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Yesterday was one of those days where nothing bothered me at all. I was scehduled to go in to work late so I took the extra time and hiked around town for about seven miles. That got those endorphins going which got me off on the right foot. Went to the dentist for the last of what has been a two months of dental appointments. I now have a mouth full of working teeth. Work was a breeze, problem solving came easy and my colleagues were all pleasant. After work I was going to take a few laps around the park on the bike. I didn’t even MF when I found I couldn’t lap the park because they were restriping the road. I went to the levee, I had planned to stay in the park because of the high winds but I needed my exercise which has become like crack to me. It was a breeze (no pun intended)going out to the Huey P. with the wind at my back coming back was a struggle. even on the downhill parts of the bike path you had to pedal to keep moving, the wind was definitely a bitch. Went out had a couple of beers and visited with some friends. As I went to bed last night I wondered why every day wasn’t as carefree as today had been. What is the difference in a day where the smallest things get under my skin and a day like yesterday where nothing phased me.

The city council needs to get to the bottom of the problems with the crime camera and 311 contracts. . These programs are costing a lot of money and are not producing results. Getting information from the Mayor’s obstinate staff is like getting a check from the Road Home Program. This city’s books need to be open, with the reputation for corruption here and our continued pleas for federal money, spending and the effectiveness of the spending needs to be transparent.

I did get get a kick out of something Brenda Hatfield said.

From T.P.

“We monitor all of the council meetings. We may not be in the chamber, but we’re monitoring” by live cable feed, Hatfield said. “We’re multitasking. Whatever they need, we respond.”

She’s a hoot, yeah right, they are multitasking at city hall.

As far as the credit card bills that the mayors staff has run up, I just want to let them know that I am available for lunch at Galatoire’s today.

This is the first and probably the last time that you will hear me thank G.W. Bush, I checked my bank account this morning and my lagniappe tax refund had been deposited overnight. I must say I can certainly use it right now.

A friend at work reported that she would be coming in late today. Her home was being delivered to her New Orleans east lot. Her original house was destroyed during Katrina, since then she has moved two or three times including a stint in a FEMA trailer. It has been a hard road for C. getting insurance and road home money lined up, ordering her modular home, getting the pile foundation built. Through it all she has rarely complained, and never talked about leaving.

Yesterday her daughter was in the office after school, the smile on her face said it all. She was so happy that after two and a half years that she was very close to having her own room again. It is people like C. who have driven the city’s recovery. I often wonder if I would have had the same fortitude had I been in the same boat.

UPDATE:

C’s house did not arrive this morning the axle on the trailer that was carrying the house broke. It should arrive Thursday.

From Craig at New Orleans Met Blogs

Tommy The Derelict

Who knew when the Mayor signed those overpriced garbage contracts that they would include a 4:30 wake call on Tuesdays and Fridays. Richards Disposal is very consistent arriving between four and four thirty every morning on collection days.

Rup Raj on WDSU reminds us that hurricane season is only 19 days away. Hurricane Season is that tension packed time of year that will keep the city on edge for the next 6 months. In a normal year we shouldn’t see too much activity around here until August and September.

Okay let’s talk about wasting millions of dollars in a community that is strapped for cash.

First off millions to keep the lights on at the defunct Charity Hospital.

Fom WWL:

Here’s a breakdown of how your taxes are being spent to keep utilities running at Charity’s complex of eight buildings, according to the utility bills:

- More than $1,372,579.74 for electricity

- More than $182,302.30 for water

- More than $2,894,119.21 for air conditioning and heating

That brings the total to $4,449,000.25.

Then there is the story of the council at long last asking for some accountability on the
crime cameras and the 311 deals

All I have to say is that the Nagin administration is a total clusterfuck. The city council now has a responsibility to bring the malfeasence into the open. If City Council doesn’t think that the people of New Orleans have had enough of this shit then they are just as complicit as the Mayor, and just as responsible for the state of this city.