hunterseat df: Hunter Seat Equitation is a division that is judged on the ability and the style of the rider. The riders can be judged both over fences and on the flat.

Although true, hunters DO eat, at least the skilled ones do, my name derives from the world of horses.

And because the word hunter is in my name, people automatically think I'm a guy. Not even close.

Whenever I meet someone named Hunter I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying "That's my name, too!"

Comments

1. 	Since the end of August, FEMA has processed over 5000 volunteers, training them to augment the overstressed FEMA people. They originally wanted to process 3 waves/groups of volunteers. I'm in wave 15. The process is very efficient. I now have a FEMA ID card.
   	Posted 10-19-2017 at 08:33 AM by hunterseat

2. It was a 6am - 8pm day. Going through training but also getting the logistics taken care of. In the Marine Corps we learned what logistics was by remembering "beans, bullets, and bandages". Here it's "ID card, laptop, and iPhone". I can check that square. I'm a packing perfectionist. I pack to get somewhere with the maximum stuff in the minimum space. Before I left I grabbed a monster suitcase at Goodwill for $11. (Because I didn't have that size at home.) Last night I carefully removed (unwedged) what I needed for today. Today they tell me I need to pack up and load it on the bus for a 6am departure. yay. Not to some devastated, yet exotic locale. No. To a hotel down the road - Oxford, AL. Ugh. Better get some sleep.

   Posted 10-19-2017 at 08:14 PM by hunterseat

3. 	I've been assigned to Individual Assistance. I'm going to a disaster area I'm just not sure which one. This morning I packed up and moved out of the Bible camp (Shocco Springs) Not sure where they'll take us. A hotel hopefully near some kind of store. This place is desolate! Some people were assigned. P.R.
   	Posted 10-20-2017 at 03:11 PM by hunterseat

4. 	I'm going to St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Could be worse.
   	Posted 10-21-2017 at 04:03 PM by hunterseat

5. 	Back in Atlanta. I'm typing on my phone, which I don't like. I fly out Tuesday.
   	Posted 10-22-2017 at 07:05 PM by hunterseat

6. 	In ST.CROIX. To house and feed all the volunteers and military they parked a cruise ship. Never been on one. I'm hoping we all work as hard as we seem to play. I think so. 12 he days. My luggage isn't arriving until tomorrow. I hope it's enjoyed its extra day at San Juan.
   	Posted 10-24-2017 at 08:08 PM by hunterseat

7. 	Luggage arrived yesterday afternoon. Did a little work. Stuck on the boat today while it cruises out 12 miles to dump sanitary sewer. Is that gross or what?
   	Posted 10-26-2017 at 08:33 AM by hunterseat

8. Alrighty then. I'm on an actual computer and feel like I can type more than a few words on my minuscule phone screen. To be honest, my son made me buy a better phone but it's not like a real keyboard. There are so many people here working to help the Virgin Islands recover from the disaster. I've spoken to some folks who've been here for a while and they said it's amazing the way the plants and trees have shown such great recovery. The head of the Red Cross down here told me about the debris in the road at the beginning. People were driving through yards to get around debris. I asked him who cleared the debris from the roads. He said the locals did. They first cleared enough to get by rather than really cleaning up. They drove in and out and around downed trees for a while. Island mentality "tomorrow". Then they really got things cleared. I've only been about a mile from the boat but the streets have potholes and plenty of residual debris. I guess it's the least of their worries. Very little electricity here has been restored, though trucks full of people arrived this week to begin the effort to restore power. People with well pumps have no water with no power. There are a couple of K-Marts here. No air conditioning and only cash. Prices are high from what I hear. I plan to go as soon as I can. We're just stuck on the boat for now. The cruise liner has a fair bit of entertainment. I was surprised at first but it beats all these young men going out "in town" at night. So they have several bars to choose from, some live entertainment, and tonight? Karaoke. About 300 people came in and it looks like many of them are Air Guard. There are Army here, too, and those kids are super polite. I met two young ladies who are FEMA apprentices, working Logistics and having a blast. I'm just so impressed with young people who are so involved with helping others. So we work hard, we play hard. Still a great way to house, feed and corral all these people. I've heard Carnival contributed the ship. Not sure how true that is but how amazing is that. The food, by the way, is fabulous. I've never been on a cruise but I'm pretty sure I'm gaining weight!

   Posted 10-26-2017 at 06:53 PM by hunterseat

9. 	I'm on St. Thomas now, sent to help Logistics. Tomorrow is my first workday on my new assignment.
   	Posted 10-29-2017 at 07:59 PM by hunterseat

10. Sorry about the lack of communication. I really like my job. I'm working on the vehicle Fleet right now. There are a lot of government cars here and they needed to be organized with binders and safety inspections. I've been trying to set up repair places to get maintenance done on them. I'm also working on their parking plan. the location of my office has very limited parking. I'm really enjoying this.

    Posted 11-02-2017 at 06:31 PM by hunterseat

11. 	Nice day off today. I'm trying to write a novel this month so I spent yesterday afternoon and some of today writing. Not nearly enough. Got in the sun a little. Back to work tomorrow. Makes the time go by.
    	Posted 11-05-2017 at 05:59 PM by hunterseat

12. When I was trained in Anniston, it was for Individual Assistance. I was thankful I was moved to logistics because it's closer to where my skills lie. Last night I say across the table with two ladies who are IA. I heard about the 70yr old man who is living in the crawl space under what's left of his house which is, simply, the floor. He cooks on a camp stove. His story affected my friends but what really brought tears following is the joy of life this man had. She had a coworker take over so she could sit in a corner and weep. To remove oneself emotionally is required for survival. But it's not who we are. And you have to let them get their stories out. Sometimes that's the best, if not the only thing you can do to help.

    Posted 11-08-2017 at 03:45 AM by hunterseat

13. A homeless man kept showing up at one Disaster recovery center. They gave him food from their lunches that they weren't going to eat. The manager of that DRC lectured them and forbade them to continue. (Even though another DRC has a table for donated food) The IA people were frustrated and discouraged. HOWEVER, Catholic charities, a partner with FEMA, took him to a hospital where he was treated and kept overnight, giving him good food and a good night's rest. The next day the ladies at the DRC were able to sneak him a hot meal, they took him to a nearby clinic where his prescription was filled for free and he's got a caseworker who got him a place at a shelter for a bit. In the mean time his funding has come through and I hope he uses it wisely. Sometimes we think we know best - a cold sandwich from an unwanted lunch. But God has bigger plans. Let go and let God.

    Posted 11-10-2017 at 06:46 PM by hunterseat

14. Today is Sunday and it was supposed to be my day off. My team had to work, and I decided to help them. Normally I'm in an office doing logistic work and they're in the field doing the grunt side of logistic work. The team consists of one gentleman who is 70 years old, two ladies who are not young and they are not in the best of shape, but that's changing. And the fourth guy is probably late fifties and retired from the Coast Guard. I am so impressed with this team. They work together so well and get things done very quickly. They have a system that no one gets left behind and they do not separate. The guys usually Drive in the ladies are usually The Navigators with the GPS on. If one truck has got to cross the road behind the other the front truck Waits until their traffic is safe for them to both to cross together. I'm just really impressed with their team work. It sure was a pleasure working with them and I'm glad it was only 2 hours because it is blazing hot outside. We were moving a disaster recovery center out of the fire station and into a new recently renovated building. After everything was cleared out I was helping mop the floor. I had to go upstairs to the mop sink to get water and I noticed there was air conditioning upstairs. But downstairs the people who had worked in the DRC there we're literally passing out from heat there was no air moving at all. That just made me angry that they would keep our people and the disaster survivors in those conditions when it's nice and cool upstairs. Fortunately we've got them in a really nice building now so all is well that ends well.

    Posted 11-12-2017 at 01:46 PM by hunterseat

15. Burlington VT linemen were telling me about the reactions of the people who got their power back on. Kids run up and hug them. People run outside screaming and cheering. I'm so glad I got a chance to meet these fine people. They are down for 3 weeks, then more linemen rotate in. They have to use the material provided and that can be a problem. They have to make do. Great guys. They work for the town. They're not contractors. So thank you, Burlington VT and all the other towns that sent the best to help so many. And thanks to ALL the linemen!!!

    Posted 11-13-2017 at 06:37 PM by hunterseat

16. Great news! A transport vessel pulled up in the night and this morning we saw about 500 brand new telephone poles (I don't know what else to call them). Exactly what the linemen need. We lost power today. I was told a substation blew because it was overloaded. There were linemen at the bar. One female, been doing the work 11yrs. She grew up with 2 brothers and did everything they did. BMX, motorcross... When one became a lineman and showed her pictures, she wanted to do it, too! What's crazy is she lives a couple towns over from me in CT. And we're sitting at a bar in a disaster area. (On the Federal Birthing Vessel AKA Cruise Ship) BTW, she ordered a Miami Vice which looks great! I might try that next time!

    Posted 11-16-2017 at 06:41 PM by hunterseat

17. 	2 weeks to go.
    	Posted 11-18-2017 at 07:19 PM by hunterseat

18. A Royal Caribbean cruise ship just docked on the other side of the pier. Yowzer it's humongous! Nice to see fun stuff. I rode the shuttle from work back to the ship. One of our new local hires saw it and shook his head saying "we're not ready yet". I feel bad for the islands but they are healing themselves. When two Cat 5 hurricanes hit back-to-back every bit of vegetation was stripped from the trees. The landscape was brown. When I got here I wondered "where are the papaya trees?" I remembered what I saw in Hawaii. Well they are here. They're coming back. The bougainvillea is finally beginning to bloom again. The sun is here, bright and warm. The ocean is here, sparkling and blue. You may not be ready, young friend, but the island is. Shed that cloak of despair and rejoice that you're here. I'm hearing the celebration going on outside. Love it. Hope they don't carry on too late, though. I have to work in the morning!

    Posted 11-21-2017 at 03:54 PM by hunterseat

19. 	Day off today. I helped at the horse rescue and got to go on a trail ride to the beach!!! Crazy cool!
    	Posted 11-26-2017 at 06:09 PM by hunterseat

20. I really don't like having to type on this phone. I always think about things that I like to say on this little blog but the thought of typing on this phone just kills me. I'm half packed and tomorrow's my last day then a wake up. I have mixed feelings about FEMA. The process is so slow. I found when it comes to the federal government, this slower processes are the result of Prior abuses. One example is our acquisition process back home where I work. And here it takes a long time for the survivors to really get what they need to recover from this disaster. In the meantime we have a Facebook page for the volunteers. I find it interesting that many who have demobilized and are now home, are having a hard time readjusting. I really feel like it has a lot to do with helping the survivors and listening to their stories and becoming emotionally wrapped up in the problems. A big part of the job is just to listen and allow people to tell their story. It's very important, but it takes its toll. Another thing is the number of people who got sick as soon as they got home. I'm not sure what that's about. many of them were in Texas and also Puerto Rico. It seems like those are the ones that have gotten the sickest. I guess it has to do with being around the mildew. So the volunteers are not having a great time during the demobilization process and once they get home. There are many people who are feeling out of place and they really miss the people that they were working with during their Disaster Assistance work. It kind of feels like a military deployment to me, spending so much time working closely with people that you're just getting to know. I think that having a military background is going to make things easier for me. But I have certainly made some great friends. Maybe I'll get a chance to go into a little more detail once I get home and get on a regular computer. On a different note, there were five cruise ships pulled in today which is wonderful for the local economy. There are a lot of vendors that set up booths to sell trinkets and food to the tourists from the ships. There is a guy out there singing right now and it's 20 minutes to 10. I really wish he'd shut up. It's way too loud! And the linemen need to get up really early. They work 7 days a week. There's a disaster relief fundraiser, a calendar of hurricane Heroes featuring our lineman. If anyone's interested I can post a link.

    Posted 11-29-2017 at 06:41 PM by hunterseat Updated 11-30-2017 at 05:28 PM by hunterseat

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