We arrived earlier this afternoon for another work week in New Orleans. Early impression is that the city continues to return to normal...sort of. So far I haven't seen the multitude of "We Are Open" signs as seen in April. That's a good sign, business has progressed from announcing they are back in operation to the routine assumption that people now know they are back.
We met briefly with the rector here at Carrolton House. She told us that crime is serious, even in this "better" part of town, we need to avoid walking alone and should avoid leaving our cell phones, laptops, etc., in plain view in our rooms. Even though we are in a church facility, there is no guarantee of security. That is as I expected.
The other rather shocking news is that the churches are meeting this coming week to discuss the homeless problem. Rents have tripled and, most residents rented their accommodations. That has resulted in a large contingent of working homeless that simply cannot afford a place to live. Further, only recently did a homeless shelter open downtown, men only. There is no place for women or children.
To end on a good note, the weather is gorgeous, lows at night in the upper 50's or low 60's, highs in the mid to upper 70's in the daytime. A good time to come.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Today's Fire Call
I am a member of the local fire department as a volunteer fire police. Most times we assist emergency vehicles in reaching the scene - sometimes the ambulance personnel or outside fire responders, for example, do not know there way around St. James. The devlopment is confusing, so we post ourselves strategically to accelerate their reaching the scene. We also exercise traffic control around the scene.
I had a call today and sped in my car, red light flashing, to the scene and set up for traffic control. A contractor was hurt, probable back injury, on the second story of a house under construction. Since I was first on scene I had set up at the intersection to the short cul-de-sac where the house was located. The call was not a routine EMS emergency. The fire department was also called because they needed to get the person off the second story, no stairs had been built yet.
Soft ground and other issues ment the first two trucks, including our ladder truck, couldn't reach far enough for safe removal. A nearby town was called for their specialized equipment - whatever it was - and they couldn't do it. Another town responded but didn't have what was needed so we ended up calling a nearby facility that had an even bigger ladder rig. That did the job.
Now we had about 10 or more emergency vehicles spread around so a fire captain called me over to assist in moving one of the BRT's (that's fire department officialese for a fire truck and it means "big red truck"). He directed me to jump in the cab and to my surprise the siren started to wail. Now you have to understand that we seldom use sirens in the development as they can confuse and disrupt as much as help (check out insurance company stats). So I had to wonder where our BRT was headed that needed a siren. Turns out it was me! you know what? They have these buttons on the floor of the truck and all you have to do is step on one to sound the siren. Whoops.
Well we got the truck moved without further incident (the routine is to always have someone outside directing the driver when they back up). That was my particular job in the BRT.
The call took over two hours (usually around 25 minutes for medical) and no further problems, in fact I guess the way I handled the rest of the traffic was good because the fire captain sought me out after the call and complimented me. He probably did it though because it gave them a chance to laugh about the siren. Another day in the life of a fire policeman.
I had a call today and sped in my car, red light flashing, to the scene and set up for traffic control. A contractor was hurt, probable back injury, on the second story of a house under construction. Since I was first on scene I had set up at the intersection to the short cul-de-sac where the house was located. The call was not a routine EMS emergency. The fire department was also called because they needed to get the person off the second story, no stairs had been built yet.
Soft ground and other issues ment the first two trucks, including our ladder truck, couldn't reach far enough for safe removal. A nearby town was called for their specialized equipment - whatever it was - and they couldn't do it. Another town responded but didn't have what was needed so we ended up calling a nearby facility that had an even bigger ladder rig. That did the job.
Now we had about 10 or more emergency vehicles spread around so a fire captain called me over to assist in moving one of the BRT's (that's fire department officialese for a fire truck and it means "big red truck"). He directed me to jump in the cab and to my surprise the siren started to wail. Now you have to understand that we seldom use sirens in the development as they can confuse and disrupt as much as help (check out insurance company stats). So I had to wonder where our BRT was headed that needed a siren. Turns out it was me! you know what? They have these buttons on the floor of the truck and all you have to do is step on one to sound the siren. Whoops.
Well we got the truck moved without further incident (the routine is to always have someone outside directing the driver when they back up). That was my particular job in the BRT.
The call took over two hours (usually around 25 minutes for medical) and no further problems, in fact I guess the way I handled the rest of the traffic was good because the fire captain sought me out after the call and complimented me. He probably did it though because it gave them a chance to laugh about the siren. Another day in the life of a fire policeman.
My blog
I haven't posted much lately and have wondered whether it is because I have grown tired of blogging or some other reason. Perhaps it is because I have drifted from its purpose. I started writing because it has become sort of a personal journal and like those I've written before, I am the audience and the contents are written for me.
I became stalled when I felt I needed to blog about Tyler and Maya's visit last month. Not that I mind writing about them but the process is a bit more onerous then simply throwing some words onto the screen. A blog about grand children should always contain pictures. My pictures, however, require substantial editing because I shoot in raw format. Blogspot gags if I attempt to load a 40 MB file so it has to be reduced in Photoshop, re sized, etc. The process takes time and then, of course I want to post the better photos. So I procrastinate and also postpone any other blogs until I get the pictures finished.
I know how much I enjoy seeing Maya's and Tyler's pictures so feel I need to do the same...but don't.
So I get blog constipation. Nothing comes out. I guess that is better then diarrhea of the mouth. Still.
I think I have to remember that I write this for my pleasure, if you like to read it, fine. If not, fine too. And most likely somewhere along the way I'll get those pictures posted. I hope the kids won't mind my posting their baby pictures when they are 13 or 14 years old.
I became stalled when I felt I needed to blog about Tyler and Maya's visit last month. Not that I mind writing about them but the process is a bit more onerous then simply throwing some words onto the screen. A blog about grand children should always contain pictures. My pictures, however, require substantial editing because I shoot in raw format. Blogspot gags if I attempt to load a 40 MB file so it has to be reduced in Photoshop, re sized, etc. The process takes time and then, of course I want to post the better photos. So I procrastinate and also postpone any other blogs until I get the pictures finished.
I know how much I enjoy seeing Maya's and Tyler's pictures so feel I need to do the same...but don't.
So I get blog constipation. Nothing comes out. I guess that is better then diarrhea of the mouth. Still.
I think I have to remember that I write this for my pleasure, if you like to read it, fine. If not, fine too. And most likely somewhere along the way I'll get those pictures posted. I hope the kids won't mind my posting their baby pictures when they are 13 or 14 years old.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)