Monday, October 10, 2005
Recap from the Past Week
The last week has been an absolute whirlwind for me. Monday I slept on my right shoulder wrong and woke up in complete pain. Tuesday I got a call from work instructing me to go to New Orleans, and I arrived in NOLA the next day.
NOLA broke my heart. You see the pictures on the news, but it is not the same until you are actually there. The city is devastated, but the people are resolute. We got started working at 7:00 AM everyday and I went to Bourbon street until 4:00AM every morning. Bourbon street is alive! I had long conversations with some very interesting people; a camera man for WWL, a guy who cleaned up the Presidential Suite before Bush came, and plenty of search and rescue guys. They are all working very hard and I was honored to buy them a beer.
I told my wife the night before I left for New Orleans that I was scared about what I was going to see there. I was afraid of seeing and smelling a city full of death. The last day we went to the Bywater district and I smelled that death. We got out of the car and started throwing up because of the smell. I shutter to think about it and I know that smell will never leave my memory.
I got a chance to workout by lifting coffee bags. Coffee bags are big burlap sacks, a bit lager than a pillow, and they weigh 150lbs. I was able to clean and press a bag in front of all the warehouse men - they told me that the only other guy in the warehouse who could do that is a huge man named "Mad Lester". The rest of the days I would sneak around a stack of coffee and lift a bag and press it for reps. At the bars at night we did a lot of arm wrestling. One night I beat 3 guys on both arms 2 times in a row - I was sore the next day from that.
The trip was exhausting - mentally and physically. I feel like I have been sleeping for the past 3 days trying to recover. My shoulder is finally starting to get back to normal and I am looking forward to getting back into my routine.
NOLA broke my heart. You see the pictures on the news, but it is not the same until you are actually there. The city is devastated, but the people are resolute. We got started working at 7:00 AM everyday and I went to Bourbon street until 4:00AM every morning. Bourbon street is alive! I had long conversations with some very interesting people; a camera man for WWL, a guy who cleaned up the Presidential Suite before Bush came, and plenty of search and rescue guys. They are all working very hard and I was honored to buy them a beer.
I told my wife the night before I left for New Orleans that I was scared about what I was going to see there. I was afraid of seeing and smelling a city full of death. The last day we went to the Bywater district and I smelled that death. We got out of the car and started throwing up because of the smell. I shutter to think about it and I know that smell will never leave my memory.
I got a chance to workout by lifting coffee bags. Coffee bags are big burlap sacks, a bit lager than a pillow, and they weigh 150lbs. I was able to clean and press a bag in front of all the warehouse men - they told me that the only other guy in the warehouse who could do that is a huge man named "Mad Lester". The rest of the days I would sneak around a stack of coffee and lift a bag and press it for reps. At the bars at night we did a lot of arm wrestling. One night I beat 3 guys on both arms 2 times in a row - I was sore the next day from that.
The trip was exhausting - mentally and physically. I feel like I have been sleeping for the past 3 days trying to recover. My shoulder is finally starting to get back to normal and I am looking forward to getting back into my routine.
# posted by Unknown @ 2:59 PM 
