So Therese and I went to get me new glasses. I also got contacts, but they are hard for me to wear because I don't like touching my eyes. There was some silver lining in all of this. My old glasses were purchased about four years ago following an episode that I like to call "Gilgamesh flushed Abu's glasses down the toilet while he was in the shower." Not only did I lose my glasses, but I got very cold water also. But I bought them from a Sam's Club in New Orleans. I didn't know at the time that Sam's Club and Walmart were essentially the same company. And everytime I would explain to friends like Mark Gstohl (or whatever he calls himself these days) why they should boycott Wal-Mart, he would point to my glasses in what he thought was a triumphal sign of hypocrisy. So now that I have new glasses, I am free of all former connections to Wal-Mart, and I can see more clearly and righteously. But honestly, right now my glasses are in the shop waiting for me to pick them up, and it is 6AM, and I don't have my contacts in yet, so I'm not seeing clearly at all.
So Therese and I went to get me new glasses. I also got contacts, but they are hard for me to wear because I don't like touching my eyes. There was some silver lining in all of this. My old glasses were purchased about four years ago following an episode that I like to call "Gilgamesh flushed Abu's glasses down the toilet while he was in the shower." Not only did I lose my glasses, but I got very cold water also. But I bought them from a Sam's Club in New Orleans. I didn't know at the time that Sam's Club and Walmart were essentially the same company. And everytime I would explain to friends like Mark Gstohl (or whatever he calls himself these days) why they should boycott Wal-Mart, he would point to my glasses in what he thought was a triumphal sign of hypocrisy. So now that I have new glasses, I am free of all former connections to Wal-Mart, and I can see more clearly and righteously. But honestly, right now my glasses are in the shop waiting for me to pick them up, and it is 6AM, and I don't have my contacts in yet, so I'm not seeing clearly at all.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
93-0
The Senate unanimously passed a 29 billion dollar bill for hurricane recovery today. It also included 1.6 billion for hurricane ravaged schools. Thank you.
Curfew A Go Go
This Friday, starting at 6 AM, it will be technically legal for me to be in my house, outside of my house, and even walking on my street 24 hours a day. This has not been the case for nearly four months. The curfew, which at first was all day, then was limited to nightime hours, then more recently 2AM-6AM, is now totally lifted for areas such as mine that are west of the Industrial Canal. But I won't be in New Orleans. Instead I'll be in Columbus NE hanging out with my brother Jim and his family, my sister Chris, and my dad. On a sad note, Crystal hot sauce, my favorite sauce with oysters, used to be right by my house, but now they are moving.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
I Hate You Ted Stevens!
Today the Senate has a very hard decision to make. They have to vote on a $453.3 billion defense bill handed to them by the House of Representatives. Of this, $29 billion was for a hurricane recovery package. But Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) at the last minute attached a controversial provision to allow drilling for oil in the ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). Thus, it seems that the defense bill and hurricane relief, two things which would have easily passed, are now in jeopardy of failing. Also, just when it looked like it would pass Congress, the Baker Bill which would have helped avert thousands of mortgage foreclosures failed due to opposition from the White House and banking lobbies. Basically the plan put forth by Richard Baker (R-Baton Rouge) would have formed a corporation that would have bought hurricane/flood damaged property, and in the end people would have received about 60% of their lost equity. Without it many people, including us, are considering faulting on our mortgage as an option, leaving us with very bad credit. What looks like it will pass the Senate easily is a $39.7 billion budget cut, reducing student loans, cutting Medicare and Medicaid, and making pensions less secure. Merry Christmas America. I wonder if I would like this crowd better if I were rich?
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
What To Do With Our House?
The 140 mph winds of Hurricane Katrina severely racked our house. That means that the bottom story of our two story house leans to the side. I'm sure this awesome graphic will better explain what happened:
The wind blew our house so that the walls on the bottom floor lean much more than the walls on the top floor.
In the picture below Therese is holding a level to a board that is straight up and down. However, as you can see from the door jams in relationship to that straight board, our house is crooked.
It turns out that every 90 inches one goes up on our walls, it leans 4 1/8 inches over. That calculates to it leaning 2.62 degrees. We could live with that. Especially if I got some shoes where one was taller than the other. Well, actually I could live with a crooked house easier than Therese, but who could blame her for not wanting to live in a crooked house. It's like a Fun House that isn't so fun. But the biggest problem is that in time it will continue to lean more and more, and pretty soon it will be touching our neighbor Mike's house.
So we're not sure what to do with the house. Basically our decision comes down to raising or razing. We could fix the house. That would mean leveling the floor of the house, repairing the foundation, and then straightening the walls. Most people think that would cost in the neighborhood of $80,000. What I like about this option is that is saves a beautiful 100 year old house from destruction. I prefer old things over new things, as after all, I am an ancient Near Eastern historian. It was also the first home that Therese and I bought. Our children's heights are marked on the door jams of their rooms. Therese and I have also spent so much time and money renovating the house. I know every detail about it. So it is like a friend. But many people say that you need to make this decision financially and not emotionally.
If we fix the house we would also have to totally rewire the house, costing about $15,000. Some of our house still has the old knob and tube wiring.
We would also need another $5000 for plumbing. Then you would have to put in new insullation and sheet rock. In the end it would cost almost all of the $157,000 that we spent to purchase the house. So is it worth it?
If we tear it down, which costs about $25,000, then we could do several things. We could rebuild a new house on the lot, we could keep the lot for a few years and sell it when we need some cash. We could also sell the house and lot to someone else who will demolish it. We're still waiting, now more than 110 days after filing the claim, to hear from our insurance company. They tell us that an engineer may or may not have been to the place. Gee, thanks Allstate.
You can see more photos of our racked house in this Flickr set.
The wind blew our house so that the walls on the bottom floor lean much more than the walls on the top floor.
In the picture below Therese is holding a level to a board that is straight up and down. However, as you can see from the door jams in relationship to that straight board, our house is crooked.
It turns out that every 90 inches one goes up on our walls, it leans 4 1/8 inches over. That calculates to it leaning 2.62 degrees. We could live with that. Especially if I got some shoes where one was taller than the other. Well, actually I could live with a crooked house easier than Therese, but who could blame her for not wanting to live in a crooked house. It's like a Fun House that isn't so fun. But the biggest problem is that in time it will continue to lean more and more, and pretty soon it will be touching our neighbor Mike's house.
So we're not sure what to do with the house. Basically our decision comes down to raising or razing. We could fix the house. That would mean leveling the floor of the house, repairing the foundation, and then straightening the walls. Most people think that would cost in the neighborhood of $80,000. What I like about this option is that is saves a beautiful 100 year old house from destruction. I prefer old things over new things, as after all, I am an ancient Near Eastern historian. It was also the first home that Therese and I bought. Our children's heights are marked on the door jams of their rooms. Therese and I have also spent so much time and money renovating the house. I know every detail about it. So it is like a friend. But many people say that you need to make this decision financially and not emotionally.
If we fix the house we would also have to totally rewire the house, costing about $15,000. Some of our house still has the old knob and tube wiring.
We would also need another $5000 for plumbing. Then you would have to put in new insullation and sheet rock. In the end it would cost almost all of the $157,000 that we spent to purchase the house. So is it worth it?
If we tear it down, which costs about $25,000, then we could do several things. We could rebuild a new house on the lot, we could keep the lot for a few years and sell it when we need some cash. We could also sell the house and lot to someone else who will demolish it. We're still waiting, now more than 110 days after filing the claim, to hear from our insurance company. They tell us that an engineer may or may not have been to the place. Gee, thanks Allstate.
You can see more photos of our racked house in this Flickr set.
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