Holy crap

Ya know....when I was in NOLA the other week working on cleaning up a big oil spill, I joked, "Hey it's almost hurricane season, we'll have one come through and clean everything up for us."

I was kidding.

-----------------

New Orleans evacuation ordered
The Times-Picayune
Saturday August 30, 2008, 8:43 PM

Warning that Gustav is the "mother of all storms," Mayor Ray Nagin late Saturday ordered a mandatory evacuation of the West Bank of New Orleans for 8 a.m. Sunday and the east bank for noon.

"We want 100 percent evacuation," Nagin said. "It has the potential to impact every area of this metropolitan area."

Katrina had a footprint of about 400 miles, he said. Gustav is about 900 miles and growing, Nagin said.

"This is worse than a Betsy, worse than a Katrina," he said.

The mayor speculated that Gustav is so fierce Baton Rouge likely will experience 100 mph winds.

"You need to be scared and you need to get your butts out of New Orleans right now," Nagin said.

Nagin said he expects Gustav to "punch holes in the Harvey Canal," which could cause the West Bank to become a bathtub.

The West Bank has 8-foot-high to 10-foot-high protection, he said. Gustav's storm surge may be 15 to 24 feet high.

Anyone who opts to remain in New Orleans "will be on your own," Nagin warned, adding that services will not be available.

Before the month is out....

I'll post about something.

- Happy 3rd Katrina Anniversary! It's still a mess down there. Isn't this America? Another hurricane could only make it better by funneling money down there and making NOLA one of America's most livable cities again.

- Spent last week on a leisurely road trip from Santa Fe, NM back to Seattle with Zack. He was down there getting his Wilderness First Responder training (a.k.a. 80 hours of playing MacGyver) and is the person to go to if you ever have a ski pole or ice axe sticking out of your chest. We loaded the car with his mtb for me, and his singlespeed CX bike for him. After an afternoon at Ojo Caliente mineral hot springs we headed to Durango and reveled in some of the legendary, local mtb trails. I was a total GEEK an insisted on hitting all the spots I'd read about in the early 90s when Durango was the center of the mtb world and I idolized the likes of John Tomac, Juli Furtado, Big Ned, H-Ball, Sarah Ballantine, etc. We hit the local bike shop that was a museum of early 90s MTB history: Tomac's XC bike, H-Ball's downhill frankenbike (Oooooh!!! Anodized!!!), Ned's Worlds jersey, the old Specialized ads, etc. I even dragged Zack to the Steaming Bean, which I always read Juli Furtado hung out at. Geek. We also met a few guys packing their car for the MTB Singlespeed Worlds in Marin County and then for a bike ride from Reno to Burning Man. The one guy was wearing a pink VeloShop t-shirt so it was a kindred meeting. We gave them advice on surviving Burning Man and wished them a fun trip. As if.

So on we went to Molas Pass and riding the Colorado Trail, Ouray, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Missoula, and back home. It was great to see that part of the country that I'd never been, but dang I was ready to get off my ass and out of the car. Three weeks of sitting had taken its toll.

- Sarah Palin. Is McCain NUTS???? Sure she's savvy and can fish and shoot a bear all while rocking like Tina Fey, but......is McCain NUTS??? She's no Hillary. American women are not that gullible. He just sealed the nail in his coffin.

- Obama. OHHHHHH-BAAAAAAAMMMMMMM-AHHHHHH. It's not about me, it's about you. America, please don't fuck this up.

- Hurricane Gustov. It must have heard that I ate at the most amazing Argentinian steakhouse the night before I left NOLA and I wondered why it took us 2 weeks to find this place and that I wanted to come back. The universe is funny like that.

- Speaking of being gone....rumor around town is that I was clubbing seals for a few weeks. Why yes I was and they squeak like hell which makes you want to club them more.

- Cyclocross. I came back from my travels to cold weather and rain. I've never been so happy to wear wool clothing and a cotton cycling cap and be soaking wet. My 2 weeks at NOLA = new Ridley. BRING IT.

- Malt n' Vine in Redmond (oh so convenient to Wed night CX practice). My absolute new favorite home away from home (well, almost as favorite as the Burke Counterbalance). Doug and Lizzie will hook you UP with the best beers you've never heard of and even give you a free pint of what's on tap as you check out their goods and expand your mind. Kasteel Rouge - cherries and cherry juice infused Belgian beer? OMG put a nipple on it. In fact, I gave my favorite mechanic a few bottles of good Belgian stuff for totally rebuilding my Serotta and bringing it into the 21st century. Belgian beer, bikes, CX. I love the fall.

Mission Accomplished

Would you trust your shoreline to these fools? You should. They're some of the lead scientific coordinators for spill response and we've just completed another successful mission along the Gulf. In between all-nighters and meetings about oiled rocks (ooops, I mean riprap) we managed to hit the streets together: French Quarter, check. Bourbon Street, check. Hand Grenades, check. Sweet live music, check. Small, intimate, smokey bars, check. Beads, check. New liver, yes please.

Line of the week:

- "What happened to Liz last night?"

- "I dunno. Last we saw Liz she was on Bourbon Street with the Coast Guard."

Go Liz!

The Big Easy

It's oil spill time down in The Big Easy.

I don't work on salvaging gnarled wrecks like this guy:

And I really don't clean up oiled snakes like this guy (serious heebeejeebeez):

I mostly sit around for long days mapping areas that are oiled and habitats that are damaged and will need to be restored in the days, months, and years ahead. The next time your buddy asks you to cut off an 800 ft tanker full of styrene and biodiesel. Don't.

So long fit summer. It's all po'boys all the time.