Odds and Ends

Brooklyn, NY

So, here is a little slice of New York life from the last couple of days.

This weekend, I helped a friend move stuff into mini-storage facility near the Manhattan Bridge. As we were starting to carry things out of the van, three guys next to us unloaded crate after crate of DVDs from a minivan. There were at least 500, maybe 1000 DVDs. All porn. It made me very curious about what all the other people keep in their mini-storage units.

Later that night, I tried to relax the kinks out of my muscles by laying in front of the TV. I couldn't follow the crime drama's story because the reception kept going out due to the police helicopter circling my block. For an hour.

Tonight, a couple of friends and I were entertained by a rat in the subway that was carrying an entire bagel in its jaws. The hungry rat backed into a pipe but the bagel was too big to follow. He seemed to be trying to figure out a solution when we left.

For the next month I will be tasting and harvesting all kinds locally grown fruits and vegetables. Right now tomatillos are busting out all over. They are the little green fruits (related to tomatoes) that are used to make salsa verde. As an experiment, I ate a raw one. The tomatillo had the consistency of a pear and the exact flavor of Parmesan cheese. I never, ever would have guessed it would taste like cheese.

Geography 101

Knoxville ,TN

It's been a little confusing to watch CNN and try to figure out what places in the New Orleans area they are talking about. South Algiers? Where's that? I think that maybe that's where we live. Not sure.

It's not CNN's fault. North/South/East/West in New Orleans do not follow compass directions. Our house is on the Westbank (which is south and east of most of the city. New Orleans East is north of the city... The Eastbank is west... You get the idea.

For friends and family trying to figure out how our area is faring, we live on the Westbank in Algiers. The unprotected canal located behind our subdivision is the Intercoastal Waterway. We are at a distance from the Harvey Canal that's being mentioned a lot on the news. We're pretty sure power is out to our area. Answer machines at neighbors' houses aren't picking up anymore. That's a sign that the power is gone.

To get the most accurate information we've been watching www.wwltv.com and their streaming video content on-line. They know what they are talking about and they are breaking many stories that CNN is piggybacking on. Mike Hoss is out in the field and he is AMAZING. (You should see him dressed up in a moose costume every Mardi Gras.) He's a fantastic reporter.

We're also checking in with the local newspaper website, www.nola.com. There are several forums set up for people to ask and answer questions about different areas of the metropolitan area. We're following the Westbank forum.

Thank you to everyone who's called or emailed to check on us. Thanks for checking in from as far away as Mexico, Denmark, and Japan. My parents are staying in Knoxville at least through Wednesday night. I'm about to call up the airlines again and try to work out plans to get to New York tomorrow.

We'll keep posting updates. Our phones are still working. :)