Happy 4th of July! I am writing from afar once again during Operation Get the Hell Out of the House. No, there is still no construction being done but we have a permit as of yesterday and the contractors are scheduled to start demolition the day before I return. Hoorah. I know I haven't been posting much but I've really been enjoying my vacation and slacking off. In order to get a wireless connection I have to drive down to the corner store and pirate off from from nice guy named "joel."

In all fairness, I haven't had much to do with the internet for many days now. I've been going through slight withdrawals but for the most part it's best that I unplug every once in a while. Especially since that last time I read through my favorite NOLA blogs I became very angry with New Orleans law enforcement.Normally I defend the NOPD and the DA's office but I was so upset to hear that the charges against Dinerral Shavers' killer, David Bonds, were dropped that I started ranting to anyone who would listen. Fortunately my relatives nodded politely. I'm just frustrated with the NOPD for not finding more evidence, the DA's office for not seeing the case through and the "snitch" culture that prevents people from testifying. Now I know that David Bonds will probably live a shorter life out on the street than if he had been sent to prison but it's the whole retribution and vengeance mentality that gets innocent people like Shavers shot in the first place.

I suggest that the DA's office fund a heavy PR campaign during daytime television telling folks that it's good to be a snitch. The sooner that criminals learn they can't get away with shooting people, the sooner the violence will stop.

Do you know what the big news story was here last night in rural Vermont? People who don't scoop poop. Seriously, the big news story was how people who are cited for not cleaning up after their dogs also get their picture taken and put on a web site. The keen investigative journalism went as far as to suggest that part of the problem was that city provided waste bags were not being refilled fast enough to meet the doggie demands.

Meanwhile I check my e-mail today and there was another burglary in my neighborhood and a twelve year old suspect was detained by a security guard. Twelve years old.

Everyone keeps asking here how the city is coming along and I feel like my mood sours more and more with every visit. I'm sure that my responses over the past two years have dipped from "GREAT!" to "not a whole hell of a lot is happening right now ... but please come visit." I know everyone thinks that I'm crazy for still living in New Orleans and most days I'd agree but I don't know of anywhere that I'd rather be -- although I did enjoy a recent drive through Upstate New York but it's July, ask me again in January when there is four feet of snow.

I also hate having to explain without a map in my hand just how small the Lower Ninth Ward is in comparison to the rest of the city that now sits uninhabited. It irks me that people still have the image of impoverished black people getting displaced from their homes without a clue about the legions of upper and middle-class people in other neighborhoods that are still fighting to return home.

So yeah, I get worked up when I go online and really I just want to relax here in New England and enjoy my family and fifty feet of lake front. I expect posts to be few and far between as I head down to New Jersey for the weekend to get some deli food -- one of the few things I miss while living in New Orleans. I return home on Tuesday and will resume my normal posting routine then ... although I'm not sure yet where I will be living.

So again, have a great 4th and eat some dogs and pie.