by LuckySo-n-So on 18 Jan 2009, 17:38
Oh, forgot to include a couple things in my Top Ten list:
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, & Gustav. 3 + years after Katrina, and my state is still effed up (good for business, though, as I'm an electrician). However, I'll take a catastrophic hurricane every few years over the bitter cold of places north of, say, Tennessee/Atlanta for six months out of the year.
During the most recent hurricane--Gustav--I came very close to being killed without realizing it until the next day. Most of you may not know that Baton Rouge, LA was utterly devastated by Gustav. The national media only focused on New Orleans and, after seeing that N.O. came through relatively unscathed, said,"OK, you're fine....SEE YA!" My city, however took the full brunt of Gustav's winds.
Being an electrician, I was very busy in the days leading up to Gustav. I must have hooked up about 15-20 generators on the Fri-Sat-Sun before the storm made landfall. Well, on Monday, as the storm was coming ashore, a client called me saying he was having trouble. The winds weren't that bad yet (gusting to about 30-40 mph), so I told him I'd be right over. I fixed the problem and chatted for a few minutes and I was gone within 30 minutes. This was about 11:00 am. By the time I got home, the winds started picking up and were gusting into the 90s. Electricity was out for 90 % of Baton Rouge. A couple days later, as I surveyed the damage, I had occasion to drive through the area of this client's home. The main route I used to leave this client's neighborhood must have had 50 huge oak trees laying across it at various points.
I realized that had I not left when I did, I would probably have been crushed by one of those trees. I'm talking a matter of minutes. I was out of power for a week, while some areas were out for 3-4 weeks.
Anyway, it's good to see some familiar names again!
As far as DK goes, I was very disappointed with "The Girl in the Other Room," but I understand why she made it. However, I was elated with "From this Moment on." Being a former trumpet/sax player, I really liked the "big band horns" of some of the songs, especially the title track. I just discovered "Heartdrops" while perusing iTunes the other day, and while I haven't listened to all of it, I am intrigued by what I have heard. Here's hoping the upcoming release is her best yet!!
