Our “team building” exercise down at O’Dowd’s over the weekend must have worked wonders for our volleyball team. We swept our opponents last night, winning all three games! Including the forfeit from last week, we remain undefeated for this session. This is a big improvement over last session, where we finished right in the middle of the pack. Let’s hope we can have more of these “team building” experiences.

After the match Kim and I headed to one of the area Jones Stores to check out their coats one final time. To my surprise, this location had just about every size imaginable in the coat I wanted to buy Kim for Christmas. She tried them all on, along with a few other styles that the store had, and finally decided on the one that I wanted to buy originally. Luckily she found one that fit and the sale that was going on before Christmas was still in effect, so we bought it. I guess my ban on the Jones Store can be lifted for now.

I am also going to be picking up my new computer after work today. I guess this means that I better decide on a name soon. This will complete our Christmas gift exchange just over two weeks behind schedule. :)

It just barely fit under the tree!

I don’t have much to write about today, but it should go mostly unnoticed since most of the frequent edpaffjr.com readers (or at least the commenters) are on their way to Kansas City for the weekend. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it enough times on here, but incase you missed it there are almost 30 Cincinnatians already in, traveling to, or preparing to leave for Kansas City. I’m sure we are going to have an awesome, but busy, weekend!

For everyone else out there, since I won’t be able to tell you in person, have a nice start to the New Year and I’ll see you sometime in 2006…

I spent most of yesterday attempting to secure a gift for Kim. She’s already heard the whole story of my day so I don’t have to worry about ruining any surprises. At lunch time I headed out to The Jones Store to pick up a peacoat that we saw a week or two earlier while looking for other gifts. I wanted to get the grey color (they call it Tin) but could not find it in the right size. In fact I couldn’t get any color in the right size. The nice lady there found a grey one at another location of The Jones Store and told me that it would be reserved for me.

Knowing that I was going to pick up the coat after work on my way home, I gave up searching for other options. Turns out that I should not have given up. After work I swung by the other location hoping to get in and out very quickly (including the gift-wrapping). The lady at this store could not find my coat and told me to hang on while she helped another customer. After what seemed like a half hour, she was finally done checking out this other guy. She then runs all around the store and comes back telling me that they don’t have the right size. She tries to sell me a different coat that costs much more, but I was not having it. At this point I was already a half hour late to pick Kim up, so I gave up and left the store. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be returning to a Jones Store anytime soon.

On my drive home I called every Jones Store in the area hoping to find something, but I had no luck. An entire city of Jones Stores was out of what I wanted to buy, even after saying that one was reserved for me. So frustrating!

So I picked Kim up and we headed out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. After a drink and some awesome pizza I was feeling a little better. We spent the rest of the night packing and making copies of NOW 2005. My goal of 30 CDs is almost done, we only have to cut out the covers for around 10 of them. Be sure to find me this weekend in Cincinnati if you want a copy. We are leaving at 4PM today to make the drive back.

Merry Christmas!

…a one-toothed man in a corn-on-the-cob eating contest.

Usually today would be full of talk about the previous night’s volleyball games, but as I mentioned earlier our session is now over. That means no more volleyball until ‘Off Each Other’ takes the court on January 3rd!

I’m lucky I found any time today to write here. I cannot wait for the weekend…

At this time yesterday I was staring out my office window at the sheets of snow that were falling from the sky. Unfortunately the ground here is still to warm for snow, so I don’t have any cool pictures to share with you. Today we do not have that wonderful image to look at, but we still have the same bitter cold in the air. I guess winter is finally here, woohoo! :|

Actually weather like this usually signals the end of my allergy season. I stopped taking Claritin a week ago or so, but I still feel fairly congested at times. The good news is that I don’t really have the sneezing that I usually have when my allergies are bad. This congestion can often be even worse than the sneezing though. It’s hard to justify taking the dollar a day pills of Claritin year round. So I’m looking for something that will help with nasal congestion, but isn’t going to cost a small fortune. Anyone have any suggestions???

Last night was our third (and maybe final) dance class. I know that both Todd and Christie will not be attending next week because they will both be out of town. We might have other plans for next Wednesday and honestly I feel like I’m finished with it. It was fun while it lasted, but I’ve learned all the dance steps that I want to learn.

Anyway, last night we did a quick review of everything that we’ve learned so far, electric slide, reggae cowboy, blue rose and cowboy stomp, and then attempted to learn two more dances. These two dances are called the twenty step and the cowboy cha-cha. I could have had another night of just doing the four previous dances since I still haven’t mastered those.

What am I complaining about? It’s not like I plan to ever actually use any of these moves. Well unless I’m at a wedding reception and the beers are flowing. I really doubt you’ll ever see me at a country bar, unless I’m bribed into it and, as I mentioned earlier, the beers are flowing.

We had dance class again last night, yipeee! We not only mastered the blue rose, which can be a couple’s dance, but also learned the cowboy stomp. Kim and I did pretty well with the blue rose, while Christie and Maria spent most of the time deciding who would do the guy parts. Todd skipped out on lessons this week to play tennis, weak!

From there we all just hung out at our apartment for awhile. Nothing terribly exciting to report about that. Hopefully I’ll have some better stories after the weekend. We do have visitors coming! Kim’s sister Bobbi and their cousin Eric are driving to KC as I’m writing this. They have both visited at least once before, so we’ll have to find some other things to do this time around.

Somehow I was convinced to take a country line dancing class with a few of our friends. I don’t like country music and I really hate line dancing, so go figure. Our first class of four was last night. Basically for an hour we learned how to do the electric slide, the reggae cowboy, and the blue rose (well partly). I’m not sure that I remember how to do any of them right now, but it actually wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I did make the instructor mess up when I busted into a river dance after doing one of the steps wrong. :)

From there we hit up Tomfooleries for a few drinks and some music. This definitely made up for the punishment earlier in the night. I figure that if we go out after each class I’ll likely complain a lot less.

Overall I don’t hate line dancing as much as I used to, but I still don’t think you are gonna see me out there at the next wedding I attend.

I’ve been working on the webserver and a re-designed site in any free time that I have. I’ll spare you the boredom though. Perhaps I’ll have something exciting to talk about after the weekend. Until then, here is another update from Gabe on their conditions near New Orleans. Things are looking pretty good for them…

Thank you all again for all the wonderful text messages, voice mails (when I can receive them) and e-mails. I love you all and appreciate it so much. Keep ’em coming! The internet just came back up today, thank goodness, so this is by far the best way to communicate with me. My cell phone can call out, but I am having trouble receiving calls.

For those of you that are new to my e-mail list, we are physically fine. We evacuated first to Memphis, then when it started going downhill, we went up to Ohio and Michigan. We drove back to Louisiana this past Monday (Labor Day). Jefferson parish, the parish that we live in, was allowing people to go check on their homes for 4 days only, Monday through today. We got into LA late Monday. Driving in was a surreal experience. We got about 30 miles from our destination (Brad’s co-workers and friends of ours, about 40 miles west of New Orleans, near Brad’s plant.) and we were stopped by armed guards and they checked our ids at 3 different points. We were re-routed about 50 miles out of our way because I-10 was closed. There was no gas. There were military convoys, Red Cross trucks huge tour buses everywhere. It was really insane, I don’t think I have the words here to describe it, and it is something I will not soon forget.

We arrived to Bernadette and Chuck’s and collapsed into bed (after about 16 hours in the car.) The next day, Tuesday, we got up at 5:30 to get into Jefferson parish at 6:00 am. We heard the lines were awful, and the parish was open from 6 am to 6 pm. We drove in (no traffic – finally something went right!!). I thought Monday night was a weird experience – it was nothing compared to Tuesday morning. Kenner (the city we live in, for those of you that don’t know, it is a suburb about 10 miles west of New Orleans, about 2 miles from the famous Louis Armstrong Airport) was like I envision Baghdad to be. Completely occupied. Military everywhere. Armed guards everwhere. Destruction – trees down, power lines down, buildings smashed, cars ruined, etc. And strangely vacant, which I think is the oddest thing. We drove in very slowly…….we didn’t know what to expect at our house, we had not heard if we flooded or what. I know I was nervous to see, and I am sure Brad was too.

When we got close to our street, things didn’t look as bad, so when we turned the corner onto Idaho Ave, we were so happy to see the street passable. Our house was pretty much fine, thank god. We have roof damage – about 10% of our shingles blew off. Everyone’s privacy fence in probably the whole city, including ours, is gone. We have 10 trees on our property, and not a single leaf left on any of them. Huge branches down – some the size of small trees, and thank god, none on our roof! Also, in the front entrance, the 130 mph wind that Kenner experienced actually pushed water underneath our front door entrance, causing our wood floor to bow and bubble a little bit. It is a very small portion – about 2 foot by 2 foot area. Brad and I have never been happier in our lives – the house was livable, and our property value just went up because our block did not flood. The block behind us did flood – that is how hit and miss the flooding is. I am still shaking my head about this.

So after a campfire breakfast with our insane neighbors who were living there with no power and no water (they evacuated, but came back – don’t ask me, I don’t understand either.), we got to work. Brad got on the roof, and put a tarp where the shingles were missing – the felt was still down so we had no water damage, but he still wanted to secure it. We cleared the lawn of about 200 shingles from other people’s roofs, a garbage can had blown onto our property, branches, leaves, sticks, etc, took the boards off the windows…….and then we had to do the fridge. Remember, at this point we had been gone for 10 days. The fridge had not had power for 9 of those days. Jefferson parish was advising people to dig a hole in the back yard to bury their stale food, because they did not want animals getting into trash cans full of old food. So Brad, the neighbor and his son started digging a hold in our back yard, and I opened the freezer. Oh my gosh – I dont have the words. Let’s just say it was the least pleasant thing I have ever done. Our two neighbors – on both sides of us, put their trash with ours – so we have a little landfill in the backyard. I cleaned the fridge out with bleach, windex, and clorox and you could still smell the rot faintly…………lovely, eh?

After that it was about noon, and we were pretty beat. We finished up, in pretty good moods because Brad still has a job, and we have our house. 2 out of 3 is not bad – I, however, am officially unemployed. I am trying not to think too much about it right now. Besides the obvious concerns about money, benefits, etc, I am really mourning the loss of my life as I knew it. We are going to be living with friends or in Dow housing for at least the next 3 weeks. We have power at our house, but they are not letting people live there because not everyone has power, etc. Living out of a suitcase is exhausting, and living with other people, as wonderful and nice as they are, is difficult. I loved my school. I loved my job, I enjoyed most of my coworkers, I liked working in the French Quarter………my situation now is pretty rotten. I know there are so many other people who have it so much worse – loss of house, life, etc………..but really think about it for a minute – what would you do if you suddenly became unemployed like this? New Orleans Public Schools has told us to file for unemployment – which I have done – which is something I never thought I would have to do. Also, FEMA, that government agency that no one really knows what they do is supposed to cover lost wages. We have flied a claim with FEMA, but who knows. Plus, I have applied for a job with St. Charles Parish, which is where we are staying at the moment, and is about 15 miles from Kenner. Something will work out – it always does, but I have to admit, I have had some moments when I have been pretty down.

Not only am I upset about my personal situation, but I am so upset about the horrific scenes that I am seeing on TV. Life is really weird down here – gas shortages, food shortages (there is food and gas, but there is no selection of food at the grocery store, not much produce, etc) military everywhere. In New Orleans, the situation is so much worse – I am so concerned about my students at school, I know I am going to hear some awful stories……the government’s slow reaction………just everything is so unbelievable to take in. I know so many of you have donated, but if you haven’t and you can – I would really encourage it. Everyone needs help right now – they are so many professionals, just like you and I, who have really lost everything, including their jobs, and need help. The effects of this disaster are just beginning – this is going to affect everyone, and the US economy for a long time. But Brad and I have decided that we are just taking everything day by day – new information comes out all the time, and this is completely out of our control. We can only react in the appropriate and responsible manner, and do our best to help out and to get back to normal ASAP.

That is all for now – I know this has been very long, but there is a lot to tell. Now that I have internet access, I will update everyone regularly. Thanks again for the thoughts, and can’t wait to hear from everyone soon!

You can pre-order O.A.R.’s next studio disc, Stories Of A Stranger, here. I’ve already ordered the Limited Edition version and cannot wait until it’s in my hands! Not much to report for myself, I do have an update on Gabe and Brad’s situation though.

Well, the news has gotten worse and better for us. Let me explain. First of all, as you have all seen, the conditions in New Orleans “proper” are just falling apart. Looters (stealing shoes and jerseys, nice), fires, flooding, chaos, shooting at helicopters trying to evacuate people to Houston?! I don’t think it can get much worse. Diseases, no power – just terrible. I keep thinking about the kids I work with – some of them may not make this and it makes me sick.

However, we live in Kenner, which is about 10-12 miles WEST of the city. The west side did not get hit as hard as the east side and the city of New Orleans. Now, that is not to say it did not suffer any damage – it did – but it is not as bad as the city. From everything we can find out – internet, TV, friends, etc……….our house is probably ok as far as flooding goes. This is not set in stone for sure – but this is what we have good reason to believe. So that is one REALLY good thing. (Word is that if your house survived this with no flooding, the value might double or triple! Sell, sell!! :) Now, we could get back there and a tree could have fallen on our roof, or a car could have been put on the top of our house by the wind – there still could be HUGE damage to our house. We just don’t know. Time will tell. Unfortunately, the media loves covering the city, they are not too interested in the suburbs.

Ok. Parts of Kenner already have power, and City of Kenner police (we are a city and have our own mayor, police, etc.) are letting people back in on Monday to see their houses and view damage. You can’t stay on Monday though – just check your damage, get anything valuable, and leave. Brad talked to his boss yesterday. They need him at the plant – his boss is there, they are getting power today or tomorrow (they have their own power plant at the plant) Brad is a maintenance engineer, and is needed to fix machines that have been damaged and to start up that plant. Dow has apartments in Baton Rouge for Dow employees that cannot live in their homes. So, the plan as of 9:30 am eastern standard time on Thursday, 9-1-05, is to drive into Kenner on Monday, assess damage, then drive to Baton Rouge and stay in a Dow Apartment indefinitely. Brad has to get back to work, there is a press release saying that I may be needed to teach in another parish where students from the New Orleans area have registered (kids are going to school all over the state and in TX, AL, etc).

We have so many questions – we have bills to pay – will we get paid? I think we are going to call Visa, Toyota, and Countrywide Mortgages this morning and let them know the situation. Sometimes I am fine, sometimes I am a mess. Currently, I am feeling stressed. This is just unbelievable. We are driving to Michigan today, then back to Ohio on Saturday night. We are taking things day by day. Kenner might change their mind and not allow people back on Monday, we just don’t know. I will keep you all posted.