Today is looking to be a regroup and prepare day in our neck of the woods as our power came back on last night, but SoCal Edison is threatening us again later today and then through at least parts of next week. Although not as bad as the winds last week, today and next week will be windy. As we’ve seen, specifically for the Kenneth fire, it’s taking not much for small fires that should be easily contained to grow rapidly with minimal to no wind at all.
People are nervous and frightened. The firefighters and citizens on the front lines have been working hard and as best as able given the lack of resources. Management and political leaders have uniformly sucked. Sending out false evac alerts which get retracted hours later haven’t helped.
Paddy may have a different opinion, but this feels like a turning point in California. It’s one thing when a bunch of middle-class homes/businesses are destroyed outside of LA and quite another when the rich and famous lose their dwellings and possessions to the extent that happened in Pacific Palisades.
The real business/political football is going to be insurance. If you could get fire insurance through the usual means, your rates had already doubled over the last couple of years. If you couldn’t, you ended up on the California FAIR plan -- an expensive subsidized short term govt program that was not designed to replace traditional insurance. But over the last five years, insurance companies have been bailing out of CA and those that have stayed have refused to write new policies. If you are interested, a brief overview of this and other problems courtesy of our friends on the left: https://californiaglobe.com/articles/californias-perfect-storm-historical-devastating-fires-and-the-states-insurance-crisis/
So on to my chores. The generator has been holding up but I’ll need to refill the gas cans and change the oil. Check food and supplies; recheck what to take if we have to go; clean up. Discuss what we did wrong, right, and what we need to do better.
On the plus side, Jack Tatum is still alive. He’d been pretty good about staying inside the past week, but disappeared yesterday. Soon after, Mrs Sven discovered a blood trail in the backyard but no other signs of him. We feared the worse, but he came home later, demanded food, attention, and then went to bed.
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good day, dv8 (and Harper!), and Sven!
dv8 -- I hope you and your lovely bride are doing well.
Sven -- I’m glad Edison has finally deigned to give you power, if only for a little while. It sounds like you and Mrs. Sven have things well in hand. I applaud your willingness to evaluate your efforts and learn from them.
A couple of colleagues posted on a group chat they they had gotten evac notices. The chat was then abuzz with suggestions, advice, prayers, etc. A bit later they both posted that the notices were sent in error. It was one of the instances in which LA County sent out an evacuation notice to the entire county. Top. men.
Sven -- I agree that this time feels different. Celebrities asking why the fire hydrants were empty engenders a much different response than when Joe 6-pack does. In addition to the fire insurance problem, I think these celebs and power brokers are going to be shocked when they run into trouble getting a permit to just clear their property, let alone the problems they are going to face when they try to rebuild. They live such insular lives that it takes something like this, smacking them across the face, to come back to reality. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
My last thought of the night. It’s too bad Los Angeles doesn’t have a large Amish presence as they could probably rebuild the homes in the Palisades in a couple of months.
Heya! Dis my Friday. Dunno what I’m going to do this weekend. But probably… nothing much.
Probably I’ll keep growing my Santa Claus Beard.
It’s good to have goals -- hope all is well.
Good morning, GN.
Today is looking to be a regroup and prepare day in our neck of the woods as our power came back on last night, but SoCal Edison is threatening us again later today and then through at least parts of next week. Although not as bad as the winds last week, today and next week will be windy. As we’ve seen, specifically for the Kenneth fire, it’s taking not much for small fires that should be easily contained to grow rapidly with minimal to no wind at all.
People are nervous and frightened. The firefighters and citizens on the front lines have been working hard and as best as able given the lack of resources. Management and political leaders have uniformly sucked. Sending out false evac alerts which get retracted hours later haven’t helped.
Paddy may have a different opinion, but this feels like a turning point in California. It’s one thing when a bunch of middle-class homes/businesses are destroyed outside of LA and quite another when the rich and famous lose their dwellings and possessions to the extent that happened in Pacific Palisades.
The real business/political football is going to be insurance. If you could get fire insurance through the usual means, your rates had already doubled over the last couple of years. If you couldn’t, you ended up on the California FAIR plan -- an expensive subsidized short term govt program that was not designed to replace traditional insurance. But over the last five years, insurance companies have been bailing out of CA and those that have stayed have refused to write new policies. If you are interested, a brief overview of this and other problems courtesy of our friends on the left: https://californiaglobe.com/articles/californias-perfect-storm-historical-devastating-fires-and-the-states-insurance-crisis/
So on to my chores. The generator has been holding up but I’ll need to refill the gas cans and change the oil. Check food and supplies; recheck what to take if we have to go; clean up. Discuss what we did wrong, right, and what we need to do better.
On the plus side, Jack Tatum is still alive. He’d been pretty good about staying inside the past week, but disappeared yesterday. Soon after, Mrs Sven discovered a blood trail in the backyard but no other signs of him. We feared the worse, but he came home later, demanded food, attention, and then went to bed.
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good day, dv8 (and Harper!), and Sven!
dv8 -- I hope you and your lovely bride are doing well.
Sven -- I’m glad Edison has finally deigned to give you power, if only for a little while. It sounds like you and Mrs. Sven have things well in hand. I applaud your willingness to evaluate your efforts and learn from them.
A couple of colleagues posted on a group chat they they had gotten evac notices. The chat was then abuzz with suggestions, advice, prayers, etc. A bit later they both posted that the notices were sent in error. It was one of the instances in which LA County sent out an evacuation notice to the entire county. Top. men.
Sven -- I agree that this time feels different. Celebrities asking why the fire hydrants were empty engenders a much different response than when Joe 6-pack does. In addition to the fire insurance problem, I think these celebs and power brokers are going to be shocked when they run into trouble getting a permit to just clear their property, let alone the problems they are going to face when they try to rebuild. They live such insular lives that it takes something like this, smacking them across the face, to come back to reality. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
My last thought of the night. It’s too bad Los Angeles doesn’t have a large Amish presence as they could probably rebuild the homes in the Palisades in a couple of months.