Liat biking through

Liat biking through
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

We biked around New Orleans on Saturday to get an idea of the damage done by Katrina. Here's Liat biking down a typical street on our way to the 9th ward. No one is living in these houses and FEMA is not allowing any body to return nor are any of the houses allowed to be torn down. Volunteer groups, such as Common Ground, are coming in and gutting the homes so owners can rebuild once they get the go ahead. Most people in this neighborhood owned their homes, but did not have flood insurance.

Alex

Alex
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's Alex fixing up a bike outside. We tried to do a lot of rebuilding outside when we could, because the weather was so nice.

Anne

Anne
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's Anne in the shop taking a coffee break.

Liat and I...

Liat and I... going crazy!
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's Liat showing us how excited she is to start fixing bikes.

Inside Plan B

Inside Plan B
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here is the actual shop that we worked in. The 6 bike mechanics that I went down with helped to rebuild over 50 over the bikes that came down from Boston. This is obviously a shot taken before they started working :)

I'll post pictures of everyone who went on the trip (Alex, Anne, Chris, Abby, Dave, and Liat).

Unloading the bikes

Unloading the bikes
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Yeah! I finally have pictures from New Orleans. Thanks to Chris who sent me a CD of his photos, of course I still need to get pictures from the rest of the crew.. but it's a start.

Here's the container of bikes that was donated by Bikes Not Bombs, packed up in Boston, and shipped down to New Orleans in early March. We spend our first morning in New Orleans helping to unload 600+ bikes and organize them into piles outside of Plan B.

Karaoke at Derek's

Karaoke at Derek's
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Derek had a bunch of people up to his house this past Saturday for BBQ adn Karaoke. He actually managed to find a Karaoke machine at a garage sale for $5, and then set about finding CDs to work in it. He now has quite the collection from the 80s & 90s, and Logan and I rocked out to "Faith" & "Ice Ice Baby" to name a few. Sara is laughing at us on the couch. In fact, all 3 of us were laughing most of the time.

Thanks for another fun NH adventure Derek!

MS Walk Warm-up

Warm-up
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Last weekend, Derek joined me and 15 or so of my fellow classmates on the MS Walk in Boston. I think our team ended up raising over $1300, and most of us did the full 6 mile walk.

The weather was a bit cold, so Jaylynn, Derek and I warmed up beforehand with some aerobics.

Being selfish?

I find myself wanting to know what Brian is up to, how he is doing, and wanting to tell him some of the things going on in my life. Then I realize that I have no right to intrude on his life, he doesn't want to hear from me, and it would be selfish for me to call in order to vent about problems or to seek advice. So instead I find myself trying to keep busy with school, friends, and random social events. Perhaps I will contact him over the summer when I am not as busy and we have both had time to adjust to not being together, but would that just be selfish of me? Perhaps it depends on my motives, which I am trying to be more conscious of these days.

Curling: a new spectator sport!

100_5642
Originally uploaded by mensworlds2006.

My friend Derek got me a ticket to the World Curling Championships being held in Lowell this week. So, instead of a boring Monday evening, I took the commuter rail up to Lowell and cheered on Team Fenson. Apparently in Curling teams are named according to who the skip is (basically the captain who always throws his rocks last.)

Check out the funny signs that Derek's friends came up with. I think the plan is to watch the finals on Friday afternoon. After chatting with the lead for Team Fenson (guy who throws first) for 20 minutes after they beat Scotland, I think Derek and I may become regualr fans of this new fascinating sport.