Onomatopoeia

Katrina Report

I wrote up a summary report on the Katrina trip for work. Contact me if you'd like a copy.  If you received it by email from me then you have already seen/read most of what follows (I have made some edits), but I am posting it here just because.

The report pretty much sums things up, mainly from my perspective as a cat risk manager for an insurance/reinsurance company.  I have about 200 pictures as well and a couple of movies I took with my camera.  I have been working with catastrophe risk for about 20 years.  This trip was a whole different deal and a very humbling experience.  I am both glad and sorry I went: you can't go home again type of experience.

The people's spirits are strong, but their tools are few.  In the cat modeling field Katrina is known as a Super-Cat: and event so profound that it creates effects of it's own. Not necessarily event-related effects, but it causes society to actually operate differently.  If you are trying to estimate losses based on damage, you are out of luck.  The impact of an event likes this warps rules as much as it warps society.

New Orleans?  I don't think it will ever truly recover.  Strike that - just leave it that it will never be the city it was.  The report has a small section on New Orleans repopulation: not going to happen to 100% in my opinion.  One of our party is from New Jersey and he said Newark never recovered from the riots in the 60's; he felt the same way about New Orleans.  Here we were, 7 months after the event, and large sections of the city do not have basic services and remain deserted.

The Gulf Coast will probably come back, but it will take a whole lot of money and even more luck.  If they get hit with another hurricane this year, which is not at all out of the question, the money could go away and never come back.

But the thing that will stick with me the most is the scale.  We drove on and on and the damage went on and on.  Like the Grand Canyon: no matter how hard you try to prepare for it, you will not be ready to take it all in.  This is the first time I have seen the real impact of an event like this.  Your defenses come into play pretty early.  Seeing destroyed homes, trashed cars, and personal possessions got to each and every one of us in different ways.  I said earlier the peoples' spirits are strong: they will rebuild, even though many of them lost everything.  God bless them and watch over them.

So here this is for what it's worth.  A life experience for sure.  I tell you what: I came home and immediately reviewed all our earthquake planning.

Prodigal Son, The Rolling Stones

Boyboy Goes To The Edge Of The World

Sometimes you have one of those experiences in which you willingly and knowingly put up your usual defenses and see how shabby and useless they ultimately are.  Not situational-rationale-defenses, but defenses more visceral.

This week I went to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  I went with some semi-ex-colleagues/friends.  We are all in the What's With Catastrophes business.

Dude we saw some shit. Guess we got what we wanted.

I am still "processing".  More later.  Yes, pics will come as well.

In Dark Trees, Brian Eno

Jiggety-jig

I am just back from a short trip to London: 3.5 days on the ground.  That is much shorter than my usual 10 or 12 days.  And we even lost most of one day because we took the team to the races at Lingfield Park (very Dick Francis - I even bet with a bookmaker instead of on the tote!) as a team jaunt since I don't expect to be back in the UK this year.  The question I am asking in making a purposefully shorter trip is:

"Do I get more done on a longer trip, or do things just take longer?"

It certainly seems that the short time frame forced focusing of all our minds.  I might make this more the norm.

Don't get me wrong!  London is a fabulous city and a great place to work in (plus I get to stay at the Stafford, which has wonderful amenities).  But no matter how groovy and swingin', it is still not home (albeit a work in progress).

Oh, yes!  I also am pondering "what do you want to be when you grow up?" at the behest of those with whom I work. I am thinking Cowboy.  Or maybe Spaceman. Suggestions welcomed!

Found A Job, Talking Heads, especially the bit at the end.

Public Service Message

Mark Morford writes for the SF Chronicle - OpEd type pieces. He is as liberal as you can get and has a tendency to rant a bit. Inflamatory? Kinda, yeah, at times. I actually like his writing, although sometimes it can get a bit depressing and vitriolic and bitter.

This piece is one of the more important ones. In fact I sent a copy to Claudia. This election is different and important. Vote. I won't tell you how - that's your business. Just make damn sure you do it.

If you don't vote, you have no right to complain.

Superstition, Stevie Wonder

Remake Remodel

Hi-de-ho, campers! Sorry for the prolonged absence from posting things. It's been a nutty summer, but a good one. Vacation included a week in San Diego and a week or so getting ready for...

...The Best Project Ever! That's right, we are at it again! This time it's not kitchen-oriented but more comfort-geared. We are converting Claudia's room to a bathromm and closet, and additn a master bedroom on the back. I will post updates to the gallery with the same name as this post so you can get to them in case you are interested.

Other achievements include furtehr pursuit of the model-building hobby (got fruiustrated on that one today - some other time), and some pickling. In fact, the latest issue is a nice batch of kraut. The black bits are juniper berries. Will let you know.

Disco Inferno, The Trammps. Fits the frikkin' HOT weather!!!

Do you hear a munching sound?

Last Sunday I pulled my chair back from the table and it lurched back and left a little. At the same instant there was a cracking, crunching noise. Had that sort of basso-profundo, visceral, bones-of-the-house quality to it. The left rear leg of the windsor chair had broken the floorboards. Closer inspection showed there was some empty space there...

Buried treasure? Entrance to an underground lab? 8th layer of Troy (move over, Schlieman)?

Nope. Termites.

Al, our contractor friend, came by, went under the house, and said it looked to him like localized damage. Shouldn't cost "much". And I'm thinking "how much is 'much'?" Visions of dollar bills with wings on them flitting out the front door (or through the new hole in the floor) like some Harry Potter scenario. Tenting the house, finding temporarry accomodation, collapse of Civilization, blah, blah, blah, cool it, Daddy-O. Upshot: the bug-man comes on Friday and we will know more then.

The Termite by Ogden Nash

The primal termite knocked on wood,
Tasted it, and found it good.
And that is why your cousin May
Fell through the parlour floor today.

Current earworm: Brand New Cadillac - The Clash