Star

Day #36. I so miss you all, so very much. Boy was I sick! I had to stay in bed 11/25, but I don't remember much. I got what was passing around here at headquarters. I have been all better for a few days now, but today started coming down with something again. This feels like a regular cold (ugh). I'm drinking lots of orange juice and eating healthy to try to keep it at bay. My boss and her minions left for dinner, so I have a chance to do hit the Internet from the office. Still 12+ hour days every day. They are talking at least through the end of January now. I keep getting a flash policy thing when trying to use webchat, so can't get in that way. Mirc seems out of the question here (at the DRO HQ) or at the hotel. I am truly the taxi princess now. When I walk down the street, they pull over for me without even waving at them. I suspect I have a NY walk now. I know I have NY attitude. I was walking with the light the other afternoon and a huge bus pulled around the corner right at me. I merely stopped mid-street right in front of him, smiled, and pointed politely at the "my turn to walk" light. I suspect the drive did not speak English because he was gesturing at me with both arms, obviously trying to communicate using sign language in his native tongue. I waved back with a big smile and proceeded on my way. My Red Cross phone number is (202) 674-0051. I would love to hear from you guys. I can't talk during the day, but after 8 p.m. or so NY time should be okay. If I don't pick up, just leave your name and number so I can find you. I need to find a long scarf somewhere. It is pretty darn cold here! The taxi fairy was good to me the other night. I found a $50 bill on the seat of the taxi when I got it (woot!). Okay, I got something of a second wind and want to wrap it up here so I can head home to the hotel. Hugs, Deb

Day #27 of the Hurricane Sandy response. The operation provided me with a laptop with an aircard last night, so I can work from my hotel room. New York is an amazing city. I never realized how much New York is part of our lives as Americans. Today was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I had my first time off since I arrived, a half day. I slept! Took a taxi to work at noon and found much of the city's streets were closed due to the parade. I took a few pictures while we were backed up in traffic. One was of two policeman in front of a baracade with the street behind them empty of people and cars for as long as you could see. It reminded me of a science fiction movie. Another picture was of what must have been hundreds of policemen on one street corner surrounding a subway entrance. I asked the taxi driver what was happening. He said it was due to security for the parade. The last picture was of three little girls playing around a street light pole, laughing and singing. I thought it was cute. I wondered if these little "city girls" had ever had the opportunity to run in a field or play in a yard of their own. It is almost 3 a.m. now, and I need to go back to sleep. I woke up about an hour ago, all congested and unable to breathe. It seemed like a good time to try my Internet connection for the first time. I miss everyone so much. I've talked to gh, EB, and susan by phone and it was nice to catch up. Internet in the hotel was $14/might and is now up to $15/night. Everything here is so very expensive. I have no idea how people can afford to live here! Now that I have free connectivity, I am catching up with home manners (bills, etc.). I have to get up for work in 2 hours, so going to trying to sleep some more. Hugs to everyone!

New York.

As I was pondering my spam e-mail, I wondered if the missives might be used as a source of inspiration for writing. I cleared my spam and am going to start creating a story line based on what happens to pop up. Given my attention span is marginally greater than that of a gnat, no telling how long this will keep my interest. I wonder if we created similar stories if we would see differences in the types of spam we receive. Anyway, off to complete another day ... Star

LOL. That poor woman.

Dawn! Hey, welcome sweetie.

I don't understand it?

LOL, Henry.

LOL. NaNa, NoNo .... do we see a pattern? My real one is Darling Bunny actually, but meh.

This is so cool that you are posting all of these projects. Sometimes I think that I should do the same. It is like the nice pre-blog days.

Now THAT reminds me of the first TV we had. Gosh, it looks so good. The condition is amazing.

I'm sure you are as big a Honey Boo Boo fan as I, so here is a link to the Honey Boo Boo nickname generator - https://www.facebook...274643699317380 . My real nickname is (appropriately): Darling My chat nickname is: Sparkal To get the ball rolling, Koach's chat nickname is: Kumquat /me goes to the middle

That looks like a great project. Be sure to post how it is going. It will be cool to see the final picture.

Happy Birthday to mama's special chatter person, hugs!

This sounds really good, thanks. I am going to try making it this weekend.

Thanks, Smiley. I was just going to post it. I found it almost relaxing to read and there were a lot of quotes that gave me something to think about. I am going to look for more from the author.

ROFL!

LOL.

Those little faces! How darling!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes, you are all so sweet. P.S. Pink becomes you Koach, you should use it more often.

This is so romantic. Thanks, Henry.

LOL that is good.

That is a lot of fans, is that normal?

This is the type of thankfully small, yet very annoying fire we get in California. I wanted to share this picture because you can see how close the fire got to homes on Thursday. This family lost some sheds out back; however, their house was spared. We (the Red Cross) have had to open two temporary evacuation points (TEPs) so far as the fire moves around. Each day, the people were allowed to return home so the TEPs did not need to turn into a shelter. A location is not considered a shelter until there is a need to have people sleep there overnight. We had some rain yesterday which allowed the firemen to reach 65% containment with no increase in acres burned for 24 hours.

This is the best video I've seen about Solar Eclipse 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/solar-eclipse-2012-california-likely-to-offer-impressive-views.html I am hoping to get some images of what it looked like here. Please share any photos you take, too.