The Information Super-Frog

Gosh, August was a pretty good month up to the last week. That stuff at the end was enough to turn it into a wash out, by and large.

Our 504 self-phones work for outgoing calls, but we can't get any in. I asked Verizon if there was anything they could do-- maybe give me an additional local number here in Florida that people could call in? They said nothing could be done until the area code 504 station was back up. I think I'll demand 50% off my bill, as I'm only getting 50% of phone service. One small thing.

My home in old Carrollton is in the highest 10% of the Metro area, and like most 19th century homes here is built elevated off the ground, so as the city seems to be narrowly escaping complete flooding, my neighborhood should be pretty good for water damage. Of course with wind dammage and human factors, I have no damn idea what to expect, so I'll just have to be pleased if eventually I find I have anything at all.

I have no idea when I can come back to start rebuilding. I hope I'll be able to do that. We'll see.

Maybe have to start over somewhere else.
Hollie suggested Hawaii.

Other than second guessing a couple of minor items, the one thing I would have done differently in evacuating is I would have loaded the original art on the walls into my car.

I have a number of friends who know their houses are submerged. I have friends who last I heard were still electing to stay, and I can only hope are alive and well.

Oh, "August & Katrina" is the title of a German dialect vaudeville routine that found its way to record.
I wonder if I'll see my 78 record collection again.

A couple days before the storm, I got a 1920 penny in the change from the bubble tea place up the street from my home. I left it on one of my interior window sills.

Among the New Orleans ephemera here from my wallet pocket are a card for a free bubble tea from there.

Nice to dream I might get to use that some day.

I have stepped boldly forward into the 1990s. Yesterday I purchased a moblie telephone ( or a "radiotelegraphic device of Satan" as ragtimematt calls them).

I was motivated by the suggestion of various friends, including a musician who said there was discussion that I was hard to get in touch with, and various circumstances.

Just over a week ago I rushed down to Rampart Street after getting word of demolition going on at the old Oddfellows Hall/Eagle Saloon Building (major jazz history site; probably the most historically important building in the state without a plaque on it). Fortunately it turned out that they just removed a later addition to the back of the building that was collapsing; so not as bad as feared. (As the city has done way too many things like bulldoze Louis Armstrong's birth house in the wee hours of the morning, local preservationists and historians have to be wary of sudden unexpected and sometimes illegal demolitions.) I realized that I could have a band on the corner playing dirges within 15-20 minutes if that had been needed, but would have had to borrow my friend Sue's phone to do so-- and if she hadn't also come down to Rampart Street to witness at the same time, I would have had to hunt for one of the increasingly scarce pay phones in the CBD.

Note that I will NOT use the mobile telephone to chat while driving. Note to those who do: HANG UP AND WATCH THE ROAD, DAMNIT!

When I take it out with me, I expect the ringer will be off more often than on. I rather like there being some times when I do not need to be at the beck & call of the telephone. As has been the practice with my "land line" phone, talking and socializing with people in my presence will continue to take priority over answering the 'phone unless I am expecting a Particularly Important Call. I'm not sure what to think of the alligation that I've been hard to get in touch with; I not only have a "land line" telephone with an answering machine and voicemail, I have an email address, and a nice brass mailbox by my front-door.

Still, yes, those mobile things are no doubt useful to have in emergency situations, so I've been persuaded.

For anyone who may be interested, I went with Verizon, as my friends who use that brand have much less of the "sounding like you're calling from a small town in Bolivia on a tin can, when I can hear you at all" than other providers.

Note to RagtimeMatt: to apease the spirit of retronianism, yesterday I also got the 100 to 110 year old clock on my livining room mantle happily ticking and chiming the hours away again after 2 years of silence. It turned out to need only a new winding key stem, $16, so I'm happy.