'Be prepared': when that phrase became part of most of us, we were about 12-years old and there was nothing that couldn't be handled with little more than a positive attitude and pocketknife.Now, older and wiser, we understand that it takes a little more to be prepared for the simple challenges of living and making a living. I'll also add that in most instances today, a 12-year-old caught with a pocketknife isn't looking at his first Merit Badge, but his first felony conviction. The recent hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. has also taught us that some things
just simply cannot be adequately prepared for. No binders filled with
action plans, no government commissions, no man-made barriers, and no
good intentions can stop the forces of nature.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This wasn't to be the topic of this month's column, but with the advanced deadlines of publishing, this is being written even before all available fingers have been used for pointing and blame for who did or did not do whatever is still fresh meat for the daily media. I have no doubt that by the time you read this in October, there will still be plenty of blame to be assigned and fingers left to point. Nick Faldo Nicholas "Nick" Alexander Faldo MBE (born 18 July 1957) is an English golfer on the European Tour, and one of Europe's most successful players of all time. Over his career, he has won three Open Championship titles and three US Masters titles. He was ranked the World No. More important, there will still be the devastation that has replaced huge areas of Louisiana CODE, OF LOUISIANA. In 1822, Peter Derbigny, Edward Livingston, and Moreau Lislet, were selected by the legislature to revise and amend the civil code, and to add to it such laws still in force as were not included therein. , Mississippi, and Alabama. Early estimates of the scope of disaster suggest that more than 90,000 sq.-mi. of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. have been disrupted. Oddly, despite all the news media punditry used to describe the scale of this, it was Nick Faldo, a British professional golfer who described it best, "That's an area bigger than my entire country." He's quite correct; Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. covers an area of about 88,775 sq.-mi. It will take decades to bring the hurricane-battered areas back to anything near normalcy nor·mal·cy n. Normality. Noun 1. normalcy - being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning normality . Hurricane Charley This article is about the Atlantic hurricane of 2004; for other storms named Hurricane Charley, see Hurricane Charley (disambiguation). Hurricane Charley was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Ironically, a day before Katrina worked her evil on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east , I drove about 25 miles south of my office to Punta Gorda Punta Gorda may refer to:
IMTS Improved Mobile Telephone Service IMTS International Machine Tool Show IMTS International Merchandise Trade Statistics IMTS Improved Moving Target Simulator IMTS Information Management Technical Specialist 2004, hurricane Charley was making a 90[degrees] right turn out of the Gulf and gathering Charlotte Harbor and Punta Gorda in its sites. Our staff abandoned IMTS to gather our families and do what we could to prepare for the hurricane. The point is, that seeing Punta Gorda and parts of the surrounding territory a year after the storm, the damage and devastation still looks fresh; buildings remain without roofs; thousands are still housed in "temporary" FEMA trailers; storm debris is still visible, and a large sailboat remains shattered in the parking lot of what was a motel. Nature operates on a scale that man simply cannot adequately prepare for. I have been through hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, forest fires, tornadoes, and floods. The forces are phenomenal, the human suffering horrendous, the economic impact almost unbelievable. Being Human But, being human we want to be prepared; we have a need to control or try to control what can't be controlled. Sometimes all that can be done is to pick-up the pieces, console and support the suffering, and somehow try to get on with it. On the human side of this tragedy, providing your favorite charity with what it needs to deliver support and hope to people is about the best you can do. Given the scale of this disaster, even these good deeds seem shamefully inadequate, but do what you can. The economic impact in the Gulf States will ripple through our entire industry for years. My questions are: How did this affect you? How did this effect your shop, your business? And beyond the immediate effects, what can you and are you doing in an attempt to safeguard your business from nature's violence? Write me, we'll share your responses with others in the industry who realize how fragile life really is. John Mullally, Editor Modern Applications News jmullally@nelsonpub.com |
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