I just got a call from my aunt. My Grandma has passed away.

I can’t believe how big Mishka is! He still acts like a kitten, so I forget he’s a cat. He also likes to pose for photos.

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As I was flying back from Grandma’s, I watched the sunrise.
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A week ago I found out my grandma was in the hospital. The news didn’t look good, so I decided to go for a visit. It wasn’t a fun time, but I’m glad I went. It’s like she developed advanced Alzheimer’s in a week. We aren’t sure why her conditioned worsened so severely that quickly, but suspect it has something to do with her doctor taking her off all her medications at once. That just doesn’t seem right, you know? So, my aunt and uncle got her switched to another doctor and moved into a skilled care room at her retirement center. I helped my aunt with the move while I was there.

It was hard seeing Grandma so out of it – the first few days she wouldn’t eat and she didn’t always seem to know where she was. She would just lay there and stare blankly (she can’t see). Since it is Alzheimer’s, I don’t hold out much help that she will improve. I don’t think, however, I realized how depressed I was about the whole thing until I was sitting at work today. Staring at my computer screen and feeling like it was all so pointless.

I just updated the gallery software to a version that allows me to completely embed it into Word Press and allows for a random sidebar image on each page. So far, it seems to slow down the page rendering by quite a bit, but it’s not like anyone actually reads these pages, so I’m going to leave it active for now.

Talking Points Memo has a good sum-up of today’s NY Times article: Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy

And if I had to sum up the story it would be one of overwhelmed and often frantic local officials asking for every sort of assistance available from federal authorities, but sometimes not being completely sure precisely what they needed or the exact way to ask for it. On the other side you have the feds taking a consciously passive, reactive stance, and often displaying an oddly legalistic and bean-counterish attitude when asked for specific kinds of support.

Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush’s former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

Here’s a great photo essay that documents the timeline of damage caused to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent levee breaks.

Firefighters: We Were Misused In Katrina Rescue Efforts

n a document that went out from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency asked for firefighters with very specific skills and who were capable of working in austere conditions. When they got to a center in Atlanta, they found out their jobs would be public relations.

“Our job was to advertise a phone number for FEMA,” said Portage Assistant Fire Chief Bill Lundy. “We were going to be given shirts and hats with a phone number on it and flyers, and sent to shelters, and we were going to pass out flyers.”

Goodness I love The Onion…and sometimes, I really need it.