"World of Warcraft Teaches the Wrong Things"

I have to admit, I tend to agree with many of the author's points in his article. In the end, World of Warcraft is just a game, and when I no longer get any enjoyment from it I will quit playing it altogether. I already play it significantly less than I once did.

Gamasutra - Soapbox - "World of Warcraft Teaches the Wrong Things"

Badger Badger Badger

Can't believe I forgot to link this before now. Badger Badger Badger

30 Second Bunnies Theatre

Clever and funny! Angry Alien Productions

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I finally finished watching all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now that it's over I feel like I've said goodbye to close friends. At least I have 5 years of Angel to watch now. :)

January 2006 recap

Bear's father died and he returned to Arkansas for the funeral. And we were so hoping that '06 would be better than '05...

December 2005 recap

We got snow. We are so NOT used to seeing that coming from New Orleans! Since we are not accustomed to driving in it we just stayed home for the the few days until it melted off.

Bear had to go to Arkansas to see his Dad who was in the hospital and not doing well, so we were apart for Christmas.

Harry Potter--thumbs up.
Chronicles of Narnia--thumbs down. The children were most annoying. I was rooting for the White Witch!

November 2005 recap

We went back to New Orleans to take care of some unfinished business and to drive my truck out to Oregon. The city was still pretty sad to see. I really don't have much desire to return there again.

On the drive back we stopped in San Antonio to see some friends (Jim and Mr. B)and had dinner with them at one of their favorite Mexican restaurants. There really isn't much between San Antonio and Phoenix, AZ. We stopped in Plam Springs and looked around before heading in to LA to visit Tom. Then up to Santa Rosa to see another friend before finally getting back to Portland. We decided to stay put for a while--no more driving!

Boxes!

The movers got here last week and we have been busy sorting through boxes. A majority will stay boxed since we will be moving again when we find a house. It is nice to have access to things again, at least those that we can find without opening up everything. Not too much broken so far, but some we won't know about until the final unpacking.

CNN.com - George Takei, 'Trek's' Sulu: I'm gay - Oct 28, 2005

Who knew?

CNN.com - George Takei, 'Trek's' Sulu: I'm gay - Oct 28, 2005

Settling in

We did get our bed as scheduled and are sleeping much better now. We still go out shopping every day to get misc. things we need and are starting to know our way around our area. We picked up a couple of computer desks and chairs, now we just neeed the computers to arrrive via the movers. No word yet on an e.t.a. on the movers, but hopefully early next week. We also got some mail in our box today. Nice to know that is working.

We are doing our shopping at Safeway (yummy muffins and soups) and Winco (better prices). Both have a good selection and nice fresh produce. The only thing that will take some getting used to is being in Pacific Time. Having always lived in Central Time it is an adjustment as to the tv schedule, and in calling friends back in New Orleans.

Just saw on the news that there is a tropical storm named Beta. Sheesh! I am so glad we aren't on the Gulf Coast anymore!

There's no place like home

We are now in Portland and in our new apartment. We went shopping yesterday and got the misc. Necessities we needed like cleaning supplies, food, etc. Hopefully our new bed will be delivered today. Last night on the air mattress was not a good night's sleep. Today Comcast came by and got our internet set up. It is nice to be back in contact with the world again.

Although yesterday was rainy and overcast, today is a beautiful sunny day. Ah, life is good once again.

Square state du jour

Tonight we are in Ogden, Utah. Kansas and Colorado were fairly boring landscape wise--just rolling grass plains. The view was either grass or sky. Wyoming and especially Utah are much more interesting with the mountains. They are really quite majestic. We were short of breath and thinking we were really out of shape, then we realized we were at 7,000 feet and just not getting enough oxygen. lol. Tomorrow we are off to Boise.

On the road again

So far the trip west has been uneventful. We spent 2 days seeing Bear's Dad in Arkansas, then went on to Kansas City to see his brother. Yesterday we drove across Kansas, then today through Colorado, ending up at Laramie, Wyoming. Hopefully we won't encounter any of Matthew Sheppard's old buddies. Tomorrow we are off to Utah, then Boise, finally getting to Portland on Wednesday. It will be good to get there.

Well that stinks!

Cleaning out a fridge that has sat without power for 5 weeks, that was previously full of food, is one of the worst jobs ever. The smell is unbelievable! Insects larvae and pupae are all over the inside and outside. Luckily since the power was back on it re-froze or it would have been much worse. We were going to just push it out the door, but it wouldn't fit, and the kitchen door wouldn't come off it's hinges so we had no choice. Now if they would just pick up the garbage bags that all the rotten food is in...

On a more pleasant note, we are almost done packing. We get an estimate on when the movers can get our stuff tomorrow. Hopefully it will be soon. Then we're headed west again and on to our new lives. After all, we're on a schedule--we need to get to the west coast in time for the "Big Quake." (Let's hope not!)

Goin' Home

After five weeks of being away we can officially return home. There won't be electricity or potable water so it will not be pleasant. Our goal is to go in and get packed, get everything into storage, then have a moving company pick it up later. Hopefully we can be done in a week and be on our way west. At least we will (finally) be doing something, and not just sitting around feeling helpless.

Lovely Rita

We managed to get to the house on Monday just before they closed New Orleans again. Only minor damage, a few roof tiles off and the fence leaning over. A dent in the car trunk where a roof tile fell most likely. We didn't open the fridge, but could smell it when you stood next to it. We set out a few air fresheners. Amazing the african violets were still alive inside the house after all the time without water.

We grabbed some clothes, the laptops, and a few other things but didn't try to get everything since we thought we were going to be back the next day. Hurricane Rita changed that plan again. Even though it doesn't appear that it will hit New Orleans at the moment, officials are erring on the side of caution.

There wasn't any electricity still and it was exceedingly hot. Since the water is not safe you can't wash your face or hands either. As soon as the power is back on so we can have AC we will go back and try to pack up everything we are taking so we can get the move back on schedule. I hope it is soon.

A glimmer of hope

The Mayor of New Orleans has announced that people in selected areas of the city will probably be allowed back into the city. Luckily we are in one of those areas. If we do get in on Monday it will have been 23 days since we were last home. Even if we don't have full utilities, we will finally be able to access any damage and retrieve a few things. We have a friend across Lake Pontchatrain (who got full utilities back now) we can stay with if needed.

We have been staying with friends and family in Mobile, Daphne and Ft. Walton. We move every few days so we don't wear out our welcome at any one place. They have all been more than kind to shelter us. There really is no place like home though. And if we had any lingering thoughts about moving to Oregon they were washed away. We want to move more than ever now.

UPDATE: The latest info now shows that Uptown will not be allowed back in until Wednesday or Friday of next week. *sigh* Looks like it will be almost a full month that we will have been away from home.

Behind enemy lines

Click here to read a firsthand account from someone who is still in New Orleans, and updating their blog as often as they can. I do not envy them.

From a distance

We managed to find an aerial photo of our house. It looks like we didn't flood. Up 2 blocks we can see water in the streets though. The storage unit also appears to be dry, with water about 6 blocks from it. Now if the water doesn't rise again, we don't get looted or set on fire, maybe we will be okay. Now it's just the wait to get back to it.

News from the frontlines

My friend Keith has started a blog about his experiences during this disaster known as Hurricane Katrina. He is a reporter for the Times Picayune, the newspaper in New Orleans. As he is still on the job, he is a witness to the events in the area we used to call our home. You can view his blog here.