California Challenges

[HotdadENYC]

After reading about and seeing pictures of the tsunami disaster, I was still stunned earlier today to see the utter devastation currently affecting the Los Angeles area.

 

My prayers, condolences, best wishes and hopes for a quick turnaround are with any of you, your family and friends caught up in this tragedy.

 

Mother Nature needs to take a vacation.

 

Regards,

hd NYC

[+ deej]

Thanks for the thoughts, hd. This is really something!

 

I'm (fortunately) fairly unaffected. The worst hardship I'm enduring is a LOT of water. And finding out the roof of my car leaks. ;-) One of the oddities in SoCal is if your (house, car, whatever) roof leaks, you only get the chance to find out about it every 15 years or so.

 

I'm still watching the water levels. After the first storm, they drained our pool. It's now filled to overflowing again because it's on low-lying ground and gets all the runoff. Many of the buildings in this complex are suffering from bad landscaping. A/C units will be in standing water if it rises much more. Many of my first floor neighbors are close to having water literally at their door.

 

One of my co-workers normally drives to work through the canyons that are now closed due to mudslides. He's stuck with the 405 which is down to one lane in places because it's BUCKLING.

 

I don't want to compare this in any way to the tragedy in Asia, but the entire region is going to be reeling for a while. And it's gonna rain -- a lot -- again tonight. And another storm is due through here this weekend.

 

Call Noah! :9

[HotdadENYC]

My pleasure, deej. If there are any ways you know of for us to help, please detail them here.

 

I'm glad you're relatively unaffected. Doesn't look like, however, a lot of others have experienced such good fortune. I saw on the news tonight that a mother and her four children were in the process of being rescued, by helicopter, when the last child (2 years old) fell from the rescue and was carried away by the torrential tides.

How utterly devastating it must have been, coming upon the initial tragedy, to lose a child in that fashion.

 

Naturally, there is no comparison to what has happened in Asia, but I have to confess that earlier tonight, when watching the news on TV with the volume turned down, I saw the footage of the rain and mudslides and immediately thought it was from the tsunami. When I saw an LAPD jacket, I knew that something was amiss and I turned the volume up.

 

Mother Nature needs to find other places to piss on, hopefully on another planet. Or invest in a box of "Depends."

 

Arhnald, you need to let your fellow citizens in CA know what you're going to do about this, as governor and chief executive officer.

 

George W, I rarely criticize you, but now more than ever, you need to stop fucking around with what could have, should have or would have been in Iraq, stop grandstanding about sending more aid to Asia, and get on a fucking plane to view CA firsthand. I know its not FLA and I know your brother is not the governor, but as Greg from Seattle (seaboy4hire) mentioned so eloquently, not too long ago, charity begins at home.

 

[NOTE: This thread is dated EST Time, so if either governor or president have done something since, I applaud their efforts.]

 

The state that heralded the legendary cow that started the big fire, the earthquakes that happen fairly frequently, must, out of necessity, have a good deal of resilience. But my feeling is that the state that gave us the Beach Boys, Silicon Valley, hot guys surfing and skateboarding, Pasadena, La Jolla, etc., not to mention Santa Monica Blvd and Knotts Berry Farm Amusement Park, could use a little sympathy and well wishing right now.

 

Best wishes, CA. My prayers are with you.

 

hd NYC

[Epigonos]

When I was in college, what seems like a century ago, I had a wonderful old geology professor who used to become furious when people who lived on river flood plains bitterly lamented when their homes and property were damaged by flooding. He used to complain that they refused to understand that these area were called flood plains for a reason and that if they didn't want to get flooded they shouldn't live there.

In a way the same thing is true here in Southern California. The two most prestigious and expensive areas to live here are the foothills and the coast. Now during the fall of every year brush fires rage thourgh our foothills frequently destroying homes and property. Then during the winter when the rains come more homes and property are lost to mud slides occurring on those burned hill sides. These a known facts. Yet people continue to rebuild and buy in the foothills -- the views can be wonderful. In some of the coastal areas homes and property are often destroyed by high tides and heavy run off from rains. This is a known fact. Yet people continue to rebuild and buy in these areas -- these locations are wonderful. In Southern California people are continually warned to stay away from the flood channels located throughout the area. Yet during nearly every major storms people have to be rescued. They just wanted to see the rushing water and got too near the edge.

Now most of us peasants live on the flat lands away from the foothills and the coast. We have to contend with flooded intersections and freeways but are usually safe from major damage. Californians really are just a little crazy but damn I do love the place!

[+ deej]

>My pleasure, deej. If there are any ways you know of for us

>to help, please detail them here.

 

Not much you can do right now but wish for sunshine.

 

>I saw on the news tonight that a mother and her four children

>were in the process of being rescued, by helicopter, when the

>last child (2 years old) fell from the rescue and was carried

>away by the torrential tides.

 

Devastating as it was, she shouldn't have been there. Californians are warned every which way not to go into the gullys and washes and they still do.

 

I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who endanger rescue workers through their own stupidity.

 

But when a mountain collapses on a town, as has happened tonight, my heart goes out.

 

Think good thoughts. It's the best anyone can do.

[FLJohn]

>The state that heralded the legendary cow that started the big

>fire, the earthquakes that happen fairly frequently, must, out

>of necessity, have a good deal of resilience. But my feeling

>is that the state that gave us the Beach Boys, Silicon Valley,

>hot guys surfing and skateboarding, Pasadena, La Jolla, etc.,

>not to mention Santa Monica Blvd and Knotts Berry Farm

>Amusement Park, could use a little sympathy and well wishing

>right now.

>

>Best wishes, CA. My prayers are with you.

>

>hd NYC

>

This is not to be insulting since I thought the posting was quite nice, especially to the unfortunate people involved. And maybe my brain has been fried after all these years but so far nobody has said anything. Wasn't that legendary cow and that big fire far more to the East? Like Mrs. O'Leary in Chicago?

 

As a former Californian I would not want this to be taken badly as I appreciate your feelings for my former neighbors and that beautiful state. And I am trying to tell myself that my brain still works occasionally. But I certainly know that if I am wrong I will certainly hear about it!

[HotdadENYC]

FLJohn, you might be right about that fire. I thought it was San Francisco and that it got torched because of some careless cow, but I could easily be mistaken.

 

It might be because of something else California gave me, way back way, when I was younger and eager and braver: mind-altering drugs <SMILE>.

 

My best wishes are still with CA. And FLJohn, your state has also had its more than fair share of Mother Nature.

 

Hope all is well.

 

hd NYC

[+ deej]

It was definitely Mrs. O'Leary's cow that was blamed for the Chicago fire. (There was lobbying in Chicago to have the WNBA team named Chicago Fire.) It turns out the cow got a bad rap. It's an annual local news story in Chicago.

 

San Francisco is where they had that big-ass earthquake. I've seen footage of a movie scene being shot during the quake. WC Fields was so sloshed he didn't realize it was going on so he kept right on with the scene while there was panic all around him. ;-)

[HotdadENYC]

>It was definitely Mrs. O'Leary's cow that was blamed for the

>Chicago fire. (There was lobbying in Chicago to have the WNBA

>team named Chicago Fire.) It turns out the cow got a bad rap.

>It's an annual local news story in Chicago.

>

>San Francisco is where they had that big-ass earthquake. I've

>seen footage of a movie scene being shot during the quake. WC

>Fields was so sloshed he didn't realize it was going on so he

>kept right on with the scene while there was panic all around

>him. ;-)

>

>

 

Thanks Deej and FLJohn for setting me straight (well, in a manner of speaking) about the fire, the earthquake and the errant cow.

 

I should have known and remembered better.

 

When I was in CA last, the earth quaked while I topped Cesar Mancini.

 

When I was in CHI last (many many many times for business), the fire in my pants was inextinguishable as I paraded through Boy's Town and had several intown friends meet up with me at the hotel.

 

My heart still pines for the victims in California.

 

For the record, however, I DID NOT do Mrs. O'Leary and I know I didn't do the errant cow.

 

 

Warmest regards, fellas

 

hd NYC

[+ Charlie]

I was jolted awake last night by an earthquake (4.3) here in Palm Springs, but I wasn't even lucky enough to be having sex with Cesar Mancini.

[+ Lucky]

RE: California Dreaming

 

Must be some very sleepy people in that film, deej. The 1906 earthquake occured at 5:12 a.m.!

[bigguyinpasadena]

Somewhere in the back of a dusty corner in my mind I remember a San Francisco fire which involve a cow and Lillian Coit(who left the $$$ for the memorial to SF firemen which is called coit tower)that was devestating to the.Not as monumental as the '06 quake and fire-but still a biggie.

[Luv2play]

Deej, you're off by about 30 or so years on the earthquake scene with W.C. Fields and also the city. That was a movie being shot in Hollywood when a quake occurred and Fields just kept on acting heedless to the sets swaying around him. I don't think Hollywood was even established in 1906 but if it was, there wasn't much there and certainly not W.C. Fields.

[+ deej]

After I posted that, I said to myself "self, that doesn't sound right".

 

But I do remember seeing the clip. Just had it mentally attached to the wrong event.

 

The problem with mental notes is they get misplaced. ;-)