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The Kenobi family will be moving back to Baton
Rouge (hopefully) at the end of March as part of the process to
returning to (the) New Orleans (area)..
The problem is gonna be finding housing.. anyone got an inside-track on
a house (at least 2 br, 3 preferable.. # of bathrooms doesn't matter..
as long as there's 1) anywhere in the BR area (zachary, baker, BR,
gonzales, etc ... though I'd prefer gonzales or that side of br, for
quicker trips to NO) for rent at a REASONABLE rate? |
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Jan. 16th, 2006 @ 12:59 am
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You fit in with:
Agnosticism
Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Agnostic. You are fairly ambivalent towards any religion or spiritual connection. You lead a very busy life and find that religion and spirituality are unnecessary to your life.
40% scientific.
40% reason-oriented.
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Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
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Dec. 17th, 2005 @ 02:00 pm
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I'm gonna be using my promotional product distributor status to buy some imprinted license plates ...
They're gonna be damned funny...
But I'm keeping it top secret until they go on sale...
So stay tuned.. You may want one. |
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http://www.etix.com/travel/servlet/onlineSale?action=viewTourDescription&route_id=11123&franchise_id=69
I'm not sure what to think.. but most of it feels negative..
$35 per adult... how much goes to charity? $3..
... Kenobi, out!
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| » What I'm Thankful for Today |
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Given what's happened in the past few months, I've had a lot to be thankful for..
Honorable mention: Wikipedia for knowing anything about everything..Firefox for making a great browser (I <3 keyword searching from the address bar!) and Google for being able to do anything imaginable.
Complete strangers:
I'm thankful and surprised by the generosity of complete strangers. People that have never met me or my wife, and probably never will.. Some of them we've never even TALKED to ONLINE! The only affiliation we have with these strangers is we both went to the same website, and they happened to see a post by me. These complete strangers, sent us money, clothes, toys for Andrew, and one even sent a lottery ticket :-D ... These people have truly surprised me in their generosity
Friends:
I'm thankful for my friends.. Friends are what keeps ones spirits up.. A lot of my friends, while not in the same exact situation I was in, were still experiencing the repercussions of what has affected me.. Some even helped out by sending money..
Family:
I'm thankful for my family .. During these hard times, they provided me with a place to live, money to sustain me, man (and woman) power to clean up and salvage the mess that was once my home, and hope for returning home one day..
My son:
I'm thankful for my son.. He'll be a year old in 5 days, and it has really been a life-changing, interesting, frustrating (at times... at least i'm honest!), and fun year.
My wife:
Thought I'd save the best for last.. Without having her during this ordeal, I'd be completely lost (course, if i didn't have her, i'd probably be home living with famliy.. assuming i wasn't doing so pre-katrina.. but, if I was in the same situation as I'm in at this MOMENT, then yeah, i'd be lost..) ... I wouldn't have my son.. I wouldn't have the maturity and level of responsibility I have today (although, by my own admission, it's not much .. but it was less before her) .. A lot of times, being with me is like taking care of a second child for her, but she does it.. and for that I love her very much ... and I'm thankful to have her with me.
... oh and my health and world peace and all that other crap ;-)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Nov. 24th, 2005 @ 01:37 pm
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| » On the record! |
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Let it be known that on the 5th day of November, 2005. Andrew Norman Garcia took his first official steps!
Whee!
Nov. 5th, 2005 @ 10:59 pm
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| » Return to NOLA finally written. |
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I finally got around to recounting the experience of my trip to New Orleans.
http://www.livejournal.com/~benkenobi/32188.html (Day One)
http://www.livejournal.com/~benkenobi/32358.html (Day Two)
http://www.livejournal.com/~benkenobi/33218.html (Day Three)
Some observations:
* New Orleans is a creepy ghost town now.. Dark and silent
* Metairie and Kenner were affected more than I thought.. There were piles of trash everywhere, "blue roof" tarps on lots of houses.
* Lots of places are understaffed and as such, close VERY early.. Wal-Mart closes at 7pm every day, for example.
* There was a LOT of traffic, which was weird.
* There's a lot of yard signs everywhere.. Kinda aggravating, because they're abundant at intersections, blocking view of oncoming cars..
Nov. 4th, 2005 @ 02:53 pm
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| » The Force is strong with this one! |
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I'm still working on the posts for "Return to NOLA" ... In the meantime enjoy Andrew's first Halloween costume!!
Nov. 1st, 2005 @ 01:32 am
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| » Return to NOLA (Day 3) / Return to Oak Grove (Day 1 of 1) |
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(I should've written this stuff the day it happened.. It'd probably read better)
Woke up around 10am.. My mom and I went over to my house to salvage some more things.. I finally went through some stuff downstairs and tried to salvage some software and DVD's I had .. My TV was on an entertainment center that was on top of a coffee table... Well, the coffee table was nowhere to be found.. It must have completely disintegrated.. I found parts of the E/C under the TV, but no c/t.
We wrapped things up at about um... 3:30 or so? I had to go to see my paternal grandparents to pick up a gift for Andrew's birthday .. I had heard that my grandpa wasn't doing too well (for those who don't know, he has Alzheimers) .. Occassionally getting angry and violent.. Not remembering things and people more often, etc... So I was kinda nervous about going over there.. The times I had gone before, he was coherent to remember who I was.. held it together pretty well... When I got there, he was sitting with my Uncle watching the Saints game on tv .. Well sort of .. He was sorta sleeping I suppose ... When my Uncle said "Hey pop.. We've got company!" he just kinda mumbled "uhh I'm listening.. I'm listening" ... and they kinda left it at that... I really didn't want to aggravate any sort of situation ... Assuming it was the last time I'd see him (you never know!), I didn't want it to be a negative experience.. He probably wouldn't remember it, but I would.
Afterwards, I had to run to OfficeMax before they closed at 5 so I could pick up a CMOS battery for a client's computer.. Managed to get that done, so then I headed over to Asian Super Buffet on Williams (damn good, but no Great Wall) to meet my parents for dinner.. The place was PACKED.. Lots of um... let's just say people who didn't look like they are legal citizens .. I'm assuming they were around doing house gutting work ... I don't know if they were legal or not, but I've never seen such a concentration in the city before..
After that, I went to my parents' house to install the battery in the clients' computer, and headed over to his house to drop off .. Guy was really nice.. After I left, Alex reminded me about the DVD backup.. So I had to turn around and bring it back .. "For my time" the client gave me a $10 Shell Gas card.. Very nice guy :)
Got back to my parents.. Loaded up the car with things I was bringing from there (my computer, mainly) .. Give them both a big hug.. and left for my grandma's house ..
When I got there, I noticed my grandma had gotten most of the laundry done ... The dinner table looked like a mountain range of folded clothes.. It was crazy.. I started loading the clothes into trash bags and then into the car. I had to leave behind a few things, but managed to get most of the clothes.. and almost all of Andrew's toys that we salvaged.. It was a pretty well packed car...
At this point, let me tell you this.. I hadn't had any sleep since 10am that morning ... I had had a long day so far.. and STILL had a 9 hour drive ahead of me. I gave my grandparents a big hug and kiss (since I'd be leaving after they went to bed) and went upstairs to shower and get a couple hours of sleep... I didn't get to sleep until 1am.. One hour of sleep..
At 2am, I got up, grabbed my bags, got in the car and left .. 9 hours later .. I got home.. Thank you Mountain Dew and Adderall! :)
Oct. 30th, 2005 @ 02:47 pm
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| » Return to NOLA (Day 2) |
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I only got 4 hours of sleep last night .. I suppose it's for a few reasons:
* I took my Adderall to stay awake while driving.. The helpful effects last for about 4 hours, but it won't let me sleep for maybe 8..
* I drank like 4 or 5 Mountain Dew Pitch Black's
* I was nervous/anxious/scared to rediscover my home.
... we met my aunt and uncle at around 9:30 this morning at the house .. On the way there it looked like a warzone.. Like the city had been bombed.. Trees either dead or snapped in half (which would indicate death as well) .. Dust/mud everywhere.. No traffic lights..
Then we got to the house ... Holy crap.. Downstairs was a giant mess ... GIANT mess... and there was a wonderful mold/mildew smell..
Upstairs.. Looked completely untouched.. There was a lot to salvage.. Clothes.. Toys.. Books..
We spent a few hours there, filling up my parents' CR-v and my rental car... Eventually we called it a day.. around 3 I think.. Passed by McDonald's and grabbed some lunch, then went to my mom's hosue and unloaded a few things to be stored there.. and then I went to my grandma's house ... On the way there I passed by Papa John's and tried to track down my paycheck..
Got to see my sister and bro-in-law ... Was nice to see some family.. This is the longest and farthest I've been away from my family ... We were celebrating both of their birthdays (she's 10/28, he's 11/1) ...
Finally went to sleep around 2am...
Oct. 29th, 2005 @ 02:47 pm
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| » Return to NOLA (Day 1) |
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So I figure I'd better keep a log of this ...
I left Oak Grove today at around 4:30pm to head to New Orleans to save what I could from my now "ex-house" ...
I made really good time.. 9 hours.. It helps that I didn't have a wife, kid, and 2 dogs in the car... Less stopping.. I stopped 2 times for gas, 2 times to pee (one was during a gas run), 1 20 minute break (which was one of the pee breaks), and once to drive through McDonald's..
Here's my expereince so far..
Driving down I-59, I noticed a LOT of Interstate signs were bent over backwards.. and the trees in the median are shot to hell...
I couldn't see much in Slidell, since there isn't much to see from the Interstate..
New Orleans East was depressing.. moreso than usual... It looked like a ghost town ... The only thing you can see from the Interstate is darkness.. There's very few lights on.. Either via generator or those "road work" lights that are super-bright.. The only thing seen under the lights is either a parking lot full of debris to be hauled away, or a bunch of stuff being guarded..
Going over the highrise* was a sad sight as well.. From the top of it, you can see the entire city .... I couldn't see anything except small specks of light here and there..
I-610 was depressing to see as well.. Dark.. As I was driving in, going through the "woods" in Mississippi.. Where it's supposed to be pitch black (and is).. I was thinking to myself that I couldn't wait to see some lights in New Orleans... What a letdown..
As soon as I hit Jefferson Parish though, things started to look up .. Civilization! The Interstate was a mess, though ... As I came off the Interstate, it looked like an election day ... Hundreds of yard signs EVERYWHERE.. I've never seen so many that weren't instructing me to vote for someone!
As I turned off Bonnabel to get to my grandparents' house, the sides of the streets were lined with tree remains.. I didn't even recognized the street my gp's live on and almost passed it up ... Was crazy...
It was great to see my grandparents though.. and it was great for them to see me... I showed them some pictures of Andrew from my camera.. and gave them their professional pics of him (carla made up packages for everyone for me to distribute..)
(* highrise- Part of I-10 that goes over the industrial canal.. It goes up ridiculously high ... So large boats can pass under w/o needing a drawbridge.)
Tomorrow: The salvage.
Oct. 29th, 2005 @ 02:27 am
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| » (No Subject) |
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weird, this didn't get posted ... was saved as a draft for days!
You fit in with:
Agnosticism
Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Agnostic. You are fairly ambivalent towards any religion or spiritual connection. You lead a very busy life and find that religion and spirituality are unnecessary to your life.
40% scientific.
40% reason-oriented.
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Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
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Oct. 29th, 2005 @ 02:13 am
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| » My life: rated! |
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Oct. 27th, 2005 @ 05:03 pm
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| » -sigh of relief.. sorta- |
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fefferbella provided me with a few pictures of the outside of my house, and the inside of the other side of the duplex... It may not be as bad as I was expecting...
http://chrisgarcia.com/pn/modules.php?set_albumName=album60&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
Hopefully in 2 weeks I'll be down there to salvage what I can from the second floor .. If all goes well with securing a rental car and getting the time off from our respective work places..
(Many thanks go out to fefferbella for getting those pics for me!)
Oct. 17th, 2005 @ 12:22 pm
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| » Things are returning to normal.. |
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So we've been in the new house for a week and a half .. I'm gonna start working at Papa John's next week..
I'm not gonna be able to get home this weekend.. Can't afford to take the time off, and can't afford to rent a car.. :-(
Hopefully I can get down there in a couple weeks.. The more time I wait, the less things can be salvaged...
Although Carla doesn't want anything salvaged because she's ultra paranoid about mold or something ... People are saving shit they EAT OFF OF and cleaning it without issue... I'm not even looking to save that sort of thing.
I finally got some pics of Andrew up ... The cameraphone software had to wait until I had a high-speed connection..
Oct. 14th, 2005 @ 03:43 am
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| » I've got needs too! |
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Stolen from a friend:
Go to google, and type in "[your name] needs a" (include the quotes) and post the first 10 (or so) results..
Chris needs a stronger pop off the ground with his left leg.
Chris needs a structured and consistent family environment.
Chris needs a structured but caring and consistent family environment where he can be helped to live to his fullest potential.
Chris needs a makeover
Chris needs a Board notebook.
Chris needs a day job to support him in New York while he figures out what he wants to do with his life
Chris needs a less challenging task to help her develop the small muscles in her hands and her eye-hand coordination.
I think Chris needs a safety inspector at his Lobster Parties.
Chris needs a fifth to make his group whole.
Chris needs a warmer coat.
Oct. 11th, 2005 @ 09:45 pm
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| » Finally! |
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So I guess I owe my friends an update.. Here goes
We finally got into a house. It's a nice 3bd 2ba house with a garage and a deck ... Only $635/mo ... It'll suit us quite nicely for the next 6 months..
Carla started her job at Target monday ...
Things are not looking hopeful at home ... Here are some pics of the insides of a house 3 blocks away..
I'm looking to get down there and recover things next weekend.. Hopefully I can pull together the funds to rent a car...
Chances of the house being torn down are fairly good... Chances of my aunt being able to afford rebuilding are not. I'm not sure what exactly is going to happen in 6 months when it's time to come home.. Looks like we'll take it "a step at a time."
Oct. 5th, 2005 @ 09:02 am
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| » Who saw this coming? |
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Sep. 25th, 2005 @ 07:19 pm
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| » The hunt continues |
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So we've been here for almost 4 weeks... We were so close to having a place to live ... Signed the lease.. got the keys ... went in ... the place was filthy ... not what we expected (we were shown a different apartment) .. plus the fact that we took backstreets and found we were on the fringe of the ghetto didn't look good either ... apt manager offered to just void the lease and call it even... so we agreed .. and are continuing our hunt...
we're supposed to be looking at a house today .. about 5 minutes away from carla's parents.. which would be great...
whenever i get a card reader, i'll be sure to post pics of stuff... until then.. later on!
Sep. 22nd, 2005 @ 02:33 am
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5.4
4.5
6.8
5.6