The ranger was giving us some kind of advice and people were milling around in indecision. I started telling everyone to hurry and get in the cars because we didn't have much time, and I thought I was being a good leader for the group, but then I realized that we didn't have enough water, and I wanted to dump water from the river into the car so it wouldn't burn as easily.
My coworker asked me to come in the car with him and help him navigate, but my parents were going in the other car and I had to decide if I should be with them or not. I decided to ride with him so that even if one of the cars got burned up, at least either my parents or I would survive, and my relatives wouldn't be so sad. But when I was about to get in the car I could suddenly see the flames very close to us, and realized that the only way to survive was to go in the river. That's when I woke up.
That was the dream I had, and the fire never even came that close to our house. I can't imagine the after-effects for those who saw the flames in person and not on TV.
The closest I got to such crucial decisions was early on when I thought we might be evacuated later, and I decided that Navid and I should both go in his car so we wouldn't get separated, and if my car got burned up in the garage at least I had comprehensive coverage.
Funny, as I am writing this I just realized that on Mythbusters last night they were making flames chase a car, and that may have contributed to my dream too. It's strange how the mind works.
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( 3 / 14 )In the fourth night of the 2007 San Diego wildfires, flames are still raging in many parts of the county, but in other areas people who were evacuated are being allowed back into their neighborhoods. Navid even had to go back to work today.
On the television, some of the stations are starting to show their regular programming instead of nonstop fire news. Well over 1,000 homes have been destroyed and many are still threatened, but efforts have already turned to helping people rebuild their lives. I and many of my coworkers will be alternating our regular jobs with staffing Local Assistance Centers near the affected areas where people can get questions answered on many different topics. Bright and early (7 AM!!) tomorrow I will be going to Cuyamaca College with a coworker to get a sense of the kinds of questions and duties I can expect when I head up to the Fallbrook LAC on Monday.
Here in Clairemont the smoke smell has largely faded from the air and there is a disturbing sense of business as usual--I say disturbing because it feels wrong somehow to go out for dinner and come back home when others' homes are still burning. Many, many people have given their time and donations to help out at the shelters, and I feel rather guilty that I haven't felt compelled to do the same, but they are saying on the news that they already have more than enough, and they have also urged people to stay off the roads as much as possible unless necessary.
On the news they show seemingly endless appearances by various politicians. Of course there are some important messages these people can give, but at some point (especially when the fire chiefs are standing with them) you start to think shouldn't they be working and not talking? I know it's going to be even worse when President Bush comes tomorrow. It makes some sense for the Governor to be here--if I were an evacuee I'd like a chance to meet him, and this is his state. But I can't stand the thought that President Bush is going to swoop in like some kind of knight in shining armor and pretend he's saving San Diego! The only reason he's here is to make himself look good and give the impression that he's doing something, but he's not. He's not out there with a fire hose. He's not clearing debris. He's not even pushing paperwork, aside from signing a page or two to commit federal funding, which any other president would have done, and it's not as if that's his money to give anyway! It's the taxpayers' money, and he's pissing away a lot more of it on paying private contractors in Iraq than we'll ever see for our rebuilding. The commentators on TV today started shaking their heads and saying how unfortunate it is that some people have apparently gathered at Qualcomm Stadium to protest Bush's visit, and said the police are taking it very seriously. Well since when does a wildfire take away anyone's right to free speech or free thought? They had better not dare say that those protesters are taking advantage of the disaster for political gain, because President Bush is the one starting that game! It does no one any good for him to visit Qualcomm Stadium and get his picture taken shaking hands and kissing babies except for himself. (Although Lord knows he's no good at anything else.) He should let one of the employees who will be administering the funding make the announcement. I hope the evacuees themselves start booing Bush. I sure as hell would!
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( 2.9 / 19 )As you've probably heard, there are fires blazing all over southern California right now. There are eight fires in San Diego County alone, and 250,000 people have been evacuated as the largest fires are still 0% contained. Navid's office was within the evacuation area so he didn't have to go to work today, but with the air outside full of smoke and many roads closed, he didn't have many options except staying home and watching the news. At the County our whole department had a meeting this morning about ways we can help after the fire, but there's little we can do now, so they let us out early to beat the very heavy traffic. I was happy to go since I'm fighting a cold.
While looking at homes recently we considered moving to Poway or Rancho Bernardo to get a better deal, but some of the homes we considered were very likely burned down today, and we are glad we chose a more urban area. My heart goes out to those who lost everything today.
We're all hoping the winds will die down and give the fire fighters a chance to start containing the blaze.
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( 3 / 24 )It looks like the Senate is giving President Bush the affirmation he needs to start a war with Iran. The Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which condemns Iran and classifies the Iranian army as a terrorist organization, passed today 76-22. At least they removed one of the paragraphs which directly encouraged military action against Iran, but it still pushes us closer to a military confrontation.
More information: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/ar ... 13015.html
Shamefully, Hillary Clinton voted for the amendment, and Barack Obama and John McCain missed the vote. On the other hand, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd both voted the right way, as I have no doubt Dennis Kucinich will if it comes to the House. Why is it that our "front runners" seem to be the backwards ones at times like this?? Edwards is no longer in the Senate so he couldn't vote on it, but he did support the Webb amendment which would have specifically required the President to get authorization from Congress before attacking Iran: http://johnedwards.com/issues/iraq/2007 ... index.html
I wrote to my senators yesterday urging them to oppose the amendment:
"Please vote against the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which would authorize military action against Iran. We have not yet had a full debate on what kind of threat Iran poses and what kind of diplomatic options need to be exhausted before military action is taken. The President would need to make a strong case to the American people before Congress should authorize any more acts of military aggression. We would need to see evidence of careful planning and complete consideration of the potential consequences, which never occurred for the invasion of Iraq.
It is also preposterous to propose placing the Iranian military on a list of terrorist organizations, unless we have decided that all soldiers, including our own, should be classified as terrorists and treated accordingly by other nations.
I beg you, do everything you can to stop this fear-mongering and hate-building against Iran. It is absolutely counterproductive to developing the sensible, humanitarian approach we need."
Here is Senator Boxer's response (typical politician-speak but at least she voted against the amendment, unlike Senator Feinstein):
Dear Mrs. Ehsan:
Thank you for contacting me to express your views regarding relations between the United States and Iran . I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns on this issue, which is extremely important to me.
Although Iran 's defiance in the wake of international condemnation of its nuclear program is deeply troubling, I believe that the United States and the international community must continue to pursue diplomatic options in urging Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program. Rigorous diplomacy, backed by effective sanctions, offers the best means of ending this dangerous program without a military confrontation.
I am also greatly concerned by Iran 's growing influence in Iraq and its support of armed Shiite militias. Again, I believe that the United States should work with the international community to convince Iran to help bring stability to its war-ravaged neighbor. International diplomacy provides the best means of persuading Iran and other neighboring countries to help end the terrible civil war in Iraq .
Please be assured that I will continue to push for diplomatic solutions as the best way of resolving disagreements with Iran .
Thank you again for contacting me regarding this important issue.
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
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( 2.9 / 15 )Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, let me tell you, Navid and I did not have high hopes when we set out on Saturday to look for furniture, again. We thought that we would find something else we liked and again have to wait a month or maybe never get it. But while we were shopping at Jerome's, we heard an announcement that delivery for September 15th was now closed. September 15th, we marveled, isn't that today?? And sure enough, when we found a living room set that we liked, they told us that the regular-price delivery had closed for the day, but for $10 extra we could get our furniture that very night! Needless to say, we jumped at the chance, and our living room is no longer empty. Jerome's is our new favorite store! Now we really need to hang our paintings/pictures. When that's done I'll post pictures.
We also still need a bedroom set. Most of the choices available seem too dark and ornate.
I'll have to post pictures of our lawn too, to show how the lawn patch stuff is not working, despite our faithful watering. I don't know what we're going to do with this front lawn.
On the other hand, the grass seed I spread around our new flower has come in beautifully. Perhaps it is only by ripping the old grass to shreds that one can make room for new grass to grow.
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( 3.1 / 18 )On August 15th we ordered a bedroom set and a living room set from Mor Furniture for Less. We were told that the bedroom set would be delivered in two weeks and we'd have to wait until late September to get the living room furniture. So we resigned ourselves to waiting, since we didn't want to keep shopping, knowing that we could not finish unpacking or start having people over until our furniture came.
After about three weeks, we started calling Mor to find out what happened to our bedroom set. Yesterday when Navid spoke with them they said that they could deliver the bedroom set, loveseat and chair, but we'd have to wait until early October to get the couch. Okay, fine, it was an added delay but we were willing to accept that.
Then today they called back and said that they could not get us the loveseat unless we bought the display model, which they were only discounting by $200 and which they refused to deliver! Needless to say, we said no thanks to the living room set.
If they had delivered the bedroom set on schedule of course we would have kept it, but since they were so slow (it's been almost four weeks) we cancelled the bedroom set too. When Navid was on the phone with them to cancel, she stated that our furniture (I assume she meant the bedroom set) had been ready within four days. However, no one ever contacted us to schedule delivery! I can only assume that they were trying to save themselves money by waiting to deliver all of our furniture at once. Bad decision.
Now we'll have to go shopping again, which we're not looking forward too, but hopefully we can find a store a little more eager to get their merchandise into our home.
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( 3.1 / 23 )It's hard to believe the weekend is over already. Navid and I spent most of the day on Saturday pulling weeds in the front yard, spreading grass patching mixture , watering, and then pulling out more crabgrass to create a nice hole to plant a flower in the side yard. Actually I'm not sure if it was crabgrass or not. Does crabgrass form thick, scaly roots that look like alien worms? Anyway, we pulled those guys out and planted a cute blue flower , I forget the name.
The first green shoot is emerging from the vegetable garden we planted last weekend. I think it's a bean plant. We planted beans, peas, cherry tomatoes, dill, carrots, and orange peppers. I don't know if it is the right time to plant or not--if I were back in Wisconsin I'd have to wait for next spring, but the winters here are usually mild so we'll see how it goes. We are still subscribed to the Be Wise Ranch CSA, so we get boxes of fruits and veggies every other week. This past Tuesday we got oranges, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, parsley, kale, beets, and cilantro. The only one of those that I have a hard time eating is the kale, but I managed to make a mostly edible soup with kale, onion, zucchini, butter, milk, and a little cheese. The peaches and oranges are so sweet and juicy!
Also this weekend we danced Argentine tango, watched Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Who Killed the Electric Car, did the laundry, vacuumed, assembled our coffee table, cleaned the door frames (and now that they are clean I can see that more touch-up painting will be needed), and put the first coat of polyurethane on our garden bench, which needs extra protection since it gets watered by the sprinkling system every other day. I discovered that polyurethane, unlike the latex paints we've been using, does require paint thinner to clean the brush. If you try to clean it with soap and water, you will get polyurethane all over your hands, and your wedding ring if you are foolish enough to be wearing it, and it is very sticky and won't come off however many times you wash your hands.
Simon couldn't wait to investigate the new coffee table , and immediately got onto the woven metal layer in the middle. We put a toy for him on the glass top and he kept trying to bat at it through the glass. Then I reached beneath to tickle his tummy through the metal weave. This prompted him to reach through toward the ground. When his paw actually touched the carpet he pulled back in obvious shock, sending Navid and I into convulsions of laughter. I don't know if it was because he couldn't reach through the glass, but he obviously didn't expect to be able to touch the ground.
He also climbed over the fence this weekend into the neighbors' backyard, where he stayed for a while, but he must have pushed their gate open and when I found him he was in their driveway underneath their car, which only proves my point that cats should not be roaming loose outside or they will get run over by cars. So I don't know what we will do now to keep him in the yard. We had him outside tethered on his long leash, but of course he couldn't go everywhere he wanted to and wasn't happy. Later on he actually started climbing the fence, the part with the reed covering over it, and got almost to the top, so apparently the investment in more of that reed screen was wasted. So if we do put him out on the leash we can't leave him near the fence or he will climb over and hang himself on the other side... I thought about putting some kind of spring-loaded shelf all around the top of the fence that would collapse and dump him off whenever he climbed onto it. But I suspect keeping a cat inside a fence is like keeping a squirrel out of a bird feeder: impossible, because they will find a way around every device you put up against them.
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( 2.3 / 4 )Add Who Killed the Electric Car? to your Netflix list. I wasn't living in California at the time, and I didn't know that fully electric cars were in production by GM and on the streets in the late 90s and early 2000s. Today, they are all gone. Was it because the consumers who drove them didn't like them? Was it because the cars broke down? Was it because there weren't enough potential buyers? No, according to the film, these are not the reasons. You'll have to watch to find out who they find guilty.
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( 3.3 / 6 )I just got an email about this website, http://therealrudy.org/ taking a critical look at Rudy Giuliani. Obviously they are not neutral on the candidate, but I found the videos posted there informative.
It seems like all you ever hear on the news is that Giuliani is one of the frontrunners along with Mitt Romney, and then they mention Fred Thompson (but maybe now that Thompson is officially in the race he'll stop getting special treatment). I guess it's easier not to pay attention, especially to the Republicans. I'll just get mad if I learn too much about them.
But it does seem kind of early to bring out the attack ads. Now is the time for the Republicans to attack each other. Why not wait until one of them wins the nomination and then take them down?
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( 3.3 / 6 )Look, someone else is organizing a Starbucks boycott! I decided to check some of the Saudi blogs I'd bookmarked previously, just for something interesting to read, and in the comments for this post I found this link: http://boycottstarbucks.ning.com/
It's great to see I'm not the only one pissed off about Starbucks' acceptance of gender apartheid in Saudi Arabia. Also check out this comment thread on the Starbucks Gossip blog and post your own comment supporting the boycott.
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