Still alive

It’s been a crazy week for me. I spent last week down in New Orleans, helping with hurricane cleanup. What can I say — it’s just terrible down there. So much work to be done that what WE did felt like a drop in the bucket. One guy I talked to said that if they had another bad hurricane season this summer, everyone might just give up. Right now, there’s lot of hope as progress on cleanup slowly moves along.

I was with a student group – total of about 26 people altogether. We split into teams of 9 and mucked out houses, stripping them down to the studs. Some of these houses have been sitting in water since Katrina six months ago. We were fully decked out with repirators, goggles, hazmat suits, boots, gloves, the works. I’ve smelled smells I’ve never smelled before. Hurricane and flood damage is so much different from tornado damage. With a tornado, stuff gets ripped apart and thrown around. But just add water, and you get everything in the house completely ruined, including the house that is still standing. Mold city.

It was fulfilling nonetheless. I’ll try to post some pics in a few days, as the dust settles from the week. I have a few important items to finish for class, but I’m hitting Weekend Warlords hard this week, as Gates of Summer 3 is coming up soon. I’ll have more on that in a bit, including another video clip for ya by the end of the week. Stay tuned!