George W. Bush shakes hands with Greeter Henry Long.

Ed Lavandera | BIO
CNN Correspondent

A few weeks ago I filed a funny blog about a popular Dallas hardware store - Elliott's Hardware - that offered George W. Bush a job as greeter. Elliott’s Hardware is a Dallas institution and just a few miles away from President Bush’s Dallas home.

Well, the former pres made a "surprise" visit there on Saturday.

Ed Lavandera | BIO
CNN Correspondent

I always imagined the life of a former president as the perfect retirement. You sit around, exercise, read great books and get the best tables at the best restaurants. And when the bank account gets a little low, you give a speech to some group willing to write a check for a million dollars. And start the cycle over again, sit, run, read, eat, then work again. Not bad, right?

I assume President George W. Bush is pouring over hundreds of lucrative offers. But I find this offer much more interesting. Elliott’s Hardware is a Dallas institution and just a few miles away from President Bush’s Dallas home. The store is offering the former president a job as a greeter. I know many of you are probably thinking this is a cheap publicity stunt. Perhaps, but it’s a good one.

“It’s a sincere offer, we’ll make the arrangements,” Elliott’s P.R. man Jef Tingley told me. The company says the job perks include flexible hours, plenty of parking for security detail, short commute from his new home and it’s a low-stress environment to interact with people.

I”ll leave the jokes to all of you. I’m just going to wish this actually happens. Jef Tingley tells me they sent the job offer to the President’s home earlier this week and still haven’t heard a response. Now, I’m sitting here looking at the phone number I have for President Bush’s office and wondering if should call Mr. Bush’s people and get a comment.

Ed Lavandera | BIO
CNN Correspondent

“The big rumor in town is where is Cindy Sheehan going to live now?” That’s how my friend, Texas Monthly writer Skip Hollandsworth, joked about President Bush’s plans to live in the most exclusive neighborhood in Dallas. But news of a President with dismal approval ratings hasn’t squashed the excitement of his new neighbors in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas.

Doug Fletcher lives right across the street from the home where George and Laura Bush are expected to live after leaving office next January.

“It’s quiet, very quiet. People tend to mind their own business and help each other out if they need it, so that’s probably where he’d like to live” Fletcher told me as we watched dozens of cars driving by his home.

A steady stream of gawkers have been sneaking a peak of the Bush’s new home. It’s an 8,500 square foot home with 5 bedrooms that sits on a quiet cul-de-sac. The pricetag: $3 million dollars

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You can buy the ''Dallas Cowboys® Texas Stadium® End Zone Package''

Ed Lavandera | BIO
CNN Correspondent

Just in time to take your mind off the country’s economic woes, leave it to Neiman Marcus to remind you how little disposable income most of us have in our bank accounts. The Dallas-based retailer published its 2008 Christmas catalog today. And when you get to the section labeled “Wow Gifts” you can’t help but wonder, “Who buys these gifts?”

For $500-thousand, you can buy the Dallas Cowboys end zone from Texas Stadium.

YES, the real, full-sized chunk of turf. The Cowboys are moving out of the stadium at the end of this football season so I guess everything inside will soon be for sale. After the last game, a crew will cut out the end zone, roll it up and for an additional charge it can be installed in your backyard.

And for a cool million dollars golfing legend Jack Nicklaus will design a golf course for your back yard.

The economy is Issue #1 these days. But as I thumb through the pages of the Neiman’s Christmas catalog I feel like I’m wandering through fantasy land.

Galveston business owners worry the financial crisis will slow efforts to rebuild after Ike. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

Ed Lavandera | BIO
CNN Correspondent

"It's never a good time to ask for money." Those were the rather understated words of Jeff Sjostrom, the President of Galveston's Economic Development Partnership (Think of the partnership as the island's Chamber of Commerce), when I asked him if he was worried that Texas officials were asking Congress for more than $11-billion on the same day the $700-billion bailout was being negotiated on Capitol Hill.
As hundreds of residents returned to Galveston Island to clean up it dawned on me that most of these residents have been so overwhelmed with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike that they'd probably heard very little about the collapsing financial markets.

As I walked the downtown Galveston area known as "The Strand," most small business owners had barely heard any of this news. Who can blame them really? If you're not sure your business will survive or your home is in ruins you probably don't really care to read other depressing news.

But there is concern among the small business owners in The Strand that the struggling economy will slow down the rebuilding in Galveston.

"This is insult to injury here," Garry Depringre, the owner of Surf Styles told me. "We're going to need some help. We have to have help man. I can't do this on my own."

The downtown tourist businesses were hard hit. Most stores took on 8 feet of floodwater. Tourism makes up about a third of the island's economy. So it's crucial for these tourists to come back soon. But if economy is struggling will they return?

Another area of concern is the wiped-out and pricey beach homes on the west side of Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula. These are areas that make up about 45% of the island's tax base. But there are several hundred homes that might not be rebuilt. What kind of impact will that have on the island's economy?

But island officials, like Jeff Sjostrom, say they're confident the economy will bounce back better than ever. I guess after a double whammy strike like Hurricane Ike and a financial collapse it's good to have people around who see the silver lining.

Ed Lavandera
CNN Correspondent
I've been here before.

When I saw that bridge over the Vermilion River entering downtown Abbeville. It all came rushing back to me.

Three years ago Abbeville (Population 13,000 in Vermilion Parish west of New Orleans) sat on the edge of disaster in the wake of Hurricane Rita, all the small towns around here were flooded out by that hurricane. I stood on the back porch of the Riverfront Louisiana Grill restaurant with Anderson Cooper reporting on the toll the storm had taken.

When the broadcast ended that night, it was close to midnight, and there were no hotel rooms within a hundred of miles. We were all exhausted and the idea of sleeping in the car was becoming an unpleasant reality.

Out of nowhere (at least it seemed that way to me) an Abbeville resident stopped by and asked us where we were staying that night. When she found out we didn't have a place to sleep, she invited the entire CNN team to her home. We're talking about 25 exhausted, hungry and stinky people. But her family welcomed us with open arms and even fired up an unforgettable pot of gumbo. We slept on the floor, couches and chairs.

Three years later, I'm back in Abbeville hoping I could see the house and express my gratitude again. But Abbeville is a ghost town. One of the only people we found was 83-year-old Barbara Weidert and her daughter. Both Katrina evacuees. Floodwaters destroyed their homes and they ended up living in Abbeville. Now another hurricane is threatening their lives again.

Editor's Note: Anderson Cooper 360° is in New Orleans tonight, as Tropical Storm Gustav barrels toward the Gulf of Mexico, expected to reach Category 3. We'll look at whether New Orleans is ready, after being devastated by Hurricane Katrina exactly three years ago today. Watch our special report tonight at 10p ET.



Ed Lavandera
CNN Correspondent

One picture I have stashed away seems to capture the enormity of Katrina. It sits in a stack of old photos from my travels across the country. It’s a picture of Bourbon St. The lights are out, except for the moonlight glimmering off the top of some French Quarter buildings. And the street is empty. I mean totally deserted, just me and two colleagues walking down one of the most famous streets in the world. I should call the picture “Bourbon St: Population 3.”

It was a late night just days after the storm hit. I remember standing there and thinking (hoping really) that this moment would never repeat itself.
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