Schools & Refrigerators

Schools...

Friday was a big day for public schools in New Orleans. Immediately after the storm NOPS announced there would be no classes til next fall, meanwhile the private schools were rushing back into action as fast as ever they could. Then, when it was obvious you couldn't have New Orleans without kids, and you couldn't have kids without schools, they announced they'd open a few West Bank schools & let anyone attend them.

Ben Franklin High School is not an open admission school, and cannot be one. There were no plans to open this year and in fact, the school board forbade anyone from the school to even enter the building. Like many administration orders, it was ignored at Franklin, for the good of the students. For weeks people have been cleaning and salvaging and preparing for the work yet to be done.

Among the biggest jobs has been writing the Charter School application so the school can open independent of whatever happens in the rest of the system. Friday night was presentation to the New Orleans School Board, about which none of us were comfortable.

I knew lots of Franklin kids planned to be at the meeting, but until I arrived I had no idea how many. It was huge. Parents, teachers & kids occupied half of the meeting room.

Link to TV Report

This is just the beginning. And it comes lots of challenges. It will be challenging to just open the school on January 17. And the returning kids will come from all levels of schools. Some, like Christopher, have been in an excellent academic setting, with no disruption at all. Many have been bored and unchallenged. This is truly a scheduler's nightmare. But I'm confident they will get through this year and continue to provide a top-notch public high school for all of our city's brightest children.

And Refrigerators...

So what do refrigerators have to do with education? Well, nothing, really. It's just that I've noticed some changes lately.


When refrigerators first started appearing on public sidewalds several weeks ago, they just were. Standing up or laying down, they were just refrigerators.






Of course, while some looked like they could be plugged in and used today, many had suffered greatly in their move to the street



As later groups of returnees have arrived and found their food older and nastier and even more disgusting, people started taping them up without ever opening them. Most people wouldn't even consider cracking that door open without full Haz-Mat gear, down to the self-contained-air-supply.





















Then, people started writing and painting on their boxes. "Levee Board Victim" is always a popular saying.








Although some people vent their anger at Katrina. There's certainly plenty of that to go around.






And some people are able rise above their personal frustration to express kinder and gentler emotions.

And some people just let their artistic expression run wild.

But for all our diversity in New Orleans, theres always the Saints to pull us together.

Home for the Weekend

This weekend was the first trip in for Bunny & Trisha, so after school Friday we all headed straight into New Orleans, arriving about 5:30.

We hadn't even gotten the car unpacked before Olga "Yoo Hoo"ed across the fence, welcoming us back. We should have known that no hurricane could keep her away for long. A little later I saw AJ & Yoko, our neighbors across the street, getting out of the car. Shortly, we were in the middle of an impromptu dinner party. As we were showing our guests out the front door a couple walking their dog walked by, & we stood on the sidewalk chatting with them for a while. It's good to be home.

Saturday morning was a trip to the Quarter before starting our industrial-strength cleanup day. We went looking for breakfast, but Coissant d'Or & Le Madeline were both closed, so Trisha got her wish & it was Cafe du Monde for coffee & beignets. Sure, it's hokey. But it was sooo nice. Sitting there reading the Times Picayune, drinking coffee and spilling powdered sugar all over myself. As we were leaving an artist was setting up his umbrella & hanging paintings on the fence of Jackson Square. Things are definately comming back.


In between the parties & visiting and walking around the quarter we managed to rig up a temporary power line to the back, so I could turn on the pool filter & try to clean out the algae & mosquito larvae. In the process I got power to the electric water heater in the back building, so now we're very popular people in the 'hood. Estimates for restoring gas service range from weeks to months, so anyone with an electric water heater is either a close friend or an entrepreneur, selling showers for $5 each.

The contractor had closed in the office roof, so at least it will stay dry. Still a lot of work to be done, but it's a lot better than it was a week ago. It still needs a window, shingles and some wall repairs on the outside, and of course it's a horrible mess inside, though even that is better with the ceiling torn down.

Bunny and Trisha vacuumed & dusted and swept and mopped and by Saturday afternoon things were beginning to look and smell more normal. Another impromptu dinner party, when Bunny's mother, sisters & their husbands came by. We sat out in the back yard well into the night


While I disassembled and cleaned the refrigerator in the back (How could I have missed that quart container of chocolate ice cream while emptying the freezer?) Bunny emptied her closet. Some of the clothes had been lying right against the mold on the walls and were pretty badly stained. We loaded them up & took them back to Zachary. Maybe they'll come clean.


The pool is cleaning up nicely. By Sunday afternoon you could clearly see the bottom step, and it was almost possible to see the bottom in the shallow end. By weekend it should be easy to clean the debris off the bottom.

After removing 2 trashcans full of gunk, Bunny got the pond looking quite presentable, and there was even had time to water the grass before heading back to our country estate.

Sunday evening, as we were sitting at the kitchen table in Zachary, Trisha said, "This doesn't feel like home any more, after being back to New Orleans." I agreed, but of course to me it never did.

Meeting the adjuster

The adjuster finally called. He'd meet me Monday at 10 am so I drove in Sunday to do some more clean-up and spend the night, being there to meet him Monday.

On the way in I stopped at Dorignac's Supermarket in Metairie. It was pretty much the same as always, except the deli was all self-service and the guy who bagged my groceries was older than I am. There's just no one around to do the minimum wage service jobs.

It isn't long before you notice that there are no kids in town. We need the kids back.

The air conditioners were both working when I got home & the house was 68 degrees. Probably never been that cold. Ever. Yeah, the smell in the kitched & in the bedroom areas were both better, but definately not gone. Off with the ac's; on with the attic fan. Lets try to pull this stuff right out of the house.

I pulled the schefflera (so that's how you spell it) out of the dark, boarded corner of the kitchen with the intention of throwing it out. Bunny was pretty sure that was the cause of the odor I'd reported in the kitchen. Amazingly the thing was still alive with a few green leaves. I brought it out in the light & poured some water on it. Can't kill that think, I guess.

Eventually the attic fan pulled most of the odor out of the house. I didn't smell the mold at all in the bedroom that night. And the kitchen got better every time I walked in there. I sprayed more Microban all over everything, so hopefully I killed the culprits. Still, when we go back we'll have to clean out the closet, because mold has started attacking the leather in the shoes.

The adjuster showed up Monday morning and stayed for 4 hours, going though everything in the house & office in great detail. Now it's just a waiting time. How much will they offer? How much more will it cost to make the repairs? How difficult will they be to deal with?

You hear such varied stories. One person got a phone call from the adjuster followed by a huge check. The next person was told they claimed too many clothes for people living in a condo, even though they had flooded & everything was ruined, and all the clothes were there in bags to be viewed by the adjuster.

I guess I'll just wait & see.

Coming Home -- at least for a night

Went back to town yesterday & rescued the boat from the interstate.

I brought a mower with me so I could mow at least the front yard. Got to keep up appearances, you know. And the grass was getting REALLY long.



About halfway through mowing the contractor came by to give me an estimate I can use to argue with the insurance adjuster whenever I can get him to meet me -- and no, I won't tell you the contractor's name, so you can't try to steal him -- so by the time I finished cutting grass it was dark. Bagging up can wait til morning.

It was delightful spending a night at the house. Yeah, the mold smell was pretty strong in the bedroom, and the MRE I had for dinner didn't really measure up to Bunny's cooking. But still. I like that house.

Sitting in the living room listening to The Planets on WWNO. Chatting on IM with Laura, using a GPRS edge card in my laptop. Going to sleep listening to the aquarium filter & the grandfather clock chiming off the quarter hours. Very nice.


So this morning I started cleaning up the front yard. The cell rang & while I was taking the call a van pulled into the driveway, turned around & parked in front of the neighbors house. Out climbed Mathew Ponnseti, my regular yard man. He & his helper pulled out mowers, edgers & blowers & started to work. Just amazing.

They'd both been flooded. Mathew lived in a charming area between Navarre and the RR tracks, and got 7 feet of water in his house. It'll have to be torn down & replaced.

But there they were mowing & cleaning. By the time they left the place looked almost presentable. The sidewalk was pristine & the junk was in a neat pile.

Very nice.

On the way out of town a friend gave me some Microban to spray on the mold. I detoured back to the house & sprayed it all over the place. She assures me it will eliminate the mold & the odor. We'll see next trip.

Still more progress in the neighborhood. People were cleaning out Liuzza's, so there'll be gumbo one day soon. And a woman was in Fairgrinds mopping the ceiling. (Yeah, the ceiling. I didn't ask.) The tree was gone from Cafe Degas & someone was at work cleaning up. The doors were open at Gabrielle, so there was activity there, too. A sign on the window at Lola's said they'll be open soon or later. (I don't know what that means exactly, but at least someone has been there.)

I stopped at the 3rd District Police Station to look for my shell. Hoping against hope that it'd just been out of sight when I drove by last time. Nope. There is no sign of the boat, the stand, the oars, nothing! I know the oak tree fell & there'd been heavy equipment in there picking up. Perhaps it was all crushed & they picked it up with the tree parts. I guess I'll never know. A real shame. I enjoyed rowing that thing.

I can't wait to get back. Take me home.

I was driving into town Saturday morning approaching the St. Bernard Ave. exit, and there in the grass was my boat! When it was missing from its trailer on my first trip back I looked around the 'hood, but didn't see it.

Someone needed it enough to take it all the way to the interstate. There were some clothes & water bottles under it when I flipped it over. I hope whoever took it used it to get their family out.

Watt's Up!!!

That's about the best sight you could have walking up to the front door. Hanging there on the handle was a tag from Entergy telling me that our power was on.

So I rushed in, flipped the breakers, and the house started coming to life. Turn on the fridge and close the doors; turn both AC units on & set them to frigid to try to suck all the moisture out of the house; turn on the washer & drain the rest of the water out; and of course -- turn on the aquarium & feed the fish.













On the street, things are coming to life. The folks who own the house across the street on the corner have their lawn cut -- I gotta work on that. Ben & Gene were enjoying a cup of coffee on their front porch. They said the power came on Friday afternoon. There was considerably more traffic on the street

Down on Esplanade, the chef was at work cleaning up Cafe Degas, and they have a big "Open Nov 1" sign on the door. In fact, he said there's a block party planned for that day with Degas, Asian Pacific Cafe, Fairgrinds, and maybe even Lola's & Gabrielle all up & running.

And even more good news: Mr. Ciaccio, who bought the old Whole Foods building when they moved, was there yesterday & said he's putting all his efforts into the building, to be renamed "The Esplanade Market" with plans to be open by Thanksgiving. Lakeview Fine Foods, his other store, was destroyed, and there won't be people living in that area for a while anyway, so he's concentrating on "our" store.

I wanna go home!

I HATE Pecan Trees

Enough with the pecan trees, already! A month ago it was a pecan tree that crashed through the office roof. Then last week Rita knocked 2 pecan trees from my neighbor's yard in Zachary, into my yard. Of course, no one else in the neighborhood lost any trees. Of course not.

That attractive hedge across the front yard at the top of this post is the smaller branches we dragged to the street. The largest pieces will have to wait for someone with a truck.


Fortunately the big tree was the one that fell in the yard, and

it was the smaller one that fell on the house.

As I said, I hate pecan trees.

No trip to New Orleans this week, but there is good news there. The contractor should be able to start on the office soon, and the roofer should be ready in 3 or 4 weeks. Things are looking up.