Katrina Revisited

e're in the New Orleans area for a few days and
it's the 5th anniversary of Katrina. We didn't see
much riding through town, it looks like NO east is still
pretty beat up looking though.

Watching the coverage of Katrina from a local news perspective
made me go back to see what I wrote at the time, and it made
me think I would have done a better job as governor or mayor
than those dodos did.

Mayor Nagin just ordered a mandatory evacuation, by
reading the legaleze version of the order instead of saying
more plainly it is time to leave, and if you don't leave no
one will come rescue you.

Hopefully it wasn't poorly executed and too late.

Governor blanco just mentioned that President Bush called to
make sure there was a mandatory evactuation.

She keeps mentioning being blessed, and she keeps repeating
herself and mentioning flying in and looking at the traffic.
Instead of a governor she is really just a traffic reporter
and a bad one at that.

I voted for Bobby Jindal, and I wish that fast talking guy had
won.

Airport floor blogging

I'm traveling from europe back to the western hemisphere
and my laptop's battery died. There are power plugs in one
of the houston terminal b corridors of despair, but non are
near a chair so I must sit indian style on the ground, looking
like an unjolly budda.

I did miss a flight yesterday and get stuck in Rome. The
other option was waiting six hours then flying standby to spend
the night in Newark. For some reason I chose Rome over Newark.
I did a nice hike from the Vatican to the Pantheon, then
through all the fori and all the way south to some
(caracella?) pretty impressive ruins of a giant bathhouse.

I then walked back around towards the vatican following the Tiber.
A pretty good walk, it's possible to see almost all the sights of
Rome on an extended walking tour. it took me 4 hours total, including
gawking time. Rome isn't my favorite city, it's too frenetic, but
a nice quiet walk along the river certainly does raise it up on my
list of best places.