OT- What I have been doing for the Past 4 Years...

[Hagler]

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I finally feel that I am far enough along in my goings-on that it is no longer just talk of the future. You may remember that I, like many, many others, was affected by hurricane Katrina. Nearly 4 four years later, I am close to moving into my new house. I started a blog, in order to have a single point from which to give updates to the wonderful Christians that are helping me build my house. I would like to share it with you all:

The home page:

http://haglerhouse.wordpress.com/

The construction page:

http://haglerhouse.wordpress.com/construction-videos/

You can also browse the other four pages, by clicking on the links near the top of the page.

Shawn

[Tycer]

Excellent!! Can't wait to see a picture of you cooking Carla dinner!

[Ysabel Kid]

Excellent!! Can't wait to see a picture of you cooking Carla dinner!

+1 Certainly a labor of love.

[dr walker]

I am glad to see the house is almost there. Looks like you had a good bunch of people out working to get the house together.

[rjohns94]

Wow, its come a long way. I remember the posts of the culvert operation and your situation has been in my prayers and journal ever since. I am so happy the long period of trials and tribulations are coming to a wonderful end. I wish you continued success in your leather work. Do you have a site or examples of the work you like to do with leather? blessings.

[C. Cash]

Wonderful to see this Shawn....... Thank you for sharing your site and story.
PS...
Funny I was just thinking about Art "Dead Calm" yesterday and thought I would put out my feelers for him, and lo and behold you have a picture of him on there this morning!

[salvo]

Excellent, great to see the progress that has been made Shawn!

[Hagler]

Thank you, all, for the prayers & kind words.

Tycer, I cannot wait to be able to cook in my new house. I am thinking of Carla's favorites: fried Italian sausage, smothered in onions & bell peppers, and a little garlic, simmering in a little olive oil, served with rice & brown gravey. ...maybe, with some garlic bread to sop up the gravey. ...or, perhaps, a pressure-cooker full of red beans & pickled pork, with some smoked sausage, served over rice, with a side of garlic bread.

Chris, I have e-mailed Art a few times, but I have not received a response. I believe that he moved to Arkansas. I have not seen him post on this forum for quite awhile.

Mike, thanks for asking. You can see some of my leatherwork here:

http://www.bigloopleather.com

It is just an album, with several pages of photographs, but it serves its purpose. I still have a lot to learn. I am pretty much ham-fisted, and I need to learn some grace & finesse.

Shawn

[Blaine]

Way to go, Hagler....I knew you'd whup life back into shape.....

[20cows]

Great news!

[RSY]

Great to hear Shawn. Wish I was still there so I could help out. All my best to Carla.

For anyone that watches the the Katrina animation linked on Shawn's blog and is interested, his old house was at the southern end of the street directly under the "S" in "POYDRAS" and is inundated in Scene 9. That animation always gives me the willies as it triggers memories of that time.

Scott

[Hagler]

Scott,

I wish you were closer, too.

Here is a VERY LARGE image of the area that Scott mentioned, about TWO WEEKS after Katrina:

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k185/ ... hboxes.jpg

My house is indicated by the RED BOX in the LOWER LEFTHAND corner of the photo. St. Bernard High School is indicated by the GREEN BOX in the CENTER RIGHTHAND side of the picture. NORTH is at the top of the page. NEW ORLEANS is about 17 miles NORTHWEST of my old house. You will notice "wet spots" & flooded streets, plus thousands of damaged trees, and blown-over roofs & damaged buildings.

The original photograph can be found, here:

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/25213335.jpg

Be aware, the original is EXTREMELY LARGE.

==============================================

More EXTREMELY LARGE pictures:

Chalmette & Arabi; notice Mobile Refinery, top, and the Kaiser Aluminum smokestack, center right:

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/24715462.jpg

=============================================

Chalmette- Judge Perez Drive; Schwegmann Plaza; St. Bernard Auditorium & Civic Center; Parish Government Complex; Home Depot; WalMart; Bucaneer Villa; Delaronde Hospital/ Chalmette Medical Center; LOWER RIGHT corner is a flood-control pumping station, I believe:

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/24714017.jpg

Shawn

[Streetstar]

Looks like a great spot.

I am an independent insurance adjuster who worked Katrina in the Lakeview area in '05, so i can empathize with your plight--- truly a life changing experience (even for me) . I am so glad to see that you and your wife are getting the new house in order. I had a few claims in St Bernard parish after Gustav as well and was surprised to see all the slabs still sitting there -- it was like the storm was 6 months ago, not 3.5 years ago.

May God bring a thousand blessings to you and yours as you settle into your new home