What on Earth would be an appropriate picture to post at such a tragic time as this? I really have no idea except that all my dreams are filled with water right now...not angry floodwaters but calm, green lake water that my family and me are happily swimming through. As we don't have enough money to pay for me to go to some sort of analyst, we are all going to have to assume my tiny little overworked brain, which has some sort of genetic tendency to dwell on the tragic and horrific, has just had enough of this American nightmare and is trying to turn itself over to more peaceful thoughts. So I went with an image of the San Francisco Bay, which is smelly but many older retired people seem to like swimming in it anyways.

People, and I mean all of you, how did we let this happen? I am known for being opinionated, just ask anybody I work with or of course David (who, by the way would never ever go floating around in a lake) and they all will confirm that I am indeed, opinionated. The opinion I am about to share with you now goes as follows: When a person lives in one of the richest, most technologically advanced countries in the world, it does not matter how poor or how old or how disabled or how stubborn or how not white that person is, that person should not ever have to jump out his or her attic window and swim up an exit ramp to safety carrying the next door neighbor's newborn child on his or her head. That's what I truly believe. And for anybody who dares try to heartlessly explain to me such things as the unpredictability of hurricanes or that people have a responsibility to take care of themselves....they can just shut the hell up because as far as I am concerned it is fairly predictable that hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast and I also find it more than reasonable for a government to help protect its' citizens on a daily basis, never mind in times of trouble. That is exactly what I think, although I admit I didn't swear as much as I wanted to.

In closing, the two favors you could do for me so that I don't have to sit Austin down one day and explain to him what a racist, classist, lame ass county we live in are:

1. Donate some time, money or your new boat to an organization that is helping flood victims.

2. Work with your own local government to make sure effective disaster plans are in place where you yourself live.

That is all. Oh, and my apologies for erasing that last post, I have no idea what I did or how to fix it.