Tuesday, September 20, 2005
I have been following the news in New Orleans ever since hurricane 'Katrina' first hit. It bothers me how little the rescue effort was, and how very little anyone outside of New Orleans gave a damn. Now I've been to the city on several occasions and I feel an affinity for it, so maybe I care more deeply than most but what I saw made me feel cankerous. Like watching your favorite portrait that has hung in the Louvre for 2 centuries be destroyed by some hooligans because there's no protection for "that kind of painting".
So a city that is corrupt and seedy and somewhat depressed doesn't matter as much as a city that is beautiful and vibrant and busy and special. But both those cities are New Orleans to me. New Orleans is all of that, and more. But Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? I've made my little donation but if an offer of a job to rebuild the city comes in I'm going to take it. Not because I want to make up for the brutal relief effort, but because NOLA means something to me. It's more than just a city to me, as cliched as that sounds. When I see pictures of areas I recognize I want to be there and watch as the water is pumped out. I'll bring some Canadian Lumber and some nice Alberta brick and start as soon as the water is out of the way.
Maybe I'm romanticising, but you out there who have not seen New Orleans will never be able to see the one I experienced. That NOLA is gone and a new one will eventually replace the old, but it won't be the same. I just hope the vibrant and real community springs back up once the infrastructure is fixed. And I will do my part.
So a city that is corrupt and seedy and somewhat depressed doesn't matter as much as a city that is beautiful and vibrant and busy and special. But both those cities are New Orleans to me. New Orleans is all of that, and more. But Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? I've made my little donation but if an offer of a job to rebuild the city comes in I'm going to take it. Not because I want to make up for the brutal relief effort, but because NOLA means something to me. It's more than just a city to me, as cliched as that sounds. When I see pictures of areas I recognize I want to be there and watch as the water is pumped out. I'll bring some Canadian Lumber and some nice Alberta brick and start as soon as the water is out of the way.
Maybe I'm romanticising, but you out there who have not seen New Orleans will never be able to see the one I experienced. That NOLA is gone and a new one will eventually replace the old, but it won't be the same. I just hope the vibrant and real community springs back up once the infrastructure is fixed. And I will do my part.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Brutal. Disgusting and altogether disquieting. It has now been 3 months since my last blog. And my birthday was in there. There was probably lots to blog about but really no time to do it. So, I apologize. Forgive me and get on with the show.
The project in Lethbridge is finished. Opened on time and probably on budget (we won't know that for another month). It was a huge project, massive in scale, scope, risk, and cost but we pulled it off in the end. It is a great accomplishment and I had my entire job evolution on this project. Starting out as a regular old labourer/safety assistant, I progressed to the safety assistant/assistant to the Site Superintendent, by the end I was a site-super in my own right, responsible for my own part of the building. Now, they have promoted me to an office position, given me a salary and a cubicle. This now means no more 6 month stints in far-off places, no more 72 hour work weeks, no more phone calls at 2 in the am.
So basically, I'm a Calgary resident again, with a lot of spare time on my hands because of a greatly reduced workload. Call me anytime for an evening out on the town, just don't expect me out after 10 pm, I still have to start early.
Basically, that $2400 course that I was whining about in the last blog has gotten me a $10,000 a year raise and a cushy office job. Maybe I should take it back? Nah, it was still a painfully stupid class, it basically taught me what I already knew but in an approved format.
I have just returned from a much-needed and all-too-short vacation out to Kelowna and Vancouver. I watched a couple of concerts, read a couple of books (see here for reviews). Basically relaxed and enjoyed myself, two things I've been wanting to do since my birthday.
Well, that's it for now. I will try to keep in better touch if I can.
The project in Lethbridge is finished. Opened on time and probably on budget (we won't know that for another month). It was a huge project, massive in scale, scope, risk, and cost but we pulled it off in the end. It is a great accomplishment and I had my entire job evolution on this project. Starting out as a regular old labourer/safety assistant, I progressed to the safety assistant/assistant to the Site Superintendent, by the end I was a site-super in my own right, responsible for my own part of the building. Now, they have promoted me to an office position, given me a salary and a cubicle. This now means no more 6 month stints in far-off places, no more 72 hour work weeks, no more phone calls at 2 in the am.
So basically, I'm a Calgary resident again, with a lot of spare time on my hands because of a greatly reduced workload. Call me anytime for an evening out on the town, just don't expect me out after 10 pm, I still have to start early.
Basically, that $2400 course that I was whining about in the last blog has gotten me a $10,000 a year raise and a cushy office job. Maybe I should take it back? Nah, it was still a painfully stupid class, it basically taught me what I already knew but in an approved format.
I have just returned from a much-needed and all-too-short vacation out to Kelowna and Vancouver. I watched a couple of concerts, read a couple of books (see here for reviews). Basically relaxed and enjoyed myself, two things I've been wanting to do since my birthday.
Well, that's it for now. I will try to keep in better touch if I can.
