The Election and Doing the Right Thing....

My home is about just under 10 miles from my office. On my way home tonight I didn't pass a single intersection without at least a few people jumping around with campaign signs of every type and description. President, city council, mayor, you name it, they were there.

The one campaign that has me flummoxed is the one for Proposition 8 - the ban on gay marriage. Proponents of this proposition say that allowing gays to marry will lead to everything from the corruption of our youth to all out higgledy-pigglety.

As a happily straight (albeit perpetually single) woman, I cannot see how two people wishing to make a loving life-long commitment to each other threatens the sanctity of anyone else's marriage. Personally, I think the celeb magazines that glorify the 20-minute Vegas marriage of the latest underage starlet is a much bigger threat. I find celebrating the disposability of what is intended to be the promise of a life-long partnership to be far more threatening.

But nonetheless, the idea of two people of the same sex getting hitched is enough to freak out a portion of our populace. They are so concerned that they are spending truckloads of money to prevent that from happening. To me, this is a heck of a lot of money and time spent snooping in other people's business.

But Kim, you may say, "The people voted for this, and the liberal judges overturned the will of the people." Yes, people did vote for this. People in the past have also voted to keep schools segregated and to keep women from voting. Just because people come up with an idea and vote for it doesn't always make it right. The Constitution is still what we live by, The judges ruled that giving a right to one person and not to another is discrimination, and that (not some nefarious intent to turn us all into hippies) is the reason why the original rule was struck down.

But Kim, "Letting gays marry threatens my marriage." How? I swear to you, if this proposition fails, Rip Taylor will not be showing up at your front door to shred your marriage licence. You will not be forced into a divorce and subsequent marriage to a guy in a tutu.

But Kim, "We are a Christian nation and the bible says that homosexuality is wrong." I am not a theologian, and don't have enough information to refute that. However, the last time I checked, our country allows us to believe what we want. Gays are not asking you to change your beliefs, nor are the they are requiring you to attend their weddings. You don't even have to like the idea of gays marrying, They just don't want you to block them from holding their own beliefs.

But Kim, "Allowing gays to marry sends a bad message to kids...as though being gay is ok." I swear to you, homosexuality is not an infectious disease. (And I personally believe it IS ok to be gay, but that's my opinion) I have had gay friends all my life, and not one of them has been able to convince me that being married to a woman would be better than being married to a man. Do you think you at any time in your life could have been "converted" to homosexuality? I didn't think so.

But Kim, "I don't want my kids being taught in school about homosexuality." Ask any of my friends who are teachers. Between the standards they must teach, and the challenges their students must overcome, there is absolutely no time to squeeze in "Homo 101" between a spelling test and recess. The only time that it might become an issue is when kids get older and are covering the birds and bees section. This is a VOLUNTARY lesson that you as a parent have the right and responsibility to review. If it covers topics that you feel are inappropriate, you have every opportunity to opt out.

However, let's say your 3rd grader comes home and tells you that his best friend has two daddies, or that he found a book in the library about gay people. What on earth is wrong for using this as a teaching moment? Sitting a kid down and explaining your side, and why you feel that what they believe is wrong is a great opportunity for a kid to hone his/her critical thinking skills.

But Kim, "Churches will be forced to marry gay couples, and that goes against THEIR religious beliefs." Patently wrong. Churches have always, and will always have a say over who they will and will not marry. Heck, I don't think my own Catholic Church would marry ME since I was never confirmed, yet still go to mass on occasion.

It basically comes down to this. No one is forcing you to approve of, or support gay marriage. They are simply asking for the right to live their lives the way they see fit. To block them from doing so is un-American and very wrong.

Good night all...I hope we ultimately decide to do the right thing. :)

K

If you want me to support your candidate, don't call me early in the morning

No word on where last night's smoke was coming from. Must be residue from one of the existing ones. But I didn't know that at the time. I stayed up most of the night watching the news, and finally crashed in my clothes during the wee hours. Just a few hours later my telephone rings. The excerpt below is an almost direct transcription of what happened.

[Telephone Rings]

Me: "Mmmhello?"

Chirpy Woman: "Good morning, I'm doing a poll on the upcoming election. Can I ask you 5 quick questions?"

Me: [Rubbing eyes and trying to get them to focus...grateful it's not an evacuation order] "Um.....sure."

Chirpy Woman: "Thank you. Now do you support Candidate X for Mayor?"

Me: [Gut reaction without thinking] "Hell no."

Chirpy Woman who sounds disappointed: "May I ask why you don't support Candidate X?"

Me: "Because I have met Candidate X on numerous occasions and can't stand him."

Disappointed Woman: "Could you be more specific?"

Me: "Ma'am, you woke me up out of a dead sleep. I don't think I could be specific on much of anything, but I think he's a pompous jack-ass." [Even while half conscious, I get a certain amount of amusement out of hearing her have to write "pompous jack-ass"]

Disappointed (but undaunted) Woman: "Ok, well, do you support Proposition 8 - The Protection of Marriage Act?"

Me: "Oh boy, you had better have a lot of space on that paper....."


And that was how my Saturday began. I continued to give honest answers that just sent Chirpy Woman into a tizzy. I do polls for a living. This wasn't a poll, but a semi-veiled attempt to convince the non-believers that her opinions were right. We should all hang up on these people. Why I didn't, I'm not sure. I guess I was looking to defend myself against the evil-doers who chose to wake me up early on a Saturday morning.

In general, I'm a firm believer in answering legitimate polls because they help to influence policy. I know how discouraging is to make call after call and get told numerous times to put my survey where the sun doesn't shine. But pseudo-polls like the one above? Those are just idiotic.

So, if anyone else wishes to poll/convert me, here are my standard answers:

President:
In spite of what you may read or see, the country is not going to become socialist right after inauguration day, nor would we nuke Iran. Both candidates are good men with good ideas, some of which I happen to disagree strongly with. I can see merits to either one of them being elected. Heck, if we could have a "McCain/Obama" ticket, I would vote that way in a heart-beat. That's not an option though, and so I have to make a choice.

I am supporting Obama. (Mind you, I voted for GW twice) I think the tax cuts in the short term will be good to stimulate the economy. Yes, I do have concerns about the "spreading the wealth around" comments, and I don't consider paying taxes to be my patriotic duty. But we are in a situation right now where people are in serious financial trouble, and not all of them got there by living beyond their means. Some are concerned about his lack of world affairs experience, and his smooth style being greater than his substance. (these are usually the same people who praise Sarah Palin for having good looks as one of her stronger assets) Well, after our last 8 years of diplomacy, someone who shows that not all Americans are big-talking Texans who like to blow things up. As for the terrorism associations, I think those allegations are weak at best. Yes, Reverend Wright definitely concerns me. I am also a Catholic who has seen every single clergyman who had a positive impact on my religious faith over the last decade be tried and convicted for sexual improprieties. One impregnated and then financed the abortion for a 13 year old girl. Does that make me in favor of child molesters? After all, I still consider myself a Catholic and still go to mass from time to time.

Now before you start calling me a commie left-wing liberal crazy (as my conservative friends will), let me explain why I *didn't* support McCain. Prime reason? Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin. Yes, she's had gubernatorial experience and has a high approval rating in her state. It doesn't take much to be popular in a state with vast oil reserves and more money than she knows what to do with. It's easy to turn away federal dollars and appear fiscally responsible when you have a lot to work with in the first place. I would like to see her try to govern any other state in the union and see if she has the same approval rating.

I also question a woman with that many young children taking on one of the world's most important offices. Call me a raging conservative (as my liberal friends will), but to me, her primary job should be "parent." I'm a firm believer in actually raising the kids you give birth to. Now, if Dad's a stay-at-home dad 100% of the time, then fine, go for it. But that doesn't seem to be the case. They are going to have a tough road these next few years, and to not stay home and protect her kids seems woefully irresponsible to me.

Her stance on abortion also deeply worries me. Now, let me say at the outset that in general I find abortion abhorrent. Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, there is no one on the planet who is hoping for more abortions. I thank my lucky stars that I never had to face that decision myself. But my opinion on abortion changes in the context. In the case of rape? Incest? I absolutely support it. If the baby is endangering the life of the mother? Most definitely. Let me also say that this is MY opinion, and not the opinion of others. I have a right to it, as do those who disagree with me. If you believe that all abortion is wrong, that's fine, no one would force you to have one. I just take issue with someone else making a deeply traumatic decision for me about my life and the life of a child.

And don't get me started on her interviews. She is ill-prepared, and lacks any sort of skill to gracefully move away from areas that are not her strongest points. "But she had just come on the campaign" her supporters say, "She hadn't had a chance to study, and the media is out to get her." That to me is the biggest knock against McCain. He was so concerned with finding someone who would counter-balance Obama's race issues and potentially scoop up disenfranchised Hillary voters that he picked the first pretty politician with a uterus. He chose her, he threw her out into the spotlight, and she did about as well as she could under the circumstances. He was not interested in the most qualified person for the job, he wanted someone who could win...and clearly that is backfiring.

But aside from that, my biggest beef with McCain is that he's spending a heck of a lot of money telling us how evil Obama is, and only small bits on what he sees for the future. Had he spent less time talking about his opponent, and selected someone like Joe Lieberman as his running mate, the decision might have gone the other way.

I'd like to get into those rabid "Defense of Marriege" crazies...but it's almost half past noon and I need to get moving on the day. I'll get to that later tonight or tomorrow.

Smelling Smoke Again.....

It's just after midnight, and the smell of smoke is really strong. I'm really getting tired of this.

About an hour ago I went into the kitchen and smelled a faint whiff of smoke. At first I thought it was just a remnants of the fire from a few days ago....but then I stepped outside and it was really intense. Something, somewhere is on fire...again.

Now, before I go nuclear, pack the cats and flee permanently to Orgegon, I am just pondering the realistic possibilities. There was a fire down near Sea World earlier today, so it could be smoke from that. It could be more smoke from the Juliett fire (the one that came so close), or it could be the Marines setting back fires in anticipation of next weeks' planned Santa Ana winds.

For those in other parts of the country, Santa Ana winds occur in the fall, and are basically this phenomena where it gets really hot and then warm winds come down from the mountains out to the ocean....which is unusual because air normally flows from the ocean onto land. The winds can be anywhere from 30-70 mph.

The winds themselves aren't so bad. I used to really like them. It's the morons who set blazes in the middle of them that I find deeply troubling. A small little flame with these winds and the right fuel (brush that has been dried over the summer) and it it can move at 20-30 miles per hour. Embers are blown by the wind and can start multiple blazes miles from the initial fire.

Early indications are that this last fire was the result of arson. To do this (possibly twice) on a Marine Base takes a special kind of crazy. The one comfort is that I'm willing to bet that they will be hyper-vigilant through this season to make sure they don't have to deal with it again any time soon.

No reports on any of the news channels about new fires, and I don't see any activity outside. It's a surprisingly clear night....but the coughing and hacking here in my living room aren't fun.

December can't come fast enough. :)

A Valuable Lesson.....

Now that we have squeaked by another fire event, I just wanted to encourage each and every one of you to consider backing up your photos/momentos to another location/viewing type.

All of us at one time or another think about what we would do if there was a fire, and what we would grab if we had just a few minutes to pack up valuables. The trouble is, as I was made painfully aware of yesterday, you may not get the opportunity to get anything out...and could lose everything in the blink of an eye.

I can't express how thankful I was that I had taken the time to scan all of our family photos and get them saved outside the house. It was a hellish evening, and the thought of losing my great grandfather's journals 25 years of genealogical research and photos more than 100 years old was heartbreaking....but I was comforted by the fact that the photos were safe on my Flickr site.

There are a ton of sites out there, many of them free, that will allow you to back up your photos. If you're not comfortable putting things out on a website, you can always save your photos to a CD, then give that CD to another family member or friend.

Scanning is easy, and I'm happy to help if you need it. Even if photos don't seem like that big a deal to you, think about your family who may see them as extremely important.

Just my little PSA for the evening. Going to try to get some sleep.

Latest Wildfire Updates - As of 1:40pm

The 5 freeway has been closed, recently opened, but there are new fires at the rest stop and Las Pulgas, so it's subject to change.

Was able to get back to the house this morning about 7am. People on the left side of VanDeGrift were not able go go further towards the gate, nor turn into the area around Arrowood golf course. I have since heard that is opened, and a colleague was going to try to get to his house. He was evacuated yesterday as well, and was told to leave his door unlocked so that the firemen could get in to fight the fires if it got that close. He was understandibly eager to get home and lock everything up.

I was getting out of the car when a neighbor I hadn't met before came over to ask if I was ok or needed anything. She explained that there was a large amount of chaos last night as there were not one, but two evacuations that took place. The fires came up and burned the guard shack down, and burned several fences in the complex, thankfully missing the houses. Once the firemen had beaten it back, residents were given the "All Clear" signal. Then another flank of the fire returned around the other side, about 9:30pm, forcing folks to get out again.At some point our street was used as a stable, (the base has large stable just over the fence) because there was straw all up and down the street.

A word of warning to all of you with cable/telephone systems. Check to see if your phone works when there's no power. We have a "reverse 911" system in the area that calls residents and warns them to evacuate. But if the fires are near, the power is frequently turned off. This isn't a big deal if you are up and about and listening to the TV/Radio, but if it's the middle of the night and you are a heavy sleeper, you could be in some serious trouble.

I cannot tell you how grateful I was to have a place to go to. Having to go through that twice was not something I would relish.

My house is fine, though full of smoke and ash inside and out. The neighbors closest to the fires have big holes in their standing fences where the firemen had to bust through to get at the flames. The last thing I heard on the news was that the fire was 25% contained, but there was no smoke in the area at all.

A water chopper flew over my house (and my head) and misted the roofs while I was standing there, so I guess it's not completely clear as of yet. The cats were in the very back of my closet, and it took quite a while for them to come out and realize that they were ok. It must have been one heck of an evening, based on how long it took me to coax them from their hiding place. Also needless to say, the suitcase and pet supplies went back in the jeep immediately, as did my external hard drive with all the family photos on it, and some actual photos, many more than 100 years old.

In this process I decided that it would be wise to set the cat carriers on the ground inside the house to acclimate the cats to their presence. Normally when they see them, they know a trip to the vet is coming, so they bolt. I figured that leaving them out would allow me an element of surprise once they weren't suspicious of them. It was too funny. I set the carriers on the ground and they instantly both climbed in them and wouldn't come out. Clearly they were not too eager to go through this again. I didn't feel comfortable bringing them to work, but will be going to check up on them and the fires in just a few moments.

Once I had secured the house, I exited my house over by the park that's just across the street. Luiseno park is being used as the staging area for the police/fire, so there were easily 30 engines and patrol cars there ready and wating.

As I sat at the red light getting ready to leave my complex, another 10 engines were coming into the park. Their trucks said that they were from Fresno, Chico, Clovis, so we're pulling in help from all over. I think a visit over there to see if they need supplies or chocolate chip cookies. I mean, after all, it's just neighborly. :)

I think I'm going to go home and get a nap.

K

I'm Safe - But still very worried about the cats and my house...

I have told various people various things, so please forgive any repetition. Today has been quite a day. I'm safe and sound at my folks' house, and the news from NBC San Diego is that the fire breaks have held, and both my complex, and the homes of nearby friends and family are safe for the moment.

About 4pm this afternoon, I was walking by our campus switchboard, and the operator happened to be answering a question from a student about a fire that was at Camp Pendleton. Someone looked it up online, and noticed that it was near the back gate....which happened to be about 100 yards from my back fence. The winds were high, and evacuations were immediate.

I grabbed my purse and keys and bolted from my office. My hope was to get home, get the cats, some clothes, and hopefully the photos I had stacked on my dining room table.. I had taken my suitcase and pet stuff out of the back of my jeep because I was going grocery shopping. I was running late this morning, and thought, "Gee, I had better put this back in the car. I will have to remember to do that when I get home." These are the things that make me shake my head..

There's one main road that goes to my house, and while the traffic was heavy, it was moving. We were only slowed by fire truck after fire truck working their way through the cars. We were all driving toward a looming column of billowing black smoke, with water dropping aircraft circling with what seemed to be only a few feet above our heads.

I slowly work my way up VanDeGrift to my intersection, where I hope to turn left at the park on Douglas and get into my complex.

As I'm sitting there, I start to see flames reaching up above my complex, and billowing as it reached new fuel....which in this case, were the first row of houses that backs up to the hills. My house is in the 2nd row of houses....about 200 yards from where I was in my jeep.

At this point I have to make a decision. The police were just getting set up and had not yet blocked off the street. I could probably have gotten into my complex if I tried, but I had to calculate the risk. The flames were higher than the 2 story houses, so 20+ feet. I've never been one of those crazy types who rates the lives of animals higher than humans, but it was a far from easy decision. Leaving my two cats behind to potentially burn to death was unthinkable.

But ultimately I had to leave it in God's hands, because the flames were getting higher, and the cops were starting to move us away. I flipped a u-turn on Vandegrift at Douglas and headed away from the flames and every single possession I owned, short of my car and the clothes on my back. Needless to say, I was a complete and utter wreck.

I had calmed down by the time I got to my folks, and realized that I needed pajamas, clothes for tomorrow and a toothbrush. (Of course, glasses, meds, laptop...all in Oceanside)

Breaking News: Winds have kicked up, and are once again threatening my Aunt and Uncle in Fallbrook. Might be having a family get-together up here.

My current plan is to leave Dana Point tomorrow about 7am, and try to get home. Depending on the fire situation, I will load up the cats and take them back to DP, then head to the Cabinet meeting at 9:30. My hope is that I don't need to get them and that we can all stay where we are.. Beyond that should (hopefully) normal.

Again, thanks to all who offered shelter and good wishes. Our fingers are crossed, and so far things are going our way. My hope is that Fallbrook enjoys the same outcome.

Will keep you posted.

K

Tense and Hoping...

I was unable to get home to save the cats. I was at the corner of Van De Grift and douglas (with the park on my left) trying to get home, and could see flames coming up over the houses in my tract.... The news just said that the house closest to the gate in my tract is on fire. All I can do now is pray.

And because it's Murphy's law, and Iam Murphy, I took my to go bag out of the car yesterday to go grocery shopping. I currently have nothing more than what I'm wearing.

So it's off to MV mall to get some clothes.

Will keep everyone posted as I can. :)

K

The Fires are Back...and Very Close....


And I am officially evacuated.

Winds are fierce and no one knows what’s up.

I’m here at work, but the cats are obviously at home.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Here We Go Again....

The fire season has apparently started for earnest this afternoon. I got a call from family letting me know that there was a fire just beyond my house...which happens to be on 1000's of acres of dry brushland. The photo above is the view at sunset on the end of my street. Everyone is milling around, though they have not yet called for evacuations. Will keep everyone posted.