A week of watching the fire above my home & I return here to the ashes of the 4th Amendment...

[Hekate]

Damn FISA, that's discouraging.

As for the Gap Fire in Goleta, we were too close for comfort so the night the power went out and everything was lit by the flames I threw a lot of stuff in my car and headed out for a friend's house. After 2 nights it got slightly better here so I returned home, but left my computer and a lot of other stuff at my friend's...

I think I blew all my adrenaline for the next year in just one night.

I was able to check in periodically from another computer, but without my password I couldn't post. You guys are crazy, but I missed you.

The first night the fire was only a half acre or so. The second night all the neighbors hung out in the driveway across the street from my house watching it grow to several hundred acres -- we met a lot of nice people that way. Naturally we all compared notes on our experiences with previous fires here and in other parts of California.

It was the third night that I freaked. Ash fell like snow, the air was unbreathable, the inside of the house was broiling and the power was out. Hubby drove off with a carload of stuff and our son, who had just arrived for a visit and wisely decided to sleep elsewhere. I mistakenly thought I was supposed to meet hubby at our friend's so I heaved as many boxes into my car as I could, tossed the little dog into a laundry basket in the front seat, and bailed. My next door neighbor was on his roof and advised me which exit to take from the tract. Hubby returned home to a house with all the lights on (yeah, the power came back on temporarily) but no wife and no dog. He freaked. We have to refine our emergency plans a little.

A week out the fire has eaten nearly 10,000 acres of 55 year old chaparral, but thanks to the heroic efforts of the firefighters our little town has been spared. It's working its way to the east and west, but not downhill to us. As the fire captain says, it's not over until it's 100% contained -- but as far as I'm concerned the air is a great deal better, and from across the street I can see hot spots by night and smoke by day but no towering flames staring down at us. It's good to be able to open the windows again.

It's good to be back.

Hekate

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Good to hear you're safe. n/t

[Hekate]

2. Thanks!

:hi:

[ColbertWatcher]

3. I'm in LA and we have been dreading this summer.

The hillsides are covered in dry brush and we have an idiot GOP as governor.

Remember that year he delayed a declaration of a state of emergency?

I just hope we can survive another year with those idiots in the governor's mansion.

[Hekate]

4. It's scary. At least the Governator acknowledged that "fire season is year 'round now"...

Someone high-up had to come out and say it, and publicly make the connection to global warming. That way it hit the MSM news cycles this past week -- "global warming, fire, global warming, fire". It's only the idiot Republicans in Washington, from Bush on down, who refuse to get it.

Thanks to term limits we'll be rid of Arnie -- but who are the Dems going to run? I've been so focused on this election cycle I can't even think that far down the road.

I hope you'll be okay where you are in LA. :hug:

Hekate

[ColbertWatcher]

5. He "acknowledged" the words on his TelePrompTer.

Someone high-up had to come out and say it, and publicly make the connection to global warming. That way it hit the MSM news cycles this past week -- "global warming, fire, global warming, fire".

I thought that was Al Gore. Are you saying Arnie's Hollywood PR-media connections didn't just pull a fast one to get him more screen time? He really has no idea what he's talking about, if he said something in support of global warming, it was clearly a mistake.

It's only the idiot Republicans in Washington, from Bush on down, who refuse to get it.

The GOP is hoping people don't make any connections between Washington and the rest of the country's republicans. That's part of their "rebranding" efforts. It's all bullshit of course, but hey, they gotta try, right?

FYI: on down is where Arnie lives.

I hope you'll be okay where you are in LA.

Me too! But, it's still early yet.

I hope that fire is over and done with and all the excitement you get for the rest of the year.

Stay safe.

[JohnnyLib2]

6. Good to see you back.

And the contrast between your real life and online fulminations is eye-opening.....:hi:

[Hekate]

7. "Fulminations"?! I?! rofl

:spray: heehee

Well, in truth my real life is often not the Good Ship Lollipop. Sometimes I have been known to redirect my angst in the direction of politics.

Thanks for the laugh.

Hekate

[JohnnyLib2]

8. A correction, and many apologies.

My wording was abominable. I did not mean anything you've posted. I had in mind the endless redundant and over-heated comments we see all the time.

:dunce: :cry: :banghead: :blush:

And again, welcome back.

[Hekate]

9. It's okay, it's okay. I mean, I actually giggled at your choice of words...

Call me twisted, I don't know -- but it was pretty clear to me you were not being hostile.

Thank you. And :pals:

Hekate