What's Up With That?

Yesterday I filled up at the base gas station. Gas was $2.19/gal for regular. Tonight as Linda and I were out driving around it struck me. I actually felt like I was getting a DEAL for paying ONLY $2.19! Gas prices have become outrageous in the past year. While claims of Katrina and Rita interfering with the refineries may have some merit, I have to wonder if that is really true when one considers the profits posted by the oil companies during the first quarter of last year. Talk about greed on a global scale!

294% profit?!? 165%? 125%? And poor Conoco-Phillips at only 44%. With profits like that I have to wonder why the prices at the pump have to fluctuate so often and so dramatically unless there is some profit margin control that is really running prices.

OK. It's Sunday afternoon and I'm pretty bored I think. I'm watching Cat Woman on HBO. It's as bad as all the reviews said it was. I wonder if we're getting too much reality these days so we're turning to fantasy for escape. Batman, Spiderman, Cat Woman, DOOM, Aeon Flux. Movies taken from cartoons, comics and video games. I guess too much reality isn't what I mean, but rather reality is that the world has too much war, disaster, pain and suffering and television brings it directly into our living rooms, into our lives. So we escape in whatever way we can, at least for a few hours at a time.

We're starting to make plans for our trip home for Thanksgiving. We're really getting excited about seeing everyone again. I can't wait for it to be home for good once again! As nice as the parish is here at Holy Spirit, we really miss Holy Name of Mary and Fr. John. It'll be great going to Mass there again, too.

Maintaining some semblance of normalcy, Linda went to a craft fair at the church yesterday and got a couple of nice Christmas items. Next Saturday is another fair called Christmas Village, in Nashville which I think we plan to attend. And we will be coming in for the Covington Craft Fair in December if it is still on. When the going gets tough, the tough go SHOPPING!

Take care, and God bless!

Dean

Friday, November 4th

We went out for dinner tonight with the group from work. They're turning into a surrogate for our Friday nights out with our daughter and the kids. We went to Corky's for BBQ. Not the one by our hotel, but another one in Germantown. Dinner was very good and the company was nice. Still, I miss those dinners with family.

Our grandson gets an "atta boy"! He saved our cats from being catnapped. Thanks, little Bubba! We love those cats and would really have missed them. Keep up the good work!

Last Wednesday we took our friend Gerald to dinner at Holy Spirit church. It was, as usual, really good. We had country fried steak, I think. I always get it confused with chicken fried steak. I think chicken fried has batter, but country fried doesn't. We also had country fried potatoes, mixed veggies, dinner rolls, and lime and orange sherbet for dessert.

Now on to an evening of Ghost Whisperer (light, but interesting. Doesn't anyone around her think its odd that she's always talking to herself?), Threshold, and Numbers. I've always been a TV junkie for certain shows on what ever nights I wasn't involved with diaconate or school, but here I've found programs I enjoy every night! Can you say "Couch Potato"? Sure, I knew you could! Maybe tomorrow Linda and I will walk to the mall behind us for lunch or dinner again.

Actually, since we have an exercise room here at the hotel, I think I may try watching at least one show each evening while walking on the treadmill. Maybe walk through commercials to begin, then walk through the show between commercials, then walk through the whole show, including commercials. I may as well put my obsession with mindless drivel to good use!

Before signing off, let me wish everyone the best that life has to offer, good friends, family, love, faith, and hope in life eternal. God bless you!

Dean

All Saints Day, 2005

Happy Feast of All Saints! I hope All Hallow's Eve was a pleasant experience for you all, especially those with ToT (Trick or Treat) aged kids. I'm looking forward to hearing how it went in Algiers. Ariel, the mermaid princess bride must have been cute! Can hardly wait for pictures of that.

Our Halloween was quiet and nice. Linda had talked to her sister in NY for hours Sunday night, and one of the things they talked about was how we should get out of the room and go walking to get the old endorfins going. So, taking her advice to heart, we decided to go mall walking. We walked from our hotel to the chinese restaurant in the little mall behind us. We had a very nice dinner, with our now customary glasses of plum wine, but didn't get our usual waiter. Still, when dinner was over he came to our table with a fried ice cream dessert, as promised at our last dinner there. It was DELICIOUS!!

The following link is to a pretty good article about life in Algiers today. Makes us really wish we were back home with the kids. Looks like we may be sitting on some prime real estate! Hopefully Algiers will gain a little more recognition that it's had in the past. We've been kind of the red-headed step-cousin of East Bank New Orleans. Perhaps that will change, and for the better if you ask me. Anyway, here's the link:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/113083051713840.xml

Our Houston son started work today! Yeah!! As mentioned before his job is to take stuff Hewlett-Packard makes and break it. They gave him something to work on while he was learning his way around. It took him 2 minutes to break it! I think he's going to enjoy this job.

Our middle son, who works at the Navy Exchange in New Orleans, in loss prevention (security), caught a shoplifter today. Good work!

For all you computer saavy folks out there, the Navy has consolidated its IT under the Navy and Marine Corps Internet (NMCI). This has some benefits, like, I can log onto any NMCI workstation anywhere and get my email, and work on stuff I've saved on network drives, etc. But, it also has some drawbacks. Apparently there was a security problem that has caused the powers that be to decree that all stateside NMCI users will change their login passwords. The change must be witnessed by a "trusted agent" at each command. As it turns out, I am the trusted agent for our command's persons in Millington. All the people are divided alphabetically by first name into one-hour increments. Then, each increment is given a password which, when entered at the appropriate time, forces a password reset. So, my days are being spent going from desk to desk providing the passwords and witnessing password resets. What fun!! Especially when the person is not there, or the password doesn't work, or the new password they choose isn't accepted by the NMCI workstation. I've definitely had some hair pulling moments the last two days, with at least two more to go. Gotta love NMCI.

Did I mention what a pretty dog Maynard is? He really is a good looking boxer. Good choice DeeJ! Now if we could just keep him off the bed when we're at work...

Any reviews yet for "Prime"? Any other movies? Let us know if you've seen anything lately that you'd recommend to others, or would not, for that matter. We could turn this into a movie critic blog and gain national attention with our sharp criticisms and biting satirical reviews. Or not.

Take care everyone. Life is short, the length of it is a mystery, so live and love to the fullest extent possible! God bless you all with continued good health and happiness.

Dean

Sunday, October 30th

It's Sunday evening. Been a pretty busy weekend. Yesterday we slept in for a bit, then went to a nice little restaurant called the Blue Plate Cafe. A homey interior and great menu, with breakfast available from opening to closing. Breakfast came with delightfully hot and fluffy biscuits and "sawmill" gravy. It was so good, in fact, that we returned this morning, bringing our friend and co-worker Gerald with us. BTW, that's not me in front, nor is it my wheels, either. Sigh!

Yesterday evening we went to see "The Legend of Zorro". We enjoyed it very much. There was lots of action and humor, and of course Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Douglas) were easy on the eyes as well. Still looking forward to seeing "Prime".

This afternoon we went to the Pyramid in downtown Memphis. We went to see the traveling Guggenheim exhibit called The Art of the Motorcycle. It was very interesting and had a lot of interesting motorcycles on display. Today was the last day. From here it goes to Orlando, Florida. I recommend it highly for anyone interested in motorcycles and their history. It was amazing to see what technology was developed as far back as the early 1900's, and how fast motorcycles were able to go back then.

Took Gerald to the Church of the Holy Spirit for Mass at 5PM on Saturday. I think he enjoyed it. Their choir was in attendance, and, as usual they were outstanding. They really enhance the liturgical celebration.

The weather has warmed up again, and the weekend was absolutely beautiful, weatherwise. I hope it holds a few more days. We'd like to go to the zoo next weekend. With the temps in the upper 60's, low 70's, the animals should be peppy, not lethargic, so they'll be more interesting to see.

So, that's the plan so far for next weekend. Until then it's work, work, work. Trying to catch up for the time lost moving everyone and all our equipment from NOLA to Millington. Hopefully we can stay on track and get our system deployed so our return to NOLA (whenever that may be) isn't delayed.

Looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving.

Take care, and God bless!!

Dean

Friday, October 28th

TGIF! I thought it would never get here! And not a moment too soon! Another exciting Friday in front of the tube, which isn't so bad because we like the three prime time shows: Ghost Whisperer, Threshold, and NUMB3RS. But, alas, repeat city! Damn those pesky World Series games, especially those that don't get played.

Only two more days until "The Art of the Motorcycle" leaves the Pyramid. It is based on a Guggenheim show. Traces the history of motorcycles and looks pretty interesting. It's going to Orlando next year. We may try to go tomorrow.

"Prime" opens today. Looks like it might be a cute movie (chick flick?). Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep. Streep is a great actress, and Thurman has her moments. It looks like it has possibilities. If anyone goes to see it, let us know what you think of it.

Went to Outback (No Rules, Just Right!!) for dinner with people from work. Is this turning into a Friday night out event? It can't make up for Friday night dinners with our daughter and her family. I really miss those.

My oldest son, the one in Houston, got a job interview today, and has a second one tomorrow. The job sounds fantastic. It would be working for HP, trying to break their new stuff, and putting repaired items through their paces to make sure they were repaired properly. He's really excited and hopes to get the job, so if you would like to offer up a prayer for him it would be appreciated.

We're really going to miss being home for Halloween this year. No one to go trick-or-treating with here in Memphis. I don't think kids are going door to door in our hotel.

The clocks go back an hour this weekend! It's about time. I can never seem to adjust to "springing forward" in April. I'm always looking forward to falling back and gaining that hour back. It reminds me of when I was on the Moose (USS Moosbrugger (DD980)) on the way from Charleston, SC to the Med. Every other day we crossed into a new time zone, so every other day one one watch section got an hour off their watch. Was it my watch section? Not a chance!! So, do you think the guys who got short watches on the way over would get the long watches on the way back? Oh, no. Not while I was onboard. I'm the guy who had the duty the night before we left the States, AND the night we returned. The story of my life!!

Time to call it a night. Take care and God bless!

Wednesday, October 26th

Looks like some good TV coming... Xena, (Vampire) Warrior Princess. Lucy Lawless is starring in a made for TV movie about vampire bats. Here's a synopsis from IMDB: "A voracious-insect specialist (Lucy Lawless), now a college professor in search of a simpler life, who gets caught up in the investigation of a student who is found dead with his body completely depleted of blood and realizes that the killers are actually vampire bats that have mutated due to a tainted water supply."

If you ever want to feel truly small and insignificant in the generalscheme of things, try the Astronomy Picture of the Day. The awesomely beautiful pictures of galaxies located millions of light years away will boggle the mind that tries to grasp the size and scope of our universe. At least, it boggles mine. For those interested, the link is http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html.

Temperatures are in the mid-30s in the morning. B-r-r-r-r. I've been living in the South way too long for this. Fortunately we bought some insulated jackets just before the dip in the temps. I hope it's only temporary. It seems a bit early in the year for such cold weather. Thank heavens we didn't evacuate to upstate New York. I heard on the news that they had snow from this cold front.

Speaking of New York, we can never go home without feeling intense pangs of homesickness. Some people don't realize just how beautiful the state really is. Still, whenever we think about the winters, it becomes a nice place to visit, but wouldn't want to live there. Maybe we should have a summer home in NY, and winter home in NOLA.

Memphis. Almost feels like we're still at home in New Orleans. The city is facing a huge budget deficit, the police are being arrested for criminal activity, it ranks at the top of the list in crime. No wonder we're almost comfortable here.

Stress is insidious. We don't necessarily see it, but its effects are starting to show. Short tempers, recurring illnesses, lack of focus are all symptoms that are beginning to show in our family. We need to somehow band together and support one another, even from a distance, and even when (or especially when) we think the others have lost it, or don't deserve our support. We have to remember that the bottom line is, we're family, and families stick together.

Prayer request for today is for our family. May God bless us with faith, hope, and especially love for one another through thick and thin.

You are all in our prayers here in Memphis. We wish the best God can give for you and your families.

Dean

Tuesday, October 25th

Didn't go to work today. Something must be going around. Linda was laid up Sunday, and now me, with similar but not identical symptoms. Let's hope we aren't passing it back and forth between one another.

Fr. Deo is doing well, so keep up those prayers! He sent us a joke from Rome which I must share with you, since this blog was started because of Katrina. So, here goes:

You know you're from New Orleans and survived Hurricane Katrina when.......

1. Pre-K has nothing to do with the year before Kindergarten.
2. The flies are bigger than your Chihuahua.
3. Your bank, dry cleaner, and grocery store are closed but your bar is not. (thank you, Cooter Brown's)
4. You judge your elevation by the brown horizontal line in the city.
5. You have to show an ID to get into your neighborhood.
6. Your neighborhood has no children, so you actually start to miss the little boys across the street who used to throw rocks onto your roof.
7. You go to Sam's Club, but instead you buy masks, bleach, rubber gloves, and baking soda in bulk.
8. You know five remedies to get the smell out of your refrigerator.
9. You spend a lot of time talking with your friends about the five remedies to get the smell out of your refrigerator.
10. Ice becomes more precious than gold.
11. Your office goes from 40 employees to 5.
12.Living in a house with twelve other people is not a sign of how poor you are, but how rich you are with friends and family.
13. You know what a double-evacuee is. (Damn you, Rita!)
14. FEMA means "Failure to Effectively Manage Anything" and hearing the words "Red Cross" makes your blood boil.
15. You get sick of hearing people from Baton Rouge tell you how bad the traffic is now. You remind them that Baton Rouge traffic was terrible before there were 200,000 more people in town.
16. The strip clubs on Bourbon Street have power before your house does.....
17. The salvation army, a firefighter from Michigan, and cops from Wauconda show up at your house to make sure that you are OK.
18. There is a pirogue on your roof. (for you out of state guys, that's a Cajun canoe)
19. You return to your home and all of your belongings fit into two boxes.
20. Contraflow just doesn't seem so bad.
21. You have to purchase hip boots to walk in your neighborhood.
22. Lakeview becomes Lake.
23. The crosses on your wall and kitchen counter top remain despite the five feet of water in your house.
24. When someone asks "what is your favorite MRE?" you have an answer.
25. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.
26. You know what it truly means to miss New Orleans.

Hope you enjoyed. Take care and God bless you.

Dean

Saturday, October 22nd

I think we're becoming regulars! Tonight we went out for Chinese food to Wang's Mandarin restaurant. We've been going about once a week for the last month. It is in the shopping mall (small) right behind our hotel, so it's really convenient. The same person waits on us each time,so there is some recognition there. He knows that we like a glass of plum wine, and that we like the fried dumplings as an appetizer. We do switch up on the entree to try and find new foods that we like. At the end of our meal tonight he brought us, unordered, a plate of fried bananas that he had prepared himself for us. It was delicious! He also said he would make us fried ice cream the next time we come in. I can hardly wait! I'm looking forward to taking family or friends to Wang's when next they come to Memphis.

Not long after our daughter had returned from Orlando, her cat was mauled by a neighborhood dog. She was leaving the house with the kids and found black kitty in the driveway, so it was tears and grieving all the way to school. Very sad, because the cat had never had any problems in the past, but a neighbor had guests staying with them that had a dog that ran around loose some of the time. Maybe I'll surprise our daughter and the kids by giving them a beautiful cockatoo named Gumbo for Christmas. Hmmmm?

New Orleans is trying to recover. It seems that all but five Mardi Gras krewes have plans to roll next Mardi Gras. That should give hotels an impetus to reopen and, if successful should be a shot in the arm for New Orleans financially. Still, it's going to require a lot of city workers (police, fire, sanitation) as well as public transportation, restaurants, etc. that will need to be up and running. This means lots of people in emergency, service, restaurant, hotel, and other areas of industry who lost their homes will need to return and find housing so they can return to work.
The city certainly has its work cut out.

The diaconate office in New Orleans, formerly at Walmsley Avenue has temporarily relocated to Christ the King Parish in Terrytown. That was our parish for two years. They are working to try to get the diaconate classes back on track. Sadly, the December ordination for the '05 class has been delayed until they can complete the courses that had been scheduled for this fall. I also heard that perhaps five of the members of that class lost their homes in the storm. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of them. I can still remember the anticipation felt as ordination drew near, and to have it delayed for 6 months, or more, is difficult emotionally, not to mention all the plans that had been made, travel arrangements for family to attend. We pray that God gives them the grace of patience and resolve so that they may keep their spirits up and stay committed to the course.

Please pray for our Archbishop and all the clergy and people of New Orleans.

May God bless you with abundant love, good health, and happiness.

Dean

Friday, October 21st

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

Tuesday, October 18th

It’s been a few days since my last posting, but not too much has happened here.  My friend Gerald arrived on Sunday to start working up here.  He’s staying at our hotel, so we can ride to work together.

Can you see the difference?  Our new laptop arrived today and that’s what I’m using to type the blog.  Unfortunately it hasn’t made me anymore productive or creative, I’m afraid.  Oh, well, it’s free, the blog that is, as in, it doesn't cost anything to read it.

Almost everyone who is due to come to Millington has arrived.  So many have lost everything and are struggling to come to grips with the situation.  The full impact of Katrina and Rita has yet to be felt.  The most devastated areas of New Orleans will try to rebuild, but people are already moving to other areas rather than go back to their destroyed property and lost belongings.  Many will try to sell their homes, but more people will be leaving than will be looking to move into those areas, at least in the beginning.  It appears to be a seller’s market in areas that weathered Katrina with little damage.  The same may not be true for those areas hardest hit.  Will the former residents find buyers?

Mayor Nagin wants to infuse the city with quick cash by setting up a string of casinos in the city.  Where is the cash going to come from?  The citizens of New Orleans?  Tourists?  Where will the tourists stay?  Who will staff the hotels and where will they live?  Who is going to work in the casinos and where will they live?  

Hey, not only is Elvis’ home, Graceland, here, but so is the boyhood home of Alex Haley.  Wow!!  Who would have thought “Rock Around the Clock” started right here.  Alex Haley and the Comets!  What?  That’s not right?  “Roots”?  O-o-o-h, THAT Alex Haley.  Not Bill Haley.  I’ll bet it’s still a good place to visit.

Still praying for Fr. Deo’s success in his studies.  Also for the two young men and the young woman who we are sponsoring in Uganda.  They’re getting ready to start their exams, and we hope that they apply themselves and do well, as that is the only sure way to get ahead there.

Hurricane Wilma…  Cat II!  21st named storm of the season.  Let’s also pray that Wilma is not intent on visiting the Big Easy.  Projections have it turning North and crossing the Southern tip of Florida.  Wishing no one bad luck, I hope the track is fairly accurate so minimal damage to any area will occur.

While walking Maynard this weekend, two geese flew by, honking and flapping their wings.  Quite a sight!

I heard a joke this weekend, too.  Seems that a young Jewish mother and her toddler aged son were sitting on the beach when a huge wave came and washed over them.  When it receded, the child was gone.

The mother was, of course, overcome with grief.  She tore at her hair, and wailed, looked to heaven and pleaded with God, “Oh, please Lord.  That is my only son.  You know that my husband is recently deceased and my boy is all I have.  I love him and cannot live without him.  Please Lord, have pity on your unworthy servant and return my son to me.”

Sure enough, another huge wave washed over her, and when it receded, the boy was once again sitting beside her.  The woman looked at her son for a long time.  Then she looked up to heaven and said, “He was wearing a cap!”

Take care and God Bless!!

Dean