On 5/14/2014 1:39 PM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
It is 101F outside my window.

In Carlsbad, a beach front community halfway between
Los Angeles an San Diego and home to wrec members
is in trouble, so hopes that qualifies as on topic.

Serious wind driven brush fires, fueled by Santa Ana winds
(offshore) 20-30 MPH sustained with 45 MPH gusts has
closed both north and south sides of I-5, has set several
structures on fire, and evacuated 11,000 people.

The temperatures (100F) and the winds are making firefighting
efforts very difficult.

Many buildings have had to be left to burn since there has been
no way to fight the fire attacking them.

Lego land has been evacuated.

This one is going to make the 6:00 PM news.

Lew



Hello from Carlsbad, CA. It is now 6:20 am and there are nine fires
going in northern San Diego county. I used to live in Green Valley
Lake, CA at 7000 foot elevation in the San Bernardino mountains in
southern California. We were evacuated four times in ten years with no
damage to our home but then we took some precautions when building our
place: composition roof, stucco exterior, covered eaves, befriending the
local fire guys, etc. Most importantly, we had defensible space
surrounding the house: no bushes, no grasses (3/4 stone makes for a good
lawn), and no trees close by. The fire department knew all this and
marked us as a good place to save.

Since leaving GVL, they have had no fires. We had an epiphany: We have
met the problem and he is us (apologies to Walt Kelly). One of my
daughters wished us luck and told us NOT to move to their town. Our
condo is situated between two of the fires, neither of which is closer
than several miles.

Our problems have been covered 24/7 on local news (everything else shuts
down apparently) and made the BBC, PBS News Hour, and Al Jazeera America
service. On the whole, I would rather be here than in Philadelphia
(apologies to the legend of WC Fields).

The hottest part of the week is behind us; lower temps and higher
humidity coming up. Still the best of all possible... oh hell. See you
later.
mahalo,
jo4hn