A year after Katrina

Today's story about the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting Broward and Miami-Dade while on its way to the Gulf Coast was a frightening reminder that 12 months have passed -- already?! -- and so much still needs to be done. Plenty of blue tarps remain around my neighborhood, so I feel lucky to have my new roof in place.
However, the ceiling in my kitchen, where we sustained much of the damage first with Katrina and then with Wilma, still needs to be replastered, the walls fixed and a couple of light fixtures replaced. We have called several handymen in the course of these past months, waited for them to show up, and...well, you know the routine. Too much work, not enough workers. I suppose everybody is working on some condo tower.
My neighbor's son, a student in construction management in UF, got a great piece of advice last week: "Get your roofing license, son. And any other trade licenses you can get, while you're at it. You stand to make more money than if you go to law school."
Of course I shouldn't whine. The repairs that need to be done in my house are relatively minor in comparison to the rebuilding we endured for almost nine months after Hurricane Andrew battered our house. It's also nothing compared to other Katrina victims. A childhood friend who lives on the outskirts of New Orleans reports on a regular basis about the tedious and frustrating rebuilding efforts in her neighborhood. She doesn't expect her town to ever return to normal.