Whatever Strikes Me

My apologies to those who are still following the story of Julie. I received this update on Sept. 9 and forgot to post it. We’ve learned that within the past week or so the FEMA Castle was supposed to have been removed from Julie’s front yard. She said she would send a photo of her house without the trailer lawn ornament.

Here’s Julie’s report from Sept. 9:
“I am sorry it has taken me this long to give you an update. I moved the last box out of the FEMA Castle on August 25. Then on the  August 30 I had to put everything I could in the attic and on top of the kitchen cabinets because of Hurricane Gustav. Because of the job I have at present, I was required to stay at work from the 31 until the Sept 8. The house is fine and do not sustain any damages. I was afraid for a minute because the Gentilly side of the bank of the Industrial Canal was over topping. That is the body of water under the bridge that you crossed each day to get to camp. Anyway I had a few small branches and lots of leaves to get up. I am still very tired from work but all else is well.” 

On August 5, my wife Marga and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. Our celebration consisted of an early showing of “Mama Mia,” dinner, and home nodding off in front of TV by 8:30. No, we did not get the senior citizen discount at the restaurant.

For a variety of scheduling reasons, we were not able to get the family together to celebrate the event until this weekend, Sept. 6, 7. We spent Saturday afternoon/evening with our children, Sarah and Kevin, and Sarah’s boyfriend Chad, in Lake Geneva, WI. We took a boat ride on the lake and had dinner at the Geneva Inn. The dinner was exceptional, capped by the fact that the kids paid the bill!!

Sunday, we hosted the family for brunch, followed by cake, cookies, and conversation at our home. A highlight of the day was the cake, created by our magazine artist Elisa Kendal-Ward. It was quite a creation and the underlying cake was tasty. Here are a couple of shots of the cake.

Just received an e-mail today from Linda Burmeister, passing on photos and a report from Julie. As they had planned, John and Cathy did some heavy sweating in New Orleans last week and, as a result, Julie now has floors. Here’s what Julie had to say, followed by some photos of John and Cathy in action.
Gary

From Julie:
I do not know if you saw Cathy and John today, but here are some pictures from last week. The floors look great, but I feel so bad that I had to work all week and this one is not going to be any better. We have a survey by the Respiratory branch of JCAHO, who is now using the tracer methodology to do the survey. The air went out last week but my brother says it can be on again before the weekend. Next Saturday is my birthday and the best present is being made possible by you. I will be moving the majority of my stuff out of the trailer into the house.
Love You, Many Blessings, and that is for Dennis also!

Here’s what Julie had to report about her status as of July 8:

Just a line to say hello. My weekly progress is that I am still awaiting the Energy company to give me electrical power to the house. Cathy tell John I tried to copy his work in trimming out the doors. I put the flooring into the closet, but it will be almost as costly to put through out the house, so I am going to be learning how to do ceramic tiles in a couple of pay days. I have not taken anymore pictures mainly because I had put up plastic around the walls waiting for the ceilings to be completed with the popcorn. Christy the flowers are doing well!

Many Blessings!
Julie

Instead of watching fireworks, my 4th of July evening was spent at Jeni’s, a fellow reef aquarium keeper. For some time, she and I had been trying to find some mutual free time so I could photograph her aquariums. Jeni is a rather talented aquarist, both saltwater and freshwater. Several nice shots came out of the effort. My favorite shot from her reef tank is this one of a coco worm, a large filter-feeding tube worm. To see the rest of the shots from her reef tank, go to my Reefs Gallery.

From her freshwater tanks, one of my favorite photos is this one of her many discus. You can see more discus in my Animals Gallery.

I’m frequently asked for suggestions about what digital cameras to buy, but usually with the qualifier, “I don’t want to spend a thousand dollars for a DSLR.” I always try to help, but haven’t, until now, had much experience with point-and-shoot cameras. My best advice has always been to buy a brand name camera, preferably Canon or Nikon. I don’t think it much matters anymore, though I’ve always been a Canon owner and have always been happy with their products.

Recently, I acquired a Canon Powershot SD1100 IS camera. The link takes you to B&H Photo, one of only two places with which I do business. The other is Allen’s Camera in Levittown, PA, where I got the camera. This little deck-of-cards-sized camera is simply amazing. I’m just starting to grasp what it can and cannot do, but its ability to nail the exposure in auto mode in just about every situation is incredible. It can easily blow highlights, which is normal for these small cameras, and will easily generate noise if underexposure reaches a stop or more, but in normal shooting conditions it produces sharp, clear, well saturated images.

I’ve also been impressed with its macro/closeup capabilities. Again it gets the exposure right and handles depth of field well. It’s much better at the wide end of the zoom range.

The image stabilization feature is also a big plus. I’ve had it help me deliver sharp images, handheld, at very slow shutter speeds.

Are there negatives? Definitely. The viewfinder is essentially useless. I have never liked composing with an LCD screen in full sun and, though this one is better than most I’ve seen, it’s still hard to see. The lens is susceptible to flare, so you have to watch what you’re doing in full sun. It goes through rechargeable batteries like water, especially with the LCD screen and IS on all of the time. I got an extra battery when I got the camera and am glad I did. Batteries recharge in about 90 min. so it’s not that big of a deal.

If you’re looking for a digital camera and want a small one, I’m sure that any of the several Powershot cameras in this size will perform as well as the SD1100. Mine is proving to be a handy piece of equipment that allows me to have a camera with me whenever I want one and gives me the confidence to know I can get good shots without my DSLR.–Gary

Here are a couple of shots from the SD1100. This first shot of a steeple had strong sun on the white steeple and a relatively dark cloud background. The camera nailed the exposure with only a few minor blown areas on the white wood.

This macro shot of a piece of tourist gift shop “junk” was shot handheld with flash turned off. I wouldn’t mind a little more depth of field, but the image is more than acceptable.

Julie is getting closer to having that trailer removed from her front lawn. Here is an update from Julie:
“Just a quick update. I went back to work on Monday (12 to 14 hours/day) and have only been able to do about a half hour to 45 minutes before the dark has come. I really do not like to be in there alone when it is dark. The gas meter came yesterday and I was able to light the hot water heater late this afternoon. Guest what I will be doing when I get off tomorrow evening before it gets dark? You are so right! A long hot soak in the tub.
All of the electrical work has been completed. The electrician came by yesterday and gave the all-clear to contact the power company, which I did yesterday and today, but they are saying they have not received the permit from the electrician. I am going to call them again tomorrow and everyday until they tell me they have it.
I did finish the paint touch ups over the weekend and Darryl came by today and blew the 2 bedroom ceilings. They look awesome. He says he is coming back next week to do the other rooms where the popcorn was removed. He also said to say Hi, So Hi from Darryl.
I know we only had a week together, but the sound of that ice cream man would really be nice. By the sound I would know that you all were still here.

Many Blessings and much Love!”

If you have comments or questions about the Julie’s Hope mission trip, feel free to ask. If there are no comments to a post, click on the No Comments link at the end of a post. The first time you post, you have to register and your first post has to be approved. That’s to keep spam out of the blog. Once approved, future posts will appear immediately. If there are already comments in a post, just click on the Comments link to get the comment entry form.

If you’re wondering about our week’s work in New Orleans, let us know and we’ll fill you in.
Gary

I found this animation that shows how the flooding progressed during the hurricane. Julie lives in the Gentilly area. If you go to the animation and find the word Gentilly, Julie’s house is just above and to the right of the Y in the Gentilly label. Watch the animation to see how Julie’s home came to be under water.
Gary

New Orleans Katrina Flood Animation

For more about the Julie’s Hope mission trip, go to the blog created by team member Ed Burns:

http://www.julieshope.blogspot.com/