b.rox

It takes ten minutes for me to ride my bike from home to the office. On a hot day, I’m soaked with sweat by the time I get there. But I can ride my bike the other way, from the office to home, without even breaking a sweat. Why is this? Further clue: This is [...]

For the last century, almost all top political appointments [on the planet Earth] had been made by random computer selection from the pool of individuals who had the necessary qualifications. It had taken the human race several thousand years to realize that there were some jobs that should never be given to the people who [...]

If you’ve got the skillz, the University is hiring a web developer. I will offer friendly harassment to anyone who takes this job. The Office of Technology Administration at Xavier University of Louisiana is seeking a Web Developer who will be responsible for implementing and maintaining Web and Internet/Intranet applications for the University. The web [...]

Silence Is Violence asked me to serve on their advisory board, and of course I said yes. I went to the first meeting last Monday night, and I have to say it was one of the most uplifting meetings I’ve been to all year. I met Linda Tapp, better known to the world as Soulja [...]

I was at Finn McCool’s Saturday night, having a beer with Michael Homan and waiting for Erich W. to show up. Erich won a night of drinking with us at a fundraising auction for the Mid-City library branch, but that’s another story. Suffice to say we weren’t drinking for pleasure; we were drinking for charity. [...]

I was not very enthused about presenting at the MERLOT International Conference. I submitted a proposal out of a vague sense of duty, of professional obligation. I put off preparing until the last possible moment. Then I found a slide show I’d assembled for ED-MEDIA 2003, on the exact same topic. I threw in a [...]

I tremble in abject fear every time we get a letter from our insurer. So many people have been screwed by these insurance companies. We’ve done well by our local agent (Dan Burghardt), but I get the feeling the big companies that actually provide our flood and homeowners’ insurance (Fidelity and Lexington, respectively) would like [...]

Finally the Times-Picayune runs a story on erroneous demolitions. I can’t help but get the feeling they only did this because the Wall Street Journal scooped them yesterday. It should have been on the Times-Pic’s front page two weeks ago. Furthermore, they still got it wrong. The headline in the paper (but not online) states [...]

Note to self: Laphroaig is too peaty for my palate. Ugh.

The media has finally picked up the erroneous demolitions story. But strangely enough, it’s the Wall Street Journal. I wonder why the local media hasn’t covered it? Or maybe they have and I’ve missed it. The article is worth checking out just for their picture of Karen “Gadfly” Gadbois in the classic WSJ style: The [...]

I’m attending the 2007 MERLOT International Conference, right here in New Orleans.

From an anonymous Mid-City neighbor: At a Night out against crime gathering tonight an NOPD officer was asked by a neighbor… Why didn’t the police come out when I called after being woken up by a house alarm at 3am? The officer’s reply… “Call and say there is a naked woman on your porch.” He [...]

Property assessments are being revised in New Orleans, which has some people worked up when the assessed value of their house doubles or quadruples. Ultimately this a good thing, or so it seems, but if your house is assessed for waaay too much, you have to appeal by August 15. I’ve never paid to much [...]

Hard to believe, but today is the first day of school for the Algiers Charters. I always feel a great deal of pride when I see Xy off on the first day of school.

A few days ago I posted something from a private email correspondence, regarding the subject of erroneous demolitions by the city of New Orleans. Maybe I shouldn’t have posted it, because the author asked me to remove it, but has graciously offered a revised version — see below. And I’ve got to say this is [...]

Fluoride has been restored to New Orleans’ drinking water, but maybe that’s not such a good thing.

While my neighbor on one side faces an unwanted demolition, the house on the other side has been a completely different story. It was a small little two-story house, divided into two tiny apartments, one upstairs and one downstairs. It had seen better days and leaned slightly to one side. It was under renovation when [...]

Today is the first day on the job for my new boss.

My next door neighbor (now living in Texas) was a little skeptical when I told him that his house was slated for demolition. Where was the proof? An Excel spreadsheet e-mailed to me by a woman I’ve never even met. Sounds a little sketchy. And this list can’t be found on any official websites. Fortunately [...]

I’ve been fiddling around with the new nopd.com crime-mapping feature. It’s pretty interesting stuff. You can put in an address and see all the crime reports for the vicinity. You can specify the radius and the time frame and filter by different types of crime. So, for example, I was able to learn that so [...]