prytaniawaterline.com Blog

Hard to believe I haven’t posted in almost a year. I haven’t needed the soap box lately, emotionally I have been under control. Still I probably do have something to share. Hopefully I will find some inspiration and get back to Bloggin’.

Here it is Labor Day weekend, a day off from work, I even have some extra money in the bank and I am laid up in the sick bed. I guess I have to admit that I am in my fifties now and I am not longer immune to health problems. Without going into details I have developed a condition over the last couple of years that has been knocking my ass out about every six months. The symptoms are treatable with RX’s , I never seem to be proactive enough to deal with it before it gets out of hand. After this bout I am going to see a specialist and see what the root cause is and find a permanent solution. I can’t believe I am entering the geriatric portion of my life. Most of the time I feel good and young. I guess from here on out it’s a handful of pills every morning with my coffee.

I am probably overreacting at the same time I can’t stop thinking it sucks getting older.

It would be hard not to realize that it has been five years since Katrina and the federal flood brought it’s show to town. Nationaly and localy it is all you can see on the news.

My life has changed quite a bit in the last five years, some of it borught about by the K storm and some of it a normal evolution of a person’s life. On a daily basis I rarely think about the event even though the images of the winds and the aftermath are still very clear in my memory. You may notice I left out water, during and after the storm my home and neighborhood were not affected by water. The Tuesday after the storm I had no idea that the city was filling with water. Leaving the city a few days after the storm and not returning for three weeks was the worst of the experience for me. Not knowing what kind of city I would come home to, not knowing if I would still have a job, not knowing where my friends and neighbors were or what had happened to them.

I returned to the city on Oct 1, my birthday, There was only one other person in the block. THe bar around the corner had already opened and was serving cold sandwiches and of course plenty of booze. The place was packed, mostly with reocevery workers. WHen they found out it was my birthday they bought me enough shots to make going to sleep that night an easy task. The next morning I got up and turned the stero on full blast, I figured if anyone was around they would know I was home, plus I thought it was pretty neat that I could play the music as loud as I wanted with no one to complain.

Over time I have lost the anger, the anxiety is gone, the city is different yet still the same. I look at the city and see the same problems we had before, some things have improved other things are the same or worse. Issues that today we blame on the K event were here before and are still here now.

I look forward, New Orleans is my home, I try to keep a positive attitude about the way things are. I am not going to commemorate or spend a lot of time thinking about it. It is a part of my past, my personal history, I can’t dwell on it anymore. I can however appreciate the fact that I weathered the storm and was more fortunate than others who still suffer from the aftermath of Katrina.

I was gald to see this report on WWL tv that others think the amount of oil left in the Gulf as reported by the government is Fuzzy Math.

From WWLTV

Where is the oil

We have been lied to and misled throughout this whole oil disaster by all parties involved. I think this is a great example of how corruption, money and power have taken over the country. It is important to be accurate with this information the health of the environment and the people who interact with it are at stake.

George Harrison

Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt
And for all the little piggies
Life is getting worse
Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies
In their starched white shirts
You will find the bigger piggies
Stirring up the dirt
Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their sties with all their backing
They don’t care what goes on around
In their eyes there’s something lacking
What they need’s a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there’s lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

From MSNBC

explosion triggered a major offshore oil spill. Armed with absorbers and dispersants, more than 500 fishing boats were deployed Monday to help contain the slick.

China Oil Spill

Do we need oil so badly that we are willing to turn the entire planet into one big oil puddle. Oil Producers no matter where they are need to stop counting their profits for a couple of minutes and pay attention to the mess they are making and the long term repercussions.

Screw the world wide oil pigs and the politicians who allow them to do this.

So at least temporarily the oil hole has been plugged, unfortunately there is a shitload of oil already in the Gulf of Mexico to clean up. I am still cynical about the outcome, I think they have screwed up the seafood biz around here for quite a while. Specifically my favorite Oysters.

Oh well Life goes on, life is like war endless hours boredom interupted by moments of tragedy and terror.

I had a great fourth of July, I was in Mobile at my sister’s place, the pool is a nice addition, We had our yearly fireworks show, out did ourselves with an hour long show. I won’t tell you what I spent, in my mind it was worth it. There is nothing more appropriate to celebrate our nation’s birthday than blowin’ shit up.

I had to reinstall my computer over vacation, it started doing that windows blue screen thing. My computer is kind of like my love life, after a couple of years of use it gets unstable. While rebuilding my music library for my ipod I went retro putting a lot of stuff I grew up with on it. The Band, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Van Morrison. I haven’t listened to that stuff in years, I must say hearing it again takes me back and comforts me.

I drew Federal Jury Duty, The summons says from Aug 10 to Feb 10, I guess the long time period is due to the Holidays. I don’t have a problem doing my civic duty but there is a lot of crap in the Federal courts right now that I would rather not have anything to do with. If called to serve I will do so willingly and responsibly. Not that I really have a choice, there is no opt out.

A couple of reposts the Mississippi Gulf Coast April 2008