Good stories in today's paper

In this morning's Sun Herald:

Some Gulf Coast residents already feel like the Pentagon on 9/11: tragic, but overshadowed by a greater tragedy nearby.

And now, Mississippi residents fear their losses will be forgotten in Rita's wake.

Yesterday at about noon, the gas stations suddenly were packed with the cars of slightly panicked residents thinking FEMA may take over the gas stations.

But despite what some official said on the radio, FEMA not taking over gas stations.

(I had coincidentally filled up earlier that day.)

Rain on the way

Hurricane Rita's going to dampen more than just spirits along the Gulf Coast.

Biloxi is right about where that I-10 sign is along the Mississippi coast.

The weather this morning is calm and in no way has an indication that rain and wind are on the way.

Duties for me to do today:

• Seeing if I can help at First Pres
• Shopping at Winn-Dixie
• Working at The Sun Herald

Blogs and photos by residents

I would be remiss not to mention two blogs by actual residents that talk about their hometowns with much more emotion and detail that I could ever hope to.

Jimmy Johnson is the cartoonist of my favorite comic strip, "Arlo and Janis." His web site used to feature comments on the art of cartooning and page after page of his older work.

Now it offers photos from his hometown, hard-hit coastal community Pass Christian. On his web site, just click the photo to go to the next one.

Although I mentioned this one before, a blog by a man named Batch has become a sad travelog of his home's utter destruction. His blog is called Simil Justus et Peccator, which is Latin for "simultaneously righteous and sinful."

And as has been the case since the storm hit, The Sun Herald continues to be a gold mine of information for local residents and those who have any connection to Southern Mississippi.

If you know of other good sources of news and photos, please leave a comment.

Home away from home

I'm sharing this RV with a reporter from Lexington and a temp worker to be named later.

It really isn't bad at all, as you can tell from the second photo. Can't call it luxurious, but it has A/C, a fridge, a microwave, working "facilities" and cold running water for the shower, which isn't as bad as it sounds when it keeps hitting 93 degrees here. Although we can't drink the water, just like inside the office.

This RV is sitting in The Sun Herald's parking lot, along with a half dozen others. As you can tell from the big red number, at one time there were at least 20 of these things crowding around the newspaper building. But locals are getting a semblance of shelter together for themselves, and the newspaper doesn't need as many migrant workers like myself helping out.

The Gulf Coast has really gotten to "the new normal," as people around here keep saying. Stores and restaurants are open and very busy. People are returning to work, or finding new jobs.

But a lot of rebuilding is ahead.

It's difficult to take a picture that demonstrates what needs to be done here, or at least what needs to be done in the areas I've seen. But perhaps you've been to a neighborhood that's been hit by a tornado, or at least a strong thunderstorm. There are pieces of shingles in the street and blue tarps on almost every roof. Piles of tree limbs and soggy trash are heaped up on and over the curb. The residents are picking through their belongings and repairing their homes.

Now, imaging that it's not a few blocks, but several miles. And every street you look down as you drive by has the same scene, over and over and over.

So just imagine a tornado hit town. A hundred-mile wide one.

I uploaded my photo

for the Thoughts from 32,000 feet posting.

Keep up-to-date on Rita

As you can imagine, people in these parts are watching the progress of Category 5 Hurricane Rita.

The Sun Herald is updating its web site frequently. And check out this demolition photo. According to the web site: "The Grand Casino Gulfport entertainment barge is imploded Wednesday after it was washed onto U.S. Highway 90 by Hurricane Katrina in August. Officials hope to have the barge completely cut up and removed in two weeks."

U.S. 90 is the major road through Biloxi and neighboring Gulfport but remains closed because of the damage from the hurricane. Thus, traffic has been heavy on other main roads, especially the only other east-west corridor, Pass Road.

Also: See more photos at The Sun Herald web site.

When to expect blog entries

I believe I will be able to post entries to the blog every morning
after breakfast -- a local coffee shop has great omelets and wireless access.

Then, I hope to add an update every evening after 10 p.m.

Thoughts from 32,000 feet

Note: I wrote this on the flight from Cincinnati to Jackson, Miss., on Tuesday. Advance apologies for waxing poetic, but traveling does that to me.

Note number two update: I'm using Buzznet for my photo hosting for now.

As I flung belongings into suitcases last night, what I gave little thought to was what to read. Intuitively, I grabbed only two books, save my Bible. And they were both by G.K. Chesterton.

The choice was ideal. As we waited on the tarmac for takeoff from Cincinnati, I once again read Chesterton's inspired essay, "Tremendous Trifles."

I recommend the entire essay to you. It's short, funny, thoughtful and right after the preface in the online text.

Chesterton says true adventure is not found by striding across the world like a giant. Instead, he says:

(W)e may, by fixing our attention almost fiercely on the facts actually before us, force them to turn into adventures; force them to give up their meaning and fulfil their mysterious purpose.

And then he refers to high altitudes, a subject of immediate interest to me:

I have my doubts about all this real value in mountaineering, in getting to the top of everything and overlooking everything. ... It is from the valley that things look large; it is from the level that things look high ... . I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help; but I will not lift up my carcass to the hills, unless it is absolutely necessary.

A skyscraper doesn't awe us because it is big, but because it makes us small.

And flying doesn't awe me because the world seems smaller. That's only because my eyes are 31,994 feet further from the surface than usual.

Flying is "awesome" (original meaning, please) because I realize how small I am against the weight and meaning of a very large, very real world.

In Biloxi

Whew. I'm beat. It's amazing how tired you can get just by sitting around in different places for 12 hours.

I'm going to have to get some rest now. But let me just say that the drive from Jackson to Biloxi was one slow crescendo of destruction. First, I started seeing billboards and signs blown out. Then I started seeing signs blown over. Then I saw trees knocked over. And more trees. And then roofs were damaged. And then heavily damaged. And then completely blown off.

And then I drove down Pass Road in Gulfport and Biloxi and saw building after building after building in ruin. Some have been patched up and serving the public. Winn-Dixie is open. So are some fast-food joints. But I can see why The Sun-Herald needs the help. They live here.

Automatic faucet design flaw

Remember the first time you encountered one of those automatic hand dryers in a public restroom? The first time I saw one, I was for a second disoriented, because of course I was expecting to see an oversized button.

To help out, the contraption sported a small label that featured the word "automatic" prominently, plus an icon of a hand under red wavy lines, the international symbol of heat.

We as a society adjusted. And soon we saw all sorts of automatic devices in restrooms: toilets, faucets, soap dispensers (I think I found those at Memorial Coliseum) and even paper towel dispensers.

But there seems to be a design flaw in these devices, especially in the faucets. Look at the sign personnel had to install over the auto faucets at the Cincinnati airport. It reads:

Automatic faucets
Approach sink to turn on
Faucet will shut off automatically
Dark clothing may not activate sensor

Set aside the dark clothing comment, which may only be a means to prevent you from washing your jeans in the sink.

You don't need a sign for a regular faucet. At most, you must identify the hot and cold water handles. You don't even need a sign for those rest area faucets which are spring-loaded and turn off automatically a few seconds before you can completely rinse off the soap.

But these automatic faucets required a retrofitted four-line explanation. That means something about the faucet is just not intuitive. And I bet the sales pitch for these automatic faucets included not only the benefit of reduced water use, but also ease of use for airport patrons.

So, what's wrong with the picture?

According to author and product design consultant Don Norman, an important design virtue is obviousness: Can someone figure out how to use a product just by looking at it?

Evidently, it's too difficult for a lot of people to simply see how the new-fangled faucet works. The seeing-eye function is not obvious.

How could the faucet designer make the function of the faucet more obvious? Good question, and one I don't have the answer for.

If anyone knows of some product with a seeing-eye kind of function that is visually evident to the user, please leave a comment.

Just wash your hands first.

Keep the gas tank full, Jon

Rita upgraded to hurricane

"Rita promised to gain more strength as it crossed the warm Gulf of Mexico for a weekend landfall, most likely in Texas although Louisiana could end up in its path."

Safe in Cincy

I arrived safe and sound at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Shopping Mall and Airport Auxiliary a little after 11 a.m. local time, which is 10 a.m. Fort Wayne time.

With two and a half hours between flights, I thought it'd be a good idea to post at least one note to the blog.

And then I discovered: It's $4.95 for an hour of Internet service at Cincinnati airport! Or I could pay ten bucks for 24 hours. What a bargain! So, that works out to $300 a month, doesn't it?

And at dinky little Fort Wayne International, with a total of eight gates, it's free, free, free wireless Internet. It was fast and easy to access.

Enough for now. Time for some lunch at Bluegrass Brewing Co.