Every day I am reminded of the wonders of the Universe. Nothing can compare with the miracles I see around me every day, in the Herculean efforts of the work crews striving to restore power and clear debris, and in the resurgence of greenery in trees that a few short days ago looked dead and lifeless.
I am also reminded of why it is that I don’t watch soap operas. Nothing that writers can compose compares to the antics and ridiculousness that people put themselves and others through when given a chance to behave badly. It’s truly amazing.
Let’s cover power stuff first…
So Cal Edison crews are working 16-hour shifts to restore power to the canyon. They’ve been replacing power poles everywhere and using helicopters to deliver new poles, equipment and main power lines up and down Big Tujunga, not to mention other parts of the Angeles Forest. Unfortunately, the winds are delaying progress, so I no longer can be certain that power will be restored by October 1 as originally predicted.
Being without normal power service has been maddening. The noise of the generators, the hassle of refilling gas tanks every few hours, not to mention the joy of carrying flammable liquids around in the back of my car… all of it amounts to adventures I would rather do without! On top of that my ancient appliances (water heater and refrigerator, specifically) are power HOGS. So on top of the basic issues associated with relying on a generator for power, I have the added dimension of always having to juggle which appliance I can have on at any given time.
The stress of having power go on and off all the time (FYI, you do not refill a gas tank with the engine running…) was too much for my coffee maker. It is really and sincerely dead. And the load needed to support the fridge and the water heater was too much for the generator I bought a year ago February when we had power troubles and Nana was on 24/7 oxygen via an oxygen condenser. The engine part of the generator is fine, but the part that actually makes the electricity is fried and smokes every time you try to run the darned thing.
So my handyman has me loaned another, less powerful generator, and the water heater is turned off until further notice. Remind me again of why I live in the wilderness….? <sigh />
On other fronts, the L.A. Times and other news services are picking up the story of how early stages of the Station Fire were handled. What they are finding is that officials universally underestimated the fire’s potential. No surprises there for any of us who were here in the canyon when the fires broke out, but it’s nice to have the press validating what we’ve been saying for the past month.
And, as if life wasn’t interesting enough, L.A. County decided that we no longer need the CHP to blockade the canyon and keep the public out. Instead they have declared the canyon a “construction zone” and left signs, but without some kind of law enforcement reinforcement, the signs are worthless. People go around them like they weren’t even there. Since CHP left the scene on Friday, the amount of public traffic in the canyon has risen to nearly normal, pre-fire levels. Of course, Angeles Crest Highway remains closed so people eventually have to turn around and go back the way they came. But the real problem is that now we have no protection from looters, and I can easily imagine some flatlander skidding on the loose rock and gravel that has become a standard feature on Big Tujunga Canyon Road.
This is the soap opera part, BTW, because of the backstory involved in this demonstration of incredibly poor cognitive function on the part of the bureaucrat who made the decision to pull CHP off the scene. Out of respect for other parties who have been exceptional in the face of idiocy like this, I can’t go into details. But I am going to ask some pointed questions at the next meeting of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council on Monday.
And now for some really good news: I am officially employed!
Yep, I have a real, honest-to-goodness, full-time, permanent job! And it came outta left field from so far out as to be Twilight Zone worthy!
I’m still kinda dazed about the whole thing, so I’m going to hold off on going into detail just yet. Suffice it to say, if all goes as well as I hope, this could be a very positive thing for me and for the company, and I will be debt-free within a year or two… assuming I don’t buy myself a Mini Cooper as a birthday present next year!
That’s all for now. More as it becomes available…
~B~