Saturday, May 13, 2006

Giving back... with Habitat for Humanity

As an addendum to our business meetings on Thursday and Friday, one of my colleagues also organized an opportunity to contribute to Habitat for Humanity. They're a Christian based organization, but are non-denominational and are chartered to help erradicate low cost housing. You can read more on their website to learn what they're all about.

As you can see here, this part of New Orleans could use some serious "fixing up"


Basically, they get volunteers and prospective recipients to contribute time, energy, and know-how to build brand new houses for qualifing individuals and families. There are some requirements to receive: must be below a certain income level, must have a steady income to be able to pay off a zero-interest loan, and must contribute time and energy to the construction of the homes.

It was really a lot of fun for me. I worked on putting together the floor joists of a couple homes, while others in our group did everything from painting to pouring concrete for the foundation. I loved the chance to get my hands dirty on such a project, and for such a great cause.

In New Orleans, the project we worked on was called Musician's Village and is intended to provide a community centered around music -- included many homes and a community center.



My company, Novell, not only mustered up about 75 volunteers for a day's worth of labor, but also a hefty $25,000 contribution to the cause. Plus, we held our mid-year event in New Orleans, LA partially to help out the local economy as best we could. And from what we could tell by being there, they could use all the help they can get. I can't tell you how proud I am to be associated with this group!



I'm really thankful that I got a chance to contribute here. It was definitely a humbling experience, and my heart goes out to those who we're helping. I wish I had time to contribute more regularly!

Splits by a passer-by, just to get beads

Checking Bourbon St from the balcony

Want some beads? Show us something!

Peter sings a little kareoke

Bourbon St on Friday night

One of the many strip clubs

Dana, Karen, Orlinda, Cindy, Jen

Beads! Give us beads!

Dana, Karen, and Ben

A busy sidewalk on Bourbon St

Dana and her "hat"

Is that Captain America??

Another view from the balcony

Who knew Tom was a crooner?

Friday, May 12, 2006

Riverwalk's main parking lot

It's all about the beads...

I found it ... The Cat's Meow

My colleagues gettin' the party started

No customers....

An empty food court

It's really sad... :-(

Barge on the mighty Mississipi

Another river front view

Riverwalk Mall

Located across the street from our hotel

T Shirt distribution

On Saturday we're going to help build a house in the Musician's Village along with Habitat for Humanity. Without cool new t-shirts how will they be able to tell if we're with our group.

Greg's new convertable


Greg's not really a green martian, it's just my pathetic Treo camera not able to handle the indoor lighting for some reason...

Sales incentive...

Lease on a new Audi TT Roadster Quattro

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Classic New Orleans street facade

Interesting shadow in the distance

Family entertainment...

...on Bourbon St.

Wha'????

Is it just me or are these hot dogs really expensive...?

Decateur St

Cafe du Monde

Famous Beignets at this place. Beignets are akin to a sopapilla if you've had those. They are some kind of puffed pastry dough, deep fried, then a mountain of powedered sugar is poured on top. Ben ordered some to go. Yummy! (but messy)

Site of the party


Mulate's. Apparently this restaurant is a famous one. It's right next door to our hotel, so that certainly makes it convenient. They provided our first taste of "real" cajun cuisine -- fried catfish, etoufet (sp?), and bread pudding were among the tastier offerings.

Ben with the washboard "abs"

Cajun line dancing

Sponsors party on Thursday night

Time for lunch

I wonder what we've got on tap for lunch...

Our presentation

We started on time.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Badge

Mardi Gras theme... I expect great food and a fun atmosphere.

My hotel room...

Sanctuary away from the real world while I'm here in The Big Easy. Marriott Convention Center. Apparently, the company is picking up the tab on the hotel rooms as a whole. That's annoying because I won't be able to get as many, if any at all, Marriott points for my stay here.

The room is nice enough though and there's no sign that a hurricane was in the neighborhood.... except that there aren't very many people around town. Apparently, there wasn't any serious flooding in this part of town.

My view of the "real world"

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Where did all the penguins go?

Novell branded linux penguins... Yea!