b.rox

As I write this I’m sitting in the Prytania movie theater in Uptown New Orleans for what is surely the most awesome premiere I’ve ever attended. We are waiting to see Waiting, and there’s a live jazz band out front and three — count em — open bars, two outside the theater and one inside, [...]

Bit of a breakthrough today. I finished cleaning the nasty, flood-damaged stuff out of our utility room. (Litter box full of month-old floodwater — yuck!) I swept it out, and was feeling a little better. Then, just for the hell of it, I punched a hole in the wall. Before I knew it I was [...]

Sometime over the past day or two, rox.com e-mail services became intermittent and then shut down completely. I spoke with our service provider, MidPhase, this morning, and learned the problem was related to our disc allocation being full. They upped our quota from 1.5 GB to 5 GB, no charge — guess they’ve upgraded their [...]

Originally uploaded by Michael Homan.

Michael graciously allowed me to use his camera for a while, and I took this picture of myself.

A familiar blue car pulled up across the street from our house this afternoon, and I was overjoyed when Danielle and Donika and Crystal and Licia and Geraldine got out — our neighbors from across the street. I gave them all a hug and handed out N95 masks to protect them from the mold in [...]

We’re dealing with two insurance adjusters — one for flood damage, and one for wind damage. It’s not the most convenient arrangement, but I’m not complaining. At least our insurance company (Fidelity) has been fairly responsive. Some friends have been unable to contact anyone even after calling their insurance company every day for a month.
Plus, [...]

Yesterday was a good day. A hearty breakfast at Slim Goodies, a day of cleaning out the house, meeting with the adjuster, and then meeting some friends for a few drinks at the Balcony Bar. I talked on the phone with Xy and she seemed in good spirits, unlike the day before when she was [...]

Just met with Roland Graybill, the adjuster for our flood claim, a lean, long-haired Southern dude. Affable. He took some measurements and some photos and some notes.
I learned that the insurance will not be “paying limits” as previously intimated. Instead we’ll get some lesser amount which Mr. Graybill seemed to think would be enough [...]

I went back to my neighborhood today. The flood-damaged crap which Michael and I had hauled out from my house to the curb was still there, a huge pile. In fact, it was even bigger than we left it, as a number of homes in the neighborhood are apparently being gutted. Piles of refuse line [...]

Thirteen hours and 860 miles from Bloomington to New Orleans. Hell of a drive. It looks like this trip will cost about $250 in gas alone. I’m driving my dad’s truck, hauling a generator and power washer. Got some more supplies for Common Ground. I’m staying with my friend David Bryan in the Irish Channel. [...]

The scratchy throat passed. It was followed by a runny nose, which lasted for a day, but has passed now too. Many people have confirmed this is a bad time for allergies in this part of the country.
Yet I still haven’t departed for New Orleans. That’s because I talked to my insurance adjuster and we [...]

Here’s a video clip [QuickTime, 17MB] of our evacuation from New Orleans.

Best news of the day: Clean water in my ‘hood!
Mayor Ray Nagin announced Thursday that safe drinking water has been restored to New Orleans’ east bank, west of the Industrial Canal. The Department of Health and Hospitals, the official regulatory agency for the State of Louisiana, certified the water quality, the mayor’s office said.

I got a Blackberry so I could stay in touch with e-mail and web stuff on my recent trip back to New Orleans. It was amazing to me that I could stand on my street in Mid-City — no electricity, no phone — and surf the net. I understand my provider, T-Mobile, was the [...]

This picture has been featured on the nola.com homepage for the last 24 hours:

She’s cleaning up her home in Lakeview. Personally I find it amazing that anyone can look so good in such circumstances. I mean, that’s some nasty, sweaty, smelly work. But she looks absolutely gorgeous.
Amber Scott, I salute you.

I’m gearing up for another trip down to New Orleans, to take care of the stuff I didn’t finish last time. I’d hoped to drive down today, but I’ve got a sore throat. It’s pretty mild — just a scratchy, tickly feeling — but it won’t go away. It’s been about 48 hours now. I [...]

On Sunday Xy and I drove out to my parents’ house, and then the four of us drove to Naperville, Illinois for a surprise party. My aunt and uncle’s 40th wedding anniversary was a couple months ago, so I think it’s safe to say this party took them by surprise.

The party took place in an [...]

We went up to Indianapolis Saturday for Abraham Christie’s first birthday party.
It was good to see li’l Abe and also his parents, PJ and Andrea, who were amongst our closest friends in New Orleans.
But it was also a little sad. PJ and Andrea will not be moving back to the city where Abe was born. [...]

A few things that I didn’t post which still stand out in my mind from our recent trip to New Orleans:

There were lots of boats scattered around the streets. You’re just driving down the street and you’ll see a boat sitting there. Surreal.
A house just half a block from my own was completely flattened, presumably [...]