A little fun… then a long drive

 But first:

What’s missing from yesterday’s post is the explanation that we drove up the backside of the ridge behind the Badwater Basin, which more than 280 feet below sea level. 

The place where I shot the photo, Dante’s View, is 5,575 feet above sea level, and is very windy and cold.

Sunday we were at Las Vegas for a gymnastics competition where MB’s granddaughter, Ducky, was participating. I have 

She placed fourth overall in her level and age group. 

After having lunch with her and her mom, and several others, we filled The Grey Lady’s fuel tank and headed toward Phoenix, with a brief stop to see an imported landmark.

continuing . . .

 

Oh no, pt. II

It was catastrophic.

According to the tech guy, "Your motherboard crashed."

There was no telling why.

Unfortunately, it was out of warranty.

So we ordered a replacement.

That took some time.

They'd copied my phone number wrong and had to wait for me to contact them.
Then, it took a week to get the new unit to set it up.

Then they weren't able to retrieve any of the data on the old unit.

But I have a backup.
The SSD has been plugged in since 2017.

I hand delivered it Monday afternoon.

The new unit would be ready later in the day.

24 hours later I'd heard nothing, so I called.

"Uh, your last backup is dated March 3, 2017."

I'd thought I was set for automatic backups.

I never checked to see if it was happening.

So . . .  now I have a blank slate.

As alluded . . .

 . . . photo explanations.

...Approaching the Minneapolis Airport on Monday morning

...Somewhere over Gillette, Wyoming

...Descending over the Sierras into Sacramento just west of Donner Pass

...The Foresthill Bridge near Auburn, CA, rumored to be the third highest bridge in the U.S.

...The Sacramento River kinda wraps itself around the airport

Maybe I'll add some context later.

time will tell

I had a plan

Three days ago I was going to take a picture of the finished project.

Needless to say, I didn't . . .   about six different times I didn't.
Finally, this morning, I realized I had no post.

The real irony is that the blogging of the project took a heck of a lot longer than the actual project.

Friday cat

He’s back again.

Sebastian hasn’t figured out the cat and boxes thing yet.

Confusion reigns . . . sometimes

. . . and now it's Tuesday.

It took some adjustment, last week, to remember that Wednesday was not Monday.

I should explain, huh?

MB and I flew back to the Midwest the previous week so we could attend the last Grandparents Day for the youngest grandchild back there.
Whilst we were there we also attended a number of other events, including volleyball and soccer games.
We also saw the weather change dramatically for the second year in a row.

I won't go negative here and complain about the issues we had with rental vehicles because it was about the vehicles and not the company that rented the vehicle to us.

Anyway, somehow my mind, after spending most of the day Tuesday flying some 3100 miles to get home.
Yeah, Wednesday felt like a Monday.

pretty sure today's Tuesday

Aftermath ll

My friend is retired from CalFire (formerly the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection).
He has been posting about wildfire issues since the Carr Fire broke out in July of last year.
I have done my best to preserve his formatting and include his images.
There are those who read his post and were offended, feeling that he was attacking them for wanting to rebuild to the same standards that did not survive the conflagration.

Royal Burnett

June 15, 2019

I started writing this blog during the Carr fire, 11 months ago. The Fire Agencies (CalFire, USFS, Redding City) were doing such a poor job of public information that I felt the need to post the news and commentary. My friends appreciated the updates, so I continue to comment.

The Fire Agencies haven’t improved much, and now my comments are about post fire reconstruction or hardening your existing home in preparation the upcoming season.
It disturbs me to see the reconstruction in the area West of Redding proceeding using the same construction and landscaping techniques...hundreds if not thousands of feet of new wood fences, wood bark being used for soil stabilization and wood decks. These are the things that contributed to the conflagration. I’m not saying that anyone with an existing wood fence should tear it down, but when it comes time to replace it fire resistant material should be mandatory. I’m surprised Insurance companies don’t require it.

Insurance companies and individuals are the ones who stand to lose during a wildfire...The Fire Department will do their best to save lives and property, but there are times when the best effort is simply not enough. When the wildland fuels dry out and the fire spread comes into alignment with wind and slope an average wildfire is unstoppable until the fuels or the weather changes.. That’s why most of them burn to the ridgetop… we don’t stop them mid slope very often.

In extreme burning conditions, The Fire Services will devote most of their effort to rescue and very little to perimeter control. Camp fire was was a Tsunami of fire and we were not going to stop it with air tankers, engines or bulldozers. Adding another firefighter to Redding City engines would not have stopped or prevented the Carr Fire...nor will new fire engines or helicopters. We’ve been throwing money at this problem, but it lands in the wrong place.
If we’re going to live in this Wildland Urban Interface, we’ve got to change our ways. The individual must prepare his home for the eventual fire. In 1972 I moved my family from Cobb Mountain into the town of Clearlake. I didn’t want to live in town, but realized I could not defend our mountain home… it burned down in the Valley Fire in 2014. Climate change, fuel loading and increased housing density have exacerbated the fire problem and Agencies and regulations have not kept up. 

Construction and landscaping standards that were in place in the past are no longer acceptable. Just as we outlawed wood shake roofs, we may have to regulate wood fences or list some plants like Eucalyptus, Redwoods and Junipers as undesirable. CalFire needs to computerize its fire inspection data base and radically change compliance standards. No more 2 weeks grace period for a cleanup, be clean or be cited on second inspection. Insurance companies should be allowed access to the inspection reports. Just as a driving ticket raises your car insurance, non compliance with fire clearance laws should raise your homeowners insurance. How about a tax break for money spent on hardening structures similar to the tax rebate energy saving plan ? We need new ideas in our Fire Prevention Program.

Chief Darin Quigley from Weed shared a post about how he rebuilt his house following the Bowles fire ( September 2014). ..Darin used concrete siding, triple pane windows and poured a concrete pad 5 feet around the home to insure that vital 5 feet of clearance is maintained. Weed is in a wind tunnel and the wind blows every day. Chief Quigley knows he’s got to exceed minimum construction standards in order to survive.
Darin’s father Jerry Quigley and I fought fire together here in Shasta and his experience is sorely missed. I’ll also say that Darin Quigley is a hero… when it seemed like his entire town was burning, and he knew his own home was endangered or lost, he stayed at his post in command of that fire, ordering and directing the fire fighting efforts. Good job Darin, your Dad would be proud. 

A Fire Safe home and a Fire wise community will not guarantee your home won’t burn, but its got to start at the individual level. First the homeowner, then the Home Owner’s Association or community over watch… then the City or County and clear up to the Federal Government have all got to contribute to our mutual well being.
Just as we can’t condone or should not tolerate a neighbor who lets his property grow up with weeds and brush, we should not tolerate it from the City with its Greenbelts...or the Whiskeytown Park with its wannbee Wilderness Park Policy. There is a persistent Urban Rumor that Park officials prevented or delayed the use of bulldozers on the Carr fire...if that is correct, the policy is not acceptable. 

The Federal Government has got to change its fire management policy. No Man is an Island...nor is any entity. The Wildland Urban Interface can also be called the Urban threat zone...and in times of global warming its getting bigger.
The Eiler fire (July 2014) in Burney demonstrated that a “managed fire” policy in the 1000 Lakes Wilderness can be a direct threat to Burney...The Reading Fire ( July 2012) demonstrated that a “managed fire” in Lassen National Park can be a direct threat to the citizens of Old Station. The Federal Government is trying to use fire as a land management tool without the benefit of an Environmental Impact Report...and the results are too often disastrous. 

The times are a changin’ and we’ve got to keep up.

Prequel

My friend is retired from CalFire (formerly the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection).
He has been posting about wildfire issues since the Carr Fire broke out in July of last year.
I have done my best to preserve his formatting and include his images.

The following is a set up for last evening's post and other's which follow.

Royal Burnett

May 10, 2019

Benign neglect or malpractice ?

From the Collins Dictionary...benign neglect phrase If you describe someone's approach to a problem as one of benign neglect , you disapprove of the fact that they are doing nothing and hoping that the problem will solve itself

I drove out West of Redding today, through the Carr fire scar...The burn happened in about 8 months ago. In the Oak Woodlands patches of grass were showing and the Valley Oaks were stump sprouting. In the areas that were dense manzanita or Knob Cone Pine there was not much regeneration showing.
I continued my drive to Whiskeytown National Recreation Area... parts of it that were desolated. I drove the same route last fall and remarked in this column that the fire burned as hot and did as much soil damage as I’d seen anywhere in California and this recon re enforced that feeling. Much of the burned area is resprouting with oak brush and poison oak ; I saw scattered patches of grass. In a few short years this will be a horrendous fire hazard.

Whiskey town is a National Recreation area...which operates not as Wilderness area or a Preserve...the NPS is charged with custodial responsibility...Caring for the Land. This land doesn’t look very well cared for. We had a disaster, now we have a mess. If we do nothing it will take decades for this land to recover.

After last summer’s fires we have more than 500 square miles of fresh burned land in and around Redding. Much of that land is owned by the Federal Land Management Agencies… the US Forest Service, The National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. As land managers isn’t it their job to clean up after a disaster and prevent the same thing from happening again?
Can we afford to have Federal Agencies allow their land to become brush choked snag patches in close proximity to town ? If private citizens are required to reduce the fire hazard on their property, shouldn't Big Brother be required to do the same ?

Roseburg and other timber companies did a very successful rehabilitation of the Fountain Fire scar between Redding and Burney. It can be done...it requires will and effort. I hope the managers of our Land Management Agencies are up to the task.

Aftermath

My friend is retired from CalFire (formerly the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection).
He has been posting about wildfire issues since the Carr Fire broke out in July of last year.
I have done my best to preserve his formatting and include his images.
There is more to follow.

 Royal Burnett
June 11, 2019

I spent yesterday with my friend Mike Terwilliger, riding through the area burned by the Camp fire last November. Mike is a retired Chief from Truckee FD who also functioned as Incident Commander of the Sierra Front Type 2 Incident Management Team...he knows a lot about fire.

The Camp fire as you may remember, burned about 153,000 acres, destroyed about 15,000 homes and another 600 plus commercial buildings. 85 civilians perished perished in this fire. Wikipedia has a very good write up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Fire_(2018)

The purpose of our visit was to see if there were any lessons to be learned...anything I could glean from this tragedy that would help those of us not directly affected. Its been 6 months since the fire, a whole winter has passed and much of the forensic evidence has been destroyed by weather or rehabilitation efforts, but here’s a few things that stuck out.

1. Almost all of the structures that survived, both residential and commercial had clearance in the all important 5 foot Home Ignition Zone. Here’s a link to the NFPA website for more info.

https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Preparing-homes-for-wildfire

2. Many of the surviving structures both commercial and residential had metal roofs. I some cases we could see where patches of needles had burned on the metal roof and the building did not ignite. Older homes had composition roofs and several of them survived. Clean roofs and gutters are a must.

3. Almost all surviving structures were clean and well maintained. No urban clutter, no fire wood piles, no autos and other vehicles parked near enough to ignite the homes.

4. Several homes that survived had Trex or flame resistant decks.
Paradise and Magalia are older towns located at the 2500 foot elevation level where Ponderosa Pines and Black Oaks dominate the landscape. Ponderosa Pines shed a lot of needles, year round...most buildings and grounds are covered with needle drape if not constantly maintained...and pine needles burn hot ! 

The towns are both located on a ridge above the Feather River in a known fire corridor. The Jarbo Gap winds are infamous in the firefighting community. In recent years there have been repeated major fires in the Feather River Canyon, both above and below Paradise. You would think this would be a FireWise/ FireSafe community. In spite of planning and preparation the fire overwhelmed all emergency services. 

Just like in the Carr fire, the emergency notification system failed...same excuse, the cell towers burned down. This is simply not acceptable. Emergencies happen at all hours ...not everyone has a computer or a cell phone and during emergencies people don’t watch TV. Emergency Service providers simply must find a more dependable way to notify the public. I will once again recommend town sirens. They use them on the Coast for tsunami warnings and in the South for tornado warnings...why can’t we learn from this ? 

Again. like in the Carr fire burned area we noticed people starting to rebuild..one business had replaced the wood fence that burned down and replanted a series of young redwood trees..guaranteed to give a rapid start to the next conflagration. Wood fences are nothing but upright piles of kindling wood connecting houses and yards together. In the Carr fire they were the fuse that helped spread the fire from house to house. Redwood trees are dirty, shed a lot of needles and will burn readily from base to crown . In my opinion. Redwoods ( both species), Eucalyptus, Junipers and Palms should not be used as landscaping in fire prone areas. Decorative bark should be used sparingly and not within 5 feet of any structure. Same with wood fences...use metal for the last 5 feet between the fence and the house.

You’ll hear me harping about this...fire defense has got to be a holistic effort… every body at every level from the individual to the City/County State and Federal government has got to contribute. No entity can make its own rules or exemptions. But that’s another column.

Yeah . . . like this

stolen from xkcd

this is the subtext from the above message

Did I say Pirates?

Someone may have misread the memo.

or not

So I just left it here

The first was in my feed yesterday.
The second one I found while browsing (the link to the side is in the sidebar).
Both, by some stretch of the imagination, relate to Thursday's post.

source: http://rhymeswithorange.com/

guess it wasn't enough?

Okay . . . okay

Yesterday I alluded to the fact said that I knew a lot of old former Air Force Sergeants [they're all younger than I, hence the strikeout].

Off the top of my head I can think of six.
There may even be more, but memory can be fleeting when it comes to acquaintances.
It's really kind of interesting because I have not met two of them in person.

One, Buck Pennington, is no longer with us and I lament that we never connected in person because we shared a number of similar experiences and interests, being of an age.
We shared of those some on our blogs.
That's how we met.
He introduced me, indirectly, to a number of other bloggers.
Tomorrow would have been his birthday.

Another is also a blogger.
He's over there on the left side, usually at the top of the list (or near it anyway).
He daily posts at The Chant or has a little help from Juvat or Tuna.
There's supposedly a third contributor, Lush, but the name says a lot [jk].
We may yet meet because I have never been to Li'l Rhody and that's on my list of places to visit [along with Alaska, N. Dakota, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, S. Carolina, N. Carolina . . .  all of the states I haven't yet actually visited  — passing through doesn't count].
I like him because he has a more than passing interest in history, among other things and he understands women about as well as I.

The other four may also blog.
But if they do I don't know where.

In chronological order:
The one I've known longest lives up north and our paths crossed several times a week over the past 15 years because of a major lifestyle change.
I still see him on fb.
I can't say any more without breaking his anonymity ['nuff said].
 
I've known Andy for as long as I've known MB.
Now he's almost a neighbor and since he and I are both Lions Club member [and PDGs] we catch up on a regular basis.
He's one of those folks who'll give you the shirt off his back, if needed.
He's also seldom seen without a cowboy hat and boots [probably a genetic thing, as he's a Texan].

Then there's my Brother in Law, one of MB's brothers [she has three brothers, I have eight brothers in law . . .   or is it nine, or seven?].
I met him once when we were just dating.
(I've seen more of the brother from, Arizona who lives in Cairo, Egypt, but that's another story)
AF BiL lives on the East Coast and spends time in both Maine and Florida [Maine's on the list].
He travels all over the world [was just in Korea] as a motivational speaker.
He also rides his bike a lot [I get fatigued just looking at my bike].
He's currently tuning up for a cross-country fundraising ride by doing shorter fund raising rides in Florida.
I know this because he another on fb.

Then there's Mike.
He's on fb, too, but I see him in person more.
He is also a Lions Club member [and a PDG].
I think he's hyperactive   . . . or he can't tell people no when they ask for assistance.
That said, I was more than happy when he, his wife, Sheri, and Andy showed up to help move the stuff from Anderson last year.
It's nice to have friends with a logistical services business.

So you can see I've had pretty good experience with NCOs of the Air Force variety.
I highly recommend them.

✰✰✰✰

About yesterday

coincidence?

Still more

I may have mentioned we're going on vacation?

The mind is like that about remembering.

Anyway, since I think I mentioned it we have schedule two more excursions before the end of February.
On top of that, I have a brief sojourn to the North State right after we return from the vacation. 
MB has to stay home because, as the person who takes the blame business administrator, she's handling preparations for the congregation's annual meeting.
I'd just be in the way a distraction [the squirrels are bad enough].

airline miles

There's a new addition

We dropped some donation items off at the Discovery Shop this morning.
On a whim I said, "Let's go inside."

There he was on a shelf,  marked $5.00.
It turns out the stuff for Christmas is now 50% off.

winner!

. . . and then

Following up on Monday's rant.

Someone must've read the post,
Now the maroons are out to get me.

I was driving to the post office this morning, following my usual route which snakes through the neighborhood and avoids the major traffic streets.
I purposely come to a stop at all of the stop signs so I can complain about others who don't and avoid being called a hypocrite.
At one point there was another car approaching from the opposite direction.
The driver noticed I was stopped.
So he didn't and made a left turn in front of me.
Had I not been paying attention . . .

Well, you can use your imagination.

hope his mother bit him

 when he got home

What do we call this?

MB writes:

As Skip mentioned yesterday, we celebrate an anniversary of sorts, mainly because we celebrate all kinds of occasions. Isn’t that what you do when you’re in love? Like the day last August (the 12th) when we met for breakfast at McDonald’s in Anderson, me with 6 grandchildren in tow on the way to Washington, and no idea about any of what was to occur. This year we went out to breakfast to celebrate.

Or the following weekend (August 20th) when we both came from our separate places to have dinner with friends from our Lions group and had absolutely no thought of any of what was to occur. That dinner happened at Red Robin in Vacaville with Bob and Suzie. This year we were in Oregon for the eclipse so we had dinner at Red Robin in Eugene, just without Bob and Suzie.

Then there’s the next day when we commemorate the first “Good Morning” text Skip sent me, with NO IDEA of what it would lead to. That was followed by a couple weeks of texting, just friends having conversations that led to a deepening friendship which led to an invitation to a reunion which led to . . . . We celebrated that on September 5, the day of the invitation.  I remember, so vividly, so much of what happened on each of those days.

Yesterday, September 13, was the anniversary of our first “date” - breakfast, face to face.  We had breakfast side by side, celebrating my granddaughter’s 9th birthday. Next week, the 18th, is a year since our second “date”, a dinner at my house with my family. We’ll fly to Oregon for a Lions conference that day – the same conference Skip was returning from when he came to my house for dinner. By the way, the 18th is also our 7th “monthiversary”.

Then there is the picnic we had on the 23rd, which included a walk around the lake, and a pretty special kiss. I can still picture almost every moment. Yes, there are stars in my eyes. . . .

The last year has been a whirlwind of activity, change, stress, emotion, fun, work, and, most of all, incredible blessing.  From first text to first date to proposal to wedding seemed to us like forever but when I look back I see why some thought we were moving awfully fast. And it would have been too fast if we hadn’t already known each other for 10 years.

One year ago, pretty much the whole months of September and October, the world seemed to be turning upside down.  But perspective is much different looking back than it is when you are in the middle of life-changing events. What I realize now is that the world was being made right again.

God has promised to bind up the broken hearted and make all things new and indeed he has. He has taken two broken people and given us a new life together that we celebrate every day.

How did this happen? We have NO IDEA! We just know that it did and that’s something to celebrate!

Yesterday

We find ourselves saying, "Who'd o' thunk?" a lot around here.

yeah, who'd o' thunk!

No boats (con'td)

I forgot to mention, yesterday, the first bus, a shuttle from the airport to the hotel; the second bus, from the hotel back to the airport to get a third bus to the car rental lot.

Anyhow, interruptions abound.
Monday, this week, involved lotsa cleanup and a shopping trip to Costco . . .   hence, not much time for a blog post.
We had a dinner meeting to attend involving a drive through Sacramento during the evening drive time (aka, rush hour)

Tuesday was a little better.
We took a morning walk, another story entirely.
Then MB went to work and I began prepping for a Lions event here at the house.
That involved another shopping trip to a store I am still learning.
It was in the midst of re-stocking, creating traffic problems as well as empty shelves.
Then the real fun was finding space in refrigerators when I returned home.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was the main event.
Dinner for the Lions at our house.
It's the officer installation.
MB is the President Elect.
As a Past International Officer I got to do the honor of installing the new board.  
Started again with the morning walk.
Then out came the slow cookers and food prep began in earnest.

We'll get back to Central America the Midwest tomorrow.

unless there's a good cat video