Important library notice...

[Rami]

Good morning,

I wanted to let all of you know a few days in advance that approval for uploads will be unavailable from Saturday morning (after about 4am EST) until approximately Monday evening. (after about 6-7pm EST) I will be out of town; a group of fifteen of us from our church are heading down to Rockaway Beach on Long Island, NY to help clean up and do whatever we can for the two-and-a-half days we will be down there.

I will not have internet access, and only have my phone for emergencies. I've felt so helpless these last couple of months looking at what's been going on there, and only being able to write a check to try and help. When this opportunity arose I jumped at it, because I felt compelled to try and help in a more "hands-on" way.

This does not mean the library section will be unavailable, but anything uploaded will remain in the "pending approval" queue until I return. I trust you will all understand.

Sincerely,

[wbuchart]

and thanks to you and all of your church group.

[Rami]

Good morning,

I checked the moderation room for the last time, and I'm out the door in a bit. I'll be back Monday night.

[Rami]

Good morning,

I figured I'd post a few pics regarding what we saw. Even in this damaged area, there were still greedy people who tried to take advantage of the food, supplies, and effort we were doing to help them. If they showed up in a Bentley, BMW, Mercedes, or other luxury car, they were immediately turned away. It's the advantage of being the same group of people for three days in a row...we recognized familiar faces immediately, whereas their regular volunteers are always rotating. A couple of them who were turned away threatened us with violence for calling them out...such is life.

The group you see in the picture is us early-risers...you know, the teachers and mothers who can't shut down the mental alarms that wake you up at 5-5:30am no matter what. There were fourteen of us who were down there the entire time...others brought down supplies or drove the truck, etc...