frankly, I think it's bleak. Other people like to focus on the positive - if there is any small sign of life or recovery - like, say, a restaurant reopening, they get all gooey. Me, I guess I am an eeyore... I just don't see it. So the breakdown is that half of Slidell (our half) is "ok" which these days means that only every other house has been gutted because of flooding and the illegal immigrant roofers are either on or next to your house's roof. The other half of Slidell is a total nightmare and I drive through it every day. I realized this morning, as I drove past the boats and cars that were crushed by the tidal surge and then dumped on the side of the road or in people's houses that I am desensitized. It doesn't get to me anymore. That's just life - a disgusting fly infested pile of trash on the curb. New Orleans East flooded and is still totally deserted altho dry.

The cars in the Toyota dealership parking lot are still there, covered with the grey film left by the flood waters when they receded. You can see through people's houses where they have been in and gutted them and left doors and windows open, but they've been like that for weeks now and nothing has happened. At night it's totally dark out there - either no electricity or no one around, hard to tell. The city itself is getting cleaned up slowly - boards in many of the taller buildings' windows. More signs of life down there. The Riverbend area where Tulane is is ok in parts and looks like a massive wind storm just went through but as you go towards the Lake you see more and more of the grey film and gutted houses and stop signs where traffic lights used to be working but aren't now, three months later. Doesn't matter because there is hardly any traffic anyway. I don't see stray dogs anymore but I suspect they either died or were "rescued." They say recovery will take 10 years but I don't expect to still be here for that. Jim retires next Dec and we want out.

This place is crazy - the traffic sucks, the lines in grocery stores and restaurants sucks, the only good thing is that I can practice my Spanish more and since Walmart isn't open 24 hours, I don't have to feel like I *could* be going the grocery shopping. I will say this, tho - the storm has made people (mostly) kinder and more laid back. But I don't think it resolved the divide between the two New Orleans. That is, if anything, worse. There are the old money people on St Charles and in the Riverbend for whom life is somewhat normal, even if the menus at restaurants are limited. And then there is everyone else who lost everything and are trying to figure out whether it's worth it to bulldoze and rebuild or just sell the place as is. Oh, the City is setting up free wireless access for everyone, which I am sure will be of great use to the 40 percent of the city that is still without power.