Ack! I forgot my bike shoes this weekend. I had a 40-miler ride planned (to get ready for my metric century on the 10th), but that's not going to happen now, unless I swap out the pedals with the old toe-cage set. I think I need to buy a second pair of bike shoes to avoid this problem! Maybe I'll substitute a long swim late today, if the pool isn't too crowded with kids. I didn't get very far yesterday with my two baby girls at the pool. We had lots of fun, but it didn't include much actual swimming.
I sometimes have the same problem with my running shoes - if I forget to bring my orthotics, I can't run very far. I usually have to just take walks if I don't have the orthotics along. It's probably time to get a second pair of orthotics, too. Actually the old ones are three years old and starting to fall apart at the seams.
It does seem trivial to worry about such things when there's a large number of American right now with no decent shoes at all, but that's my life.
Very glad to hear today that our friend Dudley is okay in LaPlace, Louisiana; and best wishes and thanks to Jack heading down to Louisiana to shore up the law enforcement situation. I hope they let us know if there's any way in addition to sending money that we can help them or anyone else down there.
In our household, we were glad to hear that my husband won't have to leave next week for Denmark after all.
But doing something, anything, sure beats screaming at the TV in frustration and horror when I see things like FEMA Director Mike Brown saying on Thursday, "the federal government did not even know about the Convention Center people until today." Arrrrrrggghhh! I had to cheer when Anderson Cooper confronted Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu about people being tired of hearing politicians congratulating each other while bodies were being gnawed by rats in the streets of New Orleans. This is the start of an enormous upheaval which will last a long, long time and affect us all.
Followup: Giving her some credit, senator Mary Landrieu did ask the president to name a new cabinet-level official to direct the disaster effort, presumably in order to supersede the clearly overwhelmed FEMA director Mike Brown. It sounds like his credentials for heading up FEMA are approximately the same as my own (except I'm not as well-connected).
Followup to followup: Senator Landrieu is now showing some backbone, as evidenced by her response to the stage-managed Bush photo-op and her lashing out at the "abject failures of the current Federal Emergency Management Agency".
8 comments:
Nancy I like Anderson Cooper for the most part but think he took a cheap shot at the governor.
The Governor. has a much liablity in this mess as does the mayor, who just comes across as an a$$. But in politico speak Landrieu has to CYA, because if she dosen't then A.C. or someone else will pull the transcripts and say she is not appreciative.
Landrieu and the mayor should have had a better plan in place. 7,000 guadsmen and cops for a city that size is just poor planning. And if we all acknowledge the suffering as terrible there must also be some personal responsibility by the citizens for not obeying the manditory evacuation. Add to the that the very few truly dispicable looters and vandels that crippled rescue efforts.
This was two disasters, a hurricane then 24 hours later a flood. Things get crazy, and so do people.
Well, I have a feeling that AC won't be getting any more interviews granted with her!!
The mayor does come across as a loose cannon, but I don't know if I can blame him for being at his wit's end right about now.
Like they were saying last night on NPR, this all makes Guiliani's response to 9/11 look all the better.
Guiliani is a man that understands leadership. He is not a politician by nature like Landerieu and Nagin but a career fighter of evil doers and a born leader.
Guiliani also had a great plan in place and the citizens of NY who took ownership of the crisis. Yes there was mayhem there but not like in NO.
What I suspect is going to come out is the Mayor dropped the ball in a lot of areas and now he is indignent with the lack of CYA he is getting in the mess.
The lesson in this mess Nancy is to never trust the government to bail you out when you need it. Humanitarian relief efforts from good organizations, private businesses and churches will do more in the long run for the Gulf States.
The more I read about FEMA Director Mike Brown's total lack of credentials for his job, the more I suspect you're right. But it's a sad result for a huge number of people.
Yes it seems that Mr. Brown's career as President of some elite horse group was not best suited for him as FEMA director. Since it is not a cabinet position I, as a Bush supporter, wonder what culpability he has but I submit it's not as much as the congress that put him there. If thats how I remember it working.
The more I do hear about the finger pointing, its a shame it has already begun, the more disgusted with Governor Blanco, Senator Landrieu and Mayor Nagrin. (excuse the spelling)
Actually, from what I read, Brown worked 11 years for a garden-variety Arabian horse association in Colorado, and he was the person that provided oversight to the horse show judges, a middle-level functionary, not the President. The White House press release when he was hired says that it's associated in some way with the Olympics, which is a total fabrication. And that he got the job simply because Allbaugh, the previous director, was his college roommate, and gave him a job before he left FEMA. It's pretty scandalous, I think.
I'm not sure about Blanco. It seems the White House was trying to implicate her, by saying to the press that she caused problems by not declaring an emergency, when in fact it was already on the record that she had. The Washington Post had to print a retraction about that today - one wonders whether "the source" in the White House got it wrong or just lied.
Anyway, it sure seems like there'e plenty of screw-ups across the board, and plenty of blame to spread around.
Your exactly right about Brown. I read the same thing and was trying to be brief in your talkback. I remembered wrongly about the level of the job, but your right on the money. I hadn't heard about the Olympic thing but about how he got the job.
I will say this about Brown. He has been out to AZ the last two years to oversee the fires we have had. Each fire was over 500,000 acres. FEMA evacuated towns and housing areas, nothing on the scale of NO but still the drills were run. He did okay and in the after reports came out as a competent guy. I think in this instance he is way over his head and will probably be 'retired' by year end.
Sen. Frist commented that there would be senate review. So the finger pointing has begun. I wonder how much coverage will go against the administration and how much against state government on down to Nagin and the police force.
The locals are already saying the National Guard screwed up and "played cards while people died", etc, etc. They(NG) had no idea the breakdown occuring in the first 24 hours they were there. The NG was prepared for recovery relief and waiting for the go-ahead to enter the city for that not police action. The local cops were supposed to be able to handle what was considered the criminal side of the aftermath.
More followups - I said to Commodore offline that perhaps I need to start a separate blog for my political and religious rants so that I don't offend my triathlete buddies!
Post a Comment