This evening is lovely and cool because it rained like the dickens this afternoon. Luckily, I was in PJ's and just got myself another cup of coffee and kept on reading a book that had come in today's mail. By the time I left it was down to a drizzle, but there must have been a bunch of rain because one of the streets between me and home had quite a bit of standing water by the curbs, and slightly over them. This says that their underground drainage system needs cleaning BADLY. This is the street that was lined with house guts after Katrina and the high water she brought. This is the street that has flooded every few years when there is a rain that drops a lot in a little time.

But then I'm sure every bit of underground drainage in Slidell needs cleaning, badly. I'm outside city limits and have open ditches. It's easier to get junk out of them, and they seem to hold more water.

My cats are so good--they haven't said a thing to Emma, even when she ventured out onto their porch and settled herself on one of their cat shelves. Of course, she hasn't been pushy about setting up camp on the porch, and she doesn't challenge them for food. Nor do they challenge her. And she hasn't come over to me for petting. She's quite happy when I pet her, but she recognizes my lap as MAJOR territory for the resident three.

Here's another "Beware the Corps of Engineers" story. Front page article in today's Times Picayune says "Problems emerge on new pumps. Motors may need to be rebuilt."

The pumps in question are "many or most" of the 34 pumps that the C of E put in at the new floodgates. It seems the pumps have a vibration problem.

Basically, it makes the brand new, multi $$$ floodgates useless. If, heaven forbid, the floodgates have to be closed, the Corps says it will use sheet pilings and portable pumps, which will "move a minimal amount of water."

Any of you that are counting on a Corps of Engineers constructions to protect you had better have an evacuation plan!

At this time a year ago Katrina was in the Atlantic and just becoming a Tropical Storm (winds ~ 34 mph and up). The weather people are reviewing last year day by day. I will be glad when Aug. 29 has passed, although I suspect the news of a year ago will continue to be featured. What I was aware of then was just what was on the radio. No newspapers, no TV. It was about three weeks before I saw pictures of what had happened to the Twin Spans and I-10 where it crosses Lake Pontchartrain.

And, New Orleans East is still empty. The Ninth Ward and much of St. Bernard Parish still have many many houses needing demolition. The population of New Orleans is less than half of what it was a year ago.

Enough of that, but the "a year ago" stuff in the paper and on TV is quite a reminder.