cure for hope

it's over.....

2006-01-02T15:38:00.000-05:00

after just over three months and nearly 600 inspections, the trip has come to an end. i met some great people, and had some unforgettable experiences. will i do it again? i guess i'll have to wait till the phone rings and see how i feel then.

please scroll down to see the last of the photos before you go.... (click on 'em, they get bigger...use your 'back' button to return to the blog)

it was good to be able to help poeple who for various reasons could not help themselves. in a disaster of this scale, people can't turn to friends and family, because in most cases they are all in the same boat. (no pun intended)

i hope that the people who need help, get help. i hope that those who return are willing to work very hard to get their homes, their community, and their lives back to normal. the government will eventually fix the roads, bridges, infrastructure stuff..... it takes a lot of work to put a community back together.

i met a few who are already doing just that......

carl mack, entertainer
http://www.carlmack.com/
---i met carl three days after landing in new orleans, and was very lucky to do so....his kindness and generosity were welcome and greatly appreciated. (carl, i still owe you fax toner and a ream or two of paper....!!)

kenneth and melba ferdinand
Cafe Rose Nicaud
(504) 949-3300
634 Frenchmen St New Orleans, LA 70116
---great cafe, great people.

christopher
Marigny Perks cafe
2401 burgundy st
new orleans, la 70117
---medium mocha every morning for nearly 2 months......thanks, cristopher

all the 'J' ladies at
Ochsner Main Campus & Hospital
1514 Jefferson HighwayNew Orleans, LA(504) 842-4000
---especially Judy, who makes some damn good chocolate chip cookies!!

anyway, best of luck to you all....

-brock

houses

2006-01-02T14:43:00.000-05:00

your friendly fema inspectors...tim, joe, mike, alan, myself...

2006-01-02T14:33:00.000-05:00

signs

2006-01-02T13:57:00.000-05:00

cars

2006-01-02T12:27:00.000-05:00

boats

2006-01-02T10:37:00.000-05:00

thanksgiving

2005-11-20T09:11:00.000-05:00

We've all seen the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change...
The hair on his face is dirty, dreadlocked and full of mange.
He asks the man for what he could spare with shame in his eyes
Get a job you fuckin' slob, is all he replies

God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes,
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues

Then you really might know what it's like

I've seen a rich man beg,
I've seen a good man sin,
I've seen a tough man cry...

I've seen a loser win,
I've seen a sad man grin,
I've heard an honest man lie...

I've heard 400 stories any one of which could just break your heart.
where it ends, you know, it usually depends on where you start...

still in nawlins

-brock

day 29- a man's home is his castle

2005-10-30T08:29:00.000-05:00

this is a mans home.

he lived in the van in the center of his property for 20 years, and decided when the flood waters came that 20 years wasn't quite long enough

he did what any man would do..... if all that man had was a van, 40 feet of heavy chain, a 5 gallon water cooler and three empty beer kegs. simple enough: chain the beer kegs and water cooler together, and chain the whole lot to the back doors of the van. stay first in the van, then on the van, then board the 'keg raft' and hang on for dear life.

the problem wasn't one of bouyancy....the keg raft kept the man afloat just fine. the problem was the length of chain between the raft and the anchor point (van doors). that, and the strucural integrity of the hinges which held the van doors to the van itself.

after a day or so surviving clinging to his raft, anchored 'securely' to his van, the water level rose to a depth greater than the length of his anchor chain and the van doors were ripped off....sending him adrift. not too far, just to his property line where the doors snagged his chain link fence and held. held for 3 more days, while he held on to the raft for all he was worth, until he was finally rescued.

the man couldn't swim.

i seems that, sometimes, god gives you beer kegs. (see story way down below)

still in nawlins- where tim, joe, mike and i will remain for an as yet undetermined length of time.

-brock

day 29- nothing, where houses should be

2005-10-30T08:08:00.000-05:00

'if it keeps on rainin', the levy's gonna break'

this neighborhood is (was) right next to the levy. the barge in the pictures below broke through the levy, along with the millions of gallons of water that caused this destruction. whole neighborhood blocks were washed away nearest the break.

further away, houses were lifted from foundations and pushed into other houses. some came down on top of cars when the water receded. some came to rest on other houses. everything is caked with mud.

the area is cordoned off by the military. armed checkpoints, barricades keep everyone out. tour buses with police escort vehicles bring residents in small groups to see if their homes survived. not many did. cadaver dog teams are still searching.

day 27- a barge where it ain't supposed to be...

2005-10-29T08:55:00.000-04:00

day 27- stuff where it ain't supposed to be.....

2005-10-29T08:52:00.000-04:00

2005-10-29T08:39:00.000-04:00

day 22, new orleans

2005-10-24T11:39:00.000-04:00

may be without internet connection for a bit, so here is the latest.
new orleans is rough. most have not returned home, hard to reach people.... i am not working in the hardest hit areas, these photos are from my area. photos can't reflect smell, just use your imagination.

take care, all..... hope to update soon

-brock

day 19, headed to new orleans

2005-10-21T23:25:00.000-04:00

first work in new orleans starting tomorrow... did a recon run with a friend yesterday, and new orleans is unexplainable. you can see it on tv and in pictures, you can have people who have been there tell you stories, but until i saw it myself, i couldn't believe it.

i will upload photos as i take them, in an effort to convey what the city really looks like.

here's hoping wilma dies a slow death in the gulf....

-brock

update

2005-10-18T23:50:00.000-04:00

we have been at it for nearly 2 weeks.... not updating as much as i had wanted, but here are a few pics to keep your interest.

we should be headed to new orleans over the next few days, and i will try to publish at least daily...

take care, all....

mr riley

2005-10-18T23:45:00.000-04:00

day 5 - observation

2005-10-04T09:45:00.000-04:00

the last few days seemed almost amusingly disorganized..... no clear direction on where to go, what to do, when to do it..... and now i realize that the condition exists almost as a form of 'natural selection'.

if you can't make your way through 2 days of training / orientation / testing, etc., without direction you probably have no place in the field.

sink or swim

day 5 - red tape

2005-10-04T09:36:00.000-04:00

oh, the joys of government red tape.

have been ready and able to deploy to louisiana for 2 days now, with the exception of the gov't background check.....

the same check that was run before i left, and approved..... but now can't be found. i wouldn't have left for houston (where i now await work assignment) without approval.

'so now i must do the hardest thing..... i must wait' (- roland of gilead )

day 3 training and orientation

2005-10-02T01:00:00.000-04:00

houston, texas....

nothing conveyed to a large group of people in a hotel conference room will ever be entertaining or educational. one more mind-numbing day of this and i should be headed to the field to begin the effort.

even the most modern hotel rooms are severely lacking in electrical outlets.
this i have known for quite a while, i just never think to pack power strips.

no offense to those friends i have who live in texas, but nobody in this *#!$ing state knows how to drive.......
and can anyone explain to me why there are tollway employees standing next to the 'exact change only' lane MAKING CHANGE (?????) for the idiots who use that lane and don't have 'exact change' ???

d - day

2005-09-30T06:22:00.000-04:00

departure day. ready to go for the most part, just need to pack a duffel and head out.

planning to travel light, as i have no idea what i will find for housing. have been told to expect anything; from sleeping in the car, to cot at the church shelter, to hotel rooms..... depends on who you ask.
i am packing a sleeping bag and a credit card. hope to use the latter.

is this a good idea? should i be asking myself such a question at this time?
four days ago i had a reasonable steady (boring) salaried position with a reasonably secure (my soul is dying) service company.

>> story -

guy is stranded at home, the flood waters are rising.
a truck comes by, and he politely refuses help. 'my god will save me', he tells them.
the waters rise
a boat comes by, and he calls from the upstairs window- 'my god will save me'.
the waters rise
'my god will save me', he yells to the helicopter rescue team when the attempt to pull him from the small patch of rooftop left.....
a short time later, when the man meets god, he asks him.....why did you not save me?

--to which god replies: i sent you a truck, a boat, a helicopter.....???

so if salvation from boredom and the soul-killing death that i was suffering comes in the form of a ticket to louisiana...... then i have my friend tim to thank for the call, and my wife nicole for letting me take it.

--and of course, the god who sent them.

first post...

2005-09-28T22:01:00.000-04:00

headed to louisiana to do a little work with FEMA, and thought this would be a good way to keep folks updated.... i will likely post photos, and may or may not update daily.