First a quick update about the Carr Fire in Northern California. It’s still spreading, and they’ve sent the Global SuperTanker–the world’s largest firefighting airplane–to help fight the ‘absolutely terrifying’ ‘fire tornadoes.’
So stay safe, everybody up North from me. Remember that there’s nothing wrong with evacuating, even if it’s just out of an abundance of caution.
Now then. Samwise the Brave has fallen asleep. Without his supervision, us hoomans are free to do as we please. Open thread.
Debbie(Aussie)
Beautiful kitteh.
This global warming is scary stuff. We hoomans are crazy!
Mnemosyne
Ugh. I have to leave the house by 7:45 am so I can be in El Segundo by 8:30 am for a writing workshop. I think the workshop is going to be good, but I am SO NOT a morning person. At all. ?
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: blech! When I have to do that it just wrecks my weekend. ☹️
Betty Cracker
Terrifying concept, “fire tornadoes.” I hope to never see one.
MisterForkbeard
Last year (during the Santa Rosa fires) we evacuated voluntarily for about a week. It’s scary as shit, my heart goes out to the people in Redding.
We’ve got fires in Mendocino County now north of us, and I have to say that the smell of smoke is making everyone in town kind of nervous.
Major Major Major Major
@MisterForkbeard: OT: I saw this and thought you’d like it: a 1983 booklet, “Write Your Own Adventure Programs for Your Microcomputer.”
Platonailedit
Debbie(Aussie)
Whenever someone here at BJ mentions a place they are from or visiting, I google map it. When I googled Redding the Carr fire was labeled on the map with a link and map on the extent of the fire. I learn so much about the geography of the US and world here. I also think that I may know more about US politics than anyone except those whose job it is to know :)
Edited to correct finger fumble
dlwchico
@Betty Cracker: I assume you mean in person. Here is video of one in Redding. twitter.com/MekahloNBCLA/status/1022822100589936641
NotMax
Feeling simultaneously sneaky and clever. Friday night was the big dinner – step-bro and his SO, plus one of his kids who is in town, step-sister and husband all trekked to Mom’s place.
Pulled them over individually to ask for their support to convince Mom the Kindle is a Good Thing and pooh-pooh her objections, then presented it to her after dessert.
cwmoss
@Betty Cracker: Beats fire tomatoes, whatever the fuck those are.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: I presume it worked?
And I’m off to bed folks.
Betty Cracker
@dlwchico: Yes, video is fine! I saw one recently of a fire tornado that went into a canal and turned into a waterspout!
MisterForkbeard
@Major Major Major Major: I’ve got a book somewhere around that tells you how to write a she tutes in BASIC. Those were the days.
MisterForkbeard
@MisterForkbeard: wow, the autocorrect on this kindle is amazingly bad. :)
otmar
Got up early, dropped of the kids at the bus for a week of sport camp.
Doing some shopping now, will probably crash later today. I, too, am not a morning person.
Mary G
@MisterForkbeard:The AutoCorrect on the Kindle Fire 8 is awful compared to the six or whatever my last one was. It added emojis and lost the English. I hate it.
lahke
Waiting at Boston Logan to fly to Sacramento to visit family–much too close to the fire. Best of luck to those fighting it and to those in its path.
Why is airport wifi so bad? Link to video still not happening.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
I think what clinched the sale was bringing the text of the user’s manual up on the screen. I had already enlarged the default font size and her astonished “I can read it without my glasses!” was the tell.
After everyone left, still had to deal with the carping about my having spent money on her and her wanting to reimburse me. But that kvetching goes with the territory and is unavoidable.
satby
@MisterForkbeard: @Mary G: now you guys understand why I miss the edit function on mobile so much. In the upside, I’m a better proofreader than I was, slightly.
satby
@NotMax: Congratulations on the success of your present. Well played!
Sister Golden Bear
@Mnemosyne: My sympathies from someone else who’s definitely not a morning person.
Suburban Mom
@NotMax: My parents are in their eighties and they use a Kindle. My dad is a computerphobe but if someone loads the books he will read them. Good luck with your persuasive efforts.
rikyrah
@NotMax:
Yeah!?
eclare
Such a magnificent beast. Luckily did not need the insomnia thread last night, but I’m sure I will at some point.
RedDirtGirl
@NotMax: Congrats! I so often find in dealing with my aging parents that I feel a mix of clever/sneaky myself. See you Sunday!
zhena gogolia
Samwise is the best!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Morning, BJ. Amtrak notified me yesterday morning that my train from Oregon to California was cancelled due to those fires. We had to scramble to find a flight instead.
Gonna have to do that romantic scenic sleeper train another time I guess.
mad citizen
Doing some dishes and realized we also have a “samwise”, only his name is Sammy Davis Jr., and he’s a black cat.
The Pale Scot
I believe this this is your first open thread?
Well done, you hit your mark and spoke your lines perfectly :)
tybee
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: when you do take that sleeper car trip, get the next size up as the cheaper one is a freakin’ broom closet.
sacrablue
Samwise appears to be a fierce beast! The Global super tanker is currently based at McClellan Air Park. Its landing path is directly over my house. It always scares my cats.
Tenar Arha
@NotMax: Oh yay!
dlwchico
I got a Kindle for my dad several years ago. He liked it a lot. He had always liked electronic gizmos and he liked to read, especially after her retired. He had Parkinson’s and like the 3rd day he had it he fell and landed on it, cracking the screen and freezing it.
I contacted Amazon and explained the situation and asked if it was possible to have it repaired. They told me they’d just send a replacement, free of charge, and a few days later it arrived. My dad was pretty happy about that.
Steve in the ATL
@Debbie(Aussie): feel free to skip El Segundo. You’ll only be disappointed.
J R in WV
@dlwchico:
I’ve had my second Android tablet, the first was a Google tablet that I quite liked, but which quit taking a charge. It would operate, kinda, while plugged in, but never charged up. Not repairable.
So then I bought a Samsung tablet, which seems to be a little more robust. It’s been to Italy, where it guided us out of Firenze, AKA Florence, to our stay in rural Tuscany where we visited wineries, a farm with a cooking lesson, a ridge-top walled city, every ridge top in Tuscany appears to have a medieval (or Roman, or even Etruscan) walled city. Then it guided us back into a hotel in town, where we visited museums and ate good food.
Now I have acquired a Kimble novel habit. So sad! It’s so easy to buy a new novel, no driving to the bookstore, no nothing, click and in a very few minutes there it is, ready to read.
I do wish the GPS installation was a little better, appears to be an afterthought, although with Goggle Mapage it can get you where you need to be.
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
How do you connect your tablet to wi-fi for GPS when you’re on the road? Do you use your cell phone as a hot spot?
HumboldtBlue
@Betty Cracker:
No you don’t, Betty Cracker.
The science of fire behavior is pretty straightforward, hell even my dumb ass gets it, but the speed, the rapid spread is what is terrifying. The heat is intense. One of the problems we now face in our forestlands is that for a century we have been quick to put out naturally occurring fires and that’s led to an immense buildup of floor cover that is simply perfect fire fuel.
It leads to catastrophic fires, and by catastrophic I mean it sterilizes the soil as it passes through, so instead of naturally reoccurring growth you get denuded and dead ground.
Just about 2/3 of the budget for forest management (Federal) now goes to fire suppression efforts. 20 years ago it was barely a third. That means no forest maintenance, no clearing, no small fast quick burn fires that clear the forest floor and open up space for new seedlings, it means scattering human resources around a huge swath of territory chasing fires and then come the extreme conditions and we get catastrophic fires.
36
I’m a lurker here, but I’m worried for all you near-the-fire people. Hell, I’m worried for the entire planet and all of us, regardless of species. Stay as safe as you all can —
But on a nicer species note, I have to say that Sam
Mary Ellen Sandahl
@36: @36: Oops, clicked wrong clicker. Was going to say that Samwise looks a lot like our Jingle, as you can see here:
ladysmantle.wordpress.com/2018/07/28/jingle-cat-of-distinction/
Jingle is named for the two successive bell collars he managed to get out of and lose in the early days of our relationship. (He believes in autonomy.) He is the best-natured cat I’ve ever known.
Grey cats are good!
Steeplejack
@Mary Ellen Sandahl:
Nice cat!