Katrina Day 5

I've just finished typing up a bunch of journaling I wrote up during the course of the week and posted it to this blog, back-dated to maintain a reasonable sense of chronology. Fortunately, I frequently thought to jot down what day & time it was while I wrote all this stuff with pen to paper, figuring I'd eventually find an opportunity to upload it.

I didn't blog anything yesterday, because I awoke to find that they'd gotten a cell phone signal up somehow, and I had 6 messages in voice mail. I'd been firing up the cell phone a couple of times daily just in case coverage came back, and now I'd hit paydirt.

Well, it turned out my boss fired me and wanted the cell phone back immediately. He'd actually fired me effective the previous day, but was waiting until I called in to tell me. Right before Katrina hit, I'd emailed him describing a job offer I'd received from another company, asking him when he & I could talk about it. So he axed me.

Fortunately, the other company was willing to let me start immediately. As in, hose off in the back yard, hop on the bike, and get to work! So I did.

It's a 10.9-mile commute from my front yard to the new office by bicycle. They're letting me bike in without complaint so far because of the hurricane. After things have gotten back to normal, I imagine they'll prefer that I at least find some way to get showered. heh

One of the guys who runs the place asked me about the cuts on my legs today. When I told him about how I'd been bicycling from town to town to move information, food, and water during the hurricane & aftermath, he seemed to approve.

Now I'm back on the web, at least when I'm in the office (which won't happen again until Tuesday once I wrap this up, because it's Labor Day weekend and I don't have keys to the building yet). It's tough leaving this place with its air conditioning, lights, phones, and working toilets every day to go home to none of the above. But I can't leave my home and 75-year-old mother unattended indefinitely.

I imagine I'll have more to say upon my return, although I won't have an endless amount of time to say it, because I'll be at work. I've spend the last few hours here typing back-dated entries after everyone left for the weekend.