Sick... and New Orleans

Well after fourteen months overseas it finally caught me- the Iraqi crud or whatever you want to call it, the typical upper respiratory infection that everyone seems to get not long after they get here or return from R&R.

I felt lucky to have not had it before, chalking it up to a strong immune system from dealing with so many sick folks for so long. We’ve been having a run of it on camp again lately and maybe I’m stressed or my diet contributed but I managed to catch it. Phlegm, sinus congestion, cough, etc. I started a Z-pack yesterday along with some decongestants- I hate taking any drugs though.

I feel like a slacker since I slept in this morning instead of working out but my head hurts and I’m hacking.


On other topics, I keep reading the news along with people’s reactions to the storm aftermath. Let me say this up front- I feel bad for the truly good folks who have lost everything and had their lives devistated- I can only imagine how hard this must be. It’s distressing to see how poorly people are handling this though; it’s embarrassing on a lot of levels. After reading a lot of non-mainstream news sources, I’m not that disappointed in the way the gov handled things although it looks like Bush could have been more visible. The whiny mayor and governor on the other hand should both be fired for their actions- or lack thereof as it appears to be.

As for the flooding, that whole area along the Mississippi has had the same problems for years- a few years ago FEMA finally started telling folks they couldn’t rebuild in some of the areas because of the continual flooding. My opinion is that New Orleans has always been a lost cause- it’s below sea level, built on marshes and has been sinking for years. Building levees is a band aid patch to a problem that we can’t fix- poor planning by early peoples compounded by continued poor planning and poor understanding of riverine systems though the middle of last century.

For those of you have never worked any sort of “critical event” I can tell you that all of the planning in the world is great until the event actually happens. I’ve been part of planning, drills and actual small scale events and things just do not go as planned. I’ve worked shelters and most of the people who show up at them are not the sort you would want to have over to cook out and have a beer with. Every shelter we ever opened had folks taking advantage of the situation, stealing, and complaining that not enough was being done to help them.

There has never been an event of this magnitude in the US. There is no way that you can expect the gov to have immediately gotten the situation under control. Had people actually heeded the warning and evacuated there would be far fewer problems- I realize that many were physically unable but that still leaves a lot who could have. The federal government also has to give the local/state government a chance to handle situations first (the rivalries that you see on TV between local and federal officials really do exist). The locals are the ones who should have emergency response plans drafted; they are the ones who are tasked with knowing not only the areas and potential problems but also what resources are available and where those resources are. We had plans that listed everything from how many drugs stores were in the county to what heavy equipment was available at private companies, how many gas station there were and how much fuel they generally maintained on hand. Now bear in mind that you have to figure some of this will not be available at any given time so you have to sort through it and figure out what is actually able to be put into service.

The logistics of this are as mind boggling as the amount of variables. If the people still there had any decency about them instead of acting like wild animals they could be working to improve the situation instead of making it so much worse. There is a huge lack of communications that is contributing- towers are down, there is no power to recharge batteries, different frequencies, etc.

I think the main problem though is that people have no since of responsibility for their own selves. How long has the federal government been telling people that they need to always have a certain amount of supplies on hand? There is no excuse to not have a weeks worth of food sitting in your house. This should be common sense but as we have noted, common sense is anything but common anymore. Remember Civil Defense? It wasn’t just for a Soviet nuclear attack, it was for any type of problem.

Maybe I’m just weird because I actually paid attention to my relatives growing up, but I took to heart their stories about being responsible for yourself and your family as well as the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared”. My mother’s side of the family is all from the coast where they expected hurricanes and tropical storms and prepared for them. My mother just carried that over and has always taught us to keep extra supplies on hand. We don’t have hurricanes where I’m from but we do have ice storms that knock out the power. I’ve never had to worry too much about it though as I’ve always kept extra food and camping supplies on hand. I’ve always been able to help my neighbors out during these times.

Does that make me paranoid? No, just realistic to the fact that any interruption of the supply infrastructure is felt quickly and I want to be able to take care of myself and those I care about. The sad part here is that we see this every time there is even a brief interruption and still folks don’t learn- look at all the folks who rush out to buy what they perceive to be needed supplies anytime we have a storm. Even sadder- look at what they buy and how quickly the local stores run out of those items.

Again, the only bright side I can see to this is that maybe folks will start to see that they need to take some responsibility for their own lives and it will inspire more demands for more energy efficiency with folks seeing the advantages behind the Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle campaign- I doubt it, but it would be nice. Maybe more folks will take to riding bicycles and other efficient forms of transportation like motorcycles and scooters (which would have the added benefit of hopefully making them safer drivers with more of them on the road). I know that I will probably be looking at buying a motorcycle for commuting when I get back.

I've been trying to be upbeat and all that but this just reinforces what I've kinda thought for a while. I don't know what the answers are, just that things need to change and change soon or we're going to start picking up speed on that downhill slide.

If all this makes me seem a cold and callous bastard then so be it, but I believe that, just as you can’t love others without first loving yourself, we can’t really help others without helping ourselves and our country needs a lot of help right now.

I'm just a rambling fool and this is just my two cents worth.................

I don’t need no stinkin’ Nomex suit on because I have thick skin and am not easily offended.