Panic and Pantomimes

Food on the Tube

2009-06-12T20:36:00.003-06:00

One of the joys of staying in hotels is finding out what the cable lineup is. Sometimes I am lucky and get dozens of channels; othertimes, only enough to count on both hands. On my current deployment to North Little Rock, I am blessed with such great channels as Animal Planet, Food Network, Discovery, and truTV.

My favorite is Food Network. Where else can I watch people making food all day long and dream of doing it? I would like to become a chef someday. I have aspirations of becoming a whiz at soups, breads, and salsas.

I like to consider myself a salsa afficianado. I have tasted my fare share throughout the years, and revel in learning more about them and discovering more types and ingredients. Some of my favorites:

Dueling Coyote Salsa: http://duelingcoyotessalsa.vpweb.com/
Julio's Corn Tortilla Chips (and salsa): http://www.julioschips.com/index.html
Pace Salsa (the new lineup, not the picante varieties): http://www.pacefoods.com/products.aspx

Gustav...update...finally!

2009-02-04T13:32:00.002-06:00

Well, as we all know, Hurricane Gustav made landfall in Louisiana as a category 2 on September 1, 2008.

I worked at the State Operations Center in Baton Rouge, getting a chance every so often to step outside under the building's awning to feel the wind and see its effects on the area.

My hotel was without power for 3 days...some parts of Baton Rouge were without it for a week or more.

The work days were long, but the recovery work finally settled down and transitioned through its phases. I left Baton Rouge in late October, getting some time off before my next deployment.

Gustav - Not Looking Good

2008-08-27T08:52:00.004-06:00

Tropical Storm (formerly Hurricane) Gustav is meadering through the Carribean Sea as we speak. This Category 1 hurricane made landfall over Hispanola, weaking to a Tropical Storm, but still packing sustained winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. Current forecasts indicate Gustav is heading for the Gulf of Mexico; more specifically, the Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines.

I am currently working preparedness and response in Baton Rouge. As early as noon today, I may be a Planning liaison to the State. This is not looking good.

Foreclosure Arson

2008-03-14T18:10:00.006-06:00

Every week, there is news on the mortgage crisis. You can't escape the headlines about foreclosures. The USA Today paper is usually plastered with a mortgage-crisis headline. This past week, the headline reads that mortgage borrowers are simply walking away from their home, succumbing to foreclosure instead of losing more money. Also, borrowers are dipping into their 401K's to stay afloat.

In a video today on CNN.com, I was shocked (but not too terribly surprised) at the latest foreclosure news: Homeowners committing arson as their homes face foreclosure. As a former firefighter, I consider arson to be a deadly sin. While arson might seem, in a moment of hopelessness, a way to successfully get insurance money...it is a deadly game of premeditated crime.

"Sheryl Christman was sentenced last month for setting fire to her Michigan home. She thought insurance money could help her catch up on her past due house payments."

"...and after a conviction, homeowners still owe the bank hundreds of thousands of dollars."

-CNN
correspondent Chris Lawrence

Unfortunately, most of these convicted arsonists only receive probation. A slap on the wrist for a premeditated criminal act, costing taxpayers and insurance holders money, and risking lives of all involved.

Ash Wednesday

2008-02-06T20:07:00.000-06:00

As a Protestant, I always viewed Ash Wednesday as an odd day. It wasn't until my post-college years that I really came to understand the meaning behind it, and who exactly celebrates it. In the past year, I have fervently studied Catholicism. There are many unique practices, and the Lenton season is certainly one of them.

For those of us non-Catholics, the Lenton Season (more commonly referred to as Lent) begins with Ash Wednesday. Lent is the forty days prior to Easter, in which the faithful make personal sacrifices in order to glorify Christ - in remembrance of Christ's forty-day desert fasting. Those who observe Ash Wednesday go to Mass and receive a blessing of ashes on their forehead. A small amount of ash is placed on the priest's finger, who in turn makes a tiny "sign of the cross" on the recipient's forehead. Sometimes the mark looks like a cross, but more-often it looks like a dash or a blob. The ash signifies forgiveness of sin, which without Christ, invokes death. The priest will say "Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return."

For the remainder of the day, the faithful walk around with ash on their forehead. For them, they are making a personl commitment as a way of glorifying Christ. My only qualms about the practice of Lent is with some of those who observe it. You see, most of the faithful receive their ashes and begin their Lenton journey toward Easter. They make personal sacrifices, giving up a food they obsess about or an activity that tempts sinfullness. As they should, they properly observe the private practices of Lent. However, there are those who make it social hour, asking their friends, buddies, online chatmates, and anyone else within earshot "What are you giving up for Lent?"

I laugh a little inside every time I hear that...every year. I sigh a little, too. I understand their fervor and passion for what they believe in. Being blessed is always a joyful feeling. And fellowship with other believers is like a taste of Heaven. However, Christ didn't mince words when he spoke of how we should practice out faith:

Matthew 6:1-8
1Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The whole 6th chapter of Matthew is one of my all-time favorites. It helps greatly with humility, and verse 9 begins the Our Father prayer. Christ saw the "religious" around him and how they lived out there faith, as if it was a spectator sport! The problem with acts of righteousness is that we tend to desire recognition and validation from other believers. We're all human...it makes us feel good when someone acknowledges that we are going above and beyond for Christ. If we are not careful, however, it in itself becomes sinful. Our Father does not reward boastfullness. He rewards secret adoration. So the next time you do something AWESOME for our God and you feel that urge to shout it from the rooftops...stop, take a moment, and let His be the only ear you bend.

Faithful (noun) - church members in full communion and good standing.

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

2008-01-23T13:52:00.000-06:00

Well, it has almost been a year since my first real deployment on disaster recovery. That was Oklahoma City 2007. The new year has found me once again in the good state of Oklahoma (note that I put "good", not "great"...I think Texas only deserves that status). I put in 3 1/2 months last year, and I am hoping for the same this year.

I have already visited a few similar places, driving by the Fair Grounds and visiting a local religious gift store. The GREAT thing is that I am staying in the same GREAT hotel as last year and working in the same building. Anybody who knows me knows that I am a creature of habit. Change is BAAAAAD. There are many familiar faces at the Joint Field Office (JFO), which made me smile when I first arrived. And this go-around is for the same circumstance: winter ice storms.

Half-Marathons and Such

2007-04-13T14:31:00.000-06:00

Being deployed in Oklahoma City, I've heard a lot of advertisements for the 7th Annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. I've decided to run it, contrary to my good sense and my body.

Training has been interesting. It turns out that my girlfriend's hopes for me working out were not in vain after all. ALMOST every day, I have worked out (cardio) at my hotel's fitness room. That in itself is surprising, considering that the only equipment in the fitness room are two treadmills, an eliptical, and a stationary bike. I dread the thought of coming home from work, only to get worn out by running 3 or 4 miles at a marathon-pace...but once I'm actually running, it ain't that bad.

One of my pet peeves when working out is having to carry around my wallet so I have some kind of identification if anything bad happens. Thankfully, I came across RoadID, which sells engraved ID tags that you can wear on your ankle, wrist, or shoe (as well as other safety features). Now I can leave my wallet behind, and go out running, knowing that first responders have my emergency information to be guided by. Check out the link if you're interested.

With two weeks to go until the 13.1 mile race, I'm feeling fairly confident in my abilities to finish the race. The only thing holding me back is procrastination and my inability to manage portion control.

A No-Go for Clovis

2007-04-04T20:24:00.000-06:00

I finally found out when my deployment in Oklahoma City will be over...I think.

The Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) got word that it will be May 11th. My girlfriend is not too happy. She is missing me sorely, and she realized that almost a whole semester has gone by since I last came to see her at her college. May 11th is long past my expectations. Things have slowed down (in the Planning section) to the point that we are finding things to do. I expected to be out of here in mid-April. Other news came in as well...the Clovis tornado damage estimates have exceeded the threshold, and it has been declared a federal disaster.

However, it is very small, consisting of only two counties so I will not be needed at that location.

Tornado Alley

2007-03-31T20:56:00.000-06:00

Thursday and Friday were busy days for Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; severe weather moved along a stationary front, bringing tornadoes, flooding, and hail.

Being the unofficial weatherman at the disaster field office in an eastern suburb of Oklahoma City, my eyes were glued to radar screens, television stations, and my ears perked anytime a NOAA weather radio sounded. Much to our surprise, a tornado touched down in northwest Oklahoma City on Thursday. Being in tornado alley, you come to expect the worst, and you come prepared.

To make matters worse on Friday, my girlfriend was traveling home from school in west central Texas. Severe weather pounded the region, and multiple tornado warnings were issued for counties that she was in and counties that she was traveling through. Thank God, she made it back to San Antonio safely.

The disaster field office is still awaiting damage estimates in Clovis, New Mexico for a tornado they had earlier in the month. Maybe I'll be deployed there...or maybe I'll remain in Oklahoma for another month. Only time and damage estimates will tell.

The Science of Getting Out Alive

2007-02-13T11:43:00.000-06:00

A cold, piercing wind awaited me this February morning in Oklahoma City. Ten minutes 'til 7 o'clock, I rushed to work. The disaster recovery Joint Field Office (JFO) has been my temporary location since I arrived on January 31st in response to the ice storms. The morning e-mail from the Safety Officer intrigued me. Usually, he sends out all-hands e-mails regarding possible icy conditions on the sidewalks, or how to drive safely. This morning, he forwarded an article from Time Magazine writer Amanda Ripley, titled "How to Get Out ALIVE; From Hurricanes to 9/11: What the Science of Evacuation Reveals about How Humans Behave in Disasters" on the biological/psychological aspect of surviving a mass emergency or disaster. As I perused scientific research on human response mechanisms of disaster victims, several quotes stood out:

"In the hours just before the Tenerife crash, Paul Heck did
something highly unusual. While waiting for takeoff, he studied the 747's safety
diagram."

Over the past six months, my job has flown me to several work locations. They were my first flights in almost ten years. In addition, having just recently graduated with a degree in disaster management, I promptly read the safety manual on the seatback in front of me. In this article, Paul and his wife survived a fatal fire that engulfed his airplane after it was struck on the tarmac by another airplane. Most passengers on his flight had in fact, survived the crash. Most of the fatalities on his flight occurred from the fire that followed. Paul's wife recalled looking over her shoulder as she quickly exited through a hole in the wreckage. She saw her friend, sitting motionless in some sort of trance. That trance cost her friend her life.

"As we stood to evacuate, there was a loud thump. In a crowd
of experienced flight attendants, still someone had hit his or her head on an
overhead bin. In a new situation, with a minor amount of stress, our brains were
performing clumsily."

The article's author described her experiences at the FAA's Training Academy, after participating in an airplane emergency simulator alongside flight attendants. During times of acute stress and unfamiliar circumstances, the human mind can turn the simplest of motions into complex, confusing tasks ... unless we take the initiative and learn how to survive.

"If we know that training--or even mental reheaersal--vastly
improves people's responses to disasters, it is surprising how little of it we
do."

Police S.W.A.T. team members will tell you how they "fantasize" about a dozen varieties of situations they encounter. They mentally go through department guidelines, their movements, the conditions they might face, and the possible outcomes. This helps them prepare for any situation and helps ensure that when the moment of truth comes, they won't hesitate or be dumbfounded by an unexpected occurrence. Being a wildland firefighter, I have found myself fantasizing about situations I might come across on the fireline. I take mental note of escape routes and fire shelter deployment zones. I think through every action I must take to properly deploy the shelter and I attempt to fathom the extreme conditions I will face beneath the shelter as a fire passes over me.

While it's a morbid idea and sometimes leaves you with an uneasy feeling in your stomache, fantasizing about tragedy is an essential tool for increasing your chances of getting out alive.

Fantasize (transitive verb) - to indulge in reverie : create or develop imaginative and often fantastic views or ideas.