March
31, 2003
Hello all.
Remembered a few things that should
have been in the last letter. On the way down I stopped in at JR Cigars (http://www.jrcigars.com/) in North Carolina which I had heard about some
time back. They have a humidity/temperature-controlled room that is about 50 by
200 feet in size filled with cigars from all over. Picked up a couple of cigars
and a catalog. Also, a few days after arriving I looked for a Catholic Church.
I went through the phone book and found many Catholic but only 2 Roman Catholic
churches. Stopped by one after work and they were saying the Rosary – all the
women wore veils, the alter was against the back wall and, talking to the
priest afterwards, I found out that all the masses are said in Latin! I guess
that is what is meant by Roman Catholic down here.
Ended up going to St. George’s Church
as they had a 6 PM mass on Sunday – I work 7AM till 4 PM on Saturday and
Sunday. The mass is a bit different there. The singing seems more
energetic and the mass is long – about an hour and 10 minutes. Waited for
about 10 minutes till most of the traffic cleared out before leaving.
Tuesday and Wednesday are my weekend,
the days I have off. On Tuesday I needed to find a dentist as it felt like I
lost part of a filling. Went to library to look on the Internet for a dentist
that was close by, would take our insurance and was taking new patients. Found
one about a mile away that would see me that day. He’s been out of school about
a year and took over from a retiring dentist. Turns out that a very large
filling is not fully attached to the healthy part of the tooth – a root canal
was agreed upon. It was neat to see the stuff he used – X-rays are shown
immediately on a computer screen after holding some apparatus in by month.
Also, he took a regular photo of the tooth and immediately enlarged it on the
computer to show me how most of the tooth was filling. Next I did some more
apartment hunting. Found a few more that were okay but after going back the
next few nights and getting some warnings from coworkers I decided against one
of them. Many people have told me to drive around the complexes late afternoon
and at night. The hunting continues. Ended up going out to a nice seafood restaurant
called Mike Anderson’s (http://www.mikeandersons.com/)
and had a GREAT seafood platter. After a week of Lean Cuisine and Healthy
Choice frozen dinners I needed a break!
Wednesday was searching for apartments
again. Someone at the hotel I am staying at suggested looking around the
LSU (Louisiana State University) Campus. The nice one’s are very
expensive and the others look a little unsafe. Also, a few have warned me
that they can get noisy especially on the weekends (hey, isn’t that when they
study?). The LSU Campus is very impressive. I hope to check it out
more, especially the libraries, pretty soon. While at LSU, I knew I was
only a few miles from the Mississippi River. I hit River Road and saw a
very tall levee. Headed south for about 5 miles – nothing but
levee. Went back and headed north several miles and, still, nothing but
levee. Not sure but maybe the Mississippi is just a myth.
On the way home from work on Friday I
stopped by the AAA to check on flights. Trying to get the most reasonable
flights both time-wise and money-wise. Hope to fly home end of April and
then about once a month after that. After dinner, I did some more
apartment “drive-bys” and talked to a few residents at what I think might be a
good choice. Also, the half a house with a garage and all utilities
included is a strong possibility.
Saturday after work and dinner I
crashed early - watching ice figure skating till I fell asleep.
The big news here is a serial killer
still on the loose in the LSU area. He has kill 4 or 5 women so
far. Baton Rouge was also home to the marine that blew up a grenade that
killed 4 other marines and home to the Washington, DC sniper.
Been getting a little homesick and I really
miss Maureen and the kids. Trying to find things to do – there is an Art
& Science Museum downtown, a couple of casinos along the ‘alleged’ river, a
nice Zoo, The USS Kidd (a 2,050-ton Fletcher-class destroyer) and several
plantations to tour. Also, New Orleans is about 75 miles away.
Work is starting to get more
interesting and challenging. The people are starting to be more fun also.
Till next time,
Paul