February 3, 2006

Just got back to the hotel from work. I went in about 1:15 or so, the place was a shithole. They left me with two backup cooks. One started yesterday and the other started the day before. What a goatfuck. We closed at 9pm with people still trying to get in the door. It took just over an hour to get it cleaned up, I think it still looked like shit but it was certainly better than I came into. I am in the business center downstairs right now. I knew that if I went up to the room that I would pass out before I could get a chance to post anything. Took a couple of pics on the way to work, but they will have to wait until I get home. Hopefully I can get down to Biloxi and Gulfport tommorow evening and maybe get some more pictures (maybe stop in at a casino as well. I wonder if I could right that shit off on my expense report.

I am working the second shift today. I spent yesterday working in Waveland which apparently is one of the hardest hit areas. That is where I am working today as well. It looks like a frigging war zone. The pictures I posted yesterday don’t nearly show the extent of damage down here, I just snapped them from the parking lot where I was.

As I drove back to the hotel in d’Iberville (it was still dark when I went in) I noticed lots of trees still down. There are collapsed houses and buildings everywhere. Mountains of debris have been piled up beside the road where people have started to clean up. You can tell how high the water got and how strong the wind was, there is still trash stuck in the trees 20′ up. There are no buildings without some damage. Even the businesses that have re-opened are missing signs, or other parts of the buildings.

A great portion of the people that I have been working with are still living in their tiny FEMA trailers, or their houses filled with mildew and mold. Most of them have been working no-stop with no time off since the hurricane. Out of the several units in this immediate area, they have turned all but one manager. Most of them have burned out and quit. Since very few other restaurants are open, it is non-stop business all day long. The one I have been at is only open from 7am to 9pm, and they are doubling the amount of business that I do in 24, and I run the busiest store in West Georgia.

All in all, I am glad that I came down here, and would be more than willing to come back again, as long as I can drive instead of fly. That flight down sucked. I will have to make sure and have a beer or two before my flight home, and take a Benadryl. Hmm..I fliy back Sunday afternoon. Don’t know if you can buy beer on Sundays here or not. Damn.

The hotel is pretty cool. Wired and wireless access in the room. I haven’t broken out the laptop yet, mainly have just used my phone and iPaq. I am currently on one of the computers in their business center right now. Luckily they have printers in here as well, so I will be able to print out my boarding pass tommorow night.

I was going to spend the afternoon in Biloxi taking some pictures, but since I will be working I will try to get out tommorow.