This week I am off to join my colleagues at the annual conference of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. This year the convention is in New Orleans.

This will be my third NACBA convention. While I am looking forward to catching up with people I only see once a year or so (and comparing receding hairlines and expanding waistlines....for some), I sort of know what to expect.

This year, I am heading down a day early (and staying an extra day) in hopes of making my way out of downtown, and into the neighborhoods that have been hit. I know what I read in the media and we all know what happened last fall when the two storms destroyed so many lives. Yet despite that, I am really not sure what I can expect.

But I will report it here.

While the economic issues faced by the survivors are very unique, they are not all that dissimilar from those who find themselves adversely affected by something they had no control of. For the people of New Orleans, it was the hurricane season of 2005. For others across the country, from Boston to Bozeman, it might be a death in the family, an accident, an illness or a plant shut down. All of those events can lead an individual or a family down a road of economic hardship. All of those events can leave one feeling like the universe has just pummeled them. Yet despite that, New Orleans is rebuilding.

So stay tuned. I have every reason to believe the New Orleans conference will be something worth reading about.