Have a Very Happy and Prosperous 2007May You and Yours Have a
Better Year This Year Than Last Year
Posted from Key West, Florida
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Welcome 2007
Have a Very Happy and Prosperous 2007May You and Yours Have a
Better Year This Year Than Last Year
Posted from Key West, Florida
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
I love Christmas
I have always loved Christmas. It is a time of joy and giving. A time for family and friends. A time even the unreligious can enjoy a winter festival and contemplate the meaning in life. A time to prepare for a New Year with hope and determination.
The first Christmas we moved into our now flooded house, I covered the front of the house with lights, including a giant tapestry of crawling, blinking, sequenced lights. I said it was so people could find the place but I just wanted to do it. In that now empty house we hosted several Christmas Eve parties for far flung family and friends. We have many memories.
Every Year we have gathered family and friends and exchanged gifts and good cheer. Often we hear for far away friends who, while not exactly forgotten are, in the press of time and the hustle of life, not often remembered either.
This year we took it easy. Just the Mother in Law, Brother in Law and Nephew joined us for a traditional Christmas dinner in our temporary condo. Christmas Eve was spent with a much reduced Family at Her Uncle's house, but her uncle has not yet been able to return to his home from exile in Texas, due to health care problems. Hopefully he will return shortly after the New Year.
After our Christmas Eve party, back in our temporary residence we exchanged gifts and talked of relatives and friends who have moved on. Children of friends we have known since childhood, now raising their own children. It doesn't seem that long ago. People no longer in New Orleans. She asked me what we did last year.
In the the aftermath of the flood we were trying to put our affairs in order. We didn't get together with family because they were spread across several states, with no home completely unscathed and ready to host the crowd. I don't even think we exchanged gifts between the two of us. I honestly can't remember Christmas at all.
This year was a whole lot better. Maybe next year will almost normal.
The first Christmas we moved into our now flooded house, I covered the front of the house with lights, including a giant tapestry of crawling, blinking, sequenced lights. I said it was so people could find the place but I just wanted to do it. In that now empty house we hosted several Christmas Eve parties for far flung family and friends. We have many memories.
Every Year we have gathered family and friends and exchanged gifts and good cheer. Often we hear for far away friends who, while not exactly forgotten are, in the press of time and the hustle of life, not often remembered either.
This year we took it easy. Just the Mother in Law, Brother in Law and Nephew joined us for a traditional Christmas dinner in our temporary condo. Christmas Eve was spent with a much reduced Family at Her Uncle's house, but her uncle has not yet been able to return to his home from exile in Texas, due to health care problems. Hopefully he will return shortly after the New Year.
After our Christmas Eve party, back in our temporary residence we exchanged gifts and talked of relatives and friends who have moved on. Children of friends we have known since childhood, now raising their own children. It doesn't seem that long ago. People no longer in New Orleans. She asked me what we did last year.
In the the aftermath of the flood we were trying to put our affairs in order. We didn't get together with family because they were spread across several states, with no home completely unscathed and ready to host the crowd. I don't even think we exchanged gifts between the two of us. I honestly can't remember Christmas at all.
This year was a whole lot better. Maybe next year will almost normal.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Emergency Living Unit Blog Crue
Back when I started Tin Can Trailer Trash someone wrote that I was the only person in New Orleans blogging from a FEMA Trailer. I didn't know if that was true then and I still don't.
I do know that there are now several other New Orleans Bloggers living in FEMA "Emergency Living Units".
I think we need to Organize.
I propose we establish the Emergency Living Unit Blog Crue
The only requirement for membership is to have blogged while residing in a FEMA "Emergency Living Unit".
I know of several potential members and am looking for more. I hope the Blogosphere will do its thing and help me unite all Survivors in ELUBC.
NOLA Bloggers
Tin Can Trailer Trash
Tim's Nameless Blog
Michael Homan
Kalypso The Odyssey
PH Fred at Humid City
Gentilly Girl
Gulf Sails
Other candidates I found on the Internet.
Confessions of a Wannabe Princess
Jason Sampler
Mary-Pat
Ruminations
Paula's Pad
darnola
Kitchen Politics
Pat Cameron
Aly
BigMac
Cool Will Gee
Rachel
Kevin Gallagher
aimee
David and Beth
Wendy Michele
tdoe
I actually may have found several more potential members, but I couldn't be sure they had actually blogged while living in a FEMA "Emergency Living Unit".
We need to recruit someone to devise "an initiation ceremony that teaches the prospective member the secret handshake, sign, and password. After singing the official song (which still needs to be written) the trailerite will become an official member of the Emergency Living Unit Blog Crue". We are looking for someone to volunteer to develop an official logo and blog banner so that members of ELUBC can identify themselves.
Maybe in a year or two we can organize Bonus March on Washington, just like the old days.
We could use a better name.
I do know that there are now several other New Orleans Bloggers living in FEMA "Emergency Living Units".
I think we need to Organize.
I propose we establish the Emergency Living Unit Blog Crue
"to unite fraternally allautocampers" 'Emergency Living Unit Residents' and promote "friendliness amongcampersresidents, decent behavior and to secure plenty of clean, wholesome entertainment for those incamp"Emergency Living Units".
The only requirement for membership is to have blogged while residing in a FEMA "Emergency Living Unit".
I know of several potential members and am looking for more. I hope the Blogosphere will do its thing and help me unite all Survivors in ELUBC.
NOLA Bloggers
Tin Can Trailer Trash
Tim's Nameless Blog
Michael Homan
Kalypso The Odyssey
PH Fred at Humid City
Gentilly Girl
Gulf Sails
Other candidates I found on the Internet.
Confessions of a Wannabe Princess
Jason Sampler
Mary-Pat
Ruminations
Paula's Pad
darnola
Kitchen Politics
Pat Cameron
Aly
BigMac
Cool Will Gee
Rachel
Kevin Gallagher
aimee
David and Beth
Wendy Michele
tdoe
I actually may have found several more potential members, but I couldn't be sure they had actually blogged while living in a FEMA "Emergency Living Unit".
We need to recruit someone to devise "an initiation ceremony that teaches the prospective member the secret handshake, sign, and password
Maybe in a year or two we can organize Bonus March on Washington, just like the old days.
We could use a better name.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Government in Action - Gretna Style
Last week I had occasion to attend the Gretna City Council Meeting.
It was a great opportunity to see Government in Action and judging by my small window it actually seems to work.
I arrived early and the mayor introduced himself to me while I was waiting for the rest of my party to arrive. He even took the time to check the agenda to see if my matter was on it.
The meeting itself was a model of decorum, with the council members offering courteous, respectful comment on the issues before them.
The meeting had the possibility of running off the tracks in several places but failed to do so.
Its interesting that the issues paralleled issues which come before our much more Self Important Council.
Historic Preservation. Several issues dealt with the Gretna Historic District and approvals of various proposals. Everyone seemed to be trying to come to a reasonable conclusion. They discovered and discussed a few issues which needed further consideration and actually came to a sort of resolution.
Advisory Base Flood Elevations. Gretna adopted the FEMA Advisory Base Flood Elevations. A representative of FEMA was present. She offered helpful information and was treated with respect.
FEMA Trailers. Like Jefferson Parish, Gretna adopted a Housing Emergency Ordinance after the flood. Their Ordinance apparently authorized trailers in Gretna (they are otherwise prohibited) until January 1, 2007. After that trailers are technically illegal. City Workers have managed to locate all 501 trailers in Gretna and have so far delivered two notices of the existing requirements to each one. City workers have identified 78 trailers which do not meet the requirements of the regulations or were not permitted and suspect many more do not but they can't be sure.
The City of Gretna will be notifying each trailer after the first of the year that the Housing Emergency has expired and will eventually cite any trailer in violation of their regulations. Any trailer complying with the rules will be allowed to stay until repairs are completed, but monitored for progress. All in all a fair outcome. The rules apparently allow trailers only to be used by citizens of Gretna as a temporary residence while their home is repaired. They apparently may not be used to house displaced relatives or as rental property. Seems reasonable to me. I don't have all of the rules but this is what I understood from the meeting.
Citizen Involvement. One portion of the meeting was set aside for Citizen Statements. Apparently the statement can be on any issue. Most of the comments were on FEMA trailers. As you might expect most of the people commenting were not well informed, apparently there was a rumor that all trailers were going to be moved to a trailer park somewhere. The Mayor and Council listened carefully to each citizen and tried to understand their situation. In a couple of cases they made recommendations for the Citizen to consult with someone at a city department later to provide more information.
The Times Picayune also came up. Apparently the Paper gets it wrong a lot and reports things like murders as occurring in Gretna when they didn't
Meetings like this make you understand that government can work and doesn't need to be all about the politicians. Although the meeting took almost four hours and we were near the bottom of the agenda, I'm glad I had to go.
It was a great opportunity to see Government in Action and judging by my small window it actually seems to work.
I arrived early and the mayor introduced himself to me while I was waiting for the rest of my party to arrive. He even took the time to check the agenda to see if my matter was on it.
The meeting itself was a model of decorum, with the council members offering courteous, respectful comment on the issues before them.
The meeting had the possibility of running off the tracks in several places but failed to do so.
Its interesting that the issues paralleled issues which come before our much more Self Important Council.
Historic Preservation. Several issues dealt with the Gretna Historic District and approvals of various proposals. Everyone seemed to be trying to come to a reasonable conclusion. They discovered and discussed a few issues which needed further consideration and actually came to a sort of resolution.
Advisory Base Flood Elevations. Gretna adopted the FEMA Advisory Base Flood Elevations. A representative of FEMA was present. She offered helpful information and was treated with respect.
FEMA Trailers. Like Jefferson Parish, Gretna adopted a Housing Emergency Ordinance after the flood. Their Ordinance apparently authorized trailers in Gretna (they are otherwise prohibited) until January 1, 2007. After that trailers are technically illegal. City Workers have managed to locate all 501 trailers in Gretna and have so far delivered two notices of the existing requirements to each one. City workers have identified 78 trailers which do not meet the requirements of the regulations or were not permitted and suspect many more do not but they can't be sure.
The City of Gretna will be notifying each trailer after the first of the year that the Housing Emergency has expired and will eventually cite any trailer in violation of their regulations. Any trailer complying with the rules will be allowed to stay until repairs are completed, but monitored for progress. All in all a fair outcome. The rules apparently allow trailers only to be used by citizens of Gretna as a temporary residence while their home is repaired. They apparently may not be used to house displaced relatives or as rental property. Seems reasonable to me. I don't have all of the rules but this is what I understood from the meeting.
Citizen Involvement. One portion of the meeting was set aside for Citizen Statements. Apparently the statement can be on any issue. Most of the comments were on FEMA trailers. As you might expect most of the people commenting were not well informed, apparently there was a rumor that all trailers were going to be moved to a trailer park somewhere. The Mayor and Council listened carefully to each citizen and tried to understand their situation. In a couple of cases they made recommendations for the Citizen to consult with someone at a city department later to provide more information.
The Times Picayune also came up. Apparently the Paper gets it wrong a lot and reports things like murders as occurring in Gretna when they didn't
Meetings like this make you understand that government can work and doesn't need to be all about the politicians. Although the meeting took almost four hours and we were near the bottom of the agenda, I'm glad I had to go.
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