The last 19 days in scattered chunks.
I spent 9 days in training when I first arrived to Sacramento. Learned more about how I was supposed to do what I would be doing here, and drummed my fingers with everyone else waiting for our actual assignments. The lesson I learned that stuck the most is that old, retired engineers either (a) don't seem to understand the point of examples in a classroom setting or (b) like to hear their voices way too much.
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I'm currently watching The Man With The Screaming Brain. Written, directed by, and starring The Chin himself. It reminds me a lot of Psycho Beach Party, a movie my friends like to make fun of me for liking.
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Last Tuesday, I was given my assignment. To Napa County. So now I spend a ridiculously fun amount of time driving around the gorgeous wine country of Northern California, and inspecting buildings damaged by the New Year's Day flood. Tough job, I know. ;)
Speaking of FEMA, there is currently a sweet little bill before Congress that would remove FEMA from DHS.
I also was asked some questions this weekend regarding FEMA's response to this disaster versus the response to Katrina. Apparently, it doesn't matter that the scale and complexity of damage here in California is less by a factor of hundreds than the devastation in Mississippi and Louisiana. Fuck, there are people in my office who think this is a vacation compared to their previous assignments on the Gulf Coast. But no, apparently it's all about race. Apparently we mobilized 120 people faster than a couple thousand because there were affluent white folks involved instead. [/sarcasm]
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I broke down last Friday, and told Maurice I loved him. Took me four months, which is abnormal for me - I usually am blabbing it at around 2 months. Yeah, I know, I'm a cheeseball. But it doesn't matter, because according to Maurice, I am a well-loved cheeseball. :D
And on that note, I'm likely going to be back in Texas the weekend of the 10th, possibly the 17th. I miss you guys a lot.