GARY AND FRANK VISIT WEST END PARK

Saturday morning my riding friend Frank

and I hit the Lakefront for a 20 mile jaunt.

It was extremely cold and windy, being the champions we are we blazed through the wind and fended off the cold.

Part of our ride involved the Yacht Harbor and West End Park. There is certainly more tragedy than "Boats on Land" but we weren't looking for tragedy, just some interesting sights. We found them. The photos with just pilings are where the restaurants and nightclubs used to be.. The boat house apartments are just shells.

The lighthouse continues to collapse.

Shelter number 1 is missing both bathrooms.The good looking guy on the bike that's so tough he wears shorts when it's below 50 degrees and riding into the wind on the lakefront is Frank. Frank is a Tri-athlete.That means he rides a bike, runs , swims and plays poker all at the same time. No inspiration this time just some pictures. Click on the pics to see them larger.

Later

gary

What a ride...

Saturday/Sunday
Had a great ride today,
in spite of blue roofs, piles of sheetrock, FEMA Trailers, I worked my way to 25 miles this weekend and it''s not much but it's a start back.
For the first time in a long while the air smelled fresh and clean, the road was clear and
the course was level.. My MP3 player was blasting Foghat and endorfins were releasing
like balloons at a political rally. Felt great. Legs were good, weather was cool and sunny,
and 15 miles an hour was in my pocket. . Katrina who?
10 things I do while Biking to embellish my ride.
1. PRETEND I'M FLYING A JET FIGHTER
2. RUBBERNECK AND LOOK AT EVERYTHING AROUND ME
3. LOOK FOR LOOSE CHANGE IN THE STREET
4. SING OUT LOUD WITH THE MP3 PLAYER TILL PEOPLE STARE AT ME
5. STAND UP ON THE PEDALS WITH MY ARMS OUTSTRETCHED AND YAWN
6. WHEN GOING THROUGH TRAFFIC I KEEP LOOKING BEHIND ME LIKE SOMEONE'S
CHASING ME.
7. IF A CAR PASSES ME WHILE I'M DRINKING I TURN MY BOTTLE TOWARD THE
SIDE OF MY MOUTH AND SPRAY THEIR WINDSHIELD
8. STOP AT THE CONVENIENCE STORE AND ASK DIRECTIONS TO MONTANA.
9. COUNT THE NUTRIA ROAD KILL ALONG THE CANALS
10. DON'T ROLL THROUGH WATER IN THE STREET, YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM.
later,
gary

update....

Finished the final ceramic floor today for th e spare bedroom, now if there's a hurricane in New Jersey and anyone needs to evacuate we can accomodate them, or if there's a earthquake in California we can take in a room full. I still have a great deal of trim work to do , but we're in livable conditions and beginning to feel at home again. 4 of my neighbors have FEMA trailers,
there neat but small. Seem cozy to me but I don't have to live in one. Molly says there too tight .
The carpetbaggers are leaving town and the scalawags are taking over. . The trees are almost all ground up , the trash is mostly picked up in Metairie and the contractors and wanna be contractors, and has been contractors, and never were contractors are making a bundle.
Anyone that can hold a trowel is now a sheetrock expert. Roofers with one eye and vertigo can
't get to the next job fast enough. Thank God for these fine people rebuilding New Orleans while New Orleanians are Femacation..
Here's a refreshing thought , Hurricane season is only 6 months away.
Have I learned any lessons, yes,
1. don't leave, my house can take it.
2. stock up weeks of food and water because no help is coming.
3. MRE's are a good thing.
4. blue tarp your roof before the storm hits..
5. sleep on the floor so you'll know when the waters rising.
6. I've always kept an axe in the attic.
7.. Start your insurance claim before the storm hits.
8. Order sheet rock and roofing once you learn the storm is a definite hit and avoid price hikes. .
9. Make sure everyone in your family has a cellular phone.
10. Don't turn off the pumps..
later
gary

Home at Last.

Home At last,,,,,
Yes we are home at last, feels good, ....
the bed room is done (see pic, the one with the bed), the ceramic floor I installed so there's no carpet to rip out, I raised the front bedroom furniture to new FEMA flood standards, and finished my office (the green room).
We have one more bed room to do then we're done. I have been bike riding in spite of everything, did 15 miles yesterday. Haven't had much play time, work work work, but we.ve recovered, I hope that others that are disposed get back in their homes as well.
The only thing that speeds up recovery is to do as much as you can yourself, set goals ,and be resolved to get there.
There are 4 FEMA trailers on my block. We had a lot of help , starting with Uncle Elster and Aunt Esle taking us in in Baton Rouge , Neil getting us a room there, Neil and his in laws, Danny, and Nat stripping my carpet and moving furniture and covering the roof, Diana and Kevin helping me strip the house, Neil , Kevin and Rusty helping me cover the roof with blue tarp, Neil and Stacy helping me rebuild , Dennnis across the street helped me with the ceramic tile, Mom for taking Marie and I in so we'd have a place to live while we worked on the house and Marie for supporting, helping and encouraging me to push onward.
Therre's no way we'lll ever repay them but I don't think repayment is what they had in mind,
It's just what family and friends do. I'll be blogging more often now that I have my "fortress of Solitude" back..
later
gary

We Have Living Room.

We have living room, bed room is in the process, walls done, floor underlayment done, I start tiling this week. Finished all painting, door casings and trim, still have two rooms to go after bedroom, but to move in all that's left is bedroom. Marie's feeling better and has been helping me. Haven't rode bike lately,having withdrawals. Frank awaits my return , won't be long now. Still expect to be settled in prior to Christmas, to insure that I've scheduled a vacation the week before Christmas. I hope to be back to normal (whatever that is ) by the New Year and hope for a less exciting year next year.
Hope to spent some quality time with granddaughter soon. .
later
gary

We have ceiling!!!!

As you can plainly see having a ceiling is better than not having a ceiling. So we have roof, we have ceiling, once ceiling is floated and painted then we seek floors.
Still shooting for Christmas.
It all hinges on availability of ceramic floor material, it withstands floods and only requires a damp mop occasionally. Not warm and fuzzy like a carpet , but you don't have to cut it an haul it outside when it floods. Today I cut the bottoms off the furniture and added a 4 inch skirt with coasters so we need 6 inches to touch the furniture.
I floated the bathroom and pulled all the paint out of the shed for the effected rooms.
Patched the holes in the roof of the shed, cleaned out the gutters, straightened some of the garage, and bullshitted with the guy across the street for a while. Then at 3:00 pm it started to rain so I ........
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
..........went for a 25 mile bike ride in the rain. It was great, followed the river levee to Ormond Blvd. The River was full of empty freighters waiting to get loaded. The rain was great , it washed away, dirt, sins, dust, worries, ails, and that smell of defeat in the air.
Now the air smells clean and refreshed, excited, ready for life, love and happiness.
when I got home ( mom's house) I felt rejuvenated and tired and hungry.
I didn't get to see Maggie this weekend but we'll make up for that soon.
I'm bushed, I go to bed.....
later
Gary

Maggie's Baptism

10-06-05 Maggie gets baptized. In the first pic Maggie awaits her ceremony, in the second
she sits with godfather uncle Neil, in the third Great Grandma feeds Maggie, next the Baptism crew, godmother Jill, mom Stacy, Dad Jay and godfather Neil, and lastly Deacon does his thing.
Maggie did great , slept through mass and was behaved during the ceremony.
So for one day we stopped recovering from Katrina to celebrate the baptism of Maggie Marie.
It was a nice day, very family and relaxing. No bike rode today but I'll be back.
later
gary
p.s. you can click on each pic to enlarge.

WE HAVE ROOF !

As You can see by the attached pictures , we are no longer in the blue roof club.
We now have a real roof thanks to Nick and Suburban Roof, I've enclosed some pictures of
the mold farm on my ceiling. The orange one is quite dramatic,, it talks. .
Theres' nothing like opening the closet and going for a shirt and find mold dripping off it.
I only had 2 feet of mold, some people had mold to the ceiling. I was lucky.
It's coming around, finished floating my bedroom today.
later
gary

Well , Well, Well,

In 1965 I was sitting on tubular kitchen chair whose seat was covered in light green vinyl,
my black high top tennis shoes rested on the linoleum floor dotted in purple and red flowers except on the ridges of the floor planks that were a brownish non colored color. The old black and white Motorola TV set struggled to show the Long Ranger and Tonto, a light dotty snow enhanced by the rolling horizontal bar , it was exactly 15 seconds from top to bottom.
The window fan sucked in hot humid air, sweat covered my thin well washed white t-shirt and
the fat creases in my arm were lined with dirt beads. During the Meritta bread commercial
I scanned my pocket to find a dollar and ten cents in change, my life' s savings.
I wondered what am I gonna be when I grow up.
I looked around the room and realized then as I do now that all paths lead to here, no matter where here is, it's not a choice it's a path, you can try others , the scenery may be different and the trek may be different but the journeys end is always the same.
So here I sit in 2005 and as I watch the Long Ranger and Tonto on a new Digital Motorola TV
( yes, their still on ) , I wonder what am I gonna be when I grow up, knowing dam well that all paths lead to here anyway.... That my friends is "HOPE".
Those of of us that are blessed are born with it and ultimately die with it.
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In other news, Neil sheetrocked the bottom of the master bedroom, and Kevin helped
me do the hall and the closets and Marie helped me do the master bedroom closet.
Still waiting on a roof , still trying to set up the rest of the sheetrock work, but we have movement. All the debris in front of the house has been removed.

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Rode 25 miles this morning , went to Audubon Park, looked great, like nothing out of place except a few live oak branches were trimmed back. Cool temperatures. felt great.
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Dove across the lake for weekly granddaughter visit, she's doing great, gaining weight,
pretty as ever and developing an attitude like her mother. Feisty.
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Later
gary

Took the tour

Couldn stand it anymore, rode down to the quarter today, toured midcity.
Stopped by the house I grew up in and the one Marie grew up in , there would have been no wading, it would have been a swim for your life. I saw water lines in midcity that were 8 ft off the ground. The quarter looked clean, unscaved, smelled like the quarter, and had a few tourist around, I didn't see any visible damage to any landmarrks and the riverfront looked great.
I even saw some buggies working. Wow! those mules can swim. First picture is Sacred Heart CHurch.
Looks like thier still needing to hook up utilities in a lot of places but the smell was better than I found in Lakeview last week. I think there always be a watermark from the flood of 2005.
The old light house at the lakefront is leaning on one leg. Canal Street looks pretty normal,not good ,just normal .
It's gonna be alright.
later
gary