The Road to New Orleans

[newman]

Tomorrow evening learnedax, pax_industria, and I are off on the road to New Orleans (since I'm clearly Bing, I leave it as an excercise for the reader which one is Bob Hope and which is Dorothy Lamour).

By "New Orleans" I really mean "Waveland, MS by way of Atlanta, GA", where by "Atlanta" I mean "Norcross". It goes a little like this...

We leave Boston, hit Norcross GA (it's a suburb of Georgia) and pick up a trailer. Go to The Restaurant Depot in Norcross, load it up with food, a 60 quart pot, and a bunch of slotted spoons. Also buy a palette of plain photocopier paper if we can find one/fit it. Drive to the New Waveland Cafe in Waveland, MS. Unload the stuff, spend a couple of days in a volunteer kitchen or whatever else needs to be done. Maybe drive back through NOLA to see marrus on the way back to Norcross to return the trailer.

The more we bring, the less of a drain we are on existing efforts. I was thinking of buying a tent the three of us could sleep in and just leaving it there for someone else. Possibly the same with any blankets, sleeping bags etc. I bring down.

I'm financing this little roadtrip out of my pocket. I expect I'll spend between $5,000 and $10,000 dollars depending on food, fuel, and costs of supplies (and whether we do one Norcross to Waveland run or two). I'm neither too proud nor too rich to accept donations. If you want to make a non-tax deductible contribution that I guarantee will go straight to help the people down there, drop me a line or send me some money via PayPal by sending money to yevsha @ comcast . net

I, and the people of Louisiana and Missisippi, appreciate it.

Comments

[mermaidlady]

I think pax_industria would look darling in a sarong.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

I'm sure learnedax is relieved to hear that, since he always has to play the girl.

BTW, to save on time and clutter I was thinking of grabbing the two sleeping bags we have and bringing them down with me, leaving them there, and replacing them in the spring. Do you mind? The same with a couple of our spare blankets.

[techgnostic.livejournal.com]

Dude. Waveland is the place I was going to suggest, either that or Bay St. Louis (they are 10 minutes apart). When you get off the interstate, head to 90, turn left for BSL, right for WL. Do you have your shots? If not, their should be a medical set up at that intersection where you can get them...or at least there was a few weeks ago.

Are you already in contact with anyone down there? If not, start with calling the fire departments in each town to get a heads up on the current situation.

It was kinda an odd choice, but I donated the bulk of the cash to the Southern Baptist Convention...and I'll tell you why. They cook food...good food...LOTS of it. Every where I went, they were there, setting up kitchens, feeding lots and lots of people. And they weren't pushy with their religion like all the other god-disaster groups. There were bibles for the taking, but otherwise you got to eat in peace. If Billy wouldn't have burned out, he would have been the one. I don't normally patron religious organizations, but they felt really worthy. Hope y'all don't mind.

And you guys really should take a day/two at the end of your trip to visit NO. It's only an hour+ down the road, and this is one of those things you get one chance to see. Speaking of that, bring your cameras...and look for the piano in the tree in BSL. Can't miss it...20 feet up, off second street, by the beach.

Call when y'all get closer, or if you run into difficulties.

[mermaidlady]

That's fine. They're pretty old sleeping bags. We can get new fluffy ones, I'm sure.

There's a couple of army blankets kicking around (maybe in the basement?). We're not using them for anything else.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

If I didn't trust your judgement as to what to do with the cash, I wouldn't have sent it to you. I don't mind it going to a religious group -- I'm glad it did some good (I knew it would; I was more worried it didn't end up in your hands).

You and Marrus both think I have your phone numbers. I don't, so someone send them to me (yevsha @ comcast . net) or call me on mine (I know Marrus has the number) before I leave, please. I'd love to check in with you guys when I'm down there.

[new-man.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of army blankets kicking around (maybe in the basement?). We're not using them for anything else.

Yeah, I'll set Niki to finding them.

[lakshmi-amman.livejournal.com]

If paxindustria is wearing a sarong, I'm sure it'll still look goth/punkariffic. Sort a "yeah, I'm wearing a fucking sarong? What of it?" sort of Eddie Izzard like ensemble. But then, I'm picturing him wearing it with a little mesh top and a leather jacket...

Remind me that I'd like to give you money tomorrow. Is a check OK?