About Time I Updated Here!

My last post here was over 4 months ago and I thought it was about time! The dental procedures are all finished! The dentures a wonderful!! No more dentists!! And I ended up losing 45lbs, which I'm managing to keep off! I call it the 'No Teeth, Can't Eat Diet'!

My goal now is to post here at least once a week, and I promise that they will be longer and more interesting than this one!! As for my feet?? Don't ask!! I'll talk about those next time. Gotta run......er.... walk!

"D" Day

Yes, tomorrow is D-day for Mr Serious. The D meaning Dentist, Dentures, Dread... Demerol??? Whatever. My final big dentist appointment is tomorrow at 11:30 AM and I'm actually looking forward to it! Well not actually the appointment but AFTER the work is finished. Corn on the cob, here I come! I spoke with my very nice dentist today and he filled me in on what's on the menu for tomorrow. I take my three 'magic' pills (Trazolam?) at 10, Mrs S drives me to the office at 11:30 and then I get dragged/carried into the chair, just like the last time! 10 extractions, 2 root canals, 2 bone grafts and 2 implants later I will be dragged/carried back to the car and driven home to sleep it off for 6 hours. He told me that I will be in the chair for 3 hours in a semi-conscious state. I'll have to return several times in the next few months for minor procedures, but by January my new teeth will be good to go!

My foot continues to improve daily, my non-drinking is now on day 9 with no problems and somehow over the past 6 months, I've lost 30lbs!

I probably won't be around to comment tomorrow but maybe tomorrow night. You just never know!
I'll let you know how it went!

Stopping the Flames

Here is another story for you from the L.A Times


FACING THE FLAMES Jason Falarski

Jason Falarski was on the books for a 24-hour shift at the Santa Clara Fire Department, starting at 8 a.m. Sunday. But if you were a firefighter in California last week, the books didn't count for much.

Falarski, a 35-year-old captain, had tiptoed out of the house early, letting his wife, daughter and two sons sleep. Then came the long-distance call for help in San Diego County.

By 10 p.m. Sunday, he was rolling south, one of 21 firefighters on five engines from Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. By 2 a.m., they were racing down the Grapevine, gaping at fires left and right. About the time his shift was supposed to end, he was checking in at Fire Station 80 in Ramona.

By Monday night, he was crouched between the pool and the barbecue grill on a luxurious backyard patio in Poway, throwing all he had at the climbing fire.

A few months ago, Falarski had brought his family to Southern California on vacation. This time, as he entered the disaster zone on Old Coach Road in Poway, San Diego County was lit up like no place he had seen in 16 years on the job."Fire everywhere," Falarski recalled. "Hundreds of houses threatened, gazebos and decks going up. We might be able to save one house, but the house next to it would be going up in flames.

"Falarski's team moved from house to house, winning some, losing some. They were lucky: No lunch, no dinner, sore feet, blisters, headaches -- the easiest inconveniences of fighting fire.

They reached the house on Sandhill Road about 7 p.m."It was on a cul-de-sac. We backed in. We always back in, in case we have to escape quickly. When we looked behind the house, there were flames running up the hill. We deployed our hose line to the back. The main objective was to make sure the deck didn't become fully involved, because if the deck became fully involved, we probably would lose the house.

"The battle went on for an hour. While his teammates, Andrew Kim, Ray Torres and Gary Agvin, paid out hose and doused other parts of the property, Falarski, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds, threw about 100 gallons per minute.

The Hansen family, who own the home, had left that morning, but were watching from a distance. While the fire crew clambered around the backyard, Jim and Maureen Hansen were two miles away, at the home of their grown daughter, Jenny, joined by their son Chris. As the night wore on, the Hansens took turns scanning the television, then stepping into the backyard to look across the canyon.

Then another of their sons called. Michael, a law student on an exchange program in Buenos Aires, had been searching the Los Angeles Times website for clues about his house, and came upon the image of Falarski fighting to save it.

"Our house is on latimes.com and it doesn't look good," Michael told his parents from Argentina.

"The conditions you saw in the picture," Falarski said, "that probably lasted about 30 minutes. The main thing going through my mind is, 'I don't want to lose this house.' "And then?

"We saved that house. . . . I think all 10 made it on the cul-de-sac. The street over might have lost three or four houses. But I'm not sure." It was Tuesday morning before Falarski and his teammates had a chance to eat and sleep. They had breakfast at Poway High School, then lay on the grass at a park in Escondido. Then they rejoined the fight.

So when is this assignment going to end?"Could be two weeks," Falarski said. "Could be three."

christopher.reynolds@latimes.com

A Thin Cloak of Survival

The Los Angeles Times is publishing a series of stories, portraits actually, on people who survived the wildfires. I thought I would share a few with you.

FACING THE FLAMES Jason Carl

They had drilled on this situation dozens of times, and if anyone remembered the training, it was rookie firefighter Jason Carl. Ninety-two days out of the Orange County fire academy, on a smoky slope in Santiago Canyon, Carl was reaching for the one thing he'd been told he should never need: the flimsy emergency shelters known as shake-n-bakes.

He tore the small package open, unfurling the foil shelter in the scorching wind. He stepped on its edge, curled it around his back like a shroud and dropped to the ground.For nearly 20 minutes, he sucked short breaths of air from beneath the fire-retardant shelter, his arms and legs splayed wide to seal its edges to the ground.

Carl, 26, of Huntington Beach, was among a dozen Orange County firefighters trapped Monday by a wall of flame on a steep bank off Santiago Canyon Road. Behind them, their canvas hoses lay burned and useless.The firefighters had been ordered onto the hill, on the north side of the road, to extinguish spot fires spilling over from the south side. If the Santiago fire jumped the road, it could barrel toward an elementary school and hundreds of homes, then roar through the tinder-dry Cleveland National Forest into Riverside County.

They laid hose up the hill, but when they opened the nozzle, no water shot out. While they tried to connect new hoses, a wave of flames leaped the road and came up behind them.Carl said his captain, Doug Dodge of Placentia Station 34, called them together and ordered them to try to hack out an escape route. They were standing in a fairly large area that had burned, and it just might work.It didn't. The flames were moving too fast.

The captain called the firefighters together again and ordered them to deploy the shelters. The foil pockets mushroomed, and down they fell."I didn't really feel it was life-threatening," Carl said. "We trained on it so much."But down on the ground, he realized that "this was a little different."As the heat grew more intense, "I kept telling myself, 'This is like being inside a sauna,' " he said.

Carl couldn't recall whether the flames passed directly over him or to the side. He does remember blessedly cool drops of water trickling under the lip of the shelter after helicopters dumped two loads of water on the stranded men.Dodge and a second captain kept them calm, Carl said."Once we deployed, we were in the shelters talking to each other, and they were talking to the chief down on the road below us on the radio the whole time," he said. "We just kept doing roll call, making sure everybody was there and everybody was OK."

Finally, Carl heard the chief on the radio call "all clear" to his captains, who instantly relayed the message.They whipped off the shelters and walked down the hill. "The adrenaline was still pumping," Carl said. After a quick medical evaluation, they were released for the night. Tuesday morning, Carl was back on duty.

A fellow firefighter showed him a Los Angeles Times photograph of his crew shrouded against the flames. Carl recognized himself as the third silhouette from the right."It really helped give me some perspective. When you're in the shelter, you don't have any idea what's going on outside. . . . It showed me where the flames really were."

Carl went back to the scene the next day. The crumpled shelters lay like muffin wrappers on the blackened earth.

--janet.wilson@latimes.com

Wildfire Update - Day 4

Things are looking much better today in the Golden State! The winds have almost died out (still some 25mph gusts in the mountains), the humidity has risen a bit ans it was 10 degrees cooler today. The firefighters were finally able to get a few of the fires under control today, however the San Diego fires ('Witch' and 'Harris') are still raging out of control, as is the Lake Arrowhead fire. Those fires have generated so much smoke that water-drops have been impossible. The Santiago fire, the one nearest to us, is still only 20% contained but progress is being made.

* The total acreage burned is now over 550,000 and still going up. That's close to 900 square miles!

* The cost of the damage went just over $1 billion today.

* Authorities have arrested the suspected arsonist!

* The number of people who have been evacuated has reached 500,000.

* There are reported scam artists claiming to be raising money for the fire departments.

* All of the smoke that blew out over the Pacific will be returning this weekend as we return to our normal onshore flow.

* And as we don't have enough problems, there was a 4.3 earthquake here today. Not a big one but enough to get on our last nerve!

This is a photo album link that may or may not work for you. I found it on Yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/us/102107malibufire;_ylt=AnuIJiRPlbYcxt9.PC7UJHjBF4l4

If not, just go to www.yahoo.com and you find it on the homepage there. Great photos... all 596 of them!! LOL

Take care my friends! I'll add to this post if things change here.

Wildfire Update: day 3

October 23
Wildfire Update - Day 3

Well, I suppose it was inevitable. They have just ordered the evacuation of the small mountain community of Crestline. That's where our mountain cabin is located. I hope it survives, but I'm afraid that the Southern California mountains will never be the same after this. So far 100+ homes have been destroyed in that area. I'll be back after I've had time to digest this news.

Just so everyone knows, we live an hour's drive from the mountains where Crestline and Lake Arrowhead are located. We live several miles from the ocean so we are in little danger. However, we have many friends and neighbors who do live in the mountains and we are worried about them.

The firefighters are unbeleivable!! Many of them have been on the firelines for 48 straight hours and then get to rest for 8 hours before going back at it. They look beat but say that they can't wait to get back to the fire. I was at the grocery store today and talked to a few firemen from northern California. They are here to replace out town's firemen who are fighting those huge fires in San Diego. My BIL is a fireman but I'm not sure what fire he's working on.

Many of the high schools here are closed so they can be used as shelters. As of now, 370,000 have been evacuated and that is only the 'mandatory' ones. There are voluntary, precautionary and mandatory evacuations. The mandatory ones are when the police go door to door and TELL you to leave. Sadly, some people refuse and are sorry later. Crestline just became 'mandatory'! If you are watching updates, Crestline (our cabin) is being approached by the 'Running Springs' fire! During fire season, (and yes, we have an actual season), they name the fires because there so many of them.

As our governor used to say, I'll Be Back!!!

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R U Serious reporting: Back with an update

One of the fires (The Santiago Fire which is closest to Raven and myself) is making a run for the Cleveland National Forest! NOT GOOD!! Here's some background...

The Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (1900 km²) (720 sq. mi.), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. It is the southernmost National forest of California. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, a government agency within the United States Department of Agriculture. It is divided into Descanso, Palomar and Trabuco regional districts and is located in the counties of San Diego, Riverside, and Orange.
The Cleveland National Forest was the site of the beginning of the Cedar Fire, the largest wildfire in California history.
If this fire reaches the forest from the south, they might as well let it burn. Very difficult terrain and totally parched brush. But at least no homes there! The Cedar Fire!! I remember it from about 3 years ago. Just as everyone had given up on containing it, it rained!! That's what we need, but fat chance! If that fire reaches the forest, it will not be stopped.
Check out the link to the 'Cedar Fire'. It was Bad and we were lucky.
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Just got the word that Homeland Security has arrived!! God help us all!!! Michael Chertoff?? Just give us the money and we'll take care of the rest!! NOT another Katrina!

As you may remember, tonight was the night of the big dinner party! Well, since the wind has died down a little, it's still on!! Outdoors! Things seem to be improving a little here and hopefully tomorrow will be much better! Our cabin is still standing so we will see how that goes.

Wildfire Update: Day 2

In a word: Devastation! There are now over fifteen wildfires with all 7 Southern California counties being involved to some extent. Over 50,000 acres have been scorched and none of the fires are anywhere near being under control. The closest fire to me is the Irvine fire in Orange County which is about 20 miles away. It was announced earlier that the Irvine fire was started by an arsonist.

The temperature topped out at 99 today, the humidity is 3% and the 40 mph winds have been gusting to 90! These conditions will continue through tomorrow. The sky has been amber all day and it was been raining ashes, which is not the kind of rain we need.

One of our local TV stations has been covering these fires all day, hopping between one fire and another. It's amazing to watch those helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft making water drops, especially when the fire in on a steep canyon wall. Such precision! Unfortunately they can only make their drops during daylight hours.

I've added more pics to my photo album and I'll be adding more later. Thanks to all of you for your concern.

Update: The Lake Arrowhead fire seems to have been maybe the worst one. 100 homes destroyed and counting. However, they have been doing fire-drops using a refitted DC-10 (It was too windy to use it earlier). It can drop 12,000 gallons of fire retardent in 8 seconds. It can then reload and make another drop within 20 minutes. I'll bet the residents loved seinh that baby!! Unfortunately, too little too late for alot of folks. Some of the canyon fires are so intense that they are creating their own weather. A few are burning back AGAINST the winds!! Weird!!

Here is a site where you can get updates and more photos: www.abc7.com

I'm REALLY... what's the word?? Oh yeah! PISSED that yet ANOTHER fire has been attributed to arson!! Who ARE these people?? Do they work for fire-retardent manufacturers or are THEY retarded???

Here is an interesting and scary quote from the Chief of the San Diego County Fire Dept: "There are more homes on fire than we have firemen"!! 250,000 people were evacuated in San Diego County today. But I still say that Southern California has the best and bravest firefighters in the world.... bar none!

Sorry if this seems like a ramble but it is! I'm updating it constanly.