09/06/05: Break day

We'd planned to take yesterday off to regroup, evaluate the success of our efforts, and continue to carry on. Well, that didn't happen, so it's happening today.

I received a number of emails this weekend, so I'm trying to play catch-up on that. Likewise, the work week has restarted, and I'm trying to get this quick note out from my office.

We're also looking at our numbers, and totalling up the donations to date. I'll be scanning receipts so that everyone can see what's being purchased and distributed.

Certainly not the fun stuff, but it's got to be done so we can continue.

Also, I'm calling Nokia and Cingular today. I met a man on Sunday who needed a rolling duffel. When I asked him if I could get him anything else, he pulled his cellular phone out. I can't get my numbers, he said. The phone had been waterlogged in New Orleans. It turned on, but he couldn't make calls. The most important thing to him, however, is that he couldn't get to the phone numbers that were programmed into his phone. He's lost his contact information for many friends and family. I have no idea if something like this is fixable or not... but does anyone know if the cellular phone companies are making any effort to reach out to the evacuees and help them with problems like this? That's what I've got to find out. If you've got any ideas on that, let me know.

And once again, thank you to everyone for your contributions. I have a question - I'd like to publish the first names of everyone who's donated to the project. Is that cool, or would that be an invasion of privacy? First names only... can I do that? Let me know in comments if that's a good thing or a bad thing.