The Goat and New Orleans

Ok, so the blog seems to be a hit, based on some feedback I have received from some folks. Readers are always welcome to post comments too. I've added a little thingamajig to the blog that tracks visits to the site and e-mails me the following day with the totals. There were 8 hits yesterday, although it is not sophisticated enough to tell me if was just me checking out the site to see if anyone left comments.

One reader e-mailed me and said "What's with the goat?" I guess I should explain that the photo in my profile was taken by Jolee on our recent vacation in Hawai'i at the Ferreira family ranch, Pihanakalani. The goat, who is a fine goat by goat standards, goes by the name "Re-Pete." He was one of a pair of twin goats the Ferreiras had, the first, Re-Pete's brother, was named Pete. I'll wait for the chuckling to subside.

It is Saturday morning and we are all mulling about, packing up a few boxes of clothing for a friend of our pal Rebecca Kendig, who works with Rebecca as a social worker in New Orleans. Rebecca is fine and got out of the Big Easy before Katrina hit, but had a harrowing journey, from weathering the storm out at a friend's in Mississippi, then weaving her way to the airport in Atlanta, and making it back to her folks' in Southern California. From all available signs, good news on Rebecca's house, which appears to have not been flooded. Of course, all of our thoughts and prayers go out to the good people of New Orleans. Both Melanie and I had the pleasure of visiting the city, on separate occasions, in 2003 and 2004. I spent most of my time at the Convention Center for a conference, so it was particularly unsettling to see the thousands stranded there in conditions quite different from what I had experienced at the annual Society for Human Resource Management convention.

I hate long blog entries, so I will cut this off now, but end on this note. Here comes my avoidance of the political. Last week at a televised fund-raiser, rap star Kanye West declared "George Bush doesn't care about black people," a sweeping generalization that I do not think is entirely true. But in last night's multi-network telethon Chris Rock hit the nail on the head: "George Bush hates midgets." Thus confirming why Billy Barty was overlooked for any cabinet positions in 2000, which ended, as we all know, with the diminutive actor dying in December 2000 from heart failure.

Have a good weekend.