If it's stupid, but it works... It's not stupid.

As many of you know, I volunteer at a local Fire Department here. Last week we had an interesting call. It happened during our drill night.

We were practicing drafting and shuttling and, of course, as soon as we hook everything up, the tones go off. There is a call for a suspicious smell in an area with a lot of power lines. The person thinks it might be an electrical fire. The area is very close to a local elementary too. So, we suit up and take off. When we get to the address, there is a sign out front that says "Katrina Recovery Efforts -- FEMA -- Army Corps of Engineers... etc etc"

The gate to the compound is locked but there is a distinct odor in the air. It doesn't smell quite electrical, but I can't place my finger on it. Dispatch doesn't have a combination to the lock and we can't get anybody's attention to come and open the gate for us. So, Chief decides to jump the fence. He goes over and radios back that there is a garbage can on fire inside the gates. It's not a big fire though and someone is on the way to unlock the gate so we wait.

The person gets there and informs us that it is not FEMA that owns the compound but the sign is a front for what actually goes on there. It is the County Narcotics Investigation Unit. Nice. The gentlemen informs us not to worry, they are just burning "stuff." Then I realize what the smell is.

The fun never stops.

Keeping in Touch

I am still alive. Yes, I am.

I wish life here was more exciting and I had some great story to tell you all, but I don't. The most exciting thing that has happened to me lately is the Cubs making the playoffs... but we all know how well that is going to pan out.

I don't get to see any Ducks games, although, with the way the season is going, that is probably a good thing. Sigh.

I do get to spend all day with 11 people who are 22 years old and younger. That is great fun. (Did you sense the sarcasm there?)

If anyone wants to drop me a line, feel free. I need some sanity.

I write you, in spite of years of silence

So, here it is. Finally. One would think that having a week off due to Gustav I would have gotten this done sooner, but no. That would be too easy. Instead, I spent the week dwelling on how wonderful life is here. Needless to say, I am very happy to be back in school so my mind can be occupied with stuff other than doubt and worry.

On a brighter note:

We all survived Gustav. (I will be sending t-shirts later.) All of us military-types had to shelter for the duration of the (non-existent) storm. We arrived at the shelter at 1600 on Sunday and left at 0900 on Tuesday. There was power the whole time and we got to watch ESPN. I was glad. I was a bit mad that I didn't get to see the wind and rain. I mean, it was my first hurricane for crying out loud! We were about 15 people to a room. As you can tell by the picture, my friend, Jen, and I made little cubbies for ourselves under desks. We were pretty proud of our hobbit-holes too! At night, when everyone else was watching movies, we could pull the plastic sheets down and lay in total darkness.

The city did not fair as well as we did. There were a lot of downed limbs and debris. This picture shows how the beach looked when I first got here.

Although I still wouldn't swim in the Gulf, it is beautiful and I enjoyed strolling along the beach. Now, there is branches, mattresses, trash and other random bits of junk strewn all up and down the beach. The storm surge extended to past the lane of traffic that you see.


If you want to see a cool website about how Biloxi and Mississippi's Gulf Coast looked pre-Katrina click here. People are still devastated and I can see why. I wish I could have seen this place before. I think it would have been great.