I'm Back!

I hope everyone had an excellent holiday. Compared to the refugees of Louisiana, I'd say that most reading this had a wonderful holiday. It will not stop any of us from bitching, but that is an inalienable right of being human.

I watched a lot of the coverage of the mop up & I find myself annoyed at the people screaming about how the federal government took too long to come in. I find that to be a load of crap. If you look at exmi's blog, there is a posting there that sums a lot of my opinion. To add to what he said, my biggest snarl's are at how so many say the gov't did not step in quickly enough.

What ever happened to common sense? There is a category 5 hurricane approaching your home. It is common knowledge that if you live in any part of Louisiana then your home is BELOW SEA LEVEL! The levee's are set up to withstand only up to a Cat. 3. This is also common knowledge. There has been a mandatory evacuation ordered, yet you stay behind. Now, common sense says that the shit is about to hit the fan so get out.

But obviously many did not. For whatever reason, thousands stayed. Now, when a mandatory evacuation is ordered, I would assume that means the mayor's, governor's and other state officials will order out the Guard & other officials to at least attempt to get as many out as possible who have no way to move themselves - bed ridden, the old, those in the hospitals, or just too poor. The bus lines would be utilized to cart people out. So what happened?

And then after Katrina hit, people expected to see helicopters and cops just swarming all over the place, helping rescue the poor idiots who stayed behind. HELLO! Reality check please! When there is no communication system available because it has been wiped out it is a bit difficult to coordinate anything.

I dare anyone to try and coordinate a family reunion with only the postal system. No phone. No email. No internet. No nothing. You can only use the postal system. Go on. I dare you. HA! And people expected the rescue efforts to fall in to place when there wasn't even a postal system!?!?!? Sheez!

Then the government can't just step in until asked to. Last time I checked, that was part of that political debate about state rights. That has not changed when I was looking now has it? Where is that line drawn? Remember? There is no fault for that but in people's choices. Personally, though it must seriously suck under these circumstances, I want it that way. I do not want the federal government stepping in on their whim. I agree that the fed. gov't has resources the state & local gov't can not afford, and it should be that way. But the fed. gov't should not use those resources except on a case by case basis and by invitation. Especially, as in this case, large chunks of the devastation of Katrina could have been avoided if the state & local gov't had actually done their job.

Then the next stage is that it takes time to get people & resources in place. I remember what Andrew & Hugo were like. Katrina made those look like sneezes in comparison. How can anyone expect big trucks of supplies to make it through long stretches of nonexistent roads in less than a day? It does not work that way. And has it escaped the collective consciousness of this country that Louisiana is a LARGE state? And Mississippi is another LARGE state? They may not compare to Texas, but they are larger than most European countries. And it was all of Louisiana that was damaged, not just New Orleans. There are entire communities that need to be rebuilt from the ground up. There are towns through out the state that are little more than kindling & GPS coordinates. They need rescue crews and aid just as much as New Orleans does.

Oh well. It will turn in to yet another finger pointing farce and life will continue onward. Enough of that rant.

Besides watching the news, I spent a lot of time cleaning and running errands. Piece of advice. Never help family members clean and/or rearrange. Murder develops into a feasible option rather quickly. And the only way to cope is to have screaming fits. NOT a good idea because this is a family member and they know where you live!

It really was not that bad. I am just a lot compulsive and I do not understand how my mother & sister can live with all the piles around them. There were/are piles of books, clean clothes, dirty clothes, dog towels, hand towels, papers, plastic baggies, books, VHS tapes, DVD's, stationary, photo albums, recipes, house decorations, curtains, blankets, and the list goes on. I can't live that way.

You have to understand. I am the type whose books are organized by type & author. My clothes are separated by type, function, & color. I am the person who buys separators for my pens and pencils, and my markers have their own bin in my desk. Vaguely unsettling, but I live alone for a reason. And I have cats to keep me from crossing completely into compulsive disorders.

Despite all these major differences, so long as we do not kill one another, I will be moving in sometime in November. Somehow, I am going to have to figure out how to fit all my stuff into 1 room and pack the rest up for storage. As a family, we need to go through multiple rooms and make everything fit. I am terrified.

To make it all really exciting, my 6 year old nephew is part of this equation and he does not understand why I can not watch his movies with him on demand. I try to indulge him as much as I can, but there is that point. (Parents reading this, any advice would be appreciated on this.) How can you explain to a 6 year old that, no, you really do not want to watch his Hot Wheels movie for the 10th time that day? And that while you appreciate the willingness to compromise, Bob the Builder is not something you want to see - again and again.

That was a large part of my weekend. I watched the 2 Hot Wheels movies - repeatedly. Again & again. Over & over again. Let me stress - there was a lot of repetition here. He adores these movies and knows them by heart down to the sound effects and how the drivers move. I was going insane. When not watching the Hot Wheels movies, I watched Disney's Tailspin. All 8 videos of it. If not that, then it was Bob The Builder. I have 1 more night of it this week & then I can return to being an adult again. My mind is official mush.

I got next to nothing accomplished this weekend & I am a month away from looking seriously for a place to move to. We were supposed to get stuff gathered up for trash & Good Will, rearrange the furniture, & get the 1 room started so I can move in this Thanksgiving. Instead, I ran errands at Lowes & Wal-Mart, took out the trash, watched the Hot Wheels movies again & again & again. Had a visit from my uncle, aunt, cousin & her husband. Then last night - at 5 pm mind you - we FINALLY started working on my future room and gathered bags & boxes of trash, boxes for good will, Mom's twin bed was disassembled & moved down to join the car seats, cribs & other stuff going to Good Will, and then we hauled the sofa bed back to Mom's room, set it up so that she could have room to sleep, & then we cleaned everything up so that we could go to bed ourselves. And we haven't even gotten half way in to the room!

How I am going to fit is beyond me. I know exmi is a patient soul & perfectly willing to let me rent as long as possible, but that is his home & I want asphalt again. I hate not knowing what to do! I hate having an easy job with great benefits that just does not pay enough. I hate dithering! Sooner or later I know everything will fall in to place, but waiting & trying to make it happen is so damn annoying. I am a few more "thank you but no thank you" letters from perspective jobs away from posting my resume & invite commentaries because these head hunters & resume professionals are turning out to be a waste of my limited time, money & patience.

Ah well. Time for me to go to work again. Till tomorrow!