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Hmmm that dudelookspicious

It seems to me that the Washington area with all it's elevated threat levels, and heightened terror blah blah would be the target of some pretty funny and silly jokes. Granted, I didn't think that the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority would make fun of themselves!

"Sumpnspicious," -- a play on the slang pronunciation of "something suspicious" -- is defined as "n. (noun) unattended package or odd, unusual behaviour that is reported to a bus driver, train operator ... station manager or Metro Police."

A new addictive game

So, I've been known to get addicted to silly games. This game called Babycal throw looks pretty addictive. I am playing on a laptop, so it's a little more difficult, but, let me grab my mouse!

Wow I'm obsessed

I have blogged about 43things.com before, and I've been in the New York Times from an interview about the site. I'm now at 1020 things done. Maybe I have a problem?

There's a Pip behind me

My spidey sense is tingling. I think there is a Pip behind me.

Some Presidential Humor

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing.

He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks,......" How many is a brazillion?"

I'm back from Monroe

Hey yall, I'm back from Monroe, LA. It was a great trip, and I met a bunch of really cool people. It was definitely rewarding, and I'd recommend going on any disaster relief mission with the Red Cross. I found that there was some mass disorganization, and with turnover of volunteers, there needs to be some kind of continuity of business. I'm going to try to work on all that (I still have notes that I have to type up). I'm a little sick, but ya know how it is. I'll write some more later.

Busy in Monroe

So, I guess I owe you all an update.

Things have been pretty busy here. With I guess any volunteer organization, there is an extremely frustrating aspect: Turnover. With people coming in and going out, there is often a huge amount of information that leaves with each person. I found that out the day I got here. I'm going to try to document everything that I've got thus far so that I can pass along everything to my replacement. This should make that person's job much much easier, but it will be a TON of information, contacts, etc. Having been here for two weeks now, I'm an old timer. I've seen probably around 30 people leave, and close to 1600 residents move out of here. Many of both groups are now friends.

Also, one issue that I have is that the shelter that I'm at is the largest in Louisiana, and the first and only long term shelter the Red Cross has ever opened. President Bush's "proclamation" that emergency shelters are going to close on October 15th is deceiving. What he is referring to is that all emergency shelters are going to close tomorrow. This does not include the facility that I'm currently at. So, that means all of the shelters around here, churches, campgrounds, trailer parks, hotels, etc. are all going to close, and those people that have no place to go only have one place to go.... here. The amount of supplies and donations that we've received at this particular shelter is absolutely astounding. We've got two enormous warehouses, one of which used to be a K-Mart.

But, back to my point. On Wednesday, Rob and I drove down to Baton Rouge to pick up a vehicle for my use while I'm here. That was the original plan. Upon arriving, I decided to follow up on some computer requests that I had with the RTT group here. Apparently, all the instructions and advice I'd gotten in Monroe, were ignominiously incorrect. It was quite embarassing for the Red Cross actually.

This will really not make any sense to most people, but basically, I can give you a quick rundown of this facility. We're at the old State Farm building up here in Monroe, Louisiana. We've got a kitchen, cafeteria, external showers, Army Engineers providing security, Monroe school district registration office, playrooms and activities for the kids, two loading docks, two forklifts, a warehouse, three computer networks, and our own ZIP CODE. Here are some excerpts of what the conversation was like:

ME:Hi, I'm from the Monroe shelter
RTT: Where's Monroe?
ME: Right here. (pointing at the large highlighted area on the map on their desk)
RTT: Which shelter?
ME: The only one in Monroe
RTT: Hmm, maybe we should take a road trip up there.
ME: Yeah. Maybe you should.

ME: We need a cable run from the computer network back to the warehouse
RTT: You guys have your own warehouse?
ME: Yeah, it's the largest department that we've got up there
RTT: Oh ok.

RTT: So I spoke with the shelter manager named blah.
ME: She's actually the site manager
RTT: We don't have such a position as site manager
ME: You do here.
RTT: She told me y'all have 134 residents
ME: That's 134 staff
RTT: That's a lot of staff.
ME: (slowly for emphasis) It's a SEVEN ACRE facility

Other than the sheer ineptitude of some of the people that I've met, I've been busy, having fun and making friends. I've got a staff of 3 in addition to myself, and I'm senior staff here, although according to RTT, I don't report to anyone here.

Going home in a week

I'll be back home at this time next week. Well, probably at work. There is still a lot of work to be done, although there fewer and fewer residents here.

When I got here, they estimated about 1700 residents, and that was one week ago. Last night, we slept just under 400 people. Lots of familes and people are heading home to start cleaning up, and some are moving in with families, etc. That's a good thing.

On October 15, many of the emergency shelters are going to close, and those that are staying at those shelters in the 11 parishes that fall under the North East Louisiana chapter of the Red Cross are all going to head here. That should give us a couple hundred more residents.

As for work here, I've been trying to get email up for the people here. It's difficult because of all these forms that I need to fill out, and if I don't fill them in correctly, they just throw them away. So, I've submitted my third copy of one particular form that asks for email addresses. People here say that they don't know whether there are more acronyms or forms at the Red Cross. I think they are pretty close.

My boss is in the warehouse here, and has been asking for an internet drop for roughly a month now, so I'm going to try to get it to him today. Part of the problem is that we're in a State Farm insurance building, and a ton of the cable was done using ducting under the floors. Plus, State Farm took all of the infrastructure before they left the office (which is expected).

Senator David Vitter (R) LA. came by yesterday and toured the facility. That was a big security deal here, and there was some television station here following the entourage. I didn't even see the guy. Oh well.

Oh yeah, and there are more pictures up.

Day Off

Today is my day off down here. I really didn't make any plans to take the day off, but I did go to a club last night (yeah, I was the oldest one there). But we did go dancing, and then had to catch the only cab that was running in Monroe that night. So, we had to wait for 45 minutes before they arrived. Everyone had already left.

It was fun, and I've been doing a little bit of work but nothing too stressful. And I've made some more friends. Robert from Philadelphia, and Adam from Old Grove, Angela from Vegas, Nette from some small town in Cali, Erin from Monroe (crazy, like bad crazy), Cindy from Seattle, Rob from Akron, Ohio, Victoria from Santa Rosa, Roy from Decatur, Stephanie from NC, Canada from Canada (Olivette), Wanda from Elkton, VA, and Diane from Ithaca. All good people.

A poem from a resident

Light House
Thank you Red Cross for your help in the time of need.
You went beyond your call of duty,
And aided me in every need.
You gave me shelter in a time filled with much strife.
It's no exaggeration to say, "you saved my life".
Your kindness and patience calmed my fears,
I'll remember you all for the rest of my years.
As you remember this time and ponder, "Did I do my part?",
Know that your efforts will always have a place in my heart...

Lisa Garcia
Katrina and Rita
Evacuee 10/3/05
Monroe Shelter

Day 4, Monroe

I'm here at a 24 laundromat, called Unique Washeteria. Today was a pretty good day. I had a lot to do, but I'm now a functional director. I am assigned to the Manager of RT Communications and Computer Operations. I guess that is a good thing.

I got a lock on my office door today since we are taking over all communications, including 2 way radios, laptops, desktops, and possibly phones. I'm a little less stressed than most here, but then again, I can take a lot of stress.

NYT Circuits quotes me

A while ago, I got interviewed by Ethan Todras-Whitehill from the New York Times and the article ran today. Can someone please pick up a copy of today's NYT for me?

Day 2 in Monroe

So, today I had a pretty productive day. I went to an 8:00 AM senior staff meeting with the managers of all the departments of the shelter. We (me and Roy) proposed what we were planning to do for the next couple of days. We're basically going to set up a computer lab for the residents, get everyone here email, and buy some basic computer supplies (USB switches, printer toner, etc.).

Today I went on a shopping run with the head of MSS (Material Support Services) Tom, who is from Alexandria, VA. He's a very cool guy with long gray hair, and a beard and moustache. He's very funny, and slightly cocked. I guess you'd have to be to have his job. He's in charge of the warehouse portion of the shelter, and has a quarter of a million dollars spending authority. I took a picture but haven't uploaded it yet. He said that the other day, he went to Sam's Club and spent $33,400 something. Crazy stuff. I guess that's why we've got all of this junk food.

On another note, let me tell you about what happened to me today. I was fixing the printer of one of the staff directors, and she had a 9 year old visitor. His name was Roger. The first thing he says to me is, "You know how to use the computer?" I replied, "Yes." He immediately comes back with, "Can you find my grandpa? His name is Lynell." I tried all the places that I could think of, but I couldn't find him. And then, I told him that I couldn't find his grandpa. He then asked me to find his mom. I asked, "Where is she?" to which he had a one word reply: "Jail".

If little Roger's grandpa is out there in cyberspace somewhere, I'm going to find him.

Here in Monroe

Hey all! Guess what? Free wireless. Compliments of FEMA, Motorola, Intel and few other vendors.

I'm at the Hurricane relief center for what's called Event KR (Katrina-Rita) at a shelter. I am not sure exactly what I'm allowed to say in terms of what's going on here, but it's a State Farm Operations Center for their Central Zone.

There are Military Police here, as well as Monroe police and sheriffs providing security. It's all quite comforting, and the facility is great. This particular shelter is run quite well. I believe that everyone is volunteers too. We were sent up initially to assist the food services people that are here, but the shelter manager says that she needs just 2 bodies. One of those bodies is not going to be me (hopefully anyway).

I've got to start taking more pictures. I'm in the Client Side of the operation, so I'm not going to have many pictures of downed trees or flood waters, but I'm going to try to get out during a day off and head down to New Orleans and take some pics. It's not very close to here, but I'm going to try to do it. And honestly, I don't know if I feel comfortable (or if I'm even allowed) to take pictures of some of the people that call this shelter home.

There is food, water, snacks, laundry, and I'm sleeping on a cot. This is actually the one from the first night, I've got a different one tonight that I'll take a picture of in the morning.

For now though, I'm going to go to bed, and then write more sometime tomorrow. By the way, Sonic drive in food? Terrible.

I've been assigned to Monroe, LA

I'm posting from my blackberry, so these entries will be short. I've just gotten my assignment as a kitchen tech up in Monroe, Louisiana, which is in the north part of Louisiana.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing as a kitchen tech, but I'm eager to get started. I'll post more information when I can.

Last night I slept on a cot in Denham Springs at a church. Luckily it was air conditioned, and we had 1 shower for about 80 of us. I had a little trouble getting to sleep after lights out at 10, but I woke up around 5 and took my shower. I've taken a few pictures, but don't currently have any way to post them. So, I'll post them when I get that chance. I've met a ton of people from all different states and backgrounds, and I'm sure that I'll meet more. Most of the people are health care related and more religious than I am (which really isn't that difficult). I have my id and will get my vest soon I guess.

We're leaving here (Baton Rouge) pretty shortly, so I have to get my things together. Stay tuned.