Hey, What's Going on with YOU?

When I woke up this morning, I was in a pretty good mood. I did what I always do, check my email so I can respond if necessary or pay that bill. Some decisions had been made around here that were pretty momentous. D was going to a job interview. This was a hard decision as his current job is one that he loves but is entirely dependent on tourists who may or may not come to NOLA this summer. After arriving at a compromise attitude that would make it less an either/or proposition, we were fairly upbeat and optimistic.

I then got an email from someone about whom I care beyond reason. The sender was clearly angry about my political views and later said that there was nothing really personal in them. The sender wanted to know what was going on with ME.

I tried to explain that in a post-Katrina New Orleans, there is no way to extricate decisions made by "authorities" from one's personal life. That things like concern over the upcoming mayoral elections ARE "what is going on with me." Levees, their failure, their rebuilding, and all the issues connected to that ARE "what is going on with me." FEMA and insurance companies screwing over my neighbors and then listening to their stories on my front porch is what is going on with me. Friends leaving because they have no choice is an issue that cuts to the bone of what is going on with me. All of this seemingly impersonal stuff is deeply personal and every day presents those of us who are living here with decisions we have to make.

Below is a list of things that are "going on with me." I hope it suffices.

~We're still on permanent hold with FEMA.
~We have filed for but haven't heard from the SBA about a loan.
~We are still dealing with the stuff from storage and trying to find a new storage unit that's not a day's drive from here or priced higher than our apartment.
~We're wondering if the FEMA trailers in our neighborhood, which we're told can't sustain a Cat 1 storm, will turn into projectiles if a tropical storm comes ashore and undo the repair work that's been done already.
~We're trying to work around the Ferry being out of service for a film shoot. (Hopefully only a couple more weeks of that!)
~We're hoping that the restaurants, shops and clubs that we love will be able to make it. Sometimes we decide to go somewhere and find it gone when we get there.
~We're wading through the rhetoric in hopes of finding the best candidate to take on the rebuilding of this city.
~We're going to the Old Point here and there to socialize the new dog and have a couple drinks with others who are in the same boat.

Still not personal enough?
~I need to get some laundry done.
~I need to buy some glucosamine 'cuz my hips are hurting these days.
~I gotta color my hair, the roots are obscenely gray.
~I REALLY need to vacuum but the new dog hasn't seen a vacuum yet, so I'm putting it off.
~I'm nervous for my sweet neighbor and friend who's going to run a triathlon in a little over a week.

I'm going to go make a sandwich and read FEMA's new "hardcore" evacuation plan. What appears to be impersonal/political is deeply personal to me.

If I think of anything later, I'll post it.

Oh yeah, the new dog just bared his teeth at the cat and got corrected, I found my other sandal in the rubble under the bed, and I have to rebuild my address book in my PDA because I foolishly let the battery die.

That's what's going on with me.