toastykitten

In the midst of administering chest compressions to a dying woman several days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ordered to stop by a federal official because he wasn't registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Then, the Coast Guard official informed the group that he could not credential them or guarantee tort coverage and that they should return to Baton Rouge. "That shocked me, that those would be his concerns in a time of emergency," Gerhart said.

They most certainly could have credentialed him. BoardCertifiedDocs: "In support of the emergency response efforts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Elsevier is working with the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) to provide free, urgent credentials verifications. As authorities respond to the emergency in the Gulf Area, there may be a need to access board certification information for disaster credentialing purposes.

For assistance with verifications, please email our team directly at abms.feedback@elsevier.com. You can also contact our editorial team at (866) 352-5001."

It takes less than a minute to check a physician's credentials, once you are given a username and password. FEMA is worse than useless.

# Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

# The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

ARRRGH.

I didn't really take note of this food trend until I had a "deconstructed" salad in New Orleans. Simply put, it is a salad where the presentation is pretty, but it forces you do cut the lettuce yourself. I had it again yesterday at a restaurant right next to work. I hadn't realized; otherwise I wouldn't have ordered it.

The trend was annoying as an English major; most of my T.A.s were young and strongly believed in the magic of Derrida, and thought it could be used for every book that was assigned. It can't. I admit, I still don't entirely "get" deconstruction, but I'm pretty sure that it does not mean that every novel I read has homosexual undertones.

In the fashion world, deconstruction took place alongside minimalism and grunge. Things were torn, seams were ripped, colors were drab, etc. It was ugly. Thankfully, they grew out of it and made things look better.

In the food world, deconstruction takes a classic dish, such as the Caesar salad I ordered, and separates the parts. So what I got was a couple of romaine leaves, uncut, layered with croutons and anchovies. The dressing was very light.

Did I tell you that I am terrible with a fork and knife? I can't even cut steak properly. Once when I was a kid, I had dinner at a white friend's house. I took so long using the knife and fork that her parents asked me if I hated their food. I replied, "No, I'm just more used to chopsticks."

This is why Asian food is so much easier for me. Everything is ALREADY cut for me.

So, to end this rant, I conclude: I DO NOT want to have to work on my meal while I'm having it. Especially on my lunch hour.

Mark is in the bathroom right now, and I am taking advantage of our hotel's "wireless" Internet (I put wireless in quotes because they apparently don't understand that wireless means that you don't need network cables) to catch up a little. New Orleans has been fun, hot, and humid. Every time we leave the hotel for a even short walk we come back sopping wet. It's so gross.

We are staying in the French Quarter, which is probably the San Francisco equivalent of staying in Fisherman's Wharf - really touristy. San Franciscans are notorious about never venturing to places like Fisherman's Wharf, because it's where they "cordone off all the tourists", but I kind of like Fisherman's Wharf, and I like the French Quarter, mostly because underneath all the tacky knick-knacks and postcards and strip clubs and bars, are remnants of the historical past, in the architecture, in some of the preserved buildings, etc. In New Orleans, this is more true, where every street seems to be named after some general or other who once lived there or made an impact on the place.

I forgot to mention - my dad actually used to work in New Orleans. I don't know what he did here, but maybe it had something to do with the dried shrimp. My dad considered moving us to New Orleans, but my mom put her foot down and refused to move somewhere where there were no Chinese people. So for a while he worked here while we stayed in San Francisco, and he would come back every so often. This explains why I was terrified of him when I was a kid, because I hardly ever saw him.

They requested dried shrimp because my mom says "that's where it comes from." I had no idea. I bought them two half-pound bags of large ones.

In playing "spot-the-Asian", which I automatically do every time I travel, it turned out not to be too bad. There were actually a couple of cute guys, who I suspect were from the local college.

We decided not to rent a car, which turned out to be a wise of us, since nobody here seems to know what brakes are for. You heard of a California "rolling stop"? We got nothing on the New Orleans people, as they would just kind of roll into you, even if you were walking directly in front of them. The drivers would just kind of look off into the side, not on the side they were turning into, but the other way.

We ate really well. The saying that "you can't get bad food in New Orleans" is apparently true. Some places were better than others. I loved the fried chicken at Mother's, every gumbo I had except for the one at the Harrah's buffet, which was too salty, and there was catfish, oysters, steak, etc., etc. After a while it got to be too much and I ordered soup and salad for one of my dinners. Oh, and beignets, which are like fried Chinese donuts that you dip in powdered sugar. Fried bread and sugar is one of the greatest inventions ever.

I gotta pack. Be back later.