Disaster Beyond Belief

I just got off the phone with my brother in Baton Rouge. He was finally able to get through on his cell phone at midnight. Currently, he is staying at a co-worker's house because the power is still not on at his house.

The conditions are still chaotic in Baton Rouge. The population of the city has essentially more than doubled. Many traffic lights are out. The streets are congested with cars. The crime was rising until the police forced the refugees to congregate in centralized locations in the city. National Gaurd troops are definitely needed in Baton Rouge. I-10 east, towards Slidel is apparently destroyed and the Lake Pontchatrain causeway is closed so all refugees must come through Baton Rouge en route to other cities such as Houston, Jackson, or Memphis.

But Baton Rouge is pretty tame compared to New Orleans itself. These people are, in many respects, refugees because they will be unable to return to their homes for many months, if then. I saw a figure on TV today that said 12% of New Orleans residents were below the poverty level. Let's face it, most people that were left in the city were people who did not have the money or transportation to get out. The poor, sick, and elderly.

Also, these people are refugees because they are leaving a war-zone. The crime in New Orleans is unbelievable. The looting is out of control, and my brother said there were reports of boat-jackings, where the pilot is shot and their boat taken over. A girl from NO staying with my brother had her boyfriend make it out of the city today. Apparently, he was staying in a hotel downtown to ride out the hurricane, but now they are fearing for their lives because of crime. He was hassled on the street by the few police officers left for just walking on the street. This guy was able to get out by helping another random guy on the street fix his car that got flooded underwater. They had to sneak their way out into the street and were able to drive across the hwy 90 bridge south over the mississippi and then on to Baton Rouge.

My brother said that his friend's boyfriend was able to take a shower at his house. They threw away his shoes because they stank up the whole house and smelled of really bad sewage. And this was from just walking around the streets of New Orleans. I can't imagine how bad the conditions must be in the Superdome where there are no flushing toilets for 20,000+ people to use.

At any rate, a lot of these poorer refugees that have made it out of the city do not realize that they cannot go back for months. A semi-permanent housing situation must be established soon.

Tomorrow, my brother's friend and her boyfriend are going to drive to Rodchester NY and they vowed to never come back to New Orleans.

I think that many people will never go back, even if their schools, homes, and businesses could be rebuilt within a reasonable time frame. We cannot comprehend the vastness of this situation yet, but I would predict that years from now, New Orleans will definitely be just a shell of it's former self.


But for now, I pray for troops to come and for law and order to be established so the evacuation of the remaining refugees can continue.

Katrina

My thoughts and prayers go to so many people who have lost so much...






It will take us quite some time to understand the extent of this catastrophe. I realize it is small compared to the December tsunami. But over a million people's lives significantly changed over the last two days. Probably hundreds have lost their lives.

Clips, Cuts, and Sports

Another ritual of mine that fits my north-of-the-loop lifestyle is the monthly trip to Sport Clips. This little marketing genius targets males who don't value the "salon haircut" but still want the buzz cut done correctly within a masculinity-reinforcing "sportsy" setting. Since I moved to DFW, I've actually been moving up the hair cut ladder starting out with Supercuts, and then on to Pro*cuts (where a nice old russian lady called Malvina cut my hair every month), until now where I go to Sport Clips.



Usually they have something like sportscenter or the world poker tourney on the TV. I think they specifically train the stylists to determine if you want to small talk or not. This is one of the main reasons why I go to Sport Clips. They ask me one question about my day or something and I answer in a polite-but-I-don't-want-to-banter-so-lets-get-on-with-the-haircutting answer. And then that's it. (Malvina didn't need this training --- her english wasn't the best so she was happy not to chat either.)


In all likelihood, my next progression will be the do-it-yourself baldman's haircut. I'd like to think it is just the sun bleaching that makes it look thinner, but slowly, one hair at a time, the follicles are jumping ship. So someday, I will just take the clippers to my noggin and save the 15 bucks I spend on hair every month. But until then, I get to watch TV un-interrupted while getting my ears lowered.

Stache

The mustache turned out to be somewhere between the state trooper:



and just plain creepy:



It's a good thing that Mustache Appreciation Night comes only once a year.

I am a Victim

Or at least that's what the class action lawsuit says.


"all purchasers or acquirers (dumb-asses like me) of publicly traded securities of WorldCom, Inc. during the period from April 29, 1999 through and including June 25, 2002 (the "Class Period" or window or idiocy as I like to call it), and who were injured thereby. (screwed, swindled, bamboozled)"

I've been receiving court notices and class action junk for at least 2 years now. I really haven't paid much attention to them. I was never one for the "victim mentality". I screwed up, I got greedy and bought worldcom stock --- it turns out they were cooking the books and I lost some dough. I just literally wrote it off and forgot about it.

But then I received (and actually read) another notice that said they have extended the dedline to claim yourself as a plaintifs in the class action lawsuit. ...cue the Judge Wapner music...
The defendants: Bernard J. Ebbers and co-conspirators.
The plaintifs: the trustee of the State of New York retirement fund, a few other people, and myself.

Victims. I am a victim.


It's not my fault. Bernie will be rotting away for the rest of his life in jail. And now I should be compensated.

I don't exactly revel in Bernie's suffering -- really couldn't care less. But I might get money. Which is the one of the real reasons why I am submitting a "Proof of Claim and Release" form in the mail today. Key word "might". The other reason is just plain curiosity.

Out of the settlement, we victims will get $6,128,056,840.
The attornies will get $195,418,126.

Then, I might get what is called a "Recognized Amount" from the settelement fund. According to paragraph 20, subparagraph A of the Supplimental Plan of Allocation my Recognized Amount can be found in Table A of the Tables Related to Supplimental Plan of Action which says my stock price was inflated by 80%.

And any money left over will go into a "investor education fund". Whatever that is.


I've never really bought into the american notion of suing everytime you feel you've been wronged. I realize there are a lot of ligitimate reasons to sue, but I've grown cynical over the years after watching hundreds of ambulence chaser commercials. Or how 'bout my first real exposure to the judicial system: "Night Court" or later: "Judge Judy". Doesn't exactly inspire confidence. And no, I never got into Law&Order. And being an engineer, I find law extremely boring. If I was reaading this blog I would have lost interest several paragraphs ago.

So how much will I get for my "injuries"? I have no idea. maybe 2$, maybe 80%. But, all I want it what's comming to me. All I want is my fair share. I'm a vicitim.

Mountain Biking in Texas

I know, the term "mountain" in mountain-biking is a bit of a misnomer in Texas, but I've been "trail-riding" now for about 3 years and I really love it. Surprisingly, there are quite a few trails in the Dallas area, but I've only been to two: Rowlett Creek Preserve in Garland and Erwin Park in McKinney. But, sorry, they are all outside the loop.

The reasons why trail-riding in texas is genius are manyfold:

1. Excuse for me to get out in nature. Allbeit Texas nature, but nature none the less.
2. Fresh air.
3. Exercise.
4. Way more fun than jogging.
5. Getting to jump over logs and climb up and down hills and ditches.
6. Free my mind and just take on whatever is around the next curve.
7. Come back home drenched in sweat, scrapes and bruises, and the occasional poison ivy rash.

genius! all within a 15 minute drive from my apartment. I enjoy trail-riding for many of the same reasons as snowboarding, but, unfortunately, it takes more than 15 minutes for me to get to the slopes.


Before I bought my Gary Fisher three years ago, I hadn't rode a bike since probably the 6th grade on my old Huffy BMX. So I was surprised to learn that things in the biking world had advanced quite a bit. Although, my bike is not terribly expensive, it is still quite light, has front suspension, and, as of last fall, I have clips/shoes instead of pedals.

I did have some friends at my previous church that helped me get into trail-riding, but lately, I've been going by myself or with my co-workers. But I'm always looking for someone to ride with... plus it helps to use the buddy system so someone can still dial 911 when necessary.

Anecdotal

So I've pretty much determined that I suck at the anecdote. I probably spent too many years in college solving differential equations than practicing my bit. I usually go for painful puns or bad one-liners.

This is all quite unfortunate because 90% of conversation today is made up of amusing (or not-so-amusing) little stories. You know the type: "so I was buying some captain crunch at the supermarket yesterday when I bumped into my old gym teacher from 4th grade..." and so on until the story builds to a knee-slapping apex: " ...and so that's why all monkeys are now left-handed!"

See what I mean? I need some serious help, folks.

The End of Atkins

I don't know about you, but for years, I've been wondering how long it was going to last... but it looks like the Atkins fad has finally ended.

They've quietly gone bankrupt because nobody cares anymore. Come to think of it, why do I care?