Whew...

Ok...we finally found out that my aunt is safe. Actually she is up in Arkansas now. She was finally evacuated by the Arkansas National Guard on Friday September 2nd and flown to San Antonio that evening. She wound up getting a hotel room in town because she didn't want to sleep in an aircraft hanger on the air base there and flew up to Arkansas on Monday September 5th. She'll be off work for 2 or 3 months but the state of Louisiana will continue to pay her during that time. I'm just glad she's safe and sound.

I am glad to see the outpouring of support that I have seen all over the place. Alot of churches have really stepped up to the challenge. I did hear a quote from Gov. Huckabee (who is a baptist minister btw) who said at a worship service at a Baptist Church camp in Siloam Springs, Arkansas that prayer and faith without good works is empty. Wow!

I am also glad they are taking the price gouging situation very seriously. I did report a convenience store to the attorney general's office for what I thought was price gouging. This store was charging 60 cents more a gallon than gas stations less than a mile away on Tuesday August 30th. I sent the e-mail to the AG's office on Tuesday night and got a call from their office at 8:30 the next morning letting me know they were on top of the situation. Wow! That's service!

Fortunately, I never had to buy any of the $3/gallon gas. By a stroke of luck, I had gassed up both cars a day or two before Katrina came ashore and we didn't have to buy gas until late last week. Of course at $2.95/gallon, it still took $62,50 to gas up our Envoy XL and $40 to gas up our Accord. Yikes! If these prices stay this high, I think we're going to trade in the Envoy for a Chevrolet HHR (link) early next year. They're a little small but they look cool and get 22 to 30 mpg and they have an auxiliary input (for my iPod) as standard equipment along with a 260 watt stereo for the trim package that I am looking at...

People Doing the Right Thing....

I saw this on the times-picayune website (link). I am so glad to see people pitching in like this. I hope the good people of Arkansas are as accommodating....

Memphis welcomes storm victims

2:20 p.m.
By Jeffrey MeitrodtStaff writer

MEMPHIS -- Local businesses and churches in Memphis have rolled out the welcome mat to Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina. Hotels have cut rates by one third, while local churches have provided dinner and an offer of $100 in free groceries each week for those evacuees who show their driver's licenses or indentification cards from the stricken area.Local restaurants also have slashed meal tabs 50 percent for people from Louisiana. At one restaurant, a waitress refused a tip. She told evacuees if she could do more, she would.Many apartments have cut their short-term leases from month to month and are offering rents of $150 monthly as well as providing furniture.

Hurricane Relief

Kudos to Cary and Gina Marin who own Little Rock Tours (link)!!! I just heard on KABZ 103.7 The Buzz that they took both of their busses down to New Orleans to help with the evacuations. Wow!!!! I am truly impressed with that effort. If you're ever in Little Rock, PLEASE take a tour from these people, its a great tour to see our wonderful city and they are also very good people.

If you not aware of the Martins, they both used to be on air personalities at Little Rock's ABC affiliate KATV. Cary was an anchor and Gina was a reporter.

I am also wondering why I not hearing about more Little Rock churches doing more to help with the relief effort. I have heard very little from the "big mega churches" in what they are doing. Doing a random search of church websites this morning I found 4 of the mega churches in town of various denominations had NOTHING on their website about doing something for the hurricane victims. The churches that did have something were: Fellowship Bible Church (link), the church at Rock Creek (link), and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (link). The state associations for the Southern Baptist Church (link)and Methodist Church (link) along with the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas (link)did have information on their websites about how to help or where to get help. I will say this was not an all inclusive search, there are hopefully other churches out there that are doing things as well that I am not aware of...

I would like to say Kudos to the staff at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock especially. I have received e-mails from them almost daily with pleas for help from the Dean Henry Hudson, the Bishop of Arkansas Larry Maze and the Presiding Bishop Frank Griswald. The parishioners at Trinity have been some of the most active in helping their in community with both their time and money that I have ever seen. This staff and members of this church did restore my faith in organized religion and showed me that people at church on Sunday morning but also follow through by living as good Christians the other 6 days of the week as well...

Ok, I didn't mean to get on this religion rant but I have seen too many people in my life that are in the front pew of the Church on Sunday morning but come Monday, the totally forget what it means to be a Christian the other 6 days of the week...

Looting by NOPD Officers

I am total shock last night to be watching the disaster coverage on MSNBC when I see footage of the looting of a Wal Mart in New Orleans. First off I am disgusted by the people who are stealing flat screen tv's and jewelry but I was really disgusted by seeing two female New Orleans Police officers walking around filling up a shopping cart. The cart did not contain necessities like food or even maybe office supplies, it contained shoes, clothes and I think a microwave oven.

When the reporter asked one of the officers (who was wearing sunglasses and was not wearing a name tag by the way) what they were doing she said "watching out for looters." When the reporter asked her if the was going to do anything about it, her reply was "no." Then when the reporter asked about her looting, she threatened to arrest the reporter for looting and told him that since he was in the store, he was "looting." Then she continued "shopping."

This just turns my stomach that people can act with such careless disregard. I know this is a very small percentage of the general population of the New Orleans Metro area but I am still disgusted by it.

By the way, kudos to Wal Mart manager for opening the doors in the first place to let people gather necessary items that they needed. I haven't been a big Wal Mart fan for quite a while but at least they did the right thing, even though some of the people whom they were trying to help did not...

I am just numb....

In the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina, I am still pretty much in shock. It really hits close to home because my Aunt is a social worker at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and we haven't heard from her since noon on Sunday. She told my father that she was having to work and they were telling her to plan on being at the hospital for at least a week if not more.

My parents also lived on the north shore in Mandeville from 1990 to 1996 in the Greenleaves subdivision and still have many friends in St. Tammany parish. Thankfully, most of them live around Mandeville and the reports I have been seeing is that there is very little flooding in that area, mostly wind damage and trees on houses. My parents do have one friend who lives to the east of Mandeville closer to Abita Springs who was going to stay. The has we had heard from her, she was going to stay, but send her mother to stay with relatives in Greenville, MS. I am hoping that her mother was able to persuade her to go up to Greenville with her.

I am dropping off a cash donation for the Salvation Army on my way home from work today and will be mailing a check next week closer to payday for the Episcopal Relief and Development fund (http://www.er-d.org/) via the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas which will be sending funds and assistance to help out the victims.

If your reading this and are able to contribute any amount, I ask to you please give. I truly want to believe that the vast majority of New Orealans people are good and the ones you see looting are a very small percentage.... Please remember these people in your prayers...