Storm Surge; LA Maps; Hollinghurst; Sudoku

It has been nice to have a couple of days not quite as hectic as last week.

Yesterday, I had lunch at the sushi bar. This time, I enjoyed the food more than the last few times. There were fewer customers, so the noise level was more restrained.

As I ate, I browsed through the November "Wired." An article, "Systems After the Storm," relayed what worked and what didn't work during Katrina. Emergency Services towers were built to withstand winds of 200 mph, so field personnel were able to reach their respective headquarters. But the agencies had trouble talking to each other. Cellular Phones suffered the most with downed towers and backup generators submerged by the storm surge. However, text messages worked well because they use little bandwidth and they remain in a queue instead of dropping off like voice messages. Radio and TV stations stayed on the air by using satellite trucks to beam signals to broadcast towers still operational. The Internet hub sustained little damage but getting to the hub was difficult. DSL boxes were submerged and those that weren't failed because of a lack of battery backups.

I'd read elsewhere that one of the casinos was built to withstand a category 5 hurricane which it did. But the storm surge flooded the bottom three floors causing millions of dollars worth of damage.

A very significant debate is going on here as to whether the storm surge was water driven or wind driven. If it can be proven that it was water driven then it's tantamount to a flood meaning that the insurance companies do not have to pay off unless you had flood insurance. Most people did not. However, if it can be proven that the surge was wind driven then the companies do have to pay off. Literally billions of dollars depend on the outcome.

I can not help but wonder did no one think of the concept of "storm surge." Although the winds may do an incredible amount of damage, there may be places that are bypassed. But a wall of rampaging water 30-feet high misses nothing. And if any area has had experience with surges it is the Gulf Coast.

When I was a kid, I came across a map of southern California in a "National Geographic." And I thought it was such a cool map that I've always been intrigued by similar maps of the area. Alas, I'm almost certain that the issue was thrown out years ago. (At least, I didn't sell it at the infamous garage sale I had.)

One point that bothers me about his books is that his main characters seem preoccupied with sexual activity. So that from the beginning you know you're going to be reading a certain type of story.

Essentially, it's a wordless form of crossword puzzles that involves the digits from 1 - 9. "In its usual form, sudoku has a 9 x 9 - square grid, with heavy lines dividing it into nine 3 x 3 boxes. The object is to fill the grid with numbers so that every row , every column, and every 3 x 4 box contains the digits from 1 to 9 without repeating. Some digits are placed in the grid to get you started."

Oh, me! I can see another addiction forming.

PAX!