so much to talk about, not ever enough time. i guess i'll tackle this issue first:



dude, if you live near new orleans, you *might* want to consider leaving now.

it looks like cuba's already taking a pretty big hit from this storm. it's strengthened to a category four already. people aren't sure if it is going to subside before it hits new orleans ... the one thing you can rely on with hurricane gustav is that your gas prices could possibly skyrocket as it heads into the gulf of mexico. fill up now if you want to avoid the spike for as long as possible.

it's great that the government is taking this storm a little more seriously than last time. granted, it's pretty sad that it takes total chaos, destruction, and the deaths of some-odd 1500 residents to get people to take hurricanes in new orleans seriously, but i suppose the silver lining in that is the much more appropriate response now three years after katrina. already thousands of people are being evacuated and that makes me much more comfortable. also, they're not putting another one of those "shelters of last resort" into place - thank goodness. the squalor that resulted of that, although it was a good idea in theory, was almost worse than some of the damage from the actual storm itself.

we'll have to see what happens here and if FEMA and the higher-ups can take charge and take the right approaches this time. i'm willing to bet there will be a lot that changes, but hopefully this time there will seriously be nobody left behind - and i really, really hope the levees hold.

also ...

sarah who?
(i couldn't resist. i'll get into that one a little bit later.)