Back to the City Again

I skipped riding this morning because I had to make a meeting in Baton Rouge. The ride would have been far more satisfying than the meeting was, as it turned out. The folks at the Board of Regents still seem stunned and confused. More so than usual. Anyway, it is a beautiful day and I would love to be on the bike, but it isn't going to happen. Tomorrow morning I'm going out in the dark if necessary. I mean, this is getting ridiculous!

I'll be heading back to New Orleans later this evening to meet my brother and his son who are bringing my mother back from Orlando for her official return to the city. Saturday and Sunday we will be working at her apartment house tearing and throwing out whatever is wet and moldy, which will probably include a lot of sheetrock and college student furniture. Whatever, I fully intend to get in a couple of long rides in the early morning. My mileage has been really low for the past couple of weeks and I am really starting to feel it, so the bike is going on the roof of the car for this trip.

I got a call from my insurance adjuster!! Whooohooooo! I'm scheduled for a week from Saturday, so that's fine. In the meantime I think I will try to get a roofing estimate. I also called BellSouth and they said that they could get me DSL at the house in the usual 7-10 days. I may hold out another week or two before I bite the bullet on that one, but anyway it was nice to hear that it won't be a problem.

The reality of the hurricane's financial impacts are starting to hit home now, and the federal government just doesn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation. The city and the state will need some federal bail-out funding if the economy around here is ever to survive. Things are improving in the city daily, but many people who had minimal damage will still not be back to stay until '06 if they have children who are currently enrolled elsewhere. Likewise for people who are now working outside the city. The people don't want to come back until the businesses are back in operation, and the businesses can't get back in operation without the people.

Tulane's clean-up is progessing quite well, actually, and I think that the biggest issue will not be the buildings or the facilities, it will be housing for faculty, staff and students. Some of the local universities like Xavier are saying that they will be thrilled if they only lose half of their students. Tulane itself is expecting to lose at least 25%. That's a lot of $30k tuitions. The ball is in the federal government's court. They can either throw the city to the sharks or come to the rescue. FEMA has been a huge disappointment, to put it mildly, to everyone. The university has gotten absolutely no help of any kind from FEMA.