Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Notes From The End Of The Earth

Not dead fish from the oil spill.  Caught legally in Turkey

OK flog me now.  I've been in southern Louisiana for the past six weeks working on the BP oil spill.  I was originally brought down to do some executive protection, which soon transitioned into some fairly high-level project management.  I didn't bring my camera with me, so for six weeks I slogged around the largest man-made disaster in the history of the planet and didn't take a single shot. What an idiot!!  I vow that I'll never make that mistake again.  This, from a guy who takes his Nikon D200 with him to the grocery store in Atlanta.

So, what did six weeks in Louisiana get me?
  • Louisiana's greatest gift to American pop-culture… the drive-thru daiquiri bar.
  • The media is completely biased in this event.  It's the perfect storm for them: foreign business entity, environmental disaster, great visuals, a besieged area of the country, perceived mismanagement, biblical proportions. Can't lose.
  • This is the laboratory for the Incident Command System. It works, and works well.
  • The Louisiana Parish Sheriff sits at the right-hand of God.
  • BP is hemorrhaging money and wants this spill stopped worse than anyone.
  • The Cajun accent sounds suspiciously like a down-east Maine accent.
  • The Louisiana weather, like south Florida's, is some of the most awe-inspiring in the world. 
  • An alligator will come out of the water to eat a marshmallow off the toe off your boot.  The issue is, what will it eat next?
  • A grilled shrimp po-boy is the food of choice here.  It's all about the french bread, and don't forget the Abita.
  • Magellan makes the best fishing shirts in the world. Every boat captain is wearing one.