gas - yikes!

It looks like Morocco is going to happen. We got Oliver's passport in the mail the other day and it was exciting to look at the Visa page and imagine that he will have stamps on it before he is old enough to talk. I think found

I have an embarrassed confession: I drove Tom to work today. After all my admonishments that he should try riding the bus to work, that we all have a choice not to drive in this time of spiraling gas prices, I was going to put the proverbial money where the mouth is and let Tom take the van to work, and take the bus into Lewes (or the grocery store) and stay at the pop-up. Well last night in a moment of weakness I went ahead and loaded the van with clothes and books for tomorrow.

We are hearing the appalling reports of deteriorating conditions in New Orleans. Complete anarchy. It is as if the Iraq war were transported to the US. And we see the same mismanagement of the situation. The same two dead bodies are still lying outside the convention center that John Burnett reported on yesterday. We saw War of the Worlds the other day and it was eerily familiar: I had to remind the kids that this is real because they were saying it looked like The Day After Tomorrow. It is baffling why the looters are shooting at the relief workers, but anyone should be able to understand why there is so much violence: has anyone every visited New Orleans before? I think there should have been a plan already put into place: aren't the Homeland Security people supposed to be getting us ready for a disaster? Being prepared doesn't necessarily mean for war and terrorism. This should be a wake-up call that the same thing could happen, nation-wide, albeit not as dire a situation in less impoverished parts of the country. But the complete lack of a plan is disturbing.

Today we are parked at a public lot in Lewes (total cost for 9-4 parking would be $3.50, one gallon of gas or 20 miles of driving). Thank you "sam" whoever you are for your wi-fi connection.

I feel so terrible for the people on the Gulf. I wish there was something we could do. I know there will be some kind of fund drive but really, if I were to give every dime we could spare on to the relief effort -- it would be a drop in the bucket. One business could more than that without feeling it. Yet it feels selfish to say we need the money when there are people who lost everything they own and don't even have food and water. The old paradox of charity. It would be easy to come up with stuff to donate if we were at home: we have so much extra clothing, housewares, etc. I hear they are asking Austin people to put up refugees in their homes. I am uncomfortably reminded of all those fairy tales where some powerful entity disguised as a beggar begs from door to door. Would we be that one house who takes them in? Or would we worry about theft? Things you don't have to contemplate living in a tent.

Arthur and I both need haircuts. Tom needs a trim too, I may try to cut his hair myself.

I heard on the radio that they rescued Fats Domino from the flooding: his family didn't know if he'd made it. There are a lot of famous people who made N.O. their home. I wonder if Anne Rice's famous house is flooded? Just like the plantation house in the Mayfair Witches books. She could live on an upper floor and come in by boat.