Excitement on Canal Street and not the usual kind! So last night as I headed to the airport to pick up my friend I noticed the smell of gasoline permeating the bottom floor of my apartment building. Independent woman that I am, I of course called my daddy to ask what he thought of the situation. If it had been natural gas I would have called the fire department and that would have been that, but since it was gasoline it seemed rather strange.
Even so, I was sidetracked by news at home and forgot all about the smell until an hour and a half later when as I approached my home I began to pay closer and closer attention to the flashing lights and long red trucks parked on my street at my corner.
After parking, mumbling the whole time to myself…it was hot and approaching 11:30 pm…standing outside all night was not my idea of a good time. Of course either was suffocating in my sleep so…I digress.
The important this is that there were firefighters on the scene. They were hurriedly carrying things to and from the truck, enormous fans that sounded like tornadoes approaching, stubby looking brooms and coolers of water. Too busy to chat, I presumed, so I asked a woman who although clad in sleeping gear – seemed to know what was going on. She proceeded to tell me how when she got home the smell was so strong she called entergy (our electricity and gas company). She then knocked on all the doors on the 2nd floor to try to wake folks up. She was greeted with stony silence (with the exception of the one brother who had to ask for her number…apparently he was worried about a different kind of fire)…
Anyway, the excitement died down as the firefolks informed us it simply looked like a spill. They washed it up, opened ALL the downstairs windows and told us not to fret.
Of course, I took my smoke detector down about two weeks ago because it was buzzing the dead battery alert and was resonating through my apartment and down the hall…guess who is on her way to riteaide as soon as she posts this…
My news item for the day comes from a friend of mine. We were discussing political movements and empowerment and ways to affect change and he brought up the concept of disposing of national borders…I must admit it is an idea that is hard for me to wrap my head around though I’m trying to understand where he is coming from. Either way, he sent this link today and I thought it was worth sharing. It is a broad stroke and does not get into the implications of what a borderless world would be but…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050704/ts_nm/group_africa_gaddafi_dc
Tags: me-ness, neworleans