Well....long time since I've updated here. Hope you'll forgive me...I have been a little busy after all!
Of course, the big news is that the wedding is over! I haven't written much about the whole planning and implementation process, as both Michael and I have confined wedding discussion to our joint blog, The Big Event. The short version of the story is that everything went really well, and we thoroughly enjoyed both our wedding and our honeymoon in Jasper National Park. The only bad thing about the experience is that it was over too soon! Anyway, if you surf on over there you can see more details, if desired, and also find links to pictures of my bridal shower in Florida, our wedding day, and our honeymoon.
We'd barely got back home before Katrina hit. We've endured other hurricane events in the past five years, but not a storm that hit Broward County straight on as this one did. Needless to say we feel very fortunate that the only impact the storm had on our lives personally was 2 extra days off and 55 hours without power. Reading by candlelight and living on peanut butter sandwiches and crackers seems pretty tame in comparison to the experiences of people farther south and, now, in the Gulf.
Though it was expected to hit in northern Broward County, Katrina jogged south right beforehand to land closer to the Broward/Miami Dade county line instead. Usually, this would have been bad news for us, because most hurricanes apparently carry the worst of their weather in the northern part of the storm. This one, howevery, atypically had the most rain and wind in the south. Miami-Dade and Homestead/Florida City areas got hit really badly--with the duration of the storm, the wind, and all the rain and flooding, many residents there said it was actually worse than Hurricane Andrew in 1993 even though Katrina was "only" a Category 1.
That was a phrase we heard a lot, actually, during the hurricane and in its aftermath. There was a lot of complacency beforehand--"Oh, it's only a Category 1 storm." At least one news outlet was telling people that there was no need to put up hurricane shutters, since Katrina was so "weak". I went to the grocery store Wednesday night after work to get some supplies, and one stockboy there told me that he had no idea why everyone was "panicking" and buying up all their water and nonperishables, adding that he was planning to go to the beach the next day!
Afterwards, the shocked stories started rolling in. One former news employee and long-time Floridian interviewed from his home in south Miami-Dade said that he had never been scared of a storm, but sitting through this one with no shutters up watching the glass of his patio doors bend and ripple as his neighborhood got torn apart for five hours straight had terrified him. Editorial writers rushed to publish columns about how "we will never underestimate a storm like this again. We forgot that any hurricane, even a 'weak' category 1, is still a hurricane; now we know better."
It all just kind of boggles my mind. Sure, this particular area has not been hit directly by a hurricane in years, but, hello, people? 90 mph winds and torrential rain at sea level are still dangerous. Even if you're still suffering from storm fatigue/ennui from last year, how dumb do you have to be not to realize that a weaker storm that hits you straight on is still worse than a stronger one that hits miles away?
Well, we've still got the most active part of the current hurricane season yet to go, so I guess everyone will have plenty of opportunity to put their newfound lessons learned into practice.
Much as I don't even want to think about the situation, I'll end today with a short update on Blue Stone. The news is not good. The label either can't or won't do what they need to to sign with them (I've been kept away from them so I don't know for sure what they actually said). Rob and Bill have signed with them already, however, and have offered me a "partnership agreement" that will give me ownership rights to a percentage of the band and the profits on the work I've done. The problem is that despite their protestations that "no one will ever find out", as far as I can tell this is still not legal for me to sign it.
But, they don't seem to care. The Official Blue Stone position is that It's Too Late To Do Anything Else Now, so even if I can't sign it everything will go ahead as they have planned and I will, quote, benefit from the exposure, unquote. Oh, don't forget that I could have "solved the problem" by getting married in a quickie ceremony months early, in Florida, and then applying for a green card, which Michael and I had decided was not in our best interests given that we're leaving the States no later than next August. Because restructuring my entire life around a band's requirements--a band that, after this experience, I'm not even going to work with anymore--is perfectly reasonable, right?
So I need a lawyer. I've tried asking for recommendations and cold-calling offices, but no one has returned my calls yet. Somehow I think that even if I agreed to work for free (oooops, sorry, for the exposure) it would would still be illegal...wouldn't there be a whole lot of "volunteer" non-US non-immigrant workers if this loophole actually existed? Wouldn't that kind of negate all the laws stating that we have to be paid the same and treated the same as US citizen employees? Anyway, at this point I would be willing to screw up the entire release just to prove that breaking the law is, you know, wrong, and immigration fraud isn't something to take lightly. Even if you figure "no one will find out".
Sigh. I was warned by people smarter than me that this could happen. But nope, I trusted my friends. Even after all the problems I've had here that have stemmed from trusting people who didn't deserve it. Well, if you know a good lawyer in South Florida, or one who lives elsewhere but would be willing to advise me, give me a call.