Here's a picture that was taken of me the last day I helped out. Grey stopped by and was organizing tubes with me (a skill that we could easily master). You can see Alex working on a bike in the background. We usually had 6 stands up, one for each mechanic, and I helped out by finding parts they needed and changing tires, etc. Plan B was our home away from home :)
Friday, March 17, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Interesting...
I just took the same personality test Kate did and my results I think may have been dead on: My Personality
Wishing I was still there...
So, I am back from what seems like a very long yet brief trip. Long in the sense that we did so much every day, and I slept maybe 3-5 hours a night. Brief in that I am now back and feel like my time flew by (that's what happens when you have fun, right?) I am at school now covering an early computer lab shift for the classmate who covered my Monday shift, and I am wishing that I was just waking up on Wick's couch getting my stuff together to head to EnVie for breakfast to meet up with the crew. Somehow we ended up setting up EnVie as base camp: where we would meet up every morning before heading over to Plan B to start the day's work. This seemed to work out nicely since you never quite knew where people would end up sleeping and there was only one set of keys to get in to the shop.
I have so much to say about this trip, and will try and post out each day or maybe group it by what we did... I don't know. If I had had internet access, I would have updated my blog every morning or evening so I didn't forget anything. I also don't have access to any of the pictures that people took yet, so those will come later as well. Everything about this trip seemed improvised, but it could not have turned out better. I can't wait to see the presentation in April. I think people are going to be amazed at everything we experienced in such a short time.
I have so much to say about this trip, and will try and post out each day or maybe group it by what we did... I don't know. If I had had internet access, I would have updated my blog every morning or evening so I didn't forget anything. I also don't have access to any of the pictures that people took yet, so those will come later as well. Everything about this trip seemed improvised, but it could not have turned out better. I can't wait to see the presentation in April. I think people are going to be amazed at everything we experienced in such a short time.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Helping out the local Coast Guard
Ok, so the title of this post is misleading, but an interesting segway nonetheless. I woke up at 5:45 this morning (EST) in order to make my 8 am flight to New Orleans via La Guardia. On my flight from La Guardia a young gentleman sits one seat away from me. I look over a couple of times and first see him put his dog tags on, and then place his wallet with his badge showing back into his back pocket. I am intrigued at this point and wonder if there is an issue with the flight I am on that would warrant having someone "official" on board. I was going to say something but he seemed busy flipping through every magazine in the pocket in front of him, and then held his head in his hands and looked like he was crying as we headed to the runway.
We then sat on the runway for 45 minutes and I started chatting with him and the flight attendant who was seated across the aisle from us. It turns out that he is deathly afraid to fly and has only ever been on a plane 2 times prior(a trip to Disney World that I learn about later), so I chat it up with him in hopes that it distracts him during takeoff. I asked why he was flying this time, and he told me that he was to be given an award that night in New Orleans for helping with the rooftop rescues following Katrina. It turns out his badge is an EMS badge, and he recently finished serving 4 years in the Coast Guard 3 months of which were in New Orleans. He flew down to New Orleans with many others via helicopter (which he is not afraid to fly in, strangely enough) and took part in the rooftop rescues in the days following Katrina. He told me that there were over 250 private and military aircrafts in a 20 mile radius all trying to get as many people as possible out of harm's way. He worked 12 hour shifts and evacuated close to 120 people a shift. His helicopter was shot at by people as they fly by to rescue others in need first and because his chopper was military equipped they fired warning shots back (no where near people). He even told me that they had to equip civilian choppers with guns in order to protect themselves as well. How crazy is that?
After rooftop rescue, which only lasted a couple of days for him, he was doing small boat "rescues." I unfortunately put that in quotes because according to Chris (coast guard I sat next to), at that point they were not recovering many people who were still alive. He said the devastation after hurricane Katrina was the worst thing he had ever seen, and he is currently working as an EMS supervisor in a bad neighborhood in Queens dealing mainly with gunshot and stab wounds.
It was really incredible to get a first person account of what happened down here, because like many people I was just sitting in front of the TV watching bits and pieces on CNN.
I was able to keep Chris's mind off of the flight, although he had worse time with the landing than the take off, and help get him to his hotel. Grey drove him to where he was staying and he said it was strange to be back there without being armed standing guard... When he returns back to NYC he plans to enlist in the army to be a medivac and he understands that he will most likely be stationed in Iraq. He just wants to be where he can do the most good, on the front line. I could never do it, but I wish him the best of luck!
We then sat on the runway for 45 minutes and I started chatting with him and the flight attendant who was seated across the aisle from us. It turns out that he is deathly afraid to fly and has only ever been on a plane 2 times prior(a trip to Disney World that I learn about later), so I chat it up with him in hopes that it distracts him during takeoff. I asked why he was flying this time, and he told me that he was to be given an award that night in New Orleans for helping with the rooftop rescues following Katrina. It turns out his badge is an EMS badge, and he recently finished serving 4 years in the Coast Guard 3 months of which were in New Orleans. He flew down to New Orleans with many others via helicopter (which he is not afraid to fly in, strangely enough) and took part in the rooftop rescues in the days following Katrina. He told me that there were over 250 private and military aircrafts in a 20 mile radius all trying to get as many people as possible out of harm's way. He worked 12 hour shifts and evacuated close to 120 people a shift. His helicopter was shot at by people as they fly by to rescue others in need first and because his chopper was military equipped they fired warning shots back (no where near people). He even told me that they had to equip civilian choppers with guns in order to protect themselves as well. How crazy is that?
After rooftop rescue, which only lasted a couple of days for him, he was doing small boat "rescues." I unfortunately put that in quotes because according to Chris (coast guard I sat next to), at that point they were not recovering many people who were still alive. He said the devastation after hurricane Katrina was the worst thing he had ever seen, and he is currently working as an EMS supervisor in a bad neighborhood in Queens dealing mainly with gunshot and stab wounds.
It was really incredible to get a first person account of what happened down here, because like many people I was just sitting in front of the TV watching bits and pieces on CNN.
I was able to keep Chris's mind off of the flight, although he had worse time with the landing than the take off, and help get him to his hotel. Grey drove him to where he was staying and he said it was strange to be back there without being armed standing guard... When he returns back to NYC he plans to enlist in the army to be a medivac and he understands that he will most likely be stationed in Iraq. He just wants to be where he can do the most good, on the front line. I could never do it, but I wish him the best of luck!
Project New Orleans!
After packing up all of my things and moving into my 4th apartment in a little over a year, I have made my way down to New Orleans for the rest of my Spring Break to volunteer with my friend Liat at Plan B. Plan B is a group that is currently working to supply people affected by Katrina with cheap, energy efficient transportation (i.e. bikes) so that they can still get around town.
Grey drove me past the area where all the water damaged cars are currently being stored and it was unbelievable. Hundreds of broken down vehicles piled beneath a major underpass, and I don't believe there is any intention right now to move them. There just isn't any room and there are higher priorities for the city. Wick's street alone only has a very places that you can even live in, and the fact that he got mail today was something to celebrate. Apparently most people haven't gotten any mail for weeks.
Tomorrow at 7am I will be headed to Plan B to find out how I am helping out. Liat & her sister Abbie are experienced bike mechanics and will probably be assigned tasks quickly. Jess on the other hand will need to be taught a thing or two... or be stuck unloading boxes or something. Either way, I'm helping out and that is what I came here to do. Well, that and spend time with the 2 best gay men ever!
Grey drove me past the area where all the water damaged cars are currently being stored and it was unbelievable. Hundreds of broken down vehicles piled beneath a major underpass, and I don't believe there is any intention right now to move them. There just isn't any room and there are higher priorities for the city. Wick's street alone only has a very places that you can even live in, and the fact that he got mail today was something to celebrate. Apparently most people haven't gotten any mail for weeks.
Tomorrow at 7am I will be headed to Plan B to find out how I am helping out. Liat & her sister Abbie are experienced bike mechanics and will probably be assigned tasks quickly. Jess on the other hand will need to be taught a thing or two... or be stuck unloading boxes or something. Either way, I'm helping out and that is what I came here to do. Well, that and spend time with the 2 best gay men ever!
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