Finally!! Friday!! And not a day too soon. Capped it off with a gathering at a restaurant called The Butcher Shop Steak House. It was nice going out with people from work for a social evening.
Last Wednesday was lasagne night at the Holy Spirit Wednesday Night Supper. Excellent caesar salad, garlic bread and lasagne. But the dessert was amazing. Vanilla ice cream with all kinds of toppings. I had a stawberry/blueberry mix, m&m's, and whipped cream topping. Yummy!
We sat at a table with two other couples and the son of one of the couples. I started out by asking if any of them were Memphis or Tennessee natives. So far noone we've met is native. We've met people from New York (Buffalo), New Jersey, California, and now Washington state. Still no natives. I guess FedEx is a huge employer here and draws in a lot of outsiders.
What kind of people is FEMA hiring? I got a call Wednesday afternoon from a FEMA agent who said he wanted to inspect one of our houses the next day. He asked if I could be there, so I told him, "No", and that I am located in Memphis, and he should contact my son to arrange for him to be let into the house. He called again at about 9:30PM to say it had gotten dark too soon for him to inspect the house, so he would need to get in in the morning after all, and could I meet him then. Like, HELL-O-O-O!! Didn't I just tell him 3 hours earlier that I was in MEMPHIS?!?!?! Geez!
Wilma... Wow! My prayers go out for those already impacted, and for those folks in Florida who are faced with the impending arrival. What an incredible, unbelievable hurricane season we're having, and still weeks to go.
Our daughter and the grandkids are back in New Orleans again. Seems that although she really had been fired from Children's, they want her back. That's a good thing, I guess. Prayers for her, please.
** Now it's Saturday and I never finished yesterday's log. I've been reading The DaVinci Code and decided to finish it last night, so I was up reading until 2AM! I enjoyed the book as a novel, but I thought the ending was predictable and a little lame. At least now I can say that I read the book if anyone asks. After reading it, I really don't see what all the hooplah was about. Being an Anne Rice fan, I'm used to reading fiction laced with reality, so it wasn't difficult to accept Brown's book on the same level. FICTION, laced with reality.
Linda and I took Maynard for a walk early this afternoon while the cleaning woman looked after our rooms. We met a guy walking his boxer, named Rogro, or something like that. He spoke to the dog in Spanish. Rogro is two years old, and is a good third again as big as Maynard. He's a brindle and nice looking. Although both strained at their leashes with their little stub tails wagging, we decided it was more prudent to walk them in different areas, as both are males.
One of the guys I work with lived in an apartment complex in Metarie. Naturally the only building in the complex that was damaged by Katrina was the one he is in, although his apartment was ok. Still, he had no power or utilities for weeks, so he's dealing with the food spoilage and foul smell. He went back today to pick up his stuff and bring it up here to TN. He'll be back tomorrow, so we're wishing him a safe trip.
Yesterday morning I attended an "all-hands" meeting of IT persons where we listened to the CIO of the Navy's Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education (MPT&E) command that is being "stood up". It combines the IT assets of Navy Manpower and Personnel based in Millington (mostly) with those of Navy Training and Education based in Pensacola. During his talk he was speaking about possible personnel moves caused by the consolidation. When he said, "...if New Orleans is reconstituted" meaning if the Navy returns to New Orleans, my ears perked up! Later during Q&A someone asked him to comment on that statement. He said that although he has heard that NOLA will be reconstituted, he has as yet seen no fiscal activity that would indicate any movement in that direction, so he wouldn't say yes or no as to whether we will return. Let's hope it's a resounding "YES"!!
I guess I've bored everyone long enough, so keep us in your prayers. By the way, Fr. Deo was interviewed and it was decided by the unviersity that he didn't have to take a theology exam after all! Although we're certain he would have done fine, he is greatly relieved and can concentrate on his Italian, German and other studies.
Take care, and may God bless you.
Dean
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