Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005 - 4:23 p.m.

Many thanks to those of you who expressed hope I would find my friend Sue. :) I did, and we finally got to talk briefly on the phone today. Cell phone service is still sketchy, even in Baton Rouge, but she has no power or phones still, so it had to be via cell. It pays to blog people's names, because that's how she found me to get ahold of me, since email is non-existent and she lost my phone number when she dropped her cell into water she was not about to reach into. That's a hysterical story, too, because she was in a boat helping to fish people out of their attics and off of roofs when she saw motion out of her eye and thought it was a dog. The boat rocked in that direction, so she looked down and saw a rat as big as a sheltie, with a tail to match, clamboring over the side and then snarling at her like she was lunch and this boat was his bitch. She yelled and jumped one way while her cell went the other, and since they were in 7' of the most disgusting water she's ever seen in her entire life (and that includes a GREAT deal of time in the Louisiana bayous and working on offshore oil rigs), she opted just to let it go...it's good not to become attached to material things. :) But that meant she couldn't reach me, so she googled her name and found herself listed here...woohoo! :)

And the rat?

Well, let's just say the rat made the decision - one way or the other - to re-enter the water, where it promptly served as a meal to a 4' alligator.

Yes, alligator.

Al-lee-gay-tohr.

Now, while this would have freaked *me* out, it did not in any way phase Sue as much as the rat did. Which only makes sense, seein' as the rat had been in the boat. The gator was in the water. And anyway, 4' is nothin'. She's seen much worse. For that matter, she's had to deal face to face with much worse. So 4' was a walk in the park for the intrepid Shadowcat. :) Me, I woulda hyperventilated and cowered behind the guy who had the gun which was the prompting for the rat to leave the boat.

Ain't Louisiana grand? :)

I also got to talk recently to a friend of mine who is a medic and happened to be in Nawlins when the hurricane hit. He had all kinds of interesting and fucked up horror stories to share, and the situation there was even more fubar than we saw on the news, peeps. I'll be sharing his stories later. He asked me not to give his name out, because he really just wants to put the whole mess behind him, but I think people should hear what it was like on the ground for rescue personnel, so I'll be sharing his stories, with his permission.

That can wait until tomorrow though, because I'm just happy my pal is found, and I don't really want to think about the rest. I do want to say though, that while Sue did not have the time nor inclination to talk much about the situation there and the part she played in it, both of them have been through a lot. I have seen the fruits of their labors played out on television and was able to tell both of them that what they did mattered (neither of them have seen news in close to 2 weeks). They're both freaking heroes to me. They gave more than I've ever given to a situation that was just insane, from second to second, and neither of them feel they did anything more than anyone else would have done, but I know better. I'm sorry for the things they've had to deal with and proud as hell to know both of them. If the company you keep reflects at all on you as a person, I'm in the greatest light imaginable. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Peace out,
Katie

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