Bayerworld - The Rantings of Craig Bayer

Pictures from Gustav - 7:21 PM

We have a curfew at 8pm.  It is like High School all over again.

My Gazebo did not make it.

12:00 PM - More trees and limbs down

There is a live power line around South Eugene and Zeeland St.  The gust have really picked up now.  A couple of more major limbs down around the Garden District.  It is safe enough to go out now, but we will head back to the house soon. 

Its here - 8:30am

Went to Ivars last night.  It was more packed that it is on a Saturday Night.  Came home and watched Arrested Development on the projector.  The first winds have gotten here but we have not lost any power.  Our dog ate the remote so we have the tv stuck on one station.  Everyone is very calm.

Here we go again!!!

Looks like Baton Rouge will take a direct hit.  Everyone is pretty calm but the traffic is horrible and the lines for gas are around the corner. 

I have been in Baton Rouge this week except for a brief trip to Monroe to speak for the Louisiana State Bar Association.  I went to the LSU game on Saturday which was at 10am.  It was hot, but I would say the stadium was 70% full.  I am not going to make any statements like I pretty much hurricane proofed the house, because the last two trees in my yard would probably crash into it.  I purchased a wireless card from AT&T on Friday so I should have Internet even if we lose power. 

I am very happy that I moved the office to hosted exchange and sharepoint.  I don't have to worry about backups or the system going down. 

Will keep you posted!!!

The Craig Bayer Phenomenon

And I though I left my political career behind.  Thanks John.

 

http://www.news3online.com/index.php?code=908D727skw733EA3GZqj

Top 5 WiFi Spots in New Orleans

Since I live in New Orleans half the week, I have been trying to find some great places to work.

1.  rue de la course - magazine st

Hands down my favorite coffee shop in New Orleans.  I am usually at the Magazine location on Wed and Thursday.  The Coffee is great and it stays open to 12am. 

2. The balcony bar - magazine st

After work, its nice to grab a beer, sit on the balcony and answer email.  Nothing beats the view or the happy hour specials.

3. Yogurt - Maple St

Its nice to grab a wrap and sit on the street and work.  They just encrypted their WiFi, which sucks because I used to sit in the Starbucks and use it.

4. St. Charles Street Car

When I am going to be downtown the whole day I usually take the street car into the CBD.  From Louisiana on, I can grab the earthlink WiFi and answer emails.  The connection is very unstable but I can get emails in and out.

5.  ???  I need to find a good restaurant like the chimes that it acceptable to work on a laptop.  I tried to do this in Cooter Browns, which has WiFi and everyone looked at me like I was nuts.  I pulled my laptop out at the Rusty Nail and some punk made a smart ass comment.  I thought about smashing my laptop into his face which is why I have taken the nail out of the running.  The search continues...

This a test from new cell phone

Ff

“Hot Art, Cool Nights”

The fifth annual Baton Rouge Mid City Merchants sponsored spring art hop, “Hot Art, Cool Nights”, will be held on Friday night, May 9, 2008, from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.

http://www.midcitymerchants.com/

I went with Ashley last year and had a blast.  I actually ended up buying some art.  I wish I could go this year but will be in New Orleans.  There is free drinks, so no excuse not to go.

This is why George Bush is so wrong

Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj arrived home in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum early Friday after nearly six years in the U.S. Navy prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/05/01/gitmo.journalist/index.html

How can we hold someone for 6 years without charging them with anything and then just let them go?  George Bush talks about wanting to spread democracy throughout the middle east.  Well we might want to start by giving due process the people to the in our custody.  It comes no supervise that the day Mr. al-Hajj is released, George Bush has now official has the highest disapproval ratings of any president in the modern era.*

Great Commentary on Airport Security

Peggy Noonan has written a great article on the mess that is airport security.  Please read it here: http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html.

And, as always: Why do we do this when you know I am not a terrorist, and you know I know you know I am not a terrorist? Why this costly and harassing kabuki when we both know the facts, and would agree that all this harassment is the government's way of showing "fairness," of showing that it will equally humiliate anyone in order to show its high-mindedness and sense of justice? Our politicians congratulate themselves on this as we stand in line.

I wonder if the politicians even have to wait in line?  It seems that no one in the executive branch does:

Near the end of my six-hour shift, I'm achy, unaccustomed to standing for hours and lifting bags that feel like they're full of bricks. Just then a buzz goes through the checkpoint—Senator Hillary Clinton is on her way. We all stand as if at attention as she arrives with her secret service agents, smiling vaguely in our direction. I notice that she does not go through normal screening but enters a special lane reserved for law enforcement officers and pilots authorized to carry guns, a privilege accorded to her as a former first lady. Mere politicians must present a plastic bag like everyone else. *

in all fairness the president should have to go through airport screening before he enters AirForce One.  They are as likely to be terrorist as my 80 year old grandmother in a wheel chair who had to go through the additional security a couple of years ago.   Barbara Peterson, a writer who worked for the TSA sheds some light on the organizations mentality. 

The reason the TSA—and my supervisors—give for searching this man is what I will come to call the "you never know" argument. As in you never know if an elderly person in a wheelchair is a dupe for a saboteur. Of course, it's important to keep the extra screening as random as possible to avoid any patterns that a terrorist could exploit. But clearly, unless you believe that The Manchurian Candidate presents a plausible scenario, there are people who could safely be exempted without compromising security.*

These days if I can get there in a day I try to travel by train.  It costs the same amount as a plane but I always get their on time and I don't get talked down by an airport screener because I accidentally left my toothpaste in a carry on bag. 

If you have some more time read the full article* by Barbara Peterson, about her two month's as an airport screener.