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FYI for Returnees

 
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:03 pm    Post subject: FYI for Returnees Reply with quote

New Orleans is coming back, but there are still some problems you need to be aware of around the city.

* A lot of traffic lights aren't working. Broadway and Willow and Broadway and Freret are still down. Remember, a dead light means a stop sign. The one exception to this is at St. Charles and Calhoun. There is no stop sign on St. Charles, but there is one on Calhoun. Keep that in mind.

* Check your spare tire. Make sure it has air. Because of all the debris on the ground, getting flats is a common occurance. I once had two flats on the same tire in the same day.

* The water is safe to drink, but that doesn't mean it doesn't taste a little funky. New Orleans water was always a little on the shady side to begin with, post-Katrina, who knows. You might want to talk to your roomates about investing in a water cooler or something like that.

* A lot of restaurants haven't reopened. Most have. If there's one thing in the city that's coming back the best, I'd say it's the restaurant industry. Many still have limited menus and hours, though. A limited menu in New Orleans is still plenty, though. The only restaurant that I miss is Roman's Pizza. Roman's says they'll reopen, but I haven't seen any work being done.

* There are a lot of potholes in this city that have just popped up out of nowhere. The city also doesn't have the manpower to do proper patches, so they just fill them with dirt. There are several bad ones on Broadway, so watch out.

* The bars are open and doing brisk business. New Orleanians can do without a lot of things, but bars are not one of them. Don't worry about the bars.

* Campus (at the present moment) looks like one of the breach sites. Lots of construction equipment and a general mess. The damage isn't from Katrina. Someone decided to use the students' absence as an opportunity to rip up and replace the walkways all over campus. Mighty expensive for a university in such dire financial straights the only way to survive is axe engineering, eh? I hope they get it done before the students get back.

* Be nice to the locals. They've been through a lot. A lot of the professors also lived in Lakeview. Be especially nice to the janatorial and facility services staff. A lot of them lived in the working class areas like New Orleans East, St. Bernard, and the Lower 9th that were the hardest hit. Many of them lost their homes. Try to pick up after yourselves to help them out.

* Music scene is coming back, but because so many places are holding benefits for the Musician's Fund, covers are a little bit higher than they used to be.


That's all I can think of now, I'll post more later as I think of it.
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Clay Kirby
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Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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Dr. H.



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 37

PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:36 pm    Post subject: Returning? Reply with quote

Be sure to check the hours before you plan to go anywhere. Places that are open have smaller inventories and shorter hours. Everyone is short-staffed. Some places are offering finders fees and signing bonuses.

Plan on being patient. Things are just not like they used to be. I second the recommendation to be especially considerate of staffers. Not only have they been through a lot, they are hard to replace!

Phone service is out in a lot of places (ours is) and may not be back for months. Anyone have an idea about how to provide alternate numbers to folks?

We're drinking the water with no problems.

No doubt I'll think of more as soon as I post this.

Dr. H.
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I forgot the most important thing:

Crime is almost non-existent. New Orleans is the safest major city in America.

New Orleans went from having one of the highest per capita murder rates in the US to the safest city in America almost overnight!
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hollus



Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

New Orleans Electronica Digest

www.nolaed.com

We are back. And we are letting everyone know what weeklies and events are back as well.

Cheers.
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just got great news today! Roman's Pizza is reopening tomorrow! Yipee!

That's my final sign that New Orleans is coming back!

On a more personal note, our roofers finally showed up! We're getting a roof! No more blue roof! Yipee!
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ih8scottcowen



Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 36
Location: New Orleans, LA

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

surprised with all the techies on here, no one mentioned the free wireless access available downtown now. the access speed is noticeably faster than dialup, but will be slowed down to i think 128 kbs (just a bit faster than dialup) once the city is out of "emergency status".
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From what Nagin has said, though, that will be at least 5 years in the future. The wireless network has already reached parts of Uptown (there's a couple areas in Riverbend that have access).
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wwalkeri



Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 136

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just make sure your computer has some good protection as it will be open to most of the city
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ggreen



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 52

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At the bare minimum, you should have a software firewall and an antivirus program. I'd also recommend Ad-Aware and/or Spybot.
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ih8scottcowen



Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 36
Location: New Orleans, LA

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ugh....software firewalls? stick to the anti-virus and anti-spyware stuff and you'll be fine.

most people, myself included, get aggravated by any more firewalls than what's on SP2. it's overkill, really.
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ggreen



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 52

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The firewall included with Windows XP SP2 is...not very good. It's better than nothing, but... I seriously recommend getting a better one. And those with earlier versions of windows than SP2 should definitely have third-party a firewall.

There is a little initial setup, but after that firewalls are generally unobtrusive. If you don't like Zone Alarm, Kerio also has a good freeware firewall, with a reputation of being easier to use than Zone Alarm.
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mollyzogirl



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 93
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:53 am    Post subject: thanks Reply with quote

Thanks for all the info Clay and everybody. I've been wandering aimlessly around the city for a couple of days, and things are looking up. The best place to go if you want to see a lot of people from the city, actually acting like normal, is Magazine. I've been at CC's everymorning (they open at 7am, but I dont get here THAT early), and there is always a crowd and plenty of happy faces. Plus the majority of shops are open, and functioning normally.

On the bright side of things, you can now work ANYWHERE. Examples of places hiring: Reginelli's, CC's, PJ's, Whole Foods, Popeye's, lots of little shops, Home Depot, and pretty much everywhere thats open.
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reviews of Open Restaurants Reply with quote

New Orleans's politicians may be the laughing stock of america (yes, that means you Mayor Wonka) and our football team is a joke, but New Orleanians treat eating out with a seriousness usually reserved for warfare. When it comes to eating, we don't screw around.

I'm going to put together a modest post-K mini-Zagat's. Here's a list of good restaurants that are open.

* Vincent's on St. Charles Ave. (near campus). John Goodman's favorite restaurant. Great italian food. The best things are the veal, the salad dressing (especially the blue cheese vinagrette), and the corn and crabmeat bisque. Great date restaurant.

* Guy's Po-Boys on Magazine. Only open around lunchtime. My favorite Po-Boy's in the city.

* Riccobono's on Panola. Great breakfast served all day. Open from morning until early afternoon.

* Galatoire's on Bourbon Street. Best restaurant on the planet. A meal at Galatoire's is a real event. The downside is taking your friends out there and picking up the tab will cost you more than your monthly rent. It's incredibly expensive. Hit up your parents.

* Roman's Pizza. Best pizza in the city. Period. They deliver to campus, too.

* Mona's on Carrolton. Great Lebanese. Cheap. Good for students. Try the chicken shwarma.

* Italian place right off Metairie Road. I can't remember the name of this place, but it's the best place in the city to get a Muffeletta. Get on Metairie Road heading west. Take the first right after the railroad tracks. About 100 yards down the road, you'll see some tables and chairs set up. The place primarily imports stuff directly from Italy. There are dozens of types of cheese there. But, go to the Deli and you'll be rewarded with the best Muffeletta in the city.

* Joey K's on Magazine near the Firehouse. Good southern style food. Fairly cheap. Good service. Open for lunch and dinner.

* Juan's Flying Burrito on Magazine. Good cheap mexican food. I swear to god the encourage people to write graffitti in the bathrooms.

* Verte Mart on Gov. Nichols Street in the Quarter. I hesitate to even let this one out, because their motto is "SHHH, the best kept secret in the Quarter." It's a grocery store with no tables. You've got to wait in line at the deli and service isn't generally fast. But, the food is fantastic and waiting in line is an experience of it's own. You're guaranteed to meet some bona-fide Quarter-weirdos.

* Ninja's on Oak Street. Great japanese food. Good bar. Undisputed best japanese restaurant in the city.

* Little Tokyo's on the 1600 block of Causeway Blvd. Almost as good as Ninja's, but very inexpensive. Very good lunch specials. Open late, too.

* Felix's/Acme Oyster House on Bourbon. Ah, the great debate. Which one is better? Locals are divided. I'm slightly biased towards Felix's. Both are fantastic. Go to the bar, get a Dixie and a dozen raw oysters. Good place to take your friends.

* GB's on Maple and Carrolton. Good meat and potatos place. Nothing special, but good service and it has a good bar.

* Saltwater Grill on Carrolton and Willow. Great sweet potato fries. Good all-around restaurant.

And that's just a small list of my personal favorites to get you started.
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Clay Kirby
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Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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mollyzogirl



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 93
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 1:15 am    Post subject: good stuff Reply with quote

Very good variety, I wont argue with you on a single choice. I would like to add The Village Inn, which is spaghetti/pizza/and really awesome crawfish. Its a bit of a drive from campus though, Jefferson Hwy all the way to River Ridge (just outside Harahan) on the right side of the road.

*Another favorite of mine (not a restaurant though) is the Prytania Theatre. It's a single screen theatre on Prytania Ave. near Jefferson, $6 for student tickets (with ID), and they usually keep the website updated www.theprytania.com with what's playing every week. Usually each movie plays for one week. Altogether, its just a really great movie-going experience, and you can actually walk there from campus if you feel like it.
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