This week, I kicked off a big fund-raiser for long-term flood
recovery, which was cool. This has been in the works for a couple of weeks and
I’m glad to have gotten it started.
The hard part, of course, is sustaining it, especially in
the face of new disasters.
Minot’s
flood, even though it affected a full quarter of the population, never really
got the attention of the nation. Recovery here is incredibly slow; beyond the
fact that fewer than 200 people had flood insurance (seeing as how we're not in a flood plain), we have a short, short building season and there aren’t companies
headquartered or based here to hand out money hand over fist and all.
And now there’s a new disaster to remove us even more from
the public’s eye.
It’s pretty awful, to try to figure out how to fund an
operation to rebuild homes when people would much rather contribute to a
high-profile disaster. I mean, what’s North
Dakota in comparison to the nation’s largest media
market?
That’s not to take away from the devastation along the East
Coast, but it’s just another challenge.
We don’t have Bruce Springsteen to hold a benefit concert
the week after. We wind up having the only celebrity in sight call in a favor
with his wife to get the Black-Eyed Peas to perform. (Apparently, Josh Duhmel,
whom I’ve never heard of, is married to Fergie, whom I’ve also never heard of,
and she is a singer with the Black-Eyed Peas, which I only know of as a
restaurant that, I think, went out of businesses, but it is apparently a band
as well. I don’t get out much, do I?)
So I do not know how this fund-raiser will do. And I worry
about recruitment for volunteer teams next year. And I worry about finding
grants to continue to fund the care and feeding of the volunteers who do come.
There aren’t going to be many teams coming here through the
winter, unfortunately. We don’t have another coming in until Nov. 12, but there
are still a few for the winter. I’m not sure when the next one after that is
supposed to be. I’d like to get more local volunteers, but right now it’s not
looking promising.
Part of that is the three inches of snow that just came
down. Yuk. I didn’t even drive anywhere this weekend because I just don’t want
to deal with the snow. Which doesn’t bode well since it’s only November.
The good thing about it being November is that, in seven days,
I get to move into the house. It looks like it’s a go, but I am going to have
to fork over some rent. At this point, I don’t care. I am so tired of throwing
on a coat, boots, a hat, scarf and gloves to go brush my teeth or whatever.
Just tired.
Weekends are boring, and I have to work my trips into the
church to brush my teeth, wash dishes, etc., around church services or risk
getting caught in the bathroom with a toothbrush in my mouth, which is kind of
a surprise to early morning church-goers. At least there were no funerals or
weddings this weekend.
I walked to the Y around noon on Saturday for a shower. It
feels like going to the hammam in Morocco. I load up stuff and walk
down there, then trudge back clean. Bishaa!
This weekend I had planned on going to see “Argo” but it
wasn’t showing at the matinee time and I decided I’d just get it on Red Box or
whatever when it comes out on video. Seven-seventy five for an afternoon show
doesn’t work for me.
So between that and the dreaded “wintery mix,” I just stayed
on campus, which means I’m going nuts now.
I started taking FEMA classes online to stave off the funny
farm. Between yesterday and today, I took seven classes. I decided I’d take all
the communications-related ones and add them to my resume. There are four of
those left, and then there are something like six others that sounded fairly
interesting.
But there are a slew of classes overall, so I might just
kill lots of time with them. I figure if the State job doesn’t come through,
maybe I can opt with FEMA. God knows it pays so much more. I am checking those
job openings on usajobs just to see what kinds of gigs they have.
Despite the fund-raising kickoff and being incredibly busy,
it seems like it’s been a dull week. I’m not entirely sure why that is, because
I really did do a slew of stuff. Maybe I’ve just already mentally blocked
everything.
I’ve ordered some new snow boots and bought the new Toby
Keith CD plus a George Strait No. 1 hits one. When those get listed as
highlights, it’s time to slit your wrists. (Nothing against TK or Strait, and
the boots *are* awesome, but you get the picture.)
In more Minot flood v. Sandy, here’s a sampling
of what we’re up against.
Beyond the Boss v. the Black-Eyed Peas, we have
dueling singles.
Rapper Big Reeno for Minot:
It’s “The Forgotten Disaster,” and, even though it’s not my
genre, it’s a really good thing for BR to do. I’m thankful he’s donating the
proceeds to Hope Village, though I wish he’d gotten our
web address right on the video. (It’s .org, not .com)
Meanwhile, Hurricane Sandy survivors get this:
It’s David Lee Roth, but not as Van Halen fans remember him.
Instead, he’s teamed up with my favorite country writer, Scotty Emerick, who,
while (unfortunately) not seen on video, is the one picking the guitar.
"One Piece Thermo-Molded Country Plastic Chair," with proceeds to Sandy victims.
I would very much like to read the story of how those two
wound up collaborating.
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